Roksana/merged
012
1level_0,index,text,label,source,set_label,topic7,topic4,random_label,full_BERT_predictions,random_BERT_predictions,Sarcasm,Sensationalism,Sentiment,Verb27,7,"Trump will bring Churchill back to the White House after Obama embarrassed himself and our nation by removing the bust and replacing it with a picture of himself on the cover of the radical leftist rag, The New Yorker.Barack Obama removed the Churchill bust from the Oval Office in 2009. This weekend British Ukip leader Nigel Farage told reporters Donald Trump will re-install the bust of Churchill into the Oval Office.Obama replaced the Churchill bust with a photo of himself walking on water.Express.co reported: has revealed that Donald Trump will re-install a bust of Winston Churchill removed from the Oval Office by Barack Obama in a clear sign of the friendship the new President wishes to foster with Britain.The interim Ukip leader said Mr Trump has already pushed Britain to the front of the queue for a favourable trade relationship and added that he is the man to forge stronger ties with the as he flew to visit the business tycoon in his first days as President Elect. The Ukip leader described Donald Trump as an anglophile and said his re-installation of the Churchill statue was a clear sign of his appreciation for the historically warm relationship between the allies.-Gateway Pundit ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past319,19,"Lisa Swinton McLaughlin , 56 , gave birth by cesarean section to sons Jordan and Dylan A new mom died seven days after giving birth to twins following more than 30 years of longing to have children . Lisa Swinton McLaughlin , 56 , who lived in Baltimore , Maryland , gave birth by cesarean section on December 27 to sons , Jordan and Dylan . But she died on January 4 from a bowel obstruction she had been in pain , but thought it was the result of the incision . Her husband Mike McLaughlin , 67 , a retiree , has not only lost his wife , but he must now face raising their two sons alone , reports Omahaweblink . He says Mrs McLaughlin who was medical director for the American Red Cross in Baltimore , Maryland , had longed for children for the past 30 years . The couple spent a decade trying different types of fertility treatments and were delighted when Mrs McLaughlin became pregnant last year . She developed gestational diabetes during the pregnancy , but it was monitored closely by her doctors . In December she started bed rest because the size of one twin was causing a blood flow problem . And on December 27 , she gave birth by cesarean section to Jordan , three pounds and three ounces , and Dylan , three pounds . ' She was just on cloud nine , ' Mr McLaughlin said . ' That ' s the happiest I ' ve probably seen her in my life . ' ' She wanted what every other woman had , and that ' s children . ' They were premature , but the boys were healthy and thrived in the neonatal intensive care unit . Although she was in significant pain , Mrs McLaughlin went home on New Year ' s Eve a few days later she died . ' She held the babies and was able to stroke them and love them , ' her husband said . Mr McLaughlin is hoping the twins will be able to come home soon they both weigh four pounds . He has hired a nanny to help take care of them and eventually plans to move home to Nebraska , where his son , other family members and friends can help out . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past430,30,"After scouring northern Colorado by foot and air , frantically chasing a Mylar balloon for miles and repeatedly interviewing his big brother , authorities ended the search for 6 year old Falcon Heene where it began at his house . 6 year old Falcon Heene says he was hiding in a box in the attic while authorities were searching for him . He was in a box . In the attic . The whole time . "" I played with my toys and took a nap , "" Falcon told a group of reporters outside his home Thursday afternoon . "" He says he was hiding in the attic , "" said Falcon ' s father , meteorologist Richard Heene , clutching his son . "" He says it ' s because I yelled at him . "" "" I ' m sorry I yelled at him , "" added Heene , tearfully hugging the boy . When asked by his father on air why he didn ' t respond , the boy replied , "" You guys said we did this for the show . "" Authorities said they believe the case was genuine . The situation grabbed the nation ' s attention early Thursday afternoon , after authorities reported that the experimental helium balloon was set adrift with the 6 year old apparently riding in it . Heene said the family was in the early stages of working on the balloon a "" 3D low altitude vehicle "" when the contraption and the boy went missing . His brother had said he watched Falcon get into the balloon before he untied the tethers , setting it free . Heene later said Falcon was videotaped getting into the vessel by his brother , but "" obviously he got out . "" Once it was untethered , the saucer like craft flew eastward from the Heenes ' neighborhood , though officials couldn ' t immediately confirm how fast it was going . Watch the balloon float thousands of feet over Colorado Authorities said the silver balloon , 20 feet long and 5 feet high , at times reached 7 , 000 feet above the ground while adrift . It was found more than 90 minutes later in a field near Colorado Springs . The story took a turn when said that Falcon ' s parents , science enthusiasts Richard and Mayumi Heene , were featured on the 100th episode of ' s prime time program "" Wife Swap "" in March 2009 . According to the network ' s Web site , the Heene family "" devote ( s ) their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm . "" Rescuers from several counties followed the saucer like vessel until it made a soft landing some 90 miles away . Officials rushed to the scene of the landing , smacking the metallic balloon until it deflated . They looked inside no Falcon . At that point , there were two possibilities : Either Falcon never got in the balloon , or he fell out . Authorities began to fear the worst after reports surfaced that a box possibly carrying Falcon may have fallen off the balloon . A Weld County Sheriff ' s deputy had said he saw an object fall off the balloon somewhere over Platteville , Colorado , which is in the search area . There was no box attached when the balloon landed at 1 : 35 p . m . See map of balloon ' s trip The widespread worries prompted the Colorado Air National Guard to deploy a 60 Black Hawk helicopter , with plans to launch a second one equipped with night vision if necessary . The search , which initially focused on Weld County , covered "" the entire flight plan , from the Fort Collins area down to the Denver International Airport area , "" Col . Mark Riccardi said . But a little while later , Falcon turned up at home . Larimer County Sheriff James Alderden said it ' s not uncommon for children to seek cover when they realize they ' re the subject of a massive search . "" They hide because they think they are in trouble , "" he said . "" What was confusing was the eyewitness who said Falcon climbed into the apparatus , which was not the case , "" Alderden said , referring to the boy ' s brother . The sheriff said the brother was interviewed several times by investigators and that he was consistent with his story . Marc Friedland , the family ' s next door neighbor , said he saw Richard Heene working on the giant Mylar balloon in the backyard . Learn more about airborne balloons "" Basically , the whole family was out there and they were working with it , "" he said . "" When I came back is when I found out that the event happened . "" He said the aircraft was intended to hover around 20 feet in the air and was not intended to carry people . "" Obviously , something went wrong with that . "" Friedland described his neighbors as "" a great family . "" "" They ' re unusual , yes , of course . He ' s sort of a scientist slash inventor . They ' re storm chasers they go after tornadoes , hurricanes , things like that , "" he said . "" He ' s a great kid , "" Friedland said of Falcon . "" We see him a lot and they come over and they ' re always friendly . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past531,31,"Wow these sound exactly like the type of people we want living next door to us. It s not so hard to see why so many Americans are enthusiastic about Trump s promise to build the wall WALL!The Huffington Post has published a photograph (above) of former Mexican president Vicente Fox giving Donald Trump the finger, taken a day before Fox apologized to Trump in an interview with Breitbart News.The photograph was originally shared on social media by Ben Mathis, host of the KickAss Politics podcast, which interviewed Fox last Tuesday. Breitbart News interviewed Fox the following day in Santa Monica, California.Mathis posted the photograph with the message: Vicente Fox & I have a message for Donald Trump. Listen to a preview of his most controversial interview yet, recorded just one day before his apology to Trump aired on Breitbart. On Twitter, KickAss politics teased the interview as Fox responding to Trump though the two had already responded to each other, with Fox apologizing via Breitbart and Trump accepting the apology the following day.KickAss politics also added the NeverTrump hashtag.In most controversial interview yet @VicenteFoxQue responds to @realDonaldTrump weblink #NeverTrump pic.twitter.com/jFRkw5o8I7 Kickass News (@KickassNewsPod) May 9, 2016According to Huffington Post overnight editor Ed Mazza, Fox told Mathis that Trump is an ugly American and hated gringo, and reiterated that he would not pay for the fucking wall on the border, adding: And please don t take out the fucking full word. Mazza adds:In the Kickass Politics conversation, Fox was anything but apologetic. He called the presumptive Republican presidential nominee crazy and a false prophet, and compared him to Latin American demagogues who destroy economies. He also said some of Trump s proposals could lead to war. Don t play around with us, Fox said. We can jump walls. We can swim rivers. And we can defend ourselves. The following day, Fox told Breitbart: I apologize. Forgiveness is one of the greatest qualities that human beings have, is the quality of a compassionate leader. You have to be humble. You have to be compassionate. You have to love thy neighbor. Update: The Huffington Post has attached its mandatory disclaimer on all Trump stories:Editor s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims 1.6 billion members of an entire religion from entering the U.S.For entire story: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past635,35,"Scientists have been planning a human mission to Mars for exploration and habitation for decades . Successful travel to and habitation of Mars would be a monumental accomplishment for science , physics , and huge source of national pride . However , these tremendously costly plans have been scrutinized for their practicality , since billions of dollars put towards this endeavor will not directly benefit society . Economists , scientists , and hospital administrators have teamed up in the new coalition , "" Discharge to Mars . "" The mission of travel to the red planet takes a drastic turn to a more practical and tangible objective . The basic principle will be to discharge the otherwise complex and difficult patient to a skilled nursing facility , or , on Mars . This may include patients without insurance , patients who ' s family is not willing to provide assistance with home care , patients who need long term antibiotics and therapy , patients who continually readmit to the hospital , patient ' s with incurable and complicated or uninteresting diseases , patients who are allergic to all narcotics other than Dilaudid , and patient ' s who simply don ' t want to be discharged home . The 5 , 000 bed would include a state of the art gym for the 30 min of required daily therapy , Olympic sized swimming pool heated to 294 Kelvin , and licensed physicians available by Mars Skype 24 hours a day , 7 days a week , with only a 36 hour video chat lag . The new plans have drawn quite a buzz in hospital circles , and physicians have already begun to submit their nominations for pilot patients to the coalition . "" I ' ve been saying we should put Mr Brown on a rocketship to Mars for months ! "" exclaimed neurologist Dr Bruce Greenik about his chronic autoimmune degenerative disease patient . Hospitalist Dr Elizabeth Burnt nominated 3 of her own patients , one with chronic pancreatitis who bounces from to home to the constantly , one patient with and monthly admissions , and one uninsured homeless patient admitted for dehydration who has been admitted for 167 days and counting while Medicaid is processing for his discharge . Some concern has been raised about the one way nature of the flight plans , since a return flight plan does meet the economic standards set by the coalition . Economist John Grey explains that the one way nature of the plans "" increases the statistical likelihood of success , and allows the project to move forward faster . "" Dr Abigail Polzner , a emergency medicine specialist at Henry Ford , endorses the one way plan as a benefit , indicating that the definitive nature of the discharge is "" not just a small step for hospitals and doctors , but a giant leap for the health care system . "" The first mission , , is planned for 2018 . Careful planning and rigorous timetables have been set to accomplish this ambitious launch . Although the projected date is several years in the future , physician ' s are confident their currently nominated patients will still be eligible for the mission in 2018 . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present758,58,"As it slowly became clear that quarterback Peyton Manning would not be healthy enough to play for the Indianapolis Colts this season , his teammates embraced the following rallying cry : "" We ' re not just a one man team , ' ' they would say defensively . "" We ' ve still got Pro Bowl players here . We can still win games . ' ' Most of us bought in . Why wouldn ' t we ? There was a culture of winning a Super Bowl title , another Super Bowl appearance , 12 win seasons as a matter of habit and lots of players remaining who were an integral part of establishing that culture . Look at the remaining roster : Top receiver Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark . Defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis . Top tier center Jeff Saturday . And then they lost their first 13 games of the 2011 football season , and have a chance to become just the third team in the National Football League ' s modern history to finish the year without a win or a tie . Not a one man team ? Now we know better . Manning , the Hall of Fame worthy 35 year old quarterback , firmly established himself as the most irreplaceable player in the game this season , and did it without taking a single snap . Some have even suggested he deserves Most Valuable Player consideration : With him , the Colts are a perennial Super Bowl contender , without him they ' re a laughingstock . One player can have this kind of understandable impact in the , where a LeBron James can leave Cleveland Cavaliers and reduce them from a 60 win team to the worst team in the league . In the , you ' re talking about five players on the court at a time . Nobody could have imagined this would happen in football , where Manning is one of 11 players , and doesn ' t play defense or special teams . When the New England Patriots lost Tom Brady for the 2008 season , they still went 11 5 . The Colts , who two years ago were in the middle of a debate over whether an undefeated season was possible , are now wondering if they will win a single game . We ' ve always known Manning is the face of the franchise ( and , to a certain extent , the entire ) . Now we ' re finding out he ' s the heart , the soul , the brains . . . everything . The Colts aren ' t just losing this season they ' re barely competitive , enduring a season that included a nationally televised , 62 7 shellacking by the Saints in New Orleans . "" I ' m shocked , ' ' Colts guard Ryan Diem said recently . "" How can you not be ? ' ' The Colts entered the season believing that Manning , coming off his second neck surgery , would become available sometime within the first month of the season . But the pain and weakness persisted in Manning ' s shoulder and arm . It was then determined Manning should undergo his third neck surgery in 19 months , a single level anterior fusion . "" That offense has evolved around a special guy , ' ' Kerry Collins , a veteran quarterback the Colts signed to replace Manning , told the New York Times . "" Peyton has a football that is off the charts and a physical gift as well . There is no way to go in there and run the offense like he does . ' ' The bottom line is this : The Colts were built around Manning . For more than a decade , that was an understandable approach . The Colts were beacons of enduring excellence , one of the best franchises in the and all of sports . But when the foundation is removed , the entire structure crumbles . All the Colts ' best players are reliant on Manning . The receivers , Pierre Garcon , Austin Collie and Wayne . The tight end , Clark . The two pass rushers , Freeney and Mathis , do their best work when their team has a lead , and the Colts aren ' t doing that . Meanwhile , nobody ' s quite sure when and if Manning will return . He announced two weeks ago that the neck fusion was progressing and he could increase the intensity of his rehabilitation . It remains highly unlikely , though , that he will practice with the team the remaining three weeks of the season . So now it gets weirdly interesting . Turns out the Colts picked the perfect year to stink . If they get the first pick in the draft and they have a two game lead on Minnesota and St . Louis with three games remaining they will be in position to pick Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck , by most accounts the best quarterback prospect to come out of college since Hall of Famer John Elway left Stanford and joined the Denver Broncos in 1983 . Not a bad deal : The Colts get 13 years of elite quarterbacking from Manning , suffer for one season , then get Luck for another decade or more of elite quarterbacking . But then the question becomes , what do the Colts do with Luck and Manning ? video on Manning and Luck Last week , Manning ' s father , former quarterback Archie Manning , told two different radio shows that Luck and Peyton would not be able to play on the same team . The argument was that both would want to play right away and should play right away . Manning expects to be healthy , and Luck is viewed as the most ready quarterback to come out of college in years . ( Archie backtracked on those comments one day later ) . Here ' s the rub : The Colts have to decide whether to give Manning a 28 million option bonus in early March . The simplest option would be to let Manning leave as a free agent although it ' s never simple when emotions are involved and it involves a transcendent civic icon . The other option is to pay the money and then figure things out . But it ' s not as simple as paying the cash and then trading him . The bonus is due in early March . The league year , which would be the first opportunity for the Colts to make a trade , begins March 15 . If the Colts wanted to trade Manning , it would cost them 28 million , plus they would take a 38 million cap hit ( teams have a maximum amount to spend each year on player salaries and bonuses ) . That ' s an enormous number and would not allow them to field a competitive team . Indianapolis fans would like to keep Manning for a couple of years and then transition to Luck . But that ' s a tough call , too . Luck has not yet addressed the situation , but there ' s reason to believe he would have no interest in sitting behind Manning for two or three years . As a first pick , he would have leverage , and could force the Colts to trade his pick , as was the case with Elway and Eli Manning . Let ' s say the Colts keep Manning for a year and then deal him : It ' s a 28 million cap hit , still enormous , leaving them short of cap money to surround Luck with talented players . "" We aren ' t close to making any decisions , ' ' Colts vice chairman Bill Polian said . More and more , it looks like the Colts will have to make a clean break and move into the Luck Era . The more immediate concern , though , is this : They just want to win a game . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past862,62,"Bama ' s Howard delivers huge performance after quiet season Clemson ' s T . J . Green ( 15 ) knocks Alabama ' s O . J . Howard out of bounds after a catch during the second half of the college football playoff championship game Monday , Jan . 11 , 2016 , in Glendale , Ariz . David J . Phillip Photo Alabama ' s O . J . Howard tries to get past Clemson ' s T . J . Green after a catch during the second half of the college football playoff championship game Monday , Jan . 11 , 2016 , in Glendale , Ariz . David J . Phillip Photo O . J . Howard had been the forgotten man in Alabama ' s offense at times , disappearing behind a barrage of Derrick Henry runs and Calvin Ridley catches . The Crimson Tide tight end delivered quite a "" remember me "" performance in Monday night ' s 45 40 victory over Clemson in the national championship game , flashing speed and hands to become a surprising hero of the game . Howard kept sneaking behind the Clemson defenders and finding himself wide open for big plays : touchdowns of 51 and 53 yards and a galloping 63 yarder in the fourth quarter that set up Alabama ' s final touchdown . Five catches , 208 yards . And offensive honors . This from a player who hadn ' t scored a touchdown since sprinting 52 yards on a crossing route against . In 2013 . "" O . J . , quite honestly , should have been more involved all year long , "" Tide coach Nick Saban said . "" Sometimes he was open and we didn ' t get him the ball , but I think the last two games have been breakout games for him in terms of what he ' s capable of and what he can do . "" I would say it ' s bad coaching on my part that he didn ' t have the opportunity to do that all year long , because he is a really good athlete and he ' s improved tremendously as a player this year . "" Howard also delivered three catches for 59 yards in the semifinal win over Michigan State . The 6 foot 6 , 242 pounder always had the speed , as evidenced by that eye catching play against as a freshman . Saban said he ' s improved his blocking , too . "" He hasn ' t caught a ton of balls , but he does a lot of great things with his blocking , too , "" Tide center Ryan Kelly said . "" You see the speed of him running down the sideline with guys chasing him down . That ' s impressive . He ' s a heck of a tight end . "" The performance might have made Howard ' s decision about whether to return for his senior season or head to the easier ? or harder . Howard said he plans to sit down with Saban and family Wednesday and talk about his future plans . Howard definitely liked hearing his coach talk after the game about getting him the ball more "" It makes me think about coming back and playing and making plays next season for coach , "" Howard said . "" It ' ll get me more involved in the offense . "" He came into the game with 394 receiving yards and less than 1 , 000 in nearly three seasons . But Saban said the former five star recruit never complained when the ball wasn ' t coming his way with much frequency . Howard didn ' t catch a pass in several games , including the regular season finale against Auburn and the championship game against Florida . "" You can ' t get frustrated when you ' re not getting the ball , "" Howard said . "" I know how that works , you get frustrated , you start messing up plays and then you ' re getting other guys hurt . "" If you ' re missing a block , you ' re definitely not going to get the ball if you ' re pouting about it . You ' ve just got to be a good team player and play hard every down so that ' s what I continued to do . "" "" I ' m just glad he finally got to show everybody what he can do , "" quarterback Jake Coker said . Alabama ' s O . J . Howard kisses the championship trophy after the college football playoff championship game against Clemson Monday , Jan . 11 , 2016 , in Glendale , Ariz . Alabama won 45 40 . ( David Kadlubowski The Arizona Republic via ) ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past965,65,"Leave a reply Mary O’Malley – A friend of mine was gifted a vacation on a river barge through France and Germany. She was really excited because she could never afford to do this on her own. Her itinerary included a flight from Seattle to New York and the next day, she and her cousin would fly to Europe together. As they were getting ready to go through the international security checkpoint, the officer would not let my friend through because her passport had expired. At that moment, a feeling of panic came over her when she realized she had grabbed the wrong passport. As the panic began to intensify, she tuned into her body and used her breath to calm herself down and think rationally. Having done awakening work for some time, she realized that reacting to whatever Life is offering only creates suffering. She said, “Mary, I can’t believe it. If this happened years ago, I would have had a temper tantrum and been in tears all day. Instead, I calmly told my cousin to go on without me and I would have a friend in Seattle overnight my passport so I could take a flight the following day.” This is the power of accepting whatever Life brings. She added “I did not react or panic when I realized I would have to pay for a new ticket and stay in New York by myself. It all turned out so differently than what I thought, and it was all okay.” Whenever we are faced with a challenge, whether it is a cut on our finger, a raging boss, or an expired passport, we all react in our own unique ways. One of the core ways we can heal ourselves is by getting to know our own patterns of reaction. Some of the standard modes of reaction are the stoic, the pleaser, the worrier, the rager, the freezer, the rescuer, the victim, the judger and the self-absorbed one. We put these reactive parts of ourselves together into our own particular style. Our patterns of reaction can bring so much heartache into our lives. My primary mode of reaction was to freeze, and like all patterns of reaction, it would tighten me, isolate me and cut me off from the flow of love that is Life. It got stronger as I got older, and it became much more entrenched when I tried to make it stop. Then I learned how to see it and meet it with understanding and mercy. Only then was I able to free-up this frozen energy and learn how to respond to Life rather than always living in reaction. This process of seeing, loving and letting go of your patterns of reaction happens in three phases. First phase: You are caught. You either can’t see your patterns or, if you do, you have little willingness to do anything about them. You also don’t recognize the consequences that come from living out of your repetitive reactions. When you decide you don’t want to live this way anymore, you usually declare war on the pattern, trying to wrestle it to the ground. This only works for a short period of time because you haven’t done the work needed to dissolve the pattern. When the pattern comes back again, you then get caught in self-judgment (I did it again) and despair (I will never get out of this). You begin to move into the second phase when you see that the price you pay for taking care of yourself in your old ways isn’t worth it, and you understand that trying to wrestle it to the ground doesn’t work. Second phase: As you come to realize that living out of your old patterns isn’t how you want to live, and trying to get rid of them seems to only empower them, you begin to become curious about what is going on and feel the possibility of living another way. At the beginning of this phase, when your patterns of reaction are triggered, you will get lost in them most of the time. But slowly, you become more curious and more merciful with yourself. Even when you get completely lost, there comes a time when you can let go of judgment and despair, and simply notice how you are reacting. This may be right in the middle of the pattern, a few minutes afterwards, or a few days afterwards. You become more curious than controlling and more compassionate than judgmental. You finally come to the place where you can actually stand with the discomfort of not following your pattern. This almost feels like detox, and it is good to have the support of other people as you learn how to be with your experience rather than running away from it. The more you can be with yourself, the more it opens your heart. And that is really what you have been longing for all along – the ability to live from your own heart. Third phase: As your ability to see and let go of your old patterns increases, you enter the third phase. This is where your primary relationship with yourself is one of compassion and curiosity. You still may get caught in your patterns, but only for short periods of time, and rather than bringing up judgment or despair, they become an invitation to open back into Life. The more you can meet yourself exactly as you are, the more you discover how to live from your own truth. You can now let go of the idea that a good life is one where everything is under control. Instead, you learn how to ride the ups and downs of your life, trusting yourself, trusting your life. You then become the awakened heart that heals not only yourself but also the world. There isn’t a clear delineation with these three phases. On any particular day, you may touch into all three phases. But the more you can be curious and merciful with yourself, the more you will naturally gravitate toward the third phase – the place of truly becoming yourself. This is the greatest gift you can give to yourself and to Life. Source Mary O’Malley ",fake,news,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1070,70,"It could nearly pass as a plotline from one of her spine chilling books . Bestselling crime writer Val McDermid found herself the subject of an 18 year grudge which resulted in her being attacked at a book signing . Her woman assailant disguised herself before covering the author ' s face with ink , shouting obscenities at her and bizarrely likening her to Jimmy Savile . Sandra Botham told a court she attacked The Wire In The Blood author because of a book she wrote in 1995 . Revenge attack : Sandra Botham ( left ) threw ink at best selling author Val McDermid ( right ) after holding a 28 year vendetta over a paragraph in one of her books which she thought had likened her to a Michelin man A Suitable Job For A Woman explores the lives of real life female private eyes in the and the , which Botham , 64 , said was critical of herself and her family . Sunderland magistrates ' court heard how Botham thought one of the case histories , which mentioned a woman called Sandra who was shaped ' like a Michelin Man ' , was referring to her . The claim has been denied by the author ' s agent , who says the two women never even met before the incident . However , it is not known whether the case history does in fact refer to Botham , because it was related second hand by a private eye . Bent on revenge , Botham travelled to Sunderland University on December 6 last year , where she knew Miss McDermid would be signing books . She disguised herself in a blonde wig , trilby hat and glasses and sat at the end of the front row as the author gave a talk about her latest novel , Vanishing Point . Miss McDermid , 58 , told the court : ' I had noticed a woman sitting on the end of one row . She caught my eye a few times during the lecture because she appeared to be in disguise . Vendetta : Botham dressed in disguise and threw ink into Ms McDermid ' s mouth during a book signing at Sunderland University on December 6 last year ( incident not pictured ) ' After the lecture , I was giving a book signing and noticed she was at the end of the queue . ' When she got to the front , she produced a dog eared copy of A Suitable Job For A Woman . ' Best selling author : Val McDermid is famed for her crime novel Wire in the Blood Botham then asked her to dedicate it to ' Michelin Man San ' which she did , even though she had no idea what it was in reference to . She also asked her to sign a page of an old Top of the Pops annual with a picture of Jimmy Savile on it . She said : ' She was quite insistent . I wasn ' t keen , but I get asked to sign all sorts of things so thought it would be easier just to do it . ' It was then that Botham pulled a container of ink from her pocket , throwing it across the author and ruining her clothes . Miss McDermid added : ' She then said to me something like "" you are my female equivalent of Jimmy Savile "" before walking out the building . ' Cross examining the author , Botham , who was representing herself , stood up and said : ' Hello Val , we meet again . ' Botham told the magistrates ' bench to ' get stuffed ' when they refused to allow her to read paragraphs from the book . She then told magistrates she was ' closing the case ' and instead would take it ' to the highest court in the land ' . The pensioner , of Hendon , Sunderland , stormed out of the courtroom and was convicted in her absence of common assault . Miss McDermid said never in her 25 years as an author had she experienced ' anything like this before ' . Her 1997 bestseller The Wire In The Blood was turned into an series in 2002 starring Robson Green . Last year , she told how she met Jimmy Savile in 1977 when she was a young journalist and he later inspired another character in the book , Jacko Vance , a celebrity with a secret lust for torture , murder and under age girls . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1174,74,"A Canadian man found a novel way to take in the sights while travelling across country , by taking an rocking chair with him . Kalman Kallai enjoyed the spectacular Canadian scenery from the comfort of a green chair while journeying from Borden , Ontario to Comox , British Columbia for work purposes . Calculating that the drive would take him across a colossal 2 , 796 miles ( 4500km ) of land , Mr Kallai believed that his journey would be more interesting if he used it as an opportunity to see more of his country . The traveller sits before corn , a caf , boats and water , before he is featured rocking and making gestures with his hand Mr Kallai and a friend mimic the planes that fly past at the beginning of the traveller ' s adventure After picking up a green rocking chair that he acquired for free from online advertisement site Kijiji , the traveller attached his trailer and set off on the nine day journey . The video begins with Mr Kallai carrying his chair to a wooded area , before placing it down and taking a seat . He wears a green hoody , blue jacket and hat clothing items that remain a running theme throughout the course of the video . Mr Kallai travelled from Borden , Ontario to Comox , British Columbia for work purposes Sat rocking on his chair watching a number of aeroplanes taking off perhaps at this point wishing he was on one himself the traveller is joined by a friend . The pair sit and mimic the plane ' s wings before shaking hands and waving goodbye to one another , to allow Mr Kallai to continue his adventure on his own . The traveller is then sat before corn , a caf , boats and water , before he is featured rocking and making gestures with his hands . The traveller wears a green hoody , blue jacket and hat in every clip of himself in the video Mr Kallai takes time to pose precariously on a river bed while journeying across Canada He momentarily leaves the chair to chase some birds on a beach before making his way through a field and waving at some cows . Later in the video the traveller is met by his dad , who humorously steals the rocking chair before he is swiftly removed . Continuing a good portion of the journey together , the pair dance and jump around in front of rapids and tease a number of large statues . Creature comfort ! Mr Kallai makes a number of hand gestures in the video and even waves at cows Despite hauling the rocking chair around in a trailer , the traveller is also featured carrying it on his head Mr Kallai said : ' I brought my dad with me for part of the trek . It was a great bonding experience , as we shared many laughs . ' I heard some pretty interesting stories about his youth that I hadn ' t heard before , especially since my mother wasn ' t on the trip with us . ' The pair reach Manitoba together before they meet with some people and the traveller ' s father leaves his son to journey on by himself . Mr Kallai is joined by his dad while journeying across the country and the pair jump around and dance together The traveller said that he shared many laughs with his dad and that it was a great bonding experience Hauling the chair around on his head as much as in his trailer , Mr Kallai takes time to pose precariously on a river bed and even a railway track . Arriving in Alberta the temperature suddenly plummets and a lot more snow features in the following images . Eventually however , Mr Kallai reaches British Colombia and the video concludes with him carrying his rocking chair into what appears to be his new front room and taking a seat . Mr Kallai videos himself sitting on a railway track on the chair he acquired from online advertisement site Kijiji The journey took the traveller nine days to complete and a total of 4500km of land was covered ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1290,90,"Mexico City The United Nations ' cultural organization recognized mariachi music Sunday in a move that Mexican authorities hope will help preserve the well known tradition . The songs often played on festive occasions by groups of guitar , violin and trumpet performers wearing traditional clothes or wide brimmed hats are sung throughout Mexico , and have become a key part of regional identity , officials said . "" The community and the family hand down musically their knowledge , history and the pleasure of singing to the nature surrounding them . They consider it their own , "" Mexican officials said in their application to the United Nations Organization for Education , Science and Culture ( ) , which added mariachi music to the organization ' s list of intangible cultural patrimony Sunday . Putting mariachi on the list could increase awareness of the music , said in a statement Sunday . "" Learning by ear is the main means of transmission of traditional Mariachi , and the skill is usually passed down from fathers to sons and through performance at festive , religious and civil events , "" the statement said . Mexico ' s application notes that the music "" has crossed borders and become a symbol of Mexico . "" "" Immigrants , descendants of Mexicans living abroad , as well as Latin Americans , have made the modern mariachi a symbol of community identity , because it is a bond linking them to their roots in spite of the distance , "" the application says . "" Now including in foreign countries like the United States , Japan and Colombia , there are mariachi schools , mariachi classes , mariachi degrees , "" he said . Many of Mexico ' s monuments have already been honored by the United Nations ' cultural organization . Last year added traditional Mexican food to its intangible cultural patrimony list . In 2008 , the organization recognized Mexico ' s traditional Day of the Dead celebration . This year also added 13 other items to its list , including Chinese shadow puppetry , a ritual of transplanting rice in Hiroshima , Japan , and "" poetic dueling "" in Cyprus . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1395,95,"She told stories , flirted outrageously with boys and was constantly changing her hairstyle . Anne Frank hid with her family in a secret room at her father Otto Frank ' s office in Amsterdam . It could be the description of almost any young girl growing up in Europe . But this is how Eva Schloss remembers her childhood friend Anne Frank , who had she not died in a Nazi concentration camp , would have celebrated her 80th birthday this week . Schloss described Frank , whose account of hiding from Jewish persecution in Nazi occupied Amsterdam is one of the world ' s mostly widely read books , as a spunky young schoolgirl with a passion for storytelling that often got her into trouble . "" She got her diary in 1942 , so obviously her father knew she was interested in writing and I know she told stories , "" said Schloss . "" She talked a lot and she was called Mrs Quack Quack . Very often she used to write hundreds of lines at school of ' I ' m not going to talk so much , ' and so on but obviously she had a lot to tell . "" In some ways the two friends lived parallel lives but tragically they had very different outcomes . Watch more about Schloss ' story Schloss and Frank both came from Jewish families who fled to Holland to escape the wave of anti Semitism spreading across Europe as the Nazis rose to power in Germany ahead of the Second World War . But while Schloss was more of an introvert , Frank loved the limelight . Schloss said : "" I was actually quite shy and she was the center of attention . We had steps where we sat , and she had a crowd of children around her . "" She was a big flirt she loved boys . She was always showing us who was her boyfriend at that particular time . She was always interested in her clothes . Her style , she always changed it . Sometimes she had curls , then she had straight hair . "" Schloss says they were unaware of the full scale of what was going on around them as war escalated across Europe , placing their lives in increasing jeopardy . "" Our parents really protected us so there was no talk about the horrendous things which happened . "" You couldn ' t go out anymore after 8 o ' clock , but for a 11 to 12 year old it didn ' t matter so much . Or not going to the cinema we were upset about those little things which we couldn ' t do , but we really didn ' t really take it seriously at that time . "" Like Frank , Schloss was also forced into hiding when the Nazis took control of Holland . Frank hid with her family in a secret room at her father Otto Frank ' s office . But Schloss and her family had to split up . Schloss stayed with her mother while her father and brother hid elsewhere . She and her mother moved around , staying in seven different hiding places over a two year period . Eventually both families were betrayed and were sent to concentration camps , where Frank died at the age of 15 . Schloss said : "" My father and brother were betrayed by a Dutch nurse who was a double agent , and all four of us were arrested and taken to the headquarters to be interrogated . "" I didn ' t know anything , which was a good thing . So eventually they realized this and they gave up torturing me . Within two days we were put on a transport to Auschwitz . "" Of her family , only Schloss and her mother survived Auschwitz , one of the most notorious concentration camps , located in southern Poland . Today Schloss , who has just celebrated her own 80th birthday , has a husband , three daughters and five grandchildren . Schloss says it took her decades to rebuild her life , with the help of Frank ' s father Otto , who also survived incarceration in a concentration camp . She met Otto in August 1945 , when he showed her Frank ' s diary . Schloss said : "" He read a few passages but he always burst into tears . It took me 20 years . I was really unhappy , but it was Otto who came to our apartment to talk to us , and he helped me a lot . He had lost everybody . "" Her book , she Frank made people aware of what happened . There are many messages . She believed in the goodness of mankind . "" People always ask me , what she would have done . I guess we will never know . But I guess she would have gone into politics she was a fighter . It ' s a pity , but also maybe her diary would have never been published . "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past14108,108,"Almost a year ago , 8 year old Martin Richard wrote four simple words on a sign at school . "" No more hurting people , "" it said . For the camera , he held up the bright blue sign decorated with hearts framing the word "" Peace . "" It ' s a photograph that many find difficult to look at Tuesday as they struggle to comprehend the violence that took Martin ' s life . On Monday , the boy and his family were watching the Boston Marathon near the finish line when two bombs exploded just off Copley Square in the heart of the city . The grade schooler was killed , authorities said . Martin ' s mother , Denise , and his sister were grievously injured , The Boston Globe reported . The boy ' s father , William Richard , is a community leader in the Ashmont section of Dorchester , according to the Globe . "" My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston , "" Richard said in a statement Tuesday . "" My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries . We thank our family and friends , those we know and those we have never met , for their thoughts and prayers . I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin . We also ask for your patience and for privacy as we work to simultaneously grieve and recover . Thank you . "" At a loss : Comforting grieving parents Tuesday morning , people arrived at the Richards ' home in the working class neighborhood dotted with large New England style homes . On the stone steps of the Richards ' blue gray house , visitors gingerly laid down flowers . Someone had written "" peace "" at the end of the driveway , according to the Globe . More than a 1 , 000 people , many holding candles and each other , attended a vigil in Dorchester for Martin and the other two victims Tuesday night . On Tuesday at the Richard home , a 10 year old girl who went to school with Martin came by with her mother . Martin attended the Neighborhood House Charter School , according to a school official . The boy "" was a bright , energetic young boy who had big dreams and high hopes for his future , the school said in a statement . "" We are heartbroken by this loss . "" "" We are also praying for his mother Denise , our school librarian and sister Jane , another Neighborhood House Charter student , who were seriously injured yesterday , "" the statement said . The family represent "" the very best this city has to offer , "" it said . Also killed in Monday ' s attack was Krystle Campbell , who graduated from Medford High School in Massachusetts in 2001 . There were no immediate details about the third victim killed in the bombings . Of the more than 170 people who were treated at hospitals , at least 17 were in critical condition and 41 in serious condition , according to hospital officials . Martin made his "" peace "" sign in May when his school organized a "" Peace Walk . "" Holding their homemade signs , kids walked around the city making a big statement with a simple act . In bubble letters , one of his classmates wrote , "" No more violence ! "" Mom posts viral photo of boy killed in blast In another photo of Martin this one apparently marking what was perhaps his first communion he is smiling , missing a few teeth , handsome and proud in his white suit . He holds a colorful communion banner . On it is a dove that symbolizes the Holy Spirit . The Richard family was very active in the neighborhood . "" They are beloved by this community , "" City Councilor at Large Ayanna Pressley told the Globe . Pressley and other devastated residents gathered at Tavolo Restaurant in Dorchester to mourn . The family contributes "" in many ways , "" she said . "" That ' s why you see this outpouring . It ' s surreal it ' s tragic . "" Sherman said that the Richard family is a "" typical all American family "" and that Martin and his little brother always loved to play in their yard , no matter the weather . Neighbor Dan Aguilar told The Boston Globe the same and said he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the child ' s death . "" That little boy will never come home again , ' ' he told the paper . "" It ' s still unreal . I have no words . I have no words . ' ' While so much grieving continues , more details are emerging about Monday ' s bombings . No suspects have been identified in the case , which federal authorities are classifying as an act of terrorism . It was not immediately known whether the origin of the bombings was domestic or foreign . Nothing is being dismissed this early on , the officials said . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past15110,110,"Reuters) - Mexico’s president rebuked Donald Trump as a threat to his country just hours after painting a positive picture of talks the two held on Wednesday to try to defuse tensions over the U.S. presidential hopeful’s anti-Mexican campaign rhetoric. President Enrique Pena Nieto had on Wednesday afternoon hailed as “open and constructive” the impromptu meeting he held with Trump, who later referred to the Mexican leader as his friend and a “wonderful” president. But in a late evening television interview, an angry-looking Pena Nieto sought to defend himself against a broad swathe of criticism for his decision to invite the Republican candidate despite his repeated verbal attacks on Mexico. “His policy stances could represent a huge threat to Mexico, and I am not prepared to keep my arms crossed and do nothing,” Pena Nieto said. “That risk, that threat, must be confronted. I told him that is not the way to build a mutually beneficial relationship for both nations.” Trump’s quick acceptance of an invitation sent last Friday took Mexico’s government by surprise, and his visit to Mexico City came just hours ahead of a keynote speech on immigration as he sought to close the gap on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. The real estate mogul’s accusations that Mexico sends rapists and drug runners to the United States, and his threats to build a border wall and tear up trade deals, have angered the government but his meeting with Pena Nieto on Wednesday gave him a chance to present himself in a more moderate light. He spoke of Mexican-Americans in glowing terms and stressed the areas of common interest between the two countries even as he stuck to his message that he would put up the wall. Pena Nieto had likened Trump to dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini earlier this year. But his government said Trump understood its concerns at the meeting, making Pena Nieto’s tense appearance on television the more surprising. “What we saw was a respectful attitude and discourse from Donald Trump,” presidential spokesman Eduardo Sanchez had said earlier, arguing that progress was made on the issue of trade after prior threats by Trump to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “I think there was an advance in general,” he added. Still, Trump laid out a series of tough policies to tackle illegal immigration when he delivered his speech in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday night. He told a cheering crowd that Mexico would pay for the wall “100 percent” and that if he wins the election anyone living illegally in the United States would be sent back to their home country and made to apply for re-entry. That would include millions of Mexicans. Opposition politicians in Mexico rounded on Pena Nieto for hosting Trump. “Instead of making him apologize, the government allowed (Trump) to complete the humiliation of the Mexicans,” Ricardo Anaya, leader of the center-right opposition National Action Party, said on Twitter. Some Mexican officials also privately expressed reservations about the meeting with one former diplomat saying Pena Nieto had done Trump’s campaign a favor. During a joint news conference after their meeting, Trump said he and Pena Nieto had not discussed his demand that Mexico pay for the border wall. But Pena Nieto later contradicted Trump, saying he had told the American that Mexico would not foot the bill, and he bristled during his television interview when asked why he had not made that clear at the news conference. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Mexican government official said the two men spoke English during the meeting and that Pena Nieto clearly explained to Trump the offense his comments had caused. “He’s a candidate that offended a lot of Mexicans, so that’s the chemistry there was (between them),” the official said. ",true,dataset,test,Other news1,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past16111,111,"Washington John Keith rattles each pill bottle and raps it down on the table , 15 in all . "" That ' s what they had me on right there , every day , "" the former sailor says of the prescriptions he received from Veterans Affairs doctors . Keith , who lives in California , says his case is an example of how government doctors over prescribe for active duty and retired military , with often disastrous results . On the other side of the country , the Ohio family of Chris Bachus , a decorated Marine who died in his sleep from an accidental drug overdose , also says military doctors are writing too many prescriptions . "" How could a team of doctors , allegedly working together , prescribe all those things together ? "" Jerry Bachus asks of the doctors who treated his brother with dozens of separate medications . And the military itself is struggling with demands of its personnel returning from multiple warzone deployments and seeking treatment for a variety of injuries and mental issues . Navy veteran Keith blames multiple tours in the Persian Gulf , on board the Kitty Hawk , for a variety of ailments including post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury . But he blames government doctors for loading him up on pills . "" After I was taking the 10 pills and it wasn ' t working , I went back to the , and they prescribed me five more pills on top of everything else , "" Keith said . Then came blackouts , and once he tossed furniture out of a friend ' s apartment . "" I ' d thrown it off the balcony , and I had no recollection whatsoever , "" Keith explained . "" I called a doctor and told her what happened . She said , ' Oh , it ' s too strong . Just cut the pills in half and take half . ' I did that , and the next thing I know , I was being arrested by the Dallas police , "" Keith said . In Ohio , Bachus ' brother questions why the successful Marine gunnery sergeant had his own oversupply of legally prescribed medicines when he died . "" They were all legitimately prescribed drugs from physicians who had sat right in front of him and evaluated his condition , and whatever he had an issue of , they would either increase the dosage or the potency of the individual pill , "" Jerry Bachus said at his home outside Columbus . He shows off the Iraqi battle flag that Chris brought back from one of Saddam Hussein ' s palaces after he fought his way through Baghdad . He thumbs through photos , including one of the two brothers visiting Washington . And he tells about how his brother was usually the happiest guy around . "" He laughed and smiled a lot . He had a great time . He lived life to its fullest . He lived life the way people wished they did , "" Bachus says . But after multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and 17 years in the Corps , Chris was just a shadow . "" He was passive . He was ghostly , "" Jerry Bachus said , describing how he failed to convince his brother that he wasn ' t really fit to serve . But Bachus shipped out again to Iraq in 2007 , coming back early with stress complaints and suspicions of a traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb . The cover letter on the official military autopsy for Chris Bachus strongly recommends that family members not read it alone , but with a family friend or minister . It spells out the 27 prescriptions found near the body in March 2008 , at Camp Geiger in North Carolina . The death was ruled accidental , blamed on "" multi drug toxicity . "" The list of 27 prescription bottles found at the scene of death takes up most of a page of the autopsy , from topiramate to oxycodone to lorazepam . Jerry Bachus admits that the military faces enormous demands , countless requests to ease both the physical and mental pain . "" You ' re gonna give me whatever I need to make me feel better , and you ' re gonna make me go away . . . because there ' s 1 , 000 people standing in line behind me that just came off the bus with me , "" he said . The armed services have recognized the problem as a reflection of what also is playing out in civilian life as well . "" I think in some cases yes , certainly , I think there is over reliance , "" said Brig . Gen . Richard Thomas , the Army ' s assistant surgeon general . "" But I think . . . it reflects how we are in society we do have a tendency to rely on prescription meds . "" Thomas says the Army has implemented rules to limit the number of people who can prescribe medications for an individual patient , as well as new scrutiny of cases in which multiple prescriptions have been written . New prescriptions may carry a time limit , with no refills without a new examination . "" We have some new policies that are out to address poly pharmacy , multiple medications , to make sure we are prescribing these things in a safe and responsible manner to protect the patient , "" Thomas said . "" Ultimately , because we don ' t want to leave the responsibility for figuring it out in the hands of the patient . "" And the military is exploring new treatments , without drugs . "" Whether it be acupuncture or biofeedback or yoga therapy , there is a host of other things we can provide to patients to take care of them right , other than narcotics , "" Thomas said . "" Narcotics may still have a role , but it doesn ' t have as big a role , and there are alternatives , and that ' s the key . "" Meanwhile , Jerry Bachus keeps asking why doctors , commanders and even fellow Marines didn ' t raise the alarm . "" Just to say we gave this trooper a bag of pills , that doesn ' t wash , "" he said . "" It just isn ' t good enough . It just isn ' t good enough . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past17112,112,"A father of two ordered enough ricin to ' kill hundreds ' from an undercover agent on the ' dark net ' it is alleged . Mohammed Ammer Ali , 31 , asked for the chemical to be delivered to his family home hidden in a toy car . Ali was said to have then searched the internet looking for local pet shops selling rabbits and chinchillas on which he could test the deadly poison . Hidden : Enough ricin to ' kill hundreds ' was concealed in a toy car He was arrested in an anti terror raid at his home in Liverpool last week , accused of paying 500 ( 325 ) for 500mg of ricin . Ali told the agent , posing as a seller , that he would be a ' good repeat customer ' and would ' need 500mg each month , for the next few months ' , according to investigators . He is said to have asked if the ricin would be packaged in ' Breaking Bad style ' phials referring to the hit drama . Terror police , who raided his top floor flat above a restaurant , also allegedly found a ' to do list ' saved on his computer which said ' pay ricin man ' and ' get pet to murder ' . The married worker appeared at a London court yesterday charged with attempting to obtain a chemical weapon . Speaking at the hearing in Westminster Magistrates ' Court , prosecutor Mark Dawson said of the amount of ricin ordered : ' Whether inhaled or injected , the chemical would easily be enough to scientifically kill hundreds of people . ' He believed he was purchasing five fatal doses . ' The poison is 6 , 000 times more deadly than cyanide . Ali was caught in an sting , with the help of British counter terrorism police , after he allegedly accessed online marketplaces in the so called ' dark net ' the hard to access parts of the internet used by those engaging in criminal activity . According to investigators , the father had initiated contact with the ' seller ' on January 11 asking for ricin to be sent to the . In court : Mohammed Ammer Ali , 31 , of Liverpool , arrived in London and is accused of trying to buy 500 of ricin from a website in the United States using internet currency Bitcoins When he was given the prices which the said was 200 ( 130 ) per lethal dose , the buyer , which the prosecutor says is Ali , replied : ' Could you do it a little cheaper if I bought more ? ' Before adding : ' How would one test if it is actually ricin , other than the obvious of course : ) ' Ali then allegedly asked for 500mg for 500 which needed to be split into ' multiple dosages ' and would be ' used indoors ' . ' I will be a very good repeat customer if you can make this possible and im ( sic ) happy with the results , ' he added , according to a transcript . After the agent , who described his product as ' some really nasty sh t ' , suggested Ali use a rodent to test a small amount of the ricin on , he allegedly replied : ' I like the rodent test thanks for that . ' Appearance : Ali , wearing a blue jumper and blue trousers in court , spoke in a strong Liverpudlian accent to confirm his name and address . He did not enter plea He is said to have revealed very little about his alleged targets but inquired about whether or not the ricin would still work if mixed in water or food . Excited about receiving the toxic chemical in tiny battery sized 100mg phials , he allegedly wrote to the undercover agent asking : ' Are we talking Breaking Bad style ? Let ' s make this happen . ' He is accused of buying the ricin in February using online currency Bitcoin . Ali , who has two children aged four and six , then allegedly arranged for it to be delivered to his home address in the name ' Dylan Harvey ' . The had concealed the five phials containing a harmless powder in the battery compartment of the yellow remote control car . Ali ' s wife , who is originally from Pakistan , is said to have accepted the delivery on February 10 before armed officers arrested him the following morning during raids of five properties in Liverpool including his home , former home and a local firm . No pleas were taken during the hearing in London . Ali was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on March 13 . Police have stressed officers have currently uncovered no plan or threat of an imminent attack . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past18126,126,"Russia Young women in bright miniskirts and high heels line up to sell themselves in the dingy back streets throughout the Russian capital . Moscow ' s illegal flesh markets are flourishing , with up to 30 women at each pickup point , or tochka , standing in order of price for the night . Russian police acknowledge that human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a major problem . Customers light up the lines with their car headlights and are asked to pay between 100 and 700 for a woman . Aid workers for groups fighting for women ' s rights say Moscow is witnessing a surge in prostitution , including forced prostitution , as a result of Russia ' s booming economy . They say thousands of young women are made to work as sex slaves on the city ' s streets , unable to escape from the ruthless and violent criminal gangs who traffic them . Watch Moscow ' s thriving sex trade "" It ' s because of the economic boom they are brought here , "" said Afsona Kadyrova of the Angel Coalition aid agency , which rehabilitates trafficked women and children . "" The fast pace of development in Moscow has fueled demand for a range of cheap workers , including prostitutes . "" "" Take your pick from any of the girls , "" the female organizer said at one location , lines of women all around . "" The expensive ones are on the right , for 600 and 700 a night . The women on the left are 100 . "" Aid agencies say many of the women working here are tricked into coming to Moscow on the promise of an education or a good job . They say others are simply kidnapped from their hometowns and forced to work as prostitutes in Moscow . Watch one woman describe how her uncle duped her into prostitution Russian police acknowledge that human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a major problem , saying they do what they can to fight it by raiding brothels suspected of forced prostitution and arresting gang members who run them . But the problem , they say , lies elsewhere . "" First of all , we have virtually open borders , and badly controlled migration flows from nearby countries , "" said Alexander Krasnov of Russia ' s Interior Ministry Police . "" Secondly , we still don ' t have a basic law that defines victims ' rights . At the moment , it ' s mostly aid agencies that deal with it . "" Aid agencies say they are handling a growing number of deeply traumatized victims rescued from brothels and pimps in the Moscow area . One U . N . organization , the International Organization for Migration , recently opened a treatment and rehabilitation center to cope with the large numbers of sexually exploited and trafficked women who come for help . At this center , Christine , a 27 year old Nigerian woman , tells how she acquired a painful 4 inch scar across her right cheek . She says she was lured to Russia from Nigeria four years ago by her uncle . He promised to give her a college education , she says . But instead , she says , he sent her to a Moscow brothel . He told her "" the kind of job I ' m going to be doing is prostitution . "" "" I ask him , ' Why prostitution ? Why not another job to pay the money ? ' He says I didn ' t speak the language . I cannot do any other job . "" She added , "" It made me feel very bad . I felt that I ' m not going to do it over my dead body . "" But when she tried to run away , her uncle cut her face , says Christine , who asked that her last name not be used . "" He made me know that if I don ' t cooperate with him , something bad will happen to me that if I made an attempt to run away , it would end in taking my life . So I was really scared about that , "" she said . Aid workers say Russia has become a prime destination for trafficked women from Africa , the Far East and former Soviet states . There are no exact figures , but aid agencies estimate that thousands of trafficked women are on Moscow ' s streets . "" Before , it was just a country of origin for Europe and the U . S . and elsewhere in the world , "" Kadyrova said . "" But right now , we see that Russia has become a destination country also . "" According to the group ' s Web site , human traffickers "" prey on the dreams of impoverished women seeking employment and opportunities for the future . "" Most women are young and single with little education some are orphans and college students others are married with children . "" All of them are lured by advertising images of a beautiful life beyond the borders of their homelands making them easy prey to the thousands of traffickers advertising in newspapers , on radio , television , in the metro and on the streets for wonderful work abroad with no experience necessary , "" the group says . For millions , Russia ' s new economic prosperity has been a blessing . But for those caught up in the sex trade , it ' s a curse . Christine managed to escape after meeting a woman from a church who helped her . "" I was crying all the time , telling her , ' I don ' t want this kind of job , ' "" she said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past19129,129,"Spain striker Fernando Torres may not be fit for the start of the World Cup , according to his English club Liverpool . The forward scored 18 goals in 22 games in the Premier League before his season was cut short by a knee injury . Torres had surgery to repair a torn cartilage in April and is now racing to be fit for Spain ' s opening game at the finals with Switzerland on June 16 . Peter Brukner , Head of Sports Medicine and Sports Science at Liverpool , says the 26 year old may not have recovered in time to launch his country ' s charge for the trophy . He told Liverpool ' s official Web site : "" You can ' t be absolutely certain of anything but at this stage , if he continues to progress the way he is , he should be fit to play at some stage during the World Cup . "" Whether he ' ll be fit for the first game or not is uncertain . We ' re anxious not to hurry him along too much because we want the long term benefit , but we ' re aware he ' s got the short term goal of playing in the World Cup . "" Meanwhile , Germany coach Joachim Loew has been dealt a double blow ahead of the World Cup after goalkeeper Rene Adler and midfielder Simon Rolfes were ruled out of the tournament through injury . Adler has been told he needs surgery on a rib injury , aggravated while playing for his club Bayer Leverkusen during their weekend German Bundesliga draw with Hertha Berlin . He has been the country ' s number one since Robert Enke committed suicide in November 2009 , and has nine caps to his name . "" This was the hardest decision of my life , "" Adler told the German Football Association ' s Web site . "" The pain is so great that I would not have been able to perform at my best over the longer term both in training and during matches . "" In such a long and intensive tournament , that is unacceptable . You need players who are totally fit . "" Rolfes , who also plays for Leverkusen , has been out of action since an operation on a knee injury back in January and will not be adding to his 21 caps at the finals in South Africa . He said : "" I am very pleased with the healing process but it is now definitively clear that the World Cup finals for me make no sense . "" My plan is now to look to start the new Bundesliga season fully fit . Missing out on the World Cup is not easy . It only remains for me now to wish the team every success in South Africa . "" Meanwhile , striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has been left out of Holland ' s provisional World Cup squad , but coach Bert Van Marwijk says it doesn ' t necessarily spell the end of his World Cup dream . The 33 year old former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward is currently playing for Hamburg in the Bundesliga . "" As for Ruud , I ' m giving myself until May 11 to decide , "" Van Marwijk was quoted as saying in a story on ' s Web site . "" I ' m leaving him until that date to convince me that he is sufficiently in shape to take part in the World Cup . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past20147,147,"Holy moly! We ve been covering the agent who was fired for his anti-Trump tweets but now this BOMBSHELL:The agent is the one who quickly looked over thousands of emails from the Weiner computer and said there was nothing there! You can bet this is now a big problem for the FBI. President Trump is correct when he says the is in tatters Reddit reported: ANTI- AGENT: This is an interesting development in the Mueller investigation because we don t trust the FBI. Is this new news from the New York Times an effort to make Mueller and McCabe appear unbiased? We re not buying it because this guy was the lead investigator in the Hillary email case Really??? Talk about compromised! Please see our previous report below on the giving special status to Hillary s email investigation.Robert Mueller kicked a top agent off the special counsel investigation this summer over potential anti-Trump texts he sent, per a new report today.According to The New York Times, Peter Strzok not only helped lead the investigation into Hillary Clinton s emails, but he played a major role in the Trump-Russia investigation.But he is no longer on the investigation:Mr. Strzok was reassigned this summer from Mr. Mueller s investigation to the F.B.I. s human resources department, where he has been stationed since. The people briefed on the case said the transfer followed the discovery of text messages in which Mr. Strzok and a colleague reacted to news events, like presidential debates, in ways that could appear anti-Trump. News reported back in August that Strzok had left the investigation, but said at the time it s unclear why Strzok stepped away from Mueller s team of nearly two dozen lawyers, investigators and administrative staffers. And The Washington Post s report today on Strzok contains some rather, well, personal details:During the Clinton investigation, Strzok was involved in a romantic relationship with lawyer Lisa Page, who worked for Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.The extramarital affair was problematic, these people said, but of greater concern among senior law enforcement officials were text messages the two exchanged during the Clinton investigation and campaign season, in which they expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton Officials are now reviewing the communications to see if they show evidence of political bias in their work on the cases, a review which could result in a public report, according to people familiar with the matter. Via: mediaiteFBI HILLARY:Friday on Fox News Channel s Fox & Friends, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said evidence had been uncovered showing that the gave the investigation of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton s improper use of an unauthorized email server while secretary of state a special status. According to the Florida Republican, who is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the process afforded to Clinton was different than it would have been for any other American. We now have evidence that the s investigation of Hillary Clinton did not follow normal and standard procedures, he said. The current deputy director of the Andrew McCabe sent emails just weeks before the presidential election saying that the Hillary Clinton investigation would be special that it would be handled by a small team at headquarters, that it would be given special status. INVESTIGATION: I am immediately calling for an investigation into the special treatment that the gave Hillary Clinton. Rep. Gaetz: ""I am immediately calling for an investigation into the special treatment that the gave Hillary Clinton."" #IngrahamAngle pic.twitter.com/EHkQfyeWDK Fox News (@FoxNews) November 22, 2017Ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee Goetz is calling for an investigation into why Hillary Clinton s case was labelled special by the s Andrew McCabe:The Hill reports:Shortly before last year s election, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe wrote an email on his official government account stating that the Hillary Clinton email probe had been given special status, according to documents released Wednesday.McCabe s Oct. 23, 2016, email to press officials in the said the probe was under the control of a small group of high-ranking people at the s headquarters in Washington. As I now know the decision was made to investigate it at with a small team, McCabe wrote in the email. He said he had no input when the Clinton email investigation started in summer 2015, while he was serving as assistant director in charge of the s Washington office. [The Washington office] provided some personnel for the effort but it was referred to as a special and I was not given any details about it, he wrote. officials on Wednesday night refused to answer what McCabe meant by calling the Clinton email probe a special or why it was restricted to a small team at headquarters when it began. We don t have anything to add to the documents that were released, bureau spokeswoman Carol Cratty wrote The Hill.The note was contained in more than 70 pages of emails the released on its public records site known as The Vault.The emails chronicled McCabe s efforts to address a separate controversy involving his wife s 2015 campaign for political office.McCabe s references to a special status for the Clinton probe are likely to be used as ammunition by Republican lawmakers critical of former Director James Comey s handling of the Clinton investigation.Remember that the s Loretta Lynch also wanted Clinton s case to be called an incident and not an investigation. It looks like all intel agencies were doing all they could to protect Clinton. Was it to save themselves from exposure in the Uranium One case or something else?",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past21175,175,"The view from above southern Egypt is stunning , a contrast of beige desert valley giving way to green farmland , including fields of sugar cane . Tourists soak in the sight by hiring hot air balloons that have large baskets to carry passengers hundreds of feet above the countryside . Tuesday morning , as one of the balloons prepared to land , an explosion pierced the air , followed by a spreading billow of smoke . "" My first thought was that it was sugar cane that was burning , "" said Christopher Michel , a photographer who was a passenger in another balloon at the time . Smoke from the burning sugar cane painted the ancient city of Luxor below with an eerie haziness . But the concern shown by the balloon pilot and the blaring sirens from emergency vehicles told Michel that something was wrong . He could not imagine the extent : One of the balloons had exploded , and its 21 passengers and operators plummeted about 1 , 000 feet ( 300 meters ) to the ground . By Tuesday afternoon , the number of dead had climbed to 19 , making it the world ' s deadliest hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years . It was an early , dark morning , Michel said , and uneventful for 45 minutes until they started to descend . He was overlooking mud brick buildings and fields , with the Valley of the Kings in the distance , when the explosion shattered the quiet of the morning . It was a gas explosion , state run EgyNews reported . Passengers in the balloon included 19 foreign tourists : nine from Hong Kong , four from Japan , three from Britain , two from France and one from Hungary , officials said . An Egyptian pilot and another Egyptian also were on board , Luxor province spokesman Badawi al Masri said . Two people a Briton and the pilot are hospitalized . Balloon rides offering panoramic aerial views of the Nile River and the ancient temples of Karnak and Hatshepsut are a popular tourist attraction in Luxor , about a nine hour drive southeast of Cairo . Tuesday ' s crash prompted Gov . Izzat Saad of Luxor province to ban all hot air balloon flights until further notice . Conflicting reports emerged about the company that operated the doomed balloon , Sky Cruise . The head of the country ' s civil aviation authority said the company was licensed and working legally , EgyNews reported . The agency has begun an investigation of the incident , Mohammed Ibrahim Sharif said . According to Sharif , a fire broke out in the balloon while the workers were trying to land it , just feet from the ground . The balloon then shot upwards again , he said . The balloon ' s basket was divided into four parts , he said , each holding five passengers . Meanwhile , Luxor ' s chamber of tourism said the company had previous violations , EgyNews reported . Several balloon companies had terminated contracts with the local meteorological service after the Egyptian revolution , Tharwat Agami , chairman of the chamber of tourism , said . Sky Cruise and other companies were known to violate safety and security instructions by flying out of East Luxor , instead of the recommended West Luxor , he said . Comparing it to a previous hot air balloon experience in another country , Michel noted that there was no safety briefing before the Luxor balloons lifted off the ground , but added that he felt safe during the trip . From what he could tell , the doomed balloon was not overloaded , he said on his Twitter account . Luxor is among Egypt ' s top tourist draws . Visitors go to see ancient temples and tombs , and travel sites often recommend the hot air balloon trips . The last hot air balloon accident in Luxor occurred in 2009 , when 16 foreign tourists were injured after a balloon struck a cell phone transmission tower . Until Tuesday ' s incident , the deadliest accident in recent memory took place in 1989 , when 13 people were killed as two hot air balloons collided in Australia . Egyptian government spokesman Alaa Hadidi announced that the Cabinet will form a committee from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to investigate Tuesday ' s accident , EgyNews said . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past22192,192,"D . C . President Bush launched a led investigation into Colin Powell , stating that the former secretary of U . S . defense is harboring stolen weapons of mass destruction . "" I specifically told Powell to strategically place them there weapons in Iraq to make it look like they beloned to Saddam , "" Bush said in a State Of The Union address this morning . The United Nations will conduct a search of Mr Powell ' s estate beginning next Monday . The former secretary of defense resigned from his cabinet position nearly a month ago . He could not be reached yesterday and has not returned phone calls . A preliminary search of his office in his New Jersey home turned up no evidence of nukes , but federal agents said they found blue pills imprinted with the word "" pfizer "" , along with a bag of white powder . Both were sent to pharmaceutical laboratories at . Federal agent Dave Simone said , "" While searching his office we found some disturbing evidence of terrorist activity , including a blow up toy of some sort with a piece of masking tape on the stomach labeled ' Mary Cheney ' along with some blue pills and a bag of white powder . Very disturbing . Possibly ecstasy and anthrax . We won ' t know for sure until the lab results come back . "" U . N . officials declined to comment on the situation , but a janitor at the New York office said he overheard a chief official talking to President Bush just hours before the accusations . "" Dee man tawlkin ' to de presiedent told Mr Bush ' This better not be another Iraq or your house is next . ' "" Bush said he is "" ready for an all out battle royale with Powell , if that ' s what has to happen . And it will . "" He then went on to say "" I can ' t believe Colin stole my coke stash ! I mean , I I woulda ' shared it . What I really mean is , folks , what I meant was , I ' m sure Colin has weapons of mass destruction . "" Mr Bush then continued to dig an even deeper grave for himself . As for Colin Powell , only time will tell . Condaliza Rice commented on the situation , saying "" Powell is a traitor . Right now our country is kind of like Germany in the 1940s . You stick with what you have , not with what you wish you had . Uh , can this be stricken from the record ? "" No , Ms . Rice . It can ' t . ",satire,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past23196,196,"Former analyst and retired U.S. Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer told Lou Dobbs on Tuesday President Trump needs to understand deep state has declared war against his administration. He needs to fire top two levels in intelligence to clean house. STATE:Never in American history has there been a more highly organized group of people, the deep state , attempting to subvert the will of the American people, in this case, the Trump presidency. Peter Schweizer discusses the efforts of the deep state , their conspiracy campaign against Donald Trump and its potential impact on President Trump s administration.",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present24197,197,"The motto of the Enterprise , the vessel whose 5 year mission "" to boldly go where no man has gone before "" , seems to have been taken all too literally , after it was announced that has relieved a spaceship captain of his command over the production of lewd videos on the ship . The videos featuring Capt James T . Kirk were apparently made some time ago , and were described by as "" deeply offensive "" . One has gay slurs , women in the shower together and simulated masturbation . Another has a member of the crew wanking into a Vulcan ' s ear . Officials said Capt Kirk ' s actions and "" profound lack of judgment "" had put his character and fitness to lead in doubt . "" Adm John Harvey Jr has relieved Capt Kirk of his command of the Enterprise , "" said . Capt Kirk ' s "" profound lack of good judgment and professionalism while previously serving as executive officer on the Enterprise calls into question his character and completely undermines his credibility to continue to serve effectively in command , "" said a official in a statement . Capt Kirk has been reassigned to an administrative role , Adm Harvey told reporters on Tuesday . He said : "" The Navy will continue investigating the case to determine which other officers aboard the ship knew about the videos . That Mr Spock obviously knew , as it was his pointy ear that was the recipient of some ' intergalactic love juice ' , but others ' careers are in the balance . That kinky Mr Sulu is one of these . "" Star Trek fans were shocked at the news . One , Gene BlackenBerry , 109 , said : "" I ' m shocked at the news . I always thought those tight fitting sexy outfits were just a sign of the progressive fashion styles of the 1960s . It just goes to show you , doesn ' t it ? "" A lot of other people yawned . ",satire,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past25219,219,"All members of a California based band that was to perform at the Paris venue where one of Friday night s deadly attacks occurred are safe and have been accounted for , a official briefed by the Justice Department said . The band Eagles of Death Metal was supposed to perform at the Bataclan , a theater located in eastern Paris near the trendy Oberkampf area . People inside were taken hostage . It was unclear how many were inside but French police say at least 100 people were killed . The death toll is in addition to the 35 people who died in shootings and explosions in multiple sites in the city Friday night . The official was not authorized to discuss the briefing publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity . Earlier Friday , management for the band said they were trying to determine the safety and whereabouts of the band and its crew . The Atlanta Journal Constitution , quoting the brother of the band s drummer , reported Friday night that all band members escaped the concert hall unharmed . The paper identified the drummer as Atlanta native Julian Dorio . They saw a man with a machine gun just opening fire , Dorio s brother Michael Dorio told the newspaper . Michael Dorio said his brother told him band members hit the floor when they spotted the gunmen , then ran out a backstage door . They dashed to a nearby police station , where Julian Dorio borrowed someone s cellphone to call his family in Atlanta , Michael Dorio said . Josh Homme , one of the founders of the band and the leader of another popular group , Queens of the Stone Age , was not performing in Paris with Eagles of Death Metal , according to a publicist for the Eagles record label . The band , formed in 1998 in Palm Desert , California , was celebrating the October release of Zipper Down with a European tour . It s their first album in seven years . The said Julian Dorio is not a full time member of the band but had joined it on a European tour . Homme formed Eagles of Death Metal with his best friend , Jesse Hughes . Though their name is Eagles of Death Metal , the band s sound is a mix of blues rock and garage rock . Their website lists about two dozen dates planned for the year , including stops in Munich , Stockholm , Rome and Barcelona . In an interview in June with The Associated Press , the band spoke excitedly about releasing new music and heading on tour . You know , I m telling you the truth , but this is the coolest job in the world , Hughes said , sitting next to Homme . Right now I m sitting in an interview with my best friend in London at Koko s Ballroom talking about myself . It doesn t really get much better than this ! ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past26233,233,"French journalist Ivan Rioufol is to be prosecuted using 19th century press laws A French journalist is facing a criminal trial under the country ' s strict press laws for remarks made during a radio debate about the influence of Islam . Ivan Rioufol , 61 , believes the way he is being treated is an example of how writers are criminalised when the state is able to control the media . He was summoned to court under strict press laws which date back to the 19th Century following a complaint from a pressure group called the Collective Against Islamophobia in France ( ) . ' In seeking to undermine liberty of expression , a sacred principle of our civilisation , the Collective against Islamophobia in France ( ) takes the risk of appearing like a menace to democracy , ' said Mr Rioufol . ' This is essentially what I hope to be able to explain in court , because I will have to appear in a few months before the 17th Criminal Court in Paris . ' Mr Rioufol , who has written for Le Figaro newspaper for almost 28 years , made some allegedly defamatory remarks on November 15th 2012 during an radio programme called ' We Reshape the World . ' Mr Rioufol particularly objected to a poster campaign which showed pictures of predominantly bearded and veiled Muslims under the slogan ' We are the Nation ' . The journalist said that this was against the spirit of France ' s inclusive , secular republic something which objected to . Mr Rioufol said that France ' s 1881 Press Law was being used to ' penalise criticism , intimidate journalists , censor the media ' and even ' to reintroduce the offence of blasphemy ' . We Are The Nation : The poster by the Collective Against Islamophobia In France , which Mr Rioufol referred to in the radio debate Ivan Rioufol will seek to prove that his words were true , as a defence against the defamation charge The 1881 law was nominally meant to guarantee the ' freedom of the press ' but in fact criminalised a range of journalistic behaviour . So called ' press offenses ' ranged from insulting the President of France , to defaming private citizens through comment . Mr Rioufol said about the case ' s first hearing : ' The judge reminded me that he himself had no opportunity to verify the existence of the alleged offense , the procedure Press Law 1881 leading automatically to court , where the case will be considered on its merits . ' Mr Rioufol said the law was ' easily manipulated ' by those who wanted to persecute journalists . A spokesman for said it had a duty to challenge ' Islamophobia ' and the press laws were a logical way of challenging journalism it objected to . ' Mr Rioufol will in court seek to prove that his words were true one of the defences against defamation . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past27244,244,"Australia has cemented its position as one of the world ' s fattest nations , a new study has revealed . The lucky country may not be so lucky coming in as the 25th largest nation in the Global Burden of Disease Study for 2013 , which monitored the weight gain of 188 nations over a 33 year period . Along with New Zealand , Australia has experienced an 80 per cent increase in obesity rates in the past three decades , and it jumped nearly 40 places on the list , the biggest mover but evidently not in the right way . The fat country : According to a new study obesity rates in Australia have increased exponentially over the last 33 years Australia sits ahead of many European nations such as France and Germany , but still trailed the U . S . despite figures that show nearly one in three Aussies are considered obese . The study revealed that not one single nation decreased its overweight and obesity rates during the time period , a concerning statistic that could put pressure on health systems worldwide . Professor of Public Health at the University of Melbourne Rob Moodie told the Sydney Morning Herald that Australia had to act now if it wants to combat this obesity crisis . ' Waiting for a cure is not possible . . . The public health system will be crushed by the obesity crisis and the rise in cancer , heart disease and diabetes . ' ' We have also failed to get anywhere with front of pack labeling , or with food reformulation , because of a huge resistance from the industry to anything that might improve our health , ' Professor Moodie also told the publication . Put the pressure on : These increased rates will put strain on the public health system These findings put the strain on the government to cut back on junk food marketing , restore the healthy food star rating system and push companies to cut sugar and fat contents in their products . The study , which tracked the weight gain of adults and children from 1980 to 2013 , was based on Body Mass Index measurements ( ) which work on the relationship between height and weight to produce a figure . Anyone with a of 25 or more is considered overweight , while a rating of 30 or more deems an individual as being obese . Nearly 30 per cent , or 5 . 2 million Australian adults , are classified as being obese compared with a much lower figure of 16 per cent in 1980 . The Global Burden of Disease findings also said that more than half of the world ' s obese people now live in developing countries , and around a quarter of children are suffering from obesity . In the lead : Around 5 . 2 million Australian adults are now considered obese Another concern in Australia is that cuts in the recent budget could have an impact on fighting this obesity trend thanks to funding being scaled back on programs that target prevention in schools and communities . Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University , Mike Daube , told the publication that obesity has crept up on Australia as a nation and new co payment scheme may defer people from seeing their about the issue . Obesity is linked to major health problems such as heart disease , stroke , high blood pressure and range of cancers . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past28268,268,"Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus Rep. Mark Meadows (R. . C.) told Breitbart News on Friday that he will work with moderate Republicans to pass better Obamacare legislation than the bill offered by Speaker Paul Ryan (R. .) — as part of his understanding with President Donald Trump. [“Based on my conversations with the president and the they want to get it right, and they want to get it done quickly,” said Meadows. “They also want to make sure they reduce premiums for Americans — and when that happens, we’re in total solidarity with our president and . ” The congressman said the American Health Care Act does not have the mechanisms to reduce premiums, nor costs, until further on down the path of replacement of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. “I want to applaud the president, having met with him yesterday,” he said. “He’s negotiating in good faith. I committed to him that I would negotiate in good faith,” Meadows said. “The only troubling thing that I continue to hear is that no amendments are going to be going to be allowed to be made in order. Certainly, no amendments were supported by either of the chairmen in either of the committees of jurisdiction. ” As part of his good faith commitment to the president, Meadows said he would work with more moderate Republicans, whose districts are less conservative than his, in order to find common ground. One of the frustrations Capitol Hill conservatives are dealing with is the contrast between the 2o17 repeal effort and the 2015 repeal effort. In December 2015, Republicans in the House and Senate passed an Obamacare repeal bill authored by Rep. Tom Price (R. . ). Price is a physician and now the secretary of Health and Human Services, but in 2o15, he was the chairman of the House Budget Committee. The Price bill was the “root and branch” repeal conservatives demanded from the party. Although it was vetoed by President Barack Obama, conservatives expected the return of the 2015 bill as the opening move, followed by a replacement bill that combined parts of Obamacare that had already become part of the national consensus and a transition period that gave the economy and body politic time to adjust. The RyanCare bill was crafted to be “RepealPlus,” Meadow said. “The 2015 bill that all of us vote on? He doesn’t want to do,” he said. “He is saying that the reason why he doesn’t want to do the 2015 bill is that it won’t pass in the Senate. Well, my encouragement is to send it over to the Senate and let them amend it and then they can send it back to us. ” I support my friends @RandPaul, @SenMikeLee, and @tedcruz. Every tax, every mandate, every regulation of #Obamacare needs to go. weblink . — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) February 28, 2017, Meadows said he does bank on promises of future reform and adjustments. “In Washington, D. C. you have to make the assumption that the only thing that is going to get done is the one thing you are voting on today,” he said. “History shows us that if count on just the thing you are voting on today to get done, that is a more prudent calculation than assuming that you vote on something and assuming you’ll get three or four things that may or may not happen. ” This between the two chambers is the normal legislative process Ryan and the Republican leadership are hoping to avoid. If the RyanCare bill can progress through the House and Senate unchanged, then there is no need for a conference to reconcile two versions of the same bill. In a conference, the power shifts to the Senate from the House because a senator chairs the conference committee. For Ryan, the additional risk is that a conference committee is free to produce whatever bill they come up with for votes in the House and Senate. There is a suspicion on Capitol Hill that the RyanCare language is frozen because of agreements made between the Republican leadership and insurance company representatives when the bill was written. Certainly, it is strange for a bill to be touted as the return of “regular order” when it was developed outside the committees, without hearings. It also has not escaped notice among conservatives that not a single Republican member of either the Ways and Means Committee nor the Energy and Commerce Committee offered amendments to the RyanCare bill in their committee markups. Ryan dropped his bill Monday at 6 p. m. as members were coming back to Washington from the weekend recess and with no outreach to conservative media. A leadership staffer familiar with the RyanCare rollout told Breitbart News that the rollout was part of the party’s plan that takes Capitol Hill Republicans from January through Labor Day. January and February were devoted to confirmations and regulatory relief through the Congressional Review Act, the staffer said. March is devoted to passing leadership’s health care bill, the staffer said. The RyanCare bill is meant to be the first phase of the process, and it is written in such a way as to preserve its status as a privileged motion through the budget reconciliation process. Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, but for regular legislation, there is a requirement to close debate and bring up a vote. Because the Republicans do not have the 60 votes required for cloture, they must use the budget track, which means the repeal bill can only address issues. Further changes to the legislation are vulnerable to Democratic efforts to extend debate indefinitely as long as they control 41 votes. This maneuver is the filibuster and Republicans are anticipating that once the financial underpinnings of Obamacare are restricted through the budget bill, enough Democrats will participate in the process to pass the additional phases of replacement. As a practical matter, the House Republican Leadership must get to 216 votes, not 218, because there are five vacant House seats. The House Freedom Caucus does not list its members publicly, but during the 2015 fight to Speaker John Boehner (R. ) it was accepted that the was solid for 30 votes. With 237 sitting Republicans, 22 defections are enough to kill the RyanCare bill on the floor. In the recent past, so many Republicans have bucked the House leaders that the Republicans needed Democratic votes to pass leadership’s compromises with Obama and the Democrats. There were 67 Republicans who voted against the Dec. 11, 2014 “Cromnibus” budget deal. Republicans voted against Ryan’s budget agreement with Democrats in 2013. In the fiscal cliff vote Jan. 1, 2013, 151 Republicans voted against the Republican leadership. But these votes were before Ryan took the gavel and Trump moved into the White House. The next hurdle for the American Health Care Act is the House Budget Committee, chaired by Rep. Diane Black (R. . ).",true,news,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present29275,275,"Reuters) - More than 400 U.S. Marines and their artillery are leaving Syria after helping to capture the city of Raqqa from Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition fighting the militant group said on Thursday. Last month, U.S.-backed militias declared victory in Raqqa, Islamic State s former headquarters in Syria, after months of fighting with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. With the city liberated and on the run, the unit has been ordered home. Its replacements have been called off, the coalition said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State. We re drawing down combat forces where it makes sense, but still continuing our efforts to help Syrian and Iraqi partners maintain security, Brigadier General Jonathan Braga, the director of operations for the coalition, said in the statement. Our remaining forces will continue to work by, with, and through partner forces to defeat remaining ISIS, prevent a re-emergence of ISIS, and set conditions for international governments and NGOs to help local citizens recover from the horrors of short-lived rule, he said. Officially, the Pentagon says there are 503 troops in Syria. However, as of last week, U.S. officials said there were closer to 2,000 U.S. troops in the country. The latest announcement would reduce that number. As that campaign against Islamic State winds down, it is unclear how many, if any, U.S. troops will remain in Syria. Most of them are special operations forces, working to train and advise local partner forces, including providing artillery support against Islamic State militants. Separately, Russia said it was already preparing to withdraw its military contingent from Syria, Russian news agencies reported. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past30277,277,"ST. — Police officers in riot gear clashed with protesters who blocked a major highway here for hours on Saturday night, marking a tense turn for the demonstrations that have continued almost nonstop since a black man, Philando Castile, was fatally shot by a suburban police officer during a traffic stop on Wednesday. The protesters marched from the Minnesota governor’s mansion onto Interstate 94, chanting refrains such as “We’re peaceful, y’all violent” as the police urged them to leave. Officers struggled for more than four hours to disperse the crowd, at times deploying smoke and marking rounds in a standoff that stretched into early Sunday before snowplows cleared debris and the highway was reopened to traffic. The police in St. Paul said at least five officers were injured by fireworks, rocks, bricks and glass bottles that they said were thrown by protesters. None of their injuries were believed to be serious. Officers said they made arrests, but did not provide information about the number of people in custody or the charges they might be facing. The Minnesota protest was among several sizable demonstrations across the country on Saturday expressing outrage at the deaths of Mr. Castile and of Alton Sterling, another black man, who was killed by the police in Baton Rouge, La. DeRay Mckesson, a activist with a large Twitter following, was among more than 30 people arrested on Saturday outside the Baton Rouge Police Headquarters. A live stream via Twitter’s Periscope service captured his arrest after a verbal confrontation with an officer who ordered him not to walk onto a street. Protesters also blocked traffic on Saturday in New York, the local station reported, and The Chicago Tribune said that a series of demonstrations in that city turned tense at times and led to arrests. In Minnesota, the contentious highway shutdown marked a change in tack for the protesters who had occupied the area outside the governor’s mansion for days but had remained almost entirely peaceful. On Friday night, the protest group had been stationary for the most part, listening to music and taking turns at the microphone outside the governor’s residence discussing state laws and calling for changes to police tactics. Earlier on Saturday, a separate group of peaceful protesters had gathered at a park in downtown Minneapolis and prepared to walk through the streets. Nekima president of the Minneapolis NAACP, said organizers scheduled that march because “people are experiencing trauma after trauma after trauma as a result of what happened. ” Ms. said many here had still been coming to terms with the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark by the Minneapolis police in 2015 and the decision not to charge the officers involved. Protesters also blocked traffic on a Minnesota highway after Mr. Clark’s death, and after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Missouri police officer in 2014. As protests continue here, much remains unknown about Mr. Castile’s death. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating, has not said why he was pulled over or what happened during the traffic stop. A Facebook Live video of the shooting’s aftermath prompted widespread attention and outrage, with Mr. Castile’s girlfriend suggesting that he had been reaching for his identification when shot by Officer Jeronimo Yanez of the St. Anthony Police. Thomas Kelly, a lawyer for Officer Yanez, said his client had been “reacting to the presence of a gun,” though Mr. Castile’s girlfriend said in the Facebook video that he was licensed to carry a weapon.",true,news,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past31285,285,"director Robert Hannigan is stepping down after only two years as chief of the cyber spy agency for personal reasons, the intelligence service has announced. Recall also that Judge Napolitano said three sources told him the British spy agency had something to do with the witch hunt on Trump: was on & Friends discussing the Obama administration s efforts to spy on Donald Trump. Three intel sources have disclosed to the network that Obama went to British intelligence to get the goods on Trump, but we may never be able to prove it NAPOLITANO: Three intelligence sources have informed News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. He didn t use the NSA, he didn t use the CIA, he didn t use the and he didn t use the Department of Justice He used *GCHQ. * is a British intel agency.@Judgenap: Three intel sources have disclosed that Pres. Obama turned to British spies to get surveillance on Trump pic.twitter.com/IghCFm7qhO & friends (@foxandfriends) March 14, 2017 Grassley began his investigation after the Washington Post reported on February 28 that the FBI, a few weeks before the election, agreed to pay former British spy Christopher Steele to investigate Trump.Prior to that, supporters of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign had paid Steele to gather intelligence on Clinton s Republican rival. In the end, the did not pay Steele, the Post reported, after the dossier became the subject of news stories, congressional inquiries and presidential denials. It is not clear whether Steele worked under agreement with the for any period of time before the payment deal fell through. The idea that the and associates of the Clinton campaign would pay Mr. Steele to investigate the Republican nominee for president in the run-up to the election raises further questions about the s independence from politics, as well as the Obama administration s use of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for political ends, Grassley wrote in a letter to Comey dated March 28. BEFORE:BREAKING: GOVERNOR, Close Hillary Friend Gave Wife Of Official Overseeing Hillary Email Investigation $467,500The political organization of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, an influential Democrat with longstanding ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton, gave nearly $500,000 to the election campaign of the wife of an official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation who later helped oversee the investigation into Mrs. Clinton s email use.Campaign finance records show Mr. McAuliffe s political-action committee donated $467,500 to the 2015 state Senate campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe, who is married to Andrew McCabe, now the deputy director of the FBI.The Virginia Democratic Party, over which Mr. McAuliffe exerts considerable control, donated an additional $207,788 worth of support to Dr. McCabe s campaign in the form of mailers, according to the records. That adds up to slightly more than $675,000 to her candidacy from entities either directly under Mr. McAuliffe s control or strongly influenced by him. The figure represents more than a third of all the campaign funds Dr. McCabe raised in the effort.Mr. McAuliffe and other state party leaders recruited Dr. McCabe to run, according to party officials. She lost the election to incumbent Republican Dick Black.A spokesman for the governor said he supported Jill McCabe because he believed she would be a good state senator. This is a customary practice for Virginia governors Any insinuation that his support was tied to anything other than his desire to elect candidates who would help pass his agenda is ridiculous. Among political candidates that year, Dr. McCabe was the third-largest recipient of funds from Common Good VA, the governor s PAC, according to campaign finance records. Dan Gecker received $781,500 from the and $214,456 from the state party for a campaign that raised $2.9 million, according to records; and Jeremy McPike received $803,500 from the and $535,162 from the state party, raising more $3.8 million that year for his candidacy.The governor could recall only one meeting with Mr. McCabe when he and other state Democrats met with the couple on March 7, 2015, to urge Dr. McCabe to run, according to the spokesman. Via: Washington Examiner",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past32300,300,"In what is being hailed as a major breakthrough by the scientific community , a team of researchers announced Monday that they had successfully taught American Sign Language to a 43 year old gorilla suit wearing man . Scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center told reporters that Brian , a western Kansas born gorilla costumed male living in their facility , has already learned well over 250 words in sign language , including all 26 letters of the alphabet , basic greetings , and even several short , simple phrases . "" It ' s been an extensive process , but it ' s remarkable to see Brian starting to express his thoughts and emotions to us with signing , "" said lead researcher Rebecca Hayes , telling reporters that after just nine months of instruction , the full grown great ape suit wearing man is already capable of stringing his thoughts together into almost complete sentences . "" Not only does he have the ability to tell us when he ' s hungry or thirsty , but he can now use signs to demonstrate feelings of happiness , anger , and even love . "" "" Of course , Brian ' s vocabulary must expand considerably before we can engage in normal conversation with him , "" Hayes continued . "" But until then , his limited command of sign language is providing a fascinating glimpse inside the mind of an adult gorilla suit wearing human . "" Despite Brian ' s current success with sign language , researchers told reporters the 180 pound gorilla suit wearing man struggled in his early lessons , and was often unable to use his shaggy , glove covered fingers to form even basic vocabulary words . "" When we first started communicating to Brian in sign language , he would often spend hours just staring at us with a completely blank expression , "" said assistant researcher Michael Pereira , who works with the middle aged gorilla suit clad man daily in his naturalistic enclosure within the facility . "" But now , the second Brian sees us coming , he excitedly leaps to his molded latex feet and rushes over to our research team to impart information to them with sign language . "" "" None of this should be considered too surprising , of course , "" added Pereira . "" Our findings show the average gorilla costume wearing individual shares an estimated 100 percent of a human being ' s genetic code . "" While the work of the Oregon based team has not gone without its criticism , with many saying Brian isn ' t actually learning sign language , but merely mimicking gestures , primatologists training the advanced gorilla suit wearing man claim they have detected more and more signs of comprehension on his latex masked face each and every day . "" Everyone who has worked with Brian will verify that he really does display a rudimentary understanding of what we are saying to him . "" Hayes told reporters . "" In fact , each of the researchers made a connection with Brian and forged a meaningful bond with him . He is one of the most affectionate and compassionate gorilla suit wearing men I ' ve ever encountered . "" "" When you look deep into his large , rubber cutout eyeholes , you can tell that he ' s really engrossed in contemplation , "" Hayes added . In an effort to promote a better understanding of their research , Hayes and her team recently launched The Brian Project , a website filled with video documentation of the remarkable gorilla suit wearing man . Among the released videos , there is footage of the 43 year old ' s first attempt at signing his own name , a clip where he signs "" I love you "" to a female researcher , and a particularly intriguing segment showing a frustrated Brian beating his vinyl chest after failing to understand a sentence and uttering what scientists believe to be a muffled , barely audible "" Goddammit . "" Zoologists from around the country have already begun expressing their interest in the studies , with several speculating that Brian ' s developments could radically change not just how science views gorilla suit wearing men , but the entire evolution of primate costumed people as we know it . "" Essentially , we can now say that gorilla suit wearing humans are far smarter and more capable than anyone could have previously anticipated , "" said Princeton University primatologist Jeffrey Harding . "" Hopefully , our research on a specimen like Brian will change the general public ' s preconceived notions and society will eventually learn to look beyond these creatures ' cheap metal zippers and realize that they are actually quite similar to you or me . "" "" Ultimately , however , I hope this study has the greatest impact on our conservation efforts , "" added Harding . "" If only to help the rapidly dwindling population of gorilla suit wearing men throughout the world . "" Just two days after Hayes and her team spoke with reporters , members of the Oregon National Primate Research Center issued a solemn statement saying they were forced to euthanize Brian on Wednesday , after the gorilla suit wearing man suddenly felt threatened in his environment and violently attacked a researcher , leaving him in critical condition . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past33306,306,"Harry Kane was ' remarkable ' as Tottenham secured a north London derby win that Ryan Mason says has the top four contenders abuzz with excitement . Arsenal made the short journey to White Hart Lane looking for a sixth straight win and got off to the ideal start as Mesut Ozil volleyed home . Spurs , though , responded manfully , peppering the visitors ' goal before Kane finally beat David Ospina shortly after half time . Harry Kane celebrates scoring during Tottenham ' s 2 1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday Kane was praised as ' remarkable ' by his Tottenham team mate Ryan Mason ( right ) Things were to get better still for Mauricio Pochettino ' s men as the in form England Under 21s striker continued his superb recent form , heading home at the death to secure a 2 1 win in his first north London derby . ' He is remarkable , ' Mason of his friend and team mate . ' He leads the line on his own and does it unbelievably well . ' You can see the way he is at the moment that he is one fire and can ' t stop scoring . ' Kane now has 22 goals in all competitions this season , with that fine form keeping marquee signings like Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor out of the side . Kane , Mason and team mate Nabil Bentaleb ( right ) took to Twitter after the game to celebrate their win Kane is mobbed by Mason , Bentaleb and his team mates after scoring his second against Arsenal They are , though , more than capable back ups , with Spurs boasting a squad depth which makes Mason confident they can qualify for the Champions League . ' We believe of course we do , ' he said . ' We did the same thing to Chelsea a little while ago and hopefully we can keep doing well and stay up there . ' It will be difficult ( to make the top four ) but we are confident in ourselves . ' We ' re on a good run and the team spirit is amazing . Everyone gets on with each other well . ' It is great to come in off the back of a win and we are buzzing . It ' s a great feeling . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past34307,307,"It is widely accepted that people with a family history of schizophrenia are more susceptible to the mental health condition . But the theory that people can develop it after being infected with Toxoplasma gondi a parasite transmitted by soil , undercooked meat and cat faeces , is controversial . Now , a new study suggests that one fifth of cases of schizophrenia may involve the parasite . A new study suggests that a fifth of cases of schizophrenia may involve the parasite Toxoplasma gondi , which is transmitted by soil , undercooked meat and cat faeces . A tissue smear containing the parasite is shown Gary Smith , professor of population biology and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania ' s School of Veterinary Medicine is behind the research . ' Infection with Toxoplasma is very common , so , even if only a small percentage of people suffer adverse consequences , we could be talking about problems that affect thousands and thousands of people , ' he said . Just over one third of the population is infected with T . gondii and the vast majority of people aren ' t aware of it , according to the study published in the journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine . The parasite can be especially dangerous to certain groups of people . For example , if a woman becomes infected for the first time during pregnancy , her foetus can die or suffer serious developmental problems . The theory that Toxoplasma gondi causes schizophrenia ( illustrated with stock image ) isn ' t new , but now the health risk has been quantified People with or other diseases that weaken the immune system are susceptible to a complication of T . gondii infection called toxoplasmic encephalitis , which can be deadly . While it has long been believed that most healthy people suffer no adverse effects from a T . gondii infection , recent studies have found evidence of worrying impacts , including an association with schizophrenia , because the parasite is found in in the brain as well as in muscles . Some antipsychotic drugs can stop the parasite from reproducing , but studies in mice , rats and people have also shown that infection with T . gondii triggers changes in behaviour and personality . To investigate this connection , Professor Smith sought to calculate the population attributable fraction ( Paf ) which experts use to determine how important a risk factor might be . In this case , the Paf is ' the proportion of schizophrenia diagnoses that would not occur in a population if T . gondii infections were not present , ' he explained . By taking into account the fact that the proportion of people that are infected with T . gondii increases with age , he worked out the average Paf during the average lifetime to be 21 . 4 per cent . ' In other words , we ask , if you could stop infections with this parasite , how many cases could you prevent ? "" Professor Smith said . ' Over a lifetime , we found that you could prevent one fifth of all cases . That , to me , is significant . ' He noted that in some countries , the prevalence of T . gondii infection is much higher than in the and these countries also have a higher incidence of schizophrenia . ' By finding out how important a factor T . gondii infection is , this work might inform our attitude to researching the subject , ' Professor Smith said . ' Instead of ridiculing the idea of a connection between T . gondii and schizophrenia because it seems so extraordinary , we can sit down and consider the evidence . Perhaps then we might be persuaded to look for more ways to reduce the number of people infected with Toxoplasma . ' ' Infection with Toxoplasma is very common , so , even if only a small percentage of people suffer adverse consequences , we could be talking about problems that affect thousands and thousands of people . ' Schizophrenia is a long term mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms , including : Doctors often describe schizophrenia as a psychotic illness . This means sometimes a person may not be able to distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality , according to Choices . The exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown . However , most experts believe the condition is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors . The theory that it is caused by Toxoplasma gondi is not new , but it is controversial . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present35313,313,"Rahm Emanuel Offers Rare Apology After Laquan McDonald Shooting The Chicago mayor said "" nothing can excuse "" the teen ' s death . 12 09 2015 01 : 59 pm Updated 5 hours ago Citizens of Chicago on Wednesday morning heard Mayor Rahm Emanuel utter two words he rarely uses : "" I ' m sorry . "" ? The apology was an unscripted addition to lengthy remarks the mayor delivered before the Chicago City Council . Emanuel summoned the council members for a special session to talk about "" justice , culture and community "" in the wake of the high profile release of a video showing a white police officer shooting Laquan McDonald , a black teenager , 16 times in 2014 . ? "" The first step in that journey is my step , "" Emanuel said . ? "" I m sorry . "" "" Nothing , nothing can excuse what happened with Laquan McDonald , "" ? he added . "" Laquan McDonald s death was totally avoidable . "" Emanuel made his public mea culpa days after he denied his office tried to cover up ? the damning video . ? The Department of Justice on Monday launched a ? civil rights probe into the city ' s police department . ? The mayor spoke for over 30 minutes , ? largely reiterating information he has discussed publicly over the past few days , including the creation of a police accountability task force , rededication to community policing efforts and a push to end the notorious "" code of silence "" that pervades the city ' s police department . ? ? Emanuel ' s voice rose to nearly a shout or cracked with emotion on several occasions , including when he said , in another ad libbed remark , "" No citizen is a second class citizen in the city of Chicago . "" ? Laquan McDonald s death was totally avoidable . Mayor Rahm Emanuel The mayor didn ' t address racial profiling and discriminatory policing head on , but acknowledged the issue when he said , "" Would the police ever treat me the way they treat young black men ? And the simple answer is no . And that is wrong . "" ? ? The last time Emanuel issued the city a public apology ? was in 2013 , when he acknowledged that police officers had tortured and falsely accused black men in the city between 1972 and 1991 . ? The Nov . 24 release of the McDonald tape ignited a firestorm of criticism and calls for Emanuel and other officials to resign . The mayor has ? said he won ' t step down , ? and the city has no law or mechanism to recall him , the Better Government Association notes . Emanuel fired ? Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy , who he had hand picked for the job , calling for "" fresh eyes and new leadership . "" ? However , ? new reports suggest it was Emanuel ' s city attorney who blocked McCarthy from implementing various department reforms . ? Chicago made two other dashcam videos public this week . On Monday , just hours after the announced its investigation , it released footage showing the 2014 fatal shooting of 25 year old Ronald Johnson . The next day , the city released video from a 2012 incident showing Philip Coleman , who later died in police custody , ? being hit repeatedly with a Taser . ? City council meetings are typically open to the public . ? But on Wednesday , the main floor of the chambers was primarily reserved for the mayor ' s guests who were on a preapproved list . Most of the members of the general public who attended were sent to an overflow room on the second floor . Meanwhile , on the 2nd floor of city hall a group of protesters chant : pic . twitterweblink GflJgWxgOk Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel , right , and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy discuss gun violence at a news conference Monday , Feb . 11 , 2013 , in Chicago . During the news conference McCarthy , Emanuel , and Cook County State ' s Attorney Anita Alvarez said they will push for state legislation that increases the minimum sentences for those who violate the state ' s gun laws . ( Photo M . Spencer Green ) In this Oct . 27 , 2011 file photo , Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel , right , visits with Brandy Toliver , left , and Mariah Neyland , in their first grade class at the Washington Park School on Chicago ' s South Side . The Chicago Public Schools extended the school day from 5 hours and 45 minutes to 7 hours in 2012 after a heated offensive by parents . Emanuel , a proponent of longer school days , had originally proposed a 7 1 2 hour school stay , but adjusted his proposal after discussions with parents , some of whom had been critical of the original plan . ( Photo Charles Rex Arbogast , File ) In this photo provided by the office of the mayor and posted to his Twitter account on Friday , Jan . 11 , 2013 , Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel holds a sign asking , "" Any advice for people who shake a ton of hands ? "" The photo was tweeted during a Twitter chat held by the city ' s Department of Health to answer questions . To answer , Dr Julie Morita of the health department replied via Twitter : "" My advice is to wash your hands frequently and have hand sanitizer readily available ! "" ( Photo Courtesy The Mayors Office , Brooke Collins ) This July 9 , 2012 file photo shows Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel answers questions during a news conference in Chicago . Dozens of celebrities , elected officials , and others are blitzing through battleground states in the White House race ? s final days . Their goal : give the presidential campaigns a daily presence in key states even when the men at the top of the ticket ( and their running mates ) pitch for votes elsewhere . ( Photo Sitthixay Ditthavong . File ) demonstrator Medea Benjamin , of Washington D . C . , holds a sign in front of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel ' s home , Saturday , May 19 , 2012 , in Chicago . On Sunday , the start of the two day summit , thousands of protesters are expected to march to the McCormick Place convention center , where delegates will be meeting . ( Photo John Minchillo ) Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel listen to lawmakers ask questions while testifying during the House Committee Hearing on Personnel and Pensions at the Illinois State Capitol Tuesday , May 8 , 2012 in Springfield , Ill . Emanuel wants to raise the retirement age , make city employees contribute more to their pension funds and halt cost of living increases for retirees . ( Photo Seth Perlman ) ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past36317,317,"A healthy Italian woman paid a Swiss right to die clinic to take her life because she was ' unhappy about losing her looks ' . Oriella Cazzanello , 85 , travelled to a clinic in Basel , Switzerland , where she paid 10 , 000 for an assisted suicide . The elderly woman , who was in good mental and physical health , disappeared from her home in Arzignano , near Vicenza in northern Italy , without telling her relatives where she was going . Oriella Cazzanello , 85 , who committed suicide using a Swiss euthanasia centre , because she was depressed about losing her looks . Her family only found out about her death ashes and a death certificate were posted to her lawyer in Italy Building of the assisted suicide clinic , Dignitas in Pfaeffikon near Zurich , one of the major assisted suicide clinics that exist in Switzerland . Dignitas is the largest non physician assisted suicide group in Switzerland , and is well known because of it ' s involvement in many British euthanasia cases Her family , who had reported her to the police as missing , only learnt of her death after they received her ashes and death certificate from the clinic . Mrs Cazzanello chose to end her life because she was ' weighed down by ageing and the inevitable loss of the looks of which she was proud ' the Italian news agency reported . The well to do pensioner was also suffering from loneliness . Her brother and other relatives had not heard from her since the end of January , but were not unduly concerned , as Mrs Cazzanello , was an ' independent ' person who would often take herself on spa weekends . But as the days went passed they became worried and reported her as missing to the police . Earlier this week her lawyer received her ashes and death certificate by post and broke the devastating news . Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland even if the person requesting it is not terminally ill . Although legal in Switzerland , assisted suicide is a criminal offence in the and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years . 16 per cent of those who travel to a suicide clinic had no serious health problem , but had become ' weary of life ' , a study by the University of Bern found this week . More than 200 Brits have died at Swiss suicide clinics in the past decade . Top orchestral conductor Sir Edward Downes , 85 , and his 74 year old wife Joan died at the Dignitas clinic in 2009 . Lady Downes had terminal cancer while her husband was nearly blind and becoming increasingly deaf . Daniel James , 23 , who was paralysed in a rugby accident , became the youngest Briton to die at the clinic in 2010 . His parents Julie and Mark James said the ex England under 16 rugby player had repeatedly said he wanted to die . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past37328,328,"Luis Felipe Scolari looked troubled as he held talks with the head of the Brazilian Football Federation on Thursday before injured star Neymar paid a visit to the training ground . The 65 year old is under increasing pressure after his side were thrashed 7 1 by Germany in the World Cup semi finals on Tuesday night , but was given a warm embrace by the Selecao favourite . Scolari , who is preparing the host nation for the third place play off against Holland , was spotted deep in conversation with Jose Maria Marin at the training ground . Scroll down to watch Neymar break down in tears as he admits wheelchair fear Down : Brazil ' s coach Scolari ( left ) seemed distressed during Brazil ' s training session on Thursday Talks : Scolari was speaking with the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation Jose Maria Marin ' Six minutes of nightmares ' Scolari At one point he was seen gesturing with his hand before he placed it across his face in an act of apparent despair . The former Chelsea boss refused to quit on Wednesday , saying he will wait until after the tournament to decide his future . ' We have a deal with the until the game on Saturday and after that , probably , we will have a conversation to sort some things out , ' he said . ' The tournament was not all bad . We had a bad defeat . With all the difficulties we reached the semi finals . We are a hard working team , we win together and lose together . ' The crash was also the coaching staff , the fans , it was overall , no one understood , and the team from Germany , which is good , took the opportunity . ' I cannot explain , I will not justify . An error occurred and this error was fatal . Missing : Scolari shares a hug with injured Brazil star Neymar ( centre ) Out : The Brazil squad trained for the first time since their 7 1 World Cup semi final defeat against Germany ' If I could explain what happened in those six minutes , I would answer . But I do not know . ' We can lose by one or two but we lost in a way that we had never done before in the history of Brazilian football . ' Earlier on Thursday , Scolari was called ' an old jerk ' and ' repulsive ' by injured star Neymar ' s agent . Ribeiro produced a list of ' six requirements to be Brazilian coach ' and proceeded to belittle many achievements in Scolari ' s managerial career . He wrote on his Twitter account : ' One being Portugal Coach and winning nothing . ' Last chance : Brazil will play Holland in the 2014 World Cup third place play off ' Two going to Chelsea and being sacked the following day . ' ' Three going to coach in Uzbekistan . ' ' Four returning to Brazil , taking over a big team Palmeiras and getting them relegated to the second division . ' Low point : David Luiz will be hoping to get over his poor performance against Germany ' Five leaving the club 56 days before the end of the Brasileirao season to ' escape ' the relegation . ' Six being an old jerk , arrogant , repulsive , conceited and ridiculous . ' Ribeiro ' s outburst seemed to echo public opinion after Brazil ' s heavy defeat to Germany . The final whistle had barely sounded when the media turned on the Selecao . Main man : Neymar ( left ) joined his team mates out on the training field Some newspapers said they ' learned what real shame is ' , others told Scolari to ' go to hell ' , and another told their readers to write their own front page . And their damning analysis of Brazil ' s performance reached the people , too , after every copy of every newspaper sold out at Belo Horizonte airport . Brazil face Louis van Gaal ' s Holland side in Brasilia on Saturday . Return : Brazil captain Thiago Silva is available for his team ' s final World Cup match against Holland ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past38333,333,"Reuters) - More than 90 Republican foreign policy veterans have pledged to oppose Donald Trump, saying his proposals would undermine U.S. security, in the latest sign of fissures between the Republican presidential front-runner and the party establishment. “Mr. Trump’s own statements lead us to conclude that as president, he would use the authority of his office to act in ways that make America less safe, and which would diminish our standing in the world,” the signatories wrote in a open letter on Wednesday. “Furthermore, his expansive view of how presidential power should be wielded against his detractors poses a distinct threat to civil liberty in the United States,” said the letter, which was posted on a blog called War on the Rocks. The signatories include Robert Zoellick, a former World Bank president and deputy secretary of state; former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; and Dov Zakheim, a top Pentagon official under President George W. Bush. They represent both centrist Republican foreign policy circles and neoconservatives who favor a robust U.S. international role and wielded clout during Bush’s 2001-2009 presidency. Billionaire businessman Trump won the largest number of states in this week’s Super Tuesday nominating contests, intensifying moves by the party’s establishment wing to derail his path to the nomination. On Thursday, Trump in an interview with News flatly rejected the criticism in the letter and blasted the nation’s military leaders as ineffective. Bryan McGrath, a retired U.S. Navy officer and adviser to Republican Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign who helped organize the letter, said at least two people declined to sign because of concerns it would fuel Trump’s campaign theme of being an anti-Washington candidate opposed by the establishment. “This is really drawing a bright moral line and saying that if we’re going to keep our souls, we can’t cross it,” said Eliot Cohen, who served as counselor to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and helped spearhead the letter. Rice was asked to sign but chose not to, in keeping with her general practice of not signing on to such group letters, a spokeswoman for the Stanford University professor said. The list of signatures, which numbered 60 when the letter was released on Wednesday night, had grown to 94 by Thursday afternoon. The signatories did not include other several high-profile former officials such as Bush national security adviser Stephen Hadley or former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was unknown if they were invited to sign. The letter rejects numerous Trump foreign policy statements, including his “hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric,” his demand that Mexico fund a wall to control illegal immigration across the U.S. border, and his insistence that Japan pay much more for U.S. security assistance. “As committed and loyal Republicans, we are unable to support a Party ticket with Mr. Trump at its head,” the signatories said. “We commit ourselves to working energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted to the office.” The War on the Rocks blog calls itself a platform for former diplomats, military and intelligence officers and scholars to comment “through a realist lens” on global affairs. Trump has alarmed some mainstream Republicans with vows to shred international trade deals. Many fear a Trump presidency would severely strain ties with allies and are concerned about his stated willingness to work more closely with authoritarian Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump also has criticized the Republican Party for its backing of Bush’s 2003 Iraq invasion and has said he supports the practice of waterboarding and other similar interrogation techniques. Max Boot, a foreign policy adviser to Romney’s 2012 campaign and supporter of the Iraq invasion, was among the letter’s signers and said he “would sooner work for (North Korean dictator) Kim Jong Un than for Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump is objectively more dangerous than Kim Jong Un and not as stable.” Kurt Volker, a permanent representative to under Bush, said he did not sign the letter because of concerns that any letter from “national security intelligentsia” could backfire. “He would actually use it as a bragging right,” said Volker, adding he had no intention of working for Trump but wanted to be free to offer advice to any future president, and that such a letter could prompt Trump to hold a grudge. Several others who declined to sign and asked not to be identified, said they feared it could help Democrat Hillary Clinton win the presidency. Trump told on Thursday that he would name his foreign policy and national security advisers “in a week or two. ... But ultimately it’s my thought more than anybody else’s.” Those Trump has spoken with on foreign policy include a retired U.S. general and intelligence official, Michael Flynn, who favors closer ties with Russia. Flynn has declined to comment on whether he is advising Trump. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who won popularity for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has said he has been having regular talks with Trump but not in a formal role. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Arshad Mohammed and Susan Heavey; Editing by David Rohde, Stuart Grudgings, Bill Trott and Peter Cooney) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past39334,334,"A Football Association official was forced to ask the England supporters ' band to stop playing during Tuesday night ' s friendly against Scotland in Glasgow after it inadvertently provided background music to anti singing . Some of the 5 , 000 away supporters sang foul mouthed anti songs while the band played Follow England Away a song it regularly performs during England matches during the 3 1 victory for Roy Hodgson ' s side at Celtic Park . Many England fans sang ' F the ' on several occasions during the match and , in the first half , an official contacted the band to ask it to stop playing the song because it was innocently providing the tune for the offensive singing . Three Lions fans show their support for the England players during their side ' s friendly clash against Scotland there is no suggestion that any of the fans pictured took part in the anti chanting 5 , 000 England fans made the trip across the border and the Three Lions gave them plenty of reasons to cheer there is no suggestion that any of the fans pictured took part in the anti chanting England fans were in buoyant mood before Tuesday ' s friendly match at Celtic Park there is no suggestion that any of the fans pictured took part in the anti chanting The band has since come in for severe criticism , but its leader John Hemmingham says he had no idea about the issue until he was notified about it by one of his colleagues . Hemmingham instead thought the band was providing the tune to a song called ' Follow England Away ' rather than anything to do with the , and apologised for any offence . ' We were absolutely not aware of it ( the chants ) , ' said Hemmingham . ' All the fans around us were singing "" Follow England Away "" . ' It was only when a band member saw on Twitter that some people were saying we were playing anti songs that we became aware . ' Then we immediately stopped and played something else . ' Hemmingham , who formed the England band 21 years ago , added : ' If anyone was offended by what was happening , then obviously we are not very happy about that . The England supporters ' band , pictured in Ukraine at Euro 2012 , were told to stop playing by a official ' The have apologised and we would go along with that if anyone was offended . ' Hodgson was unaware of the chanting , but apologised for any offence on behalf of the , who could take further action particularly when England are due to play in Dublin next June . He said : ' I was aware the crowd were tremendously supportive . I didn ' t have a clue what they were chanting . ' I don ' t condone it . If anyone was offended , I ' m sure the would like to apologise to them . ' All we can do is play our football and be grateful for the support and hopefully they will behave themselves and not get themselves into a situation where their chanting is being criticised . ' Wayne Rooney salutes the travelling support after leading his side to a 3 1 victory against Scotland England boss Roy Hodgson apologised on behalf of his fans who were chanting anti songs England fans had behaved well in the build up to the match , joining in with a minute ' s applause for Scotland supporter Nathan McSeveney , who died from a fall at Celtic Park during the Republic of Ireland match on Friday . But once the match had begun some Three Lions supporters tainted their reputation when the anti songs began . Hodgson admitted that he had long ago stopped listening to what fans are singing during matches . Asked about the chants on Radio 5 Live , he said : ' After a long career in football , I learnt long ago that the crowd are either signing or are silent in the background but when they chant or sing most of the time I don ' t have a clue . ' I thought their support was excellent . I will leave any discussion about any words they have used . ' Police Scotland reported no football related disorder in the immediate aftermath of the match and said they had not received any reports of offensive chants . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past40336,336,"MI5 and Scotland Yard were close to arresting hate preacher Abu Hamza four years before the 9 11 terror attacks in 2001 , court papers reveal . The documents represent a blow to Hamza ' s claims in a New York Court that he had been working with the security services while he was at Finsbury Park Mosque in north London as a force for good . Hamza was eventually jailed in 2005 for inciting murder and racial hatred . Hate preacher Abu Hamza spewing his abhorrent message in the streets of Finsbury Park after he was thrown out of the local mosque Hamza claimed that he was a force for good in his ramblings and worked with the police and security services . MI5 has announced it was close to arresting him in 1997 The 56 year old was extradited to the nearly two years ago on terror charges . Recording a meeting with Hamza in October 1997 , an MI5 officer wrote : ' I reasserted the view that over the past few months in particular , he had walked a dangerous tightrope and had come close to being culpable for incitement to violence . . . the Security Service , in particular , took a dim view of those advocating violence , even if the violence was perpetrated overseas . ' Muslim cleric Abu Hamza said that he was helping to keep the streets of Britain safe but still felt the need to have a masked bodyguard MI5 claims that it was planning to arrest Abu Hamza four years before the terrorist attack on New York on September 11 , 2001 MI5 agent Reda Hassaine , who infiltrated the mosque , said : ' Hamza was able to recruit and brainwash vulnerable young men and raise huge amounts of cash for his contacts overseas . ' The security services seemed incapable of putting it in its proper al Qaeda context . ' They continued to view it as a little local skirmish by a clown . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past41349,349,"Sampdoria and Genoa both missed opportunities to move up to third in the Serie A standings as they failed to win their final round fixtures before the winter break . Sampdoria were held to a 2 2 draw at home to Udinese and still trail third place Napoli on goal difference , while Genoa remain a point further behind after losing 2 1 to Serie A strugglers Torino . Lazio could move two points ahead of Napoli and Sampdoria if they win at Inter Milan on Sunday evening . Sampdoria midfielder Pedro Avomo Mba Obiang fires in his side ' s first goal against Udinese in Genoa Earlier , Chievo Verona defeated city rival Hellas Verona 1 0 in a heated derby match . Fiorentina , meanwhile , were held to a 1 1 draw by Empoli , while Atalanta fought back from two goals down to draw 3 3 at home to Palermo . Sampdoria went into their clash in confident mood after holding league leaders Juventus to a 1 1 draw in Turin last weekend and they duly took the lead in the 15th minute . Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis could only get a hand to Angelo Palombo ' s cross and when the ball dropped to Pedro Obiang , he fired the ball into the net . However , the match turned in four minutes as Alexander Geijo scored his first Serie A goal , in his first start for the club , to level matters shortly before Danilo was left unmarked to head Udinese in front . Sampdoria forward Manolo Gabbiadini fires in the second goal during his side ' s 2 2 draw on Saturday Manolo Gabbiadini headed Lorenzo Di Silvestri ' s cross into the top right corner on the hour mark in what could have been his last match for Sampdoria before a likely January move to Napoli . Geijo almost scored a late winner but his header thumped the post . Udinese were reduced to 10 men two minutes from time when Thomas Heurtaux was sent off following a second yellow card . Genoa started the day level with Sampdoria and Lazio on 26 points , and last weekend ' s defeat to Roma was their first league loss in more than two months . Genoa defender Iago Falque ( second right ) scores his side ' s first goal but Torino would reply with a brace Iago Falque fired Genoa in front shortly before half time but Torino captain Kamil Glik scored twice from close range after the interval . Fiorentina failed to capitalize on the other weekend ' s results it as they remain in eighth place , three points behind Napoli , after an entertaining Tuscan derby . Juan Manuel Vargas had given Fiorentina the lead with a fierce strike after Empoli failed to clear a corner but Lorenzo Tonelli escaped his marker to nod in a Mirko Valdifiori corner from six yards . Empoli ' s Lorenzo Tonelli ( left ) scores against Fiorentina during his team ' s 1 1 draw Chievo snatched victory in the other derby of the day but replays showed Alberto Paloschi was offside as he headed in Ervin Zukanovic ' s superb cross into the box with nine minutes remaining . Both sides also had penalty claims turned down . Nene had gone closest for Verona when he headed a corner just over the crossbar , while Chievo ' s Ivan Radovanovic almost scored a wonder goal but Verona goalkeeper Francesco Benussi was alert to turn the effort from near the halfway line over his bar . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past42365,365,"Moored on the waters of San Francisco Bay , just east of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge , is well , a mystery . Atop a barge docked at Treasure Island , site of a former Navy base , is a four story structure made from shipping containers . The purpose of the structure remains unknown , but the safe money says Google is up to something on board . Officials won ' t say exactly what ' s going on there . But some sleuthing by the media in the tech heavy Bay Area has pretty much nailed down that Google , headquartered about 40 miles south in Mountain View , California , is behind the project . Tech blog reported as much on Friday , citing lease agreements , Treasure Island locals and "" tracking a contact tied to the project on LinkedIn . "" News reports say an unknown company has been working on a major project , under tight security , in a hangar on Treasure Island since last year . Witnesses say materials from that hangar were transferred onto the barge . Google did not respond to a request to comment for this story . So , even if the suspicions about Google and the barge ' s mysterious cargo are correct , that leaves the obvious question : What are they building in there ? Early speculation has centered on a data center . Google has banks of servers stored in warehouses all over the world , and floating data centers aren ' t unheard of . Sitting on that much water would provide an obvious source of cooling , which is a big concern for data centers , and possibly even a source of power . And Google has a patent for such a project . Google Glass , the company ' s big leap into wearable technology , puts computer capabilities into eyeglasses . The headsets so far have been released only to early testers and are expected to go on sale to consumers in the coming months . An official with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission told that there have been discussions with Google about "" hypothetical operations "" on the bay . But work on the project suddenly stopped a few weeks ago . One possible reason : An insider close to the commission told that Google "" can ' t park this barge on the waterfront without a permit , and they don ' t have one . "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past43368,368,"Stung by flagging album sales and Eminem ' s supplanting him as Middle America ' s worst nightmare , shock rocker Marilyn Manson has embarked on a door to door tour of suburbia in a desperate , last ditch effort to shock and offend average Americans . Accompanied by bandmates Twiggy Ramirez , Madonna Wayne Gacy , and Zim Zum , Manson kicked off his 50 city "" Boo "" tour Jan . 26 in Overland Park , a conservative , middle class suburb of Kansas City . "" When we first laid eyes on Overland Park , with its neat little frame houses , immaculately landscaped lawns , and SUVs in the driveways , we couldn ' t wait to swoop down on it like the Black Death , "" said Manson , born Brian Warner in Canton , . "" We were like , ' Welcome to our nightmare , you bloated , pustulent pigs . ' "" Last Friday at 4 p . m . , Mark Wesley , 46 , a resident of Overland Park ' s exclusive Maple Bluff subdivision , heard the sound of "" animal like shrieking "" coming from the vicinity of his front lawn . Upon opening his front door , he was greeted by the sight of a pale and shirtless Manson carving a pentagram into his chest with a razor blade . "" Look at me , suburban dung , "" Manson told Wesley . "" Does this shock you ? "" When Wesley replied no , he said Manson became "" petulant . "" Recalled Wesley : "" He started stamping his feet and shaking his fists , saying , ' What do you mean no ? Aren ' t your uptight , puritanical sensibilities offended ? Don ' t you want to censor me so you don ' t have to confront the ugly truth I represent ? ' So I say , ' Well , not particularly . ' Then , after a long pause , he says , ' Well , screw you , jerk ! ' and walks off sulking . "" That evening , Linda Schmidt was preparing to drive her daughter Alyssa to a Girl Scouts meeting when she found Manson standing on her porch draped in sheep entrails . "" I knew who he was , but I was kind of busy and didn ' t really have time to chat , "" Schmidt said . "" He just kept standing there staring at me , expecting me to react in some way . "" Added Schmidt : "" I tried to be nice and humor him a little . I said , ' Yesiree , that sure is some shocking satanic imagery , no doubt about it . And that one eye with no color in the pupil , very disturbing . I ' d sure like to suppress that . ' I mean , what do you say to Marilyn Manson ? "" A deflated Manson remained on Schmidt ' s porch as she and Alyssa drove off . Subsequent attempts to provoke outrage were met with equal indifference . "" Manson was standing at my front door wearing those fake breasts he wore on the cover of Mechanical Animals , "" retiree Judith Hahn said . "" He said , ' My name is Marilyn Manson , and I ' m here to tear your little world apart . ' I thought he was collecting for the Kiwanis food drive , so I gave him some cans of pumpkin pie filling . "" Undaunted , Manson and his entourage stepped up their assault on mainstream American sensibilities . On Tuesday , they arrived in the tiny Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms , where stockbroker Glenn Binford answered his doorbell to find Manson hanging upside down on a wooden cross as Ramirez performed fellatio on him . "" I just stood there thinking , now there ' s a boy who tries way too hard , "" Binford said . "" I mean , come on : Homoerotic sacrilege went out in the late ' 90s . "" Other provocative acts by Manson including dismembering a chicken , bathing in pig ' s blood , and wearing a three piece suit of human noses failed to arouse anyone ' s ire , instead prompting comments such as "" sophomoric , "" "" trite , "" and "" so Alice Cooper . "" Manson ' s lone brush with controversy occurred in Edina , , a suburb of Minneapolis . An unidentified neighborhood watch volunteer phoned police after seeing a nude , feces smeared Manson being led around on a leash by a dwarf dominatrix . Officers arrived on the scene , but let Manson go with a warning for parading without a city permit . "" I could have given him a citation , but I figured , how much harm is he really causing ? "" Edina Police Officer Dan Herberger said . "" I mean , he ' s just Marilyn Manson , for the love of Mike . "" The "" Boo "" tour was dealt a further blow when Manson learned that Eminem ' s The Marshall Mathers had been banned from all Kmart stores . Manson ' s current album , Holy Wood ( In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death ) , is still available . "" Why are all you people outraged by Eminem ? He ' s not scary ! "" Manson said . "" He doesn ' t sport ghoulishly pale skin or wear gender bending make up . He ' s just some regular guy . I ' m the one who people should be terrified by , not him ! Me ! "" "" If you ban me , "" Manson continued , "" I promise to rail against censorship and hypocrisy . Please ? Pretty , pretty please ? "" By Monday , the tour appeared to have lost all momentum . Sources close to Manson described him as "" exhausted and discouraged , "" despite not having even completed the first leg of the three month tour . By the time he arrived in Hoffman Estates , , Manson had resorted to leaving flaming bags of dog feces on doorsteps and shining a flashlight under his chin to make himself look "" spooky . "" He was ultimately chased from a Hoffman Estates subdivision by a group of bicycle riding teenagers who advised him to "" get his chalk white goblin ass "" out of their neighborhood . On Friday , Manson is slated to appear in Bethesda , , where many believe he will bring his tour to a premature end . "" Have you people forgotten already ? "" Manson told The Washington Post . "" You all thought I was responsible for Columbine two years ago . Well , I was ! I was ! I know I vehemently denied it at the time , but , really , I personally told those two kids to shoot up the school . I ' m serious . I sent them an e mail . And I told them to worship Satan , too . You hear that , kids ? Marilyn Manson says you should shoot your friends in the head with a gun ! And everyone should eat babies ! And rape their dead grandparents ! And poop on a church ! There , now will someone please be offended ? "" ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past44382,382,"Reuters) - A life-sized nude statue of U.S. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump is going up for auction, with profits from the sale going to an immigrant support group. Julien’s Auctions said on Wednesday that the statue, called “The Emperor Has No Balls,” is expected to fetch $10,000 to $20,000 at the Oct. 22 auction in Los Angeles. The statue is one of a series that appeared unannounced in public spaces in New York and four other U.S. cities earlier in August. The orange-tinted likeness showed Trump with a massive belly, small fingers and some missing genitals. Most were confiscated or destroyed by local authorities and the Los Angeles statue is the only one remaining, Julien’s said. The statues were created by an anonymous artists collective called INDECLINE. A portion of the auction profits will go to the National Immigration Forum, which campaigns for the rights of immigrants. Trump has pledged to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep immigrants out and to deport the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States, should he be elected. He is due to give a speech on Wednesday as he seeks to find a balance in his immigration stance. Trump is not the only politician to be represented in the October auction of street and contemporary art. American pop artist Knowledge Bennett’s “Hillary Clinton Cojones,” featuring the Democratic White House hopeful wearing a tuxedo, is expected to fetch up to $15,000, Julien’s said. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past45389,389,"Spain will have an extra incentive to win their friendly with Holland on Tuesday night , according to Manchester United midfielder Daley Blind . Blind was part of the Holland side which demolished Spain 5 1 at last summer ' s World Cup , a result which contributed to the holders exiting the competition at the group stage . Vicente del Bosque ' s men travel to Amsterdam to face Holland again in a game which will be broadcast live on and Blind believes they will be out for revenge . Daley Blind believes Spain will be looking for revenge against Holland in their friendly on Tuesday night Blind attempts to block a shot from Turkey ' s Burak Yilmaz in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday evening Arjen Robben scores Holland ' s second goal in their 5 1 win against Spain at last summer ' s World Cup Speaking to ahead of the game , Blind said : ' It ' s always nice to play against big teams like Spain . We know it will be difficult and a totally different game to the one at the World Cup . ' I would have some revenge feelings if I lost against a team too ! That wouldn ' t only be after a game at the World Cup though . If you lose against any team you always want to win the next time you play them . So I think they will have those feelings . ' Blind could come up against David de Gea on Tuesday and he is well aware how tough it will be to beat his in form United team mate . Blind could come up against his Manchester United team mate David de Gea ( left ) on Tuesday Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas appears dejected after conceding a fifth goal to Holland at the World Cup ' David is doing a great job here this season . He ' s one of the best keepers in the world at the moment . We ' re very happy that he ' s in the goal and he has made some great saves , ' added Blind . ' All the credit goes to him . He works very hard and is getting better all the time . ' His shot stopping is one of his best skills but you also have to look at how he plays with his feet and how he comes for crosses the way he has improved that is very impressive . ' He has got better in every way . The skills when he is saving goals and also the skills with his feet they make him an all round keeper and that ' s one of the best things about him . ' Daley Blind is set to face David De Gea ' s Spain with the Netherlands tonight . Fans can watch the game exclusively live only on in the and Ireland . Coverage from 19 : 30 , kick off 19 : 45 . broadcasts on Sky channel 418 , Virgin Media channel 528 and Cable channel 428 . For more info click here . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past46394,394,"Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence agencies to review cyber attacks and foreign intervention into the 2016 election and deliver a report before he leaves office on Jan. 20, the White House said on Friday. In October, the U.S. government formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election, and Obama has said he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin about consequences for the attacks. The review and its timeline are a signal that Obama wants the issue addressed before he hands power to President-elect Donald Trump, who cast doubt on Russia’s hacking role and praised Putin during the campaign. Obama’s homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, told reporters the report’s results would be shared with lawmakers and others. “The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process ... and to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress,” she said during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the review would be a “deep dive” that would look for a pattern of such behavior over several years during election time, dating as far back as the 2008 presidential election. He noted that Obama wanted the review completed under his watch. “This is a major priority,” Schultz said. During his campaign for the White House, Trump called on Russia to dig up missing emails from his opponent, Hillary Clinton, from her time as secretary of state under Obama, a fellow Democrat. That move prompted critics to accuse him of encouraging foreign actors to conduct espionage. The New York businessman has said he is not convinced Russia was behind the attacks. “I don’t believe they interfered,” Trump told Time magazine about Russia in an interview published this week. “That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any time I do something, they say, ‘Oh, Russia interfered.’” People Trump has nominated for top national security posts in his new administration have taken a harsher stance toward Moscow. Russian officials have denied all accusations of interference in the U.S. election. Obama has come under pressure from Democratic lawmakers to declassify more intelligence on the alleged hackings. A government source said the review was sparked in part to respond to those demands as well as to determine how much material related to the subject could be made public. “Given President-elect Trump’s disturbing refusal to listen to our intelligence community and accept that the hacking was orchestrated by the Kremlin, there is an added urgency to the need for a thorough review before President Obama leaves office next month,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. Monaco said cyber attacks were not new but might have crossed a “new threshold” this year. When she was working as a senior Federal Bureau of Investigation official in 2008, she said, the agency alerted the presidential campaigns of then-Senator Obama and Republican Senator John McCain that China had infiltrated their respective systems. “We’ve seen in 2008 and in this last election system malicious cyber activity,” Monaco said. Asked if Trump’s transition team was not concerned enough about Russia’s influence on the election or about other threats to the United States such as infectious disease outbreaks, Monaco said it was too soon to say. She noted that she had not met with her successor because the Trump team had yet to name one. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past47401,401,""" Masterful ! "" said News ' s Bill O ' Reily . "" Thursday night ' s debate was full of surprises . Who knew Saddam had it in him . He took Bush and Kerry to the cleaners . I have to tell you , I though Saddam was a mad man , but you know what ? He really could win this thing . "" Saddam ' s performance has taken many voters by surprise as well . His command of the issues and plain speaking style has captured the nations attention . Voters from coast to coast are giving Saddam a closer look as the election nears . "" People want a strong leader . "" Said White House hatchet man Karl Rove . "" Saddam had a better showing than the President last night . Saddam showed his toughness and unwillingness to change his position , even when everybody knows he is wrong . The public likes that in a leader and that has put Saddam in the drivers seat . He went a long way to proving that he has the blind illogical faith that it takes to lead this nation . "" The President has his work cut out for himself if he is going to pull this one out . Saddam has taken Bush ' s key strengths , the War in Iraq and crazy stubbornness , as his own . That leaves Bush with a crappy economy and the hatred of gays to run on and that just might not be enough . Kerry made a decent showing even after Saddam shot him in the shoulder . "" The wound took him off is game a little , but Kerry showed his stuff . "" Said White House spokesmen Ben Lion . "" The fact that he took the hit and kept on debating shows he has got some real moxie . I kind of wish the president had taken one , nothing gets the country united like shooting at the President . Look what it did for Reagan and Kennedy . "" The latest poll from the highly respected Gallup organization shows Saddam making great gains in several key battle ground states . He has bloodied both Bush and Kerry by taking states that each of them will need for victory . The loss of Texas , Florida and Arizona may well cripple the Presidents chances . Kerry has faired no better losing two huge electoral prizes California and New York . "" Saddam ' s speaking skills have blown this race wide open . It is going to be a wild and wooly race to the finish . "" Said polling expert Ruy Teixeira , of the web site the Emerging Democratic Majority . "" I ' m going to be glued to my computer watching the polls down to the finish . The one is going to be too close to call until the Supreme Court steps in and gives it to Bush . "" ",satire,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past48408,408,"In a statement , Harlingen municipality says the information evening scheduled for Tuesday has been pushed back to next month "" after it became clear that members of the Netherlands People ' s Union wanted to attend . "" The group , known by its Dutch acronym , is a minority far right group that is demanding the Netherlands close its borders to all migrants . The group reportedly has been sending members to other towns to protest against the possible arrival of migrants . Migrants walk through a field after crossing from Croatia , in Rigonce , Slovenia , Monday , Oct . 26 , 2015 . Thousands of people are trying to reach central and northern Europe via the Balkans but often have to wait for days in mud and rain at the Serbian , Croatian and Slovenian borders . ( Photo Darko Bandic ) Photo Credit : Mayor Roel Sluiter says that "" an evening without intimidation , screaming or insults appears , based on experiences elsewhere , to be impossible in the presence of the . "" While many Dutch people are welcoming migrants arriving in the country , anti immigrant political parties are gaining in popularity . Harlingen is a picturesque port town 115 kilometers ( 70 miles ) northeast of Amsterdam . Austrian firefighters have rescued two migrants from a river after they apparently tried to swim to neighboring Germany . Firefighter Klaus Litzlbauer says the two were fished out of the Braunau river Tuesday as they held on to bridge supports to avoid being swept downstream . He said the men were unharmed but were suffering from hypothermia . Officials say they apparently jumped into the river from a bridge in the Upper Austrian town of Braunau where other migrants were waiting to enter Germany . They say the two were shouting "" more freedom "" and were being cheered on by the crowd on the span . Croatia ' s prime minister says he expects the refugee flow toward Western Europe to ease after the Nov . 1 parliamentary election in Turkey , the starting point for most migrants ' journeys . Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said Tuesday "" in ten days or so , after the vote in Turkey . . . you will see the change , "" according to the state news agency . European officials appear to be assuming that Turkish officials will have more time to focus on the refugee crisis when the demands of campaigning are over . Colder weather could also put a damper on number venturing into Europe . Croatia holds its own parliamentary vote on Nov . 8 . Milanovic ' s leftist government faces a challenge from conservatives , who have criticized its handling of the refugee crisis . Slovenia ' s foreign minister has hinted that the small country may erect a fence along its border with Croatia to stem the influx of tens of thousands of refugees and other migrants . Karl Erjavec said Tuesday some 12 , 000 13 , 000 migrants have been arriving daily since Hungary built a fence on the border with Croatia and the flow was redirected to Slovenia earlier this month . He says "" we don ' t want them ( the migrants ) to be dispersed along the length of the border . Certain impediments need to be set up to prevent that . There are various technical possibilities . "" Erjavec says he does not want to elaborate what those blockades would be , but added : "" You can guess at what can be used to impede . "" Around 84 , 000 people have crossed into Slovenia from Croatia since Oct . 16 . Croatian police say that a 105 year old Afghan woman is among the migrants who have arrived at the country ' s main refugee camp near the border with Serbia . Police say the woman came to the Opatovac camp around noon Tuesday after crossing from Serbia with a group of migrants . Spokesman Domagoj Dzigumovic says authorities have been checking whether she needs medical attention . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past49417,417,"Calvino Inman had just stepped out of the shower one evening in May when a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror caused him to panic . "" I looked up and saw myself , and I thought I was going to die , "" says the 15 year old from Rockwood , Tennessee . His eyes were streaming tears of blood . Doctors are still searching for a medical reason for Calvino Inman ' s tears of blood . Inman ' s mother , Tammy Mynatt , says she immediately rushed him to the emergency room , but by the time they arrived , the bleeding had stopped . Doctors couldn ' t see what the family was trying to explain . They returned home completely perplexed . When the bloody tears returned a few days later while Inman was on a camping trip , he was rushed back to the hospital . Mynatt hoped that once doctors finally witnessed the phenomenon , there would be answers . But that wasn ' t the case . "" The people at the hospital said they had never seen anything like it , "" Mynatt recalls . She says her son underwent an , a scan and an ultrasound , but none of the tests had abnormal results . "" ' We don ' t know how to stop it , ' "" Mynatt remembers being told by doctors . "" It just has to run its course . "" Dr Barrett G . Haik , director of the University of Tennessee ' s Hamilton Eye Institute , says there is an answer , sort of . He says "" crying blood , "" a condition called haemolacria , is common in people who have experienced extreme trauma or who have recently had a serious head injury . But a case such as Inman ' s is still a medical mystery . "" What ' s really rare is to have a child like this , "" Haik says . "" Only once every several years do you see someone with no obvious cause . "" Watch more on the teen who cried blood Haik and a team of researchers published a 2004 study in the Journal of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery looking specifically at children who developed unexplained , spontaneous episodes of bloody tears between February 1992 and January 2003 . Only four cases were recorded . Because of the rarity of the condition , experts anticipate Inman will have multiple tests from a variety of specialists , including hematologists ( blood specialists ) , ophthalmologists ( eye specialists ) and otolaryngologists ( ear , nose and throat specialists ) . Dr James C . Flemming , also an ophthalmologist at the Hamilton Eye Institute , has been in touch with Mynatt and her son . He is reviewing Inman ' s medical records for possible treatment . Flemming says complications to look for include blood clots , a growth or tumor near the eye , or even a simple infection . He also says the culprit could be something so tiny that none of the standard tests would pick it up . "" It ' s a very hard thing to estimate , "" Flemming says . "" You may have to watch expectedly for other symptoms to show up . "" Inman ' s analysis would also include a psychological evaluation to rule out the possibility that the bloody tears were faked . "" When you can ' t find an origin , you can ' t eliminate any of the possibilities "" Haik explains . He says there have been cases where children seeking attention have found creative ways to simulate haemolacriatic symptoms . And that ' s at least one reassurance Flemming and his team of experts at the Hamilton Eye Institute can offer . "" We get more positive talk now than negative . It really feels like there ' s hope , "" Mynatt says , relieved . But still , the possibility remains that after endless tests , the underlying cause may never be found . In all four cases Haik examined previously , the bleeding stopped on its own . "" As physicians , that ' s disconcerting , because we like to have the answers , "" Haik admits . Moreover , he says he knows from previous experience that the toll of not knowing is much worse for patients . "" I could always see the fear in their faces because no matter what we studied , we couldn ' t find an answer . "" ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past50455,455,"Ted Cruz is one of the few candidates who in unafraid to speak out against government subsidies for energy. Unfortunately, many of the farmers in Iowa are receiving subsidies (money back from the government taxpayers) and are not very interested in supporting politicians who want to prevent those subsidies from coming in the mail.Watch Ted Cruz convert a farmer who s been eating from the Democrat trough, into a voter. He does a brilliant job of explaining to this angry farmer in simple terms, how government is the problem and not the solution. Cruz explains that the government should not be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to pick the winners and losers in the energy business. He goes on to explain that by removing government restrictions and allowing the free market to work, the farmer will actually be better off in the end.weblink",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present51488,488,"Steve Hilton rips the great geniuses on foreign policy who are patronizing the way President Trump speaks. He says are the ones who left the world in a mess! Amen!!!Hilton couldn t be more dead on in his assessment of the globalist attempt at a new world order that Trump just stopped. These leaders are responsible for Korea, Iran and the entire Middle East mess Hello Hillary Clinton! She and her husband have been whoring around the world grabbing up anything they can to amass a fortune off the backs of the American people. Obama did on foreign policy accept to apologize to our enemies his entire 8 years in office. Remember the Apology Tour ?The world is in such a mess because of our past leaders who didn t put America first. Thank goodness we have President Trump who will put America first. It s about time! ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past52510,510,"Washington The Justice Department remained tightlipped Friday as criticism mounted over the decision to hold the the September 11 terrorist attack trial in a civilian court in lower Manhattan . Earlier , senior Obama administration officials confirmed that the White House is considering moving the site of the trial if the Justice Department sees fit . "" Conversations have occurred within the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally , "" a senior administration official said . Justice Department officials refused to acknowledge whether they are being pressed to find an alternative location , despite bipartisan concern that holding the trial in Manhattan would be too costly and disruptive . "" We ' re reviewing our options , "" said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd in a statement Friday . The administration ' s turnabout comes after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other politicians expressed great concern over the costs and disruption of holding the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accomplices at a courthouse near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan . White House officials said President Obama agrees with Attorney General Eric Holder ' s decision in November to try the suspects in a civilian criminal court in the United States , not a military tribunal . "" Currently our federal jails hold hundreds of convicted terrorists , and the president ' s opinion has not changed on that , "" White House spokesman Bill Burton said Thursday . White House officials say the decision about any possible alternate sites to try Mohammed and the others will come from the Justice Department . One government official close to the case said other New York locations , including a military site on New York Harbor ' s Governor ' s Island , are possibilities . And while Virginia sites also were mentioned as alternatives by former counterterrorism officials , Virginia Sen . Jim Webb , a Democrat , opposed moving the trial to his state . "" Bringing enemy combatants for detention or trial in Washington , D . C . , or Northern Virginia would unnecessarily burden these communities from both a financial and security perspective , "" Webb said . New York police estimated the cost to the city would be over 200 million per year in what could be a multi year trial and that over 2 , 000 checkpoints would need to be installed around Lower Manhattan . Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said additional protection would have to be deployed for the city , not just the core area of Manhattan . Residents like Pat Moore contemplated what it will be like to live through the trial . "" Those people would virtually be held prisoner in their homes , "" Moore said of New Yorkers who live near the courthouse . "" We ' ve all been traumatized , any of us who were there that day "" referring to September 11 . Bloomberg initially supported the move , saying "" it is fitting that 9 11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered . "" But this week he used different rhetoric when asked about a community agency ' s proposal ' s to relocate the trial , saying he would prefer the trial be held elsewhere , perhaps at a military base where it would be easier and cheaper to provide security . "" It ' s going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb a lot of people , "" Bloomberg said . On Thursday , a group of New York politicians urged the Obama administration to thoroughly re examine locating the trials in downtown Manhattan . "" We are concerned that the administration has not fully considered the impact that the trials would have on lower Manhattan in choosing the Moynihan Courthouse in Foley Square , "" U . S . Reps . Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velazquez , both Democrats , and several state and local officials said in a letter dated Thursday to Holder . Also , a spokeswoman for Gov . David Paterson cited his "" hesitation "" with the decision , citing the burdens it would pose on city residents . A spokesman for U . S . Sen . Kirsten Gillibrand raised financial concerns , saying her "" single biggest concern is making sure that the federal government cover the hundreds of millions of dollars per year cost to New York City for security during the trials . "" Julie Menin , chairwoman of a city community advisory agency , proposed four alternative locations for the trial within the Southern District of Manhattan : Governors Island , Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh , the U . S . Military Academy at West Point , and the Bureau of Prisons jail complex at Otisville . A West Point spokesman said no one has officially requested a review of demands for such a trial , which would require in depth study of legal and security concerns . Some U . S . senators including Homeland Security Committee chairman Joe Lieberman , I Connecticut want the detainees tried in military commissions . A letter from one group of senators said a federal civilian trial would provide militants with "" one of the most visible platforms in the world to exalt their past acts and to rally others in support of further terrorism . "" One congressman , U . S . Rep . Frank Wolf , R Virginia , is planning to introduce legislation that would cut off funding for the trial and block transfer of the September 11 suspects to New York . U . S . Attorney ' s Office spokesman Dean Boyd said the Justice Department "" can safely prosecute this case in the Southern District of New York while minimizing disruptions to the community to the greatest extent possible , consistent with security needs . "" President Obama is "" committed to seeing "" Mohammed , the mastermind of the attacks "" brought to justice , "" Burton said . "" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a murderous thug who has admitted to crimes . . . some of the most heinous crimes ever committed against our country , "" he said . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past53518,518,"A North Korean ambassador insisted that his country had nothing to do with the massive computer hack at Sony and called for the United States , which has blamed North Korea , to provide evidence . The United States hit North Korea with new sanctions this month after the said the country was behind the attack . Some technology experts say others could be involved , such as former employees of the studio . But the director has expressed "" not just high confidence , but very high confidence , "" that North Korea was behind the hacking . In a rare press briefing on Tuesday , An Myong Hun , North Korea ' s deputy U . N . ambassador , emphatically denied his country ' s involvement . "" My country has nothing to do with the Sony hacking . It is out of sense to do that , and we very want United States to provide evidence , "" An said . He said that North Korea had offered last week to the United States to "" undertake joint investigation "" into the hacking scandal . Despite having applauded the hacking "" a righteous deed "" and condemning "" The Interview "" as "" a disgusting movie openly agitating terrorism against a sovereign state , "" North Korea has consistently denied responsibility . At the same time , it has blamed the U . S . government for being behind the making of the Seth Rogen James Franco film . North Korea government has warned the United States that its "" citadels "" will be attacked , dwarfing the hacking attack on Sony . At a briefing on the subject , Rep . Ed Royce , a California Republican and chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee , called to "" cut off hard currency "" so North Korea cannot carry out offensive attacks like the cyber attacks . will lead fight against future hacks U . S . hits back with sanctions The attack on Sony Pictures used "" a sophisticated worm to conduct cyber exploitation activities , "" said retired Brigadier Gen . Gregory J . Touhill , who serves as deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity operations and programs at the Department of Homeland Security . Sony Pictures made "" The Interview , "" a comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un . The White House imposed sanctions this month targeting leaders in North Korea ' s government , preventing them from accessing property and entering the United States . The isolated nuclear regime , which has denied involvement in the Sony hack , was already subject to a strict set of U . S . economic restrictions . "" We have made clear that we will respond to the ' s misbehavior , "" said Sung Kim , the U . S . special representative for North Korea policy . "" We are under no illusions about the ' s willingness to abandon its illicit weapons , provocations and human rights abuses on its own . "" The U . S . Department of Treasury has designated three North Korean entities including the Reconnaissance General Bureau , the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation and Korean Tangun Trading Corporation and 10 officials based around the world as "" critical North Korean operatives . "" The aim of the sanctions is to isolate North Korea and cut off their entities from being able to use the international financial system , said Daniel Glaser , assistant secretary of the Department of Treasury , during a briefing about the hacking on Tuesday . Royce , the committee chairman , urged for stronger measures against North Korea . "" We need to step up and target those financial institutions in Asia and beyond that are supporting the brutal and dangerous North Korean regime , "" he said . "" Such sanctions have crippled North Korea in the past , leaving the regime unable to buy the loyalty of its generals . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past54535,535,"You are here : Home Amid Wobbly Syria Talks , Triple Blast Kills 45 Amid Wobbly Syria Talks , Triple Blast Kills 45 A Western diplomat said that on Sunday envoy Staffan de Mistura made proposals to a mistrustful in talks in a Geneva hotel , but that they were still hesitating . The future of the biggest push to date to end Syria ' s tangled civil war looked highly uncertain Sunday with the main opposition group threatening to walk away before planned peace talks even begin in earnest . This forced de Mistura who invited the government and opposition umbrella group for "" proximity talks "" in which he would meet each side in separate rooms to set the ball rolling with only the Damascus delegation . Under intense worldwide pressure to participate in the talks , the opposition said late Friday that it would send a small team of three representatives to discuss their concerns with Mrde Mistura . The main opposition group , the Saudi backed Higher Negotiations Committee or , boycotted the session , saying it won ' t take part until preliminary demands are met : the release of detainees , the end of the bombardment of civilians by Russian and Syrian forces , and the lifting of government blockades on rebel held areas . Ahrar al Sham , one of the most controversial groups in the because of its ties to al Nusra , was not represented in Geneva , spokesman Riad Naasan Agha said . "" We are here for political negotiations but we can not start those until we have those gestures in place "" , she added . U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry called the negotiations in Geneva "" a pivotal phase "" in the diplomatic effort to curb the violence in Syria . The Syrian government described to the attack as evidence that the opposition are terrorists , while opposition figures accused the Syrian government of carrying out the bombings to gain advantage in the negotiations . He said that it would be better if both sides initiated these talks in order to reach an agreement . A website affiliated with the Islamic State , also known as or , said the attacks were carried out by members of the extremist group , which controls large areas in both Syria and Iraq . The government and the have accused each other of a lack of "" seriousness "" about ending the war which has taken 250 , 000 lives and driven half of all Syrians from their homes . The said it would not begin talks if the United Nations could not stop the bombing and siege tactics used by the Syrian government and its Russian ally . Their deaths bring to 46 the number who have died of starvation since December , and Doctors Without Borders warned that dozens more people were on the verge of death . Farah Atassi , another opposition member , said it was too early to say how long the delegation would remain in Geneva . The blasts , which came as the ' s Syria envoy struggled to convene fresh peace talks in Geneva from which is excluded , tore a massive crater in the road , overturning and mangling cars and a bus and shattering windows . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past55545,545,"Nick Saban , Dabo Swinney call for changes to draft process The championship coaches want draft evaluations delivered after college seasons end . Nick Saban , Dabo Swinney call for changes to draft process The championship coaches want draft evaluations delivered after college seasons end . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1P05FMq A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address . A link has been posted to your Facebook feed . To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Nick Saban , Dabo Swinney call for changes to draft process Dan Wolken , Sports 12 : 19 p . m . January 10 , 2016 Alabama coach Nick Saban ( left ) and Clemson ' s Dabo Swinney with the College Football Playoff championship trophy on Sunday . , Ariz . ? Clemson coach Dabo Swinney joined Alabama s Nick Saban in calling for the to delay delivering draft feedback to underclassmen until after the college football season is complete . In the final news conference before Monday night s College Football Playoff championship game , Swinney said it s a distraction that all of us have to deal with , echoing a point Saban made at media days last July . Several underclassmen for both Alabama and Clemson , including Crimson Tide running back Derrick Henry , are likely going to enter the Draft shortly after the championship game . Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson has already said he is turning pro . Obviously it ' s just two of us left at this point , Swinney said of he and Saban . You get the grades , and some guys , they didn ' t get the grade that they want , so they ' re pouting a little bit , and got to pick themselves up . Then you get the guy that gets the grade he wants , so it ' s just It really should be when the season is over , whenever that is , and they should hold those things . The man behind Nick Saban and now Dabo Swinney Saban brought up the issue in discussing Alabama s 42 35 loss to Ohio State in the Playoff semifinals last year , intimating that some players who received draft grades in December might have lost focus on the game . He said he first tried to raise the issue privately among coaches before going public but didn t get much momentum behind it , largely because it doesn t impact coaches who don t have teams in the Playoff . In fact , some prefer the current system because they know early on who s leaving , allowing them time to recruit a replacement . The deadline to declare for the Draft is Jan . 18 . College football underclassmen declaring for the draft The moved the draft back . I wish they ' d move the declare date back , Saban said . I wish they ' d make a rule that says you can ' t even give a player what his draft status is until they ' ve finished their competition as a college player , so that you don ' t put them and their family in this situation where there ' s a big timing issue relative to competition . Now , if you finished your season on December 6th , you can make a decision . If you ' re finishing it on January 11th , then you get the information after that , but you have a significant amount of time to make that decision when you finish playing so you can stay focused on what you need to do to play well , because it benefits all these players to play well in the game . In 2014 , the consulted with college sports leaders in implementing some changes in the draft feedback system in an attempt to curb the number of underclassmen declaring and then going undrafted . Schools are now limited to five players requesting an evaluation ( previously there was no limit ) , and feedback is only offered in three categories ( as opposed to five ) : First round , second round and neither . commissioner Greg Sankey said he hopes the same process will take place now that this issue has been brought front and center . Nick has been effective in trying to inform and educate , Sankey said . We re really motivated to try to provide the best information available to help young people make decisions . That s really what he ' s talking about as opposed to , let s play a game and have to make a decision within a week that really determines the course of their life . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present56553,553,"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves after speaking during a campaign stop on Wednesday , Jan . 27 , 2016 , in Gilbert , S . C . ( Photo Rainier Ehrhardt ) more Soon the voters in Iowa will get a little relief from the invasion of candidates , their handlers , and the tsunami of reporters , pundits and assorted wise men who have trudged through snow and ice to make sure that no burp of the body politic goes unheard or unremarked . Iowans will get their state back , and to relish once more the silence of the cornfields . A veil of calm always descends on the battlefield on election day , or in the case of Iowa , a caucus . The minds of the voters have been made up and mercifully there s not much left for the candidates to say . Attention can be turned to the really important stuff , like the severity of Megyn Kelly s new hairdo that gives her the look of the conscientious small town schoolmarm , ready to show no mercy to the tardy schoolboy who shows up with neither homework nor excuse . It s a pity that Donald Trump was busy elsewhere in Iowa on debate night , raising money for veterans mistreated by the government that sent them to war . If the Donald thought Miss Kelly was tough when she was America s cable sweetheart , before she got her new coiffure and killer eyelashes , he ain t seen nothin yet . ( Chris Wallace s new tie is nice , too , and Brett Baier s haircut made the ladies swoon in Dubuque . ) The Republicans in the U . S . Senate are so overwrought with fright that Politico , the political daily , reports they re in the first of the five stages of grief . The prospect that either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz will be nominated in Cleveland will do that to a Republican senator . The senators up for re election this year are not so much disturbed by the prospect of damage to the party as by the prospect of damage to themselves and their own interests . Ted Cruz is Villain No . 1 and not a single Republican senator has endorsed him . That sounds to the Republican elites like bad news for Mr Cruz , but given the reputation the Republican senators have earned for themselves , maybe it s not . If he doesn t have a single friend in the U . S . Senate maybe he can t be all bad . A new chapter in the Campaign of 16 opens Tuesday morning , and we can t wait . The perils of Pauline ? the lady tied up on the railroad tracks ? had us on the edge of our seats every Saturday morning at the Bijou , and someone always rescued Pauline as the train roared around the bend . Will there be someone racing to show Hillary the love ? ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past57585,585,"After the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown , Connecticut , President Obama and Democrats in Congress launched a concerted effort to strengthen gun control laws . The centerpiece of their legislative agenda was a proposal that would have closed loopholes in the background check system for purchases online and at gun shows , but other measures like limiting the size of ammunition magazines and banning military style semiautomatic assault rifles were offered as well . The proposals went nowhere . Those that came up for a vote in the Senate were killed , and none were even considered in the House . Apart from a few executive actions taken by the president , the state of America ' s gun laws today is scarcely different than it was three years ago , despite a daily parade of gun deaths and a number of mass shootings in the intervening time . The three Democratic presidential candidates have put forth proposals to reduce gun violence . They ' ve tussled with each other over their past records on guns , and they ' ve each offered competing plans to change gun laws . Some have vowed to renew the push for stronger background checks , a ban on assault rifles , and other legislative remedies . Mindful of opposition , they have also considered the use of robust executive action to curb gun violence . Here ' s a look at what the three candidates Hillary Clinton , Bernie Sanders , and Martin O ' Malley have proposed . Hillary Clinton ' s approach would rely on a combination of legislative and executive action . She ' s said that she would renew the push for legislation strengthening background checks of the sort that was voted down in the Senate in 2013 . Her website labels that outcome "" reprehensible , "" and promises , "" Hillary is not giving up . "" If Congress won ' t act , Clinton has added , she will act on her own to close the loopholes in the background check system that allow people to buy guns online or at gun shows without undergoing any scrutiny . She ' s also said she will close the "" Charleston loophole , "" named after the deadly shooting at a black church in Charleston earlier this year , which allows a gun sale to proceed without a background check if it takes more than three days to finish the check . She ' s vowed to overturn a 2005 law that absolved gun manufacturers of any legal liability when someone uses their products during the commission of a crime . She ' s used the issue to take a shot at Sanders , who voted in favor of the 2005 law . "" It wasn ' t that complicated to me , "" Clinton said during the first Democratic debate after Sanders said the law was "" large and complicated . "" "" It was pretty straightforward to me that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America . Everybody else has to be accountable , but not the gun manufacturers . And we need to stand up and say , ' Enough of that . We ' re not going to let it continue . ' "" To crack down on illegal gun trafficking and straw purchases , Clinton has said she will increase funding for inspections of gun dealers and revoke the licenses of dealers that repeatedly violate the law . She ' s also said she will make straw purchases in which someone buys a gun on behalf of an individual who would not be allowed to purchase it himself a federal crime . She would support new legislation to expand the ban on gun sales to domestic abusers in certain instances . And to prevent the mentally ill from acquiring guns , she would push the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , and Firearms to "" finalize its rulemaking to close loopholes in our laws and clarify that people involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment . . . are prohibited from buying guns . "" Finally , Clinton would support the reinstatement of the ban on military style semiautomatic assault weapons a bill that was originally signed into law in 1994 by her husband , former President Bill Clinton , and lapsed in 2004 . Sanders has a mixed record on gun control , and he ' s explained his moderation on the issue by pointing out that Vermont is a rural state with a long tradition of hunting and firearm ownership . While he ' s taken some heat from his fellow Democrats for some of his prior votes like his vote against the 1993 Brady Bill , which established the national background check system , and his support for the 2005 bill that granted legal immunity to gun manufacturers he has offered his own plan to reduce gun violence . And he ' s pitched his moderate approach to the issue as the best way to corral the American public behind a solution . "" Some people want to ban every gun in America and some people believe in nothing at all , "" Sanders said last month . "" I think the vast majority of the American people , as the president indicated , including gun owners and I know that ' s true here in Vermont want sensible gun control legislation and they also believe that we should have more access to mental health facilities and counselors than we presently do . "" Despite the criticism , Sanders has not disavowed his vote on the 2005 bill that granted immunity to gun manufacturers , but he ' s said he ' s open to adjustments that clarify its intent . "" Here ' s the reason I voted the way I voted : If you are a gun shop owner in Vermont and you sell somebody a gun and that person flips out and then kills somebody , I don ' t think it ' s really fair to hold that person responsible , the gun shop owner , "" he told News last month . "" On the other hand , where . . . there is evidence that manufacturers , gun manufacturers , do know that they ' re selling a whole lot of guns in an area that really should not be buying that many guns . That many of those guns are going to other areas , probably for criminal purposes . So can we take another look at that liability issue ? Yes . "" Many of the legislative measures Martin O ' Malley has offered to reduce gun violence are similar to Clinton ' s proposals , but he has also detailed a number of executive actions he would take in addition to pushing Congress to act . He would push to repeal the 2005 law that granted immunity to gun manufacturers , and he supports the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban . He also supports raising the minimum age for gun ownership to 21 years . And like Clinton , he would push to ban unmarried domestic abusers and convicted stalkers from purchasing a gun . To crack down on gun trafficking , O ' Malley would increase funding to empower the government to inspect gun dealers more frequently revoke the licenses of dealers that violate the law . He would also increase federal penalties for gun trafficking . One of O ' Malley ' s more ambitious proposals involves the creation of a national firearms registry , which is actually explicitly banned under current law , to make it easier to trace guns involved in crimes back through their chain of ownership . Conservatives and Second Amendment advocates have vehemently opposed the creation of such a system , because they fear it would be a step toward federal confiscation of firearms . Under O ' Malley ' s proposed executive actions , gun manufacturers seeking federal contracts would be required to make their products safer through design changes , such as assigning hidden serial numbers to firearms that can ' t be defaced . O ' Malley would also ban the manufacture and sale of so called "" cop killer "" ammunition , which is coated and more effectively penetrates hard surfaces . In order to track those who attempt to buy firearms but don ' t pass required background checks , O ' Malley will also propose creating an electronic alert system which informs local law enforcement agencies of failed sales . The system would then identify individuals who should be prosecuted further . As the failed push for gun control in the wake of Newtown and the absence of any action in the wake of Charleston attests , getting new gun control measures through Congress is extraordinarily difficult . The Republican Party , with the support of the powerful National Rifle Association , is almost unanimously opposed to anything that smacks of gun control candidates have instead emphasized the need expand mental health services in the U . S . to prevent unstable people from obtaining firearms . Where restricting gun ownership is concerned , they don ' t believe we need new laws , they argue we simply need to enforce the laws that are already on the books . To the extent that the Democrats ' solutions to curb gun violence require legislative action , they should be pressed on how they are going to achieve that . If dead schoolchildren and dead churchgoers did not impel Congress to act , gun control advocates have wondered , what will ? What makes these Democrats think the political landscape will be any friendlier to a push for gun control in 2017 than it was in 2013 ? And in the case of proposed executive actions , like Clinton ' s proposal to unilaterally close loopholes in the background check system or O ' Malley ' s proposal to force design changes on gun manufacturers , candidates must be pressed on whether the actions will stand up to judicial scrutiny . Republicans are already up in arms over Mr Obama ' s unilateral moves on immigration , the environment , and other issues , arguing that they ' ve contributed to a lack of trust that makes legislative cooperation unlikely . Is it possible that a Democratic president taking executive action on gun control could poison the political environment and make it even more difficult to force a bill through Congress ? ? 2015 Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past58601,601,"Sanders Brings Campaign To Duluth , St . Paul Ahead Of Iowa ? Caucus ( ) ? Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is making two campaign stops in Minnesota Tuesday , just a week away from the Iowa Caucuses . Polls show Sen . Sanders is in a very close race with Hillary Clinton in Iowa . In Minnesota , Sanders will stop at the Saint Paul RiverCentre at 7 p . m . Tuesday where he will host a free rally . They are calling it the Future to Believe in Rally with Bernie Sanders . Doors open at 6 p . m . , but thousands were lining up to get in hours earlier . His campaign said Sanders will talk about a wide range of issues , including getting big money out of politics , combating climate change and making college affordable . Here s what he said Monday night about college at a Democratic presidential town hall in Iowa : A college degree today is the equivalent of what a high school degree was 50 years ago . People want to criticize me , fine . I believe that every kid in this country who has the ability and the desire should be able to get a higher education regardless of the income of his family . And I will pay for that through a tax on Wall Street speculation , Sanders said . Sanders said he also wants to raise Americans taxes so that everyone can have health care coverage through a single payer government system . There wouldn t be any co pays or deductibles . Before coming to St . Paul , Sanders held a rally in Duluth at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Arena at 3 p . m . While polls are close in Iowa , they are a bit more clear in other states . The latest News YouGov Poll has Sanders just one point behind Clinton in Iowa . In ? New Hampshire , that same poll shows Sanders ahead by 19 points . It s just the opposite in South Carolina , where the Battleground tracker shows Sanders trailing Clinton by 22 points . Here in Minnesota , Clinton is ahead of Sanders by 34 points in a new Star Tribune Minnesota poll . Pat Kessler knows Minnesota politics . He ' s been on the beat longer than any other reporter in the Twin Cities , covering state government , politics , campaigns and conventions since 1984 . Pat "" pulls back the curtain "" on what ' s happening in . . . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present59615,615,"The sometimes violent protests in Ferguson , Missouri , and the law enforcement response has sparked a debate about what some call the "" militarization of police , "" after armored vehicles , stun grenades and high tech weaponry were brought in to calm the violence . Some of the equipment may be military surplus that came from the federal government through a program from the Defense Department ' s Defense Logistics Agency , which provides military equipment to local police departments across the country . The ' s law enforcement support program was created in 1999 . "" This is a program legislated by Congress which allows the secretary to transfer some excess military property to local law enforcements , "" said Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm . John Kirby on Tuesday . Kirby said since 2007 the Ferguson Police Department has received two Humvees , one generator , and one cargo trailer . Over the same time period , the St . Louis County Police Department received six pistols , 12 rifles , 15 weapon sites , an explosives disposal robot , three helicopters , seven Humvees ( two used by Ferguson Police ) , and two night vision devices . "" It ' s still up to local law enforcement to determine how and when and where and under what circumstances they use excess military equipment , "" said Kirby , but Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "" has been mindful of the public debate and discussion about this issue and asked his staff this morning about some additional information about this program . "" According to Kirby , Hagel has received an information paper with more details on the program , but has yet to order a formal review . Hagel wants a better understanding of the law and regulations governing the transfer program and what parts of that program are the responsibility of the Defense Department . The program has been in place for several years with little controversy and attention , but has grabbed the national spotlight with the unrest in Ferguson , where police have used what looks like tactical military gear and vehicles , although it ' s not clear what equipment may have actually come from Pentagon inventories . Complete coverage on Ferguson shooting and protests Pentagon officials say a key issue for the department is the fact that once the equipment is transferred , the military has no control over how a local agency uses it . Many police departments also get funding for military style equipment from Homeland Security and the Justice Department , which operate programs aimed at beefing up police capability in the event of a terrorist attack . President Barack Obama called for a review of the program on Monday . "" I think it ' s probably useful for to us review how the funding has gone , how local law enforcement has used grant dollars to make sure that what they are purchasing is stuff that they actually need . Because there is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don ' t want those lines blurred , that would be contrary to our traditions and I think that there will be some bipartisan interest in reexamining some of those programs . "" Sen . Carl Levin , D Michigan , chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee , said his committee would "" review this program to determine if equipment provided by the Defense Department is being used as intended . "" Magazine : The Aftermath in Ferguson ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past60639,639,"The stakes are high for Manchester United as they aim to secure a place in the Champions League next season and Louis van Gaal ' s men showed their gambling instincts of a different kind on Monday . Fresh from Sunday ' s comfortable 3 0 win over top four rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday , United stars Ashley Young , Juan Mata , Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were present at the club ' s official launch of their bwin casino app . The quartet were all smiles with club ambassadors Denis Irwin and Bryan Robson as they promoted the new groundbreaking technology at Manchester ' s 235 Casino . Manchester United launched the world ' s first ever club based real money casino app on Monday United stars Juan Mata ( left ) , Phil Jones ( centre ) and Chris Smalling were in attendance for the app launch Club ambassadors Bryan Robson ( centre ) and Denis Irwin ( right ) were also present on Monday afternoon The Red Devils have been at the forefront of English football for many a year and off the pitch they are trying to follow suit with the launch of the first football club based , real money casino app in the world . Titled the ' bwin Manchester United Casino ' the specifically designed app gives users a realistic 3D casino environment , set against the backdrop of Old Trafford . Users are welcomed to the casino lobby by likenesses of United players , complete with voiceovers which guide them through the gameplay . It is the first of its kind and extends the popular range of services and products that United ' s online gaming and betting partner provides to fans . Users will see a realistic 3D casino environment , set against the backdrop of Old Trafford as they gamble Manchester United Group Managing Director , Richard Arnold , said : ' Since Manchester United launched its relationship with bwin in 2012 , we have been impressed by their commitment to setting the standard in their industry and providing dynamic and innovative user experiences , as is clearly demonstrated in the bwin Manchester United casino . ' The launch of the app is an important milestone in our partnership , and is yet another exciting platform to bring the Club closer to its fans . ' Sam Sadi , Director of bwin Labels , added , ' Our aim is to offer sports fans unique gaming experiences anytime , anywhere . Working with the club , we have used our partnership to create something entirely new and standout in our industry that will appeal to both Manchester United fans and casino players looking for superior graphics and gameplay . ' Users are welcomed to the casino lobby by likenesses of United players complete with voiceovers ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past61654,654,"A Southern California couple with a shared passion for Disneyland ended 2012 by completing the remarkable achievement of having visited the tourist attraction every single day of last year . Jeff Reitz and Tonya Mickesh both started last year out of work , but with annual passes to their favorite theme park given to them as a present from a friend . The couple , who met in July 2006 and don ' t have children , decided to visit Disneyland on a daily basis as a way to pass the time while they searched for work , but even after finding jobs they decided to keep up their daily pilgrimage . Disney nuts ! Tonya Mickesh and Jeff Reitz visited Disneyland every day during 2012 after a friend bought them annual passes During their daily visits Disneyland , Tonya Mickesh ( left ) and Jeff Reitz ( behind her ) enjoyed mugging for the on ride still camera on Space Mountain ' It was a way to keep ourselves occupied because we didn ' t have jobs , ' Mickesh told the Orange County Register . ' Originally , we thought we ' d get jobs and stop doing it , but we kept it going . ' Most days , the couple had a set routine to their visits . They would arrive early in the morning to beat the crowds and park in the Mickey Friends car park . Highlights for the couple over the year included spending 24 hours in the park for the 24 hour Leap Day and watching the baby ducks in the park grow up . They also made friendship with the park staff and became known as the ' everyday Disneyland couple . ' Both Jeff and Tonya are big Disney fans who have been visiting to theme park since they were small children , Jeff was only six months old when his parents first took him . In 2012 , Mickesh ' s favorite attraction was the Pirates of the Caribbean , while for Reitz it was the Matterhorn . As well as enjoying the rides , the daily trips also provided the couple with plenty of exercise and using a pedometer they worked out that they walked between two and four miles per visit . Remarkable achievement : Tonya Mickesh and Jeff Reitz have been made honorary citizens of Disneyland after visiting every day for an entire year Jeff Reitz , right , and Tonya Mickesh hold all their parking stubs for visiting Disneyland every day in 2012 The couple ' s daily visits including a trip to the park on Christmas Day As the year progressed the daily visits became harder to fit into their schedules as the couple found work . Mickesh ' s job started in late April and entailed working the second shift , so they would go in the mornings . Then Reitz found a job in September , making it difficult to go together . So during the week they would go at separate times , leaving the weekends for joint trips . There were also days when they nearly didn ' t make it . One day Reitz got delayed at work and made it to the front gate with only 20 minutes to spare . During his daily visits to Disneyland Jeff made friends with a number of staff who worked at the park Both Mickesh and Reitz say they thoroughly enjoyed the experience , but they have no plans to keep up their daily visits in 2013 The couple ' s premium passes cost 649 apiece , include parking , which means that the cost per day per person was 1 . 77 over the 366 days . To celebrate their remarkable achievement , the couple were made honorary citizens of Disneyland by Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Tom Staggs in a brief ceremony in front of the castle on New Year ' s Eve . Both Mickesh and Reitz say they thoroughly enjoyed the experience , but they have no plans to keep up their daily visits in 2013 . Video : Watch Jeff and Tonya ' s 366th consecutive visit to Disneyland ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past62664,664,"Nigel Farage today admits his party ' s election prospects have been damaged by its ' Walter Mitty ' characters . He says got it wrong in the past and now needs to show greater discipline to secure success at the ballot box . But he warned against mimicking the command and control ethos of Tony Blair ' s New Labour party machine , when pagers were issued to tell party members what to say at all times . leader Nigel Farage said his party will clamp down on Walter Mitty characters before next year ' s general election Ukip is expected to come first in elections to the European Parliament on May 22 . But Mr Farage ' s party has been rocked by yet more revelations about the views of candidates and councillors which risk undermining his claim to be a mainstream political force . In the run up to last year ' s council elections , candidates were exposed for wearing a Jimmy Savile mask , blaming the Holocaust on Jews and branding Margaret Thatcher an ' old w ' . Just this month Mr Farage has had to suspend a councillor who blamed the winter storms on gay marriage . American humorist James Thurber wrote The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty for the New Yorker magazine in 1939 . A Walter Mitty character was originally a harmless day dreamer , who disengages from the real world by turning his small everyday failures and humiliations into grandiose fantasies , with himself cast as the hero . But over the years the name has acquired a more pejorative sense , coming to mean a self deluding , self aggrandising fraudster , who tries to gain respect by pretending to be something he ' s not . The story has inspired not one film the celebrated 1947 version with Danny Kaye , which propelled the name ' Walter Mitty ' into the English language but two . Ben Stiller directed , co produced and starred in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty released last month . Now the Ukip leader is promising tougher vetting of candidates to weed out people who could cause him embarrassment . ' It ' s very natural that a newish party will attract all sorts of people , ' he told The Times . ' Walter Mittys seeking a role in politics in the end they will let down not just us but themselves . ' I need us to have a disciplined election machine . ' His comments come just a day after it emerged that a senior member of the party , Godfrey Bloom , apparently taunted a disabled student during an Oxford University debate . Mr Bloom was appearing at the debate last Thursday and asked the young man whether he was Richard , the medieval king who suffered from a spinal deformity . Last week the party was again embarrassed by one of its more controversial members , David Silvester , who claimed recent floods were divine punishment for new gay marriage laws . Mr Farage said he wanted to ' professionalise ' ahead of the European elections in May in which his party are expected to trouble the Conservatives . He suggested he may wish to curb the eccentricities of individual candidates and said the party must campaign together on similar issues . But Mr Farage said he did not want to turn ' into a new Labour outfit where they ' ve all got pagers on their belts and they ' re told what to say and think ' . Keen to appeal to blue collar people , he claimed a third of ' s support derives from former Labour voters . He immediately risked alienating them , however , by saying that bankers were entitled to receive large bonuses . ' The very thought that the bureaucrats in Brussels now set the limits we can pay the highest earning people in London is truly astonishing , ' he added . Mr Farage said the party need to appear more professional if they are to succeed at the ballot box . His comments come as Godfrey Bloom , pictured , appeared to taunt a disabled student during a debate at Oxford University The stockbroker ' s son said : ' We don ' t need official caps or limits being placed on these things . Don ' t forget that quite a lot of this comes back to people in terms of pension incomes and the rest of it . ' Mr Farage also attacked high public sector pay , especially in local government , saying there were a ' remarkable ' number of people working in local authorities and quangos who were on six figure salaries . While Labour is facing a growing backlash in the business community as a result of its 50p tax rate plan , has been courting big donors as anti Europe sentiment has increased in the City . However , Mr Farage refused to be drawn on any economic policies , nor would he be drawn into giving a date as to when the deficit should be cut by . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past63665,665,"In the Riverview Gardens apartment complex, roused by the sounds of her neighbors waking, Janet Foy stepped over the textbook she fell asleep reading and vowed to herself that today would be the day she finally came back to life. That today she could start reclaiming some of the confidence she once felt when she stood onstage at church and sang about forgiveness and redemption and You who make all things new. At 56, Foy was broke, jobless and living with her older sister in public housing in Kansas City, Mo. and she didn’t feel much like singing anymore. Recently, she had been told by a manager at a Victoria’s Secret that there was no need to leave her résumé. But not too long ago, she wanted me to know, she was pulling in $1, 000 a week at a Merle Norman makeup store, helping other people look and feel their best. But then she took in her brother to try to help him overcome an addiction, and soon she was pulled under financially as he spiraled out of control. She would show up to work too overwhelmed and exhausted to make any sales, and had to dip into her savings until that was gone. She begged to borrow against her next paycheck but eventually lost her apartment and moved into a friend’s spare room. How are you holding up? people would ask. I’m good, girl, she would say. Praise the Lord! But inside, she felt like the movies she had seen in which “a person becomes encapsulated,” suspended between consciousness and oblivion. Finally, on the phone with her sister one night, she broke down: I’m not right, I feel like I am dying. “She was always the steady one,” her sister, Karen Smith Walker, says. “The one who could solve any problem. Always with a book. Always studying. ” But now, after years of living with this desperation, Foy didn’t know how to find her way through it anymore. “I tried to get Obamacare,” Foy recalls. “I called the number, and when the woman told me what it would cost me, I just about dropped the phone. She told me I’d needed to make at least $12, 000 a year for there to be any help to make it something I might be able to afford. Which still doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, even now, that having no money meant I got no help when I really needed it. ” She also learned that she could not expect any help from Medicaid, which in her home state remained available only if you fit the criteria sometimes known by the shorthand “poor and” — poor and pregnant, poor and disabled. As a single childless woman, she could forget about it. There was no going to a doctor, even if she felt, as she put it, “like I was falling to pieces inside. ” But then one day she found herself sobbing in front of a nurse and a social worker, members of a team dispatched by the local clinic to embed themselves in the lives of the uninsured residents of the apartment complex where Foy lived — a effort to reach those who would otherwise, as one resident delicately put it, “remain S. O. L. ” The team, part of a program called Care, or C3, developed by the Samuel U. Rodgers Clinic of Kansas City in partnership with the Housing Authority of Kansas City and the Truman Medical Center, used their collective expertise to help the uninsured come up with creative interventions for their health concerns, beyond relying on a regimen of studious neglect supplemented with panicked, bankrupting visits to the E. R. Some days that meant knocking on apartment doors and offering readings. Other days it meant arranging for guest speakers to come and lead classes about reducing stress or cooking nutritiously with limited ingredients. In Foy’s case, it meant a referral to a therapist, who promptly gave her an explanation for her suffering. “My neurotransmitters were going pphhht,” she told me. “They were just shot, after all that loss and trauma I had been through. ” The therapist treated Foy for depression — at no cost. That was a benefit for residents who worked with the C3 team: They received three free visits to the nearby Sam Rodgers Health Center, which they could use for any treatments offered there, including dental work. After her first session with the therapist, Foy started to imagine what it might be like to feel normal again. But after her third visit, sessions would cost $35 modest, she knew, but still more than she could afford. Over the last few years, she learned there was more than one kind of death, like the inability to lift yourself out of a bad place. Now that she had begun to do just that, she dreaded the possibility of losing it all over again. According to the most recent census data, the uninsured portion of the United States population has fallen to 9 percent, with the sharpest drop registered among those living in households with incomes of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level (which, translated into dollar terms, is the equivalent of an income of $48, 600 a year for a family of four, or $23, 760 for a single person). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 11 million people have purchased private health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act exchanges, and a majority report incomes between 100 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level. It would seem that Americans are among the greatest beneficiaries of the A. C. A. ’s reforms. And yet in some states this same population also remains, paradoxically, among the reforms’ greatest losers. This subpopulation is living inside a kind of “dead zone,” as Foy put it to me one day, searching for the right metaphor to describe her predicament. A long and suspended silence, she called it, “like when you can’t receive a single call, a single text. ” How these dead zones formed is a matter of unanticipated consequences. The A. C. A. ’s architects did not predict that the Supreme Court would rule in 2012 that it was up to each state whether to expand Medicaid eligibility, which is how they imagined Americans with the most modest incomes would receive coverage. Even though the federal government would have helped fund the expansion, 19 states opted for ideological reasons not to do so, arguing that they are pushing back against government bloat and the fostering of dependency. A result was that the residents with the lowest incomes in those 19 states were now caught between two nonoptions: They made too much to qualify for Medicaid, or didn’t qualify at all, but they also made too little for publicly subsidized insurance on the exchanges, their income not high enough to trigger the refundable tax credits and that could make the possibility remotely affordable to someone making just a few dollars above the federal poverty level. This paradox is referred to widely as the coverage gap. Most people in that gap are on the far side of middle age, with about one in eight edging toward 65 — a time in life when more serious health issues begin to emerge. Almost half are nonwhite. They are almost equally split along gender lines. About a quarter are supporting children, and everyone in the gap is more likely to be working (62 percent) than not (38 percent). Those with jobs work largely for small businesses that employ fewer than 50 people, which aren’t subject to A. C. A. penalties for not offering coverage. Most people in the gap who have jobs work full time. They are agricultural workers, primarily, or employees, but some hold jobs in education, health and social services, professional administration or manufacturing. There is little disagreement in the existing literature about the negative effects of being uninsured: You are more likely to receive a diagnosis of cancer you are more likely to postpone or forgo care, resulting in more severe consequences as treatable illnesses become increasingly complicated with delay. There’s also good, hard evidence from studies on “the wear and tear that worry and stress has on people who don’t have insurance coverage,” says Genevieve Kenney, of the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, noting one of the most compelling and most cited: a study in Oregon that found that offering Medicaid to the uninsured reduced bad medical debts, decreased the likelihood of choosing to cover medical expenses over other bills, buffered them from catastrophic payments and significantly reduced depression. And yet the coverage gap is a new enough phenomenon that scant research exists into the particular and distinct ways that it is playing out in people’s lives. Already, a scattering of researchers, mostly medical anthropologists, have taken steps to follow communities where significant numbers of people are caught in the coverage gap, in order to gain the kinds of insights “you don’t get from a single snapshot, a survey,” says Heide Castañeda, an associate professor in the anthropology department at the University of South Florida. Those insights reveal, as she puts it, “not just how vulnerable people are, but how much agency they have, how much initiative they have to try and find a solution when none seems to exist. You can’t code that in a binary way you have to watch it unfold over time. ” In Castañeda’s case, she has been studying the lives of the uninsured in Hidalgo County, Tex. which has one of the highest rates of uninsurance in the nation. She has traced the health of dozens of families over the last four years, simultaneous to the rollout of the A. C. A. documenting how they have responded to illness or chronic disease or accident. What she has seen is that to live in the gap demands a creative, improvisational mode of survival — one that often masks the true extent of the disparities to anyone on the outside. “It might be true no one is dying in the streets,” she says. “But the uninsured are dying younger people’s life expectancy is affected, people’s ability to work is affected. These informal types of health care, as important as they are, actually help us not to see that. ” If it can be said that life in the gap tends to inculcate a certain guerrilla thinking among those who have no choice but to consider highly improvisational modes of insurance, then it can also be said that treating the people marooned there requires a similar flexibility of thought. You must manage the strange simultaneity of making someone aware of a grim diagnosis, even as you also know you do not have the means to properly remedy it. My curiosity about this is what had brought me to Kansas City, and would ultimately draw me into the state of Kansas, covering more than 1, 000 miles in five days. The area had already established something of a reputation in medical and circles, even before the emergence of the gap, for the innovative ways its providers had adapted to the overwhelming demands of treating the uninsured and medically isolated. Kansas City was, until recently, home to the largest free clinic in the country (before the clinic’s board voted to accept insurance in anticipation of the A. C. A. and the expansion of Medicaid in its state, which then did not happen). And it is currently the home of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, which gives away $20 million each year to help fund organizations looking for alternative ways to reach the uninsured and to expand community access to quality medical care — the same foundation that supported the efforts of the team embedded at the local housing project where Janet Foy lived. The president and chief executive of the foundation is a physician named Bridget McCandless, who for 13 years before taking her current position headed a Kansas free clinic. She is widely considered a thoughtful and measured voice in larger conversations about community health, having served as president of the Metropolitan Medical Society of Greater Kansas City and serving currently as a citizen representative on a Missouri House of Representatives working group devoted to Medicaid reform. McCandless seemed the perfect person to speak to about any unlikely innovations that had emerged to work around the lack of immediate legislative solutions for those in the gap. She told me a story about one of her former patients, a man with a seizure disorder: “He’s well controlled on inexpensive medicine. However, he has to see a doctor to get the prescription. Because he lacks insurance, he inevitably runs out of medication and has a seizure. This means that he can’t drive to work for six months. It’s really hard to work in construction when you have to admit to having a recent seizure — preventable or not. He collects cans on the side of the road to support himself now. ” It was hard to be innovative, in other words, when you didn’t have anything to innovate with. A program manager named Rebecca Anderson at the Kansas City Clinic, which was once the nation’s largest free clinic and which also receives funding from McCandless’s foundation, put it to me this way: When she first started working for the clinic, she did H. I. V. case management, “which feels really heavy. But there are so many resources available to those patients. Then I transferred over to this area” — she now oversees a team of community health workers assigned to work one on one with uninsured patients — “and this is way harder. These patients really have access to nothing. Absolutely nothing. ” In the case of Kansas, where Gov. Sam Brownback’s experiment in radically reducing government has included not only refusing to expand Medicaid but also on paring back its existing program, the question of what it meant to have access to nothing took on a particular resonance. My first stop was Iola, where the foundation that McCandless heads also funds initiatives for the uninsured. In the parking lot of the local clinic, nearly every spot was filled. Rich seams of coal, natural gas and zinc fueled huge mining operations in this region during the early part of the 20th century, but by the 1930s the seams were already becoming depleted, leading to less and less work. Today the area is largely defined by entrenched generational poverty, unemployment and poor health. People who live in rural areas are much more likely to fall into the coverage gap than those who live in cities, distance and isolation amplifying the complications associated with the patchwork way they must care for themselves. Cyndy Greenhagen worked out of a converted closet in the Iola clinic, and as the designated patient navigator, she ran the numbers for community members who came in without insurance and looking for assistance. She would tell them whether they fell into the gap. Iola was small enough that she could remember the people she couldn’t help — like Suzan Emmons, who lived across town with her two granddaughters, ages 10 and 12. For almost three decades, Emmons, 56, ran her own business cleaning houses. She had become parent to her granddaughters only recently, after seeking their guardianship to remove them from an abusive situation. The girls no longer hoarded food in their room for fear that they would not get another meal, but they were still getting up in the night, sometimes three, four times. The therapist who worked with them told Emmons that the girls were checking to make certain she hadn’t left them. Last year, Emmons made just over $13, 000. She carried private insurance until two years ago, when it became too expensive. But she imagined, when she went to see Greenhagen, that she would now qualify for some kind of assistance. Instead she learned that with the two girls in her household, she fell into the gap. It was the kind of incongruity that Greenhagen regularly experienced in her job. She had said no to people with cancer people who worked three jobs but still didn’t make enough to bump themselves out the gap people who had been laid off and who had made the decision to return to school but now had no income as a result, and so fell beyond the borders of assistance. Another person Greenhagen had recently said no to was Shanette Smith, who lives with her two daughters and her in the home where her husband was raised, not far from the town of Toronto, on the edge of a state park where some of the oldest trees in Kansas still stand. Her girls ride their bicycles in dizzying loops up and down the same driveway that a police cruiser rolled down in the early hours of a morning four years ago — a trooper dispatched to inform her that her husband had been killed in a accident on a stretch of highway just a few miles away. “After that, things fell apart for a while,” she told me, as we stood together in the dining room, where her keeps her collection of Pepsi memorabilia in curio cabinets. The girls were debating whether tonight they would be able to go take showers at the state park, for which their grandmother had purchased a yearly pass. Shanette, her and the girls sometimes went there in the summer to wash up because it offered not only the promise of inexpensive entertainment — Do you think we’ll see frogs in the bathrooms again, like we did last time? — but, with only one bathroom for all of them at the house, also efficiency, measured in terms of both time and water. Three years ago, at her ’ invitation, she and the girls moved their things into the two back bedrooms of the house. With her ’ help, Smith, 28, was able to return to school full time, taking classes at a community college an hour’s drive away. Smith found that she liked school, that she was a good student. She realized that she could finally study to become a nurse, something she considered before her husband’s accident. One by one, she ticked off her required prerequisites, hunted down transcripts and secured letters of recommendation. She was ready, she thought, to turn in her application to a program in September. But then, while attending an informational meeting, she heard of one last requirement she had not anticipated: Students had to prove they had health insurance. Up to that point, she had simply gone without. The school suggested she look into Obamacare. Which, in turn, led her to Greenhagen’s office. Smith had assumed that the $700 a month she received in widow’s benefits and the fact that she was a student would qualify her for some kind of help she didn’t know about the gap, or that her state was one of the places where it existed. Greenhagen kept looking at her screen, as if she didn’t believe it. “I’m so sorry,” she said. After she left the little closet office, Smith walked to her truck, locked the doors and cried. “It just felt like a huge loss,” she told me. “How could everything I had been planning toward, all the work, how could it all be for nothing?” Smith had been trying not to show her daughters how frightened she felt ever since Greenhagen had delivered the news that insurance was out of her reach — and so, therefore, was nursing school. “Shall we get a broom to fight off any frogs we might find in the shower?” she asked them as they prepared to head to the park. But the same thought was repeating over and over: Now what am I going to do? She thought it as she put her daughters to bed, her youngest daughter saying to her through the dark, “I can’t wait to go to school, so I can have homework, too. ” It frightened her that she felt too numb to try to come up with an answer. The day after my visit with Smith and her family, I drove to the town of Pittsburg, to the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, the largest clinic in the state. The center’s doctors tend to more than 43, 000 patients a year, regardless of their ability to pay — “We will never take anyone to collections,” a founding member of the center and its C. E. O. Krista Postai, told me. Many patients here have complicated their medical problems by going for years without seeing a doctor, fearing a bill they couldn’t afford. “This,” Postai said, gesturing around the building, “is all . ” The guiding philosophy at the health center has always been to “always simply say yes — yes, we can help you, whatever it takes,” Jason Wesco, the clinic’s executive vice president, told me. Sometimes that meant staff members’ volunteering to drive someone to Kansas City in their own cars. In the doctors’ cases, it frequently meant, with their patients’ permission, serving as unofficial specialists — reading up, consulting experts and doing as much as they could within the perimeters of their training — for those who could not afford to see one. Still, there was only so much a doctor could do for a man with bone cancer, for a woman who required a heart transplant. “It’s very hard to know that because of a lack of resources, someone will die,” Julie Stewart, a physician at the center, told me. “To have to look in a patient’s eyes and say: ‘Your prognosis is different than that of someone who lives in another state. Your prognosis is less because you don’t have access to insurance. ’’u2009” An evangelical Christian, Stewart was featured heavily in state and national news accounts of the coverage gap over the last year, and she spoke with the conviction and eloquence associated with the tradition of religious testimony. “There’s a disconnect between politicians and people’s lives on the ground,” she said. “I’m strongly . I testified for the bill because I believe God created life. I’ve said babies can feel the same pain as adults, and that position was applauded, so why, when adults are experiencing the kind of severe debilitating pain that I am seeing because they cannot afford the care they need, are the same people not also working to do something about that?” Currently she had a patient with lupus who was particularly worrying to her. The medications Stewart had tried did not seem to be working. “I keep telling her it’s time to see a specialist” — she had arranged for one at Kansas University to see the patient for $200 — “but she keeps saying no, she can’t possibly afford it. ” Stewart wanted to check up on her, so we drove to her home, in a corner of Kansas that Wesco had told me was, until the center opened a satellite office there, so medically isolated that the doctors were seeing cases they had not seen in their residencies or in medical school. “I’ll take my chances with dying, if that’s what it comes down to,” the patient, Brenda Hannah, told me, sitting in the living room of the home she shared with her husband, Bill. “We have no money. We live on Bill’s disability. ” She had been working at Walmart when the pain first started to become unbearable. She couldn’t stand long enough “to make a sandwich. ” By the time she finally connected with Stewart, she had to quit working, and had already racked up several bills. “The pain would just become unbearable,” she said. “It got to the point where I told Bill to hide the guns — I didn’t want to know where they were. ” Bill, silent, rocked harder in his recliner. Since she started working with Stewart, Hannah rated her pain at about a 5 on a scale, which Stewart counted as an improvement. But Hannah was still in a lot of pain. “You should really go to that specialist,” she told Hannah, who just shook her head. Bill required dialysis three times a day, which she handled at home. “I’ve sat here and thought, What can I pawn? The house is the only thing we have. We’re behind on bills so bad” — she pointed to a table where she had stacked unpaid medical bills and all other bills in two piles, each over an inch thick — “and now the car tags are due. ” Next to the front door, Brenda had taped two Notes at eye level, the last thing she would see on the way out of the house. You are smart (smart ass included). You are fun to talk to. “For my depression,” she explained. “To remind myself of the good things about me. ” Summer gave way to fall. Shanette Smith sent off her application to nursing school, hoping that maybe by the time she heard, something would have changed and Greenhagen would not say no. Suzan Emmons gave a speech at a community forum sponsored by a coalition of organizations working to urge the Kansas state government to expand Medicaid and end the gap. “I have worked my entire adult life,” she said. “For the past 26 years, I have been as a housekeeper. I make an honest wage. I feel I am doing all the right things to be a good citizen. ” Janet Foy was trying to ignore a painful knot on one of her breasts. She had heard once of a folk remedy involving iodine, and at first she treated herself this way, ingesting three drops each day. The pain stopped, but when she ran into members of the C3 team in one of the common areas, they urged her to attend a free mammogram event at the local health clinic as a precaution. Until she found the knot, Foy had, in fact, been feeling the best she had in months, like she “might have something in the tank after all. ” The therapy sessions she received free through the interventions of the C3 team had proved a turning point, she told me. She spoke of wanting to sing again. And she had finally come up with a plan that she was certain would bring herself back to life: medical billing and coding. She had found an online review course for $20 a month to prepare for the accreditation test. She followed up this news with a trip to Kmart, where she could lease a $200 Chromebook. Next, she placed a folding table and chair in a corner of the apartment, where she planned to do her homework. My little office, she called it. Through contacts in the housing authority, she had recently learned of the possibility of a paid internship in the medical records and billing departments at a local insurance company, and she wanted to do whatever she could to position herself for consideration. “I’ve already researched all the bus lines,” she told me. So she waited for the news from the mammogram technician with particular anticipation. When the woman told her the mass was benign, she felt it was nothing less than permission to believe that things were going to get better, even if she did not yet know how. “I’m doing all I can for now, with what I have,” she says. “Sometimes that’s all you can do. You just have to take your little life, and walk it out. ”",true,news,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past64684,684,"Hashim Amla compiled his first double century after Jacques Kallis again fell short of the landmark as South Africa continued to punish India ' s bowlers on day two of the first cricket Test in Nagpur . Amla was unbeaten on 253 when the tourists declared on 558 6 in the final session on Sunday , then India safely reached stumps at 25 0 in a clash between the top two teams in the five day format . It is the highest score made by a South African No . 3 batsman , and the highest by any from his country against India . Amla extended his third wicket partnership with Kallis to a South African record of 340 before his senior partner fell for 173 , having added just 14 to his overnight tally in a subdued second part of his innings . It was the first time any pair have put on a triple century in any matches between the two nations . Kallis edged a delivery from off spinner Harbhajan Singh onto his pads , and Murali Vijay took the catch at short leg to end a 351 ball knock that put the all rounder into third equal on the all time Test century scoring list with 34 . Amla then added another 108 with A . B . De Villiers , who made a brisk 53 off 88 deliveries , and rode his luck as he was dropped twice on 149 , as they broke South Africa ' s record for the fourth wicket in matches between the two teams . De Villiers fell to part time bowler Virender Sehwag and then Harbhajan removed J . P . Duminy for just nine to have the Proteas 476 5 , but then Mark Boucher contributed 39 to a stand of 78 with Amla before becoming Zaheer Khan ' s third victim , and captain Graeme Smith called the innings to a close with 40 minutes left in the day . India openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag survived four overs from pace bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel with some positive batting , and will start Monday ' s play on 12 and nine respectively as they seek to make inroads into a massive first innings deficit . They will do well to take the lead of Amla , who was steady throughout his 473 ball innings , hitting 22 boundaries and scoring 55 , 45 and 38 in Saturday ' s three sessions . While India relied heavily on Harbhajan and Amit Mishra , who on a helpful pitch bowled only six maidens between them in 99 overs for combined figures 2 306 , Smith has only one specialist spinner in Paul Harris plus all rounder Duminy , with the medium pace of Kallis backing up Steyn , Morkel and rookie fast bowler Wayne Parnell . Meanwhile , Australia crushed the West Indies by 113 runs in the opening match of their one day series in Melbourne on Sunday . Batting first , the hosts reached 256 8 in their 50 overs as opener Shane Watson top scored with 56 in his 100th match , while captain Ricky Ponting made 49 . All rounder Kieron Pollard took 3 45 for the Windies , while seamer Ravi Rampaul claimed 2 43 . The tourists then slumped to 143 all out in just 34 . 2 overs as opening bowler Ryan Harris and spinner Nathan Hauritz claimed three wickets each . Doug Bollinger also snared two early victims , including the key scalp of big hitting captain Chris Gayle , as the West Indies were left reeling on 12 3 . Pollard , signed for 750 , 000 in the Indian Premier League auctions last month , top scored with 31 from 35 deliveries . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past65712,712,"Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik , once they did connect in 2013 , were quickly discussing jihad and martyrdom , Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee . The terrorist couple behind the San Bernardino massacre became Islamic radicals even before they met on the internet two years ago , the head of the said Wednesday . U . S . citizen Syed Farook and his Pakistani born bride Tashfeen Malik , once they did connect in 2013 , were quickly discussing jihad and martyrdom , Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee . Malik s extremist views went undetected during the vetting process for the visa that allowed her to enter the United States in July 2014 , Comey said . . The couple s conversion from suburban parents to terrorist killers was at least in part inspired by , Comey testified . We re trying to sort out what other contributions there may have been to their motivation , said Comey . has claimed responsibility for various terror attacks , including the latest Paris slaughter and the bombing of a Russian tourist flight , along with the beheadings of innocent hostages . The director added that it was unclear if the Farook Malik cyber romance was arranged by a terrorist group aware of their inclinations , or if it developed on its own . It would be a very , very important thing to know , Comey said of that detail . The married mass murderers , after killing 14 people and wounded another 21 at a holiday gathering , died in a fusillade of police bullets in a wild street shootout with police . Malik s father told The Associated Press that news of the Dec . 2 rampage involving his rifle toting daughter had left him devastated . Sad , very sad , said Gulzar Ahmen Malik from his home in Jiddah , Saudi Arabia . I am in such pain that I cannot even describe it . The married mass murderers , after killing 14 people and wounded another 21 at a holiday gathering , died in a fusillade of police bullets in a wild street shootout with police . Comey characterized the California couple , parents to a 6 month old child , as homegrown violent extremists . The two amassed a cache of weapons , explosives and ammunition while living quietly in a Redlands , Calif . , townhouse . The terrorist twosome were already radicalized before their romance began online , and Comey said the two were inspired by foreign terror groups . The couple was married last year . Farook supposedly conspired with another California bred terrorist on a separate West Coast attack as early as 2012 ? but was possibly rattled by a string of arrests in the area , investigators believe . They got spooked , one intelligence official told . Officials speaking to said Farook and the unidentified conspirator were studying California sites for a possible attack . It was unclear how far the two men were into the planning before the plot was aborted . California authorities busted four men in 2012 in a plot to travel overseas , join Al Qaeda and kill Americans . They trained for their mission by firing 47 assault rifles and gun ranges , authorities charged . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past66770,770,"A former teacher has been accused of seducing one of her students and engaging in ' touching , fondling and kissing ' during two dates . Brooke Wilson was charged with child seduction following a police investigation in Goshen , Indiana . The 27 year old is alleged to have gone on two dates with the student who was aged between 16 and 18 . Charged : Brooke Wilson , pictured , was charged with child seduction and allegedly went on two dates with a male student who was aged between 16 and 18 A probable cause document filed in Elkhart Superior Court reveals that the Spanish teacher admitted she had ' made out ' with the student . The document says she and the student had ' two dates that included kissing , fondling and other touching in an intimate manner while at locations in Elkhart County during April and May in 2013 . ' According to the Goshen News the student reported the inappropriate relationship to Wa Nee School Corporation officials in September 2013 . Wilson was suspended on September 25th and fired from her job at Northwood High School on October 14 . According to the affidavit , Wilson was interviewed by police and admitted that she had gone on a date and that she and the male student had ' made out ' . The teacher ' s husband Brant Wilson is an assistant football coach at Goshen High School . Axed : Wilson was suspended on September 25th and fired from her job at Northwood High School on October 14 . She faces up to three years in jail if convicted with a fine of 10 , 000 When his wife was fired , and banned from entering school grounds , last year he declined to comment . Wilson had taught at the school since 2012 with her teaching licence valid until the end of 2014 . School officials told parents about the alleged incident when Wilson was removed from the classroom Joe Sabo , superintendent of Wa Nee Schools , said : ' From the beginning , our focus is the best interests of our students . ' We believe that our course of action was fair , reasonable , and appropriate . ' Wilson was charged with child seduction , a class D felony . She was arrested at her home and held on 5 , 000 bond . She faces up to three years in jail if convicted with a fine of 10 , 000 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past67771,771,"Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott has warned that Hurricane Irma, which was barreling toward Florida on Friday, could be more damaging than 1992 s Hurricane Andrew which caused more than $26 billion in devastation in the state. Following are some facts about hurricanes Irma and Andrew: - In 1992, Hurricane Andrew blasted the southern part of Florida as it moved from east to west, spending about four hours over the state. By comparison, Scott warned this week that Irma was wider than all of Florida and could swamp it from coast to coast, during a northward push through the state. Remember, Hurricane Andrew is one of the worst storms in the history of Florida, Scott said at a news conference. This is much worse and more devastating on its current path. - Hurricane Irma could hit the Florida Keys as a Category 5, which is the highest ranking for a storm s severity, with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour (258 km per hour). Andrew made landfall as a Category 5 with maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h), according to the National Weather Service. - Hurricane Andrew directly caused 15 deaths in Florida and another 29 indirect deaths, from causes such as fires, electrocutions and cleanup accidents, according to the National Weather Service. It directly killed eight people in Louisiana, and indirectly killed nine more in the Southern state. - Andrew damaged or destroyed 126,000 single-family houses and ripped apart 9,000 mobile homes, according to the National Weather Service. It also caused property damage in Louisiana after sweeping through the Gulf of Mexico. Irma is larger than Andrew and it could leave 100,000 people without shelter, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long warned at a news conference. - In Homestead, Hurricane Andrew destroyed 1,167 mobile homes, which amounted to 99 percent of all the mobile homes in that South Florida town, according to the National Weather Service. After Andrew, the federal government imposed more stringent regulations for those types of homes. ",true,dataset,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past68774,774,"The world ' s population will soar by four billion to reach 11 billion by 2100 , suggests a new study . Using the latest statistical tools , researchers found that the number of humans on Earth is likely to reach 11 billion by the end of the century around two billion higher than some previous estimates . The findings includes the most up to date estimates for future world population , as well as a new method for creating such estimates . Research carried out by Dr Rafferty from Washington University says the world ' s population will increase more than thought ( stock image shown ) . This latest number is around two billion higher than previous estimates . The findings were published online by the journal Science The study ' s corresponding author Dr Adrian Raftery , a professor of statistics and of sociology at the University of Washington , said : ' The consensus over the past 20 years or so was that world population , which is currently around seven billion , would go up to nine billion and level off or probably decline . ' We found there ' s a 70 per cent probability the world population will not stabilise this century . Population , which had sort of fallen off the world ' s agenda , remains a very important issue . ' The paper explains the most recent United Nations ( ) population data released in July . It is the first population report to use modern statistics , known as Bayesian statistics , that combines all available information to generate better predictions . Most of the anticipated growth is in Africa where population is projected to quadruple from around one billion today to four billion by the end of the century . There are about seven billion people living on our planet and this number is set to reach almost 10 billion by 2050 , according to figures . This population explosion is largely attributed to better healthcare and farming practices , with some experts arguing that industrialisation in the 18th and 19th centuries was the tipping point that allowed more humans to thrive . However , one social scientist claims the human population explosion has its roots as far back as 2 , 000 years ago . Aaron Stutz , an associate professor of anthropology at Emory ' s Oxford College in Georgia created a new model of demographic and archaeological data to show when humans thrived . In a paper published in the journal , he claims that political and economic reforms helped to create more stable families , and therefore enabled more people to thrive . The main reason is that birth rates in sub Saharan Africa have not dropped as fast as had been previously expected . There is an 80 per cent chance that the population in Africa at the end of the century will be between 3 . 5 and 5 . 1 billion people , according to the study . However , other regions of the world are projected to see less change . Asia , now 4 . 4 billion , is projected to peak at around five billion people in 2050 and then begin to decline . Populations in North America , Europe , Latin America and the Caribbean are projected to each stay below one billion . The study ' s first author Patrick Gerland , a demographer at the , said the figures largely support the 2013 projections , but add a new dimension . He said : ' Earlier projections were strictly based on scenarios , so there was no uncertainty . ' This work provides a more statistically driven assessment that allows us to quantify the predictions , and offer a confidence interval that could be useful in planning . ' Most of the anticipated growth is in Africa ( shown ) where population is projected to quadruple from around one billion today to four billion 2100 . However Asia , now 4 . 4 billion , is projected to peak at around five billion people in 2050 while North America , Europe and Latin America are projected to each stay below one billion World population projections are based mostly on two things : future life expectancy and fertility rates . Earlier techniques relied largely on expert opinion for how those trends were expected to change . The newer forecast instead uses statistical methods to combine government data and expert forecasts for such things as mortality rates , fertility rates and international migration . Earlier reports also represented uncertainty by using scenarios in which women would have 0 . 5 children more or less than the experts ' forecast . However , Dr Raftery said that method generates too big a range . He said : ' In a given year and country the fertility rate might be half a child higher , but the probability that it would be half a child higher in all countries in all years in the future is very low . ' The new method uses statistical models to narrow the range , finding an 80 per cent probability that the population in 2100 will be between 9 . 6 billion and 12 . 3 billion . Dr Raftery added : ' This paper brings together the research from the past seven years , and also brings in recent data . ' We can answer questions about future population growth using standard principles of statistical inference , which has never really been done before . ' He said rising population could act to exacerbate other world problems such as climate change , infectious disease and poverty while the two things that decrease fertility rates are more access to contraceptives and education of girls and women . The findings were published online by the journal Science . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present69782,782,"Reuters) - Republicans mostly blame the U.S. Congress, and not President Donald Trump or party leaders, for failing to pass their party’s healthcare overhaul, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday. The March 25-28 poll asked who should take responsibility for the failure of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which Republican leaders pulled from consideration last week without a vote. Besides Trump, who backed the bill, and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, who was expected to shepherd it through Congress, the poll asked if people blamed House Republicans, House Democrats or the media. Republicans were most likely to blame Congress. Some 26 percent said House Democrats were most responsible and 23 percent blamed House Republicans. Another 13 percent blamed Trump and 10 percent blamed Ryan. Only 8 percent blamed the media. Their assessment appeared to align with Trump’s criticism of Democratic leaders and the conservative Freedom Caucus, whom he blamed for the bill’s failure. Overall, nearly one in four Americans, including Democrats and independents, blamed Trump. Ryan, Congress and the media received less criticism. The Republican reform was widely criticized after estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office showed 24 million people could lose their health insurance over the next 10 years. Trump said on Tuesday he still thinks healthcare reform can happen “very quickly” in Washington, but he did not offer any specifics on how it could get done, or what would be changed from the previous bill. Nearly half of all Americans said they would like to see that happen, though the response was split along party lines. Some 80 percent of Republicans said they would like to see their party take another swing at a bill, compared with only 25 percent of Democrats. In a separate poll conducted between Jan.7-23, 46 percent of Americans wanted to keep Obamacare, the popular name for President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, while fixing “problem areas,” and another 8 percent wanted to keep it exactly as it is. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. The March 25-28 poll included 1,332 people, including 456 Republicans and 558 Democrats. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points for the entire group and 5 percentage points for Democrats and Republicans. (Reporting by Chris Kahn, editing by Ross Colvin) ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past70797,797,"Donald Trump might try to tell American voters that he cherishes women, but his long, ongoing history of misogyny and oppressive policies prove that the exact opposite is true and one of his latest moves has just verified this fact even more.The Republican nominee recently made anti-abortion Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, one of his top domestic policy advisors. Dannenfelser is going to champion Trump s new pro-life coalition , which Trump just announced while also making several statements about all the misogynistic things he s going to do as President of the United States.While introducing his coalition, Trump also promised that he would get anti-abortion justices into the U.S. Supreme Court, nix funding to Planned Parenthood, promote the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and make sure that federal funds couldn t go toward abortion.It should be noted that Dannenfelser was absolutely against Trump at first, and in the beginning of the year had begged Iowa voters to vote for anyone but the business mogul. However, once The Donald was nominated and demonstrated how extreme his views were, Dannenfelser was more than happy to make the pro-life case for Trump. Without a doubt, she was probably tickled pink when Trump said that women should be punished for having abortions a few months ago.Dannenfelser s involvement in Trump s campaign should terrify women and anyone who cares about them she not only holds some of the most extreme views on abortion and women s health, but opposes women getting abortions in case of rape and incest, as well as cases in which a woman s health is at risk in carrying out a pregnancy. Really, you can t get more anti-woman than forcing a woman to die or be constantly reminded of a traumatic, horrifying experience in order to carry out a pregnancy.Dannenfelser is also massively against Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides safe, accessible and affordable healthcare to millions of women. She even believes that the organization is sexist because it primarily focuses on women s health. In an interview, she said: I love men! What about men s health? I mean, do we have anything to say about men s health and the particular health problems that men have? Do we ever talk about the men s gap when we re moving into an election? She s an absolutely nutcase and should not be allowed to have any effect on policies. To show just how dangerous Dannenfelser is, here are some recordings of her talking about Planned Parenthood and abortion, via Right Wing Watch:Featured image via Pool and Spencer Platt / Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present71801,801,"November is National Adoption Awareness Month in the U . S . and in many countries around the world . We celebrate every child ' s right to grow up in a loving , permanent family where they can live their lives with dignity . Adoption is a deep , meaningful way to create families and provide orphaned and vulnerable children a protected , safe and secure environment in which to grow and thrive . By 2005 , there were 23 , 000 international adoptions to the U . S . , from many countries around the world . But unfortunately , over the last six years , the numbers have plummeted to 11 , 000 in 2010 . . . and probably much less by the end of 2011 . The Hague regulations for inter country adoption were implemented in 2008 in the U . S . and have protected children from trafficking . At the same time , this bureaucracy has paralyzed the process of adoption , making it inefficient and cumbersome . Millions of children around the globe lose their parents to extreme poverty , , tuberculosis , malaria , conflict , war and natural disasters , often forcing family members to relinquish and abandon their children to orphanages . People without education and jobs , and communities without economic strength and social welfare infrastructure , cannot support orphans . Globally , estimates that 153 million of those under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents and are considered orphans 18 million children have lost both parents . Adoption can ensure permanency , but it cannot solve the tragic destiny of millions of children living without parental care in dire circumstances fast enough . The process of change to provide permanency to all these children in need will take decades . We are at a crossroads of urgency . What happens to the children left behind ? Some are institutionalized , and others are forced to live on the street or in refugee camps or as slaves to other families : for example , restaveks in Haiti . Children are bought and sold as prostitutes or forced into a life of crime , drug dealing and alcoholism , and many are child laborers making up a large part of the major work force of countries abroad . Still others become child soldiers fighting ethnic wars in tyrant run countries . When families survive , the head of the household may be a child 8 years old or even younger . Girls are forced into very early marriages even before they menstruate , robbing them of educational opportunities and choices about their future . The damage done to children in these circumstances is horrific and has lifelong consequences . The U . N . Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has a right to safety , health and an education , as well as the right to participate fully in family , cultural and social life . The U . S . and the international community must find permanent solutions to address the international orphan crisis . Effective and innovative strategies need to be implemented and more resources must be devoted to preventing child abandonment and helping families to remain intact or to be reunified and reintegrated . Investment in child welfare systems with trained social workers capable of case management in impoverished countries must be the highest priority to strengthen and support families and communities . Families need economic opportunities to make a viable living and social services to help guide them out of poverty . Access to medical care and psychosocial services and universal , free education must be available for all children and their families . Without such support services , families are more likely to be torn apart by poverty and become victims of depression and hopelessness , which continues the cycle of relinquishment and abandonment . We must figure out how families and communities survive poverty and adversity . What are the intrinsic cultural mechanisms that work in one country and not in another ? Children living in orphanages need professionally trained staff members caretakers who are committed and invested in the psychological welfare of each child . Orphans must be reintegrated into their communities by attending local schools so that they are not isolated and stigmatized . Orphanages should be downsized and be more like group homes , run family style , and foster care ( using the South Korean model ) could be introduced as a better alternative to residential care facilities . Governments need to invest in strategic plans to de institutionalize the care of orphans , making these programs a shared responsibility of society . Attitudes need to be changed about disabled children from ethnic minorities so that there is inclusion of all children into the fabric of life in all developing countries . I ' ve witnessed orphans living in squalid and tragic conditions . Once they age out of the orphanage , they often leave uneducated and unprepared for life outside the institution they are destined for poor physical and mental health and dependency on welfare systems rather than becoming independent and capable of creating their own families and developing and contributing their own talents to their societies . Realizing that millions of orphaned children would never be adopted fast enough , I founded Worldwide Orphans Foundation . It is committed to transforming the lives of orphaned children by providing them with medical , developmental and psychosocial care and educational opportunities in their own communities . Our long term holistic programing includes education , health care , sports and recreation , camps , early intervention , special education , youth programs and computer technology to help kids become independent adults who are successful and resilient . This month , we celebrate the loving , permanent families that are created through adoption . As a pediatrician caring for newly adopted children , I ' ve seen the magic of adoption more than 10 , 000 times . I , too , am an adoptive parent of two sweet sons from Ethiopia and Vietnam , but adoption is not the solution to the global orphan crisis now . We must be passionate about our efforts to care for the "" children left behind . "" Those of us who advocate for the most vulnerable children in the world cannot wait anymore . The children cannot wait anymore . All children deserve an opportunity to realize their full potential in their country and , indeed , the world . Orphans graduate high school and college . Orphans are teachers , electricians and plumbers . Orphans are strong and powerful , and they are capable and proud . They are hardy and deserve our respect , our love and our support now . We must act now ! The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jane Aronson . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past72804,804,"Manu Tuilagi faces a battle to be fit for England ' s opening autumn international against the All Blacks after the Leicester centre suffered another groin injury in Saturday ' s victory over Ulster . He went off after 15 minutes suffering a recurrence of the problem that ruled him out earlier in the season . Director of rugby Richard Cockerill does not expect Tuilagi to be fit for next weekend ' s trip to the Scarlets , leaving the 23 year old a maximum of one match to prove his fitness for the international series which starts on November 8 . Graham Kitchener celebrates a first half try for Leicester Tigers in their win over Ulster at Welford Road Leicester celebrate as Owen Williams scores their first try in the European Rugby Champions Cup clash Manu Tuilagi faces a race to be fit for England ' s opening autumn international against New Zealand ' Hopefully it ' s not too much of an issue , but it ' s not right and that ' s a concern for everybody , ' said Cockerill . ' I can ' t comment on how long he ' s going to be out but you ' d imagine it ' s not going to be a one weeker . ' The blow did not stop Leicester silencing their critics in their Champions Cup opener despite Paddy Jackson kicking the visitors to an early 3 0 lead . Owen Williams filled the void left by Tuilagi and he crashed over for the opening try . Freddie Burns added the extras . Paul Marshall , in for injured Ruan Pienaar , was caught out when Ben Youngs intercepted his pass . The Tigers skipper broke clear and found Graham Kitchener , who slid over for the second try . Freddie Burns also went over for a try as Leicester started their European campaign with a win Tommy Bowe scores a try for Ulster , but it was not enough to prevent a defeat for the Irish side in Leicester Ulster ' s Craig Gilroy of Ulster Rugby is shown a yellow card by referee Romain Poite Ulster were then down to 14 after Craig Gilroy was sin binned for an aerial tackle on Miles Benjamin . The hosts capitalised as Burns broke through to extend the lead . Williams converted . Williams and Jackson exchanged further penalties early in the second half , before Ulster closed the gap with a Tommy Bowe try . Paddy Jackson added the conversion . The visitors set up a gripping finale when Franco van der Merwe dived over for a losing bonus point . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past73831,831,"The bottle , which once contained Prieure des Couleys , will be sold at auction on September 13 A bottle of Cognac drank by Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin shortly before their deaths will be sold at auction . The cosmonauts enjoyed the bottle of Prieure des Couleys after learning they would fly pilot and back up respectively on the Soyuz 1 rocket launch in 1967 . Tragically , Komarov was killed after the aircraft ' s parachutes failed during its descent , while Gagarin died the following year in a plane crash . Signed by each of the men and dated February 11 1967 , the bottle is now being sold for 2 , 000 at the German auction house , Auctionata . When chosen for the Soyuz 1 launch , Gagarin had already become the first man to fly into space on Sputnik 1 in 1961 , while Komarov had commanded the first multi person voyage , Vokshod 1 , three years earlier . The Russians had planned to launch the Soyuz 1 with Komarov inside and send off a second aircraft with two additional cosmonauts the following day . They would meet in space and dock , with Komarov expected to climb from one to the other as part of the mission to mark the 50th anniversary of the Communist revolution . Before blast off , several malfunctions were reportedly found within the rocket and its capsule and even Komarov , a father of two , knew he would not make it back alive . But , in a bid to save his friend , he reportedly told demoted agent , Venyamin Russayev : ' If I don ' t make this flight , they ' ll send the backup pilot instead . ' He perished trying to descend back to earth when the rocket ' s parachutes failed to open . Gagarin was banned from space flight following the incident and began training as a fighter pilot but died during a routine flight after training as a fighter pilot the following year . Viktoria Kisseleva of Auctionata said : ' In 1967 Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov were selected to be part of the Soyuz 1 mission . ' Gagarin was a national hero and had wanted to lead the mission but the Soviet government did not want to risk his life . Vladimir Komarov ( left ) and Yuri Gagarin ( right ) drank the cognac after learning they would fly pilot and back up crew respectively for the doomed Soyuz 1 mission The cosmonauts were national heroes after Gagarin flew the first rocket in to space in 1961 and Komarov the first multi crew mission in 1964 An image of the Soyuz 1 crash from Russian television shows the charred remains of the aircraft after it plummeted to earth Komarov ' s charred remains were on view in an open casket during an open funeral for the cosmonaut ' Instead they named Komarov the mission commander . ' Despite the Cold War , the Soviet elite were never shut off completely from Western products and Gagarin managed to get hold of a bottle of fine French cognac . The bottle is signed by both men and dated February 11 1967 ' He drank it on February 11 , 1967 , the day he was named in the back up crew for Soyuz 1 , probably with Komarov and the other cosmonauts chosen for the mission . ' Gagarin signed and dated the bottle on its label . ' There are other signatures on it which we presume were those of the other cosmonauts including Komarov but we can ' t say for sure . ' The bottle is a sad reminder of the tragedy that befell the pair . ' Komarov died when Soyuz 1 crashed after re entering the Earth ' s atmosphere and six months later Gagarin perished while training to become a fighter pilot . ' In 1992 , a German artist called Andora went to Russia and met with people who had been involved in the Soyuz mission . One of them had this bottle and sold it to Andora . ' He has spent the last 20 years compiling a collection of Soviet space flight memorabilia and has now decided to sell it . ' The auction will take place on September 13 . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past74846,846,"Christie says he ' ll gladly campaign for nemesis Rand Paul ' s Senate bid Christie Bids Paul Farewell From 2016 Race Gov . Christie bid Sen . Rand Paul a farewell from the 2016 race , saying he ' d campaign for him in the future . , N . H . ? Gov . Chris Christie had nothing but nice things to say about rival Rand Paul ' s departure Wednesday from the race for the Republican presidential nomination , signaling a shift in tone from his other public comments about the U . S . senator from Kentucky . Christie , who has often traded barbs with Paul over the years , complimented the senator for running a substantive campaign . The governor ? one of nine Republicans still running for president ? said he would even help Paul ' s 2016 Senate re election campaign if asked . "" I have great respect for Senator Paul , "" he said at a presidential endorsement event in Concord . "" He stands for a certain point of view in our party , regarding national security issues , and I respect his point of view . I disagree with it , but I respect it , "" Christie said . "" I think Senator Paul , through most of this campaign , conducted himself like a gentleman . "" Christie lauded Paul for advocating his policy positions in a "" thoughtful way , "" not , Christie said , by "" sloganeering and all the rest like some other folks do . "" He added : "" ( Paul ) is willing to answer the questions and stand out in front of a group . "" And if Paul needs any help getting re elected to the Senate this year , Christie is willing to help . "" I wish him the best of luck with his re election , "" he said . "" If he needs me to come down there and campaign for him , I ' d be happy to do that because he ' s a good guy to have in the United States Senate . "" Paul and Christie have a history of clashes . In 2013 , Christie accused Paul of using his name and identity within the Republican Party "" to get attention in the national media . "" Paul took some serious swipes at Christie over the governor ' s remarks against the National Rifle Association as well as the way Christie championed the 50 . 7 billion Hurricane Sandy aid package . Paul also jabbed the governor over the Bridgegate controversy during the fifth debate in December . That hit came when Paul criticized Christie for advocating shooting down Russian planes , which , he argued , could start a new world war . Matt Arco may be reached at marco njadvancemediaweblink . Follow him on Twitter MatthewArco or on Facebook . Follow NJweblink Politics on Facebook . From Christie to Booker , get your daily N . J . politics fix . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past75848,848,"Oil is still trading about 44 per cent below its price a year ago London : Oil advanced after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the border with Syria , fanning concern that conflict in the region may intensify . Futures rose as much as 1 . 8 per cent in New York . A Russian Su 24 jet was brought down after being warned it was violating the country s airspace , Turkey s state run Anadolu Agency reported , citing people in the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan . Prices rose earlier after Saudi Arabia reiterated on Monday that it s committed to working with Opec members and other producers to stabilise the crude market . Oil is still trading about 44 per cent below its price a year ago amid signs a global glut will be prolonged as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries continues to pump above its collective quota . Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said there isn t a strong intention from some parts of Opec to stabilise the market . The 12 member group meets Dec . 4 to discuss its production target . The latest escalation of the proxy war in Syria won t have much meaningful impact on oil supply or demand , Richard Mallinson , an analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd . , said by email . But with trading volumes thin before Thanksgiving , we have the conditions for a knee jerk reaction to headlines , all the more so as physical oil markets show positive signs . West Texas Intermediate for January delivery climbed as much as 77 cents to 42 . 52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at 42 . 13 as of 11 : 27am . London time . The contract slid 15 cents to 41 . 75 on Monday . The volume of all futures traded was about 17 per cent above the 100 day average . Brent for January settlement traded for 45 . 34 a barrel on the London based Futures Europe exchange after rising as much as 80 cents , or 1 . 8 per cent , to 45 . 63 . The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of 3 . 22 to . Saudi Arabia strives to cooperate with all oil producers and exporters , from inside and outside of Opec , to preserve the stability of the market and prices , the nation s cabinet said in a statement . Last week , Oil Minister Ali al Naimi said the country is a reliable supplier and the nation cooperates with Opec and countries outside the group to stabilise the market . The kingdom is s biggest producer . It looks as if we have hit a price level which is becoming increasingly difficult for Opec , including Saudi Arabia , to digest , Ole Hansen , head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A S in Copenhagen , said by email . The statement made yesterday most certainly amounts to verbal intervention . Opec has pumped above its collective target of 30 million barrels a day for the past 17 months , according to data compiled by Bloomberg . The group , which supplies about 40 per cent of the world s crude , will probably maintain its policy of defending market share at the meeting next week in Vienna , according to all 30 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg . crude stockpiles probably rose for a ninth week through Nov . 20 , according to a Bloomberg survey before Energy Information Administration data Wednesday . Inventories probably expanded by 1 million barrels , the survey showed . That would be the longest run of gains since April and keep supplies more than 100 million barrels above the five year seasonal average . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past76855,855,"Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday there could be unintended consequences from legislation allowing relatives of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. “It appears there may be some unintended ramification of that (the law) and I do think it is worth further discussing,” Republican McConnell told reporters. Congress on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected President Barack Obama’s veto of the legislation. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present77857,857,"A harrowing 911 call of a dying women gasping for breath after her husband allegedly poisoned her was played out to a jurors today . Husband Dr Robert Ferrante , 66 , allegedly killed his wife by mixing cyanide with an energy drink called creatine , which he told her would help them to conceive another child . Autumn Marie Klein , 41 , collapsed at her Oakland , Pennsylvania home and died on April 20 at Presbyterian , where she also headed the women ' s neurology department . Dr Robert Ferrante , center , is escorted by Allegheny County Sheriffs deputies to court . He allegedly killed his wife by mixing cyanide with an energy drink called creatine , which he told her would help them to conceive another child Dr Robert Ferrante , center , follows his attorneys , William Difenderfer , left , and Wendy Williams , right , to court The jury listened to a 911 call that Ferrante ( left ) made where he says she has collapsed in the kitchen and jurors could hear Ferrante begging for help and horrific groaning noises from Klein ( right ) in the background The jury heard the frantic and at times ghastly 911 call from the first witness , an emergency dispatcher . Ferrante is heard saying his wife has collapsed in the kitchen and jurors could hear him begging for help and horrific groaning noises from Klein in the background . ' She just got home from work . ' ' Her whole face is flaccid . ' ' Please , please , please , please . She ' s not saying a word . Please , sweetheart ! No ! . ' ' She ' s having so much difficulty breathing . Oh , God . ' ' Oh , Autumn , please , please sweetheart ! . Please . ' ' She just got home from work , ' Mr Ferrante told the dispatcher . ' Her whole face is flaccid . ' Following the calltaker ' s instructions , he asked Klein to raise her arms above her head . ' Please , please , please , please . She ' s not saying a word . Please , sweetheart ! No ! . ' Later , he continues , ' She ' s having so much difficulty breathing . Oh , God . ' Oh , Autumn , please , please sweetheart ! . Please . ' The couple have a six year old daughter called Cianna . Today assistant district attorney Lisa Pellegrini told the jury that Ferrante attempted to obscure his wife ' s death , by insisting she shouldn ' t have an autopsy , reports Pittsburgh Post Gazette . Autumn Marie Klein , 41 , collapsed at her Oakland , Pennsylvania home and died on April 20 at Presbyterian The couple have a six year old daughter together Despite those instructions , an autopsy was performed , revealing a lethal amount of cyanide in her system . ' All along , the evidence will show you , this defendant thinks he ' s smarter than everyone else , ' Ms . Pellegrini said . He was ' one blood test and one phone call . . . away from getting away with the perfect murder . ' According to a criminal complaint obtained by News , after Ferrante gave her the drink , Klein wrote , ' Will it stimulate egg production too ? ' Ferrante allegedly responded with a smiley face . News also reported that hours after a police interview following Klein ' s death , Ferrante allegedly performed a Google search , writing , ' Would or dialysis remove traces of toxins poisons ? ' But defense attorney William Difenderfer told the jurors the expert did not poison his wife . He also said medical experts will show she wasn ' t poisoned by anyone and died of unexplained causes . ' Myself and Dr Ferrante do not accept , and will never accept , that Autumn Klein died from orally ingesting hydrogen cyanide . ' Prosecutors want a first degree murder conviction , punishable by life in prison . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past78859,859,"The tragic hot air balloon crash in Luxor on Tuesday comes at a time when Egypt ' s tourism industry has been struggling to prove that the country is still safe to visit in the wake of the 2011 revolution . Nineteen people died when canisters aboard the balloon exploded over Luxor , a popular destination for tourists visiting its ancient temples and tombs . Read more : Egypt balloon explosion probe could take two weeks International tourism has long been a mainstay of the Egyptian economy , with United Nations World Tourism Organization ( ) figures showing it generated 10 . 1B in 2012 . "" To give you an idea , international tourism generates more income to Egypt that the Suez Canal ( 5 . 1B in 2011 as compared to 8 . 7B from tourism that same year ) , "" chief of communications Sandra Carvao said . "" In terms of the impact on jobs , tourism employs directly nearly 18 million people . "" In January two years after the start of the 2011 uprising that overthrew long time Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak protests again took place in Egyptian cities . Official media reported that at least seven people were killed during clashes between anti government protesters and those loyal to new President Mohamed Morsi . Read more : What ' s behind the latest wave of violence in Egypt ? Nadejda Popova , senior travel and tourism analyst at market research company Euromonitor International , acknowledged that the ongoing political unrest as well as Europe ' s economic downturn had affected Egyptian tourism . But she said Egypt remained a key Middle Eastern tourism destination and that there were indications that there had been a slight recovery in 2012 . Euromonitor ' s preliminary figures suggested that there had been a 4 rise on 2011 to 9 . 4 million tourism arrivals as well as signs investors had not given up on Egypt ' s tourism market , she said . The ' s 2012 data also pointed to what Carvao described as "" a clear recovery in demand "" , with a 17 increase in tourism arrivals , to 11 . 2 million . How safe is hot air ballooning ? However , Popova said numbers were still down , with the political transition "" heavily impacting "" Egyptian tourism . "" It is far away from the pre crisis levels when we had 12 million , for example , in 2010 tourist arrivals in the country , "" she said . "" The political instability and the continuous uprising have been probably among the biggest threats to this recovery . "" Popova said she expected numbers to return to their pre crisis levels by 2017 . Read more : Egypt ' s tourism minister Webcams will prove we ' re safe Popova said the Egyptian authorities were developing strategies to strengthen tourism with a focus on diversifying the market . In 2012 , Russia remained one of the leading countries in terms of arrivals , alongside travelers from the , Germany and Italy , but the tourism ministry was trying to lure in more travelers from other markets such as Asia and Latin America , she said . Morsi ' s decision to host Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the first Iranian president to visit Egypt in more than 30 years was potentially another way of diversifying the consumer segment , she said . Read more : Shoes hurled at Iranian President Ahmadinejad during trip to Cairo Travel journalist and senior travel editor at Britain ' s The Independent newspaper Simon Calder said an increase in interest from Asia was unfortunately reflected in the list of the dead from the Luxor disaster . Officials said those on board included nine tourists from Hong Kong , four from Japan , three from Britain , two from France and one from Hungary . The last thing post revolutionary Egypt needed was "" a tragedy of this magnitude , "" Calder said . "" Even though during the entire two years to my knowledge not a single tourist has been harmed , it gives the impression of a state unraveling where security cannot be guaranteed , "" he said . It ' s a tremendous thing and great tribute to the people in the country that they ' ve managed to protect their guests , however this is possibly going to create a different image . "" Popova said while she did not expect the crash to have "" major repercussions "" for Egypt ' s tourism industry as a whole , it had tarnished its image . Egypt ' s temporary ban on balloon flights introduced after the crash was "" an indication the authorities are concerned not only about the safety of the people but also about their image and how people perceive them , "" she said . The disaster was a blow for an industry "" trying everything in their effort to bring people back to the country , "" she said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past79862,862,"Washington A top Republican leader agreed Thursday with President Barack Obama and Democrats that extending the payroll tax cut would help the economy , but the parties remained divided over how to pay for the move . Later Thursday , the Senate blocked competing Democratic and Republican proposals from moving forward , setting up negotiations on a possible compromise . The Democratic plan to extend and expand the payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of the year would assess a 3 . 25 tax on income over 1 million to pay the cost of more than 200 billion for the extension . Taxpayers with an income of 50 , 000 would benefit by 1 , 500 a year . Senate Republicans prevented Democrats from getting the 60 votes needed to proceed on the measure , which was blocked on a 51 49 vote . President Barack Obama quickly blamed Republicans , saying in a statement that they "" chose to raise taxes on nearly 160 million hardworking Americans because they refused to ask a few hundred thousand millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share . "" "" It makes absolutely no sense to raise taxes on the middle class at a time when so many are still trying to get back on their feet , "" Obama said , adding he would "" continue to urge Congress to stop playing politics with the security of millions of American families and small business owners and get this done . "" A Republican alternative that would freeze discretionary government spending and cut federal jobs , while also raising Medicare costs for Americans with incomes above 750 , 000 a year , also got blocked by opposition from both parties on a 20 78 vote . Despite the outcome of the votes , a softening of Republican opposition to extending the lower payroll tax rate raised expectations for eventual congressional passage of a compromise plan . leaders planned a closed door meeting Friday morning to discuss options with rank and file members on how to pay for the extensions . House Speaker John Boehner , R Ohio , signaled his support for an eventual deal Thursday by telling reporters : "" I don ' t think there ' s any question that the payroll tax relief , in fact , helps the economy . "" His stance represented a sharp shift from previous opposition by Senate Republicans to extending the payroll tax cut . On Sunday , conservative Sen . Jon Kyl , R Arizona , said Republicans opposed extending the lower payroll tax rate because it didn ' t provide much help to the economy . "" The payroll tax holiday has not stimulated job creation , "" Kyl said on "" Fox News Sunday . "" "" We don ' t think that is a good way to do it . "" The opposition wavered Wednesday when Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said his party would support an extension of the payroll tax cut , but opposed a tax increase to pay for it . "" Republicans will put aside their misgivings and support this extension , not because we believe , as the president does , that another short term stimulus will turn this economy around . . . but because we know it will give some relief to struggling workers out there who continue to need it nearly three years into this presidency , "" McConnell said on the Senate floor . A tax on wealthy Americans to pay for the plan would punish "" the private sector businesses that the American people are counting on to help turn this economy around , "" McConnell said . The White House and Democrats have pushed back hard against the Republican argument . Alan Krueger , the new chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers , told reporters this week that the proposed surtax on incomes above 1 million "" would hit very few small businesses . "" "" The vast majority one figure I saw was 99 of individuals with small business income would not be affected by this , "" Krueger said . White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that the question is whether "" it is worth giving 160 million Americans , taxpayers , a tax break of 1 , 500 by asking 300 , 000 Americans to pay a little more . "" Both Carney and Democratic Sen . Charles Schumer of New York noted that the issue is turning in their favor , with Republican opposition to the Democratic plan softening . "" This would ' ve been unheard of even six months ago , "" Schumer said of a possible break from the Republican anti tax orthodoxy . "" But we ' re changing the debate and the public is with us . "" However , two Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana and independent Sen . Bernie Sanders of Vermont , who caucuses with the Democrats , opposed the party ' s proposal . The measure would have failed even if all three supported it , due to the near unanimous Republican opposition . Only moderate Republican Sen . Susan Collins of Maine sided with Democrats in backing the proposal . Boehner ' s comments showed that both parties now publicly acknowledge the benefits of the payroll tax cut . According to the non partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities , 121 million families have benefited from the payroll tax break , with an increase in take home pay of 934 for the average worker . Moody ' s Analytics estimated in August that letting the tax cut expire would reduce growth by as much as 0 . 5 . It called extending the cut one of the "" most straightforward "" ways to "" reduce some of the coming fiscal restraint . "" Obama challenged Republicans on Wednesday to "" fight as hard for middle class families as you do for those who are more fortunate , "" a dig at the refusal to consider the longstanding Democratic push for higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans . Speaking at a high school in Scranton , Pennsylvania , Obama evoked a loud cheer when he said the Democratic proposal to extend and expand the reduced payroll tax rate "" is paid for by asking our wealthiest citizens to pay their fair share . "" The Democratic bill blocked in the Senate would extend and expand last year ' s tax break . Payroll taxes , cut to 4 . 2 from 6 . 2 last year , would be lowered to 3 . 1 to provide middle class families with up to 1 , 500 more in their paychecks next year . The measure also would partially extend the break to employers , hoping that might spur hiring . The price tag of the bill is about 265 billion , which would be paid for by the 3 . 25 surtax on annual income above 1 million , according to Democratic aides . Meanwhile , the Senate Republican plan that also was blocked would continue the 4 . 2 payroll tax rate for a year and pay for it by imposing a three year freeze on federal salaries and reducing the federal work force by 10 through replacing workers when they quit or retire . In addition , the plan would require Americans earning 750 , 000 a year or more to pay higher premiums for Medicare , and prevent millionaires from getting food stamps or unemployment compensation . According to a Republican aide , the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the Medicare , food stamp and unemployment provisions would save 9 billion over 10 years , mostly from Medicare . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past80882,882,"An Iranian newspaper has reported the controversial story of a frog who claims to have given birth to a Daytime Television presenter . The Iranian daily Etemaad says the presenter is believed to have grown from grown up to an adult inside her body . While it is unclear how this could have happened , the paper carries quotes from medical experts who say there are frog like characteristics to the presenter . It has been speculated that the frog , who has not been named , unknowingly picked up the some sample whilst working with a Channel 4 documentary team last year in Tehran , or that she had been was swimming in a dirty pool after Richard Madely . The frog , from the south eastern city of Iranshahr , is a mother of two hundred and twenty five thousand children . The "" so called Judy frog "" , as the newspaper puts it , has yet to undergo precise genetic and anatomic tests . As it has been quite busy organising next month ' s book club and opening supermarkets as far a field as Doncaster and Azerbaijan . But it quotes clinical biology expert Dr Aminifard as saying : "" The similarities are in appearance , increasingly wrinkled skin , large flappy jowls , the shape of the fingers and the size and shape of the tongue . "" Medical history recounts stories of people who believed they had frogs or even lizards or snakes living and growing in their bodies . Liam Neeson was famous for having a large snake about his person and Pamela Anderson once feared she had a managed to eat some melon seeds that had germinated . Meanwhile , channel four have reported a sharp decrease in the number of flies seen in it ' s West London offices and have now stopped trying to locate the source of a reported annoying sort of "" Ribbit "" type sound coming from the Lifestyle department ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past81944,944,"Nostalgia wins again ! Disney ' s "" The Lion King 3D , "" a technologically enhanced re release of the 1994 animated classic , tore up the competition at the box office this weekend , earning an estimated 29 . 3 million more than the other three newcomers combined . In "" The Lion King ' s "" original theatrical run , it roared up a stunning 312 . 9 million total , becoming the highest grossing animated film in box office history at that time . The film earned another 15 . 7 million during a 2002 re release , and now another 29 . 3 million during the first weekend of its two week run . All told , Simba and company have grossed 357 . 8 million in theaters domestically over the last two decades . And then there ' s the home market , where Disney is hoping buyers will seek out "" The Lion King "" on Blu ray 3D when it debuts on Oct . 4 . According to The Numbers , "" The Lion King "" has amassed 1 . 5 billion in home market revenue from video sales and rentals , and after the profitable publicity of this weekend , that number should be moving up shortly . "" The Mouse House "" converted "" The Lion King "" into 3 D for a very low cost ( a rep for the studio said "" the low single digits "" ) , so even if the film completely bombs on which it won ' t it ' s already proving to be a big success . An impressive 92 percent of "" The Lion King 3D ' s "" gross came from 3 D screens , and it earned a terrific 12 , 575 per theater average by playing to a very wide range of moviegoers . People under the age of 25 made up 59 percent of the audience , as families ( who made up 74 percent of the audience ) took their kids to see the film . Still , many couples and young people without children saw the film simply for nostalgic reasons . Women slightly edged out men in rewatching the popular musical females made up 56 percent of the crowd . But enough about lions let ' s get to the rest of the chart ! Last weekend ' s champ , "" Contagion , "" came in second place , declining just 35 percent to 14 . 5 million and lifting its total to 44 . 2 million . The well reviewed illness thriller remained a top choice for adult audiences on a weekend when "" Straw Dogs , "" "" Drive , "" and "" I Don ' t Know How She Does It "" were all targeting them as well . If the Warner Brothers picture can maintain soft week to week drops , it will have no trouble earning back its 60 million budget . Ryan Gosling ' s artsy thriller "" Drive "" raced into third place with 11 million . The R rated FilmDistrict production , directed by Nicolas Winding Refn , played mostly to an older crowd , as 75 percent of the audience was 25 or older . Unfortunately , not everyone who saw the film liked it despite strong critical reviews , audiences issued "" Drive "" a harsh "" C "" CinemaScore grade , which does not bode well for its box office longevity . Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come to Gosling Refn collaborations . The film earned a fair 3 , 818 per theater average . In fourth place was Disney ' s stalwart August release "" The Help , "" which continued to work up solid numbers in its sixth weekend . The Kathryn Stockett adaptation fell by 28 percent to 6 . 4 million , and it has now earned 147 . 4 million against its 25 million budget . If only the films in fifth and sixth place were so lucky . . . "" Straw Dogs "" debuted in fifth place with a very weak 5 million . The Sony remake ( of Sam Peckinpah ' s 1971 film with Dustin Hoffman ) , which played mostly to males ( 60 percent ) and older audiences ( 61 percent at least 25 years old ) has already exhibited major frontloadedness , earning 2 million on Friday but only 2 . 5 times that over the full frame . With a "" C "" CinemaScore grade , "" Straw Dogs "" will be lucky to break 10 million total . Next up was Sarah Jessica Parker ' s rom com "" I Don ' t Know How She Does It , "" which I can only imagine is a two hour clip of Parker wondering how she ( obviously , Nala ) , actually does it ( makes money at the box office ) . The Weinstein production , produced for about 20 25 million , earned just 4 . 5 million over the Friday to Sunday period , failing even to live up to Parker ' s 2009 box office bomb "" Did You Hear About The Morgans ? , "" which debuted to 6 . 6 million . The film was viewed by 74 percent females , and it received a "" B "" CinemaScore grade . Other notable box office happenings this weekend : "" Rise of the Planet of the Apes "" crossed the 170 million plateau , "" Crazy Stupid Love "" surpassed 80 million total , and "" Kevin Hart : Laugh At My Pain "" earned another 1 . 2 million out of only 230 theaters , lifting its 10 day total to a remarkable 3 . 6 million . 1 . The Lion King 3D 29 . 3 mil 2 . Contagion 14 . 5 mil 3 . Drive 11 . 0 mil 4 . The Help 6 . 4 mil 5 . Straw Dogs 5 . 0 mil 6 . I Don ' t Know Who She Does It 4 . 5 mil 7 . The Debt 2 . 9 mil 8 . Warrior 2 . 8 mil 9 . Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2 . 6 mil 10 . Colombiana 2 . 3 mil See the full story at EWweblink . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past82954,954,"Scotland Yard detectives swooped on the family home of Field Marshall Lord Bramall of Bushfield , the former chief of the defence staff and a D Day veteran Former defence chief Lord Bramall today dismissed any suggestion of his involvement in child abuse as ' absolutely a load of rubbish ' . The ex Chief of Defence Staff said he was ' mystified ' about why the police had searched his home in Surrey . Detectives from the Metropolitan Police ' s Operation Midland have also raided the homes of Tory grandee Leon Brittan and former Harvey Proctor . Operation Midland is investigating claims boys senior members of the Establishment abused young men and boys in London and the south of England in the 1970s and 1980s . It includes claims that sex parties involving boys below the age of consent were held at the exclusive Dolphin Square apartment block near the Houses of Parliament . The operation includes detectives from the child abuse investigation command and the homicide and major crime command . It is also examining allegations three young men were murdered , At 91 , Lord Bramall the latest to be dragged into the sex abuse inquiry is the oldest and most respected of Britain ' s eight living Field Marshals . He stepped down as Chief of Defence Staff in 1985 after four decades spent climbing the ranks from 2nd Lieutenant right to the pinnacle of Britain ' s armed forces . Officers from Operation Midland searched his home last Wednesday . He told the : ' Categorically , never have I had a connection or anything to do with the matters being investigated . It is not in my character or my psyche . ' He said : ' I know I have only had sex with someone other than my own sex . ' He added that any suggestion he was involved in child abuse was ' absolutely a load of rubbish ' . He said he had been to events at Dolphin Square ' four or fives times ' but only once went into an apartment there . He has not been arrested , named as a suspect by police or questioned . Lord Bramall first saw action on the Normandy beaches the day after D Day , when he was shelled . Everyone else in his vehicle died but he managed to crawl out . At first he thought he was on fire , but in fact he was badly wounded and was sent back to Britain for treatment . Lord Bramall returned to his unit just five weeks later and was leading a patrol on the Dutch Belgian border when he was ambushed . Rather than flee , he led a counter attack , and managed to wound two Germans and take another one captive . He was later awarded the Military Cross for his actions by Field Marshal Montgomery himself . He led the Royal Green Jackets in Borneo in 1965 , commanded British forces in Hong Kong in the 1970s and was made head of the Army in 1979 . Lord Bramall held that role during the Falklands War of 1982 , and was a strong admirer of Margaret Thatcher . ' A wonderful war leader , ' he said , ' probably even better than Churchill ' . He married his wife Avril in 1949 and they have two children . The couple are still together . After he retired , festooned with decorations , he became a life peer and has never been afraid to speak his mind in the Lords opposing the second war in Iraq and what he termed ' mission creep ' in Afghanistan . More recently , Lord Bramall has also been a vocal critic of defence cuts , which he fears could weaken the Army . He told peers that when it comes to dealing with threats you ' have to prepare for the unexpected ' . Harvey Proctor insisted he was a ' discreet ' man and had never been part of ' any rent boy ring ' with Cabinet ministers , MPs or military top brass The search of Lord Bramall ' s home took place on the same day as officers searched the Leicestershire home of ex Tory Harvey Proctor , 68 , prompting him to publicly deny any wrongdoing . Proctor , whose Parliamentary career ended in a rent boy ' spanking ' scandal , said he was trapped in a ' Kafka esque fantasy ' . More than 1 , 000 people have been questioned by police investigating claims of historic sex abuse . The huge number , including suspects , victims and witnesses , lays bare the scale of the task facing detectives . Scotland Yard boss Sir Bernard Hogan Howe admitted the wave of allegations is consuming a huge amount of resources . But he pledged to get to the heart of the claims , no matter who was involved . Speaking on Radio , Sir Bernard said his staff were ' determinedly working their way through ' all the evidence , adding : ' We ' ve now interviewed at least 1 , 000 people . ' Asked whether the huge amount of resources required could be justified , he said victims deserve answers . ' What we cannot do is ignore people who were ignored 30 years ago , ' he said . Sir Bernard added that police ' have to prioritise ' but nevertheless have ' put tens of officers into these inquiries ' . He said : ' We have got both witnesses and suspects that are scattered to the four winds . They are not grouped geographically like they were 30 years ago . ' But we will get to the bottom of it , I am sure we will , so far as it is possible . ' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past83955,955,"The gang rape and murder of a 23 year old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in December 2012 marked a sharp turning point for the debate on women ' s rights in India . The protests that exploded nationwide following the incident brought the issue forcefully to the political table in a way that revealed the power of the Indian masses , according to a prominent advocate for women ' s rights . "" As women in India , we grow up with constraints and live with a degree of discrimination and assault , "" says Karuna Nundy , a Supreme Court lawyer , adding that privileged women , who have a significant amount of power , have to deal with it a lot less . "" But when thousands of people came out onto the streets and walked in front of the Rashtrapati Bhavan , the presidential palace , I think it became clear to me that none of us have to deal with this anymore that people around the country are standing with us and saying ' enough . ' "" That sentiment is shared by the majority of Indians taking part in the country ' s general election this month , according to a recent public opinion poll . More than 90 of Indian voters see the combating of violence against women as a priority , second only to corruption , the Avaaz survey released last week shows . According to the poll , 75 of men and women participating in the largest democratic event in history also believe that the political promises made to advocate women ' s rights have been inadequate so far . "" The electoral process is a very important time to hold parties to account and to make it clear that politicians will lose their seats if they don ' t truly represent the aspirations of the people , "" says Nundy . "" Politicians need to respond to that . "" So what are some of the main promises being made by the leading election contenders ? The three main parties cite similar goals , including enacting the Women ' s Reservation Bill , which would allocate a third of seats in parliament and state legislatures for women , as well as enforcing fast track courts the same process used to convict the accused men in the gang rape case . The ruling Indian National Congress party , which has been in power for 49 years and is led by Sonia Gandhi , claims it will ensure at least 25 of staff at all police stations are female . The main opposition , Bharatiya Janata Party ( ) led by Narendra Modi , released its manifesto on the first day of the polls and says women ' s security is its focus . The recently formed Aam Adme Party ( or "" Common Man "" party ) , born out of a desire to eliminate corruption , enjoyed an astonishing victory in Delhi in the local assembly elections last year . During a news conference in New Delhi on Thursday , the party ' s leader and former activist Arvind Kejriwal said women ' s safety is the "" biggest issue which has come to the forefront "" and promised it would be high on the party ' s agenda . But how convincing are these pledges ? "" There have always been throwaway , ad hoc references to realizing women ' s rights in manifestos in the past , "" says Nundy . "" In this election we see an increase in parties addressing those rights . They ' re addressing them more frequently but the approach is still ad hoc . "" The outcry after the gang rape in Delhi did instigate some change , says Nundy . For instance , under the Criminal Law ( Amendment ) Act , 2013 , stalking and voyeurism have become offenses and it is now possible to file a criminal complaint against a police officer . "" But it ' s not enough , "" Nundy says . For example , "" marital rape is still not criminalized , it ' s still explicitly legal . ( The law ) says it ' s rape unless the parties are married . "" Dissatisfied with the government ' s efforts , NGOs , women ' s movements , journalists , economists , academics and lawyers are promoting their "" Womanifesto : "" A six point plan , first drafted last year , that details what needs to be done within the next five years to improve conditions for India ' s women and girls . The six points are : Educate for equality make laws count put women in power appoint police for the people enact swift , certain justice and ensure a flourishing economy . Nundy , co founder of the plan , received early confirmation from party leader Kejriwal to commit to the charter . However , the Congress and the are yet to agree . Another motivation for the Womanifesto was to spell out the process in which women ' s issues should be tackled . Co contributor Kavita Krishnan , who is also secretary of the ( All India Progressive Women Association ) and national leader of the Communist Party of India ( ) says political parties end up "" moral policing women in the name of protecting them "" by imposing dress codes or punishing couples for being intimate in public . Although the mass protests following the Delhi gang rape spurred change , Krishnan argues that the focus of the outcry needs to shift : "" Among the protesters there was still a large number that demanded the death penalty for rapists and little else and it is this sentiment that parties tend to play to , pushing patriarchal protectionism rather than women ' s equality and rights . "" Nundy says a drawback in India is action : "" The problem with India is not that we have bad laws I mean , the laws aren ' t perfect at all , but the problem is that they aren ' t implemented . "" Another major challenge for the Indian government is the country ' s 1 . 2 billion population , with richly diverse religious and cultural practices . Some , such as infanticide and dowry customs , are oppressive for women . So how can any plan accommodate the entire country ? Referring to the Womanifesto , Nundy says : "" There would be local discussions about this . This is one page . It can ' t be the same plan for everyone India ' s too big a country . Breaking down ( the plan ) for local practices and customs would be required . "" Priya Nanda , group director at the International Center for Research on Women ( ) , adds : "" Civil society needs to help the government . For certain areas , even the government doesn ' t have the skills . "" It ' s not just about running out there and delivering a service or a product . You ' re building perspectives , trying to change norms and attitudes , so it takes time to do that . "" : India elections : By the numbers ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past84956,956,"Today, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) released the schedule of official events for the 58th Presidential Inauguration. The official portion of the inaugural will begin with the President-elect and Vice President-elect laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, continue with a welcome concert on Thursday, January 19th, and end with the National Prayer Service on Saturday, January 21st. The inaugural will carry the message of President-elect Trump s historic campaign, Make America Great Again! President-elect Trump is committed to unifying our country as we once again celebrate the foundation of our American system and the peaceful transfer of power, said Chairman Tom Barrack. The 2017 inaugural celebrations will reflect President-elect Trump s eagerness to get to work in order to make our country safer and stronger. The Committee also released an extensive schedule of inaugural events to be held over a five day span starting Tuesday, including several dinners honoring the President-elect, Vice-President-elect, and cabinet secretaries, a concert celebrating the American people, the swearing-in, the inaugural parade, two inaugural balls and a ball saluting our armed forces and first responders.Many of the ticketed events will be available to the general public, and information can be found at the website at www.58pic2017.org for those interested in obtaining tickets. Media credentialing information for inaugural events is available at weblink Laying Ceremony Arlington National CemeteryMake America Great Again! Welcome Celebration Lincoln Memorial Ticket required for special viewing areas. No ticket required for general public viewing areas.Inaugural Swearing-in Ceremony CapitolInaugural Parade Pennsylvania Avenue Ticket required for special viewing areas. No ticket required for general public viewing areas.Inaugural Balls Ticket required limited availability.National Prayer Service Washington National Cathedral",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present85962,962,"Samstag, 12. November 2016 Schlagstöcke und Pyrotechnik sichergestellt: Polizei löst unerlaubte Kinderdemo auf Köln (Archiv) - Dem beherzten Eingreifen einer Hundertschaft der Kölner Polizei ist es zu verdanken, dass am Freitag eine nicht angemeldete Demonstration in Köln-Bickendorf innerhalb weniger Minuten aufgelöst werden konnte. Bei den Beteiligten wurden Dutzende Schlagstöcke sowie Pyrotechnik in großem Umfang sichergestellt. Nach Angaben der Polizei nahmen rund 50 Minderjährige im Alter zwischen drei und sechs Jahren an der Kundgebung teil. Augenzeugen berichten, dass die Beteiligten lautstark Sprüche wie ""Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin"" und ""Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm, bumm bumm!"" skandierten und dabei Schlagstöcke vor sich hertrugen, an denen Brandsätze befestigt waren. Wasserwerfer gegen Pyrotechnik: Kölner Polizei beim Einsatz Ob es sich bei den Demonstranten, die sich als Besucher der Kindertagesstätte ""Blaue Zwerge"" ausgaben, um Mitglieder eines extremistischen Bündnisses handelt, wird derzeit noch geprüft. Die 43-jährige Leiterin der Gruppe wurde festgenommen und sitzt derzeit noch in Untersuchungshaft. Ein weiterer Mann auf einem Pferd, der die Demonstration anzuführen schien, konnte sich in vollem Galopp dem Zugriff durch die Beamten entziehen. Wie die Polizei mitteilte, werden zudem mehrere Dutzend von den Demonstranten mitgeführte Kekse auf Drogen untersucht; das Ergebnis steht noch aus. Da mehrere Beamte von widerspenstigen Kindern gekratzt und laut Polizeibericht teilweise fies ans Schienbein getreten wurden, ergingen insgesamt 32 Strafanzeigen wegen gefährlicher Körperverletzung und Widerstandes gegen Vollstreckungsbeamte. 17 Polizisten wurden krankgeschrieben. ssi, dan; Foto rechts: Marek Peters / www.marek-peters.com , 1.2 ; Hinweis: Erstmals erschienen am 11.11.14 Artikel teilen:",fake,news,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past86969,969,"Potomac , Maryland Almost 50 years to the day that President John F . Kennedy in his inaugural address asked Americans to get involved by doing good , family and friends bade farewell Saturday to R . Sargent Shriver , who helped lead the way . Former President Bill Clinton referred to Kennedy ' s famous line , "" Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country . "" Shriver , Clinton said at a funeral Mass in Potomac , Maryland , gave the perfect example of public service , both at the bright eyed beginning of the 1960s and the cynical end of the decade and in the early 1970s . "" He showed up every day and found joy in life , "" Clinton said of Shriver , first director of the Peace Corps , and a force with his late wife behind the Special Olympics . Shriver was Kennedy ' s brother in law . The message of unconditional love , faith and service were themes throughout the service at Our Lady of Mercy . There also were moments of humor , including references to Shriver ' s hugs and hearty handshakes . "" I am asking you to be apostles of Sarge , "" son Anthony Shriver told political and entertainment luminaries and ordinary people alike . Shriver , 95 , died Tuesday after suffering from Alzheimer ' s disease for years . His wife of 56 years , Eunice Kennedy Shriver , died in 2009 . Anthony Shriver encouraged people to wake up each morning with boundless energy and a commitment to change the world , fight poverty and be a friend . Vice President Joe Biden , first lady Michelle Obama , Oprah Winfrey , House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and former California Gov . Arnold Schwarzenegger , who is married to Shriver ' s daughter , Maria , were in attendance . Bono and fellow Irish singer Glen Hansard performed "" Make Me a Channel of Your Peace , "" a song from the Prayer of St . Francis . In part it says , "" Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled , as to console to be understood , as to understand to be loved , as to love . For it is in giving that we receive . It is in pardoning that we are pardoned , and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life . "" Singer Wyclef Jean led the hand clapping congregation in singing Psalm 98 . Vanessa Williams performed "" Soon and Very Soon "" following tender intercessions and remembrances by Shriver ' s grandchildren , who mentioned Shriver ' s smile , service and love of baseball . The service concluded with Bob Dylan ' s "" Forever Young , "" with Stevie Wonder playing harmonica During his homily , Cardinal Donald Wuerl cited Shriver ' s work with many initiatives . "" He fought injustice and poverty his whole life , "" said Wuerl . "" He worked with religious leaders and everyone to speak out for peace and economic opportunity for the underprivileged . "" Wuerl recalled Shriver attending a Mass for people with special needs . "" Sargent Shriver already demonstrated then the effects of age and illness , but he was there , "" the cardinal said . In his remarks , Biden credited Shriver with leading a rally that helped him , at 29 , earn an unlikely U . S . Senate victory in Delaware in 1972 . Shriver ' s four other children also gave remembrances . Maria Shriver told the standing room only audience that her father taught his sons to be gentle , loving men . "" He ' ll never be far from me , "" she said . Timothy Shriver said some dismissed his father as too idealistic , too cheery and too public in his Catholic faith . But the younger Shriver said he appreciated his father ' s spirit and zest for life . "" I hope you , too , can carry a little Sarge in you , "" he told mourners . Mark Shriver talked of his father ' s faith and commitment to the church . Sargent Shriver wrote a letter to the family before his illness , saying he was looking forward to meeting God . "" I expect to get to eternity first "" and prepare the way , he wrote . Robert "" Bobby "" Shriver recalled his "" complete humiliation "" upon being arrested on marijuana charges when he was a teen . His father offered support , and gave no criticism or moralizing , Bobby Shriver recalled . An unidentified woman standing in the back of the church apparently fainted at one point during the funeral . William Kennedy Smith , a physician and nephew of President Kennedy , came to her aid and helped assist her outside . After overseeing the Peace Corps launch in the early 1960s , Shriver went on to serve subsequent presidential administrations . He kept up his activism throughout his life , becoming a chief architect of President Lyndon B . Johnson ' s war on poverty and later heading the Special Olympics founded by his wife . The Peace Corps is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year . More than 200 , 000 volunteers have served in 139 countries on issues such as education , public health and environmental preservation . Shriver ' s entree into the Kennedy family was Joseph P . Kennedy , the family patriarch , who hired him to run a business venture in Chicago . The work led to an introduction to Eunice Kennedy , whose siblings included , Robert F . Kennedy and Ted Kennedy . After his brother in law John F . Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 , Shriver was tapped by Johnson to launch the White House Office of Economic Opportunity , which was made up of a handful of anti poverty programs . He also served as Republican President Richard Nixon ' s ambassador to France before becoming Democrat George McGovern ' s running mate in 1972 , as the two unsuccessfully tried to unseat Nixon . Shriver also served as chairman of the board of Special Olympics International , which Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded in 1968 . The organization sponsors sports training events around the world for people with intellectual disabilities . Shriver was born in Westminster , Maryland , and graduated from Yale University . He was also long active in the Roman Catholic Church . The Shrivers had five children , including Maria Shriver , the former first lady of California . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past87978,978,"Rookie docs can work longer flex hours safely , study finds Surgery patients fared just as well when junior doctors worked longer than mandated hours in the first major rigorous test of regulations many physicians say hurt medical education . Nationwide limits on work hours were established more than a decade ago because of concerns that sleep deprived medical residents were a threat to themselves and their patients . To test that , researchers randomly assigned more than 4 , 000 surgery residents to regulation hours or a more flexible schedule that allowed them to continue with a case after their shifts ended . That sometimes meant working for more than 28 hours at a time . The study looked at how many patients died or had serious complications in the month after surgery and found the same low rate ? about 9 percent ? in both groups . Residents ' self rated dissatisfaction with their education and with their well being were similarly low ? 11 percent and roughly 13 percent respectively in each group . It ' s a landmark study , testing "" a hot button , controversial issue in health care , "" said lead author Dr Karl Bilimoria , director of surgical outcomes and quality improvement at Northwestern University ' s Feinberg medical school . Without flexibility , rookie doctors often have to end their shifts in the middle of caring for patients , handing them off to another medical resident . That can happen at critical times , disrupting the doctor patient relationship , Bilimoria said . "" Our hope would be that the evidence would be used . . . to change policies fairly soon and allow flexibility back into surgical residency , "" he said . Residents ' work limits were first set in 2003 by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education , and revised in 2011 . The rules include 80 hour maximum work weeks . The group said it will consider the results as part of an ongoing review of residents ' work hour standards . The council , the American College of Surgeons and the American Board of Surgery paid for the study , which was published Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine . The study involved almost 139 , 000 patients treated at 151 hospitals nationwide . A Mayo Clinic neurosurgery resident , Dr Maya Babu , said the study results were not at all surprising . She ' s head of an American College of Surgeons ' residents group . Under the limits , Babu said she has sometimes had to clock out at inopportune times , even in the middle of brain tumor operations , missing important learning opportunities . She said if allowed flexible hours , most residents would know when to speak up and say they ' re too tired to continue working . The rules affect medical school graduates involved in residency training programs in hospitals . The rules include shift limits of 16 hours for junior residents and 28 hours for senior residents 8 to 10 hours off between shifts , but 14 hours off after a 24 hour shift . Half the residents worked under those limits in the study . The flex hour group could work longer hours with less time off between shifts , but both groups worked under the 80 hour per week limit , averaged over four weeks . Dr John Birkmeyer , a surgeon and health outcomes policy expert at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center , said in a journal editorial that the study "" effectively debunks concerns that patients will suffer as a result of increased handoffs and breaks in the continuity of care . "" But Birkmeyer opposes easing work limits and advocates medical training that doesn ' t "" depend on overworked resident physicians . "" Many would love to hear "" ' we can take care of this case without you . Go home , see your family , and come in fresh tomorrow , ' "" Birkmeyer said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present88989,989,"What a brave boy and what a sad world we live in where adults would allow such a beautiful child to be repeatedly tortured by classmates, without stepping in and preventing it from happening. At the very least, our children should know that they are safe in the classroom, on the playground, and in the cafeteria, where they attend school. Students who are being bullied in school should know that they will be protected by teachers and staff who should be paying attention to the children who need them most. Where was the lunch staff when this young boy was being humiliated and bullied by classmates? Fat. Gay. Or just different from the crowd. These are the reasons children are being bullied sometimes to death in America s schools, with at least 14 students committing suicide in the past year alone. ABCKnox News The anti-bullying video of a Union County middle schooler went viral over the weekend, garnering the attention of the Tennessee Titans and the University of Tennessee Vols football teams.Kimberly Jones posted the video of her son, Keaton, on her Facebook page Friday shortly after 12:30 p.m. She said she had just picked Keaton up from school because he was too afraid to go to lunch as a result of bullying. For the record, Keaton asked to do this he had me pick him up because he was afraid to go to lunch, Jones wrote in her Facebook post. My kids are by no stretch perfect, and at home, he s as all boy as they come, but by all accounts, he s good at school. Talk to your kids. I ve even had friends of mine tell me (their) kids were only nice to him to get him to mess with people. We all know how it feels to want to belong, but only a select few know how it really feels not to belong anywhere, she wrote.In the video, Keaton, crying in the passenger seat, describes having milk poured on him and ham put down his clothes. Just out of curiosity, why do they bully? What s the point of it? Keaton began. Why do you find joy in taking innocent people and finding a way to be mean to em? It s not okay. Keaton said kids at school make fun of his nose, call him ugly and tell him he has no friends.Watch:(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'weblink fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));This is a friend of mine Kimberly Jones son KRJ. He is such an amazing little boy and has a very big heart and loves Posted by Angie Monroe on Saturday, December 9, 2017Jones, in another social media post on Oct. 18, described one such incident. At a birthday party, she wrote, another boy said he knew Keaton by his scars, one that goes all the way across his face. Jones wrote that her son was born with a tumor. It s not OK! Keaton cried in his video. People that are different don t need to be criticized about it. It s not their fault. But if you are made fun of, don t let it bother you. They suck I guess. Hard. But it will probably get better one day. Within hours, the post had thousands of views. By Saturday night it had been viewed more than 11 million times and shared by nearly 250,000 people.Sean Hannity saw the viral video on Twitter and asked for the name of the principal and the school where the repetitive bullying of Keaton Jones was taking place, so he could personally call and fix this . Hannity also asked for anyone who knew the parents to help him contact them, so he could have them on his show, so they could share their story with others. If someone can get to me the name of the school, the principal, school board members i will gladly make the calls myself and fix this. Also if anyone knows Keaton and his parents, i will gladly fly them to to be my guest & visit Fox News. weblink Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) December 10, 2017 ",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past891004,1004,"San Francisco , California Web sites come and go , but the short bursts of text you publish on one Web site in particular Twitterweblink may end up having a longer shelf life than the company itself . The Library of Congress announced this week that it will archive the billions of tweets published since Twitter launched in March 2006 . Yes , that Twitter , the social networking site mocked and trash talked in the press , late night talk shows and by retro minded pundits as 21st century navel gazing for fidgeting geeks ( David Letterman : "" You know what it reminds me of ? Oh yeah , a waste of time . "" ) But that ' s not the way the library sees it : If you use Twitter and your status updates are public , they should be in the archive . Twitter haters can go on scoffing that tweets are only ephemeral bits of frivolous information , but the Library of Congress has just ratified the importance of social media in recording history . What else does this mean ? Only that future generations will have an unprecedented amount of firsthand data ( in 140 character bites ) about what people from every corner of the world were doing , thinking and feeling at every moment starting four years ago . There will be a record , for example , of the torrent of tweets that brought news from street demonstrations during the Iranian elections last year , when Internet and mobile lines were cut off . There will be a record of the devastation and the relief efforts out of Haiti and Chile after the earthquakes and of a certain historic presidential inauguration . ( http : twitterweblink barackobama status 992176676 "" We just made history . All of this happened because you gave your time , talent and passion . All of this happened because of you . Thanks "" ) More on the Library of Congress plan to archive tweets Thoughts and ideas written by people who wouldn ' t necessarily be in a position to write them into books ( some for good reason ) will be immortalized just the same . Current and future academics , historians and anthropologists will have a simple but deep dataset to analyze in new ways they haven ' t thought of yet . The Library of Congress is the nation ' s oldest federal cultural institution . Its mission is to "" sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations . "" It doesn ' t sound like the right place to archive messages thumbed on a cell phone or dashed off in the Web page text box of a Web site . Or as one of my own twitter followers put it : "" Since when does banality frivolity warrant cultural preservation ? "" matty g http : twitterweblink matty g status 12187504242 But amidst the "" craving a chocolate bar "" or "" watching my cat throw up a hairball "" tweets , there is a serious reflection of historical context a real time timeline written by regular people . Even a small sampling of archived tweets yields insights . "" : Healthcare Reform Just Passed ! ! ! ! This is one small step for health care , one giant leap for America ! "" http : twitterweblink Jason Pollock status 10852088956 Another , when Shaun White won the Olympic gold : "" Oh my God ! Shaun White was amazing in the half pipe ! Landing the double mctwist big mac white snake giant tomato ! Sweet ! "" http : twitterweblink Swiftsfan status 9268595586 And this week the White House ( whitehouse on Twitter ) solicited ideas from citizens about what the United States ' next major technological or scientific achievement should be . The archive of tweeted replies is intended to help prioritize the president ' s to do list . Finally , three things about Twitter ' s dataset particularly suit it for the library ' s archive : 1 . A tweet is small and has a simple structure . 2 . Most tweets are public . 3 . Billions of public tweets are already available , and millions of new tweets go into the system every day . While Twitter itself and certain partners maintain copies of the data created with the service , the library will preserve that data regardless of what becomes of those businesses . Perhaps the most amazing thing is that the tweet archive gives many more people entr e into a collection historically reserved for a select few . Getting your words and ideas included in such an important cultural archive is a privilege . Twitter users may cringe at the thought that their tweet about the cat getting sick will outlive them like this , but they should celebrate , then make their next tweet really good . It will be around for awhile . Or as a twitter follower put it : archiving tweets should remind us all that once it is in the ether , it ' s forever . itwalkabout http : twitterweblink itwalkabout status 12187791303 The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gina Trapani . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past901011,1011,"The Army will allow as many as 60 women to participate in the next Ranger course , allowing women for the first time to compete in the grueling two month combat school . It is considered one of the first steps into the military special operations field . Army Secretary John McHugh approved the change that would allow women in the course beginning in late April . His decision marks the latest move in the Pentagon ' s push to open as many combat jobs possible to women . Currently about 900 of the military ' s approximately 1 , 000 occupations are open to women , but the toughest ones remain closed to them , including infantry , armor and special operation jobs . Pre ranger : Sgt . Amanda Carrasco , 2nd Battalion , 27th Infantry Regiment , 3rd Brigade Combat Team , crosses the finish line during the 25th Infantry Division Pre Ranger Female Screening in Hawaii While completing the leadership course would let women wear the coveted Ranger tab , it does not let them become members of the Ranger regiment . Currently only men can be in the 75th Ranger Regiment the special operations forces unit based at Fort Benning , Georgia . Joining the regiment requires additional schooling that is physically , emotionally and mentally challenging . Women and men preparing for the Ranger course will be able to participate in a 16 day training and assessment school that would train women on some of the infantry and combat skills that they would not already have . Infantry jobs are not currently open to women . The Ranger school includes three phases . The first 20 days focus on military skills and endurance . The second is a mountain phase that includes more small unit operations and survival techniques and the final , so called swamp phase takes place in Florida and includes airborne assault , amphibious operations and extreme mental and physical stress . Juliet Beyler , the Pentagon ' s director of officer and enlisted personnel management , said on Thursday that opening the Ranger school to women was the ' next logical step , ' as the department continues its review of all jobs across the military to see if they can be open to women . And , as the year goes on , she said each step will inform the next , so the experiences of the women in the Ranger school will be examined and used as examples as other job openings are considered . She noted that some women are already serving in a few specific jobs linked to units of special operations forces . Mainly those are women in logistics , administrative or psychological operations posts at the headquarters level . Strongest women : Staff Sgt . Christopher Welch , Pre Ranger Course instructor , teaches a class on the proper emplacement of a Claymore mine at the Lightning Academy Jungle Operations Training Center But one woman is now a member of the elite 160th special operations aviation regiment , known as the Night Stalkers . The Night Stalkers may be best known for flying the helicopters that took Navy into Osama bin Laden ' s compound in 2011 . That unit was also the one most often named by Army women as the combat job they ' d like . While less than 8 percent of the women who responded to a survey last year said they ' d want a combat job , more than 30 percent of those who did , named the Night Stalkers as their top choice . The 160th is a specialized unit used to fly forces fast , low and deep behind enemy lines under cover of darkness . About 17 women worked in the unit in administrative , intelligence and logistics posts , as of last year . Also , there have long been women aviators and aircrew in the conventional Army , just not on the special operations teams . By January 2016 , the military must open all combat jobs to women or explain why any must remain closed . The Pentagon lifted its ban on women in combat jobs in 2012 , but gave the military services time to gradually and systematically integrate women into the male only front line positions . Special operations jobs are some of the last to be addressed , as commanders review the qualifications needed and assess the impact of bringing women in . Military leaders have made it clear that they will not reduce standards for any jobs in order to let women in . One just for men : A Ranger instructor explains to company of Rangers the technical instructions of repelling from the 50 ft rock to his left in Dahlonega , Georgia ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present911025,1025,"Oregon Militants Will Now Fight Their Battle In Federal Court Most of the people who occupied a federal wildlife refuge for a month will be defended at the expense of U . S . taxpayers . 01 29 2016 03 : 40 pm Updated 1 day ago Ryan J . Reilly Justice Reporter , The Huffington Post ? While four militants continue to occupy a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon , the eight individuals swept up in a law enforcement operation this week are behind bars , facing federal felony charges and preparing for a legal battle that could send them to prison and permanently take away their right to possess weapons . As of Friday , six of the militants have been assigned a federal public defender or court appointed lawyer , meaning the federal government they were protesting will be footing their legal bills . Ammon Bundy the son of rancher Cliven Bundy , who engaged in a prior battle with the federal government over unpaid grazing fees is crowdsourcing online to pay for his private legal defense . All of the people arrested Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan Bundy , Jon Ritzheimer , Joseph O ' Shaughnessy , Ryan Payne , Brian Cavalier , Shawna Cox and Peter Santilli have a court appearance scheduled for Feb . 3 and an arraignment set for Feb . 24 . They all face a charge of conspiracy "" to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through use of force , intimidation , or threats . "" agents remove a road block sign at a checkpoint at ? the ? Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon ? on Jan . ? 28 , 2016 . In a statement ? issued by his lawyers , Ammon Bundy called on the militants still occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to turn themselves in peacefully . "" The world is listening , "" he said . "" We will use the criminal discovery process to obtain information and government records . We will continue to educate the American people of the injustices that are taking place . "" Bundy is crowdfunding for a total of 100 , 000 in legal fees . The online pitch his legal team set up says that while the protest was the first stage of Bundy ' s plan to deliver his message , "" Phase 2 is through the courts . "" As of Friday , 21 supporters had pledged 1 , 979 . ? Lawyers for Bundy told local news station that they believed their client started a national conversation on public land rights . ? "" Ammon ' s argument is sound . Their message is clear . And they ' re going to continue even if they ' re in custody , continue to believe in liberty and freedom for American citizens , "" one lawyer said . Lissa Casey , another one of Bundy ' s lawyers , ? told ? local station that her firm took the case because it ' s interested in the Constitution , individual liberties and disputes between citizens and the government . "" This case has gone on to a national debate about federal government interacting with citizens in the form of land management . But I think that it s going to be an even larger debate . And we wanted to help , "" Casey said . The militants began occupying the wildlife refuge on Jan . 2 . Seeking to combat rumors about Tuesday ' s fatal shooting of militant Robert "" LaVoy "" Finicum , the released aerial ? footage ? on Thursday that showed him fleeing law enforcement , nearly striking an agent with his vehicle , then emerging from his car and appearing to reach for a loaded weapon in his pocket . In addition to the loaded 9 mm handgun that was in LaVoy Finicum ' s pocket , agents found three other loaded weapons , including semi automatic rifles , inside the truck , according to the . David Fry , one of the four militants still at the wildlife refuge who has been livestreaming on YouTube under the name "" DefendYourBase , "" ? told the Los Angeles Times ? that he and his remaining colleagues were willing to leave , but wanted the ' s guarantee that they would not be arrested . One video Fry uploaded on Thursday titled "" Maybe last Dance ? "" shows a couple in camouflage slow dancing to music blasting from a white pickup truck . The man in the footage ? said in a prior video that members of law enforcement were going to come in and kill them . In another video ? on Thursday morning , Fry said that one of the militants was wanted on a warrant , so only three of them were free to go . They believed the government might arrest them at a later date . "" It turns out that if you do leave , they end up charging you later , and they are pressing everyone here it sounds like with that same felony charge of interfering with a federal employee ' s job , "" Fry said . "" If you get a felony , you can ' t vote anymore and they take your guns away . "" The approach was "" unfair , "" he added . "" A lot of those rioters over there in Ferguson and whatnot , they went to the riots with intentions of robbing and burning down cities , and everyone here came with intentions of thinking it was a peaceful , you know , revolution , "" Fry said . Many of the armed militants said over the course of their occupation of federal land that they would match force with force if law enforcement confronted them . : This article has been updated to refer to the video of the shooting as aerial footage , not helicopter footage . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past921036,1036,"On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” MoveOn. org Senior Advisor and National Spokeperson Karine argued that “if you are not white, male, straight,” you “fear” a Trump presidency. said, “I think the thing to understand is that, if you are not white, male, straight, you are — you fear a — Donald Trump’s presidency because there is no place for you in a Donald Trump’s presidency. ” She added, “He ran the most campaign that we have ever seen. He talked about Mexicans, calling them rapists and criminals. He talked about Muslim ban, and it is fearful for all of us. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett, ",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present931071,1071,"London Dragon boats , a floating belfry and the royal barge are among more than 1 , 000 vessels preparing to transform London ' s River Thames into a spectacular floating tribute to the 60 year reign of Queen Elizabeth . About 20 , 000 people will take to the water Sunday for a river pageant inspired by regal riverside celebrations of the past which is set to be the largest such event on the Thames for hundreds of years . The event is set to be a highlight in a four day weekend of celebrations for the queen ' s diamond jubilee . What ' s on during Diamond Jubilee weekend After gathering upriver in west London , the seven mile long flotilla will wend its majestic way from Battersea Bridge to Tower Bridge , passing through the heart of Britain ' s capital city over the course of several hours . At the front will be about 300 man powered boats , with thousands of volunteers propelling them downriver , flags and streamers fluttering around them . A barge carrying the eight Royal Jubilee Bells the largest of which , at nearly half a ton , is named for the monarch will lead the way , its peals of bells to be echoed from church towers along the river . Fashions and treats fit for a queen Next will come passenger boats , pleasure boats , historic wooden vessels the oldest built in 1740 and boats carrying members of the armed forces , police and fire services . One of the boats taking part , the Amazon , also took part in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria , Britain ' s longest serving monarch and the only other to reach the landmark 60 years on the throne . The biggest cheer will no doubt come for the present queen , who will be carried aboard a specially converted royal barge , opulently draped in red and gold . Huge numbers of flag waving spectators are expected to line the banks , despite the forecast for rain . Millions more around the world are likely to watch the spectacle unfold on television . Sailing boats that are too tall to pass under the 14 bridges along the river pageant route will line the river from London Bridge to Wapping , in the east , creating an avenue of sails set against the Tower of London and the city ' s financial center . The queen will disembark at Tower Bridge and watch as the remainder of the river pageant passes in a riot of color and noise . More than 14 miles of bunting in the colors of the Union Flag , or the Union Jack as it is commonly referred to , will be strung along the route , pageant organizers say . London ' s Metropolitan Police said as many as 6 , 000 extra officers would be on patrol during jubilee events . The force will deploy more than 20 police boats during the river pageant , as well as carrying out searches on shore with dogs , and using rope climbing teams to inspect the bridges . Police divers will carry out underwater checks of piers and boats . The huge security operation comes as London prepares to host the 2012 Olympic Games , which open in late July . Outside the capital , Britons are expected to gather for thousands of Jubilee themed street parties and barbecues Sunday . Stores have been filled for weeks with an array of patriotic paraphernalia , from flag adorned teapots to aprons to picnic sets , to help hosts set the scene for what is billed as a national celebration . The queen , known for her love of horse racing , kicked off the long weekend at Epsom Downs racecourse Saturday , where she attended the Derby , Britain ' s most prestigious racing meet , with her husband , the Duke of Edinburgh . Singer Katherine Jenkins performed the national anthem and the King ' s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a gun salute in the Queen ' s honor . The celebrations continue on Monday and Tuesday , which have been declared public holidays to mark the diamond jubilee . An afternoon garden party at Buckingham Palace will be followed Monday evening by a televised pop concert outside the palace grounds . At the end of the concert , the queen will take to the stage to light the "" National Beacon , "" which will be on the Mall . She will use a diamond made from crystal glass , which has been on display at the Tower of London from the beginning of May , to light the flame . More than 4 , 000 beacons will be then lit in communities throughout the United Kingdom , along with the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories . Tuesday will be a day of pomp and ceremony , as the queen attends a service of thanksgiving at St . Paul ' s Cathedral , followed after lunch in Westminster by a carriage procession back to Buckingham Palace , where she will appear on the balcony , flanked by members of the royal family . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past941073,1073,"The killing of 298 innocent people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was a crime , a consequence of the war against Ukraine that Vladimir Putin started , and which he supplies , directs and controls . The Russian President bears full responsibility for this war , including the downing of the Malaysian airliner . The main problem with our reaction to Russian aggression is not even the mildness of our sanctions , but the lack of clarity of their purpose . Our message to Putin is very confused . Do we want him completely out of Ukraine , or do we want his help in dealing with that country ? They are two very different requests . Despite Putin ' s offenses , Western leaders apparently still want him to play an active role in securing peace and stability . According to the White House , on July 17 , "" President Obama called on President Putin to take concrete steps to de escalate the situation , including pressing separatists to agree to a cease fire . "" After the Malaysian airliner was shot down , German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Putin to use his influence with the rebels to ensure a cease fire . In recent appearances on several shows , U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry asked Putin to take "" immediate and clear action to reduce tensions in Ukraine , "" "" to step up and make a difference , "" and "" to use all his influence . "" Despite their harsh words for Putin , leaders of the West still want his help . British Prime Minister David Cameron summed it up best when he said : "" We sometimes behave as if we need Russia more than Russia needs us . "" Putin is only too glad to put on sheep ' s clothing and assume the role of peacemaker that he has pretended to be throughout the war that he himself started . According to him , annexing Crimea , shooting down airplanes and supporting separatists has only one purpose : to protect the Ukrainian people from alleged right wing extremists . If you want Putin ' s help , beware of what you are asking . He would be glad to broker a "" diplomatic solution "" with the separatists , thus legitimizing his terrorists and entrenching them on Ukrainian territory . If that option doesn ' t work , we can imagine the following completely different scenario : Russian tanks roll over Donetsk . Instead of supporting the separatists , Putin arrests leaders of the Donetsk republic and persecutes them for terrorizing the local population . Blaming the Ukrainian government for its inability to protect people from the terrorists , he establishes full control over the territory , and leaves Russian troops there to secure law , order and tranquility . How would the world react to such a "" peacekeeping mission "" ? Would the Ukrainian army fight Russian troops ? Would Western political leaders accept this as a plausible option ? I do not know . But what is more important , Putin doesn ' t know either . We should make very clear that we would not accept Putin as a peacekeeper and we want him out of Ukraine . Western governments should not implicitly accept the aggressive doctrine called the "" Russian World , "" which was endorsed by Putin , and which gives him the right to intervene into the affairs of virtually any sovereign nation , as he did in Ukraine , using the pretext of protecting Russian speaking citizens . The major concern of Western leaders is that by taking a strong stand against Putin , we may lose him as a useful partner in the world arena . We shouldn ' t worry about that . History clearly demonstrates that in all major international trouble spots in which we accepted Putin as our partner , Russia has always taken the side of the West ' s enemy . Such has been the case with Iraq , North Korea , Syria and Iran . It was only natural for Putin to use any invitation on our part as an opportunity to damage us . One should not expect anything different from a person with the background of a officer , for whom America always has been enemy No . 1 , and for whom anti Americanism is a pillar of his power . If America is Russia ' s enemy , Putin ' s Russia cannot be our ally . Whether we like it or not , such relations are reciprocal . And from an enemy we do not need help . We need only check its aggression . For that purpose we should take the following steps : 1 . Publicly recognize that Putin is not our ally or partner , but rather our foe , and make this position clear to him and to the rest of the world . 2 . Ensure that our demands to Russia be absolutely clear . Stop supporting separatists in Ukraine . We do not need Putin as a broker or peacemaker . Putin must completely get out of Ukrainian territory and Ukrainian politics . 3 . Make clear that Putin ' s help is not needed in any other part of the world . Exclude Russia as our partner or as a mediator from any international arrangements and negotiations . 4 . Reiterate our position of not accepting the annexation of Crimea . Demand that it be returned to Ukraine . 5 . Stop propagating Putin ' s propaganda . Instead , counter it with all the power of America ' s media . Expand broadcasts by Radio Liberty and other radio stations . 6 . Make it clear that we consider the "" Russian World "" policy a threat to world peace and stability . Insist that Russia officially renounce that doctrine and repeal supporting legislation as necessary conditions for Russia ' s readmission to the community of civilized nations . 7 . To stop aggression against Ukraine and to prevent aggressions against other countries , make Russia pay a high price by introducing sector and other serious economic sanctions . Be ready to accept the cost of those sanctions . 8 . Take immediate steps to reduce that cost and any dependence on Russia . Develop new energy sources and transportation systems in America and Europe . 9 . Provide help , including military assistance , to those who are under immediate attack or potential aggression by Russia . 10 . Revisit communism , an ideology that remains important in Russia as well as other countries . Educate new generations about its atrocities and bankrupt ideology . Opponents of strong action against an aggressor wrongly equate political confrontation with war . They believe that admitting that the second largest nuclear power is our enemy would usher in another Cold War and make the situation much more dangerous . History teaches us , however , that to ignore reality and appease our enemy is a more dangerous approach than to clearly articulate our principles and disagreements . When in 1983 the Soviets shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 , Ronald Reagan denounced them as enemies of the United States and the entire world . Reagan ' s strong stand against the Soviet communism that threatened us for decades with nuclear war helped stop its expansion and eventually led to its complete capitulation . If we could stand against the mighty Soviet Union , we can manage Putin ' s much weaker Russia . In February 2000 , only two months into his presidency , Vladimir Putin presented one of his first state awards to Air Force Gen . Anatoly Kornukov . In 1983 , Kornukov was commander of Sokol Airbase in Sakhalin . His order to the fighter pilot was : "" Destroy the target ! "" The target was Korean Air Lines Flight 007 . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past951082,1082,"The Eagles appear to have hit the pause button on their search for Chip Kelly ' s replacement as head coach , but that doesn ' t mean there aren ' t front runners for the job . ? ' s insider Adam Schefter thinks that the Eagles coaching search is nearing a conclusion and that ? a pair of offensive coordinators including Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo are the top choices of owner Jeffrey Lurie , President Don Smolenski and Vice President of Football Operations Howie Roseman . ? : Do the Eagles know what they ' re doing ? "" I don ' t know that Pederson ' s ? the front runner , "" Schefter said Wednesday during his weekly appearance on 97 . 5 The Fanatic with Anthony Gargano . "" I know that he ' s square in contention for that job , I know they really like him . In my mind , my sense these are just senses is that Ben McAdoo is the front runner . But I don ' t know that to be right . I think Pederson and McAdoo both are square in the conversation . Tom Coughlin is perfect Eagles coaching candidate The Eagles won ' t find a candidate better than Tom Coughlin . "" I think ? Tom Coughlin ' s interview went well . You can ' t meet with him and not be impressed by the coach and man he is . But ultimately , as good and as impressive as he is , I just think the Eagles ' model here is to find someone that they can work with for the next 10 to 15 years and I don ' t think Tom Coughlin fits that description as good of a coach as he is . . . "" Maybe even ? Pat Shurmur ? would be in consideration because he is a very good football coach . But to me , I would handicap McAdoo as the favorite for whatever that ' s worth and we ' ll see if that ' s proven right . "" McAdoo is one of the six candidates the Eagles interviewed for the job , in addition to running back ' s coach Duce Staley , Shurmur , Pederson , newly hired Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase and two time Super Bowl champion former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin . ? Coughlin and Lurie also met privately prior to the formal job interview on Tuesday , according to Schefter . Brian Dawkins on former teammate Doug Pederson ' s chances to be Eagles next coach Lurie has a penchant for hiring head coaches with a background on offense and McAdoo has worked with the likes of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Giants two time Super Bowl winning Giants quarterback Eli Manning , which could make him an attractive option for the Eagles given the uncertainty at the position . ? Multiple reports say the Eagles have no plans to interview any new candidates , which if true , puts McAdoo firmly in the running for the job . ? Meanwhile , Schefter went on to explain that he doesn ' t believe that Kelly will land an job this offseason . ? You can listen to the full interview : here . ? , Ep . 25 : The Eagles ' coaching search is boring and bland We sort through a bland coaching search and try to make sense of why the Eagles are interested in certain candidates . Plus , some fireworks as we debate whether Tom Coughlin makes sense in Philly . Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher . Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo yahooweblink . Follow him on Twitter ? MattLombardo975 . ? Find NJweblink Eagles on Facebook . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past961083,1083,"The New York Times website was still experiencing some issues late Wednesday and early Thursday following a widespread outage . Evidence continued to mount that it was the result of an attack by the Syrian Electronic Army . The group , loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad , has been behind multiple attacks on media websites in recent months and , on Twitter , took credit for a sophisticated hack that had hobbled the Times ' news site for roughly 20 hours . "" The nytimes attack was going to deliver an anti war message but our server couldn ' t last for 3 minutes , "" the group posted on its Twitter feed at about 9 : 40 Wednesday morning . The attack came as governments in several countries considered military action in light of reports that Al Assad has used chemical weapons against his own people in an effort to quell an uprising calling for his ouster . "" Our website and domain are now down , but it was worth the attempt , for Syria and world peace , "" the group wrote later . What is the Syrian Electronic Army ? The group said their site was taken down because they violated their registration agreement . People on Twitter began reporting the New York Times site was down as early as 3 p . m . Tuesday . Some users also reported difficulty accessing the Times ' mobile site and apps . The newspaper posted a message on its Facebook page about 5 p . m . that said , "" Many users are having difficulty accessing The New York Times online . We are working to fix the problem . Our initial assessment is the outage is most likely the result of a malicious external attack . "" New York Times chief information officer Marc Frons sent the same update internally to employees at 4 : 20 p . m . and advised them not to send out sensitive emails "" until this situation is resolved , "" according to a statement from the New York Times . The outage was the result of an attack on the company ' s domain name registrar , Melbourne . The hackers gained access to a Melbourne reseller account using a phishing email and proceeded to change the records of multiple domains , including NYTimesweblink , according to the company . "" We are currently reviewing our logs to see if we can obtain information on the identity of the party that has used the reseller credentials , and we will share this information with the reseller and any relevant law enforcement bodies , "" said Melbourne ' s Tony Smith in a statement . Twitter also was hampered briefly by a similar attack . Several Twitter users posted screenshots of a "" Hacked by "" message they said they received when they went to the New York Times homepage . Frons said Tuesday ' s attack was more sophisticated than previous hacks . "" It ' s sort of like breaking into the local savings and loan versus breaking into Fort Knox . A domain registrar should have extremely tight security because they are holding the security to hundreds if not thousands of Web sites , "" said Frons in the New York Times . While the site was down , the New York Times continued to post articles at its numerical address , 170 . 149 . 168 . 130 and at news . nytcoweblink . Tuesday ' s episode was the Times ' second sustained website outage this month . The newspaper ' s site also went down August 14 for several hours , an outage the newspaper blamed on "" an internal issue . "" In an update on a company blog , Twitter confirmed that there was a issue with one of the domains used to host images . "" Viewing of images and photos was sporadically impacted . By 22 : 29 , the original domain record for twimgweblink was restored . No Twitter user information was affected by this incident , "" said the post . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past971089,1089,"This is what Democrats think of people who broke our laws to come to America? Nancy Pelosi thanked a Dreamer s parents Wednesday for bringing him to the United States illegally. Pelosi made the remark during a town hall with s Chris Cuomo where she took a question from Dreamer Adrian Reyna. Our Dreamers, they make America dream again, Pelosi said. They re so lovely and we, frankly, owe a debt to your parents for bringing you here to be such a brilliant part of our future. she s happy to let the tax payers foot the bill for these illegals:The swelling population of illegal immigrants and their kids is costing American taxpayers $135 billion a year, the highest ever, driven by free medical care, education and a huge law enforcement bill, according to the the most authoritative report on the issue yet.Dreamers are individuals who were brought illegally to the United States as children. Former president Barack Obama s administration provided cover to Dreamers from possible deportation to their countries of origin with the (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) executive order in 2012.The Trump administration rescinded the order last month and called on Congress to replace it within six months. Reyna expressed concern about Democrats coming to a deal with President Donald Trump about illegal immigration and Dreamers.Pelosi promised Reyna that a clean Dream Act would be passed before December.Pelosi continued to heap praise on Dreamers and their families and laid out Democrats plan to block the Trump administration and Republicans from taking any kind of potential action against illegal immigration.Read more: ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present981093,1093,"Many Home Depots once featured several dozen day laborers nearby, but the supply is shriveling as the U. S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) may seek to deport up to 3 million illegal aliens that have criminal records. [Following a presidential executive order, “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements,” issued on January 25, raids across the United States detained 680 high priority individuals for deportation, with about 161 detained in California, according to the Washinton Examiner. But that works out to just o. 07 percent of the 950, 062 aliens with deportation orders on the list as of May 21, 2016. According to updated testimony on May 19 to the Senate Judiciary Committee of testimony by Thomas D. Homan, acting director, removals of illegal aliens dropped by 41 percent, from 409, 849 during the 2012 election year, to 240, 255 during the 2016 election year. Of the 99. 3 percent of interior removals, 92 percent were priority convicted criminals, and 7. 3 percent were threats to national security, public safety, and border security. Holman told Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley ( ) that although there are 3 million illegal immigrants with criminal records in addition to their illegal status, only has detained 11, 006 individuals. When asked by Grassley why there were so few in custody, Homan’s answered: “Individuals on ICE’s docket with final orders of removal are released under conditions designed to ensure their compliance with their immigration obligations. ” With virtually no general purpose interior removals in the last couple of years, the latest Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends survey found that were an estimated 11. 1 million illegal aliens in the U. S. in 2014, down from 12. 2 million in 2007. About 72 percent of illegal aliens are employed, equal to about 5 percent of the entire U. S. workforce. About 33 percent held service jobs such as janitor, child care worker or cook, twice the 17 percent share of U. S. workers 15 percent hold construction jobs, triple the share of U. S. workers who hold that type of employment and 13 percent are employed in manufacturing jobs, compared to 10 percent of U. S. workers. Despite the impression that a high percentage work in agriculture, only 5 percent of illegal aliens are employed in agriculture, versus 2 percent of U. S. workers.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past991094,1094,"Perugia , Italy Former American student Amanda Knox went back to court Wednesday to appeal her conviction for murdering her British roommate . She is tense and has lost weight , her lawyer , Luciano Ghirga , told reporters . And she is facing a difficult legal battle , he said . Rather than prosecutors having to prove she is guilty , "" we have to prove her innocence , which is more difficult to do , "" Ghirga said . Her stepfather , Chris Mellas , said she had a "" a very strong appeal "" and there were "" ample grounds for Amanda ' s release . "" He said he experienced deja vu walking back in the court where she was convicted nearly a year ago and seeing "" a new jury , new judge new judges . Unfortunately the old prosecutor , still , but you can ' t get everything . "" The hearing lasted about 15 minutes before the judge adjourned it until December 11 because one of the lawyers was not present . Knox , 23 , was sentenced last December to 26 years in prison for the killing of Meredith Kercher at the villa they shared in Perugia , the central Italian town where both were students . Kercher , 21 , was found in November 2007 , semi naked with her throat slashed . Knox and her former Italian boyfriend , Raffaele Sollecito , were both found guilty of the murder . Sollecito is serving a 25 year sentence . A third person , Rudy Guede , a drifter originally from the Ivory Coast , was tried separately and is serving a 16 year prison sentence . Kercher ' s family is following the appeal , lawyer Francesco Maresca said . "" Of course , this is a phase in which they want to remember Meredith and think about Meredith and they hope to be able to just dedicate themselves to her memory without having to deal with trials anymore , "" he said . Knox ' s family said in April that she is innocent and that no forensic evidence puts her at the crime scene . "" Meredith was Amanda ' s friend , "" the family said . "" They liked each other and spent time together when not in school . Amanda would not hurt Meredith . "" The family said the appeal would detail "" a lot of conjecture in these motivations , a number of discrepancies as well as a number of inconsistencies and contradictions as well as conclusions not supported by evidence . "" Jurors said they believed Knox played a role in the killing but that the death was not premeditated , according to a report released in April by the judges in the case . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1001101,1101,"Media Outlets Pledge Evenhanded Criticism Of Trump, Clinton Over Next 4 Years Close Vol 52 Issue 44 · Politics · News Media · Hillary Clinton · Donald Trump YORK—Declaring that they would work tirelessly to hold both figures to account, the nation’s media outlets pledged Thursday that they would not relent in providing evenhanded criticism of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over the next four years. “We want to assure the American people that throughout the forthcoming presidential term, we will, with equal rigor, hold both Trump’s and Clinton’s feet to the fire on the issues that matter most,” said president Jeff Zucker, who echoed official statements made by every other cable, print, and online news source across the country by affirming that it was the responsibility of the press to ensure both individuals were made to answer for their misdeeds during the next administration. “While we vow to carefully monitor the decisions and actions of the nation’s next president and expose his and his cabinet’s failings wherever they appear, we also make a solemn promise to provide a balanced critique by refusing to ever let Clinton off the hook. The nation can continue to count on us for fair, equitable reporting on the most important political developments.” At press time, members of the media were already diligently researching what effect Clinton’s email scandal might have on Trump’s foreign policy. Share This Story: Sign up For The Onion's Newsletter Give your spam filter something to do. Daily Headlines ",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past1011111,1111,"Infection rates are soaring for young gay Latino and black men and social worker Justin Toro is one of the frontline personnel laboring to end the harmful trend . He works in the the Adolescent Program at The Children ' s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx . It s official ? young gay Latino and black men have the highest infection rates nationwide , and the trend is hitting New York . As of June 2014 , men ages 20 29 who have sex with men account for the highest number of new diagnoses documented by the city Health Department . And according to the latest city statistics , 793 ? or 58 . 7 of new cases in the city ? were among men who have sex with men . ? On the frontlines trying to address this and other challenges posed by the epidemic to young people of all genders in the Bronx are social workers like Justin Toro at the Adolescent Program ( ) at The Children ' s Hospital at Montefiore . Toro was 20 when he was diagnosed with in 2006 . Momentarily devastated , he regrouped and dedicated himself to learning about the virus and sharing the information with friends and peers . This led me to wanting to work with other young people who were living with , as well as educating those who were negative on how to remain negative , Toro explained . At , a long established and nationally recognized program , Toro is one of three social workers caring for 170 young clients ages 13 to 24 . This number includes 130 living with , five of whom are transgender youths . We provide medical care and anything from monitoring their CD4 levels , their school work , mental health needs , disclosure issues , and help them cope , said Toro . We also help them find support , such as for food and accommodation . There is also support provided to 40 negative but at risk young clients , ten of whom are transgender . This group is tested and screened regularly and given pre exposure prophylaxis , or PrEP , the prevention option for people who are at high risk of getting . For transgender clients , offers counseling and referral services . ? Overall , the program takes on 40 new clients every year , while approximately 20 transition to adult care , said Toro . Data from the Centers for Disease Control highlights the importance of programs like . The estimates that 2 , 045 Latinos age 24 and younger were diagnosed with in the U . S . in 2013 , which represented 20 of all the diagnoses in this age group . In addition , statistics show more new infections ( 4 , 800 ) occurred among young ( ages 13 24 ) African American gay and bisexual men than in any other subgroup of gay and bisexual men . The first such program in the U . S . when it was established in 1987 , notes Toro , serves also as a local and national resource . ? It is one of 15 sites around the country that engages in National Institutes of Health funded clinical , behavioral and community based research on youth and , as well as community prevention and training of health care providers . To contact the Adolescent Program at The Children ' s Hospital at Montefiore , call ( 718 ) 882 0232 or email info adolescentaids . org . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1021115,1115,"November 9, 2016 Satire, an archetype invented by classical Roman poets, has reversed a decision it took in early July and will continue taking charge of the global situation. Satirists, who had hoped to resume control of a vehicle that has now nullified itself by creating real world conditions so ridiculous that it is impossible to send them up, called the decision ‘disappointing but understandable’. ‘Just to recap,’ said Satire, ‘I actually began all this in the States a year ago so it’s come full circle. The joke seemed to have gone stale after a while, so I switched to Britain. I whipped up an unnecessary referendum, chucked in some grotesque stock characters and got an overgrown blonde child to pretend to be for one side when he had been for the other just months before.’ ‘I encouraged him to do just enough to get an honourable defeat, only to have him win so that his school chum who had been ruling the country had to resign. Then, I arranged for his weird sidekick to stab him in the back, only to get chucked out in turn, then let two demonic female figures fight it out and had one win who thought much the same as the original man about the original problem, which wasn’t really a problem at all and ensured she is bound to win an election on the decision, even though most people regret it.’ At that point, Satire took a back seat, agreeing that the possibility of a fictional orange-skinned character might become the world’s most powerful man after a campaign based on telling obvious lies, losing every debate and winning the evangelical vote by gripping vaginas was just too ridiculous to write about. Now, however, he has decided to make another go of it. ‘OK, so I’m in my comfort zone now,’ Satire concluded. ‘The world’s leading nation devoting its entire energy to building a wall to stop brown-skinned people coming to do the jobs they won’t do themselves, people protesting against the 1% by voting for the epitome of the 1%, a thin-skinned, twice-bankrupt narcissist making decisions that will affect the whole world for a generation – it’s going to be epic. I mean, seriously, what’s the worst that could happen? … Nuclear war, you say? Hey, that could lead to another satire boom too. Boom – geddit? Did you see what I did there? Oh please yourselves…’ Share this story... Posted: Nov 9th, 2016 by Oxbridge Click for more article by Oxbridge .. More Stories about: Left Alert 0",fake,news,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1031125,1125,"Independent voter Chris Sullivan went to the polls in Princeton, Texas on Super Tuesday, intending to cast a ballot in the Democratic primary.Sullivan says that a poll worker at Princeton High School, located in Collin County, Texas, instructed him to select any voting machine, saying that it didn t matter if he was voting for a Republican or a Democrat.Once Sullivan had selected a machine, however, he says it locked his vote in for a Republican candidate.As a result of being locked into a republican ballot, Sullivan says he was unable to cast his vote in the primary election.Following the debacle, he took to voice his outrage at having his vote stolen by cheats.Image credit: screen capture, Chris Sullivan on FacebookAddicting Info spoke to Sullivan on March 2.He clarified what happened further, saying, It wasn t that I was directed to the wrong line I was specifically told by one of the people at the desk that it didn t matter what party I chose, I could vote for anyone. Sullivan also told us that the poll worker he spoke to was clearly not neutral. I was standing behind a couple and the woman (poll worker) asked if they were voting republican. When they said yes, she replied good cause I already locked you in. It might be easier to dismiss what happened to Sullivan as an error, as opposed to deliberate cheating, had he not overheard the same worker giving very different instructions to the Republican couple.Sullivan also told us that he felt like there was a strong push to vote Republican, from the poll workers.While he s not sure if any other Collin County voters had a similar experience, Sullivan says that he has already contacted attorneys for the Bernie Sanders campaign to report what happened. He also plans to report his experience to the Texas Attorney General s office today.As reported here, Democratic voters in Georgia also may have had their votes stolen, thanks to Republican dirty tricks.Brianna Fleener was one of many Democratic voters who were issued Republican ballots in Lowndes County, GA. I show up, I fill out the paper and I give it to the man at the counter, Fleener told ValdostaToday. Next, I was given a card to insert into the machine, and when I pulled up the screen I realized I was given the wrong ballot. Fleener says that several other Democratic voters were also given Republican ballots. As I look around, I notice I m not the only one. Turns out that anyone voting Democrat received a Republican ballot. After making some phone calls, we were told we could fix it, but we were showing up in the system as voted when none of us had casted our ballots. Democrats may not have been the only ones cheated out of their votes by the on Super Tuesday.Austin s radio station was flooded with calls claiming that voting machines were flipping votes from Donald Trump to other candidates.Listen to the vote flipping accusations, reported to KLBJ, via Raw Story on YouTube: Image credit:weblink, photoshop",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past1041141,1141,"Nearly 200 million in federal funding will be awarded to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for repairs after Superstorm Sandy , according to a statement Sunday from U . S . Sen . Chuck Schumer ' s office . Schumer and Sen . Kirsten Gillibrand , both New York Democrats , announced that the Department of Transportation is providing 195 . 7 million in funds for infrastructure repairs needed after the storm damaged the region ' s rail systems and infrastructure , according to the statement . An estimated 141 . 5 million of the money will go to the Port Authority Trans Hudson Corporation Commuter Rail , and an estimated 54 . 2 million will go to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , the statement says . Damage from Sandy has cost the Port Authority 2 billion to return the agency ' s airports , rail system , bridges and tunnels to service . Gillibrand said the devastation to the region ' s mass transit and infrastructure was "" unprecedented "" and that the funding is critical to help recover and rebuild . The rail system suffered damage from the millions of gallons of saltwater that flooded the tunnels between New York and New Jersey , the statement says . In the storm ' s aftermath , trains had to operate on a limited basis . The World Trade Center also sustained significant damage . That portion of the funding will go to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , which is set to open in 2015 . It will be home to the system and will connect 13 subway lines and link pedestrians to the World Financial Center . The federal funding is part of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 , providing relief to communities , families and businesses damaged by Superstorm Sandy . The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is critical to the region ' s trade and transportation network . It includes America ' s busiest airport system , marine terminals and ports , the rail transit system , six tunnels and bridges between New York and New Jersey , the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan and the World Trace Center , according to its website . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past1051152,1152,"The new Mike Tyson does not look like the old Mike Tyson . Gennady Golovkin has a baby face unadorned by menacing warrior tattoos but he is a prize ring assassin just the same . As the real world middleweight champion he is , naturally , smaller than the youngest man ever to win the world heavyweight title . Gennady Golovkin is the new Mike Tyson in the ring , but not outside of it Golovkin ( left ) knocks down Daniel Geale during their Middleweight bout last July He is also respectful of his opponents , unfailingly polite to all he meets , rarely if ever swears in any of the four languages he speaks fluently , often dresses like an English country gentleman , regularly takes his son on the school run in his adopted Germany and has a smile like sunshine . But this is where the dissimilarities end : Outside the ring . The Kazakh known as his middle name is a longer version of his first name is the most powerful pound for pound puncher in the world . Deontay Wilder may be the biggest hitting heavyweight but in terms of comparative size , Golovkin is the most devastating . It appears that not even the most thunderous of the light heavyweights can live with him . Sergey Kovalev , the Russian Krusher who flattened Nathan Cleverly and recently ended the long championship reign of Bernard Hopkins , is reported to have withdrawn from sparring with Golovkin because he was getting badly hurt . Kovalev ' s trainer is in denial about that but the anecdotal evidence is plentiful . Golovkin has knocked out 28 of his 31 victims in an all win professional career thus far and St Helens ' own Martin Murray is next to climb the scaffold , in Monte Carlo on Saturday night . Golovkin , dressed like an English country gentleman , during a visit to London to promote his fight Tyson ( right ) in action against Buster Mathis Jnr in Philadelphia in August 1995 Tyson is pictured in modern day guise , complete with facial tattoos He has not been taken the distance since an eight rounder all of six years and 18 fights ago . Nor , since he seems to have a chin as granite as his fists , has he ever been knocked off his own feet . Not for a second . That charming demeanour evaporates when the first bell rings . Golovkin becomes a destructive monster and if you keep your hands up to protect your head he simply sets about disembowelling you . Matthew Macklin , the much respected and usually durable Anglo Irish middleweight contender , was crumpled by a single body shot and reports : ' I ' ve never been hit that hard in my life . It ' s scary . ' This man certainly appears to put the wind up even the most accomplished boxers around his weight . Golovkin has been trying , so far in vain , to secure big name fights against the likes of Sergio Martinez , Miguel Cotto and Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr . He says : ' I want these major fights but what can I do if they won ' t get in the ring with me . ' Golovkin in action against Curtis Stevens during their Middleweight Title fight in New York in 2013 It is to Murray ' s enormous credit that he has agreed to venture where others fear to tread despite the lure of Golovkin ' s and world titles being at stake . All the more so since this one man wrecking ball is in his prime at 32 . Murray freely admits that Felix Sturm and Martinez were somewhat in decline when they inflicted the only minor blemishes on his record , a controversial draw and a disputed defeat in those respective world title challenges . Not Golovkin , who patiently built the foundation of his career through 350 amateur fights of which he won all but five . The professional steel which is his backbone now was embedded in boyhood . Golovkin throws a left jab at Marco Antonio Rubio during the middleweight title bout last October Golavkin celebrates after knocking out Geale to defend his middleweight titles last July Two of Golovkin ' s four brothers were killed in mysterious action when serving with the Soviet army in the 1990s . But they knew was the most ferocious of them and when they were growing up together in Kazakhstan they used to challenge grown men to fight the seven year old Gennady in the streets , where he gave them a beating . The Russian government declined to disclose details of their deaths or permit funerals . ' It was a very hard time for us , ' says Golovkin . ' Our family was torn apart . ' Now he honours the memory of his late siblings in the ring . Monte Carlo ' s sumptuous Salle des Etoiles is a world far removed from the grimy town of Karaganda , where his coal miner father and Korean mother struggled to bring them all up . But the chandeliers of this casino ballroom will glitter down on either Gennady Golovkin hammering out his latest concussive triumph or Martin Murray springing one of boxing ' s bigger surprises . Golovkin Murray will be live on Channel 5 from 10 pm this Saturday night . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1061161,1161,"There are no employees , no office and no signage to be found there . Its only presence is the tiny metal box bearing the number of the beast , 666 , and housed at a post office building in the capital Hamilton . Last week Google ? whose slogan was once Don t be evil ? was slammed over a deal to pay Revenue Customs A262 million ( ? 130 million ) in back taxes covering the past 10 years , despite profits of A12 billion . That s a rate of just 3 per cent . Google says it has no permanent base despite a string of fancy offices housing 2300 staff . At the Bermudan government s official Registrar of Companies , Google Bermuda Unlimited and Google Ireland Holdings are registered to the address of Conyers Dill and Pearman , a law firm at Clarenden House , 2 Church St , Hamilton . The firm specialises in offshore corporate , litigation and private equity matters , and its address is just three blocks from the post office which houses the box . Google , which makes most of its money through online advertising , has been moving profits to the tax haven via Ireland and Holland . In 2013 , it sent A14 billion ( ? 7 . 5 billion ) in global royalties to its Bermuda based subsidiary , according to the company s own accounts . It is thought this will have risen to more than A16 billion ( ? 8 billion ) for last year . Yet few people in Bermuda realise the tech giant holds its entire global earnings , excluding the , on the island ? including those who work at the very building housing the law firm . Google funnels an estimated 16 ? billion of profits through Bermuda each year . Picture : Photo Virginia MayoSource : Derrick Ward , 51 , has delivered mail in the postal department of Conyers Dill Pearman for the past four years . He had no idea Google s offshore base was on his doorstep . Derrick said : Google don t have an office in the lawyers building . I m sure we d know about it if they did . If there was a Google on Bermuda it would be clear to see . I hear they have football pitches at their offices . I ve never met anyone who works for Google in all my life . The Sun on Sunday approached a receptionist at the law firm who claimed she had been working there for 35 years . She also had no idea that Google conducted business dealings on the island , a British overseas territory . Speaking from the drab looking office , which is decked with plastic ferns , 1980s style furniture and tacky oil paintings , she said : Google doesn t have an office here , they don t employ any staff here . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1071163,1163,"Great Britain and Ecuador remained in a standoff early Friday , following the South American nation ' s decision to grant Julian Assange asylum a decision British authorities are refusing to honor , saying they are committed to extraditing the WikiLeaks founder to Sweden . According to the official Twitter feed of WikiLeaks a website that ' s published hundreds of thousands of once secret U . S . government documents there were "" over 35 police surrounding the Ecuadorian embassy in London "" soon after 12 : 30 a . m . Friday . Britain ' s foreign ministry , though , earlier countered that there was a larger "" police presence outside the British Embassy in Quito "" than at the Ecuadorian mission in London . Inside the latter embassy is Assange , the Australian national wanted in Sweden to face questioning over claims of rape and sexual molestation , as he ' s been since first seeking asylum in June . What ' s next for Assange ' s extradition battle ? On Thursday , he thanked his "" courageous , independent "" Ecuadorian hosts for protecting him "" from persecution , "" after its Foreign Minister Ricardo Pati o announced his nation was giving asylum to Assange and urged British authorities to let him travel freely to South America . Outlining why the asylum request was granted , Pati o said his nation has a credible fear Assange who was described as an activist for freedom of the press and freedom of expression will be silenced if sent to Sweden and , perhaps eventually , the United States . The minister specifically expressed concerns that if Assange were extradited to the United States , he might face charges of treason or espionage and , if convicted , be sentenced to death . In the United States where Assange hasn ' t been charged with anything , for now there are no guarantees Assange would receive a fair trial or that he wouldn ' t be subject to a military or secret tribunal , Pati o said . "" There are strong indications of retaliation by the country or countries who produced the information divulged by Mr Assange , reprisals that could put at risk his security , integrity and even his life , "" the Ecuadorian government concluded . Timeline : Assange ' s extradition battle U . S . Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd on Thursday offered "" no comment on Julian Assange or the dispute over his asylum between Ecuadorian and authorities . "" U . S . Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the Justice Department is conducting an "" active , ongoing criminal investigation "" into the WikiLeaks disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified U . S . documents relating to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and about 250 , 000 U . S . diplomatic cables . Assange and his supporters claim a U . S . grand jury has been empaneled to consider charges against him . It is unclear if Assange could be charged with treason in the United States or what sentence he ' d face if convicted . Those convicted of treason in the United States may be sentenced to between five years in prison up to death , according to federal law published on the U . S . House of Representatives ' website . But the law only applies to those "" owing allegiance to the United States . "" A death sentence also can be imposed on those convicted of espionage by communicating certain sensitive information to a "" foreign government "" or other such faction "" with intent or reason "" to harm the United States , according to U . S . federal law . But there are death penalty restrictions for that crime . Like other left leaning Latin American leaders such as Venezuela ' s Hugo Chavez , Bolivia ' s Evo Morales and Cuba ' s Fidel Castro , Ecuador President Rafael Correa has railed against the United States as an "" imperial power that has to be checked , "" said Robert Amsterdam , a Canadian international lawyer who ' s worked on high profile cases involving Latin America , Russia and Thailand . Correa , an economist who earned two academic degrees in the United States and is up for re election next February , said in an interview with Assange earlier this year on the activist ' s show : "" I love and admire the American people a great deal . . . But I will always call a spade a spade . "" The Ecuadorian president also hasn ' t hesitated to poke Britain , as he did in calling for sanctions in February against that nation over its long running dispute with Argentina over who owns the Falkland Islands . That Ecuador dispute is the focal point of the current tension , with both nations appearing firm in their positions . Assange embassy gamble follows famous precedents Britain is disappointed by Ecuador ' s decision and will continue to "" carry out ( its ) obligation "" to arrest and extradite Assange to Sweden , with the Foreign Office saying "" the Ecuadorian government ' s decision this afternoon does not change that . "" British Foreign Minister William Hague added his nation won ' t provide safe passage for Assange , and that the had "" painstakingly "" assured the Ecuadorians that his human rights would be protected . "" It is important to understand that this is not about Mr Assange ' s activities at WikiLeaks or the attitude of the United States of America . He is wanted in Sweden to answer allegations of serious sexual offenses , "" Hagues said . Assange was arrested in Britain in 2010 because Swedish authorities wanted to question him about the allegations . Two women accused him of sexually assaulting them during an August 2010 visit to Sweden in connection with a WikiLeaks release of internal U . S . military documents . Assange denies the allegations and argues they are in retribution for his organization ' s disclosure of American secrets . Pati o jabbed British authorities for sending a written notice to Ecuador that they would "" assault "" his country ' s embassy in London if Ecuadorian officials failed to hand over Assange . The British say one of their laws allow for them to enter the embassy and arrest Assange . Pati o cited a laundry list of international treaties and conventions that he said make it clear that it is illegal to enter another country ' s embassy . The , in effect , is saying "" we are going to savagely hit you depending on how you behave , "" Pati o said . Why Assange needs Ecuador and Ecuador needs Assange Yet the next confrontation may not be at the embassy , but in court . "" What the United Kingdom must do is apply the diplomatic obligations of the ( U . N . ) Refugee Convention and let him leave with a safe conduct pass , "" said Baltasar Garzon , a former Spanish judge who said he is working pro bono as coordinator of Assange ' s defense team , by e mail from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic . "" If not , we will go to the International Court of Justice . "" Garzon is a well known crusading human rights judge who ordered the arrest of ex Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London in 1998 . Spain ' s judicial authority removed him from the bench last February after his conviction in a case in which his home nation ' s Supreme Court determined Garzon had improperly ordered wiretaps while investigating a financial corruption case . Following Ecuador ' s announcement , Sweden said it took umbrage to the implication it does not guarantee the rights of those in its custody , and called the Ecuadorian ambassador there to a meeting . Opinion : Assange ' s stubborn grip hurt WikiLeaks "" Sweden does not extradite individuals who risk facing the death penalty , "" a Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said , implicitly referring to the possibility Assange could be charged with crimes eligible for the death penalty in the United States , with whom it has an extradition agreement . The Swedish ministry said on its official Twitter account that this was an "" unacceptable attempt by Ecuador to stop the Swedish judicial process and the European judicial cooperation . "" Assange sought refuge at the embassy five days after the Supreme Court in Britain dismissed his bid to reopen his appeal of the decision to send him to Sweden , his last option in British courts . He is subject to arrest for breaking the terms of his bail , which required that he spend his nights at the home of a supporter outside London , London ' s Metropolitan Police said the day after he entered the embassy . Publicly silent since last March , he ' s set to speak at 2 p . m . Sunday two months to the day since he sought asylum according to WikiLeaks official Twitter feed . That same day , foreign ministers from member states of the Union of South American Nations will convene in Guayaquil , Ecuador , to discuss the situation in London , Peru ' s foreign ministry announced in a statement late Thursday . Ecuador requested the meeting , after which representatives from member states talked and agreed to meet , the Peruvian ministry said . Fake New York Times op ed a WikiLeaks hoax ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1081180,1180,"The applications for White House interns just took a sharp nose-dive Former President Bill Clinton could practically serve an unconstitutional third term as president if Hillary Clinton becomes sick in office if elected, given the previous first ladies who acted as presidents on behalf of their sick husbands.Former First Ladies Nancy Reagan, Mamie Eisenhower and Lady Edith Galt Wilson all made presidential decisions while their husbands were ill in office.Galt Wilson in particular acted as the de facto president when President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919 to prevent Vice President Thomas Marshall from assuming the presidency because Marshall was too friendly to Wilson s political rival in Congress. If a President Hillary Clinton s health were to decline, it is a certainty that former President Bill Clinton would emulate Galt and act in his wife s stead as president, said investigative journalist Wayne Madsen. Senator Tim Kaine was chosen as Mrs. Clinton s running mate because he, as was Marshall, is a milquetoast politician who would not seek to become acting president of the United States in the event of the incapacitation of the president. For Bill Clinton, serving as the de facto president would be an effective third term as president, something barred by the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Woodrow Wilson s personal physician concealed the president s stroke from the public, which of course draws comparisons to how the Hillary campaign is downplaying concerns over Hillary s health, despite 71% of doctors stating her problems could be disqualifying. Both physicians and other voters think that health concerns are relevant when choosing a presidential candidate, stated Jane M. Orient, M.D., the executive director of the Associations of American Physicians and Surgeons.Via: InfoWars",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1091184,1184,"Atlanta Fed ' s Lockhart says rate case "" compelling "" ahead of last review Dec 2 U . S . economic data would have to "" drastically "" alter the nation ' s outlook over the next two weeks to change the "" compelling "" case for an initial hike in interest rates when the Federal Reserve next meets on Dec . 15 16 , Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday . "" My staff and I are getting close to a last review of the overall picture suggested by the data , "" Lockhart said of the potentially "" historic "" Fed session later this month that may approve the first interest rate increase in nearly a decade . The decision would mark a final end of sorts to the economic crisis and recession that rocked the U . S . economy beginning in 2007 , and led the Fed to slash rates to near zero seven years ago . Given unemployment at five percent , ongoing economic growth , and an expectation that inflation will rise to the Fed ' s two percent target , Lockhart said it would take a major negative turn of events to change his opinion that the Fed ' s extended stay at the zero lower bound should come to an end . "" Absent information that drastically changes the economic picture and outlook , I feel the case for liftoff is compelling , "" Lockhart told a community group in Fort Lauderdale . This could well be the week when the Fed cements its case for a rate hike . Fed chair Janet Yellen speaks on the economic outlook later on Wednesday before a Washington economics group , and on Thursday to a joint Congressional committee . The Labor Department ' s monthly jobs report on Friday will be a key data point , with economists expecting that as many as 200 , 000 additional jobs were created in November . A Reuters poll of over 80 economists taken after the October jobs data were published found a median 70 percent probability the Fed will raise rates on Dec 16 . That is up from 55 percent in a poll taken the month before , although Reuters polls have been consistently predicting a December rate rise since the Fed took a pass in September ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1101199,1199,"With more and more coming out about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, it s become abundantly clear that he in no way should be allowed near the Oval Office.Between his racism, sexism, Islamophobia, insulting disabled people as well as Gold Star families, and now the leaked Access Hollywood footage which is leading to women everywhere to reveal they ve been sexually assaulted by Trump, he s not fit to lead anything.Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers Vice President Joe Biden laid it all out on the table and told Seth, as well as the world, why Donald Trump isn t fit to lead as well as how absolutely horrible he is to women.Biden said: First of all, what I found astounding, is that he would so publicly, no matter who he was talking to, that he would acknowledge that he engaged in the textbook definition of sexual assault. He didn t say, you know, I go up and I ask if, I just go up and grab and I can do this and then I see in the paper today, one of the pageants, I guess Miss Teen America, the teen girls, I guess three, four, five in a room, they were getting dressed, they were naked, he walked in and said don t worry girls, I ve seen all this he stood there. I mean, this is absolutely outrageous behavior. Biden then drives the point home: I ve spent most of my career trying to figure out how to begin to change the culture in this country that we treat women with respect and with dignity. And Biden truly has with his It s On Us campaign which is leading the effort to combat sexual assault nationwide.What Donald Trump has done to women isn t only outrageous, it s illegal. Unwanted sexual advances is the definition of sexual assault, and Trump needs to be held accountable for his actions.Watch the video here: He engaged in the textbook definition of sexual assault A stunned Joe Biden on the Trump tape: pic.twitter.com/O9u6rP3AsH Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 13, 2016Featured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present1111201,1201,"Reuters) - President Barack Obama cut short the prison terms of 214 convicts on Wednesday, the largest number of commutations a U.S. leader has granted in single day since at least 1900, the White House said. Obama has now granted a total of 562 commutations during his presidency, more than the number by the past nine presidents combined, it said. In Wednesday’s batch, 67 convicts were serving life sentences. The convicts were serving time for crimes including possession of crack cocaine and methamphetamine, with intent to distribute. Some were imprisoned on charges of gun possession. One of the convicts, James Wright of Baltimore, Maryland, was serving a 20 year sentence that began in 2006 for possession of crack with intent to distribute. He will be released in December. Obama has worked to reform the U.S. criminal justice system and reduce the number of people serving long sentences for nonviolent drug offences. It is a rare issue on which Obama gets support from Republican lawmakers. For years crack offenders faced stiffer penalties than powder cocaine offenders, even though the substances are similar at the molecular level. Critics have said the disparity has unfairly harmed minority and poor communities. In 2014, Obama announced the most ambitious clemency program in 40 years, inviting thousands of drug offenders and other convicts to seek early release. But the program has struggled under a flood of unprocessed cases. “Our work is far from finished,” White House counsel Neil Eggleston said about the commutations. Eggleston urged Congress to take action. “While we continue to work to act on as many clemency applications as possible, only legislation can bring about lasting change to the federal system,” he said. The program automatically expires when Obama leaves office next January and it is uncertain whether the next president would continue with a similar plan. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate in the Nov. 8 election, has championed “law and order” in his campaign. Democrat Hillary Clinton has called for criminal justice reform. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1121202,1202,"It ' s an illuminating idea which its creators hope will help drive up energy efficiency and bring down buildings ' carbon emissions . Mixing the idea of Google ' s Street View with multi spectral thermal camera technology , Massachusetts based startup Essess is building a giant database mapping residential and commercial properties in the U . S . The project is the idea of Sanjay Sarma , professor of mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( ) who wanted to create a way of identifying and remedying inefficiencies in buildings . Essess currently has a fleet of five cars mounted with thermal cameras that take a matter of seconds to assess an individual building . The brighter the colors , the greater the "" heat leak . "" Company , Storm Duncan says they are capturing around two to three million buildings per month at the moment . "" The purpose of the approach is to provide a snapshot of the energy efficiency . It answers about 20 30 of the problems of your home . "" Duncan said . "" I consider it a fabulous way to start a broader dialogue about the more comprehensive ( energy ) profile , "" he added . Essess have also developed computer programs that generate energy reports highlighting specific areas of concern and calculating their cost financially and environmentally . The beauty of the reporting system ( see gallery ) is its simplicity , says Duncan , with consumers immediately getting a sense of how efficient their homes really are . The database will also create what he calls "" an eco system around building efficiency "" becoming the cornerstone of a competitive hub where homeowners can link up with specialists who can remedy problems . Buildings consume around 40 of the U . S . ' s total energy requirements annually , according to the Department of Energy , with over one third of that power going to waste . The company is evolving a business model which Duncan hopes will mean customers won ' t pay a cent to view information about their home . Instead , audits will potentially become part of the service provided by real estate databases like Zillow and Trulia , Duncan says . Essess hope to have covered 10 of the U . S . ' s 125 million properties by the end of the year . Thermal imaging surveys are nothing new , but widespread access to them is says Stewart Little , of British thermal imaging company , . "" Back in the 1980s the cameras cost about 250 , 000 ( 400 , 000 ) . Now they cost around 5 , 000 ( 8 , 000 ) . So the technology ' s moved on lots and lowered the barrier to entry for companies to go and do it . "" have surveyed around 200 , 000 homes since they were founded in 2002 , and also offer customers quantified thermal images showing the financial and carbon costs of energy leaks . It ' s a strategy that ' s proved highly successful in motivating people to insulate their homes , Little says . The ' s Energy Saving Trust says online surveys and energy monitors can also help homeowners track their energy usage . They estimate that savings could save up to 380 a year by improving insulation . "" The challenge is to do something about it , "" says Rob Bell , a energy consultant and former business development with the Energy Saving Trust . "" With gas and electricity prices only looking like they are going in one direction , the amount you can save is also upwards as well , "" he added . "" The headline figures around how much you can save could be the catalyst to get you from being aware to doing something about it . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1131218,1218,"Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho insists he should not have been sacked by Chelsea , stoking the tension ahead of Tuesday night ' s Champions League last 16 tie in London . Italian champions Inter hold a 2 1 lead after winning the first leg in the San Siro , with Mourinho making an emotional return to the club where he is still adored by fans after winning two English Premier League titles despite his acrimonious departure in 2007 . The Portuguese coach was axed by Chelsea ' s billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich just two months into the season following a disappointing 1 1 draw with Norwegian club Rosenborg in the Champions League . He led Inter to the Serie A title in his first year in charge and the Nerazzuri top the Italian table again this season , though their lead has been cut to one point following Friday ' s shock defeat by Catania . Blog : Real Madrid need Mourinho ' s magic Chelsea , meanwhile , have won only the English Cup since his departure , with his replacement Avram Grant and then Luiz Felipe Scolari being sacked before current manager Carlo Ancelotti took over from interim boss Guus Hiddink in July 2009 . "" I feel sorry but I look forward . I feel sorry because , when I look at the big four teams while I was in England , their managers are all there , "" Mourinho told reporters on Monday . "" Sir Alex Ferguson is here . Arsene Wenger is here . Rafa Benitez is here . I did more than enough to be here . But the decision was made . "" Chelsea looked forward . I look forward . They move on . I move on . I keep winning important things . They keep winning . . . something . They won an Cup . "" The most important thing is the relation we have . No regrets , no big problems . Just respect . In football , coming back to an old team , it ' s important to feel like I feel . It ' s one of the most beautiful things in football . They move on , I move on . "" However , the 47 year old admitted having one regret about his time at Stamford Bridge he would have preferred to leave on his own terms after winning the Cup in May 2007 . "" I would have left the day after the Cup final after my third season . The timing was wrong . I waited three or four more months more and , after that , I left in September and I didn ' t enjoy my time from then to the day I went to Inter , "" he said . "" For me , being away from football is too painful . If I had left Chelsea in May , I would have started the next season in a new club and I would not have been without football for six or seven months . "" Mourinho , who won the Champions League in 2004 before joining Chelsea , said he still wishes to return to England in the future . "" I have , as I said before , three things to do in my career . One is to come back to English football , another thing is to win the Spanish championship , because no one has won Italian , English and Spanish titles . And another one , when I ' m old , is to coach my national team . But , for now , I would like to keep winning with Inter . "" Mourinho has had a difficult relationship with the Italian media since taking over from Roberto Mancini , now manager of English club Manchester City , and he has now come under more pressure following his latest falling out with young striker Mario Balotelli . The 19 year old , who was dropped by Mourinho for a month last season for reportedly not training hard enough , did not make the trip to England after missing the Catania game . Media reports claimed that the highly rated Balotelli argued with Mourinho following a below par performance in the previous game against Genoa , a 0 0 draw , claiming that he was ill . "" I don ' t want to talk about him , "" Mourinho said . "" He won ' t be here . He won ' t be at the match . "" I can explain whey I called up the other 20 players . It ' s more important to talk about the players who will be there , not those that are not . "" Spanish club Sevilla host Moscow in Tuesday night ' s other Champions League match . The two teams drew 1 1 in the first leg in Russia last month . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1141221,1221,"Champions Spain began the defense of their World Cup title with a hard fought 1 0 win against Georgia in Tbilisi on Tuesday . Playing their first qualifier in Group I , the 2010 World Cup winners had to wait until the 86th minute before striker Roberto Soldado finally broke down a stubborn Georgian side . For much of the game , the home team , who hit the post early in the second half , defended with 10 men behind the ball against a side who retained their European Championship crown in July . Goalkeeper Giorgi Loria had proved an immovable barrier but after he was replaced due to injury late in the second half , substitute Cesc Fabregas teed up Soldado to sweep home . The win maintains Spain ' s two year unbeaten run in competitive matches , which stretches back to their 1 0 loss against Switzerland in their opening game at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . Spain are second in their group , three points behind 1998 champions France , who won their second match in four days when overcoming a second half wobble to beat Belarus 3 1 in Paris , with goals from Etienne Capoue , Christophe Jallet and Franck Ribery . In London , England suffered a scare when trailing Ukraine for long periods before Frank Lampard scored a late penalty to earn a 1 1 draw , after Yevgen Konoplianka had curled home in the first half . England captain Steven Gerrard was sent off for a second yellow card shortly after Lampard ' s penalty , as a first competitive game at Wembley for coach Roy Hodgson lacked the feelgood factor that has accompanied local sportsmen in London in recent weeks during the Olympics and Paralympics . Hodgson ' s predecessor Fabio Capello enjoyed a more fruitful evening as his new Russian side won 4 0 in Israel while their next opponents and main Group F rivals Portugal needed late goals from Helder Postiga and Bruno Alves to add gloss to a labored 3 0 win over Azerbaijan in Braga . Italy , the runners up at this year ' s Euro 2012 , were another leading nation who struggled to overcome less fancied opponents , as a stoppage time own goal helped the four time world champions to a 2 0 win over islanders Malta . One of Tuesday ' s more intriguing games took place in Lucerne , where hosts Switzerland beat Albania 2 0 to go top of Group E . Build up to the game had been dominated by the issue of players with Kosovan heritage , with six starting the match for Albania and three more for Switzerland midfield trio Granit Xhaka , Valon Behrami and Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri . Born to ethnic Albanian parents from Kosovo , Shaqiri was constantly booed by the sizable away support until the Bayern Munich player silenced them when opening the scoring after 23 minutes . Elsewhere , big guns Germany maintained their 100 start in Group C when beating Austria 2 1 in Vienna , while Serbia stunned Group A rivals Wales with a 6 1 win in Novi Sad but the night ' s biggest winners were Montenegro , who won 6 0 in San Marino . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1151234,1234,"As a schoolgirl , Emma Lavelle had twin passions politics and horses . Had she chosen to pursue the former , spring 2015 , with an election looming , could well have proved an important time in her life . But the woman who now runs a 70 box stable in Hampshire is hoping that , having favoured horses over Hansard , the same period definitely turns out to be momentous when she saddles Court By Surprise , her first runner in the 1 million Crabbie ' s Grand National on April 11 . If the 10 year old wins , Lavelle would be the third female trainer to win Jump racing ' s best known race this century following Venetia Williams , with Mon Mome in 2009 and Sue Smith , with Auroras Encore in 2013 . Emma Lavelle poses with Court By Surprise , her first runner in the 1 million Crabbie ' s Grand National And she would also be feted , along with her former jockey husband and assistant Barry Fenton , for executing a long term precision plan . Court By Surprise has not run since November as Lavelle patiently kept him fresh for the drier spring ground on which he excels . Lavelle said : ' I did a lot of public speaking and debating at school . Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister . Love her or hate her , she was a big presence . I loved her . As a schoolgirl , Lavelle had twin passions politics and horses now she is targeting the Grand National ' She got me interested in politics . I am opinionated and I like talking . I am not so sure now because it is all so grey but at the time I would have been happy to go down that road . ' Lavelle ' s communication skills with owners and staff have been essential after a devastating setback at the start of the season when she lost two of her best horses . Timesremembered , who had finished sixth in the Coral Cup at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival , was killed in his first steeplechase , at Aintree in October , and Le Bec , thought capable of contesting top quality steeplechases , suffered a serious tendon injury at Ascot a week later . Court By Surprise has not run since November as Lavelle patiently kept him fresh for the drier spring ground Lavelle said : ' It really hit us hard . It was like a football team losing their best two players at the start of the season . ' It was hard to pick up and get going again . But you have to keep positive , keep going forward and take your team with you . ' Lavelle ' s season has been rebuilt around Grade Two winner Closing Ceremony , much improved Parish Business , exciting Bumper winner See The World and , of course , Court By Surprise , who is owned by Kempton chairman Nick Mustoe . Lavelle ' s decision to enter racing rather than politics was heavily influenced by the late Toby Balding Court By Surprise ridden by Aidan Coleman clears the last to win the Best Mate Handicap Steeple Chase The National entry , who will be ridden at Aintree by Daryl Jacob , won at Exeter in October and was then awarded the Badger Beer Chase at Wincanton after finishing second to fast improving unqualified entry , The Young Master . Subsequent events tell us Court By Surprise faced handicapping Everest that day . For Saturday week , trainer and horse have that essential Aintree ingredient a good story to tell . Lavelle ' s decision to enter racing rather than politics was heavily influenced by working for the late Toby Balding , who won the Aintree race twice . Lavelle , who was first invited to spend a week with Balding aged 11 when he trained a horse for her father , said : ' I was so lucky he let me be so involved . I wasn ' t strong enough to carry the water bucket in the morning . I filled it and had to get someone to carry it back to the stable . When I look back I found it staggering that , even having ridden ponies , he let me ride racehorses . The National entry , who will be ridden at Aintree by Daryl Jacob , won at Exeter in October ' He was someone you could learn as much as you wanted to off . If you asked the questions , he would give you the answers . He was a big man who enveloped you in everything . ' Court By Surprise , an overpriced 50 1 shot allotted 10st 3lb , has overcome two serious problems a leg injury when falling on his point to point debut and an infected leg which kept him off the course for almost two years and could have ended his career . Lavelle added : ' Having missed the best part of two years , he has not had much racing but maybe it is a blessing in disguise he is so much stronger . Now , he ' s the best he ' s ever been . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1161235,1235,"When the first screenshots of Infinity Blade appeared for iPhone , gamers were quick to dimiss them as fakes . But not only was the swords and sorcery game real , it went on to become a 10 million selling hit the fastest selling iPhone game ever . The sequel , Infinity Blade 2 , comes out today for both iPhone and iPad and looks set to accelerate a trend that has seen Sony and Nintendo ' s portable gaming market share plunge from 91 per cent two years ago to just 42 per cent now . The game will only run on phones with Apple ' s new fast A5 processors found in iPhone 4S and iPad 2 The original Infinity Blade was the fastest selling game ever on Apple ' s IPhone . The sequel adds faster paced , more complex combat Magic spells are created by ' drawing ' a rune on screen : The game ' s success was at least partially due to the fact it was for touchscreens , rather than a normal game The game only works on handsets with the fast A5 processor the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 hence the top end 3D graphics , created by Epic Games , also behind console hits such as Gears of War 3 . On review aggregator site Metacritic , its average score is 95 per cent . TouchArcade said , ' We put incredibly powerful devices in our pockets and on our laps daily , but rarely do we see games that utterly embrace this like Infinity Blade has . It ' s a showcase piece a technically and visually gifted game that consistently delivers eye popping stuff . ' Like the first game , it ' s built to be controlled by touchscreen you swipe and parry across the screen , and unleash magical spells by drawing runes . It ' s also almost certain to be followed by money spinning expansions : the last game had four . The game is accompanied by a book by fantasy author Brandon Sanderson . The range of beasts to battle has expanded but the basic combat system is still a simple matter of hitting buttons in time The game will expand on the plot of the first one which had a rather cryptic ending revealing that the God King who you battled may not be a villain at alll . . . The game now features a crossbow wielding heroine , Asian locations and an even more cryptic plot . ' The continuing journey of young Siris unfolds as you delve deeper into the world of the Deathless tyrants and their legion of Titans , ' say the game ' s markers . ' Can you unlock all the mysteries and successfully wield the power of the Infinity Blade in this timeless adventure of champions and villains ? ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1171237,1237,"Washington The U . S . Supreme Court will decide whether police can take samples from criminal suspects following their arrest , a case based on Maryland law with potentially national implications for the use of a popular investigative tool . Justices will weigh a challenge to the state ' s law by Alonzo King , who was convicted of a 2003 rape on Maryland ' s Eastern Shore with the assistance of genetic material obtained following his arrest three years ago on an unrelated assault charge . King moved to suppress the use of the on Fourth Amendment grounds , but was ultimately convicted of the rape offense . Federal law in 1994 created a national database in which local , state , and federal law enforcement agencies could compare and share information on matches from convicted felons . But courts have been at odds on just when such samples can be collected and the information distributed . A divided Maryland Court of Appeals agreed with King , saying suspects under arrest enjoy a higher level of privacy than a convicted felon . This , the court said , outweighed the state ' s law enforcement interests . The appeals court also said that obtaining King ' s immediately after arrest was not necessary in identifying him and that the process was more personally invasive than standard fingerprinting . State officials asked the Supreme Court to intervene , saying the state court ruling "" resulted in the loss of a valuable crime fighting tool . "" They said that from a law enforcement and forensic perspective , there is no difference between fingerprinting and collecting "" biometric information . "" The Supreme Court allowed the Maryland law to remain in effect in July while appeals from the state were filed , and Chief Justice John Roberts signaled at the time his tentative support for the measure . "" Collecting from individuals arrested for violent felonies provides a valuable tool for investigating unsolved crimes and thereby helping to remove violent offenders from the general population , "" Roberts wrote . "" Crimes for which evidence is implicated tend to be serious , and serious crimes cause serious injuries . That Maryland may not employ a duly enacted statute to help prevent these injuries constitutes irreparable harm . "" Roberts said at the time there was a "" fair prospect "" the Supreme Court would ultimately find in favor of the state on the search and seizure questions . Roberts said the state appeals decision would resonate beyond Maryland because samples taken on the state level "" may otherwise be eligible "" for the ' s database . "" The decision , "" Roberts said "" renders the database less effective for other states and the federal government . "" The Maryland law is set to expire at the end of 2013 . A Supreme Court ruling is expected by June . The case is Maryland v . King ( 12 207 ) ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1181245,1245,"Want to smell like Cheryl ? Now you can , as the popstar and X Factor judge releases the latest scent from her sweet smelling collection . Mrs Fernandez Versini , 31 , saw sales of her debut scent , StormFlower , break records when she released it last year and now the star has unveiled an Eau de Toilette , too . Speaking about the 27 spritz , Cheryl said : ' For my next fragrance I wanted to introduce a twist on my original scent but to maintain its simplicity and beauty . Cheryl Fernandez Versini has unveiled an Eau de Toilette as part of her StormFlower fragrance range and looks flawless in the promotional beauty campaign The star , who sat front row at the couture shows in Paris recently , has clearly taken note . She continued : ' I love the spring 2015 seasonal colour trends and these inspired me in the creation of my first Eau de Toilette , a perfect addition to my StormFlower range . ' Her second offering is described as a light , feminine fragrance with fresh citrus top notes mixed with a hint of juicy lemon and sweet bergamot . Expect floral notes of rose and peony , complemented by base notes of musk and sandalwood . Cheryl ' s debut scent , right , broke records and now she is hoping for similar success with her new fragrance Charitable Cheryl , who has long used her status for good , has also pledged to donate 100 , 000 from proceeds to Cheryl ' s Trust , which works with The Prince ' s Trust to improve the lives of young people in England . After previously fronting The Cheryl Cole Foundation , which had a similar manifesto , this is a new endeavour for the singer , who was inspired by her own success and the knowledge she was lucky to be given life changing opportunities . The charity ' s website reads : ' Cheryl set up her charitable trust to significantly enhance the support available to young people , inspired by the knowledge of how lucky she was to be given the opportunities she had to succeed . ' Cheryl has also pledged to donate 100 , 000 from proceeds to Cheryl ' s Trust , which works with The Prince ' s Trust to improve the lives of young people in England Turning her words into action , Cheryl teamed up with youth charity , The Prince ' s Trust , which was set up by Prince Charles , to help fund a new state of the art centre in Newcastle , which supports disadvantaged young people in the North East . Cheryl has committed to raise 2m to help get the centre up and running . When opened , it will support almost 4 , 000 vulnerable young people in the North East each year to turn their lives around . Cheryl aims to help the region ' s most at risk young people , including those facing drug and alcohol abuse , homelessness , mental health problems and those leaving care . Cheryl had previously set up The Cheryl Cole Foundation , in line with The Prince ' s Trust she has long been a staunch supporter of Prince Charles ' youth charity Speaking at the launch in January , she said : ' My life could have turned out very differently I know how lucky I am . That ' s why I am raising money to open the new centre in Newcastle . ' I want to give back and help young people who feel like they ' ll never achieve anything reach their dreams and live a happy life . ' Busy Cheryl recently released stills from her new video , Only Human , which has been described by many as ' the best ballad ' that the former Girls Aloud star has ever recorded . Cheryl herself described it as her ' personal favourite so far ' to be taken from her current album of the same name , and the song drops on 22nd March . Cheryl Fernandez Versini looked bang on trend as she arrived for Ralph Russo ' s Haute Couture show in Paris at the end of last month ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present1191250,1250,"Reuters) - Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. election included sophisticated targeting of state officials responsible for voter rolls and voting procedures, according to a top secret U.S. intelligence document that was leaked and published this week, revealing another potential method of attempted interference in the vote. The month-old National Security Agency document outlined activities including impersonating an election software vendor to send trick emails to more than 100 state election officials. Analysts at the believed the hackers were working for the Russian military’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, according to the document. The document’s publication on Monday by The Intercept, a news outlet that focuses on security issues, received particular attention because an intelligence contractor, Reality Leigh Winner, was charged the same day with leaking it. U.S. intelligence agencies have previously said the Kremlin tried to influence the election outcome in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump through leaks during the campaign of hacked emails from Democratic Party officials, aimed at discrediting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The new revelations suggest that U.S. investigators are also still probing a more direct attempt to attack the election itself, and a federal official confirmed that is the case. However, there is no evidence that hackers were able to manipulate votes, or the vote tally. The document says at least one employee of the software vendor had an account compromised but does not cover whether any of the elections officials were also successfully compromised. If they did compromise the officials, hackers could have planted malicious software, then captured proof of the infection to suggest that there had been fraud on Clinton’s behalf, had she won the Nov. 8 election, experts said. “If your goal is to disrupt an election, you don’t need to pick the winner or actually tamper with tally result,” said Matt Blaze, a University of Pennsylvania computer science professor who has written on the security of voting machines. Simply casting doubt on the legitimacy of the results could achieve the goals of a government-sponsored hacking campaign, he said. U.S. intelligence officials had previously stated that Russian intelligence had won access to “multiple” election officials but had said that compromised machines were not involved with vote tallies. But they had not said how sophisticated and extensive the effort was or how it worked. Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly denied Russian government involvement in election hacking, though he said last week that “patriotic” Russians could have been involved. Trump has denied any collusion. SPEAR- The newly leaked report said the hackers used so-called “spear-phishing” techniques on election officials, trying to convince targets to click on links in emails that seemed to come from legitimate correspondents. The report describes just one phishing campaign, which hit state officials a week before the election, but does not give any locations or say if it was successful. Although there may have been many others, security experts said one coming so late in the game would be more likely to be about sowing chaos than trying to alter vote counts. The report did not say what the hackers were trying to accomplish, and any investigation of the computers of people who were targeted would be the jurisdiction of the FBI. An spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday, as did the office of the special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government. The “bait” used in the spear-phishing campaign involved software for managing voter registration rolls. The hackers might have been considering deleting some records and forcing officials to turn legitimate voters away, said elections technology security expert Alex Halderman, of the University of Michigan. There were no wide reports of mass rejections of voters, so perhaps that plan was abandoned or proved too hard to execute, he said. It is also possible that the idea was to get onto the machines of officials who oversaw both registration and voting software. Elections are run by counties in the United States. “Depending on the county’s configuration and security practices and what is separated from what, they could have access to potentially every aspect, from lists of registered voters, to voting machines, to firmware on those machines, to the ballots that are presented, to the software that controls the final tally,” Blaze said. “This is the holy grail of what an attacker would want to compromise.” Members of Congress said they hoped to learn more about the hacking attempts. “It’s important that the American people understand that the Russian attempts to break into a number of our state voting processes - we talked about this in the fall - was broad-based,” Democrat Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, told reporters. “It’s my hope in the coming days that we can get more information out about that.” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1201267,1267,"A second Massachusetts compounding pharmacy surrendered its license after state inspectors found "" significant "" issues that could affect sterility , state health officials said . The pharmacy , Infusion Resource , was also found to have a center for giving intravenous medications to patients in violation of state regulations , which require a clinic license , Dr Madeleine Biondolillo , director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Healthcare Safety and Quality , said Sunday . The state Board of Pharmacy immediately issued a cease and desist notice to Infusion Resource after the October 23 inspection revealed the violations , she said . Over the weekend , the Department of Public Health "" secured the voluntary surrender of Infusion ' s pharmacy license . "" The company , which compounds antibiotic and nutritional medications for home use , said in a statement it has since recalled all compounded products dispensed in the past month , effecting 38 patients . "" No issues were cited related to the integrity of our products nor to the quality of our compounding practices , "" said Bernard Lambrese , Infusion Resource , in a statement . "" It is correct that Infusion Resource does not have a clinic license from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . The space in our facility is intended for patient education , validation of patient and caregiver skills , medication counseling , medication education , teaching and training . "" What is a compounding pharmacy ? Massachusetts Gov . Deval Patrick said last week the state would immediately begin unannounced inspections of all Massachusetts pharmacies and require that they submit annual reports detailing what they produce and distribute . That announcement came in the wake of the fungal meningitis outbreak that has caused 25 deaths and 354 illnesses , linked to the Massachusetts based New England Compounding Center . Seven of those illnesses are peripheral joint infections that specifically affect a joint such as a knee , hip , shoulder or elbow . Infusion Resource is not linked to the outbreak . The incident began unfolding September 24 , when the department was notified about a cluster of six rare fungal meningitis cases in Tennessee . The patients shared several risk factors , including having received an epidural injection of a steroid methylprednisolone acetate that had been compounded at the in Framingham . The department soon learned that the suspect product had been distributed to more than 14 , 000 patients in 23 states . : Drug maker had internal warnings months before meningitis outbreak The Department of Public Health has asked two other companies Ameridose and Alaunus Pharmaceutical to cease all pharmacy operations based on their shared ownership and leadership with . "" ' s transparency in dealing with the board since inception in 1998 demonstrates its good faith intention to operate in compliance with the requirements of its license , "" said Paul Cirel , a Boston based lawyer representing the compounder , in a statement last week . "" Furthermore , the company ' s intention and best efforts at compliance are equally applicable in every other state in which it has been licensed . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1211271,1271,"California Jamiel Shaw was just three doors from his house on March 2 . His father told the 17 year old high school football star to be home before dark . That is exactly what he was trying to do when , just before dusk , gunshots rang out . Gang members pulled up in a car and asked Shaw if he was in a gang . Shaw didn ' t have time to tell them "" no . "" He was mowed down before he could answer , police say . His dad heard the shots from inside his house and immediately called his son ' s cell phone to warn him to stay away . But within seconds , the father realized what had happened . His son was wearing the same shirt his dad had pressed for him that morning . "" He was laying on the ground and his face was so peaceful . I knew he was dead . "" "" For three hours , I was just completely blacked out walking . "" More than 7 , 500 miles away , Army Sgt . Anita Shaw was serving her second tour in Iraq . Her commanding officer called her into his office and told her to sit down next to the chaplain . He then informed her that her son had been killed on the streets of Los Angeles . "" I freaked out , "" she said . "" I wanted to run out of the room . I was screaming and kicking . I was shouting , ' No . ' "" Anita Shaw is now back in Los Angeles to bury her son . Police announced Tuesday that an arrest had been made in the shooting . Pedro Espinoza , a 19 year old member of the Hispanic 18th Street Gang , was charged in the killing and could face the death penalty if convicted , the Los Angeles County District Attorney ' s Office said . Espinoza is scheduled to be arraigned March 25 . Espinoza was released from jail where he was held on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon one day before the incident . Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton Tuesday called on the community to help police locate a second suspect who was with Espinoza at the time of the shooting . Hundreds of family members and friends gathered Tuesday at West Los Angeles Cathedral to remember Shaw , a standout running back and sprinter at Los Angeles High School who had good grades and stayed out of trouble despite his rough neighborhood . Among the schools recruiting him was Stanford University . Watch as family , friends remember Shaw Blue and white flowers his school colors adorned his casket , and photos of Shaw over the years were displayed at the service . Eric Clapton ' s "" Tears in Heaven "" played as mourners entered the church . "" He was a Christian and I thank God for that because I know he ' s in a better place , "" his mom said , trembling as she sobbed . "" He ' d just try all the time to do the right thing . He was so good . "" Shaw is one of several innocent victims in a horrifying three week spate of gang related shootings around Los Angeles . A man was gunned down as he held a 2 year old baby in his arms . A 13 year old boy was shot to death last week as he went to pick lemons from a tree . In another incident , a 6 year old boy was critically wounded when he was shot in the head while riding in the car with his family two gang members have been arrested in connection with that shooting , according to police . "" I think what is particularly unnerving for all of us is just the random nature of these shootings , "" Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said last week . Bratton and Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner met with community members from the South Side of Los Angeles over the weekend to try to calm tensions between black and Hispanic communities . Among those in attendance were Shaw ' s parents and his younger brother . Bratton acknowledged some neighborhoods are rife with underlying racial tensions that have "" taken too many young lives . "" He said he is in the process of hiring 1 , 000 new police officers to help combat inner city gang violence . Watch Bratton describe an "" always underlying tension "" "" There ' s no denying that some of the crime in this city is a direct result of hatred , animosity , racial animosity , ethnic differences , "" Bratton said . "" We must all work to the best of our ability to try to prevent that . "" "" None of it is right , "" said Garner . "" We can ' t get so incensed that we lose focus that it ' s going on on both sides . "" He added , "" Wrong is wrong . "" The killing of Shaw has rallied his neighborhood . Dozens of people gathered outside his home for a vigil last week and placed candles , flowers and blue and white balloons at a makeshift memorial . One sign read , "" We love you ! Jamiel Shaw . "" On the online social networking site Facebook , more than 100 people have joined a page called "" Good people live in our hearts forever Jamiel Shaw . "" "" Loved you lots babyboi ! Still do ! I know many , many , many people who are missing you right ! ! ! "" wrote Christina Stewart on the Facebook wall . Another person , Harley Lally , wrote , "" Football will never be the same without you . I miss you every Sunday , and every time I step on that field . "" Shaw , a junior , carried the ball 74 times for 1 , 052 yards this season , with an average of 14 . 2 yards per carry , according to MaxPreps Web site . The longest of his 10 touchdowns went for 75 yards . He passed the ball one time all year in the last game of the season the last game of his career . It was a 60 yard touchdown strike . Watch mom ' s Thanksgiving message to son from Iraq But he will be missed for more than his football . The beloved player with the big smile meant so much more . The father and son years ago had made a pact : Keep focused , stay away from drugs and gangs , and get into college on an athletic scholarship . In return , the dad promised to do everything for his son , nicknamed "" Jas , "" to make that happen . Breaking down in tears , the father said , "" I guaranteed ' Jas . ' That ' s why it hurts so much because I told him , ' I promise you , if you sacrifice these years , I ' ll sacrifice with you . ' "" Watch Jamiel Shaw Sr . ask mourners to make a difference The dad said more must be done to combat gang violence . "" It ' s a gang problem and they have nothing in their heart for people . "" Shaw ' s mother , the Army sergeant , compares the gang members who killed her son to those she ' s fighting against in Iraq . "" To me , they ' re terrorists . "" E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1221281,1281,"Sunderland defender Wes Brown will be tackling questions during an appearance on All Star Family Fortunes to raise money for charity . The former Manchester United star will take part with his family on the popular game show in a bid to raise funds for the Beechwood cancer charity ' s Silver Wing Appeal . The programme has not been aired yet , but Brown ' s wife Leanne offered a sneak preview after posting an Instagram picture of the family accompanied by the caption : ' Looking forward to this week ' s family fortunes ! It ' s the Browns vs the Halpenny ' s ' . ' The Browns ' will be pitted against actress Jill Halfpenny and her family on the Sunday game show Brown ' s wife , Leanne ( 2nd left ) , posted an Instagram picture ahead of the show ' s broadcast The former England defender and his wife will answer questions from Vernon Kay and his ' survey ' Kay waits for an answer from the Browns , although Leanne said she wished they ' could have won more ' Brown and his family have been pitted against actress Jill Halfpenny and her loved ones on the Sunday night show hosted by Vernon Kay . Brown ' s wife Leanne , who also appears in Real Housewives of Cheshire , told the Manchester Evening News : ' It was a great experience I just wish we could have won more . ' The family chose the Beechwood charity as Brown ' s uncle is currently battling cancer and his wife and grandaughter have been using the charity ' s support services . The Sunderland defender is raising money for cancer charity Beechwood ' s Silver Wing Appeal Wes Brown has had his red card rescinded after being wrongly sent off against Manchester United The former England defender trains with team mates ahead of Sunderland ' s clash with Aston Villa Angela Gray , fundraising manager at the Stockport charity , said : ' We are thrilled to have been chosen as the charity by Wes and Leanne . ' Natasha , Wes ' s sister came into Beechwood and really enjoyed having a look at what we do , a really lovely family . ' Sunderland face Aston Villa on Saturday with Brown eligible to play after having his red card against United rescinded when referee Roger East appeared to send the wrong player off . Clarke Carlisle famously won Countdown on his debut appearance in 2010 , but the former Burnley star is not the only footballer to be seen on game shows . . . Peter Shilton , Graeme Le Saux , Geoff Hurst , Lee Dixon , Mark Bright , Steve Bull , and Martin Peters have all appeared in Pointless Clarke Carlisle won Countdown on his debut appearance in 2010 Sportsmail columinist Jamie Redknapp is team captain on A League Of Their Own , which has featured players including Rio Ferdinand , Joe Hart , Peter Crouch , Robbie Fowler , Gary Neville and Vincent Kompany John Fashanu , Rodney Marsh , Neil Ruddock and Jimmy Bullard have all been on I ' m a Celebrity , Get Me Out Of Here ! And , Vinnie Jones , Neil Ruddock and Ron Atkinson have starred in Celebrity Big Brother . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1231288,1288,"Freed Americans begin long trek home from Iran Last Updated Jan 18 , 2016 2 : 00 , Germany President Obama said this weekend ' s prisoner swap with Iran was a victory for American diplomacy . Americans freed from Iran were arriving in Germany to be reunited with their families . A fifth American , a student , was released separately on Saturday . Matthew Trevithick , Boston University graduate who ' d been studying the Farsi language in Tehran , arrived back in Boston Sunday evening , The Boston Globe reports . Following the exchange , the United States and five other world powers lifted economic sanctions on Iran , and freed billions in frozen assets implementing the landmark Nuclear Deal reached last July . Now that they ' re out of Iranian custody , five Americans released Saturday are beginning their trips back to the U . S . Elizabeth Palmer has details . . . Arriving in Geneva on a Swiss Air Force plane late on Sunday , the three Americans were safe at last on European soil . A fourth American was freed as part of the exchange , but was not on the same plane as the others . One of those American ' s was Jason Rezaian , the Tehran reporter for the Washington Post . In Germany , he shook hands with the State Department ' s Brett McGurk who led negotiations for the prisoners ' release . Rezaian was jailed a year and a half ago . He was charged with spying . Pastor Saeed Abedini , was arrested in 2012 , alleged to have organized underground Christian churches in Iran . And Amir Hekmati , a former U . S . Marine , was picked up in 2011 while visiting his grandmother and charged with espionage . News ' Adriana Diaz caught up with Hekmati ' s sister Sarah just as she boarded a plane to be reunited with her brother . "" I ' m in a fog , this is like surreal . I ' m still in disbelief and honestly everything just happened so quickly that I don ' t think it ' ll hit me until I ' m hugging him , "" she said . All three Americans were released from Tehran ' s infamous Evin Prison after 14 months of top secret diplomatic bargaining that started on the sidelines of the nuclear talks . President Obama waited until they were out of Iranian airspace before saluting them . "" Today , we ' re united in welcoming home sons and husbands and brothers who , in lonely prison cells , have endured an absolute nightmare , "" Mr Obama said . Bahram Mecanic and Khosrow Afghahi were also freed . They are two of the seven prisoners the U . S . released from its jails as part of the swap . All were accused of selling technology to Iran in violation of American sanctions . From left to right , pastor Saeed Abedini , former U . S . Marine Amir Hekmati , Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and American student Matthew Trevithick are seen in this photo combination . And finally there ' s a mystery man , the fourth American prisoner who was released along with the others , but apparently stayed behind in Iran . All we know is his name : Nosratollah Khosravi Roosari . The three other Americans will spend their first night of freedom at the Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany which has long offered a warm welcome and medical care to U . S . hostages and prisoners on their way home . ? 2016 Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past1241296,1296,"Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer was charged with obstruction of justice and racketeering on Thursday, according to a statement posted on the prosecutor general s office website, threatening to delay the government s economic reform agenda in Congress. It is the second set of criminal charges filed against the president based on the plea-bargain testimony of the owners of the world s largest meatpacker, SA. They accused Temer of taking bribes in return for political favors and of conspiring to buy the silence of a witness who could implicate the leader. In a statement on Thursday, Temer strongly rejected all allegations of wrongdoing. Temer s earlier corruption charge, that he took bribes from officials, was blocked in August by Temer s allies in the lower house of Congress, which has the power to decide whether a president should stand trial by the Supreme Court. Despite the lower house s move to block the charges, they remain valid and can be pursued by prosecutors once Temer leaves office. His term ends on Jan. 1, 2019. Brazil s top public prosecutor Rodrigo Janot has also filed charges against Joesley Batista, the billionaire former chairman of who implicated Temer. Batista was arrested on Sunday for concealing other crimes in his plea bargain deal. Batista s lawyer Antonio Carlos Kakay rejected the charges brought by Janot, arguing in a statement that the prosecutor had violated the rules of plea bargains by using his client s testimony to incriminate him. On Wednesday, Batista s brother Wesley, the chief executive officer of SA, was also arrested for alleged insider trading to avoid hefty losses related to the May plea deal. Late on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin converted Joesley and executive Ricardo Saud s temporary detentions into preventative detention and gave them 10 days to respond before ruling on Janot s request to withdraw their plea deal. The arrests of the Batista brothers have improved Temer s prospects of surviving the new charges and serving out his term through 2018. Temer and his allies expect the new charges to be voted in the lower house next month with wider support than he obtained in the 263-227 vote last month blocking a trial. Fachin heeded a request from Temer s defense not to deliver the accusation to the lower house until after a supreme court plenary vote on the matter. The vote should be held before Wednesday. The allegations are part of Brazil s sprawling corruption probes that have resulted in ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva s conviction and four pending trials; investigations and charges implicating three former presidents and dozens of members of Congress; and guilty verdicts against well over 100 powerful business and political figures. Most of the schemes involve political kickbacks in return for contracts at government-run enterprises or cheap loans from Brazil s state development bank. The racketeering charge against Temer was based on the plea bargain testimony of L cio Funaro, a businessman who accused the president and his closest aides in the ruling party of operating a criminal organization to collect bribes in exchange for political influence. The obstruction of justice charge was based on testimony by Joesley Batista that Temer endorsed payments of hush money to try to keep Funaro from talking. A short legislative agenda ahead of an election year, the absence of public pressure to oust Temer and the lack of any convincing replacement for him are also likely to weigh in the president s favor. Given the short timetable, the general public apathy and lack of a viable alternative, it is quite possible that Brasilia will continue to punt this down the road, said Matthew Taylor, a professor at the American University in Washington. ",true,dataset,test,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1251298,1298,"Rangers boss Ally McCoist praised his players after Saturday ' s triumph over Livingston ensured they have now gone two calendar years without an away league defeat . The Ibrox outfit have romped to both the Third Division and League One titles since being thrown out of the Scottish Premiership . And their record on the road has been a vital factor in that , with 32 wins and just four draws at Montrose , Stirling , Dunfermline Athletic and Alloa . Rangers manager Ally McCoist saw his side extend their unbeaten away spell to two years on Saturday The Light Blues were last beaten on their travels in a league fixture on October 6 , 2012 when they fell to a shock 1 0 reverse at Stirling Albion in the Third Division . Rangers rounded off their second year of flawless away results after Lewis Macleod ' s stunning overhead winner handed them a 1 0 win at the Energy Assets Arena . McCoist relieved to see his side back to winning ways after Monday ' s humiliating home defeat to Hibernian told the official Rangers website : ' It ' s an outstanding record and I ' m delighted with that . Looking at the fact we ' ve won 32 of the 36 games , it says a lot for the players we ' ve got in our dressing room . Lewis Macleod ( left ) scored the only goal as Rangers earned a 1 0 victory at Livingston Lewis Macleod ' s stunning overhead kick was enough to secure a Rangers win at the Energy Assets Arena ' That ' s a great record and we are very proud of them . We ' ve a long way to go through and the most important thing is we ' re in contention at the end of the season . ' Marius Zaliukas , meanwhile , could be a doubt for Lithuania ' s forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifying matches after he was hurt in the early stages of the success at Livingston . The defender suffered a knee problem and was able to play on until half time before he was replaced by Darren McGregor . The former Hearts centre back has been selected in the Lithuanian squad for the games against Estonia and Slovenia after helping his country beat San Marino in its opening match . McCoist added : ' It ' s difficult to gauge and we ' ll take a look at him again in the morning but I ' d be doubtful he ' ll be playing in midweek . ' It looks a sore one and he ' s sitting there strapped up with an ice pack on it . We ' ll be better placed to know where we are tomorrow . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past1261326,1326,"It is an astonishing animation , letting you travel through the solar system at the speed of light . Riding Light is a 45 minute short film that attempts to recreate what it would be like to hitch a ride on the back of a photon . The realtime video allows viewers to travel from the core of the sun to beyond the orbit of Jupiter . See the full video below The realtime video allows viewers to travel from the core of the sun to beyond the orbit of Jupiter . Here , the journey begins on the sun ' s surface . As the journey progresses , users are shown stats about how far they have travelled and when the next planet is coming up , . ' In our terrestrial view of things , the speed of light seems incredibly fast , ' animator Alphonse Swinehart said . ' But as soon as you view it against the vast distances of the universe , it ' s unfortunately very slow . ' This animation illustrates , in realtime , the journey of a photon of light emitted from the sun and traveling across a portion of the solar system . ' Although the video does not address how we would even perceive light and time if we were traveling at the same speed , it does use accurate distances and speeds to convey how big our solar system really is . ' I ' ve taken liberties with certain things like the alignment of planets and asteroids , but overall I ' ve kept the size and distances of all the objects as accurate as possible , ' said Swinehart . The animation ends at Jupiter to keep the film under an hour ' I also decided to end the animation just past Jupiter as I wanted to keep the running length below an hour . ' The upper left corner keeps track of distance traveled and time elapsed since you ' ve been vomited from the sun ' s core and the upper right has a countdown to your next planetary encounter . Swinehart , a Los Angeles animator who has worked for everyone from Apple to the , said he got the idea from a book . ' After nerding out on some astronomy books and documentaries , I wanted to illustrate how slow the speed of light is in relation to the vast size of the universe . ' This animation shows , in realtime , the journey of a photon of light emitted from the sun and traveling across a portion of the solar system . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present1271338,1338,"Jury selection is expected to begin Monday in the trial of former Major League pitcher Roger Clemens , nine months after the previous one ended in a mistrial . Federal prosecutors accuse Clemens of lying to Congress when lawmakers investigated the illicit use of steroids in professional baseball . The case involving one count of obstruction of Congress , three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury was declared a mistrial in July after evidence previously ruled inadmissible was shown in court . It involved a video clip of a televised congressional hearing from 2008 in which a congressman referenced an affidavit from Laura Pettitte about purported steroid use encountered by her husband , former New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte , Clemens and other players . U . S . District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled in pre trial proceedings that Laura Pettitte ' s testimony about steroid use was uncorroborated and inadmissible . Most of the extended video had played for the jury , however , before the judge realized it included the prohibited discussion . Prosecutors subsequently asked for a new trial , saying they did not intend to air the clip in question . "" This was a mistake , a regretful mistake , "" government attorney David Goodhand said in September , urging Walton to reject a defense motion to dismiss the indictment and prevent a new trial . Walton blasted prosecutors , declaring , "" I would hate to believe they just blatantly disregarded rulings that I made , but it ' s hard for me to reach any other conclusion . "" Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of showing the clip deliberately and asked Walton to dismiss the six count indictment . "" No doubt this was a calculated effort to make an end run around this court ' s ruling , "" Clemens defense attorney Michael Attanasio said at the time . "" The government ' s use of this particular exhibit was premeditated , "" the defense team wrote in a critique given to Walton in August , and was "" not as innocent as the government suggests . "" The charges stem from Clemens ' 2008 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform , during which he denied using anabolic steroids . Clemens has continually denied using performance enhancing drugs during his professional baseball career . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1281353,1353,"Google ' s Parent Company Is Now The World ' s Most Valuable Business 02 01 2016 05 : 18 pm Updated 3 hours ago Alphabet , the parent corporation of Google , has supplanted Apple as the world ' s most valuable company . The tech giant released a stronger than expected fourth quarter earnings report on ? Monday , prompting its stock to spike 9 percent in after hours trading . ? That jump means Alphabet is now worth close to ? 568 billion . Apple , now the second highest valued company , currently hovers at around 535 billion . A snapshot of Alphabet ' s stock shows a leap in value in after hours trading . This was the first time Alphabet has split its earnings report into different segments to show the success of its various businesses , including YouTube and the search engine Google , as well as ? "" Other Bets , "" which encompasses ventures like self driving cars , Google Fiber and home products business Nest . Per Engadget , Alphabet as a whole reported 21 . 3 billion of revenue ( an 18 percent increase in the last year ) , and profits of 4 . 9 billion : In 2015 as a whole , Google earned 74 . 5 billion in revenue with 23 . 4 billion of operating income , both up over the year before . But "" Other Bets "" was a money loser : the "" Other Bets "" companies made 448 million in revenue over the course of the year but failed to turn a profit . Those companies lost 3 . 6 billion in 2015 . "" Google takes the crown from Apple today , "" Financial analyst Colin Gillis told Today . "" The core business is cranking along and picking up speed . We love it when businesses re accelerate . It ' s also their culture that could get Google to a trillion dollars that we feel is lacking at Apple . They are building a culture of accountability and more . "" Alphabet is only the 12th company in the history of the S P 500 to be named the index ' s "" most valuable , "" The Wall Street Journal reports . ? The company ' s ? love of dogs is written into its corporate code of conduct : "" Google s affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture . We like cats , but we re a dog company , so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out . "" The company ' s ? love of dogs is written into its corporate code of conduct : "" Google s affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture . We like cats , but we re a dog company , so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out . "" The first Google Doodle was an "" out of office "" message while Page and Brin went to Burning Man On August 30 , 1998 , Brin and Page placed the Burning Man stick figure ? on Google ' s logo to let everyone know they ' d be attending the notoriously raucous music festival . Eventually these doodles became a tradition used to celebrate different holidays and events . There have been more than 2 , 000 doodles over the years . ? Google once went down for a few minutes and wrecked the Internet Google experienced a 2 minute outage ? in August 2013 , and it caused Internet page views to plummet 40 percent . Now ' S power . ? Google was founded in YouTube Susan Wojcicki ' s garage Sergey Brin and Larry Page founded Google in Susan Wojcicki ' s garage ? in 1998 . Wojcicki eventually became a Google executive before becoming the of YouTube in 2014 . It ' s always nice to get in on the ground floor ! ? A python once got loose in Google ' s New York offices A Google employee ' s ball python escaped ? in the office on April 1 , 2007 . Since it was April Fools ' Day , many people thought it was a prank . Unfortunately , it wasn ' t . The python was eventually caught and returned to its owner . ? As of 2009 , Google has used goats to mow its lawn In 2009 , Google announced that it had started ? renting goats to graze on its lawn ? instead of using lawn mowers . This way is more environmentally friendly and definitely cuter . ? Steve Jobs once called up a Google exec to complain about the color of the second "" o "" in Google Jobs called up Google ' s ? Vic Gundotra in 2008 to tell him that the second "" o "" in the Google logo wasn ' t the right shade of yellow . "" I ' ve been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and I ' m not happy with the icon . The second O in Google doesn ' t have the right yellow gradient . It ' s just wrong and I ' m going to have Greg fix it tomorrow . Is that okay with you ? "" Jobs told Gundotra , according to a post Gundotra published ? on Google . ? Gundotra said that ? was absolutely with him . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1291359,1359,"Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were urged to get ' couple ' s counselling ' to repair their relationship , former Number 10 spin chief Alastair Campbell has revealed . Mr Campbell said he suggested the two Labour heavyweights use professional help to resolve their differences but Mr Blair rejected the idea . The former Downing Street communications director also claimed every politician in Britain should seek psychiatric help . Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were urged to get ' couple ' s counselling ' to repair their relationship , it was revealed today The detail features in Mr Campbell ' s latest book , Winners and How They Succeed , which is being serialised in the Sunday Times . In it he argues that modern politicians are less effective leaders than senior figures in sport and business , where psychologists are routinely employed to improve performance . ' If you look at the best of elite sport , it does stuff better than the best of business , and the best of business does it better than the best of politics , ' Mr Campbell said . He added : ' Sport is predominantly a physical activity , and yet hardly any of these top sports guys go without proper psychological support . And yet politics , which is primarily intellectual , mental , psychological most of them don ' t have any psychological support at all . ' Mr Campbell said politicians were afraid of headlines like ' Cameron has a shrink ' . But the spin doctor said he hired Andy McCann , a mental skills coach to the Wales rugby team , to help him prepare for his appearance at the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War . Mr Blair meets with Palestinian businessmen in Gaza City today . He is in Gaza for meetings with officials about the reconstruction of the territory which has been devastated by a 50 day summer war between Israel and Hamas militants Alastair Campbell said all politicians should seek professional psychiatric help to make them better politicians Mr Campbell said New Labour finally lost power because Blair and Brown failed to pull together . ' We didn ' t do so well on teamship , and I think if we had we ' d still be there , ' he said . Speaking to the Sunday Times , he revealed that he offered Mr Blair the services of the psychiatrist who was helping him battle depression in the run up to the 2005 election , when the then prime minister was under pressure from Mr Brown to announce when he would stand down . Mr Blair replied : ' I am prepared to think out of the box . But not that far . ' Mr Campbell said current Labour and Tory frontbenchers lack the necessary determination to win . ' Can the Cabinet or shadow cabinet really say that they are waking up every day . . . putting in the work and effort needed ? None of the main parties communicate that sense of absolute focus and determination , ' he said . Mr Campbell criticised Labour ' s decision to oppose the bombing of Syria in August 2013 , because ' what has followed is in some ways even worse ' . But he said Miliband had shown ' leadership ' . ' Ed does big , bold things , ' he said . ' The circumstances in which Ed became leader , that was a test of mettle on lots of levels . ' While complaining that Labour should be ' battering ' the Tories , Mr Campbell hit out at ' noises off ' from Blairites such as Alan Milburn and John Hutton who have questioned the party ' s direction . ' I ' ve said what I ' ve said about the economy , but there is a time and a place . Where we are now in the electoral cycle , across the party everybody ' s got to get out and fight . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1301363,1363,"Hindu hardliners escalated their tirade against Shah Rukh Khan over his remarks on intolerance with controversial parliamentarian Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday accusing the Bollywood star of treason and comparing him with Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed . The government struggled to keep MPs and Hindu controversialists on a leash after Khan commented on his 50th birthday on Monday that there was nothing worse than religious intolerance and that it would take India to the dark ages . Here s who said what on Khan and his intolerance comment : Kailash Vijayvargiya , general secretary : Shah Rukh lives in India , but his soul is in Pakistan . His films make crores here but he thinks India is intolerant . If this is not anti national , then what is it ? India is making a bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations and all anti Indian forces including Pakistan are creating a conspiracy . Sadhvi Prachi , leader : Shah Rukh Khan is an agent of neighbouring country Pakistan as he reflects their ( Pakistan s ) ideology . Such a man should go to Pakistan . Yogi Adityanath , : Shah Rukh Khan should remember that if a huge mass in society would boycot his films , he will also have to wander on streets like a normal Muslim . . . . I am saying these people are speaking in a terrorist language . I think there is no difference between the language of Shah Rukh Khan and Hafiz Saeed . We welcome that people go there ( Pakistan ) , at least people who defame India will understand their own originality , he added . Manoj Tiwari , : He ( Shah Rukh Khan ) has issued a statement when the Bihar elections are going on . He has always been close to Congress party and his closeness has been seen before as well . I consider his statement as a political comment . If there was any kind of intolerance in the country , he wouldn t have been one of the top superstars in India . He should keep this fact in his mind that whatever statement he makes , it makes a big impact . Najma Heptulla , minority affairs minister : Had Shah Rukh Khan not said such things , my party men would not have commented anything . He gave them a point to talk on , they didn t start talking themselves . I want the world to know that he ( Shah Rukh ) received an Enforcement Directorate ( ) notice on October 26 and India became intolerant on the 1st or 2nd of November . And , when it comes to intolerance , then probably they are those illiterate people who do not know what the history of the country had been under Congress rule . He should raise his voice on the anniversary of the 1984 anti Sikh riots and the Mirchpur or Gohana incidents . Several such incidents happened when Congress was in power but then they were mum . Yoga guru Baba Ramdev : If he is a true patriot , he should return all the money he earned after winning the Padma Shri to the relief fund , in case he plans to return the award . Those who spoke in support of Shah Rukh Khan Nalin Kohli , spokesperson : His ( Adityanath ) comments are incorrect and uncalled for . They do not reflect in any way the core belief of or that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi . There cannot be any comparison of any law abiding Indian citizen with a terrorist like Hafiz Saeed , certainly not Khan who is a much loved and respected Indian national and artiste . Sanjay Raut , Shiv Sena : This country is tolerant and the Muslims are tolerant as well . Shah Rukh Khan should not be targeted only because he is a Muslim . Shah Rukh Khan is a superstar only because the country is tolerant and has never thought in the name of religion . First of all Shah Rukh Khan should not have gotten into this debate on tolerance and secondly , out of the people who have returned their awards , the number of Muslims is almost negligible . Also , Shah Rukh spoke on the issue very late . Ravi Shankar Prasad , telecom minister : Shah Rukh Khan is extraordinary talent as a film artist of versatile genius and is universally applauded by all Indians alike . M Venkaiah Naidu , Union minister : The party also does not approve of the comments made by a functionary against Shahrukh Khan . Anand Sharma , Congress spokesperson : Shah Rukh Khan is an icon of cosmopolitan India . He has the right to speak his mind as a citizen of India . The can t question anyone . Shah Rukh Khan expressed his concren and independent opinion as a citizen of the country . The general secretary of the raised questions on his nationality and doubted his patriotism . Whatever was said yesterday , the more we condemn it , less it is . What message are they giving to the people ? Digvijaya Singh , senior Congress leader : I strongly condemn Kailash Vijavargiya s statement . Modi should personally apologise to Shah Rukh . Shah Rukh don t worry we stand by you . Kailash Vijavargiya National Gen Secy "" Shah Rukh Khan is aTraitor "" Do Modi and Amit Shah endorse his opinion ? Would they act against him ? Chacko , Congress leader : If they ( government ) don t agree with the Congress we have no problem , but the non political people coming out must be heard . Every kind of intolerance we can see in the society , intolerance against food , intolerance against religion , intolerance against political party , intolerance against the descending opinion . So the country is going towards a disastrous situation . Anupam Kher , actor : Some members of the really need to control their tongue and stop talking rubbish about Shah Rukh Khan . He is a national icon and we are proud of him . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1311368,1368,"Ultimate gun control is the end game of Barack Obama and his regime period.On June 1 Breitbart News reported on Obama s Spring 2015 Unified Agenda. The gun control measures contained therein which were to be passed by executive fiat.Since that time Representatives like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)91% (R-KY-4th) have placed riders on a appropriations bill to stop portions of the executive gun control push in its tracks. Now the NRA- is revealing that the Obama administration is working behind the scenes to stifle reporting on firearms.From the NRA-ILA:Even as news reports have been highlighting the gun control provisions of the Administration s Unified Agenda of regulatory objectives, the Obama State Department has been quietly moving ahead with a proposal that could censor online speech related to firearms.How can this happen?Like this: The administration is reworking the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). One of the many things regulated by are technical data tied to defense articles. This includes, but is not limited to, detailed design, development, production or manufacturing information about ammunition and firearms.More specifically, this kind of technical data would be blueprints, drawings, photographs, plans, instructions or documentation related to ammunition and firearms.While and its regulations have not been a concern in the past, as far as constraining or limiting material posted on publicly available websites, there are some within the current State Department arguing that anything published online in a generally-accessible location has essentially been exported, simply by virtue of being posted, and is therefore under the purview of ITAR.Moreover, last week the State Department put forth a proposal clarifying how to handle releases containing technical data which are posted online or otherwise distributed into the public domain. Ultimately, the proposal would require those releasing technical data on ammunition or firearms to first seek government approval.Here s how the NRA- summed it up:The proposal would institute a massive new prior restraint on free speech. This is because all such releases would require the authorization of the government before they occurred. The cumbersome and time-consuming process of obtaining such authorizations, moreover, would make online communication about certain technical aspects of firearms and ammunition essentially impossible.Public comments on the proposed changes to will be accepted until August 3, 2015. You can submit those comments at regulations.gov or e-mail them to DDTCPublicComments@state.gov with the subject line indicating the comments concern the Amendment Revisions to Definitions; Data Transmission and Storage. Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past1321370,1370,"China led rout Thursday pushed prices to weakest since 2003 Saudi Aramco confirms it ' s studying a potential share sale Oil traded near a 12 year low as investors focused on the volatility in Chinese markets , after the country sought to quell losses in equities and stabilize its currency . Futures fell as much as 0 . 4 percent in New York , erasing earlier gains after China suspended a controversial equity circuit breaker system and its central bank left the yuan s reference rate little changed after an eight day stretch of weaker fixings . Crude slid Thursday to the lowest level since December 2003 as turbulence in the world s biggest energy consumer prompted concerns about the strength of demand . The turmoil in China is compounding the negative effect of U . S . crude stockpiles , which remain about 100 million barrels above the five year average . Analysts from Nomura Holdings Inc . to Group predict oil may fall near 30 a barrel while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has effectively discarded output limits ? to defend market share amid a global glut . The oil market is still oversupplied , Giovanni Staunovo , an analyst at in Zurich said by e mail . Economic concerns in China have become an additional burden on oil prices , he said . West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell as much as 13 cents to 33 . 14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was trading at 33 . 48 at 7 : 11 a . m . local time . The contract slid 2 . 1 percent to 33 . 27 on Thursday , the lowest close since February 2004 . Total volume traded was 36 percent above the 100 day average . Prices are down almost 10 percent this week . Brent for February settlement gained 23 cents , or 0 . 7 percent , to 33 . 98 a barrel on the London based Futures Europe exchange . The contract lost 1 . 4 percent to 33 . 75 on Thursday , the lowest close since June 2004 . The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of 56 cents to , having been at a discount to the U . S . grade as recently as Jan 6 . Saudi Arabian Oil Co . , the world s largest crude producer , confirmed it s studying a potential sale of shares on Friday . The company controls about 260 billion barrels of oil reserves , more than 10 times the amount held by Exxon Mobil Corp . , which has a market value of about 317 billion . The move would mark an historic shift of the oil industry , said Jason Bordoff , the founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University . An initial public offering would be a reaffirmation of what we have seen over the past year , that Saudi Arabia plans to let the oil market behave like a market rather than try to control it , he said . rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran , two major Middle East oil producers , following the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric by Riyadh . The dispute prompted the interruption of diplomatic ties between both powers , but oil supplies aren t likely to be disrupted , according to Societe Generale . While previously high tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have stepped up to an even more threatening level , this is not a game changer for the oil markets , Mike Wittner , head of oil market research at Societe Generale , said in a note on Thursday . We don t expect war , or a supply disruption . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1331394,1394,"Reuters) - A Russian defense ministry delegation has arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the Interfax news agency cited North Korea s embassy to Russia as saying on Wednesday. No details of the visit were immediately available. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present1341410,1410,"Ohio bill to fix small business tax heads to governor ' s desk A bill that seeks to avert an unintended tax increase on some small businesses cleared the Ohio Legislature on Tuesday and headed to the governor for his expected signature . The measure comes after an apparent oversight in crafting a tax break during the frenzy of state budget negotiations . The budget that passed in June allows small business owners to deduct up to 75 percent of their first 250 , 000 of business income this tax year , then 100 percent in 2016 . In both years , a 3 percent flat tax is applied on the remaining net business income . But lawmakers had intended the flat tax be applied only on business income in excess of 250 , 000 . That meant for this tax year , some business owners could have paid more on the 25 percent of their income that ' s not deductible , because they typically pay less than a 3 percent rate under the state ' s graduated income tax system . Supporters of the bill say their revisions ensure that no taxpayer will pay a higher marginal tax rate on business income for the 2015 taxable year than he or she otherwise would have paid if the budget had not been enacted . The House passed the budget correcting measure on an 84 6 vote Tuesday , followed shortly by the Senate ' s final approval . Adjusting the tax code will create a revenue loss for the state , according to a legislative analysis of the bill . The Ohio Legislative Service Commission estimates that the general revenue fund loss is between 75 million and 81 million for fiscal year 2016 , because the state is forgoing the money it would have gotten from the increase . In the fiscal years that follow , the changes could lead to an annual revenue loss ranging from slightly less than 2 million to nearly 8 million , depending on taxpayers ' characteristics . The state budget remains in balance and will adequately cover the revision , House staff says . The measure also seeks to restore some money that schools lost in a tax change vetoed from the budget by Gov . John Kasich . School districts affected by the lost tangible personal property tax reimbursement could see an estimated 44 million . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1351414,1414,"21st Century Wire says.. 1-29-2016 at 01:30PM ET: Due to public pressure and intense speculation about the events of Tuesday brought on by a YouTube recording of the testimony of key eyewitness Victoria Sharp, the has released the unedited aerial video footage from Tuesday evening s incident which took place along Highway 395. According to the official statement: We feel that it is necessary to show the whole thing unedited in the interest of transparency. The video entitled, Complete, Unedited Video of Joint and Operation 01/26/2016 , does show the victim Lavoy Finicum exiting the truck awkwardly in at least two feet of snow, and he clearly does not charge towards the team, and his hands are clearly held high above his head as he exits his truck when confronted by a team, before being shot multiple times by marksmen and falling in the snow. Also, the scale and size of this operation is very evident by the footage, and the apprehension of the protesters was not the result of a mere traffic stop as it was wrongly characterized in multiple mainstream media reports.The has also titled their release as unedited which shows a window of 26 min and 29 seconds, but it would be interesting to see any drone footage prior to where their clip begins, to further determine how long the drone was filming the vehicles of Finicum and Bundy. This is important because it would shed further light the premeditated nature of the confrontation that the media and government sources have called a traffic stop . On its own, this drone footage would appear to support previous government and media claims by CNN, Washington Post and others that the victim was indeed reaching towards his waistband which gave federal and state police justification to unleash deadly force. However, it is still not completely clear from this aerial footage whether or not Finicum was holstered (he is said to normally carry a gun on the right hip, but are claiming he had a 9mm gun in his inside left breast pocket), but also whether or not he lowered his arms before, or after he was shot multiple times. For example, if Finicum had his hands in the air and was then was shot in the abdomen first, then any man s natural reaction would be to then lower his hand(s) and clutch the wound. Additionally, if any shots were fired, even in the vicinity, then confusion could have ensued which might have prompted Finicum to reach for his weapon. Either way, it is impossible to make any such a forensic determination without a corresponding audio track which would help to determine if any shots were fired before Finicum s hand(s) could be seen lowering. WARNING: The following images depict violence and death which some readers may find disturbing. Watch:Watch the edited version here: Finicum appears to temporarily lose his balance in the snow at the very moment he looks to be hit by agents.What is clear however from this video is that armed agents did not shoot to disable their suspect, but shot to kill and even had a laser sight trained on him for many minutes after he was downed. Clearly, multiple shooters could be seen emerging from the woods. After killing Finicum, police then left the victim to bleed to death laying in the snow and did not check on him for at least another 8 minutes.Flash-bang rounds can be seen around the 14:00 mark of the s unedited version, and the has said that it fired gas and non lethal rounds (possibly pepper spray rounds, or rubber bullets) are said to have been fired at the truck while the passengers were inside. This begs the question: with nonlethal rounds already in play why did multiple shooters use so many deadly rounds against Finicum when he exited the truck with his hands up? AT: 21st Century Wire Oregon Files",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past1361418,1418,"This is disgraceful and it is an insult to every American who has ever lost a loved one to gun violence.Democrats are sick and tired of Republicans offering nothing more than thoughts and prayers instead of doing something substantial to prevent mass shootings, so they took to the House floor on Wednesday to protest inaction in order to force House Republicans to allow a vote on gun control bills that Senate Republicans rejected on Monday.Led by legendary civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, Democrats were preparing to hold a sit-in when Texas congressman and shill Ted Poe called for a recess. We have been too quiet for too long, Lewis declared. There comes a time when you have to say something. You have to make a little noise. You have to move your feet. This is the time. Lewis and 60 Democratic colleagues sat on the House floor, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and chanted, no bill, no break. But Republicans called for a break anyway and then they censored the sit-in by literally shutting off the video feed that allows Americans to see what is happening in the people s House.Here s the video via YouTube.Afterwards, Rep. Karen Bass told that Republicans are running scared because they fear the more than they fear the voting public. If you are constantly shut down, if if your voice cannot be heard, then it s time to take extraordinary measures, Bass said of the sit-in. I think the s influence is very profound. A lot of times, people think of it as an individual campaign contribution, that s not the issue. The issue is the fact that for a lot of members, if they do not have an A from the NRA, they re concerned about the running campaigns against them, supporting their opponents or running independent expenditure campaigns against them. That s the fear. Indeed, Republicans in the Senate fear the so much that they literally rejected a measure that would have banned suspected terrorists from legally buying guns. We re not talking about la -abiding citizens who are not being investigated for having ties to terrorist groups. We re talking about people who may have been radicalized and are being looked at by law enforcement. Orlando shooter Omar Mateen was a suspected sympathizer, but he was able to buy his assault rifle legally because the was powerless to ban him from doing so because Republicans are apparently just fine with terrorists buying guns in America to kill Americans with.That s outrageous and should rally every voter in the country to throw Republicans out of office. Because the and their puppet masters are now just as much a threat to national security as the terrorists.Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past1371419,1419,"Ever caught a glimpse of the secretive Iberian lynx ? Or heard the croaking bark of a Mediterranean monk seal ? Arctic foxes are trapped and skinned for the pelts . If not , and you want to do so , you had better hurry because pollution and habitat degradation have pushed both species to the brink of extinction . According to a recent study by the Switzerland based World Conservation Union ( ) human activity is threatening almost one sixth of Europe ' s total land mammal population . Among marine mammals the situation is even more grave , with some 22 percent of total numbers being pushed towards annihilation . The ' s recently published European Mammal Assessment identified 17 European mammal species that are "" vulnerable , "" seven that are "" endangered , "" and six that are "" critically endangered . "" The Mediterranean monk seal population , for example , has now dwindled to just 350 450 individuals . The outlook for the Iberian lynx is even worse , with only an estimated 150 still surviving , making it the most endangered cat species on earth . Other species on the critically endangered list include the Arctic fox , Bavarian pine vole , European mink and North Atlantic Right whale . "" This new assessment proves that many European mammals are declining at an alarming rate , "" said Director General Julia Marton Lef vre , a position echoed by the ' s Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas . "" The results of the report highlight the challenge we currently face to halt the loss of Europe ' s biodiversity , "" said Dimas . "" It is clear that the full implementation of the Habitats Directive ( adopted by the in 1992 to safeguard Europe ' s endangered wildlife ) is of the utmost importance to protect Europe ' s native mammals . "" Europe is home to a rich diversity of native mammal species ranging from the small such as shrews and voles , to the large such as wolves and brown bears . to the enormous in the case of the 70 ton North Atlantic Right Whale . Human activity , however , especially in the form of agriculture , deforestation , hunting and pollution , has reduced the numbers of these species , leaving many of them in danger of vanishing . The aforementioned Habitats Directive a corollary of the 1979 Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats introduced a range of measures aimed at protecting endangered species ( including plants , birds and fish as well as mammals ) . That directive has certainly had an effect , with a number of mammals that previously seemed destined to disappear from Europe now enjoying something of a revival . The Alpine Ibex , for example , was almost hunted out in the 19th century , its population reduced to just a small group of survivors in Italy ' s Gran Paradiso National Park . Thanks to extensive conservation and protection efforts , however , the species is once again flourishing and has been downgraded to the "" least concern "" category on the ' s "" Red List . "" It is the same story for the European bison , which was limited to just a few zoos before re introduction programs across eastern Europe helped re build the population to current levels of around 1 , 800 . "" The fate of the European bison provides an example of the way in which a species may be brought to the brink of extinction in a very short time , and then saved only through great efforts , "" said Dr Zbigniew Krasinski of Poland ' s Bialowieza National Park . "" The saving of the bison has been an undoubted success , although further action will continue to be essential . "" Dr Jean Christophe Vie , Deputy Head of the ' s Species Program , agrees that significant progress has been made . "" Both the Alpine Ibex and European bison are recovering well because of appropriate conservation measures . "" The European beaver is another example . It was persecuted almost to extinction but has now been re introduced and is colonizing all over the continent . "" While there are positive stories , however , the overall picture remains a disheartening one , as the European Mammal Assessment demonstrates . Commissioned by the European Commission and a year in the drafting , it is the first such overview of its kind and draws on the work of a Europe wide group of scientists , zoologists and conservationists . Its findings provide an unequivocal picture of biodiversity loss and species decline . Habitat destruction , usually due to agricultural practices , is the key driver of that decline , although many other factors are involved , including pollution , disease and the introduction of invasive foreign species . The case of the European mink , one of the ' s six critically endangered European mammals , is an example of how different elements can combine to drive a particular species to the brink of destruction . Once found in great numbers across Europe from Spain to the Urals , the mink population has plummeted in recent years . While hunting has certainly contributed to this decline , the main causes have been habitat loss and competition from invasive foreign species , according to Vie . "" The mink is freshwater dependent , "" explains Vie . "" The more you damage its habitat by polluting rivers , or channeling them , or building dams , the more the population declines . "" The introduction of the American mink into Europe for fur rearing also proved disastrous , with some of those mink escaping from captivity , establishing their own colonies in the wild and setting up direct competition for food and resources with the native population . The result : an 80 percent decline in that population in the last decade alone ( in 1993 the only classified it as "" vulnerable "" ) . But experts say that species loss can be reversed . "" There is more and more perception across Europe that biodiversity conservation is crucially important , "" says Vie . "" And we are seeing good recoveries in some species . "" The picture in the mammal world is not nearly as bad as , say , among freshwater fish , where the number of threatened species is far , far higher . "" At the same time , the latest figures remain a source of considerable concern . At a time when so many conservation initiatives and laws are already in operation , the population of many European mammal species is in apparent free fall . It is not simply the possibility of losing a particular species that worries experts , but also how the loss will affect the species ' wider ecosystem "" The food web is extremely complex , "" says Vie . "" If you lose one element that has a very specific role in that web , it has a knock on effect and the whole system is threatened . "" It is very worrying . Some people think it is a disaster if a famous painting is lost in a fire , but that is just the work of a few weeks or months . These species and systems are the product of millions of years of evolution . "" I am biased , of course , but I think it would be an absolute tragedy if we lost these native species . "" E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1381422,1422,"Before Djokovic Murray clash , senior Murray wins Australian Open silverware Before Djokovic Murray clash , senior Murray wins Australian Open silverware Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares pose with the Australian Open men ' s doubles trophy ( Getty Images ) Sat , 30 Jan 2016 08 : 35pm , Melbourne , Reuters Murray and Soares beat Canada ' s Daniel Nestor and Czech Radek Stepanek 2 6 6 4 7 5 in the final that followed Angelique Kerber beating Serena Williams for the women ' s ' title . Britain ' s Jamie Murray gained an early claim to bragging rights over younger brother Andy when he combined with Brazil ' s Bruno Soares to win the Australian Open men ' s doubles title early on Sunday . Murray and Soares beat Canada ' s Daniel Nestor and Czech Radek Stepanek 2 6 6 4 7 5 in the final that followed Angelique Kerber beating Serena Williams for the women ' s ' title . Andy Murray , who turned up for the trophy presentation , will meet five times champion Novak Djokovic in the men ' s singles final later on Sunday . "" Andy you should be in bed . I don ' t know why you ' re here taking photos but we ' ll be there supporting you , "" a tearful Murray said in a court side interview . You should be in bed , andy murray jokes big brother jamie murray during the men ' s doubles ceremony AusOpen pic . twitterweblink FqJdseMHqL Welcome to the SleepisfortheWeak crew Andy Murray ! What a great brother you are AusOpen weblink : t . co wNLIpL5Nib It was the first grand slam title for the Briton and his Brazilian partner , in their first major tournament together . The Murrays are also the first brothers to make the men ' s singles and doubles finals at the same grand slam in the Open era . Murray actually held a championship point while serving at 5 4 in the deciding set but blew the opportunity , though the Canadian and Czech pairing were unable to consolidate . Soares then gave them a 40 0 advantage in the 12th game and held on to clinch the title two points later . "" We had them on the ropes for a bit in the second set but they came through and that ' s why they ' re grand slam champions , "" Nestor said . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past1391445,1445,"A band of self described American patriots has taken over the community of Crimea , Louisiana , in order to defend it from Russian invasion . The eight heavily armed Americans drove into the community on motorcycles and in trucks around 10 : 45 a . m . today and declared it occupied by the United States at around 10 : 52 a . m . , according to witnesses . The group then replaced the American flag flying over the local community center with a new American flag . Arkansas resident Woodrow "" Wood Newton , the group ' s leader , said he was prompted to defend the town due to the inaction of the U . S . and world over Crimea , Ukraine a place he was unfamiliar with until a week ago . "" When I heard the Russians were taking over Crimea and these other cities , I thought it ' s only a matter of time before the Russians decide to come for us , "" he said . "" Obama is just sitting on his hands and not defending these people , so it ' s time for us real Americans to act . Now we ' re here , ready to fight when the Russians show up . "" The unincorporated community of Crimea , located in Louisiana ' s northeast , is more than 6 , 000 miles from Ukraine ' s Crimean peninsula , whose citizens voted overwhelmingly to become part of Russia . Newton and his well meaning group were apparently among the five in six Americans who could not locate Ukraine on a map and who strongly favor U . S . intervention in the region . "" My wife said Crimea was a few hours from our home in Evening Shade , so I called up some of my friends , and we decided to invade first , "" Newton said . "" We planned to get here under the cover of darkness , but my friend Herman Stiles ' truck broke down , so we had to wait for the tow . "" Errol Childress , a Crimea resident and school groundskeeper , said he was grateful to Newton ' s group . "" We here in Crimea need all the help we can get , "" he said . "" I had heard the Russians were going to take us over , and not even our damn governor or the damn president were willing to do anything . I never voted to join Russia . "" Newton said he and his group plan to remain in Crimea until Russian President Vladimir Putin withdraws troops from the region , since the local motel owner gave them a group discount . "" Everybody in Crimea has been real friendly , "" Newton said . "" I was glad they talk in English instead of Spanish or whatever they talk in Russia . And the cafe here serves a nice key lime pie . Cute waitress , too . "" Newton ' s group is not alone , as the crisis in Ukraine has prompted a number of other concerned Americans to show support and defend cities from Russian annexation . According to local reports , a group of U . S . citizens seized the town hall in Sebastopol , Calif . , which shares its name with a Crimean city , and declared it under the protection of the United States . ",satire,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present1401457,1457,"Sit back, relax, and enjoy the left telling their viewers and fans how Donald Trump will never win the presidency.Now watch the same media and Hollywood freaks meltdown over Trump s win that they said would never happen. It s hard to imagine how much hate these poor liberals have in their hearts.So, just how much has President Trump accomplished since he won the election on November 8, 2016?Vice President Mike Pence offers a list of President Trump s accomplishments since he won the election, only one year ago today:Thanks to the president s leadership, the American economy is roaring. Businesses have created nearly 1.5 million new jobs. Manufacturers haven t been this confident in 20 years. The stock market is setting records, creating nearly $5 trillion in wealth for the pension, retirement and savings of the American people. And after eight years of lackluster growth, the economy has already expanded by at least 3% for two quarters in a row.The U.S. economy is making a comeback because President Trump has taken decisive action to spur a new era of opportunity, prosperity and growth.We ve unleashed American energy, approved the Keystone and Dakota pipelines, and under President Trump, the war on coal is over.We re appointing originalists to the federal courts, to uphold the Constitution and all our God-given liberties. And President Trump put Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.President Trump has also taken decisive action to ensure the safety and security of the American people, at home and abroad. He has stood without apology with the men and women of law enforcement. We re securing our borders, enforcing our laws and taking the gang members, drug dealers and violent criminals off our streets.The president is putting our veterans first. He signed bills to restore accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs and give veterans access to the world-class care they deserve.We re rebuilding our military. President Trump has already signed the largest increase in defense spending in nearly 10 years, and we are working with Congress to pass one of the largest investments in the national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan.With renewed American strength, the president is achieving real results on the international stage.Our allies are contributing more to our common defense. is on the run, and its caliphate is crumbling. This president reaffirmed the credibility of American power when he enforced a red line against chemical weapons in Syria. He put Iran on notice and made it clear that we cannot certify the Iran nuclear deal. And our administration has brought unprecedented economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on North Korea.It has been a year of accomplishments, and we re just getting started. Before this year is out, we ll pass historic tax cuts for the American people. And with President Trump s leadership, I know: We will Make America Great Again. ",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1411485,1485,"U. S service members participating in the ongoing offensive to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State “have come under fire,” Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U. S. coalition, told Pentagon reporters. [“They have come under fire at different times, our forces that have been in Mosul and other places around Iraq,” revealed Col. Dorrian. “What I would tell you, though, is that they are directed to try and be positioned where that is a rarity and unlikely to occur,” he added. Without providing a specific figure, an unnamed U. S. defense official told some news outlets that American forces taking part in the Mosul operation had suffered injuries. U. S. troops have been providing advice and assistance to an alliance of tens of thousands of Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga troops, and Shiite militiamen fighting to push the Islamic State, also known as and ISIL, out of Mosul. The day after the Mosul offensive began in Peter Cook, secretary for the Pentagon, conceded that U. S. troops participating in the operation would be in “harm’s way. ” “Some [U. S. troops] will be closer to the front than others … but it’s Iraqis in the lead … Americans are in harm’s way as part of this fight … They’re playing a support role … but they are behind the forward line of troops,” Cook told reporters. “U. S. forces remain in a position to be able to provide advice to them,” he added. “A small number will be in a position to provide that advice on the ground. ” The U. S. Iraqi forces and their allies have liberated eastern Mosul. On Sunday, the Iraqi alliance began its mission to retake the western side of the city, considered one of ISIS’s last major strongholds in the country. Since 2014, has held Mosul, Iraq’s city. An estimated 2, 000 jihadists are believed to be still fighting to keep Mosul under ISIS’s control. The U. S. Iraqi forces and their allies have recently recaptured Mosul’s airport.",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1421512,1512,"Reuters) - Warships from eight countries participated in live-fire self-defense exercises of ship and missile systems near Scotland on Sunday the U.S. Department of Defense said. Ships from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States defended against a medium-range missile as well as three anti-ship cruise missiles. The Donald Cook successfully intercepted a medium-range missile with a Standard Missile-3 Block guided missile during the exercise, the Pentagon said. Three anti-ship cruise missiles were fired upon by Spanish and Dutch ships participating in the Formidable Shield exercises in the U.K. Ministry of Defense s Hebrides Range located on the Western Isles of Scotland. The U.S. Department of Defense said this was the first time s smart defense concept was demonstrated with some ships providing protection to other vessels targeting ballistic missiles. The Formidable Shield exercise began on Sept. 24 and is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday. The Pentagon said the exercise is planned to be a biennial event and is designed to assure allies, deter adversaries and demonstrate U.S.commitment to collective defense of the alliance. Following the exercises, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully test-fired a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) from the McFaul. The SM-6 test was not part of the Formidable Shield exercise, the Pentagon said. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present1431514,1514,"Oil Markets Rattled by Election Uncertainty November 08, 2016 Oil Markets Rattled by Election Uncertainty Oil prices eased on Tuesday, paring earlier gains as voting in the U.S. presidential election got underway, in line with a retreat in U.S. stock index futures and a pickup in the dollar. In a swell of investor risk appetite, U.S. stocks racked up their biggest one-day gain since March on Monday, but this boost, which lifted oil, copper and European equities earlier on Tuesday faded. The most recent polls have put Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead of Republican rival Donald Trump in Tuesday's election. Clinton is seen by investors as offering greater certainty and stability. Brent January crude oil futures were down 19 cents at $45.96 a barrel by 1308 GMT, off a session peak of $46.69, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 22 cents to $44.67, after the U.S. dollar pared losses and S&P futures turned negative. ""Seeing oil coming off today, that's more reflective of the equity futures in the U.S.coming off the highs and European stocks coming off,"" Markets analyst Jasper Lawler said. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries forecast demand for its oil will rise in the next three years, suggesting its 2014 decision to let prices fall to curb costlier rival supplies is delivering higher market share. [OPEC/M] "" raising its forecasts, ordinarily a positive, but we're all obviously election-focussed ... so I don’t think that's driving (oil) as much as it normally would,"" Lawler said. The group meets on Nov. 30 and has pledged to reach a deal on cutting output to try to erode a two-year-old global surplus. Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of with Rick Wiles ",fake,news,test,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1441517,1517,"The jury in the Drew Peterson murder trial deliberated for more than eight hours Wednesday before a judge sent them home for the night . Peterson , a former Chicago area police sergeant , is accused of killing his ex wife , Kathleen Savio , in 2004 . The seven men and five women began deliberating Wednesday morning and asked during their discussions to hear again from the testimony of a defense witnesses , Harry Smith , who was Savio ' s divorce attorney , and a prosecution witness , Neil Schori , a pastor . Schori had testified that Peterson ' s fourth wife , Stacy Peterson , told him she woke up alone the night Savio died and Drew Peterson later coached her on how to talk to police about his whereabouts that night . Smith had testified that Stacy Peterson asked him , "" She wanted to know if , in my opinion , the fact that he ' d killed Kathy could be used against him . "" After 8 1 2 of deliberations , Judge Edward Burmila sent the jury home for the night . When Stacey Peterson went missing in October 2007 , investigators said they would look again at Savio ' s death , which was initially ruled a drowning . Stacey Peterson still has not been found and Drew is considered a suspect in the case . Savio was found dead in her dry , clean bathtub March 1 , 2004 . Savio ' s death was ruled a homicide in February 2008 , and Peterson was later arrested and indicted on first degree murder . On Wednesday , the jury also asked for Drew Peterson ' s and Stacy Peterson ' s phone records for the weekend Savio died . Peterson was married to Savio in 2001 when he had an affair with then 17 year old Stacy Cales , who became his fourth wife . Savio and Peterson filed for divorce in October 2001 and their relationship remained contentious for the next several years . Bolingbrook police records indicate officers were called to Savio ' s home 18 times to intervene in domestic fights from 2002 to 2004 . Peterson had Savio arrested twice for domestic violence , though she was found not guilty in both cases . On February 27 , 2004 , Peterson picked up his two sons from Savio ' s home and spent the next two days with them . Prosecutors believe he entered her home again early on February 29 and killed her . At the time of her death , which authorities initially treated as an accident , a court was mulling how the couple ' s marital assets would be divided , and Savio was set to receive part of Peterson ' s pension and other support . Follow the complete coverage of the trial In Session ' s Michael Christian and Graham Winch contributed to this report . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1451518,1518,"Washington President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are neck and neck in national polls , while Obama has an edge in crucial battleground states that will decide Tuesday ' s election . The dynamic sets up a possible outcome that has happened rarely in American politics and could undermine the credibility of the victor Romney beats Obama in the overall vote , but the president gets reelected by winning the decisive Electoral College . It would be the fifth time in history that the candidate who got the most overall support didn ' t win the election , and the first time that an incumbent president prevailed without capturing the popular vote . Explainer : What happens in a electoral tie ? Analysts acknowledge that such an outcome could happen , especially when the race is so tight , but they called it unlikely . State results generally follow the national trend , they say , so the chances were remote that Romney ' s victory margin in states he wins will be so much larger than Obama ' s in states the president wins that it would counter the Electoral College result . "" If the state polls are right , then Mr Obama is not just the favorite in the Electoral College but probably also in the popular vote , "" Nate Silver wrote last week in the New York Times ' FiveThirtyEight blog that analyzes polling data and trends . Sean Trende , the senior elections analyst at RealClearPoliticsweblink , wrote last month that the chances of a popular electoral vote split were about one in three if the candidates are within one percentage point of each other in the overall count . Under the Electoral College system , each state is worth a certain number of electoral votes based on population . The winner of the popular vote in each state gets its electoral count , with 270 of the 538 available needed for victory . Politics : Voting challenges in battleground states could create drama , headaches The last split between the popular and electoral vote was 2000 , when Democratic Vice President Al Gore outpolled Texas Gov . George W . Bush by more than 543 , 000 votes in the raw count but narrowly lost the electoral tally . In an outcome decided by a controversial Supreme Court ruling that gave Florida to Bush by 537 votes , the Republican challenger ended up with 271 electoral votes to Gore ' s 266 , while Gore got 48 . 4 of the popular vote to 47 . 9 for Bush . Prior to that , all previous occurrences were in the 19th Century , when the population was smaller and spread among fewer states . In 1888 , Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland by 233 168 in the Electoral College even though Cleveland won 48 . 6 of the popular vote to 47 . 8 for Harrison . Twelve years earlier , Republican Rutherford B . Hayes defeated Democrat Samuel Tilden by one electoral vote , 185 184 , while Tilden won 50 . 9 of the popular vote to 47 . 9 for Hayes . The result was so contentious that it took a special electoral panel to decide that Hayes was the winner . Politics : Why Tuesday , why November , why elephants ? Election riddles solved In 1824 , John Quincy Adams lost both the popular and electoral vote to Andrew Jackson , who failed to get the minimum Electoral College support for victory . The House of Representatives decided the winner and chose Adams , the son of America ' s second president . Any close election causes raw emotions and the uncertainty from popular electoral vote splits can undermine the legitimacy of the winner , noted Wendy Schiller , a political science professor at Brown University . That would be especially true this time if Obama , the incumbent , claims victory without getting more overall votes , she said . "" When you look at an incumbent president that can ' t win the popular vote , you look at a guy that ' s very hobbled from the start , "" Schiller said . "" For governing , it creates a much bigger problem than it does for the legitimacy of the election . "" At the same time , she added , it would be hypocritical of Republicans to cry foul when they benefited from the same situation just 12 years ago , saying : "" If you win that way , you have to be prepared to lose that way . "" Another factor that could contribute to a popular electoral vote split is devastation from Superstorm Sandy in states like New York and New Jersey , which were expected to provide strong support for Obama . While the president will still win both , his overall vote total could be lower if turnout is reduced in the aftermath of widespread power outages and structural damage from the storm . Opinion : Obama ' s victory won ' t transform America Schiller , however , said the election results would clearly demonstrate such a scenario , providing an explanation for what happened that would soften challenges to the legitimacy of an Obama victory via the Electoral College . "" I don ' t see any legitimate claim by either side that the system isn ' t going to function well , even if you get this distortion , "" she said . Electoral College voters , called Electors , will meet on December 17 in their respective states and vote for president and vice president on separate ballots . In the case of a tie between Romney and Obama , the House of Representatives would meet in January to decide the president , with each state getting one vote . The Senate decides the vice president . With the likelihood of a Republican controlled House and a Democratic led Senate , an Electoral College tie between Obama and Romney would make possible a split administration , with Romney as president and incumbent Joe Biden as vice president . Share your reaction to the election ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1461519,1519,"Hollyjood strikes again ! Quoting: Buck Bundy 73107416 They werent far off. DH3 came out in 1995. 43 was GWB. 44th was Obumbletard. #44 was supposed to be Hitlary, but they knew Obumbletard would cause even more damage so they let him go first. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 73154155 Thats true the more i think more about it = I think they meant because hillary was actually in charge when bill was president - which would make her the 43 rd kinda i guess ? Moulin",fake,news,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present1471521,1521,"Q. I’ve been in a lot of restaurants in New York, and I’ve never seen an F in any of those inspection grading cards given out by the health department. Does this mean that all of the restaurants in New York are above average? A. Actually, many of the city’s roughly 24, 000 restaurants do get the worst grades, but the trick is that C, not F, is the lowest one. By now, most New Yorkers are familiar with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s system, which was introduced in 2010, and assigns ratings based on a system that is calculated by the amount of major and minor infractions found by inspectors. The dirtier the restaurant, the more points accumulated, the worse the grade. According to a city database, there are more than 200 restaurants that currently have C ratings. There are more than 800 “grade pending” restaurants, because operators of restaurants are given the choice of displaying a “grade pending” sign or a letter grade while they contest any violations. If this makes you a little queasy, keep in mind that New York is generally a culinarily clean city: The A rating is by far the most common, with more than 21, 500 restaurants claiming that blue card. There are more than 1, 500 B ratings. So if you’re contemplating entering a C restaurant, rest assured that moving a few feet down the street might land you in A territory. The health department does not force any restaurant to close over ratings. Restaurants are closed by the department as a temporary emergency measure when there is an immediate public health hazard, such as a severe pest infestation. A restaurant can also be closed as a result of repeated violations or an extensive number of violations. “Once these issues have been corrected, a restaurant may request a reopening inspection,” Carolina Rodriguez, an assistant press secretary with the health department, said in an email.",true,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1481541,1541,"Russian President Vladimir Putin indefinitely halted all Russian flights to Egypt on Friday amid growing concerns a security breach led to the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 , the Kremlin said . The grounding will continue until a "" proper level of air service security is ensured with the Egyptians , "" Putin ' s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said . "" We hope for close cooperation with Egypt , "" Peskov added . Putin ordered the suspension of all Russian passenger flights to Egypt on Friday until the cause of a deadly plane crash over the weekend was established . The move appeared to be a startling about face for Putin , but the spokesman stressed it did not mean a terrorist attack was the leading theory as investigators analyze the wreckage . "" It definitely doesn ' t mean that . Not a single theory can be given priority , since there aren ' t any definite indications to prove it , "" he said . Still , the grounding was a strong move for the Russian president , who previously resisted any suggestion that Islamic State affiliates or sympathizers played a role in the tragedy . The move appeared to be a startling about face for Putin , but a Kremlin spokesman stressed it did not mean a terrorist attack was the leading theory as investigators analyze the wreckage . And sections of the plane already have been transported to Moscow so investigators can test them for possible traces of explosives , Russian news agencies reported Friday . The Kremlin ' s flight suspensions are expected to affect thousands of Russians already inside the popular vacation destination and devastate Egypt ' s tourism industry . American and British officials previously said intelligence reports based on internal Islamic State communications point to a strong possibility terrorists somehow gained access to the doomed plane before takeoff and planted a bomb or did something to cause the Airbus to break apart at some 31 , 000 feet . All 224 people on board ? including many children ? died in the crash in the Sinai Peninsula on Oct . 31 . The Russian jetliner was carrying people back to St . Petersburg from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh . militants have claimed responsibility for the mass murder , saying it was revenge for Russian airstrikes against in Syria . The Kremlin ' s flight suspensions are expected to affect thousands of Russians already inside the popular vacation destination and devastate Egypt ' s tourism industry . "" We downed it , so die in your rage , "" one audio message posted online said . Russia , an ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad , launched air raids against opposition groups in Syria including in late September . The and Ireland grounded flights to Sharm el Sheikh on Wednesday , and evacuation of stranded tourists has proved difficult . British and Russian passengers line up to leave the Sharm el Sheikh airport Friday . London approved the resumption of British flights to Sinai starting Friday and planned a wave of flights to pick up passengers ? but authorities reportedly asked travelers to leave most of their luggage behind for intensive searching and later transport on cargo planes . The luggage issue reportedly caused chaos at the Sharm el Sheikh airport Friday and led Eyptian officials to scale back the number of British flights sent to retrieve tourists . A former senior official in Egypt ' s Tourism Ministry , Magdy Salim , told the Associated Press that Egyptian airport security is marred by "" insufficiencies . "" "" A stray donkey was found in Cairo airport a few months ago , "" he said . "" We understand why people are scared . "" Air France said in a statement to the on Friday that it was reinforcing screening in Cairo and monitoring the situation in cooperation with Egyptian authorities . French officials urged citizens on Friday to avoid Sharm el Sheikh and also the Sinai resort of Taba if possible . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1491557,1557,"Former world player of the year Ronaldinho will return home to Brazil , according to his Italian club Milan . The 30 year old has been targeted by the new owners of English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers , but he is now expected to rejoin his hometown club Gremio of Porto Alegre . "" We are all sorry to lose a player of the quality of Ronaldinho . But he has made a life choice by going to Brazil , "" Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters ahead of the resumption of the Serie A program on Thursday . Ronaldinho is contracted to Milan until June , but is heading back to Rio de Janeiro as the two clubs seek to make a deal , according to Italian media . Who will be the best deals of the January sales ? "" If it were up to me , I would already be wearing the shirt of Gremio , even if at the cost of earning less . The problem is not what they offered me , but what Milan are asking for , "" he said in quotes reported by La Gazetta Della Sport . If Gremio cannot agree a fee , then Brazilian rivals Flamengo will step in to sign Ronaldinho , according to Radio Globo . He has been unable to resurrect his career since leaving Barcelona in 2008 , losing his regular place this season following the arrival of compatriot Robinho and Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic . Ronaldinho ' s place in the Milan squad has gone to Italy international Antonio Cassano , but Allegri said the former Sampdoria player was not certain to feature even as a substitute in the league leaders ' trip to Cagliari . Blackburn chase Ronaldinho and Beckham The other big story of the January transfer window , David Beckham ' s proposed loan move to English club Tottenham , still remains in doubt . However , British media widely reported on Wednesday that his American owners the Galaxy will sanction an off season switch . Tottenham ' s Premier League rivals Newcastle , who have also been linked with the 35 year old former England captain along with Blackburn , tied up a permanent deal for France international Hatem Ben Arfa . The 23 year old winger had been on loan from Marseille , but is now contracted until mid 2015 after impressing before the double leg break he suffered in October . "" During my time out , I have been inundated with messages of support from fans and I want to repay them all with good performances on the pitch later this season , "" he told the club ' s website . Manchester City ' s long rumored signing of Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko took another step forward as the Wolfsburg player arrived in England for a medical . City boss Roberto Mancini revealed on Tuesday that the German club had agreed to sell the 24 year old , for a reported fee of around 40 million . Romania striker Adrian Mutu may be seeking a new club after his Italian side Fiorentina threatened to take action following his training ground walkout on Wednesday . The club released a statement saying the 31 year old would not play in Thursday ' s match against Bologna , and that he had left himself liable for possible legal action . Mutu has twice been banned for drug use , while with English club Chelsea in 2004 and last year at Fiorentina . ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1501565,1565,"New amateur video shows the Kouachi brothers engaging in a dramatic shoot off with French police on the streets of Paris just moments after they massacred six Charlie Hebdo journalists . Said and Cherif Kouachi can be seen getting out of the stolen vehicle and using its doors for cover , as they fire expertly at the police car . The police officers swiftly reverse back down the narrow Parisien street to escape the relentless attack . Triumphant : The Kouachi brothers ( pictured ) were caught on video chanting : ' We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad . ' Killers : The masked attackers then calmly reloaded their weapons before a dramatic shoot off with police Getaway : The Kouachi ' s are then confronted by French police as they try to make their getaway Shoot off : The Kouachi brothers were confronted by French police ( pictured ) as they made their getaway Terrorists : Cherif Kouachi ( left ) and his brother Said ( right ) eluded police for two days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre , robbing a petrol station , stealing a car and then taking a hostage before being killed in a stand off Filmed from an upstairs window , the footage begins with the Kouachi ' s chanting ' we have avenged the Prophet Muhammad ' after their brutal attack on the satirical magazine ' s office . The two masked men , who had just killed six Charlie Hebdo journalists , then place their automatic weapons on the roof of the car and calmly reload them before the terrifying confrontation . The video shows their getaway halted by an oncoming police car its sirens blazing which forces one of the brothers to lean out of the window and begin shooting . His accomplice then stops the car and joins the assault on the retreating vehicle . Once the police car has reversed back to the end of the street , they restart their failed getaway and continue shooting out of the window until they have safely turned the corner . According to the Telegraph , the man filming the dramatic gun battle is heard saying : ' These are false bullets . ' ' No , they ' re not false bullets . They ' re ricocheting . Look at the cops . Look , look , they ' re reversing . They ' ve smashed the cars . ' A massive manhunt involving tens of thousands of officers was launched but the Kouachis eluded police for the rest of the day before eventually hiding out a print works in Dammartin en Goele , a small town just north of Paris . After taking a hostage , the two men were finally killed by French special forces in a raid on January 9 . ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1511566,1566,"Predicting World Series winner would be easy . . . if it weren ' t so damned hard Predicting what s going to happen in a best of 7 series between two evenly matched teams is , as every reasonably sentient creature knows by now , largely a fool s errand . Of course we could talk about matchups and we will later , for just a moment ! but the sad truth is that in a best of 7 series , the little things are swamped by 1 ) the big things , which essentially even out , and 2 ) the randomness that turns Sandy Amoros into an all time hero and Daniel Murphy into Babe Ruth . You wanna pick the Royals , though ? They finished the season with a slightly better run differential than the Mets , in the slightly better league , and they ve got the home field in Games 1 and 2 , and potentially 6 and 7 . For those reasons , and perhaps others , the Royals have been installed by oddsmakers as the very slightest of favorites . You wanna pick the Mets , though ? Murphy homers in every game , they ve got three outstanding starting pitchers , and did I mention Daniel Murphy ? On the Podcast earlier this week , C . J . Nitkowski asked me for a prediction , and just off the top of my head I said , Mets in six . What I said on the podcast ? was that the Royals have two huge question marks in their rotation , in Edinson Volquez and especially Johnny Cueto . Cueto has started three postseason games in 2015 . He was in the first , quite good in the second , and an unmitigated disaster in the third . Before those , he posted a 6 . 49 in his previous nine starts . This is the No . 2 starter on a favored World Series team ? Volquez has been shaky , too . This month he s been throwing harder than usual , but ( probably not coincidentally ) his walk rate s been higher than usual , too . He looks like he s just completely given up on pacing himself , which has meant ( and might mean ) faster pitches but earlier exits . So those two question marks , or question marks in my mind , anyway , are one reason to avoid betting on the Royals but of course the bettors know this stuff , and even better than I . If there s an unusual uncertainty about Cueto and Volquez , it should already be baked into the betting odds . The second reason I picked the Mets is , I m going to guess , purely emotional . In a couple of ways . As you know , I grew up a Royals fan . Nobody loved the Royals from 1976 through 2002 or 03 more than I did . But at some point all the losses and all the poor ( by my lights ) decisions wore me down enough where I no longer took any pleasure in the occasional victories . I did believe the worm would turn eventually , and wondered how I would feel about that . As it turned out , not much . Now my feelings feel . . . neutral , I would say . Which wouldn t necessarily lead me to picking against them , but certainly doesn t have me favoring them . There is also a scientific component in some of that , too I think . We re all prone to Confirmation Bias , the tendency to accept information that confirms our prior beliefs while ignoring evidence that s counter to those beliefs . Now , the nice thing about baseball is that we ve got a hell of a lot of hard data . However much I might have thought Mike Moustakas was a mirage last October , it s impossible to deny the hard fact that he posted a . 353 wOBA this season , and has probably become a fundamentally different and better hitter . It s very difficult to deny the notion that Kendrys Morales wasn t healthy last year but is healthy this year , and is a fine hitter when healthy . And so forth and so on . Consciously , I understand these things and acknowledge them . But my subconscious , I fear , keeps leading me back to Opening Day , when the Royals seemed to me a . 500 team , give or take . And it s probably my subconscious that keeps looking for ways to turn them back into a . 500 team . And without many other obvious candidates , Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez will do just fine . And finally , a third reason : Ned Yost . This is probably related to the second reason , by which I mean it ' s more about my emotions than my calculations . But when you see a manager who refuses to use pinch hitters in obvious situations , and seems utterly locked into particular , apparently nonsensical bullpen tactics as Yost was in Game 6 against the Blue Jays with Ryan Madson and Wade Davis , which could easily have cost the Royals a trip to the World Series you just wonder how he could lead his team to a championship . Well , I wonder , anyway . Even though he almost did it just one year ago . Just another example of confirmation bias , probably . So does that actually mean anything , in a best of 7 series ? Hell , I don t know . Ask your own subconscious . I m getting sick of mine . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present1521583,1583,"He was such a nice boy, from such a nice family .This is a little disturbing. Remember Amed Mohamed and the exploited islamic opportunism with 14-year-old clock boy bomb hoax from Irving Texas and how his father was running for political office in Sudan?Well, apparently 29-year-old terrorist Omar Mateen comes from a similarly engaged political family and his father, Seddique Mateen, was/is running for national office in Afghanistan and not happy with the government of Pakistan. Mateen has his own television show, which broadcasts out of California.It is called the Durand Jirga Show and features Mateen discussing Middle Eastern politics. The show is posted on YouTube.According to the Washington post, the show demonstrates the Orlando shooters father s sympathetic views toward the Taliban:In one video, Mateen expresses gratitude toward the Afghan Taliban, while denouncing the Pakistani government. Our brothers in Waziristan, our warrior brothers in [the] Taliban movement and national Afghan Taliban are rising up, he said. Inshallah the Durand Line issue will be solved soon. This April, Mateen was in Washington doing advocacy work with Congress and the State Department Seddique Mateen is an effusive poster on social media. The following posts from his Facebook describe a trip to Washington in April. He can be seen posing in front of State Department offices & the Democratic Foreign Services Committee offices.Mr. Mateen is photographed with numerous Washington Politicians and roaming the halls of Congress:The father of this radical terrorist sure was able to roam freely around the Capitol. Here he is pretending to be Barack Hussein Obama in a mock Presidential Briefing Room:In addition, Got News.Com has discovered the sister of Omar Mateen, Miriam Seddique, purchased Omar s house for $10 in April via a quit claim deed . link It would appear the jihadist Omar Mateen was making preparations for this attack for quite some time.Donald Trump was correct again when he called for additional scrutiny in December of 2015. The families of these terrorists need to be a concentrated focus for attention.Mr. Seddique Mateen even incorporated his entities as The Provisional Government of Afghanistan Corporation in official records in Florida:Via: Conservative Treehouse",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past1531587,1587,"In September 2015, the Sterling Heights, City Council representing a city of 130,000 people in southeastern Michigan, denied the proposal for a mega-mosque in a residential neighborhood populated largely by Christian refugees who fled Islamic persecution in Iraq.Sterling Heights already has two mosques, but a third, the American Islamic Community Center, applied for a permit and was rejected after it was determined its proposed use was incompatible with the residential area. Too much traffic, too little parking, the city planning commission decided by a 9-0 vote against the mosque in September 2015.But in December, the mosque sued the city and the Obama Justice Department joined in, claiming the real reason the mosque was denied was because the city was caving to anti-Muslim bigotry in the community. A settlement deal was announced last night during a Sterling Heights City Council meeting.As expected, the attorney for the mosque developers claimed the reasons these mostly Christian refugees from Iraq are in opposition to a mosque being built in their residential neighborhood fake :Sterling Heights, residents spoke out against the proposed mega-mosque during a planning commission meeting where the residents were given an opportunity to have their views heard by the city council:Many of the Sterling Heights residents who live in the area of the proposed mosque are Christian-Iraqi refugees who fled persecution of Muslims in their native land. The last thing they want is an Islamic mega-mosque erected in their backyards. Before announcing the decision to go ahead with the proposed plan for building the mega-mosque in a local neighborhood, Sterling Heights City Councilman Doug Skrzyniarz claimed the primary reasons for going ahead with the plans were to avoid costly litigation while allowing officials to have more say in the mosque s layout. We have reduced our financial risk and we ve been able to have input on what the actual development is going to contain, Councilman Doug Skrzyniarz told the large crowd. But it s what he said next, that s being reported by local or national news outlets that was even more telling and it happens near the end of the video:",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past1541589,1589,"Shawn Helton 21st Century WireWith the United States in the heat of the 2016 presidential election cycle, key questions surrounding the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia continue to persist as there s a new conspiratorial twist added to an already suspicious case.Recently, here at 21WIRE, we discussed many of the strange circumstances observed in the aftermath of Justice Scalia s death. The 79-year-old conservative justice was found dead in his hotel room at Cibolo Creek Ranch, a luxury ranch located in Presidio County, Texas.There was no official autopsy made by a medical examiner in Scalia s death, only a controversial pronouncement over the phone by Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara.As 21WIRE pointed out in an earlier report regarding Scalia, Guevara appears to have reversed her previous statement claiming that Scalia had died of a heart attack , revising the cause of death to natural causes. Guevara s handling of the death scene of a Supreme Court Justice without being present has drawn sharp criticism from both the media and the public. Controversial conservative firebrand, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. (Photo illustration 21WIRE)Secret Order, Secret Death?On February 24th, The Washington Post published an article entitled Justice Scalia spent his last hours with members of this secretive society of elite hunters : When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died 12 days ago at a West Texas ranch, he was among high-ranking members of an exclusive fraternity for hunters called the International Order of St. Hubertus, an Austrian society that dates back to the 1600s. Continuing, The Washington Post confirmed that indeed, the will not be conducting an investigation into Supreme Court Justice Scalia s death. On an interesting note however, the article states that the was unaware of the secretive international order all together: Law enforcement officials told The Post that they had no knowledge of the International Order of St. Hubertus or its connection to Poindexter and ranch guests. The officials said the had declined to investigate Scalia s death when they were told by the marshals that he died from natural causes. & Members of The International Order of Saint Hubertus, from left: John Kotts, Boysie Bollinger, Vidal Martinez, Reed Morian and John Poindexter. (Photo link chron)The Washington Post article also revealed the identity of Scalia s travel partners: C. Allen Foster, a prominent Washington lawyer who traveled to the ranch with Scalia by private plane, and that Cibolo Creek Ranch owner John Poindexter, along with C. Allen Foster, had flown with Scalia to the ranch for the now infamous quail-hunting trip.Also according to the Post, both Poindexter and Foster, hold leadership positions within the [Saint Hubertus] Order. It is unclear what, if any, official association Scalia had with the group. While the Post acknowledged that many of the 35 guests in attendance at Cibolo Creek Ranch have remained largely unknown to the public eye, they discuss some of the details surrounding the St. Hubertus order, an international brotherhood whose founding member, Count Franz Anton von Sporck , also started a branch of Freemasonry in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic): Members of the worldwide, male-only society wear dark-green robes emblazoned with a large cross and the motto Deum Diligite Animalia Diligentes, which means Honoring God by honoring His creatures, according to the group s website. The conspiratorial coincidence doesn t end there, it was also revealed that The society s [Saint Hubertus] U.S. chapter launched in 1966 at the famous Bohemian Club in San Francisco. What really happened to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. (Photo link twitter)Magic Bullets Become Magic Pillows Another bizarre element to this story, was the description and discovery of Scalia s body when it was first found by Cibolo Creek ranch owner, Poindexter. This aspect of the story is illustrated very clearly in a passage from the blog Followship of the Minds: On February 14, 2016, in an article for mySA (MySanAntonio) titled, Texas Ranch owner recalls Scalia s last hours, reporter John MacCormack quoted Poindexter: We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head.Everything was in perfect order. He was in his pajamas, peacefully, in bed. His bed clothes were unwrinkled. He was lying very restfully. It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap. On February 17, Poindexter clarified his comment to the New York Daily News that There was a pillow over his head, not over his face. The face was entirely clear. And now, the latest.David Warren reports for the that according to a Presidio County Sheriff s Office incident report obtained by The Washington Post on Feb. 23, nothing appeared out of place around Scalia s bed. Three pillows were stacked to elevate Scalia s head. A top pillow appeared to have toppled onto his eyes and forehead but didn t appear positioned to impede his breathing. Scalia s arms were at his side atop the bed covers, which were pulled up to his chin. The bed covers were smooth and creased and showed no sign of a struggle. That is one magic pillow!First, it was over Scalia s head.Then, it was above Scalia s head, whose face was entirely clear .Now, the pillow is neither over nor above Scalia s head, but partially covering his face ( toppled onto his eyes and forehead ), although the pillow made sure to position itself so as not to impede his breathing . The scenic surroundings of Cibolo Creek Ranch. (Photo link tripadvisor)While you have to wonder about the confusion surrounding Scalia s pillow placement, The Washington Post s recent eye-opening revelations regarding the Order of St. Hubertus give us some other things to consider Silencing Conspiracy with ConspiracyThe overtly conspiracy-tinged Post piece is a rarity in the mainstream world, one that conjure s many Hollywood or government tales of murder, deception and intrigue throughout history.The acknowledgement of a decadent Eyes Wide Shut-like secret society on location at Cibolo Creek Ranch prior to Scalia s death, only enhances the drive by voyeurism witnessed since his passing and in a way, it could undermine any legitimate investigation into his death after the fact.While its true, this compelling new detail will most likely bring its lion s share of political protest, as well as predictable calls for congressional inquiry or a push for a federal investigation (as should be) the heavily publicized presence of a secretive fraternal order of hunters nearby a suspicious crime scene, will unfortunately fuel more speculation.Put another way: Whether or not the secret group at Cibolo Creek Ranch was involved in Scalia s death, you have to wonder why the mainstream media revealed this latest conspiratorial element in the first place.Media gatekeepers in television, print and radio will have a field day with this new controversial piece, all the while pushing and pulling the population into a particular corner and by the looks of it, that s already happening.Having said all of this however, there s still much to be concerned with regarding Scalia s highly suspicious death NO- The funeral service for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Oddly, President Obama elected not to attend. (Photo link detroitnewstime)Big Questions RemainOver the years, Scalia s various political connections and political perspective on important issues earned him a controversial reputation.In 2014, Justice Scalia drew harsh criticism for his views on the torture debate, when the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the interrogation techniques used since the 9/11 attacks.Whether you agreed or disagreed with Scalia, it s important to note once again that the high court has several pending landmark cases on climate, abortion and immigration, all within weeks or months of his death.The Post s recent article entitled Scalia could have been poisoned: forensic pathologist, raised even more questions about the state of Scalia s body upon being discovered: Lethal poisoning could have left Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia s body in virtually the same condition in which it was found, a top forensic pathologist [Dr. Michael Baden] told The Post on Wednesday. For the time being, were left to wonder what other secrets lie in Cibolo Creek Ranch regarding the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 Files",fake,dataset,test,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past1551594,1594,"Here s what Politico s headline today looked like:Here s what the leftist anti-American rag Politico had to say about Angela Merkel s visit to the to meet with our new President Donald Trump: This time the media hype surrounding a White House meeting is no wild exaggeration. When President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel finally get together on Friday, the leaders of the West s two most powerful countries are sure to come off more like an odd couple than two close allies chewing over plans for some joint enterprise. And for good reason. Merkel and Trump are not only polar opposites as people, but they share little in terms of international outlook.Their styles reflect their vastly different backgrounds. Merkel, Germany s first and only female chancellor, was raised by a pastor in communist East Germany, where she earned a doctorate in physical chemistry. Although she is the longest-serving and most powerful leader in Europe, she is unfailingly modest, competent and consensus-oriented. Trump s all-about-me mentality, Queens upbringing and brash, tabloid-and-reality- personality couldn t be more different. Could one even imagine the outrage if a piece like this was published about Barack Obama within his first 60 days in office? The mentality of the unhinged left is on display for every American to see and if they keep this up, even for a few more months, they will never win another election. Here s how Nigel Farage, the British rock star who was behind Brexit feels about Merkel s visit to the White House: weblink",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past1561621,1621,"Donald Trump may have been cozying up to Russia during his presidential campaign and the beginning of his presidency, but it looks like the relationship is turning sour thanks to his reckless decision to attack Syria, one of Russia s allies.Russia openly condemned the attack, and even threatened to retaliate against the United States thanks to Trump. However, White House Press Secretary must have not gotten the memo, because he called Russia one of America s allies in reference to Syria during his press briefing on Monday.Not only is that statement false (especially after this Syria fiasco) but Spicer greatly contradicted many people in the Trump administration, and even Trump himself. It s obvious that Russia is a hostile power not an ally but Spicer still said that America would work with allies, including Russia, in committing to ensuring that there are places that are free from violence You can watch Spicer make a fool of himself below:To be fair, Trump s administration does seem to be awfully confused about how it feels about Russia. One one hand, Trump has showed Russian leader Vladimir Putin with praise, yet at times insists that he doesn t know Putin at all. Nikki Haley, our United Nations ambassador, has said Russia cannot be trusted. After the attack in Syria, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insulted Russia and said the country was complicit or incompetent. New National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster considers Russia an adversary.If only the Trump administration could actually send a unified, coherent message but in an administration this incompetent, chaotic, and corrupt, we shouldn t expect too much. Spicer s reference to Russia as allies is embarrassing to the Trump administration, as its own Press Secretary seems clueless about how things are actually unfolding after Trump s disastrous attack on Syria, and the true definition of an ally.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present1571635,1635,"Iraq Darryl Mathis waits in his Pensacola , Florida , home for the body of his 24 year old son to return home from Iraq . Mathis , a military veteran himself , was seething with anger Thursday as he spoke about the death of Army Staff Sgt . Darris J . Dawson . An unnamed U . S . soldier is accused of killing Army Staff Sgt . Darris J . Dawson in Iraq on Sunday . Dawson , and Sgt . Wesley Durbin , 26 , are said to have been shot and killed by another U . S . soldier on Sunday at a base south of Baghdad . Darryl and his wife , Maxine ( Dawson ' s stepmother ) , say the military has told them nothing about the incident : no details on his death , no information at all . His voice shakes as he says he believes that the military has let him down . "" I ' m very disappointed very , "" he said . "" If I would get a straight answer , if they would actually tell me what ' s going on , I would have something to work on but right now , I have nothing to work on . Everything I ' m getting , I ' m getting from the media . "" His wife sobs as she says her stepson ' s death was foreshadowed by a phone call he made to her from Iraq . "" He said that he was more shaky sometimes of the soldiers than of the enemy , because of the young guys over there . "" She said she asked him , "" What in the world do you mean ? You ' re afraid of your own soldiers ? "" "" ' These kids are trying to fight a war they know nothing about . . . . They ' re jumpy . . . . They ' re more scary than the enemy , ' "" she said he told her . "" And I said , ' Oh , God , ' "" said Maxine Mathis . "" A multi national division center soldier died this morning of non combat related causes , "" the first release read . "" The cause of death is under investigation . "" A second release came later in the day . "" A second multi national division center soldier died this morning of non combat related causes . The solider died of wounds September 14 at a coalition forces combat Army support hospital , "" it read . "" The incident is under investigation . "" After naming the two soldiers and giving their rank and unit , it reads , "" A U . S . soldier is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths . He is being held in custody pending review by a military magistrate . The incident continues under investigation . "" The release gives no other details . The U . S . military is classifying the death of Sgt . Dawson as "" non hostile , "" something Dawson ' s father finds puzzling . "" I don ' t know . I really don ' t know , "" he said . "" I just can ' t get it together with that . I had never heard that before . ' Non hostile ' in a war zone ? "" Lt . Col . Paul Swiergosz is a public affairs officer for the area in Iraq where the incident took place . He says the "" non hostile "" death classification was given "" because the deaths were not the result of hostile enemy action . "" But details on what happened remain scarce . A spokesman at Fort Stewart in Georgia said , "" A soldier has been taken into custody . The incident is under investigation , and that is all I can say . "" The spokesman would not even confirm information in his commanding general ' s press statement . Maxine Mathis says she is stunned at how her stepson ' s death has been handled by the military . She says the Army assigned someone to help the family with anything they needed once they found out Darris had been killed , but she and her husband don ' t know how he died . She said her husband asked the liaison officer whether it was true that Darris had been killed by another U . S . solider . She said the officer denied it , insisting he didn ' t know anything else . Darryl Mathis continues to express his disappointment in the lack of information from the military about his son , amid rumors his son ' s body could be home by Saturday . "" I don ' t even know where he ' s at , at this time , "" he said . Bobby Muller , president of Veterans for America , said he thinks the way the military classifies deaths in Iraq is an attempt to keep the public combat numbers down . "" There is a clear and long standing record , regarding the classification of causalities in Iraq to minimize combat losses . And we ' re seeing people wounded and killed that would have well been considered casualties from hostile action in previous conflicts . It ' s an attempt to conceal the actual cost of this war in terms of casualties , "" Muller said . "" The Department of Defense has announced the death of every service member who has given their life in operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom , "" said a Pentagon spokesman , Col . Gary Keck . "" We have been open and transparent on the numbers of casualties suffered in these operations . "" Mathis says his son wanted to come home to his wife and four young children and was in the process of applying for a transfer . "" Last I spoke to him was last week Monday . He called every Monday , and said he was checking his paperwork . He said he was going to call me back once he found out . That was the last I heard from him . "" Mathis ' wife cannot stop sobbing . "" We don ' t know why , we don ' t know why , "" she says "" All we know is that our son died a useless , needless death . That ' s all we know . "" ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1581646,1646,"Suspected mastermind of Paris attacks killed in raid , says France The suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks that killed 129 people was questioned by German police at Cologne Bonn airport early a year ago before he boarded a plane to Istanbul , Spiegel magazine reported on Thursday , quoting security officials . Hundreds of heavily armed officers stormed the apartment complex , triggering a massive firefight and explosions . France has confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the suspected mastermind of last week ' s deadly Paris attacks , was killed during a major police raid on Wednesday . His body was found in the complex "" riddled with bullets "" , the prosecutor ' s office said on Thursday . Headlines flashed around the world this week that Aitboulahcen had become Europe ' s first woman suicide bomber , after officials said they believed she had blown herself up at the scene of the raid in a northern Paris suburb . A handbag containing a passport in her name was found in the debris , prosecutors said . Abaaoud was involved in a planned attack on churchgoers in the Paris suburb of Villejuif and investigations are continuing into his possible involvement in an attempted attack on a Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris in August , he said . Mr Abaaoud had not been taken alive , the authorities said , and it now appeared that one of the bodies was his . One said the woman , Hasna Aitboulahcen , is believed to have detonated a suicide vest in the building after a brief conversation with police officers . "" Yesterday night a female body , whose identity remains unconfirmed , was found at the apartment "" , Molins added , bringing the total number of dead in the Saint Denis raid to three . In response to the attacks , France has stepped up its airstrikes against the terrorist group at its homebase in Syria , and French military spokesman Col . Gilles Jaron said that military forces have destroyed 35 Islamic State targets in the region . Meanwhile , Belgian media reports several witnesses have spotted Salah Abdeslam , one of the suspected Paris attacks gunmen , in Brussels . The move expands powers to allow police to carry out arrests and searches , while authorities can ban the movement of people and vehicles at specific times and places . "" Abaaoud was implicated in four of them "" , Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters , shortly after the Islamic State jihadist ' s death was confirmed by French prosecutors ' office . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1591654,1654,"Nicola Sturgeon is behaving like Vladimir Putin by ' stoking division in England ' , a senior Tory warns . In a provocative intervention , Ben Wallace last night accused Scotland ' s First Minister of trying to break up Britain using the same tactics as the Russian president in the early days of the Ukraine crisis . Miss Sturgeon will use her keynote speech at the ' s conference in Glasgow today to insist that she will ' demand an end to slash and burn austerity ' in return for propping up Ed Miliband in Downing Street . A senior Tory has said Scotland ' s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ( right ) is behaving like Russia ' s Vladimir Putin ( left ) by ' stoking division in England ' She will claim to be sending a ' message of friendship and solidarity ' to English voters who want an end to spending cuts that ' tear at the very fabric of society ' . But Mr Wallace , a serving government whip who was once a Member of the Scottish Parliament , last night accused her of masterminding a plot designed to anger English voters and hasten the break up of the . ' Nicola Sturgeon is intent on stoking division in England in the same way Putin used it to break apart Ukraine , ' he said . ' I ' m talking about the early days in the Ukraine crisis , before the tanks , when he spread division and fear in order for it to splinter apart . ' Separatists all over the world use division and nationalism to break up countries . Sturgeon may dress it up as friendliness , but that is what she wants she wants England to tell the Scots to get lost . ' Labour could stop this if Miliband said he would not proceed with legislation . . . that could not get through without votes . But if Labour ' s greed for power allows her to succeed , then God help the . ' Miss Sturgeon has previously provoked anger by saying she would ' lock the Tories out ' of Downing Street in the event of a hung parliament even if they win the most seats . Miss Sturgeon has said she has no qualms about installing Mr Miliband ( pictured ) in No 10 She said she would have no qualms about installing Mr Miliband in No 10 , despite believing that Scotland should not even be part of the . But she warned she would push for ' an end to austerity and the non renewal of Trident ' in return . Treasury figures show the ' s plans would involve an extra 148billion of spending leading to higher borrowing and taxes . However polls predict the party could win more than 50 of Scotland ' s 59 seats at the election and could potentially prop up a minority Labour government . Miss Sturgeon will claim today that her party ' s Left wing stance appeals to millions of voters in England . She will tell activists : ' To ordinary people across these islands who feel just as let down by the out of touch Westminster system as we do , I have a very clear message . ' It is a message of friendship and solidarity . As long as Scotland remains part of the Westminster system , we will be your allies in seeking to reform that outdated system . ' So to people in England , Wales and Northern Ireland , I make this promise . The stands ready to work with you . We will demand an alternative to slash and burn austerity . ' Former Tory defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth accused Miss Sturgeon of ' arrogance ' for boasting that she could hand power to Labour even if it loses the election . He said : ' We have had the Scottish referendum , which she lost , and now she wants to dictate policy to England what arrogance . The has demonstrated that it is deeply socialist far worse even than Labour . ' He said it would be ' catastrophic ' for the if the held the balance of power , as it would lead to ' more spending and borrowing , higher taxes and weaker defences ' . Fellow Tory Michael Ellis said Labour appeared to have been ' taken hostage ' by the . ' It is quite clear that Alex Salmond will ride roughshod over Miliband and hold him to ransom for a very high price . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1601656,1656,"Washington As you turn on your and watch the endless controversy over embryonic stem cell research , ask yourself : Should the government spend taxpayer dollars to develop that bulky old cathode ray television you once owned ? As you install your 79 Blu ray player , what if Uncle Sam was paying millions to develop Betamax videotapes ? This kind of government waste is what embryonic stem cell researchers are demanding even when science itself , according to scientists such as former Director Bernadine Healy , has made embryonic stem cell research obsolete . Yet the Obama Justice Department is appealing a recent federal court ruling that stopped funding of embryonic stem cell research because it was contrary to Congress ' 1995 law that decided to spend tax dollars on projects that produce treatments instead of destroyed embryos . This is a far from baseless ethical concern , as it is tied to the fact that an embryo is a genetically distinct human being from the moment of conception . In denying the administration ' s request for a stay , the court rightly found , "" Defendants are incorrect about much of their ' parade of horribles ' that will supposedly result from this court ' s preliminary injunction . Congress has mandated that the public interest is served by preventing taxpayer funding of research that entails the destruction of human embryos . "" Nonetheless , upon being given a short temporary stay by the appeals court while it receives briefs in the case , the National Institutes of Health immediately began spending American taxpayer dollars like a drunken sailor on 24 hour shore leave . Another view : Court ruling a blow to U . S . science Human embryonic stem cell research is the 10 , 000 toilet seat of the 21st century . Years ago , science created a cell that appears to be , in the words of an study published last month , "" virtually identical "" to an embryonic stem cell but is cheaper , promises better compatibility to patients and kills no embryos . These new induced pluripotent stem cells ( iPSCs ) "" do all the things embryonic stem cells do , "" explains the father of human embryonic stem cells James Thomson . Harvard ' s David Scadden agrees that iPSC technology "" is absolutely changing the field . "" IPSCs "" perhaps even eliminate the need for human embryos as a source of stem cells , "" says Keisuke Kaji of the University of Edinburgh . IPSCs even caused the man who cloned Dolly the sheep to abandon cloning three years ago because "" changing cells from a patient directly into stem cells has got so much more potential . "" "" The world has changed , "" Thomson told The Boston Globe in 2007 . "" Human embryo stem cell research will be abandoned by more and more labs . "" But not by people who put politics over science . For some , "" virtually identical "" is just not enough . Although all researchers agree or admit iPSCs are a promising development worthy of ongoing research , embryonic stem cell research advocates still want to take millions of taxpayer dollars away from that more promising research to fuel their less promising research . With the help of Washington politicians , they ' re holding taxpayer dollars hostage to the tune of 300 million spent and pledged in just over a year . Perhaps that ' s one reason why , during these times of intense economic strain , a new Rasmussen poll shows that only 33 percent of U . S . voters believe that taxpayer money should be spent on embryonic stem cell research . Talking heads promote embryonic cells by alleging a "" potential "" for cures , but money is much better spent on iPSCs . Stem cell research that destroys human embryos is also taking money away from successful adult stem cell work , in which no embryos are destroyed . Found in people already born , adult stem cells are the only cells with a track record of actually and successfully treating patients . Adult stem cells have grown new corneas and tracheas , restoring sight and speech . Adult stem cells placed into children have repaired damage from fatal genetic skin diseases . As News reported on August 2 , adult stem cells appear to have the ability to stimulate tissue repair and to suppress the immune system . "" That gives adult stem cells really a very interesting and potent quality that embryonic stem cells don ' t have , "" said Rocky Tuan , director of a cellular engineering institute at the University of Pittsburgh . Meanwhile , embryonic stem cell researchers have produced no treatments at all . Their own technology dates back to the Stone Age in today ' s pace of science , whereas this year ' s prestigious Balzan Prize for biology recently went to iPSC pioneer Shinya Yamanaka . So , like many failed industries , embryo researchers demand a taxpayer bailout . They claim that they ' re too big to fail , when in fact they ' ve never succeeded . Director Francis Collins melodramatically announced that the district court ' s injunction against his funding of embryonic stem cell research , in spite of the 1995 law against such funding , "" poured sand into the engine of discovery . "" The problem is that Collins is wasting taxpayer money on "" discovering "" the equivalent of the riverboat steam engine . Advocates for embryo destructive research respond that the government should fund all research if any money is left over after they get theirs . But American taxpayers are not a bottomless grab bag of cash . They should not be forced to waste precious dollars on partisan science , especially when economic ruin fueled by government waste is a looming specter . Embryonic stem cell research should go into the dinosaur museum where it belongs . Any funding should be focused on the real , clean promise of iPSCs and on the miracles that are being produced today by adult stem cell treatments . Embryo destruction has sidetracked good stem cell research long enough . The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Matt Bowman . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present1611659,1659,"AJ+ interviewed a group of fifth graders following the most recent republican debate.What these kids had to say about the way the supposed grown-ups behaved on the debate stage says it all. You re adults, you re not children, one girl says. I mean it s crazy, she continues, before burying her head in her hands, in exasperation.Eleven-year-old Colin Baird pointed out that the candidates are setting a terrible example for kids, saying, What if kids are seeing that on or something, thinking Oh, well, they re doing it, maybe I can. As Addicting Info pointed out here, republican candidates habitually engage in behaviors no decent parent would want their child to imitate, like name-calling and bullying, not to mention arguing about whose penis is bigger.But unlike the candidates, the kids in this video are clearly smart enough to know right from wrong.They were easily able to spot the bullying behavior they saw the candidates engaging in, and quick to call it out for what it is.When asked what a bully is, eleven-year-old Maura Sammis immediately answered by saying Donald Trump. Another student responded by saying, I think a bully is someone who is deliberately trying to hurt somebody in some way, or make them feel bad. Ten-year-old Oliver Andress might have summed it up best when he said, They all just want to get in the White House. He added, They will play dirty. Another student pointed out the differences she noticed between the democratic debates and the republican debates. The democrats, they don t fight, she said. All they do is talk about politics. She goes to say, I don t want to hear about stuff that s about other people. I just want to hear about politics. The students in this video obviously know a lot more about acting like a grown-up than the candidates running for office on the ticket.Watch the video below, courtesy of AJ+ on Facebook. // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ""//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3""; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>Fifth Graders Call Trump a Bully You re adults it s crazy. Fifth graders weigh in on the presidential candidates.Posted by AJ+ on Saturday, March 5, 2016 Featured image via video screen capture from AJ+ on Facebook",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1621662,1662,"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaksat a campaign event in Springfield , Illinois on Monday . Washington : A winnowed crop of eight candidates takes the stage on Tuesday for the next Republican presidential debate , with surging outsider Ben Carson s tumultuous backstory under the microscope and Jeb Bush fighting for his political life . The showdown in Milwaukee , Wisconsin comes two and a half months before the first statewide votes in the primary process to determine which Republican and which Democrat will square off in the November 2016 election that determines who succeeds Barack Obama in the White House . Amid pressure to narrow the field for the party s fourth debate in the series ? the race two months ago had bulged to 17 contenders ? broadcaster Fox Business Network changed the format from previous Republican clashes , with only eight candidates at the podiums instead of 10 . Low pollers New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee failed to make the cut . They are relegated to the undercard debate , which begins at 0000 Wednesday and features four back of the pack candidates . Two others , Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York governor George Pataki , have generated virtually zero support and were bumped from the proceedings altogether . Republicans Carson and billionaire Donald Trump are riding high in public polls and besting their establishment counterparts , most of whom are struggling to gain traction in a political environment saturated with populist anger . Carson , a retired neurosurgeon who like Trump has never held elected office , has become the focus of intense scrutiny as media pore over elements of his undeniably inspirational personal narrative , including his accounts about his violent adolescence , when he says he attempted to kill a classmate . There s no question I m getting special scrutiny , because there are a lot of people who are very threatened , and then they have seen the recent head to head polling against Hillary ( Clinton ) and how well I do , Carson told television s Face the Nation programme on Sunday . Carson , who has detailed the incidents in his autobiography Gifted Hands , as well as an account of being offered a full scholarship to the Military Academy at West Point , has claimed the media vetting is unfair . Pal , you ain t seen nothing yet , Huckabee , speaking on , said of Carson . We all have to answer for the things that we put in our own books , Huckabee added on Fox News . People are going to pick them apart , and you d better have your facts right . Many will be watching whether Jeb Bush , the politically privileged early front runner now languishing in single digit support , will show more spirit and spark in the fourth Republican showdown than he did in the third , when he was bested by Senator Marco Rubio , his former political apprentice . I know I have to get better , Bush told supporters last week after his lacklustre performance . That previous debate , hosted by cable business channel , is remembered for the confrontational tone that moderators took with the candidates , many of whom complained bout being asked gotcha questions . Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus , who labelled the debate a crap sandwich , said he hoped Tuesday night would be an opportunity to turn the page and address substantive issues . Fox Business News has vowed to play nice . My goal is to make myself invisible , Neil Cavuto , one of three moderators for the prime time event , told Politico . We re not the issue , he stressed . The answers to what we re raising become the issue . Republicans have been in an adversarial relationship with debate moderators for decades , said Ben Voth , a communications professor at Southern Methodist University . Ever since 1992 , the Republicans have pretty consistently taken the view that the media is hostile and unfair to their arguments , he told . The natural media trend ( is ) pressing for conflict in debates , he added . Trump , who with Carson will be front and Centre , said he is ready for whatever comes his way . I think it will be very fair questions , unlike the catastrophe of the last debate , he told s This Week . Trump s confrontational bluster has been a hallmark of his campaign , and he may seize the opportunity to lash out at his rival . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1631667,1667,"Abdullah Bakar , 48 from Croydon who died in a freak car accident while his Vauxhall Zafira was being towed by the A minicab boss was killed in a freak accident when a car being towed by the broke free and collided with an oncoming vehicle . Abdullah Bakar called the emergency breakdown service when his minivan ' s clutch stopped working while he was on his way to work . Unable to fix the Vauxhall Zafira by the side of the road , the patrolman began to tow the vehicle using a fixed rigid bar . This meant Mr Bakar , a father of seven , had to sit in the van and steer . Witnesses say the car suddenly veered to one side as it was travelling down a straight section of road . It hit a bank of earth on the verge and became detached from the vehicle before crashing head on into a car driving the other way . Mr Bakar , 48 , was taken by ambulance to hospital following the collision in Croydon , South London , but was pronounced dead at St George ' s Hospital in Tooting . Police are investigating exactly what caused the minivan to break away from the vehicle . Mr Bakar came to Britain after fleeing war torn Somalia in the early 1990s . He worked as a minicab driver and part owned a firm that specialised in taking passengers to airports around London . Accident scene : The driver of the black Vauxhall Zafira died after it broke free from the van which was towing it in a freak accident in Croydon , south London Staff at his company said he had taken more driving roles recently while he studied for ' the Knowledge ' test of London streets so he could become a licensed black cab driver . Business colleague Usman Patel , 45 , who runs Easy Cars in Battersea , South London , said Mr Bakar was a ' wonderful family man ' . ' It is a very difficult time for us here as he was a very well loved and respected man . ' We don ' t even know what has happened as he was a very cautious driver and seems to have been towed at the time . Wreckage : The driver of the Vauxhall Zafira suffered a heart attack at the wheel and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital ' It ' s very upsetting as I think he has seven children and I ' ve met his oldest boy who is 18 . He was a wonderful family man who loved his children very much . ' A post mortem examination held yesterday gave the cause of death as a head injury . A man travelling in the second car was taken to hospital before being released . Probe : Police cordoned off the road in south Croydon , London , while an investigation got underway following the crash on Tuesday morning Naz Dagnell , who heard the crash just after 9am on Tuesday , said : ' It was like a big thunder crash . Then I heard the sirens going up the road and saw the air ambulance . ' It ' s really sad to hear of something like this happening so close to your doorstep . ' Mr Bakar ' s family , who live in Croydon , were too upset to speak last night . A Met Police spokesman said : ' It appears the victim was in a black Vauxhall Zafira which was being towed by a recovery vehicle on a rigid bar . Accident : The driver was being towed when his car broke free and crashed into a second vehicle ' The car being towed then appeared to swerve before colliding with a bank at the side of the road and breaking free from the towing vehicle . ' A second vehicle was subsequently in collision with the Vauxhall . ' An spokesman said : ' Following the tragic incident involving an member , our thoughts are with the families and friends of those involved . ' The incident is under investigation so we are unable to comment further . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1641688,1688,"Mexico Mexican authorities were searching Wednesday for two politicians accused of belonging to the Familia Michoacana drug cartel , which is blamed for killing more than 30 federal police officers in a series of attacks since Saturday . Drug violence is up in Michoacan state , shown by recent attacks on police in at least a half dozen cities . Julio Cesar Godoy Toscano , elected July 5 to the lower house of Congress , is accused of being in charge of protection for the cartel , said Monte Alejandro Rubido Garcia , head of the National Public Security Council . Godoy Toscano is half brother to Michoacan ' s governor , Leonel Godoy Rangel , who Wednesday urged his relative to surrender . Authorities also said they are searching for Saul Solis Solis , alias "" El Lince , "" who lost his bid for a congressional seat this month . He is accused of being in charge of the cartel ' s activities in the Huacana area . Solis is a cousin of Enrique Plancarte Solis , a Familia Michoacana leader , Rubido said . Both suspects report to Servando Gomez Martinez , known as "" La Tuta , "" Rubido said . Godoy Toscano was elected as a member of the opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party , known as the . The party said Wednesday it would not protect Godoy Toscano or any member who has broken the law . Godoy Rangel , the Michoacan governor , told a radio station there ' s nothing he could do to help his fugitive brother . "" I cannot protect anyone , not even my children , "" the government run news agency Notimex quoted him as saying . He said Wednesday that he has no intention of resigning , because he has done nothing wrong , Notimex said . Solis sought election as a member of the Green Ecological Party of Mexico . The party , commonly called the , announced Wednesday it had broken relations with Solis . In recent days , Michoacan , the home state of President Felipe Calderon , has become a flash point for the country ' s war against the drug cartels . The sudden spike in violence followed the arrest Saturday of Arnoldo Rueda Medina , whom authorities described as a high ranking member of La Familia Michoacana . Cartel members first attacked the federal police station in Morelia to try to gain freedom for Rueda , authorities said . When that failed , drug gangs attacked federal police installations in at least a half dozen Michoacan cities . The Michoacan cartel also is accused in the slaying of 12 federal police officers whose bodies were found Tuesday on a remote highway . Video from the scene showed three signs , known as narcomensajes , left by the killers . They all stated the same thing : "" So that you come for another . We will be waiting for you here . "" Rubido announced the arrest Tuesday of Francisco Javier Frias Lara , known as "" El Chivo , "" in connection with the killings . Frias also is an alleged member of La Familia Michoacana . Reprisals from drug cartels after major arrests have been reported before , but the intensity of the attacks in Michoacan are unprecedented . This week ' s violence solidifies the cartel as a major and violent player in Mexico ' s drug wars , said Bruce Bagley , a professor at the University of Miami and an expert on drug trafficking . An unprecedented wave of violence has washed over Mexico since Calderon declared war on the drug cartels shortly after coming into office in 2006 . More than 10 , 000 people have died in that time span , about 1 , 000 of them police . This weekend , in the border city of Ciudad Juarez , the toll of drug related deaths for the year topped 1 , 000 , a level the Mexican city did not reach last year until September . At this point last year , the violence plagued city , across the border from El Paso , Texas , had tallied 596 killings , El Universal newspaper said Tuesday , citing figures from the Chihuahua state attorney general ' s office . Also in Chihuahua state , a mayor was shot and killed Tuesday morning while on his way to work . Ariel Meixequeiro had twice temporarily left his post because he had been threatened by crime gangs , El Universal said . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1651704,1704,"The results of the first round of the French regional elections sound like the manifestation of a terrible political crisis in our country . Indeed , the victories of the far right National Front suggest that this party with its lies , hatred , and the rejection of democracy might end up leading several of France ' s regions . With the 2017 presidential elections already on the horizon , the dynamic this could create should not be overlooked . Therefore , the main parties ( the Republicans and the Socialist Party ) must dedicate themselves , where necessary , to sacrificing their own lists in order to block the National Front . The Socialist Party should , despite some positions taken by regional leadership , remove its listings for the second round in Nord Pas de Calais Picardy , Provence Alpes Cote d ' Azur and Alsace Champagne Ardennes Lorraine . The first secretary of the Socialist Party has already announced that the party will drop out of the first two regions , a move that should be welcomed . It would be pointless to add disgrace to defeat . Letting the take over these regions would open an avenue for hate in the next presidential elections , further endangering democracy and its values . But beyond these inevitable tactical decisions , the outcome of these regional elections should also induce the Republicans to question their responsibilities . First , the party ' s refusal to initiate real equality of power and revisit the national project has meant that it failed to seize the momentum and hopes that came out of the 2012 elections . That refusal deprived the left of its ability to support a strong cultural agenda , an agenda against which the National Front now progresses by reaping the fruit of French fears born of the upheavals of globalization and non extinguished passions linked to our colonial past . Then , the division of the infantile left created a paradoxical situation in which , despite having received a decent number of votes , the left is now in a position to be defeated in several regions . The left must cease to be a divided power that demands its potential allies to match its social liberal agenda those allies who accuse the people in power of having an excessive love for the market . Normally , we would call this behavior childish . In the current circumstances , it can more accurately be described as suicidal . Obviously , the right has an extremely heavy historical responsibility in this situation . Their frantic race populism has strongly contributed to trivialize the discourse and the proposals of the National Front . It ' s worth remembering that they were once held on the edge of Republican legitimacy . The evil genius of this strategy is Nicolas Sarkozy , who has instilled the French with a hysteria of security concerns , mistrust vis a vis Muslims ( who , in 2007 , were deemed problematic because they slaughtered sheep in their bathtubs ) , a rise of identity madness and sick debates , and , last but not least , his Grenoble speech , which stigmatized the Roma and opened the door to discussions of stripping them of their nationality . But the picture would not be complete if we did not talk about the media , which , since 2011 , has highlighted the National Front ' s demonization strategies and its racist discourse . The game that the is playing against the rest of the world has too often been framed by the media , who saw it as a source of suspense , or a way to disseminate , via the words of the what many of their leaders and journalists were thinking , namely : "" But really , the Arabs are pissing us off , especially since my son was beaten up after school and little Mohamed , with his degrees , can now reach positions of economic , political or social influence . "" But , despite this buffet of culpability on the part of politicians and the media , the responsibility of voting still lies with the voters , among whom we ' ve seen two problematic trends : abstaining , and voting for the National Front . Both decisions deserve to be questioned . Just weeks after the attacks aimed at injecting the virus of civil war in our country , is it the right decision to retreat into a vote that facilitates the mad nightmare of our enemies , or to abstain altogether , allowing the worst to happen anyway ? This post first appeared on HuffPost France . It has been translated into English and edited for clarity . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1661710,1710,"Upon discovering a series of inexplicable markings on the regulation basketball being used during his team ' s game against the Nuggets Monday , Suns center Shaquille O ' Neal halted play to decipher the meaning hidden in the ball ' s mysterious symbols and was subsequently called for a 24 second violation . "" I never saw anything written on the ball before , "" said O ' Neal , adding that he had not considered the possibility of using a basketball as a device to access information . "" In my first glimpse , I had no idea what to make of the bizarre inscriptions I found on the surface , because the referee took the ball away before I could complete a proper analysis . "" "" I will do whatever it takes to break the code of these intriguing but unintelligible messages , "" the 15 time all star continued . "" I can only believe that encrypted in that seeming gibberish is a deeper meaning , perhaps the ancient secrets of the known universe or even the itself . "" O ' Neal , who finished the game with 19 points and three blocked shots , was reportedly aggressive while calling for the ball , jumping for rebounds , and questioning his teammates about the origin of the curious symbols during fast breaks . According to Suns point guard Steve Nash , O ' Neal spent several minutes at the foul line in the fourth quarter speculating aloud as to whether the writings represented a cryptic warning to all big men or might unlock the ability to manipulate space and time . "" He kind of freaked out on me when I suggested that it could be an upside down ' S ' connected to a ' P , ' "" Nash said . "" After the ref finally warned him to take his shot or risk a technical , Shaq pulled me aside and said the team ' s cryptographer would probably think differently . "" Though O ' Neal said it would be irrational to present theories without a solid foundation of research , the 37 year old did claim that the mysterious inscriptions were definitely created by a more advanced basketball civilization with vastly superior technology . While acknowledging that humans have made impressive scientific progress , O ' Neal opined that our culture has not yet developed the sophisticated tools required to embed complex informational structures on the spherical surface of a basketball . Following the Suns ' 118 115 victory over the Nuggets , O ' Neal was seen hurrying off the court to the locker room , where he conducted a number of tests on a ball . O ' Neal ' s first experiment , which consisted of squeezing a lemon wedge over the ball to draw out any invisible markings hidden on its surface , was inconclusive , and he expressed annoyance when forced to suspend his research for head coach Alvin Gentry ' s postgame talk . "" Observing the inscription ' s sensitivity to high levels of heat seems like a much better use of my time , "" O ' Neal said . "" I certainly wouldn ' t place his feeble recognition of our success in the same realm as my reality shattering discovery . "" O ' Neal , who drove to a nearby Sports Authority retail store with the intention of purchasing hundreds of similar basketballs , was distraught when a clerk asked him if he wanted the synthetic version . "" If all these balls are artificial , mere replicas , then that leads to the question of the existence of the original , what I have termed the One True Ball which may not even exist , "" said O ' Neal , scratching at his face with his fingers . "" And if the One True Ball is a mere mental construct , an ideal of perfection , then by extrapolation it becomes impossible to verify that the or life as we know it is even real . Perhaps we are all stuck in separate adjacent dimensions and never actually interact with one another . "" "" Which ultimately means that we are caught in some kind of cosmic lie , "" O ' Neal added . "" All my efforts to create a Shaqtopia were for naught . "" ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past1671720,1720,"A Canadian woman accused of stalking Alec Baldwin began sending "" a series of annoying and unsolicited communications "" to the actor after having dinner with him in fall 2010 , according to a criminal complaint filed Monday . Genevieve Sabourin , 40 , was arrested by New York police Sunday on five misdemeanor counts of harassment and stalking after she appeared at Baldwin ' s Manhattan home . A judge released Sabourin on her own recognizance after a court appearance Monday , but ordered her to return for a May 14 hearing . Until then , she must keep away from Baldwin , 53 , and not send him any e mails or text messages , the judge ordered . Their encounters , including an incident Friday night , during which she showed up at a Lincoln Center movie screening hosted by Baldwin , has caused him to suffer "" anxiety , annoyance and fear , "" the court filing said . She sent Baldwin a dozen e mails last week that added to his stress , the complaint said . "" I , , , ! "" an April 4 e mail said . "" I , . I 10 . I , "" another message the same day read . "" I ' M , I , "" she wrote , according to the court document . Two days later , Baldwin got this e mail : "" I I . I I . . . . I I ' T , , I . . . , I . I , I . "" A e mail sent to Baldwin Saturday read in part : "" I , I . I . "" The complaint described Baldwin ' s previous relationship with the woman as limited to their meeting "" briefly for dinner in the fall of 2010 . "" However , she served as a unit publicist for the 2002 Eddie Murphy movie "" The Adventures of Pluto Nash , "" in which Baldwin had a cameo role . It was not immediately clear whether Baldwin and Sabourin met on the set . Sabourin is described in several media reports as an actress however , her online LinkedIn resume lists her current occupation as a film producer in Montreal . Police confirmed she is from Montreal . The stalking suspect ' s acting resume is sparse , with a handful of small roles in Canadian productions , the last in 2007 , according to the Internet Movie Database . Her biggest film acting credit appears to be in Tom Sizemore ' s "" Swindle , "" a 2002 crime thriller , according to the IMDb . Baldwin is engaged to marry Hilaria Thomas , a 27 year old yoga instructor . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1681727,1727,"Planet Earth viewers demand legal system for animals 15-11-16 Earth viewers have demanded that animals get their own criminal justice system to stop them doing horrible things. After the wildlife documentary showed snakes trying to kill a baby iguana, many Britons now believe animals need their own laws and a police force. Administrator Nikki Hollis said: “These snakes are doing the most horrific things without the slightest fear of being arrested and punished. “Animals need to realise they won’t be safe until they have laws and enforce them. Gorillas could be the police, because they’re massive and won’t put up with any nonsense, and wise animals like owls could be judges. “Criminal animals will soon get the message once a few are sentenced to life for murder. Obviously animals don’t have prisons yet but I’m sure the monkeys could build cages.” Graphic designer Tom Logan said: “After seeing the extent of lawlessness in the animal kingdom I think we need to get the human courts involved. “The conviction rate will be high because most animals make no attempt to hide their crimes, leaving a wealth of and video evidence. “We also need an emergency rescue service for baby penguins, because that episode of Life in the Freezer made me blub in front of my mates.” Share:",fake,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1691741,1741,"host Carol Costello was so fed up with a Trump s supporter s claims of voter fraud that she threatened to cut the interview short and then destroyed her with facts.Crazy Trump supporter Betsey McCaughey made every effort to squeeze in every little claim of voter fraud she could think of during her appearance on on Thursday. This nation has been victimized by rampant election fraud, McCaughey declared, citing a Pew report to claim that dead people are voting, forcing Costello to warn her about making claims that are not true. McCaughey made her claims in defense of Donald Trump s assertion that the election is rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton.When Costello and Democratic strategist Sally Kohn ripped into the Republican nominee for refusing to say that he will concede on Election Day if he loses, McCaughey tried to spin it by claiming that Trump didn t say he wouldn t accept the results, only that he would wait until the results come in before he makes a decision.However, her spin is now void because Trump told a crowd in Ohio that he will only accept the results if I win. When McCaughey continued to falsely claim that there is mass voter fraud in this country, Costello slammed the brakes on the discussion and told McCaughey that if she continues to lie her mic will be cut.COSTELLO: Stop! Or I m going to have to cut this interview short. McCaughey: You don t want people to hear the evidence? As McCaughey continued to make her claims, the discussion only became more heated as a frustrated Costello put an end to the discussion and called for a break while producers pulled up some evidence for Costello to hit McCaughey with.Here s the video via YouTube.But McCaughey had no evidence and Costello proved it after the commercial break by playing video of Ohio s Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted saying that Trump s claims are irresponsible and that America s system of elections are fair and secure and we should not question the legitimacy of it. Costello then informed McCaughey that the Pew reports she cited only says that there are dead voters still registered and that the system needs to be updated. It did say that these dead people are voting.Sally Kohn then pointed out that a comprehensive study found that out of one billion votes cast between 2000 and 2014, there were only 31 possible cases of voter fraud.Here s that video via YouTube.In short, voter fraud is a myth perpetuated by Republicans in order to justify voter laws designed to suppress voters and as an excuse to explain how Democrats are able to win elections.Donald Trump is using the myth as an excuse to why he would lose to Hillary Clinton and he is making a treasonous mockery of our democratic process by doing so.Featured Image: Screenshot",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past1701750,1750,"The chances of a team managed by Jose Mourinho giving up a seven point lead with 14 matches left is as likely as Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert putting Chelsea ' s staff on his Christmas card list . Mourinho walked off the Villa Park turf a winner for the first time too quickly for Lambert to shake his hand but insisted he would only see Chelsea as champions when the title was sealed . ' A Jose Mourinho team is a team like the others , ' he said . ' If we have a seven point lead with two matches to go we are champions . Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho ( right ) and Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert ( right ) shout instructions Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic celebrates scoring the Blues ' winner at Villa Park on Saturday Juan Cuadrado ( left ) takes on Villa ' s Cissokho as the Colombian came on for his Premier League debut Villa ' s run without scoring was the fourth worst in Premier League history . ' If we have a seven point lead with three matches to go we need two points . And it ' s not three matches , it ' s 14 , so there ' s a long time to go . ' By May , this may well be viewed as a pivotal weekend in the title race , one when the leaders recovered from conceding to the worst attack in English football while Manchester City failed to beat lowly Hull at home . It can also be seen as another chapter in the fraught relationship between Chelsea and Villa . Lambert was left seething by the behaviour of a Mourinho ally , understood to be Rui Faria a renowned wind up merchant 10 minutes before the interval . Didier Drogba went down holding his head following an aerial duel with Ciaran Clark , prompting an exchange of words in the technical areas . Lambert removed his coat as if ready for action . Eden Hazard slides and clenches his fists in celebration after putting Chelsea ahead against Villa on Saturday Afterwards , Mourinho appeared to criticise Lambert by suggesting Villa should not be struggling near the bottom of the table . ' If they go down it is not because of the quality of their players , ' said Mourinho . ' I believe they are not going down . This is a big club . ' Asked if it would be Lambert ' s fault if Villa dropped a division , Mourinho replied : ' I am saying nothing . I am saying that ' s football . They have more than enough . ' The pair clashed earlier this season when Mourinho tried to shake Lambert ' s hand before full time in Chelsea ' s 3 0 win at Stamford Bridge . Mourinho had tongue wedged in cheek when saying Lambert and his then assistant Roy Keane were ' very polite and well educated people ' . Jores Okore ( right ) of celebrates with Carles Gil after scoring Villa ' s first league goal in exactly 11 hours Okore and Ciaran Clark run over to the Villa supporters to celebrate scoring the goal which ended the drought Lambert seemed surprised at any praise coming from the Portuguese . ' Whether he is trying to put pressure on me , I don ' t know , ' said the Scot . ' Was it genuine ? We ' ll call it genuine ish . I would love to learn from him as a manager but I wouldn ' t like to learn things off the pitch from someone in his dug out . ' Lambert must switch his focus to more important matters . Villa travel to Hull on Tuesday for a game of great significance . Jores Okore , who scored Villa ' s first Premier League goal in 11 hours , said only victory would do . ' It ' s a really big game against a team who are close to us , ' he said . ' Those are the matches you need to win . ' Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic scored the goals against Villa that increased Chelsea ' s lead over City . Mourinho called the Serbian one of the club ' s best signings and his winner a half volley to make ' every striker in the world proud ' . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1711754,1754,"Phew ! In a likely turn of the screw , Shayanna Jenkins may turnabout and make it fair play . The fianc e of Aaron Hernandez has made a deal with the prosecution and it bodes unwell for the former Patriot . Shayanna has gone from Wicked Witch of the East to Glinda , the Good Witch , in a matter of a screw turn . Even Judge Susan E . Garsh is aboard on this one . She will forgive the perjury charges against Ms Jenkins if she decides to tell all on the stand . Since she never married the footloose and fancy free Hernandez , what she can reveal may turn the screw several times in both directions . It is likely she can give evidence about his relationship with murder victim Odin Lloyd and she can reveal whatever the nitwit Patriot told her without the privilege of wedded vows . Though the two have a daughter in common , that may be the end of any tandem . For the past few weeks , Shayanna has sat behind Hernandez taking copious notes . She may be noting all the discrepancies that she can explain . In the past Shayanna sat next to Hernandez ' s mother and brother . It now appears she will be sitting on the other side of the aisle , no longer siding with the groom to be . Turned screws are never pleasant , whether applied to the thumb and another large part of the anatomy . It looks like Hernandez bit off more than he could chew when he counted on his future bride to set him free . Suddenly Shayanna ' s testimony looks about as riveting as Lee Remick ' s in Anatomy of a Murder . If the prosecution had a witness like Jenkins in the Simpson trial , history would be facing a different direction . We have reached the Perry Mason moment of the trial . The electric screwdriver is now in the hands of the prosecution to the ever shock of Hernandez ' s ninja lawyers . ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present1721765,1765,"Prior to the Nov. 8 election, the was, more or less, Trumpland. They wanted Trump to win. They neither trusted nor approved of Hillary Clinton. And that anti-Hillary attitude led to a number of anti-Hillary leaks to the press from the agency. They were angry with James Comey s decision not to indict Hillary over her emails.Now, though, the is wracked with shock, anger and grief over Comey s sudden firing. According to the Daily Beast, one agent said his abrupt dismissal was like a death in the family. Another said that they re basically sitting shiva, which is a Jewish ritual of mourning just after a funeral.And some of them are doing something very unusual for a situation like this: They re posting pictures of themselves with Comey on social media, and even changing their profile pics to those of Comey. That s a gesture generally reserved for someone who dies.Acting Director Andrew McCabe told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Comey was well-liked and had broad support throughout the bureau. In other words, when Trump said that Comey had lost the trust and respect of his rank and file, he was either not speaking for the majority of the rank and file, or he was flat-out lying.Rank-and-file agents were also very suspicious of the timing of Comey s firing, wondering whether it had anything to do with the Russia probes. Various officials phones were ringing off the hook. headquarters in D.C. was more or less locked down and not answering the flood of phone calls coming in.One agent told the Daily Beast that there s likely to be serious distrust of whoever Trump puts into Comey s place: No matter who gets the job, there will be a cloud of suspicion because the President is unpopular with much of the [U.S.]. That bad faith will make it harder to do my job. Trump undermined the public s trust in the more than Comey ever could. The new director is going to face a tough confirmation, with much of the Senate viewing Trump with suspicion, too. That makes possible picks like Rudy Giuliani out of the question he s going to have to tread very carefully with Comey s replacement. In the meantime, McCabe has assured the Senate that he ll let them know immediately if the White House tries to interfere with the Russia probes in any way at all.Featured image by Zach Gibson via Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past1731780,1780,"Photos of the Day Photos of the day 01 14 Taken as a whole , there is no denying that Connecticut has had more good days than days like today , said Gov . Malloy . Of course we are disappointed , and we know that many in Connecticut share that frustration . The company has not yet announced how many jobs will be lost in Connecticut as a result of the move . ? Whereas Gov . Baker had every reason to be positive in his own press release . ? In addition to adding hundreds of high paying jobs to our state , we look forward to partnering with to achieve further growth across a spectrum of industries and are confident will flourish in the Commonwealth s inventive economy , he says . Besides bringing about 800 jobs to the state , will serve as a Boston draw for other technology companies . ? Playing off the historic Boston vs . New York rivalry , the city of Boston can t help but brag a little . The ecosystem that we have here in Massachusetts to support innovation is what won us this prize , Gov . Baker s secretary of economic development Jay Ash told the Boston Globe . And Erickson told The Monitor that Boston has the statistics to back up the talk . And It s more than hometown pride , Jim Rooney , chief executive of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce , told The Boston Globe . Boston is increasingly expanding its global influence , and the talent is already here . will be able to recruit an innovation workforce that already has a T pass . But regardless of the technological talent and innovative spirit that Boston has to offer , it s hard to look past the financial incentives as simply one of many contributing factors . ? The Commonwealth of Boston offered 120 million worth of incentives to the company and up to 25 million in tax savings ? making the overall 45 million deal one of the most expensive in the state s history . ? Between costs offset by the state of Massachusetts , the city of Boston , and revenue from the sale of the Fairfield corporate compound and offices in New York City at 30 Rockefeller Plaza , has confirmed that it will take on no financial impact from the northern move . ? Boston also pledged transportation improvements in the Seaport area where plans to relocate , as well as a 5 million innovation center where employees and Massachusetts innovators , students , and teachers can collaborate on future projects . ? ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1741784,1784,"Forget the immensely powerful car or the wealth of up to the minute gadgets at his disposal , if Felipe Massa drives to Formula One glory this season it ' ll be thanks to his lucky pants . The Brazilian , who drives for the Ferrari team , came agonizingly close to taking his first ever world title in 2008 but was pipped to the post by Briton Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the final race of the season . The following year he was lucky to survive after being hit on the head by a stray suspension spring that had flown from a rival ' s car during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix . But in 2011 he is hoping for no more obstacles as he guns for the world crown , with the help of his underwear . "" I wear them just for the Saturday and Sunday I don ' t wash but , two days , what ' s the problem ? "" Massa replied . His superstitions don ' t end there . He always lands on his right foot when he gets out of bed in the morning and makes sure the same foot enters his car first before a race . "" I think the superstition is just something that is inside your brain , "" he explained . "" For sure , you would win because you have the underwear or because you are happy or whatever . "" You win because you are doing the best job , but inside your brain it is important to have everything clean and everything ready and that ' s why sporting people are superstitious . "" With some impressive pre season testing sessions under his belt many pundits are tipping Massa to muscle his way into the title reckoning in 2011 , so could this finally be his year ? "" Yes , I believe in my speed , I believe in the way I drive and I believe I can win many races and the championship . I think that ' s very important to have inside your brain , to be stronger and stronger all the time . "" And I know if I have all the possibilities and everything that is automatically for my driving style , for the way I drive I can be there . "" After persistent problems with his car last season Massa thinks the new Pirelli tires to be used in the forthcoming campaign will benefit his racing style . "" Most of the problems I had last year should be alright for this year because the tires are much softer , to get the temperature in the tires it will be easier , so I expect not to have this problem , but we are a little bit early to say that . "" I like the tires , for sure . They ' re very different from last year , so maybe we are going to have more pit stops because otherwise after some laps you are struggling a lot on the tires . So it ' s a big change for the championship , it ' s a big strategy change , but I enjoy it , "" he said . Massa also rejects the oft repeated notion that if he is to clinch a world title he will have to leave Ferrari in order to do so . "" I don ' t think so , "" he said . "" I think I ' m in a top team , it ' s important to have a top car and if I have that I will fight to the maximum level to be the champion . "" Ferrari is just the top in motorsport , it is a dream car on the road , for sure it is the most important thing . When you drive for a team like Ferrari it really is a dream come true . "" Massa showed courage to climb back into a Formula One car just ten weeks after his life threatening crash in Hungary but he insists he never dwells on what might have been . "" I never dream about the accident , "" he said . "" What is important to say is that it was not my time . I believe in God , I am Catholic , so I ' m sure it was not my time , it was a not the moment to go to a different life . "" There ' s nothing to say about that . When it ' s not your time , you know , you stay here . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1751789,1789,"Washington A federal court challenge to a new Arizona law aimed at curbing illegal immigration isn ' t out of the question , Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday . Holder said that the Justice Department was working with the Department of Homeland Security to "" decide exactly how we are going to react to it . "" "" We are considering all possibilities , including the possibility of a court challenge , "" Holder told reporters during questions at a news conference , at which he had announced a settlement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca over its marketing of an anti psychotic drug . "" I think that Arizona ' s law is an unfortunate one , "" he said . "" I think that it is , I fear , subject to potential abuse . And I ' m very concerned about the wedge that it could draw between communities that law enforcement is supposed to serve and those of us in law enforcement . "" Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano , who served as Arizona ' s governor until she took the position with the Obama administration , told a Senate panel Tuesday that she has "" deep concerns "" with the law . Napolitano said she fears it would siphon away resources that would otherwise be used to pursue individuals who commit major crimes while in the country illegally . "" I think these kinds of laws are not value added to law enforcement , "" she told the Senate Judiciary Committee . "" There ' s a reason most law enforcement groups . . . oppose them . "" They put an "" undue barrier "" between victims of crime and law enforcement officials , she said . Napolitano , who served as Arizona ' s governor before joining President Obama ' s Cabinet , refused to offer an opinion on the constitutionality of the law . The new law requires Arizona police to determine whether people are in the United States legally if there is a reason to suspect they aren ' t . Arizona Gov . Jan Brewer , a Republican , signed the controversial legislation into law Friday . Supporters say it is needed to control illegal immigration . The law , scheduled to go into effect 90 days after the close of the state ' s legislative session , would require immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times . Currently , officers can check someone ' s immigration status only if that person is suspected in another crime . Critics say the law could foster racial profiling and prompt businesses , conventions and tourists to stay away from the state . The bill has prompted rallies by opponents and supporters , and some prominent politicians in Washington and Arizona have criticized the measure . Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon , a Democrat , has said he ' ll file a lawsuit to block the law . Last week , Obama called the legislation "" misguided "" and said the federal government must act on the immigration issue . "" Our failure to act responsible at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others . That includes , for example , the recent efforts in Arizona , which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans , as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe , "" he said . Napolitano told the Judiciary Committee members that the "" passage of laws like Arizona ' s at the state level indicate the need to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform . "" But Sen . Lindsey Graham , R South Carolina , blamed federal authorities for undermining the push for comprehensive immigration reform by failing to more effectively secure the Mexican border . "" Our borders are broken . . . and there ' s a war going on "" with drug cartels in Mexico that is spilling over into the United States , he argued . "" Good people are so afraid of an out of control border that they had to resort to a law in Arizona that I think is unconstitutional , "" he said . The federal government has to prove "" that we can secure our borders "" before Congress can pass an immigration reform bill . Over the weekend , Graham withdrew his support for what had been a bipartisan plan to pass climate change legislation because , he claimed , Democrats were trying to ram through a polarizing immigration reform bill . Some political observers have said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D Nevada , is trying to push a reform plan in order to boost his standing among Hispanic voters and bolster his re election prospects in November . House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , D Maryland , acknowledged Tuesday that congressional Democrats are divided over how to proceed with an immigration reform bill . He also said House members are expecting the Senate to take the lead in crafting a proposal . "" In part , of course , what the people of Arizona are saying is that the feds haven ' t done their job . I think they ' re right , "" he said . But Hoyer criticized the new state law , arguing that it is "" very inconsistent with past practices in America . . . . We don ' t go around asking people for I . D . cards . "" He said it is "" very difficult to see how that ' s going to be carried out in a way that ' s consistent with the civil liberties of citizens . "" Napolitano acknowledged that more work has to be done along the southern border , but she also expressed frustration with arguments on border security . She claimed that the overall situation has improved and questioned whether the goal of "" securing the border "" could ever be fully reached . Napolitano declined to provide a direct answer when asked whether the Arizona law could negatively impact race relations . But "" if this law goes into effect , "" she warned , "" there are a lot of questions about what the real impact on the street will be . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1761790,1790,"This is the shocking moment a single mother was caught on a hidden camera stealing money from the wallet of her boyfriend ' s frail 89 year old grandfather . Hayley Adams , 29 , of Barnstaple , Devon , was seen sneaking into William Tanner ' s bedroom and taking cash from his coat , after a device was put in the room by his daughter Angela Wrenn . Ms Wrenn , 56 , had earlier expressed concern that his money kept going missing , but was shocked to discover the culprit was a trusted relative and the mother to Mr Tanner ' s great grandchildren . While Adams admitted to taking about 65 , North Devon Magistrates ' Court was told that the victim ' s relatives suspected the amount stolen in one year was closer to thousands of pounds . Caught : Hayley Adams ( above ) , 29 , of Barnstaple , Devon , was seen sneaking into William Tanner ' s bedroom and taking cash from his coat , after a device was put in the room by his daughter Angela Wrenn The videos were handed to police and have now led to Adams being convicted of three counts of theft although she escaped with a community order , restraining order and a total fine of 175 . Mr Tanner told the court he was left feeling violated and vulnerable after Adams stole money during several visits to his house in Barnstaple . Karen Ball , prosecuting , said the victim noticed money going missing from his wallet and thought at first he was being forgetful . She said he lived with his daughter Ms Wrenn who then became suspicious about Adams ' s behaviour so secretly installed the . Adams visited frequently and was overheard telling friends she had no money to go out with them , before she suddenly acquired some . The hidden camera instantly started picking up the offences . Mrs Ball said Adams had been in a relationship with Mr Tanner ' s grandson with whom she has two children when the thefts took place . The couple have since separated . Seen on : The videos were handed to police and have now led to Adams being convicted of three counts of theft although she escaped with a community order , restraining order and a total fine of 175 In a victim impact statement , Mr Tanner said : ' I have been violated . I am feeling very vulnerable and am constantly on my guard . I can ' t trust anybody and it feels like I have had my personal space violated . ' My room does not feel the same anymore . I have been feeling safer since she has not been allowed in the house . I think it is just knowing that she can ' t get to me . ' Mrs Ball claimed the victim ' s family suspected thousands of pounds were taken in 12 months , but the exact amount was unknown . Tony Dart , defending Adams , said the idea that thousands was stolen was ' absurd ' and Adams admitted to taking around 65 . Mr Dart said : ' She is disappointed in herself . The offences took place when she was desperate for money . She is a single mother . She accepts her behaviour was reprehensible . ' Magistrates handed Adams a restraining order , banning her from attending the victim ' s address or contacting him and ordered her to pay him 65 compensation . She was also handed a six month community order , with six months supervision , and told to attend an Engage Women programme . She was fined 50 and ordered to pay a 60 victim surcharge . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1771793,1793,"Epic survival thriller The Revenant and space blockbuster The Martian won big at the Golden Globes on Sunday , boosting their chances for Oscars glory next month . The Revenant ? the story of 19th century fur trapper Hugh Glass , played by Leonardo DiCaprio ? won three top awards at the star studded gala , for best drama , best actor ( DiCaprio ) and best director ( Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ) . The Martian , the tale of an astronaut stranded alone on Mars , won two top prizes ? best comedy film and best actor in a comedy for actor Matt Damon . The two films ? split in separate categories by Globes organizers , meaning they were not competing against each other ? are now in prime position as Hollywood s annual awards season heats up ahead of the Oscars on February 28 . I cannot say how surprised I am and how proud I am to have survived this movie , Inarritu said , referring to the harsh conditions in which the movie was filmed , mainly in Canada and Argentina . Inarritu s movie Birdman won four Oscars last year including for best picture and best director , and many critics believe the Mexican director could emerge triumphant again this year . DiCaprio , who got a standing ovation from his Hollywood peers at the first major awards show of the year , said he wanted to share the award with indigenous communities around the world . It is time that we recognize your history and that we protect your indigenous lands from corporate interests and from people that are out there to exploit them , said DiCaprio . Critics believe the 41 year old actor may finally win his first Oscar for the movie . He went all out for the role , even eating raw bison liver for a scene . A listers Kate Winslet and Sylvester Stallone also took home acting prizes at the ceremony held in Beverly Hills , which is seen as a good indicator of which movies and actors will fight for Oscars glory . Winslet won for best supporting actress in a film for her role in the biopic Steve Jobs , and Stallone won for best supporting actor in Creed , in which he reprised his iconic role of boxer Rocky Balboa . Spotlight , an early Globes favorite about journalists from The Boston Globe who uncovered abuse in the Catholic Church , went home empty handed despite three nominations . Also snubbed was The Big Short , based on a book about the financial crisis of 2007 2008 . Hosting the glittering gala considered Hollywood s biggest party of the year was British comedian Ricky Gervais , who dished out his trademark raunchy humor , targeting Caitlyn Jenner , Mel Gibson and Sean Penn , among many others . Shut up , you disgusting , pill popping deviant scum ! he said by way of greeting the champagne guzzling crowd at the event organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association . He also poked fun at Bill Cosby , saying he would rather spend an evening in a hotel room with Gibson ? the target of his hosting gags in the past ? than with the disgraced comedian accused of assault by some 50 women . In the United States , the event was broadcast with a delay of a few seconds to bleep out Gervais s dirtiest jokes ? and other on air obscenities ? for a primetime audience . Other films that vied for the best drama prize ? and should figure in the Oscars conversation ? were 1950s lesbian romance Carol , harrowing kidnap tale Room , and the summer action blockbuster Mad Max : Fury Road . Brie Larson won the Globe for best actress in a drama for her portrayal of a young mother held captive with her child in Room , besting Carol co stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara . In the best foreign movie category , Hungarian Holocaust drama Son of Saul was the winner . Unlike the Oscars , the Golden Globes also honors television shows . Mr Robot , about a computer programmer and vigilante hacker , took home the prize for best drama series . Amazon s comedy Mozart In The Jungle took the prize for best comedy series . Jon Hamm won his second Golden Globe for best actor in a drama for his portrayal of womanizing advertising executive Don Draper in Mad Men , whose finale aired last year . And for best actress in the drama category , Taraji P . Henson won the Golden Globe for her role in Empire , which looks at the struggle inside the family behind a major hip hop label . The awards are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , made up of some 90 entertainment editors and writers from 55 countries who report on the industry year round . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1781807,1807,"Friday ' s crash of Virgin Galactic ' s SpaceShip Two , with its tragic loss of life , comes just three days after the failure of Orbital Sciences Corp . ' s Antares re supply mission to the International Space Station . Launching spaceships is obviously a very difficult business . The payload sits atop a huge amount of fuel , often weighing many times more than the satellite or material being sent into space . Every physics student knows the rocket problem : You need a lot of fuel to get a heavy spacecraft moving , and the weight of the unburned fuel itself has to be lifted as well . To increase the weight of the payload a rocket can lift , more fuel is needed , enough to lift the extra payload weight and lift the weight of the extra fuel . It ' s kind of like compound interest . Add more mass to the payload and you have to add a lot more fuel . The payload carried on the failed Antares rocket was reportedly about 1 as heavy as the spacecraft plus fuel . That means the majority 99 was working hard to lift the 1 dead weight . Early rocket designers realized the advantage of using two separate lift stages . After the fuel in the first stage has completely burned up , its container can be jettisoned , lightening the total spacecraft weight by much more than the burned fuel . The second stage can then accelerate the payload faster than if the empty fuel tank were still attached . The first stage has to do the most work because it lifts the full weight of payload plus fuel from a dead stop . The second stage has an easier job since the rocket is already moving and is much lighter without the weight of the first stage fuel plus container . Another design advance was to operate stages in parallel . That accelerates the rocket faster because at no point are any rocket stages dead weight . Analysis : Will space accidents deter pioneer tourists ? The history of rocket development is littered with explosions , back to the first reported rockets in 14th century China and Korea . Even sophisticated systems well along the development path , like ' s space shuttle , had failures . Orbital Sciences and Virgin Galactic are still developing their technologies and processes . ' s long record of mostly successful launches made spaceflight look so routine that we may have forgotten how difficult it is . Could the modern world do without launching materials and people into space ? Probably not . Satellites and other spacecraft are an integral part of navigation , weather , space science , earth science and ultra fast global communications not to mention robotic and human exploration . Even if we forgo exotic trips to Mars , an awful lot of technology here on Earth won ' t work without space assets . Launching America into space isn ' t for the faint of heart . But it ' s still the future . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1791827,1827,"Former Premier League footballer Daniel Agger and his family were left ' heartbroken ' after their pet dog was killed during a trip to a dog salon , his wife has revealed . Sofie Agger , wife of the ex Liverpool star , posted a photograph of Charlie the dog on Instagram , saying that he ' went to the groomer and never came home again ' . Mrs Agger said workers at the salon , which has not been named , put him in ' some dryer box ' last week and it was unclear whether the machine was faulty or the animal was simply forgotten about . Salon death : Sofie Agger , wife of footballer Daniel , posted this photograph of Charlie the dog on Instagram The footballer ' s wife , whom he married in 2010 , said of Charlie on December 6 : ' We lost him today and our family are totally heartbroken . He went to the groomer and never came home again . ' They put him in some dryer box and we still don ' t know if they forgot him or the machine had a fault . Are such in shock and still can grasp that our dog had pain like that and then died sic . ' Dearly hope anyone who has a machine like that stop using them . Know it ' s a long shot but as I said we ' re heartbroken . We will miss you Charlie . ' The interior designer , who studied at Liverpool John Moores University , said of the photograph she posted that the dog was pictured ' at his best ' , adding : ' This is how we wanna remember him . ' Couple : Daniel Agger married his wife Sofie in 2010 ( left ) . They are also pictured last year in Liverpool ( right ) Premier League footballer : Daniel Agger , 30 , joined Liverpool in 2006 from Danish Superliga team Brondby The couple who have two children together , Jamie and Mason married four years ago in the footballer ' s hometown of Hvidovre , Denmark , and their reception took place in Copenhagen . While he was still playing at Liverpool , the couple lived in a three bedroom house worth 1 . 5million . The star , aged 30 , joined Liverpool in 2006 from Danish Superliga team Brondby , making 232 appearances for the Merseyside club , before moving back to Brondby in August this year . Upon his return to Denmark , he said : ' I would like to thank the Liverpool supporters for the incredible backing they have given me in my time here and the warmth and generosity of spirit displayed to my family . ' The defender who won the League Cup in 2012 with Liverpool is also captain of the Danish national team , for whom he has played 66 times and scored 12 goals . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1801830,1830,"A series of car bombs ripped through parts of Baghdad Monday evening , killing at least 28 people and wounding dozens in the latest deadly incident in violence torn Iraq , police said . Nine car bombs detonated in the Iraqi capital , at least some of them in several Shiite Muslim neighborhoods . In addition to those killed , at least 106 were injured , police said . Monday ' s violence came after at least 88 people were killed and more than 300 were injured in bombings and other attacks throughout the country on Saturday and Sunday , according to police officials . The weekend attacks prompted a U . N . envoy to call on the nation ' s leaders to take action to stop the "" accelerated surge in violence and bloodshed . "" More than 5 , 000 civilians have died and 12 , 000 have been wounded in terrorist attacks and other violence in Iraq in 2013 , the U . N . Mission in Iraq reported last month . The region around Baghdad has been the hardest hit , the agency said . The United Nations has said 979 Iraqis were killed and 2 , 133 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence last month alone . "" In the aftermath of yet another series of bloody attacks that indiscriminately hit pilgrims , schoolchildren , journalists , as well as ordinary citizens trying to go about their daily lives , the special representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq , Mr Nickolay Mladenov , called on political , religious and civil leaders to work together with the security forces and take joint action to halt the accelerated surge in violence and bloodshed , "" the U . N . Assistance Mission for Iraq said in a statement issued Sunday . Iraq has been struggling with deep sectarian divisions between its Shiite and Sunni populations , as well as the ethnic divisions between Arabs and minorities such as Kurds . Iraq has seen a sharp increase in tension between its Shiite and Sunni populations since April , when security forces raided a site used by Sunni protesters to demonstrate against the Shiite led government . Sunnis , who represent a minority of Iraqis , have felt politically marginalized since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 . Shiites , who make up a majority of Iraqis , now dominate the government . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past1811834,1834,"Reuters) - President Barack Obama lamented the ease with which extremists can get firearms in the United States as “crazy” and Hillary Clinton said “terrorists” were using assault weapons to kill Americans, as Democrats on Monday renewed an uphill push for gun control after the Orlando massacre. The worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, in which 49 people at a gay nightclub were killed and 53 wounded, reignited a debate in Washington over what types of guns should not be easily available and what types of buyers ought to be prohibited. The No. 3 Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, and other Democrats said they would try as early as this week to get votes on a measure preventing people on “terror watch lists” and other “suspected terrorists” from buying firearms or explosives. Senate Democrats are trying to resurrect a proposal that failed to win backing in December, after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by Islamic State-inspired militants. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, asked by a reporter whether he expected Republicans to oppose the legislation again, said: “Except (Senator Mark) Kirk ... one out of 54 I guess is better than nothing.” Kirk was the lone Republican who voted last December with Democrats. Director James Comey said the gunman in the Florida attack, New York-born Omar Mateen, had been on a terrorism watch list while he was under investigation for about a year ending in May 2014, but he was taken off when investigators found no incriminating information. The weapons Mateen brought into the packed Orlando club were purchased earlier this month. Speaking to reporters one day after the mass shooting, Obama said the United States was “going to have to make sure that we think about the risks we are willing to take by being so lax in how we make very powerful firearms available to people in this country.” “The fact that we make it this challenging for law enforcement ... is crazy,” the Democratic president said. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, weighed in during a campaign rally in Cleveland. “If the is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked,” she said to applause. In a interview earlier, she said: “Now that we’re seeing terrorists use these assault weapons, that has to be part of the debate.” Rapid-firing “assault” weapons were used by gunmen in shootings over the past year in Orlando, Florida, San Bernardino, California, and Garland, Texas. Efforts in Congress to curb weapons proliferation have gained some steam following past mass shootings, only to die amid opposition from the National Rifle Association gun lobby. An spokesman did not immediately comment on Monday on the renewed calls for gun curbs. The December 2013 killings of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school prompted a push for expanded background checks on gun sellers and banning assault weapons. The initiative collapsed in April 2014, when the legislation failed to get enough votes in the U.S. Senate to clear a procedural hurdle. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump used Sunday’s shooting as an example of why Americans needed guns, and charged that Clinton, his likely opponent in the Nov. 8 election, wanted to leave “only the bad guys and terrorists with guns.” Trump declared in a speech in Manchester, New Hampshire, that he would be meeting with the NRA, which has endorsed him, “to discuss how to ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror.” Mateen, who was shot and killed by police who stormed the club, had been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for saying he supported two Islamist groups, a statement he later said he made only to disturb his co-workers. He was questioned again in July 2014 for his connection to an American suicide bomber for al-Nusra, an al Qaeda offshoot, but the inquiry was dropped after the found only a “casual” relationship between the two men. U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said additional gun curbs would restrict Americans’ freedoms without necessarily preventing attacks. “He didn’t commit this terrorist act for a couple years,” after being taken off the watch list, Johnson said on CNN. “The enormous challenge we have, the vexing problem is, what do you do with the not-guilty-yet?” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past1821835,1835,"Sustainable salt water battery won't corrode and can power your home for 10 years Nov 14, 2016 0 0 A new home battery has been developed and released that runs off of salt water instead of acid, making for a sustainably created piece of technology that can charge your home for years . Conventional lead-acid batteries use two lead plates, submerged in a solution of sulfuric acid and water. The sulfuric acid is highly toxic and can burn and damage the environment if the battery leaks. These batteries use a solution of salt water instead of acid and the results are astounding. As opposed to lead-acid batteries, which can only be discharged to about 50% of their capacity, these salt water batteries can be discharged to 90%, meaning they can utilized 40% more of their energy per charge. Each battery can handle 3,000 discharges, meaning they can last 3,000 days and nights. They are also stackable, useful for increasing your power needs. Another awesome feature is that these batteries won’t catch on fire like lead-acid batteries. If you’re interested in purchasing one, you can, through Aquion’s website . They are sustainably sourced and built and they don’t corrode. Legit.",fake,news,test,Other news1,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present1831845,1845,"A Christian Conservative lawmaker in Kansas has used his position as a Senate Committee chairman to enforce a dress code for female witnesses in courts. The rules govern skirt length and cleavage allowance. There are no equivalent rules for men.Sen. Mitch Holmes is the Republican chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee in Kansas, and has included his new rules in an 11-point code of conduct. He argues that women in court, and in the Senate, dress provocatively to distract men and he wants to bring an end to this.Women will not be permitted to give testimony if they do not abide by the rules.He told the Topeka Capital Journal: It s one of those things that s hard to define. Put it out there and let people know we re really looking for you to be addressing the issue rather than trying to distract or bring eyes to yourself. His bizarre rules and comments have prompted withering condemnation from female members of the committee and the Kansas legislature. Topeka Democrat Senator Laura Kelly responded: Oh, for crying out loud, what century is this? Meanwhile, even Republican colleagues were unwilling to defend Holmes. Senator Vicki Schmidt (Topeka) sighed: Who s going to define low-cut? Does it apply to senators? In total, four of Holmes female senatorial colleagues (two Republicans and two Democrats) have come forward to publicly condemn his comments, and stress that women should not be subjected to gender-specific dress codes.Another Republican Senator, Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick, spoke to the fact that men and women in the Senate and our courts should be judged by their contribution, not their clothing, saying: I am more interested in what they have to say about the direction our state should go than what they re wearing that day, It is indeed hugely disappointing to see a lawmaker use his position to implement gender-specific dress codes that enforce his patriarchal religious codes onto the women of the state. This is the very reason the Founding Fathers separated church and state in the U.S. Constitution because freedom of religion is not merely about the right to practice our own religion (or none) in peace, but to avoid being forced to follow the whims of anyone else s. The women of Kansas just lost that right.Featured Image via Flickr Creative Commons",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past1841859,1859,"Charles Ashton , a funeral director , has admitted fondling a woman ' s breasts before the service An octogenarian funeral director fondled a woman ' s breasts minutes before a service , a court heard . Charles Ashton , 83 , could face jail for the assault in which he made a series of inappropriate comments about the woman ' s figure before grabbing her . The incident happened at the family funeral directors business which Ashton runs with his son . The pensioner , who is a former director and chairman of Castleford Rugby League Football Club , pleaded guilty to sexual assault at Leeds magistrates ' court . Robert Campbell , prosecuting , told the court : ' There was a funeral about to take place and they were in a room together . . . He put his arm around her , kissed her on two occasions and fondled her breasts . ' Mr Campbell added : ' He had also made inappropriate remarks about the size of her breasts . ' Stephen Swan , mitigating , asked for sentencing to be adjourned so that a report could be prepared into the circumstances of the case . He added that the assault was out of character for Ashton . Mr Swan said : ' It is entirely out of character for this man who it ' s fair to say is devastated about what ' s happened . I think it ' s a measure of him that he is so upset about what ' s happened . ' Before leaving the hearing last week Ashton , of Castleford , West Yorkshire , told magistrates : ' I am sorry to have troubled you . ' They warned that he could face jail for the offence . Earlier this year an undertaker who poured flour over a neighbour ' s Mercedes for blocking in his hearse was jailed . Funeral director Julian Riley , 39 , and Peter Elliot , 60 , had argued for weeks over parking spaces after property developer Elliot bought a house opposite Riley ' s business , a court heard . In September 2013 Riley was caught on emptying a 2lb bag of self raising flour over Mr Elliot ' s black Mercedes E 320 . A court heard it set ' like cement ' in the rain and removing it scratched the car ' s paint . Police arrested Riley after following a line of white powder . The incident was said to be out of character for 83 year old Ashton who could face jail for the sexual assault ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1851861,1861,"Lost amidst the predictable clutter of the "" will he or won ' t she "" questions about whether Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton will actually run for the presidency is an unexpected development : a hint of authenticity . Turns out that political purgatory even if temporary can actually spark a genuine conversation with the public about what it takes to be president , and what goes into deciding whether you want to run . Here ' s Hillary on herself : "" The job is unforgiving in many ways , so I think you need people around you who will kid you , make fun of you . . . . You can lose touch with what ' s real , what ' s authentic . "" Here ' s Jeb on his decision : "" Can I do it where the sacrifice to my family is tolerable ? . . . It ' s a pretty ugly business right now . There ' s a level under which I would never subjugate my family because that ' s my organizing principle . That ' s my life . "" So while Chris Christie won ' t answer questions about immigration and Ted Cruz is threatening to block presidential nominations and Rand Paul is blaming the tragic Eric Garner death on cigarette taxes , there ' s another more personal and revealing conversation going on about the presidency and how to get there , and we ought to pay some attention . Not just because it ' s coming from Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton , although that is a part of it . After all , Hillary ' s outside support network is up and running , even if she isn ' t officially yet . And while Jeb has no campaign infrastructure or organization , his closest advisers are having enough meetings with enough operatives to send enough signals that it ' s a very live , real , even likely , possibility . Though Jeb ' s advisers tell me he hasn ' t made a decision , the process over the last six months sure looks like it leads to a presidential campaign . So all the cheerleaders need is the final hand signal . Which brings us back to the Jeb and Hillary conversations . They ' re thinking out loud , in a way , which hardly ever happens in politics anymore because it usually gets you into trouble . ( See : Joe Biden . ) But they ' re both doing it because their decisions about running for the presidency come from places of deep family experience . Hillary lived in the White House . Jeb visited his brother and his father there . They get it at all levels . They understand the power and nature of the job . They also understand the "" what it takes "" component to run for it . And , in a way , they ' ve both got similar problems : They ' re each practiced politicians , but they ' re not the best transactional pols in their families . They each have problems with their party ' s activist base . And they both can seem like old news . It ' s that dynasty thing . But wait . Maybe all that stuff actually prepares a candidate for the campaign , and maybe even for the job itself . Clinton ' s ruminations about decision making , for instance , are refreshing . "" Technology connects you around the world instantaneously , so you ' re constantly being asked for opinions , to make decisions that maybe you need some time to think about , "" she told a Boston audience on Thursday . "" Maybe you need some time to sleep on it . Maybe you need to bring in some people to talk about it . But the pace of demands is so intense that you feel like you ' ve got to respond . "" It ' s the stress , she said . "" Here ' s what I worry about . The stress on anybody in a leadership position , multiplied many times over to be president . The incoming never ends . "" It ' s a much more honest assessment than talking about the tug of being a grandmother . As for Jeb Bush , in addition to the personal issues , he ' s given a big hint he gets that he ' s not aligned with the base of his party in some states and that ' s fine . In a recent appearance before a Wall Street Journal conference , he said the nominee needs to be willing to "" lose the primary to win the general ( election ) without violating your principles . "" Could he possibly be talking about Mitt Romney circa 2012 ? Or his own problems with the party base on immigration and school reform ? My guess : Both . I ' m also guessing this : What we are hearing from both of these politicians are part of the larger conversation they ' re having with themselves . As in : Do I need this ? Can I do this ? Is it worth it to me and important enough to the country for me to spend two years on this ? These are not wannabes . They ' ve been there , in the heat , in one way or another . So while the subordinates plan , organize and recruit , the actual deciders continue to decide . It ' s getting down to the wire , and they know it . You can hear it . And it may be the most genuine stuff we hear for the next two years . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1861867,1867,"Showing no signs of slowing down , David Attenborough , has teamed up with Tourism Australia to make a three part documentary aimed at drawing tourists to the Great Barrier Reef . Nearly 60 years after the wildlife presenter ' s first visit to the continent , the collaboration was announced at the Destination Australia Conference in Sydney , this week . ' The most exciting natural history experience of my life was the first time I dived on a coral reef in 1957 . Being on the Reef is a revelatory , thrilling and unbeatable experience and with this project we ' re going to be able to share it with millions , ' Attenborough said . David Attenborough returned to Australia filming a documentary about the world ' s largest coral reef system The popular naturalist spent three weeks filming on and around the Reef and aboard one of the world ' s most advanced research vessels equipped with the latest technology . Tourism Australia Managing Director , John O ' Sullivan said : ' It ' s wonderful to welcome David back to the Reef where he will , once again , bring to life the many amazing stories of this magnificent natural wonder in his own unique and inimitable way . ' David Attenborough is one of the world ' s greatest presenters of natural history content , and the Great Barrier Reef is arguably the world ' s most recognised natural wonder . We couldn ' t ask for a better match . ' Knotted fan coral and soft coral in the Great Barrier Reef , Pacific Ocean , Queensland , Australia Attenborough spent three weeks on the Reef , on a research vessel equipped with cutting edge technology Attenborough said diving here in 1957 was the most exciting natural history experience of his life The Great Barrier Reef already attracts more than 1 . 9 million visitors each year , and 90 per cent of the economic contribution in the region is derived from tourism . ' We already know from our consumer research that Australia ' s biggest competitive strength is its world class nature , something which is extremely highly regarded from all our key target markets and very much a core part of our global tourism offering , ' Mr O ' Sullivan continued . The research also revealed that aquatic and coastal experiences were amongst the most popular tourist activities , specifically to Australia where the Great Barrier Reef ranked highly in appeal amongst international visitors . An aerial shot of Whitehaven Beach , Whitsunday Island , Great Barrier Reef , Queensland , Australia Six of the world ' s seven species of marine turtle live in Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area ' The Great Barrier Reef is a huge part of our destination appeal , with consumers in the , , Singapore and Japan actually ranking it as their number one most appealing Australian attraction . ' It ' s vital that we continue to show the world why our aquatic and coastal experience are so unique , and this film will undoubtedly help tell that story to a truly global audience in an authentic and engaging way , ' Mr O ' Sullivan said . The Reef is at risk of becoming severely damaged due to the dumping of dredge waste in the World Heritage listed waters , a report commissioned by conservation group said last month . Divers on coral cliff admire the marine life , left Reef fish including sea goldies swim among the coral Reef from above : Aquatic experiences are amongst the greatest drivers of international visitor demand In January , the Australian government ordered a ban on dumping dredge spoil in the marine park as part of a push to stop the United Nations declaring the site in danger . Conservationists say dumping waste in reef waters damages it by smothering corals and sea grasses and exposing them to poisons and high levels of nutrients . The report said port expansions within reef waters , which it noted could see 1 . 8 billion cubic feet of the ocean floor dug up , would have ' devastating impacts ' on the natural wonder . The Great Barrier Reef is already popular , and often ranks as number one most appealing Australian attraction The report prepared by the consultancy Dalberg Global Development Advisors said there was no need for coal port expansions along Queensland state ' s coast where the reef is located as the capacity at existing terminals was unused one third of the time . ' These coal port expansions could increase the total coal port capacity of the region from 267 to 637 million tonnes per year ' , the report added . Australian authorities are very protective over the Reef . Last year , Foreign Minister , Julie Bishop , sent President Barack Obama the ' facts ' after he expressed fears it would not be there for future generations . It ' s hoped that combining technology with science will help audiences understand more about the Reef Obama voiced his worries that climate change threatened the natural wonder in a speech during the G20 summit in Brisbane . But Bishop said there was ' an issue ' with his position and that he may have have overlooked Australia ' s commitment to preserving the coral structure which teems with marine life . She said the federal and state governments spent Aus 180 million ( 105 million ) a year preserving the reef . ' Australia knows better than anyone the importance of preserving the Great Barrier Reef , ' the minister told Sky News . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1871882,1882,"The killer who bashed a seven month old baby to death has finally been deported from Australia to Papua New Guinea , more than two months after he was granted parole . It was a condition of his parole that Christopher Hoerler , a national , would be released from prison straight into the custody of Immigration officials and immediately deported . However , Hoerler remained in the country after his August 14 prison release and the distressed family of his victim , baby Jordan Anderson Smith , have been desperately trying to locate the criminal . Hoerler ' s visa , allowing him to stay in Australia , was cancelled in 2011 . Christopher Hoerler has been deported to Papua New Guinea , more than two months after he was released from prison on August 14 for the brutal murder of baby Jordan . It was a condition of his parole that he would be immediately deported A photo of baby Jordan Anderson , taken shortly before his death . Christopher Hoerler tortured the seven month old to death in Wagga Wagga on February 25 , 2000 . The Crown prosecutor found that Jordan died from multiple injuries , including bruises and abrasions to his face , a torn lip , liver and bowel damage and crushed toes which were inflicted when Hoerler put his then girlfriend ' s son ' s toes in a clamp . ' Mr Hoerler was removed from Australia this week . ' After years of distress , the news is a small comfort for Jordan ' s father and his family . Baby Jordan was tortured and killed after a party at his mother ' s home in Wagga Wagga , on February 25 , 2000 . At the time of Jordan ' s murder , Hoerler was in a relationship with Jordan ' s mother , Louise Anderson . They lived together with Jordan and Jordan ' s two half brothers , who were aged 2 and 4 . Hoerler was tried for murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter 20 months after Jordan was killed . The 37 year old ex boxer was sentenced to 14 years and four months in Sydney ' s Long Bay prison , after prosecutors appealed the initial term of 11 years . His sentence was due to expire in February 2016 but the State Parole Authority granted parole this year , citing Hoerler ' s good prison performance . Cecil Smith ( left ) , the father of the late baby Jordan , pictured leaving court in 2003 with his brother , Darcy Smith ( right ) , who is acting as the family ' s spokesman . Darcy Smith is appealing to the Minister for Immigration , Scott Morrison to ensure Jordan ' s murderer , Christopher Hoerler , is deported when he is released from prison next week on August 14 , 2014 . ' The Smith family are extremely disappointed in the decision the parole board has made to release this convicted child killer back into the community , ' Jordan ' s father Cecil Smith wrote at the time . Hoerler and Ms Anderson had been smoking cannabis and drinking at their home before Jordan ' s horrific , brutal death . Jordan choked on his own vomit after being beaten and tortured by Hoerler , with injuries including a lacerated liver , a torn lip , facial abrasions and broken ribs . Jordan ' s toes had been crushed by a clamp and his teeth went through the roof of his mouth . The forensic pathologist who conducted the post mortem found that the baby ' s ' palate injury was caused by a blow to the jaw , and the abdominal injury by a non penetrating blow or blows of considerable force ' . Jordan ' s injuries were so extensive that they took four days to document . Jordan ' s father had contacted the Department of Community Services when he believed Hoerler was showering with Jordan . Jordan would have turned 15 on July 24 this year . Jordan ' s mother , Louise Anderson , is pictured leaving her baby ' s murder trial in 2003 . Christopher Hoerler was found guilty of brutally murdering seven month old , Jordan Anderson Smith . Hoerler was Mrs Anderson ' s live in boyfriend at the time of the murder . The family was not convinced that Hoerler would be immediately deported so launched an online petition in July , calling on immigration minister Scott Morrison to give assurance that Hoerler would be immediately deported . The Smiths feared Hoerler would appeal the deportation condition of his release because he has biological children living in Australia and could claim that he wanted to be a father to them , Fairfax newspapers said . ' He is trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat to stay in the country , ' Darcy Smith said on behalf of the family . ' I hope the minister is smart enough to see through that . ' Previously , Mr Smith has spoken of the family ' s intense and unrelenting grief . ' We are the ones living with the life sentence . We have to live without Jordan every day . ' They explained that their mother , Jordan ' s paternal grandmother , visits Jordan ' s grave every Sunday . The Smith family have previously explained that Hoerler had moved into the home only three weeks before he murdered Jordan . Hoerler met Ms Anderson on New Year ' s Eve in 1999 , but by less than two months later , on February 25 , 2000 , he killed her son . The baby ' s father had attended school with Hoeler and once considered him a friend . The Smith family have thanked the Wagga Wagga community for their ongoing care and support . Louise Anderson ( right ) pictured leaving court in 2003 after giving evidence at her ex boyfriend , Christopher Hoerler ' s trial . Hoerler was found guilty of torturing and Murdering Ms Anderson ' s seven month old son , Jordan . He will be released on August 14 . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1881889,1890,"Due to ever increasing off field demands such as shopping , personal grooming and generally looking pretty for personal endorsement appearances , occasional footballer David Beckham has decided to outsource his football services . He has placed an advertisement in Football World seeking an experienced attacking midfielder to play the role of David Beckham for the remaining years of his Galaxy contract . When asked asked how this would work , Beckham was happy to expand . "" It ' s not like I ' m quitting or the team are replacing me . With just so much going on I had to prioritise , so I thought I would hire someone to play the role of David Beckham for the footballing side of my life . They will still wear the Beckham name on the shirt be listed as David Beckham in the program and licensed to sign David Beckham autographs at the game . "" "" In essence he will be me for all on field and training activities , he may even play for England under my name if we can sort out some legal issues surrounding citizenship . "" Beckham apparently had the idea whilst watching the session singers prepare the tape for the Spice Girls reunion tour . "" When I saw that Victoria and the girls were able to find someone to do their jobs for them I thought what a great idea . After an extensive search the record company was able to find 134 , 256 singers of similar or better quality down the pub on Wednesday ' arvo and next thing you know the girls are back at the motel bitching about one another whilst the lip sync track is being done . "" The idea is not only expected to give David more time for flouncing around but also the opportunity spend more time encouraging Posh to eat and the possibility of franchising his playing ability around the globe . "" My management has fallen in love with the idea and we are talking to clubs in Spain , Australia , Japan and Brazil about signing me to supply someone representing me as well . "" Galaxy management were unavailable for official comment but sources close to the team said that in everything is fake so there is no big deal . ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past1891890,1891,"A federal investigation has not found enough evidence to charge Darren Wilson for depriving Michael Brown of his civil rights , according to multiple sources familiar with the probe . This would be the second time the former police officer has avoided standing trial in the black teen ' s fatal shooting last summer in Ferguson , Missouri . The joined local officials in interviewing more than 200 people and looked at much the same evidence as a St . Louis County grand jury that decided in November not to indict Wilson , who is white , on any charges in Brown ' s death . That federal law enforcement agency has now completed its investigation into the August shooting and sent its findings to the Justice Department , a law enforcement official and a separate U . S . official said Wednesday . The New York Times first reported the development Wednesday . The Justice Department report has not been completed , and Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately will make the final decision whether to press federal civil rights charges against Wilson . Still , it wouldn ' t be a surprise if Holder doesn ' t call for charges . While he ' s been outspoken on Ferguson , met with Brown ' s family and said he understood African Americans ' mistrust for police after the incident , the attorney general acknowledged in November that "" federal civil rights law imposes a high legal bar in these types of cases . "" The shooting of the 18 year old Brown stirred months of emotionally charged , widespread and at times violent demonstrations in Ferguson , a few miles northwest of St . Louis . "" Hands up , don ' t shoot "" became a mantra for protesters nationwide decrying what they called undue , unfair police violence against African Americans , resonating even after grand jury testimony disputed whether Brown ever actually raised his arms in surrender . Those protests bubbled up in the days immediately after the shooting , with anger growing due to what some saw as law enforcement ' s heavy handed response . And they swelled again after the grand jury ' s decision this fall not to indict Wilson on state charges . If Holder decides , based on prosecutors ' recommendation , not to press federal civil rights charges against Wilson , that could rile things up yet again . Antonio French , a St . Louis city alderman who has been involved in the Ferguson protests , thinks some people will be disappointed , at the least . "" The community and the family wanted a day in court , an opportunity to see all the evidence laid out , cross examined , "" French said . "" And it looks like that ' s not going to happen . I hope we don ' t have any violence as a result of this . "" For now , though , Brown ' s family is laying low . What are the Brown family ' s options ? The Brown camp deferred comment on Wednesday ' s news reports suggesting there would be no charges . "" The family of Michael Brown Jr . will wait for official word from the Justice Department regarding whether or not any charges will be filed against the police officer who shot and killed him , "" Crump said in a written statement . "" The family won ' t address speculation from anonymous sources . "" Even without charges , this story isn ' t over . It ' s possible that Brown ' s family will file a civil lawsuit against Wilson , who resigned in late November citing security concerns . And the U . S . Justice Department still has another open investigation this one looking at the Ferguson Police Department as a whole . "" Anecdotal accounts underscore the history of mistrust of law enforcement in Ferguson that has received a good deal of attention , "" Holder said in September . "" Our investigation will assess the police department ' s use of force , including deadly force . It will analyze stops , searches and arrests . And it will examine the treatment of individuals detained at Ferguson ' s city jail . "" That investigation could lead to significant changes in Ferguson , much as similar federal probes have produced in New Orleans , Los Angeles , Pittsburgh , Cincinnati and elsewhere . But it wouldn ' t mean charges for Wilson , personally , or that anyone would go on trial . It ' s also possible there could be legislation , policy changes or personnel turnovers not forced by the federal government . In his State of the State speech on Wednesday , Missouri Gov . Jay Nixon said addressing "" the broader , systemic issues "" raised by the unrest that followed the killing of Brown would demand "" sustained effort . "" "" The legacy of Ferguson will be determined by what we do next . . . to foster healing and hope . . . and the changes we make to strengthen all of our communities , "" he said . At the least , French said , he expects more protests to keep up pressure on authorities . "" That ' s a good thing , "" he said . "" But we want to keep them peaceful , nonviolent because violence makes the situation worse . It divides the community in a time we need to come together and make everyone feel like they can get equal protection . "" Ultimately , he said , some of the protesters ' goals can be achieved outside the courts . "" The next steps I think are legislative change , "" French said , "" trying to make sure that in cases like this we get a special prosecutor by law , and to create a new level of civilian oversight over police departments . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1901904,1905,"Obama has rejected Putin s continued support for Assad although there are no good and viable policy alternatives at Obama s disposal During his speech at the General Assembly ( ) , President Obama suggested that the work with Russia and even Iran to reign in the war in Syria . This willingness to work with adversaries instead of going it alone is a welcome change in policy is reminiscent of how European leadership operates compared to the disastrous cowboy mentality of what was endured during previous administrations . As Obama put it , the managed transition is a far cry from the chaos created in Libya and in Iraq before that . The chaos in Libya was the handiwork of Mrs Clinton and nobody has called her out for it so far during the campaign . Is this change of policy coming as a result of the moves Russia has made recently or are we recognising the fact that there are other dynamics at play ? Russia has amassed military personnel , including pilots , trainers and equipment . During Putin s interview with Charlie Rose on , the Russian president left the door open for troop engagement and boots on the ground . Obama insisted at that Assad must go : We must recognise that there cannot be , after so much bloodshed , so much carnage , a return to the pre war status quo . After the disastrous eight years of Nouri Al Maliki when Sunnis were sidelined in the political process , the Sunnis in Iraq had nowhere to go . The persecution and murder of Sunni leadership and civilians continued under the watchful eyes of the western backers of Nouri Al Maliki . The army of Muqtada Al Sadr and Iranian backed militia continued to ethnically cleanse the formerly well integrated neighbourhoods of Iraq , pushing Sunnis out of their well established homes and businesses . Islamic State ( ) was created as a result of the power vacuum and came into being for the protection of the displaced Sunnis in Iraq and later Syria . Had put on a more humanitarian face and been allowed to consult with western powers it could have been called the Sunni Protection Force ( ) or something similar . Putin has argued , and he may have a point here , that Assad s military is the most capable force for fighting or any other extremist group that has carved out strongholds and territory in Syria and Iraq , and therefore needs to be strengthened . The conquering of vast swaths of land does not mean that has the wherewithal to hold those pieces of barren land where there is no water and nothing can grow . If there is oil beneath that land it will be a dark day in hell before it can be siphoned up for sale for any monetary gains . Obama has rejected Putin s continued support for Assad although there are no good and viable policy alternatives at Obama s disposal . The and its allies have struggled to come to a consensus to create a political process that pushes Assad from power . In this entire fiasco , Russia has provided covert and overt support to Assad and his regime . Sometimes that support has worked against the western powers goals and undermined the sanctions that are in place against the Syrian regime . Other times it has helped the rebels and extremists by providing monetary aid and weapons . That is , until now . During the last week or so Russia has been seen deepening its support of Assad , this time much more overtly than in the past . Russia has stationed troops , airplanes and other military equipment in Syria taking up an entire military base , propping up a regime at the brink of collapse . During his Charlie Rose interview on 60 Minutes programme , Putin seemed clearly focused on his resolve and policy towards Assad s regime . He said : There is no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism . The terrorism mantra may be coming back to haunt western policymakers . During his address at Obama took up much more time than the usual 15 minutes allocated to each leader . It was a refreshingly different and much more conciliatory approach than what the world has come to know of the and its policymakers . Summing up his approach , in the 43 minute speech , to some of the most difficult problems that his administration has faced , he said that while he would not hesitate to use military force when necessary , the world should not be guided by the philosophy that might makes right . Continuing his emphasis on diplomacy instead of use of force , he highlighted the recently restored ties with Cuba and the much more contentious but far reaching deal concluded with Iran along with other major powers in Western Europe . He noted that Putin and his newly emboldened Russia had partnered with the to achieve the Iran deal . Unlike the deal with Iran and restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba , both highlights of Mr Obama s tenure and legacy making foreign policy achievements , Syria is turning out to be much more challenging to handle . There has been a series of setbacks including a 500 million Pentagon programme that has netted no more than a handful of trained fighters . These fighters were trained to fight extremist elements but the force was seen to unravel and had to turn over equipment and vehicles in return for safe passage . Coupled with a surprise landing of Russian forces and equipment at a base right outside of Damascus this has left very little doubt that the current policy needs a reset . Putin s war of words continues to increase in intensity and volume . He has been sharply and unequivocally critical of support for Syrian rebels , describing it as not only illegal but counterproductive . A 500 million Pentagon programme to train and arm moderate rebels to fight has resulted in just a handful of fighters to bolster airstrikes from a led coalition . Is there a way out for Obama to salvage his foreign policy legacy ? If the Iran deal sticks and if it passes the next big hurdle without the detractors of that deal undermining it at the international stage his legacy is already cemented along with his diplomatic opening with Cuba and containing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu . A successful turnaround in the Syrian theatre will be seen as an extraordinary step . Iraq is the key element . The Haider al Abadi government must be forced diplomatically to stop isolating the Sunni population of Iraq . There was a time , a very short lived window of opportunity , when could have been contained had the right pressure been applied to protect the Sunni population in both Iraq and later Syria . That opportunity is lost forever . For the short term , take removing Assad from power off the table . Empower the Syrian forces to take some of the territory back from the rebels , extremists , extortionists and anybody who is using the Syrian and Iraqi population to make money . At the same time , force the Haider al Abadi government to appoint legitimate representatives for Iraq s Sunni population . Compel , under the auspices of the Iran deal , to call back the Shia militia helping the Al Sadr militia in eradicating Sunnis in Iraq . Finally , use all force available to beat back most of the power structure of . It is difficult but doable . The author is the host of weekly talk show Current Affairs in the The colonists in South Africa knew they had to control all forms of dissent and ensure that they . . . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1911919,1920,"But the "" final straw , "" the source said , was that she and the agency did not inform the president about a September 16 breach at the in Atlanta in which a private contractor who had a concealed gun shared an elevator with President Barack Obama until just before the media reported it on Tuesday afternoon . "" The problems about the elevator breach were a ) that it happened , b ) that no one told the White House about it in the midst of two weeks of many discussions with them about security and then c ) that the president didn ' t find out till just before the media was about to report it , "" the source said , agreeing that "" final straw "" would be an apt description of that event . Elaborate video shows entire security breach at White House That , however , could be explained and understood , the source said , given the "" fog "" of conflicting accounts inherent in such an intense and adrenaline filled event . There was no such understanding about why , two weeks after the September 16 elevator incident at the , the President was not informed until just before the Washington Examiner and Washington Post were prepared to share details of that event with the world . There was no going back she had lost Obama ' s confidence that she was the right person to run the agency . On Wednesday , Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he had accepted Pierson ' s resignation and was appointing an independent panel to investigate the White House breach . Presidents are loath to publicly criticize the Secret Service for fear of straining any relations with the agents who keep them alive and protect their loved ones . So perhaps it was left to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , who told reporters in Nevada on Wednesday , "" I am just so disappointed in what I ' ve seen . I can ' t imagine being a father of two girls and seeing this happen in my home . I ' ll bet Michelle is just beside herself they are so protective of those two girls . So I can ' t be a cheerleader of the Secret Service today . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past1921920,1921,"Royals closer Wade Davis ( 17 ) celebrates with catcher Drew Butera after finishing off their 7 2 win in Game 5 against the Mets last night in New York , which clinched their first World Series championship since 1985 . ? The Kansas City Royals are World Series champions for the first time since 1985 after coming from behind ? again ? to stun the New York Mets in a 7 2 win in 12 innings last night . The Royals are a young team , the best team in baseball . They can hit , field , run and pitch . And they aren t going anywhere . Chances are , they ll be back here again next year , fighting off pitches , refusing to strike out and scoring runs with contact over power as they cause havoc for postseason opponents . But this World Series could ve ended so much differently . For the second straight night , the Mets blew a late game lead in gut wrenching fashion . For eight innings , the ball zipped out of Matt Harvey s hand faster than it has in almost two weeks . He was unbelievable , Royals manager Ned Yost said . Harvey was in the middle of one of the most overpowering World Series pitching performances in 20 years . He was covering up the Mets flaws , pitching through David Wright s error and Travis d Arnaud s weak throwing arm that let the Royals steal base after base with little concern . In the Mets dugout after the top of the eighth , after Harvey had carved apart the Royals lineup while striking out nine , he looked like he was told his night was over by pitching coach Dan Warthen ? who he shoved out of the way to get to manager Terry Collins . No way Harvey would accept that news . He was taking the mound for the ninth . He just came over and said , I want this game , I want it bad , Collins said . Obviously I let my heart get in the way of my gut . I love my players . And I trust them . And so I said , Go get em out . But Lorenzo Cain started the ninth by drawing a full count walk , quickly stole second , and scored on Eric Hosmer s double to left . Mets closer Jeurys Familia replaced Harvey , recorded one out and faced Salvador Perez with the infield in . Perez fisted a ball to the left side of the infield that was fielded by Wright , the third baseman . Hosmer was creeping off third , but the ball was hit softly and Wright had an easy play for the second out . He looked at Hosmer , then threw to first to get Perez . But Hosmer took off for home , and first baseman Lucas Duda unleashed a wild throw as Hosmer slid in with the tying run . The Mets were stunned again . Just like they were the night before , when second baseman Daniel Murphy let a grounder roll under his glove as the Royals completed yet another comeback . From the eighth inning on , the Royals outscored foes 51 11 this postseason . The Royals were the far better team all along , their only weakness was beyond remarkable , too good to be true starting pitching . Pitching that good , it always wins . That s what the Mets needed from Harvey last night . Had the righty been able to complete the shutout , it would ve been the fourth World Series shutout in 20 years . The Mets would ve finally looked dangerous , with Jacob deGrom set for Game 6 and Noah Syndergaard in Game 7 . The Royals offense , one that had looked so dominant in Games 1 and 2 , finally looked confused and beaten . But it never lasts . They re just too good . They find other ways to score . While the Mets had little speed , the Royals lived off it . They stole eight bases and were never caught . And they ran with confidence , Hosmer s aggressive decision to try to score from third in the ninth saving his team from defeat . They didn t have much power ? nobody hit more than 22 homers this year ? but they had timely hitting . Christian Colon , who hadn t taken an at bat all postseason , drove in the go ahead run in the 12th inning off Addison Reed . The five run 12th was started by Perez , who was banged up throughout the series yet went 8 for 22 at the plate to win the Series Award . Now I don t feel pain . I don t feel nothing , Perez said . Alcides Escobar added a double and Cain cleared the bases with a three double to put the Mets away . Closer Wade Davis locked down the title in the bottom half , striking out the side , including Wilmer Flores looking to end it . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1931932,1933,"Three radio DJs in Kenya are going six days without food while broadcasting non stop to promote peaceful voting in a country that was nearly torn apart after its last election five years ago . Ghetto Radio presenters Mbusii , Solloo and Essie have been locked inside a "" glass house "" in central Nairobi since Wednesday , as part of the station ' s annual Serious Request Kenya event . This year ' s theme is "" Vote4Peace Vote4Kenya , "" ahead of the East African country ' s elections on March 4 2013 . The vote will be the first since ethnic violence engulfed the country after disputed elections in December 2007 , leaving more than 1 , 000 people dead and 350 , 000 displaced , according to the Kenya Red Cross . Read related : Can tech revolutionize African elections ? Three days into the challenge , Solloo is in good spirits despite the lack of food . "" I ' m a bit hungry , "" he laughingly admits , "" but we have to do this it ' s a pretty good feeling . "" Solloo , whose real name is Solomon Njoroge , says Kenya cannot afford a return to post election violence . Last time around , he says , he was a victim of the bloody unrest that swept his town of Eldoret , one of the fighting hotspots in Kenya ' s Rift Valley province . Solloo says that back then he had to spend more than two weeks with limited food supplies while camping at a police station for safety . "" This country cannot afford to go back to that time , "" says Solloo from the glass house , a few moments before going on air . "" I decided to come here because we have to push for this message to be a part of every Kenyan . It has to be every Kenyan ' s initiative to know that peace is more than just the absence of war . "" Opinion : What Ghana can teach the rest of Africa about democracy The radio presenters ' food strike kicked off on December 19 and will run until December 24 . So far , Solloo says , thousands of young people have gathered outside the glass house to show their support and also take part in a host of election related activities , including issuing of cards , a voter registration program and democracy workshops . "" The response has just been amazing , "" says the , who is relying on water and juices to get through the six day period . "" Everyone ' s proactive saying Kenya needs peace . We have to work for Kenya and work for peace . "" Some of the country ' s best known musicians have also joined the cause by performing live outside the glass house , adding their voice to a growing chorus of Kenyans calling for a peaceful election . Kenya has had a coalition government following the disputed 2007 elections . In that vote , both Mwai Kibaki , the incumbent , and challenger Raila Odinga claimed to have won . The post election chaos escalated into ethnic violence with members of the president ' s tribe , the Kikuyu , fighting members of Odinga ' s Luo tribe and other groups . The two later entered into a power sharing agreement , with Odinga named prime minister and Kibaki named president . Despite some pre election tensions between politicians in the country , Solloo is hopeful that Kenya ' s young population will show the nation ' s leaders that bloodshed should be avoided at all costs . "" I just want everyone to understand that we need peace , "" he says . "" We cannot afford another post election violence . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present1941943,1944,"A predator can also commit noble acts , yet those actions do not eradicate their predatory nature . This past year we have been beseeched by Cosby fans to acknowledge his contributions to the African American community as countless women continued to come forward against him . Humanity has complications and nuance . A predator can also commit noble acts , yet those actions do not eradicate their predatory nature . The attempts to humanize Cosby seems eerily similar to how media outlets will do the same for police officers who kill unarmed blacks , or white terrorists involved in mass shootings . Why do I care if they watch sitcoms or come from a broken home if they still committed abhorrent acts of evil . Those that want us to see both sides with Cosby , sing a different tune when asked to do the same for Darren Wilson or Dylann Roof . Furthermore , I find it convenient that African Americans should rally around Cosby , when he toured the country championing respectability politics and shaming black men at every turn . As if "" pulling up our pants "" would prevent unarmed black men from police brutality and injustice . Cosby can keep his pound cake as far as I ' m concerned . To insinuate that rape is only legitimate when reported in a timely manner is to disregard statistical evidence , history and the prevalence of misogyny in our society . The arguments which preach skepticism against the stories of Cosby ' s "" alleged "" victims hinge on the timing of their accusations . Cosby ' Truthers ' question the validity of these charges given that a majority of these alleged sexual attacks took place over 40 years ago . The narrative formulated from ignorance and blind faith would have us believe that book deals , notoriety and Cosby ' s wealth make him a prime target for opportunistic women . To insinuate that rape is only legitimate when reported in a timely manner is to disregard statistical evidence , history and the prevalence of misogyny in our society . Andrea Constand , who accuses Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her , walks in a park in Toronto , December 30 , 2015 . Reuters Some of Cosby ' s alleged victims actually attempted to come forward immediately without support or success , as recent as 2002 . Mainstream interest began to peak when video clips of comedian Hannibal Buress stand up routine about Cosby and rape charges surfaced . Hell , Cosby even gave us the blueprint for how to drug women for personal benefit ! When you acknowledge that 1 out of every 6 women in America being a victim of an attempted or completed rape , and 68 of rapes going unreported to police , you can see why challenging Bill Cosby at the height of his popularity , or even afterwards would intimidate anyone . Rapists use sex as a tool to subjugate their victims , and isn ' t always about the sexual act itself . The lack of understanding on this topic permeates the fabric of our society . Actress Reagan Gomez in a discussion on Twitter surrounding Cosby , offered her view on the perpetuation of Rape Culture in America : We live in a rape culture society . We live in a culture society that tells of us ( including wmn ) that girls women u their bodies . We live in a society that tells us women are inherently prone to be liars . Schemers . That ur entitled to them sexually . From childhood . . . . . . to adulthood . We live in a society that says if a girl woman is sexually assaulted , it ' s fault . She should ' ve "" known better . "" . . . . In the case of children , she was being "" fast "" . She shouldn ' t have been showing . The onus to be sexually violated is always on . . . Usually where there ' s smoke , there ' s fire . The law demands that we are innocent until proven guilty , but even the most skeptical individual has to admit that over 55 women accusing a man of rape across 4 decades sounds like a proverbial four alarm blaze . Bill Cosby portrayed one of the most iconic characters on as Heathcliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show . His eight season run signified a period of positive African American representation in mainstream television . Whether you saw episodes live or in syndication , you cherished the abundance of life lessons within the humour and family atmosphere . Although art can imitate life , as humans we can become susceptible to projecting the moral compass of fictional characters on the actual actors . Heathcliff Huxtable is Bill Cosby , and vice versa . This isn ' t the first time that a mega star ' s celebrity within the African American community illuminates over the darkness of their transgressions . There ' s no denying R . Kelly ' s place in music , but at what point do fans look past his art and hold him accountable for these morally disgusting acts ? R Kelly , with a history of settlements due to sexual encounters with underage girls , continues to be supported finally through record sales and sold out concerts . The man who has an illegal marriage to a then 15 year old Aaliyah in 1994 ( Kelly was 25 ) . The man who gave himself the nickname of ' The Pied Piper ' , after the character who lured children away from their parents using his enchanted musical powers . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past1951952,1953,"The United States will provide 73 million in aid to Zimbabwe , President Obama announced Friday after meeting with Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House . President Obama ( right ) praised Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House on Friday . "" I obviously have extraordinary admiration for the courage and tenacity that the prime minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times in Zimbabwe , "" Obama said . "" There was a time when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa , and it continues to have enormous potential . It has gone through a very dark and difficult time politically . "" Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe "" has not acted oftentimes in the best interest of the Zimbabwean people and has been resistant to the democratic changes that need to take place , "" Obama said . "" We now have a power sharing agreement that shows promise , and we want to do everything we can to encourage the kinds of improvement not only on human rights and rule of law , freedom of the press and democracy that is so necessary , but also on the economic front . "" The U . S . aid will not be going to the government directly "" because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy , human rights and rule of law , "" Obama said . "" But it will be going directly to the people in Zimbabwe . "" Tsvangirai said he told Obama he would like the United States to use its global influence to assist Zimbabwe in dealing with the challenges it faces . Tsvangirai said he understood other nations ' reluctance to support the Zimbabwean government , given Mugabe ' s controversial history . "" I think it ' s fair , "" he said . "" I understand it , given our history , and I ' m not going to defend President Mugabe . "" But , he noted , the two have agreed to work together and help Zimbabwe progress as a nation . In remarks with Obama , Tsvangirai said progress has been made by the transitional government , but much remains to be done . "" It is the problems of implementation , "" he said . "" . . . even by the standard of our own benchmarks , there are gaps that still exist . "" He said he would continue to strive to meet those benchmarks , not for the international community , but because "" it gives the people of Zimbabwe freedom and opportunity to grow . "" The power sharing arrangement between Tsvangirai , the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change , and Mugabe came after contested elections last year . Asked whether he believes Mugabe should retire , Tsvangirai said "" at the age of 85 , I think one needs to retire . "" But , he said , for his own legacy , it ' s important for him to be thinking about a "" dignified exit . "" "" I think that the power sharing government provides him with this opportunity , "" Tsvangirai said . Asked about his relationship with Mugabe , he said , "" We don ' t have to fall in love to work together . But we have accepted that we have made an agreement to have a workable relationship between the two political parties . "" He said there had been acrimony between the two , but they realized it was not helping the Zimbabwean people . "" We are inspired by people like Nelson Mandela , who had to go for 27 years in jail but still come out and say , ' Let ' s forget about the past ' . . . "" he said . He and Mugabe have chosen the process of dialogue rather than violence , Tsvangirai said . "" Let history judge whether this historic experiment was the right course of action . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past1961963,1964,"Three of the Alaska delegates free to support whomever they want as the Democrats ' nominee for president say they still haven ' t made up their mind . The fourth has a preferred candidate , but isn ' t sharing yet . Nationally , most superdelegates reached by The Associated Press who have a preference said they planned to support former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the national convention next year . Superdelegates can support the candidate of their choice regardless of what happens in their states ' primaries or caucuses . Superdelegates are members of Congress and other elected officials , party leaders and members of the Democratic National Committee . Superdelegates have 712 votes at the national convention and comprise about 30 percent of the 2 , 382 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination . reporters reached out to all 712 superdelegates during the past two weeks , and heard back from more than 80 percent of them . Of those , 359 planned to support Clinton , eight planned to support Vermont Sen . Bernie Sanders and two planned to support former Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley 210 were uncommitted . Three of Alaska ' s four super delegates , Kim Metcalfe of Juneau Casey Steinau of Big Lake and Ian Olson of Fairbanks said they ' re still uncommitted . The fourth , party chairman Mike Wenstrup , said he has a preferred candidate , but isn ' t publicly endorsing , citing his position within the party and desire to give voters a chance to evaluate the candidates on their own . Metcalfe said Clinton and Sanders are both very good candidates . "" I want to hang back and see what happens , "" she said . "" I just don ' t want to jump right in . "" Steinau said Sanders and O ' Malley are both strong leaders with solid records of leadership , which she says Clinton , too , possesses . "" Also , elected leadership , as opposed to anyone who ' s leading on the Republican side , "" she said . Clinton is also a former U . S . senator from New York . Olson said he ' s divided . When he could first register to vote in 1992 , he did so as a Democrat because he was inspired by Bill Clinton . He feels partial to Hillary Clinton primarily because of her record . But he also sees her ability to become the first female president as an "" undeniable opportunity for America and for the Democratic party , "" he said . That said he sees Sanders inspiring youth the way that President Barack Obama did in 2008 , and he said he thinks it ' s important to get youth more involved in electoral politics . He said he appreciated O ' Malley ' s push to get the Democratic National Committee leadership to allow for more debates . He feels he owes it to the party to hear what Democrats have to say before settling on a candidate and said he wants to represent the party membership ' s views . Steinau expects to end up supporting the person she thinks will represent her as an individual , her community as a Democrat and her position as an American . She said the Democrats have an "" amazing "" group of candidates . She ' s waiting to see who stands out a bit more than the others and is looking forward to the rest of the debates . At the national convention , Alaska will have 20 total delegates , 16 of which will be pledged based on the results on the March 26 caucuses and the state convention . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present1972009,2010,"Here ' s why Zuckerberg taking paternity leave really matters Zuckerburg ' s decision to take parental leave has fuelled ongoing debate over the gender gap and how to solve it . Photo Getty On Friday , with a picture on his Facebook page of a car seat , a stroller and his dog , Mark Zuckerberg announced he ' d be taking two months of parental leave . It wasn ' t a huge surprise : The first millennial of a Fortune 500 company , Zuckerberg is part of a generation of men who place more value on work life balance and taking time off with their children . His company offers four months of paid leave to both male and female employees . His chief operating officer is none other than "" Lean In "" maven Sheryl Sandberg , who not only advocates for more women in leadership but for more dads doing diaper duty . Had Zuck elected not to take substantial time off , it would have sent a mixed message . Still , it was a huge milestone both in the national discussion about parental leave and in the ongoing debate over the gender gap and how to solve it . To have a male Fortune 500 say he will take two months of paternity leave and tout its benefits for children and families is the sort of leadership by example that ' s necessary , both to get more men to follow suit , and to help female executives feel they can do the same . Of course , it ' s hard to know exactly what parental leave will look like for Zuckerberg . He and his wife certainly have the resources for any kind of professional assistance they could need during those first exhausting weeks . It seems unlikely he ' ll be completely out of touch from Facebook ( though neither are many professional women who step away for a few months to take care of a new child ) . And while his post appears to say he ' ll take two months directly after his daughter is born , Facebook does allow employees to take their four months at any time during the child ' s first year . According to the Society of Human Resources Management , just 17 percent of companies offered paid paternity leave in 2015 . But even if Zuckerberg is not taking the full four months ' leave the company offers , two months is vastly longer than many professional men take off after the birth of a child . Research from Boston College ' s Center for Work Family found in 2011 that 76 percent of fathers are back to work within a week of a child ' s birth or adoption 96 percent return within two weeks . Last year , the same center found that less than 10 percent of fathers took six weeks or more off . And that ' s among those who actually get it . Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that only 13 percent of U . S . full time employees had access to paid family leave in 2012 much of which was likely maternity leave . According to the Society of Human Resources Management , just 17 percent of companies offered paid paternity leave in 2015 . A few firms are making time off after a baby more gender neutral by giving both mothers and fathers the same amount of leave . That ' s starting to change , of course , as more companies even those outside the cushy confines of Silicon Valley add more paid leave for fathers or come up with innovative solutions . Goldman Sachs doubled its paid paternity leave to four weeks this summer , and Johnson Johnson now gives new dads eight weeks of paid leave . In addition to adding six weeks of parental leave ( it previously had no paid leave for new dads ) , Amazon recently began letting employees share part of their leave with a spouse who has none at their employers . ( Amazon Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post . ) A few firms are also making time off after a baby more gender neutral by giving both mothers and fathers the same amount of leave . Last week , the streaming music service Spotify said it would give both new mothers and fathers who work at the company six months of parental leave , joining companies such as Facebook and Netflix that have equal policies for men and women . Such benefits serve two functions : They help attract employees , particularly younger ones , who are more interested in sharing parenting responsibilities and improving work life balance . But they also make it possible for men to take the kind of leaves that could help improve the gender gap in both pay and leadership positions . After all , if there ' s just as much of a risk that a male employee of parenting age could step out of a job for a few months as there is for a female one , it could help balance pay and promotions . Meanwhile , if fathers also have greater access to paid leave , it improves the chances more women will return to the workforce , or return sooner , potentially helping to ease the "" motherhood penalty "" that ' s seen as driving the gender gap in wages . But all the extra weeks of paid leave in the world will do little if fathers , who still face a stigma when it comes to family leave in the workplace , don ' t see their colleagues or company leaders actually using it . Research has shown that men are more likely to take paternity leave if they see a co worker taking it . As of Facebook and someone who has already been open about the miscarriages he and his wife have faced Zuckerberg seems perfectly positioned to help . So bring on the pictures of diaper duty , Zuck . These are Facebook baby pictures the world could stand to see . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present1982038,2039,"President Donald Trump offered the most forthright criticism of Cuba since John F. Kennedy when he addressed a crowd in Miami ahead of signing an executive order reversing the Obama administration’s policy of normalization. [In a speech frequently interrupted by applause, and by cameo appearances from activists, Trump laid out a moral case against the Castro regime and its policies that few previous presidents have dared to make. “We will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer,” Trump said. He laid out his principles and policies, including regime change: “With God’s help, a free Cuba is what we will soon achieve,” he said, to sustained cheers and chants of “ !” He listed some of the human rights abuses of the Castro regime, acknowledging those in the audience who had suffered the “true and brutal nature of the Castro regime … many of you witnessed terrible crimes committed in service of a depraved ideology. ” He mentioned activists in Cuba who were prevented from leaving to attend his speech. He saluted exiles and dissidents present, some of whom had suffered decades of imprisonment in Cuba. Trump declared defiantly — in a swipe at his predecessor: “Now that I am president, America will expose the crimes of the Castro regime and stand with the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom. Because we know it is best for America to have freedom in our hemisphere, whether in Cuba or Venezuela, and to have a future where the people of each country can live out their own dreams,” he said. He added: For nearly six decades, the Cuban people have suffered under communist domination. To this day, Cuba is ruled by the same people who killed tens of thousands of their own citizens, who sought to spread their repressive and failed ideology throughout our hemisphere, and who once tried to host enemy nuclear weapons ninety miles from our shores. The Castro regime has shipped arms to North Korea, and fueled chaos in Venezuela. While imprisoning innocents, it has harbored cop killers, hijackers, and terrorists. It has supported human trafficking, forced labor, and exploitation all around the globe. This is the simple truth of the Castro regime. My administration will not hide from it, excuse it, or glamorize it. And we will never, ever be blind to it. We know what’s going on, and we remember what happened. And he declared: The previous administration’s easing of restrictions on travel and trade does not help the Cuban people. They only enrich the Cuban regime. The profits from investment and tourism flow directly to the [Cuban] military. The regime takes the money and owns the industry. The outcome of [the] last administration’s executive action has been only more repression, and a move to crush the peaceful, democratic movement. He later laid out conditions for a new agreement to improve relations, including dramatic improvements in Cuba’s human rights policies, the holding of free elections supervised by international observers, and the “return of the cop killer, Joanne Chesimard. ” (The latter is known as “Assata Shakur” and is still lionized by the American left.) It was all too much for at least one Obama administration adviser. As Trump spoke, former Obama White House official Ben Rhodes, one of the main architects of normalization with Cuba, tweeted furiously in opposition. He declared: “Trump doesn’t care about the human rights of the Cuban people and his policies will do nothing to help them. ” Rhodes also challenged the in the audience: “The few people in Miami enabling Trump in carrying out this charade should be held accountable. He could care less about Cubans,” he tweeted. “It’s tragic that some people in Fla are so determined to cling to a failed hardline on Cuba that they’re hitching themselves to Donald Trump,” he later added. Trump left the door open to diplomacy, stating that his new policy will maintain the U. S. embassy in Havana: “Our embassy [in Cuba] remains open in the hope that our countries can forge a stronger and much better path,” he said. “We will respect Cuban sovereignty, but we will never turn our backs on the Cuban people,” he later added. Trump left no doubt that relations would henceforth have to be based on a foundation of truth — not lenience toward a regime that secured concessions from the Obama administration without any domestic political change. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past1992061,2062,"Building on his reputation as a wild card wiling to call out the other candidates on issues where they share the same biases , Bloc Qu b cois leader Gilles Duceppe has demanded the other party leaders give him fifteen dollars . "" This is an issue none of the other parties want to discuss , "" said Duceppe , during the recent french language debate . "" And it ' s obvious to see why : giving me fifteen dollars is in none of their best interests . "" While Duceppe was equally willing to go after all three leaders for what he called their ' lack of a principled stance ' on the issue , his special ire was reserved for the Prime Minister . "" This is something that I was criticizing Mister Harper for in 2011 , 2008 , and 2006 , and we still haven ' t seen any progress from him on this , "" Duceppe said . "" And the situation has only grown more serious since then . "" "" I very much need to have fifteen dollars . "" Analysis of the numbers in the spending breakdown of the fifteen dollars that the provided seems to show that they add up . "" They ' ve done a very thorough job , "" said financial expert Eleanor Morris . "" The one campaign sign , the secondhand tie from a thrift store , and the ham sandwich for Gilles to eat would seem to add up to exactly fifteen dollars . "" As of press time , all three frontrunners have continued to hold out on Duceppe ' s demands , as well as on Elizabeth May ' s request to simply be allowed to speak on behalf of her party at debates . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past2002066,2067,"A woman s voice shouts back : He is not my boyfriend ! A bang follows , and then a hail of gunfire . Police will shoot 5 , 000 rounds during the operation , leaving the woman and two men dead , including Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the ringleader behind last Friday s Paris attacks that left 130 people dead . The woman was Hasna Aitboulahcen , 26 , a French national of Moroccan origin who lived a secular lifestyle , which included heavy drinking and attending nightclubs . She was described by friends as outgoing and a bit clueless . Aitboulahcen was a relation of Abaaoud , a Belgian radical and Isis militant , and appears to have been radicalised at a similar time . Police initially identified her as the suicide bomber behind the blast in Saint Denis , but said on Friday that the explosives had been set off by a man . According to court records , Aitboulahcen s Facebook page and local media reports from her home town , she was the daughter of Moroccan immigrants who arrived in France in the early 1970s . On Friday , President Fran ? ois Hollande would not confirm whether the tip that led to the raid had come from Morocco , but said that intelligence co operation between the two countries was very effective and very useful . Aitboulahcen in a photo that first appeared on Facebook Aitboulahcen was born in Clichy , Hauts de Seine , north of Paris , on August 12 1989 and , at the age of 16 , moved to Creutzwald , Moselle , in eastern France , near the German border . Jean Luc Wozniak , the mayor of Creutzwald , told the Associated Press news agency that she had a sister and two brothers and that the four siblings spent some time in foster care . He said the family moved into an apartment in a housing project in 2006 . Eventually , she left Creutzwald for Clichy sous Bois , the district in eastern Paris that had been the starting point of the 2005 French riots , where thousands of cars were burnt and hundreds of buildings destroyed as incensed local residents went on the rampage . Her time as a student remains unclear . Her Facebook page says she went to Paul Verlaine University in Metz , but the school denies any record of her . However , it is clear that she went on to be the manager of a construction company , Beko Construction , in 2013 . The business was created in Clichy sous Bois in 2011 and transferred to her name in May 2013 ? but for only seven months , according to court records . It was liquidated in 2014 . Aitboulahcen frequently returned to Creutzwald to visit her father . The town of 13 , 000 people was the subject of a large police operation on Wednesday night , one of more than 790 that have been carried out since Sunday night using new state of emergency powers . Friends told a local newspaper , R publicain Lorrain , they had not seen her for five years . They said she drank alcohol and was known locally as the cowgirl because she wore a big hat . It is not clear whether she became radicalised after 2013 . But if true , this would appear to be about the same time 28 year old Abaaoud is thought to have been transformed into a jihadi . He left Brussels and headed for Syria in early 2014 , where he became a high ranking Isis fighter . Aitboulahcen , who by this point was known to the French authorities , expressed a wish to do the same in a posting on her Facebook page that was seen by the Belgian news site before it was deleted . She wrote on June 11 this year : Jver biento aller en syrie inshallah biento depart pour la turkie ( I am soon going to Syria , God willing , leaving soon for Turkey ) . This story has been updated to reflect the latest information from the Paris prosecutor . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2012075,2076,"In the months after the ship sinking , Titanic survivor Lady Lucy Duff Gordon ' s correspondence to her friend in New York starts , as one might expect , with an appropriate amount of thanks for her concern . "" How kind of you to send me a cable of sympathy from New York on our safety , "" Duff Gordon writes in a letter that will go up for auction Wednesday in Boston . The remarks she writes next on her own personal letterhead dated May 27 , 1912 , indicate that not all were pleased with how things turned out . "" According to the way we ' ve been treated by England on our return we didn ' t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all ! ! ! ! Isn ' t it disgraceful ? "" Duff Gordon said . Duff Gordon and her husband , Cosmo , escaped the Titanic ' s tragic end by boarding Lifeboat 1 , which transported 12 passengers despite having capacity for 40 . The prominent fashion designer and her husband were the only two passengers asked to testify during the British Wreck Commissioner ' s inquiry into the famous ship ' s sinking . Their testimony made them popular fodder for tabloids after allegations that Cosmo had bribed the crew to row away faster , rather than trying to rescue others . Lifeboat 1 became known as the "" Money Boat . "" Rumors that the Duff Gordons tried to deter the crew from making other rescues were never corroborated , but Lucy Duff Gordon later said her husband was "" brokenhearted over the negative coverage for the rest of his life , "" according to a release from Auction , the house responsible for the sale of the letter . Other artifacts also up for auction with Duff Gordon ' s letter include a teacup from the Titanic that was , according to the auction house , "" destined for the bottom of the Atlantic , "" a guitar belonging to Johnny Ramone of the Ramones , and a three page letter by Civil Rights activist Malcolm X written from a Norfolk prison in 1950 . In his letter , Malcolm X proclaims his allegiance to "" the Almighty God , Allah , "" whom he credits with "" cleaning our polluted souls . "" Before converting to Islam in 1948 , Malcolm X lived in Boston , where he befriended musicians at the Roseland State Ballroom where he worked . Though he renounced his former life , saying , "" Without Allah , no wonder we have so longingly turned so often to music for its comforting effects , "" he wrote longingly of his former friends . A letter by Grateful Dead front man Jerry Garcia sent to a a former Vogue cover model whom he met at a New York party in 1980 will also go up for sale . The undated letter is postmarked June 22 , 1982 . Garcia asks the woman for mercy , indicating how rare such a letter is , saying , "" Pardon my handwriting , this is the first letter I ' ve written in years . "" He includes a sketch of the band ' s first outdoor performance , saying , "" Grateful Dead just played our first outdoor show of the year at a place called the Greek Theatre . "" The historic Berkeley music venue would become a home base for the band , which would have celebrated its 50th anniversary this summer . Violin played as Titanic sank sells for 1 . 7 million ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2022254,2255,"Michael Oliver has been handed the Manchester derby on Sunday just months after missing Marouane Fellaini ' s flailing elbow on Pablo Zabaleta . The Belgian flung an arm in the Manchester City defender ' s direction during United ' s defeat at Old Trafford , but was given a reprieve and stayed on the pitch . The 29 year old Oliver is , however , one of the best referees in the Premier League and this appointment reflects that . Referee Michael Oliver ( centre ) has been handed the Manchester derby this weekend Oliver failed to send Marouane Fellaini off for this elbow on Pablo Zabaleta at Old Trafford in March United midfielder Fellaini looked shocked as he was handed a yellow card by the 29 year old referee Oliver talks to Ashley Williams and Wayne Routledge during Swansea ' s game against Stoke is our new campaign to rid football of the dark arts of the penalty box . Whether it is wrestling , grappling , shirt pulling or the outrageous headlocks witnessed in the Manchester United vs Chelsea match the area has become a free for all for cheating . And that means fewer goals in the Barclays Premier League . For too long , referees have failed to punish players for blatantly stopping opponents from scoring . It ' s time to end that . So join us in our campaign to say Hands Off In The Box to players and referees . We ' ll be naming and shaming the cheats and the officials who let them get away with it . The Premier League have leaned on the youngster for some of its bigger fixtures over the last 12 months . And this weekend is no different Oliver will lead the teams out at the Etihad Stadium . He will look to avoid being in the spotlight for missing an incident this time . He was also criticised by Sportsmail ' s Graham Poll in the aftermath of Chelsea ' s win at Burnley in August after wrongfully cautioning Diego Costa for simulation when the striker had been tripped by goalkeeper Tom Heaton . Oliver also booked Nacer Chadli for cupping his ear to the home Arsenal supporting during Tottenham ' s 1 1 draw at the Emirates Stadium last month . And during Swansea ' s recent match at Stoke he correctly gave a penalty to the visitors for Ryan Shawcross wrestling down Wilfried Bony in the area . Oliver has been talked about as a potential official during the 2018 World Cup in Russia . Phil Dowd was pilloried for failing to spot serious penalty box grappling by Marcos Rojo and Chris Smalling on Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry during United ' s draw against Chelsea on Sunday . And Dowd has been given the Monday night game between Crystal Palace and Sunderland at Selhurst Park . Meanwhile , Mike Jones will take charge of the west London derby between Chelsea and , with Andre Marriner overseeing Liverpool ' s trip to Newcastle . Like our Manchester United Facebook page . Phil Dowd taking charge of Crystal Palace vs Sunderland has been given something of a demotion ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present2032267,2268,"A former soldier who was injured by a Taliban explosive in Afghanistan has said he was refused entry to a pub because of scars on his face . James Dalby , 23 , was serving as a trooper in the Royal Dragoon Guards in 2010 when he was caught in the blast from an improvised explosive device . The blast left him with third degree burns , a broken leg , a fractured eye socket and shrapnel wounds to his head . The injuries were so serious he had to leave the Army for medical reasons . Refused entry : James Dalby , who was scarred by a Taliban bomb in 2010 , says a doorman told him his wound ' looks bad ' . He is pictured left training in Dorset before the blast , right today Mr Dalby and a group of friends were turned away from a Yates ' s pub in York on a night out last Saturday though Yates ' s has claimed it was for breaching their dress code . The former soldier has described how he was singled out from his party and told he could not come in because his wound ' looks bad ' . He said : ' I got refused from Yates ' s for something I can ' t control . I was not drunk and I wasn ' t being disorderly , I wasn ' t giving him a reason to target anything . ' It would be nice to get a public apology and for people to be aware that it goes on . That was my job and it was not my call to make . ' To be refused for being an ex serviceman with facial scars does anger me . ' Location : Mr Dalby and his friends were turned away from Yates ' s pub in York , pictured Solidarity : Yates ' s has claimed that the group was denied entry for breaching a dress code , but Matt Rayner ( pictured right with Mr Dalby ) said he was dressed similarly to his friend and allowed inside Locals in York have reacted angrily to his treatment and threatened to boycott Yates ' s in response . Hundreds of people have signed up to a protest in York planned for April 26 . Representatives of the pub chain , which has more than 60 locations across the country , said that the entire group was turned away because they failed to meet the dress code , which includes a weekend ban on hoodies and sportswear . A spokesman claimed that Yates ' s welcomes service personnel and has given substantial amounts to forces charities . Support : Hundreds of Facebook users voiced their anger , and have signed up to a protest in York later this month ' Despicable ' : Other soldiers rallied round Mr Dalby after the incident at Yates ' s But Mr Dalby and his friends have disputed that this was the reason , claiming that the doorman eventually admitted their clothes were not the real reason . Matt Rayner , 25 , was a member of the group and said : ' Everyone was disgusted by it . Of the group that was out , everyone was allowed in apart from James . He was not dressed any differently to me . ' James is a quiet lad and is not the most confident , something like this is going to knock his confidence . I just think it ' s wrong . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2042282,2283,"For anyone who s sick to death of all the pc (politically correct) talk about who should be allowed in the bathroom, this one s for YOU:This mom is spot on with her common sense approach to what makes a woman a woman etc We love this! ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present2052284,2285,"The posters show apparently terrified people running down flights of stairs , cowering in a darkened corner and anxiously talking on their mobile phones Alarmist posters on what commuters should do in the event of a terror outrage were issued by police yesterday . Instead of an appeal for calm , the advice is ' run , hide and tell ' in a throwback to notices at the height of nuclear attack hysteria in the 1980s . The campaign urges commuters to ' stay safe ' during a firearms or weapons attack . The posters show apparently terrified people running down flights of stairs , cowering in a darkened corner and anxiously talking on their mobile phones . The flyers tell passengers what to do in the event of a Mumbai style gun attack or bombing at one of the ' s busy terminals . They are being distributed by police after Home Secretary Theresa May warned this week that the threat to Britain from home grown Muslim extremists or those returning from fighting with Islamic State in Syria or Iraq is ' greater than ever ' . The posters instruct : ' If you hear gunfire or a weapons attack , leave the area safely if you can . If this puts you in greater danger , find a safe place to take cover . ' But critics have claimed the posters , handed out around the country as part of Counter Terrorism Awareness Week , are ' scaremongering ' and have been compared the leaflets to the Cold War adverts telling people to ' Duck and Cover ' if caught in a nuclear attack . Chief Constable Paul Crowther , of the British Transport Police ( ) said : ' For commuters , who make the same journey over and over again , it can be easy to become oblivious to their surroundings . ' But I would urge them to remain alert , use their instinct and have the confidence to report anything that strikes them as out of place or suspicious . He added that earlier this month a man was sentenced for terrorism offences after being caught in possession of information about how to make bombs . University student Andreas Pierides , 22 , narrowly avoided jail after he admitted taking nine distress flares on to a passenger jet at Stansted Airport and possessing a terrorist manual . Police arrested him as he was about to board a flight after a member of the public saw him reading an electronic publication on a train which appeared to include bomb making instructions . The flyers tell passengers what to do in the event of a Mumbai style gun attack or bombing at one of the ' s busy terminals . Pictured , a gunman identified by police as Ajmal Kasab walks through the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai , India He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years after claiming he was going to set off the flares at a football match . ' This was as a direct result of a rail passenger reporting suspicions to train staff . We need others to follow suit and play their part in keeping the ' s transport systems safe from terrorists , ' he said . But transport users took to Twitter to complain about the leaflets , which some said were stoking fear . Rob Thompson wrote : ' These leaflets are more likely to cause panic than any apparent terrorism . Chris Irvine , from Rochester , Kent , said : ' I cannot believe that the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Metropolitan Police are putting this out . ' It ' s totally alarmist . I grew up in Northern Ireland but I have never seen anything like it . Obviously we have to take the threat seriously , but I don ' t see how striking the fear of God into people helps . ' And Michael Earl added : ' Unbelievable ! They might as well just say "" Run like hell and start a panic "" . ' The leaflets were handed out after Mrs May used a keynote speech to reveal that 40 terrorist attacks had been foiled since the July 7 bombings in London in 2005 , which killed 52 commuters . Yesterday the Home Office published a range of anti terrorism measures aimed at tackling the threat , including stripping would be jihadists of their passports and a legal requirement by schools , prisons and councils to put in place policies to stop would be extremists being radicalised . In her speech on Monday , Mrs May said : ' We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a deadly terrorist ideology . These powers are essential to keep up with the very serious and rapidly changing threats we face . ' In an open and free society , we can never entirely eliminate the threat from terrorism . But we must do everything possible in line with our shared values to reduce the risks posed by our enemies . ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present2062285,2286,"She ' s the Perth mum who made a kitchen appliance that costs as much as a week in Bali so popular in Australia . Former mining consultant Grace Mazur has opened up about how she turned the controversial Thermomix cooking device into a cult success as she announced a 1 million donation to the Murdoch Children ' s Research Institute . Her company sold 80 , 000 devices in Australia in 2014 despite an angry backlash from customers , upset that the first model released in years , the TM5 , allegedly went to market without warning . ' It was a bit challenging , ' Ms Mazur , the managing director of Thermomix in Australia , said of the incident . Perth mum Grace Mazur , left , is the driving force behind Thermomix in Australia . Ms Mazur today donated 1 million to the Murdoch Children ' s Research Institute which Sarah Murdoch is on the board of The Thermomix , pictured , has an enormous following . But many customers were furious when the company sprung an expensive new model on them without warning Sunny side up : This was Thermomix in Australia ' s apology to customers last year The company was rounded upon by consumer group last year after furious customers said the TM5 model was released without warning . A Change . org petition garnered more than 2500 signatures and some customers took the issue to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission . Ms Mazur said it was an ' honour ' that customers were so passionate about Thermomix . ' It ' s also an honour because we know how passionate our customers and consultants are . . . You learn from every experience , everything in life that you do ' . She first discovered Thermomix while visiting a friend in her native Poland in the year 2000 , when she was working as a mining consultant in Perth . ' I went to ( visit ) a friend of mine . . . She wasn ' t expecting me . ' Her kids cooked the whole dinner instantly . I was impressed , they sold it to me , seeing what they can do . ' The Thermomix is extraordinarily popular and has received positive reviews from . But the company ' s behaviour has been the target of scathing criticism A cook , surrounded by all of the products she has made with a Thermomix After returning to Australia , she then negotiated a deal with Vorwek , the manufacturer of the product , for several months . ' It took us awhile to convince the German company . They didn ' t think there was a market here in Australia . ' It took years before the product caught on with the company selling 50 , 000 units in its first ten years , but 80 , 000 last year . The device is popular in Europe Ms Mazur said ' in Italy , the Thermomix is part of a wedding ' and the company has had more than 200 , 000 customers in Australia in total . Ms Murdoch said today ' s donation from Thermomix would go towards current efforts preventing childhood diseases and ailments , including food allergies , obesity and diabetes . ' Our mission is to try and re educate people about food , ' she said , adding that Thermomix had a part in that mission . ' ( Thermomix is ) that easy that your kids can use it , and can be involved in the process about making decisions about what they eat . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2072299,2300,"In the late 20th Century, author and attorney Mike Godwin said that as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches. Soon, though, Godwin s Law was used to invalidate any mention of Hitler, which effectively worked to white-wash a significant portion of 20th century history.Who knows, that could be why we re seeing a rise in holocaust denial and the election of Donald Trump. Now, a Yale Professor is taking on that very issue, saying that our fear of making Hitler comparisons is making us historically illiterate.Yale history professor, and author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder isn t going so far to say that Trump is like Hitler, but he is saying that there are a lot of lessons to be learned from Hitler, specifically in how democratic republics fail and that our refusal to even talk about Hitler simply feeds our intellectual laziness.So the way to start the discussion about comparisons is to point out that Americans are extremely lazy about history. I mean that s one way in which were definitely number one among major nations. And one of the ways we re lazy about history is that as soon as anyone suggests that the past might be useful, then we say but wait it s not exactly the same and therefore I m just going to discard it. In that way in two or three seconds we give ourselves an excuse not to think about history.Source: Business InsiderHere s the video:var playerParam = {'pcode':'BhdmY6l9g002rBhQ6aEBZiheacDu','playerBrandingId':'6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e','skin': {'config': '//player.ooyala.com/static/v4/stable/latest/skin-plugin/skin.json'} };OO.ready(function() {window.pp = OO.Player.create('container', 'B1MWNzYTE6PYNvENSzDs8rjZyVjOKMu8', playerParam); });The main reason for studying history, other than the fact that it s fascinating as hell, is to learn from what our forebears got wrong as well as from what they got right. Clearly, a hell of a lot went wrong during the late part of the 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century. There were the robber barons, there was the Great Depression and there was the rise of fascism that killed millions of people. Perhaps if we weren t so lazy about history, we wouldn t need to talk about income inequality and banks wouldn t be too big to fail. If Mike Godwin hadn t been so wildly misinterpreted, perhaps we would not have have been silenced when comparing Trump s white nationalist following to that of Hitler. Instead, neo-nazis are now an actual voting bloc and the nation s press secretary can conveniently ignore the fact that Hitler gassed six million Jews. Hey, at least Spicer is getting us to talk about history.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past2082301,2302,"More than 3 , 000 students are facing an unexpected decision after they received acceptance notices from the University of Florida only to find they would have to spend a year taking online classes . The 3 , 118 unidentified applicants were presumably delighted when they were accepted as freshmen by the university in Gainesville for the fall after sending in applications for traditional first year slots . But after reading their congratulations notices , they apparently realized they would need to agree to spend their entire first year taking classes on the Internet in order to attend the public college . The classes are part of a new program the Pathway to Campus Enrollment ( PaCE ) which started in 2015 and aims to accommodate a higher number of students , The Washington Post reported . New program : More than 3 , 000 students are facing an unexpected decision after they received acceptance notices from the University of Florida ( pictured ) only to find they would have to take online classes for a year The students who were accepted to the university on the basis they agreed to undertake online classes for a year had not applied to the program , which will likely help expand enrollment in the university ' s new 15million online undergraduate program , created by state legislators in 2013 . They were also in addition to the estimated 12 , 000 students offered traditional freshman slots . Steve Orlando , senior director of ' s media relations , told the newspaper the move ' allows us to offer admission to additional qualified applicants with academic potential and demonstrated success ' . Joe Glover , who has been the university ' s Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs since July 2008 , added : ' The market for freshman is by no means clear anywhere in the country . ' We are trying different things to identify that market . That is one of the motivations . ' On its website , says that PaCE helps deal with the ' limited space of campus ' and gives students ' the chance to start their degree online and then transition to campus in order to complete it . ' It adds it ' offers an excellent academic experience , combining online and campus based learning ' . New iniatitive : The classes are part of a new program the Pathway to Campus Enrollment ( PaCE , pictured ) which started in 2015 and aims to accommodate a higher number of students at the flagship university Extending space : On its website , says that PaCE helps deal with the ' limited space of campus ' and gives students ' the chance to start their degree online and then transition to campus in order to complete it ' It tells students : ' Because of limitations to our freshman enrollment on ' s residential campus , we are unable to accommodate every capable student who applies to the university . ' However , because of your demonstrated potential , we are offering you a pathway to ' s residential campus different from our traditional transfer program . ' With legislators keen to expand online learning at Florida universities , ' s online graduate program became available to students in 2014 , with a huge 15million assigned to start up and initial costs . But PaCE ' didn ' t fully exist ' last fall for the 2016 admissions season , Mr Glover told the newspaper , describing the initiative as ' an experiment ' that some of the 3 , 118 students may not wish to accept . Provost : Joe Glover ( pictured ) , the university ' s Provost , said : ' The market for freshman is by no means clear anywhere in the country . ' We are trying different things to identify that market . That is one of the motivations ' He admitted that many parents were surprised to find their children had been accepted to on the condition they took online classes and had bombarded him with calls asking questions about it . On its website , states that to be achieve a degree through the PaCE program , students must be willing to ' enroll for at least two semesters and a minimum of 15 credits through Online ' . It adds : ' After earning a total of 60 credits and meeting program requirements , students may submit a transition form to move from online learning to a guaranteed place on the residential campus . ' The program offers 60 majors in seven colleges , including psychology and telecommunication . Students in PaCE receive a 25 per cent tuition discount , the website says . They will also not have to pay some of the fees required for residential students . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2092309,2310,"Idi Diallo started playing soccer when he was 5, living in a small Ivory Coast village, kicking a ball on his family farm through two rocks that served as the goal. Even as he played, he could see troops fighting in the distance and hear gunfire ringing out in the civil wars that raged through his childhood. He practiced every day, dreaming of playing in professional European soccer leagues. He had never seen a soccer game on television — played on pristine fields with roaring fans — but at 11, he left his family for Abidjan, the country’s largest city, to play for a local team for the next three years. He also joined the Ivory Coast national team and traveled to Ghana, where the team made the semifinals in a tournament of African nations. In 2010, he got a chance to play in Italy for the Milan Football Academy Camp, a youth program sponsored by the elite Italian football league. But when a relative in Milan was unable to house him, he decided to pursue his dream in the United States. Then 15, Mr. Diallo boarded a plane with a friend of his brother’s and headed to New York. They settled in the Bronx, but when his companion returned to Africa a month later, Mr. Diallo found himself alone on the streets. A practicing Muslim, Mr. Diallo found refuge at the Musa Mosque Islamic Center in the Bronx, where he often slept in the prayer hall. He also informally played soccer with the Fordham University team. “He’d have played me, but I didn’t have a diploma,” Mr. Diallo said of the coach, recalling an interaction on the field. “He said, ‘Where do you come from?’ And I said, ‘You don’t want to know. ’” Then a friend at the university invited him to play in pickup games at Heritage Field, the site of the original Yankee Stadium. That is where Mr. Diallo met Fernando Rodriguez, a high school basketball coach battling advanced melanoma, who watched the games. Mr. Rodriguez approached Mr. Diallo after a game to compliment his performance. Mr. Diallo spoke little English, but he recognized Mr. Rodriguez’s accent and responded in Spanish — the language he had chosen to learn at the soccer academy in Ivory Coast. “So from then, we started talking,” Mr. Diallo said with a smile. “It was a good moment. As time went by, he asked me about my life. I don’t like talking about my problems the past is in the past. But he’d take me to eat at a nearby cafeteria, and he’d ask small questions. He asked where I lived, and I said, ‘No house for me,’ and he invited me to stay with him. ” A month after their initial meeting, Mr. Diallo accepted an invitation for a dinner and saw Mr. Rodriguez’s spare room. “There was no way I’d find something better than that,” he recalled thinking. Mr. Diallo, then 17, moved in and enrolled at Urban Assembly Media High School in Manhattan, starting as a 10th grader. He took classes to learn English and joined the soccer team, which won the championship in his first year. Mr. Rodriguez became Mr. Diallo’s legal guardian and started filling out paperwork to adopt him. But his health continued to decline, and a year after taking in Mr. Diallo, he was admitted to a hospital. This time, it was Mr. Diallo’s turn to take care of the man who had taken him in. He took warm meals to him and visited him often, updating him on his success at school. Mr. Rodriguez still managed to sponsor Mr. Diallo for his green card and help him apply for legal immigration status. Four months after Mr. Rodriguez died, Mr. Diallo learned that his immigration application had been approved. “When he passed away, it was hard,” Mr. Diallo said, shaking his head. “He’d become my father. ” He played a game the day of Mr. Rodriguez’s funeral. And he continued classes. “I had to stay in school,” he said. “I couldn’t give up on something he’d helped me work toward. ” On a cold November morning, Mr. Diallo sat inside Create Young Adult Residences, a transitional housing program serving men 18 to 25, where he has lived since February 2015. Create is affiliated with Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, one of eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Mr. Diallo, now 20, recalls with pride the life he has lived after his mentor’s death. He graduated from high school in June and was accepted to both the College of Staten Island and LaGuardia Community College. It is a far different future from the one he imagined in Ivory Coast, where he spent few years getting a formal education schools were often closed during the wars. He received a $2, 000 scholarship from the National Association for Education and Homeless Children and Youth. The New York Public Library awarded him a laptop for academic excellence, and Catholic Charities used $350 from The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund to pay for his schoolbooks. Financial aid will cover his academic costs for the first two years at both schools. It will not cover his room and board, but he qualifies for an $800 rental subsidy from the city. In addition to working part time as a waiter, bringing in about $600 a month, he plays midfielder for Boca Juniors affiliated with Argentina’s premier student soccer league. He travels to Long Island three days a week to practice, and has had tryouts with professional soccer clubs across the country, including the San Francisco Deltas and Galaxy II. Additional tryouts are scheduled for Miami City and Orlando City Soccer Club in January. He has also been invited for a return tryout in Los Angeles later in January but is unable to afford the plane fare. He laughed and shook his head, reflecting on the future, hopeful yet unwilling to wish too much. “If God gets me on a team — whatever team — this year, and I do well . ..,” he said, his words trailing off. “With agents watching those games, you never know. ” He is waiting to choose a college until he hears back from professional soccer teams, and plans to start classes after tryouts conclude in February, studying business accounting or physical therapy. If he makes a team this year, he said, he plans to continue school in that city. Regardless of where the next few months take him, Mr. Diallo said, he will keep working to become a professional soccer player. “I could do without anything — live on the street — to play soccer,” he said. “And I’ve done that. I’ve been dreaming about this day since I was born. ”",true,news,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2102316,2317,"Breibart editor Milo Yiannopoulos is the obnoxious little twerp who got banned from Twitter for inciting his fans to viciously attack comedian Leslie Jones in an effort to humiliate her.Now karma has finally turned the tables on Yiannopoulos.During an interview with s Terry Moran that will air on Nightline this Friday, Yiannopoulos was the one who got humiliated this time as Moran took this asshole who has the maturity of a 12-year-old boy to school.Yiannopoulos began by calling himself a virtuous troll who is doing God s work. If Leslie Jones were right here, would you say, You look like a dude ? Moran asked. Yeah, probably, Yiannopoulos replied. You would say that to her? a disgusted Moran said.Once again, Yiannopoulos has zero remorse for his ugly attack and said he would do it again, which led to Moran smacking the Breitbart bully down. Then you re an idiot, Moran told him.Yiannopoulos argued that he is not responsible for what his fans do even though it was his sexism and hate that made Jones a target for harassment in the first place. Does Justin Bieber have an obligation to his fans? I m sorry for being popular. But I am not responsible for what 350,000 people on the Internet say. I m responsible for what I say. Yeah, and what you said incited your fans to attack as if they were your own personal army of Internet trolls. If Justin Beiber launched a Twitter tirade against Selena Gomez that resulted in his fans attacking her, he would be responsible for it. Just like Yiannopoulos is responsible for the attack on Jones.Words have consequences and Yiannopoulos is finding that out the hard way.Moran responded by putting Yiannopoulis in his place with an epic smackdown that is incredibly enjoyable to watch. You re going to go after somebody s body to denigrate their ideas? What grade are you in? Are you a 13-year-old boy? Because somebody doesn t have a weight that you think is proper? That s revolting. And Yiannopoulos responded by being a misogynist asshole. I ll tell you what s revolting. What s revolting is the body positivity movement. What s revolting is this idea now that you can tell women that they ll be healthy at any size. Here s the video via YouTube:Trolls like Yiannopoulos should be banned from using the Internet entirely. He should not have a platform to bully others and spread his hate. And of course, he s a supporter of Donald Trump, which makes him even more of a prick. But you can bet that sexist trolls like Yiannopoulos will become even more emboldened if the Republican nominee should win in November, which makes it even more important that he lose by a humiliating landslide.Featured Image: Screenshot",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past2112322,2323,"Earlier this month the tracksuit tycoon Mike Ashley agreed to buy a plot of land in Chelsea from the retailer John Lewis for somewhere in the region of 200million . The Clearings has been primed for redevelopment , with planning permission for 62 luxury flats , seven townhouses and an agreement to relocate Marlborough Primary School as part of the project . In five years , when the operation to build the properties is concluded and they have been sold to high end buyers , Ashley will add something in the region of another 1bn to his net worth . There have been empty seats at St James ' Park recently as fans let their feelings about Mike Ashley be known The weekend defeat by Swansea was a seventh straight Premier League loss for the Magpies Toon keeper Tim Krul had to pick the ball out of his net three times against Swansea Ashley looks after the money , obsessing over the finances at his business empire , which includes SportsDirect , Tesco and his football club in the north east . Last year his group made more than 500m . In return , he expects his employees , across the board , to deliver . The biggest motivation in Ashley ' s life is to make money , something reflected in Newcastle United ' s latest accounts , which are showing another decent profit and 34m in the bank . The money men at Newcastle are already aware that the team could play in an empty stadium when the new television deals crystallise at the start of the 2016 17 season and still turn a profit based on current income and expenditure . It feels like it could come to that as Newcastle ' s disaffected supporters wonder where to take their grievances to next . Ashley , the club ' s owner , does not appear to be listening . He is not a football man , certainly not in the same way as the increasing number of disillusioned supporters at St James ' Park . After seven straight defeats in the Barclays Premier League under their interim coach John Carver , they have every right to fear for the future . All is not well . It does not help that Ashley has taken a neanderthal approach to negative criticism , frequently banning journalists from St James ' because they have gone into bat on behalf of the team ' s disaffected supporters . For such a successful businessman , Ashley ' s sensitivity to criticism is undoubtedly one of his biggest weaknesses . Ashley ( right ) has never been Mr Popular at St James ' Park but the protests have been ramped up recently A fan appeared to have a go at interim manager John Carver during the latest loss at St James ' Park The view from the bench hasn ' t been pretty for Carver and the Newcastle staff during the last few weeks He should address it because his ability to make money should be one of his most powerful weapons at Newcastle . In January , after a deal had been concluded to take Alan Pardew to Crystal Palace , the former Newcastle manager gave a momentary insight into the financial strategy at St James ' Park . ' Newcastle is a big club , it ' s difficult because it is run on an tight financial margin , ' admitted Pardew . ' We had to work hard on transfers , the funds for a club that size makes it difficult to understand that we had to build slowly . ' So what is so wrong with that , especially when the owner of the club still has an interest free loan of 129m marked in the latest Newcastle accounts ? It is the job of Newcastle ' s chief scout Graham Carr , along with his staff , to identify and recruit the players who can improve this team . Talent identification is not Ashley ' s area of expertise and he has always made it clear that it is the responsibility of his scouting department to improve the squad . The natural conclusion when clubs sell their best players , as Newcastle did when Yohan Cabaye moved to Paris Saint Germain in January 2014 and Mathieu Debuchy left for Arsenal last summer , is to lose momentum . It always feels like a lack of ambition . Then there are teams such as Southampton , who sold four of their best players last summer Dejan Lovren , Adam Lallana , Calum Chambers and Luke Shaw for 88m after finishing eighth in the Premier League . Newcastle fans held a protest urging fellow supporters to ' show Ashley the red card ' They responded by recruiting Dusan Tadic , Graziano Pelle , Fraser Forster , Florin Gardos , Shane Long and Sadio Mane for an outlay of around 56m . Under Ronald Koeman , who replaced Mauricio Pochettino last summer after he moved to Tottenham , Southampton could still qualify for the Europa League . They are a fine example to the teams outside the top four because Southampton ( with an annual income of 90m ) , Swansea ( 84m ) and Newcastle ( 110m ) cannot compete on the same financial terms . Swansea , who beat Newcastle 3 2 last Saturday , have also had a recent change in management after promoting Garry Monk . He has had an outstanding year in charge . Toon fans held up the cards during the latest protest against owner Ashley Even with the loss of Wilfried Bony , sold to Manchester City for 28m in January , they are on course for a top eight finish because of their own financial prudence and some smart recruitment . Like Southampton , they are not living above their means , but their transfer policy is first class . They are being rewarded for that . Newcastle are currently 19th in the annual Deloitte report into football ' s rich list , but they do not have the same financial muscle as Manchester United ( 371m ) , Manchester City ( 277m ) , Chelsea ( 277m ) , Arsenal ( 219m ) , Liverpool ( 208m ) and Tottenham ( 153m ) . This summer Ashley will make some new signings , something they desperately need after a depressing end to the season at St James ' Park . Without them , the balance sheet will be the only winner . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2122330,2331,"Gareth Southgate has told Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha he still has time to make the England Under 21 squad for Euro 2015 . Zaha won the last of his 10 Under 21 caps against Finland in November 2013 and has not been considered by the head coach since he pulled out of a qualifier against Wales last May with injury . Southgate made it clear at the start of the season he would only use players who were fully committed to playing for England and there is no question Zaha would need to show he has matured to stand a chance of going to the Czech Republic in June . Crystal Palace ace Wilfried Zaha has scored two goals and made one assist in his last six games Gareth Southgate has told Zaha he still has time to make the England Under 21 squad for Euro 2015 But his form for Palace has not gone unnoticed he has scored two goals and made one assist in his last six games and Southgate intends to visit Zaha to see whether the 22 year old can force himself into the frame . ' We have always said with Wilf the door is never closed , ' Southgate said . ' Unfortunately for him , his move to Manchester United never worked out , the loan to Cardiff never worked out and we have had other forwards who have been in good form . ' You always have to look at players who are in form and playing well . It would be foolish to rule anyone out . But we have got Danny Ings , Jesse Lingard coming back , Alex Pritchard has got good numbers in terms of goals and assists . Wilf is going to have to play really well to force his way in . ' Southgate admits it would be foolish to rule anybody out of contention ahead of this summer ' s tournament Burnley striker Danny Ings has been in fine form during the Premier League season at Turf Moor Palace boss Alan Pardew said after his side beat Queens Park Rangers earlier this month he intended to speak to Southgate about why the coach would benefit from including Zaha in his plans . Southgate has not heard from his former Palace team mate but while he would welcome the call , he stressed that Zaha had scored once and made one goal in the 17 games before his burst of form . ' I said to him ( Pardew ) when he got the job it would be really interesting to see if he could get Wilf back to where he is , ' said Southgate , whose side face Germany at The Riverside Stadium this evening . ' He is playing well but there has to be consistency . One of the biggest parts of my role is to go and watch players . Wilf , now he is playing regularly , will be one I have to see . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2132337,2338,"The week of Donald Trump s election, white nationalists celebrated.In the bowels of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, three blocks from the White House, members of the so-called alt-right movement gathered for what they had supposed would be an autopsy to plot their grim future under a Clinton administration. Instead, they celebrated the unexpected march of their white nationalist ideas toward the mainstream, portraying Mr. Trump s win as validation that the tide had turned in their fight to preserve white culture. It s been an awakening, Richard B. Spencer, who is credited with coining the term alt-right, said at the gathering on Saturday. This is what a successful movement looks like. Source: TimesWhile they still agree with Trump s agenda, or at least what they think Trump s agenda is, they aren t celebrating anymore. They aren t happy with many of Trump s cabinet picks. Right after the election, I think it was euphoria, says Kevin MacDonald, a retired evolutionary psychology professor at California State, Long Beach and another white nationalist mainstay. But as we get into it now, there s more trepidation. MacDonald says Trump s appointments also have rattled the movement, especially his propensity for tapping rich Wall Street bankers. These are globalists in general. They love free trade, they love immigration big red flags for us, he says.Source: NPRSo odd that a businessman who brags about his international business ventures would hire globalists. Who could have seen that coming? Anyone who paid attention, that s who, but cheer up our neo-nazi brethren, there s hope for you still (just not for the rest of us). Trump still has his (bad pun ahead) Trump card: Jeff Sessions, who s been tapped for Attorney General. They also like Rex Tillerson, Trump s pick for Secretary of State.MacDonald hopes Sessions, Trump s nominee for attorney general, will clamp down on immigration. White nationalists also like the nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who s seen as being close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a darling of the alt-right.While Trump s cabinet might be a little too globalist for these mouth breathers, there s still plenty for them to love. There s little chance under this Republican government that anyone other than white men will make any sort of advances.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past2142338,2339,"After examining the data Reuters used to make their bold prediction, we noticed they hadn t given any consideration to the high probability that Democrats will likely find a way to give illegal aliens the opportunity to cast their ballots in 2016. Illegal alien voters aside, here is Reuters interesting (and somewhat hopeful) study Elections are not mysterious events subject to the whimsy of unpredictable candidates and voters. They re actually highly predictable, with a set of variables that influence outcomes in familiar ways.Because of that, we can say, with reasonable confidence, that a Republican will be moving into the White House in 2017.That conclusion is based on the results of a data model we created, and is primarily the result of two factors, both related to the challenges faced by successor candidates candidates from the same party as the incumbent. First, a Republican will win because voters typically shy away from the party currently in power when an incumbent isn t running. In fact, a successor candidate is three times less likely to win. Second, President Barack Obama s approval ratings are too low to suggest a successor candidate will take the White House.Why are we so confident, especially when opinion poll data now gives Hillary Clinton the edge over most Republican opponents? The simple answer is that we re relying on models, not polls.At this point in the election cycle, poll data asking the horserace question ( Who will you vote for in November 2016? ) can be very misleading. This far from Election Day, published poll data is off by an average of 8 percentage points compared with the true election outcome. That s an enormous number when we re used to elections where candidates win by two to three points.Time Before Election Average error of polls (compared to final results)One week 1.7%One month 2.7%Two months 3.8%Three months 4.8%Six months 5.8%Nine months 6.9%Twelve months 7.9%Source: Ipsos analysis of 300 polls across 40 markets from 1980 through currentModeling results is a simple concept: look at past data, identify patterns, and use those patterns to make predictions. So we begin by aggregating data from past U.S. presidential elections, but are immediately hampered by the fact that there aren t very many elections to work from 25 if we go back 100 years.So we created a much larger database of elections by looking beyond the United States to hundreds of presidential and parliamentary elections in democratic countries around the world. This exercise gave us far more data to work with: a sample size of more than 450 elections from 35 countries.The most important finding from our model is the power of incumbency: if you already hold the office you seek, you are far more likely than not to retain it. Our model showed that incumbents have a threefold greater chance of beating their opponent. When no incumbent is running, successor candidates (in this case, Democrats) are three times less likely to win.Our model proves the power of presidential approval ratings. It determines that in order for a successor candidate to have better than even chances of winning, the sitting president must have an approval rating of above 55 percent. Because Barack Obama s average approval rating is now at 45 percent, a successor candidate (i.e. Democrat) is unlikely to win.President (Govt) approval rating probability of victorySUCCESSOR probability of victory40% 55%6%45% 78%14%50% 90%28%55% 96%49%60% 98%71%Source: Ipsos analysis of over 450 elections since 1938Our model works on the basis of probabilities, and is focused at the party level rather than the candidate level. It seeks only to predict the likelihood of a change to the party in power. It has an 85 percent predictive ability, so it s right most but not all of the time. Things that could confound the model include rapid changes to Obama s approval rating, or unusually high or low turnout (which can be driven by wild card candidates or other factors).In the coming months, Obama s approval ratings may tick up. But they would have to pass the 55 point mark to give the Democrats even odds of keeping the White House. This is extremely unlikely, given the fact that presidential approval typically declines over time, and Obama s ratings are no exception.Some will argue that Hillary Clinton is special; that her chances are significantly better because, given her popularity and status as a legacy candidate, she seems more like an incumbent. But if we go along with that hypothesis and run it through our model, at Obama s current approval ratings, Clinton s chances of winning the general election are still less than half.The Democrats have quite a mountain to summit to retain power past 2016.Via: Reuters",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present2152339,2340,"Federal agents have determined New York Gov . Eliot Spitzer used a high priced call girl ring at least eight times in recent months , and agents had him under surveillance twice this year , sources familiar with the investigation said Wednesday . Sources say New York Gov . Eliot Spitzer used a call girl service eight times in recent months . Spitzer announced his resignation Wednesday , two days after reports of his connection to the Emperors Club became public . He has not been charged with a crime . He told reporters Wednesday , "" I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people ' s work . "" The resignation will take effect Monday . Watch Spitzer say he will resign The sources said the investigation began when New York ' s North Fork Bank notified the Treasury Department about suspicious transfers of money from Spitzer ' s bank accounts . That investigation led agents to the alleged organizers of the prostitution ring , four of whom were charged in a criminal complaint last week , the sources said . A grand jury in New York is likely to hear evidence in the case soon , said Kathleen Mullin , an attorney who said she represents one of the ring ' s employees . Mullin would not identify her client , but said she was not the woman identified only as "" Kristen "" linked to Spitzer in court papers . She said her client and other women who worked for the Emperors Club have been asked to testify before the grand jury . Asked if her client had any encounters with Spitzer , Mullin said , "" We have no information regarding the governor . "" Wiretaps on suspected members of the ring , authorized in January , yielded more than 5 , 000 telephone calls and text messages and another 6 , 000 plus e mails , according to court papers . In those intercepts , the organizers told clients how to arrange and pay for their trysts , a federal agent ' s affidavit states . The affidavit states "" Client 9 "" paid 4 , 300 for 2 hours with a call girl he arranged to meet at Washington ' s Mayflower Hotel , with some of that a deposit on a future session . Court papers state he also paid for train tickets , cab fare , mini bar and room service charges for Kristen a 5 foot 5 , 105 pound brunette he arranged to meet the night of February 13 . Kristen is a 22 year old would be singer from New Jersey , The New York Times reported Wednesday . The newspaper said Ashley Youmans now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre was identified in court documents as Kristen . Dupre has not been charged with a crime . She made a brief appearance Monday in U . S . Magistrate Court as a witness against four people charged with operating the Emperor ' s Club , the Times said . In an entry on her MySpace page , Dupre says she left "" a broken family "" and "" abuse "" in 2004 , eventually settling in Manhattan "" to pursue my music career . "" "" I am all about my music , and my music is all about me , "" she writes on her MySpace page . "" It flows from what I ' ve been through , what I ' ve seen and how I feel . "" Dupre ' s mother , Carolyn Capalbo , told the Times she and her daughter were close , adding that "" she obviously got involved in something much larger than her . "" Spitzer , whose squeaky clean image as a corporate corruption buster made him a rising Democratic star , testified to the House Financial Services Committee the next day about the effect of the mortgage meltdown . He took a state plane from Buffalo , New York , to Washington and back to New York , his office confirmed Tuesday . But in a statement issued after the governor ' s resignation , U . S . Attorney Michael Garcia said no agreement had been reached between his office and the governor "" relating to his resignation or any other matter . "" The resignation could be a factor in the U . S . presidential race . Spitzer was a superdelegate , one of nearly 800 party leaders and officials who cast their votes at the Democratic National Convention . They are free to vote for any candidate they wish . Spitzer was a political ally of New York Sen . Hillary Clinton , who is currently in a tight race with Illinois Sen . Barack Obama to win the Democratic nomination . A candidate must get 2 , 024 delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination . With the race so close , superdelegates could play a larger role in determining the Democratic presidential candidate than in past elections . Late last year , upon investigating the movement of money that the bank initially reported , the found that the accounts were connected to Spitzer , the sources said . The contacted the , which joined the case to investigate the possibility of government corruption . Federal law requires a banking institution to file a suspicious activity report when the institution suspects a transaction is linked to a federal crime . More specifically , banks are required to report to the any transactions totaling 5 , 000 or more if the transactions "" involve potential money laundering or a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act . "" The act requires businesses to keep documents that are useful for identifying and investigating money laundering . After receiving the report last year , the Corruption Squad linked the account transfers to a prostitution ring , according to sources . The criminal division joined the probe to look into the prostitution ring , while the federal corruption team continued its investigation into Spitzer . Legal experts not involved in the case have said Spitzer could face some type of money laundering charge , such as structuring a financial transaction to evade federal bank reporting requirements by breaking up a large transaction into smaller ones . "" You are going to have to prove that he withdrew sums of money with the intent to evade the reporting requirements , to conceal the fact that he is withdrawing the money , "" said Smith , the former deputy chief of the Justice Department ' s fraud section . "" Because if the money was withdrawn , it appears if his lawyers are correct , in a manner that he didn ' t conceal anything , it begs the question whether or not they can prove the reckless intent that he withdrew this money in small sums to avoid the reporting requirement . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2162363,2364,"show title date "" ' Kids ' table ' debate highlights , 11 10 15 , 8 : 22 "" Electability versus purity in kids table debate ? New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie sold himself as the electable savior a combative Louisiana Gov . Bobby Jindal sold himself as the true conservative former Arkansas Gov . Mike Huckabee pitched himself as a blue collar hero and former Pennsylvania Sen . Rick Santorum tried to take a page from all three in a feisty Republican undercard debate on Tuesday . : ? Mike Huckabee : Place Syrian refugees in encampments abroad Jindal used his time to take potshots at the other governors and former governors seeking the presidential nod ? accusing them of insufficient devotion to the conservative cause . In particular , he targeted Christie , who he said had caved in to Obamacare by accepting its Medicaid expansion and had not done enough to cut spending . I ll give you a ribbon for participation , and a juice box , Jindal said . Christie , demoted to the lower tier debate for the first time after failing to qualify for the main stage , consistently declined to take the bait and respond to Jindal s taunts . Christie instead worked to refocus the debate on Hillary Clinton and the Democratic field and pitching his ability to win in a blue state . Senator Lindsey Graham was bumped from Tuesday s undercard debate , but he won t be silenced . Graham discusses his strategy going forward with Daily s Chuck Todd . facebook twitter embed like save share group discuss She is the real adversary tonight and we better stay focused as Republicans on her , Christie said . Christie accused Democrats of wanting to raise taxes 70 to 80 to pay for new programs and said Clinton would move us to a single payer system for health care . In fact , the former secretary of state released a health care plan broadly similar to the current Affordable Care Act in her 2008 presidential run , which relies on subsidies for private insurance , and has not proposed any kind of shift to single payer . The argument between Christie and Jindal highlighted a fundamental split in how Republicans view the general election . Christie argued that the highest priority had to be stopping Clinton , who would present a formidable opponent , so that the party needed a nominee with crossover appeal who could win blue state voters . Jindal argued that Clinton is weak ? he said she was gift wrapping the election to the ? which meant Republicans could propose more sweeping reforms without fear of political backlash . There s not much difference between the two parties , Jindal said . The reason we keep losing nationally is we try to be cheaper version of the Democrats . : ? Five things to watch in Tuesday s debate Jindal didn t just target Christie , he also lit into Huckabee , who has clashed with conservative groups like Club For Growth for raising spending and taxes at points as Arkansas governor . Huckabee defended his record , though he was cut off at one point by the moderators when he tried to respond to Jindal . He used his time to defend government spending on Medicare and Social Security , which he distinguished from welfare spending elsewhere . Huckabee has criticized Christie for proposing changes to Social Security that include raising the retirement age to put it on sounder financial footing . Those are not entitlements and that s not welfare and by gosh you paid for it and if the government screwed it up you shouldn t have to pay the penalty , Huckabee said . Santorum tried to position himself as a hybrid of the others , pointing to his victories in Pennsylvania ( and ignoring his double digit defeat in 2006 ) and his credentials with the right . I ll give you a ribbon for participation , and a juice box . Chris says we need someone who can win in a blue state Bobby says we need a true conservative , Santorum said . Then he paused and raised his arms . Breaking from many of his rivals , Santorum defended the Export Immigration Bank , which many conservatives see as a corporate giveaway , as a necessary measure to prop up U . Sweblinkpanies . How can you come out and say I m for manufacturing when a majority of Republican congressmen and senators supported the Ex Im bank because it means job for American manufacturers ? Santorum said . While the focus was on the economy and fiscal issues , some national security topics came up . Christie threatened to take a harder line with China over disputed territory in the South China Sea . I ll fly Air Force One over those islands , they ll know we mean business , Christie said . : ? Chris Christie vetoes bill to make voting easier Huckabee , asked whether he would take in refugees from Syria , expressed doubt that many of the people claiming asylum were actually fleeing the country s civil war and warned that they could be sleeper agents . Are we going to open our doors give them a place to stay and a good sandwich and medical benefits ? Huckabee said . I mean , my gosh . Instead he suggested supporting encampments closer to Syria . The event was the fourth kids table debate to feature lower polling candidates , but the organizer s stricter requirements shook up the lineup . Both Christie and Huckabee were pushed off the main stage while Sen . Lindsey Graham , former New York Gov . George Pataki , and former Virginia Gov . Jim Gilmore missed the cut entirely . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past2172377,2378,"They seethed but acknowledged they were powerless to stop an agreement all but certain to pass with votes from Democrats and a fair number of Republicans . Boehner brushed off their complaints , declaring that he intended to make good on his promise to leave a "" clean barn "" for his successor , Paul Ryan of Wisconsin , who is set to get the nomination for speaker on Wednesday and win election on the House floor the day after that . "" I didn ' t want him to walk into a dirty barn full of you know what . So I ' ve done my best to try to clean it up , "" a good humored Boehner told reporters after a closed door gathering of House Republicans , his last such weekly meeting after nearly five years as speaker and a quarter century on Capitol Hill . Sheriff : Deputy ' s arrest of texting student , now a civil rights case , made him want to vomit , S . C . ( ) ? A girl who refused to surrender her phone after texting in math class was flipped backward and tossed across the classroom floor by a sheriff ' s deputy , prompting a federal civil rights probe on Tuesday . The sheriff said the girl "" may have had a rug burn "" but was not injured , and said the teacher and vice principal felt the officer acted appropriately . Still , videos of the confrontation between a white officer and black girl stirred such outrage that he called the and Justice Department for help . Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott suspended Senior Deputy Ben Fields without pay , and said what he did at Spring Valley High School in Columbia made him want to "" throw up . "" "" Literally , it just makes you sick to your stomach when you see that initial video . But again , that ' s a snapshot , "" he said . Videos taken by students and posted online show Fields warning the girl to leave her seat or be forcibly removed on Monday . The officer then wraps a forearm around her neck , flips her and the desk backward onto the floor , tosses her toward the front of the classroom and handcuffs her . Your daily look at late breaking news , upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday : 1 . The agreement would end the threat of U . S . government shutdowns and defaults until well after a new president takes office . Defense secretary : retooling fight against , including unilateral ground raids if needed The U . S . has done special operations raids in Syria and participated in a ground operation to rescue hostages last week in northern Iraq that resulted in the first U . Sweblinkbat death in Iraq since 2011 . Carter did not say under what circumstances the U . S . might conduct more ground action , but said , "" Once we locate them , no target is beyond our reach . "" "" We won ' t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against , or conducting such missions directly , whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground , "" Carter said , using an acronym for the militant group . Carter and Marine Gen . Joseph Dunford , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee . Republicans harshly criticized the Obama administration ' s strategy in Syria and Iraq , where militants have captured large swaths of territory and have largely fought the U . S . led coalition to a stalemate . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2182399,2400,"Liverpool have completed the signing of Belgium striker Divock Origi but the 19 year old will immediately be loaned back to French club Lille for next season . The youngster impressed at the World Cup but had been on the Reds ' radar long before that , haivng been tracked since he featured for his national team ' s under 15 side . Origi travelled to join up with Liverpool ' s pre season tour of America so the deal could be completed . Scroll down to watch Divock Origi gives his first interview as a Liverpool player Signed : Liverpool have completed a deal for Divock Origi New signing : But he will return to Lille on loan for the remainder of the coming season ' I am very , very happy and delighted a club as big as Liverpool showed interest in me . I ' m very excited , ' he told the official club website . ' I was very happy because I know that Liverpool are a big club . I was very excited and knew this could be something big for me . ' For me , it was my dream to play for a big club . I know Liverpool is a club with a great history , so for me it was perfect . ' I always watched Liverpool on the when I was small and if you see players like Gerrard and Sturridge , it ' s exciting to know that you ' re going to be playing with them . ' I watched practically every game of Liverpool ' s . They had a great season . You could see there was a great mix of experienced and young players , and a good coach . It was nice to see them play . ' I am very proud to sign for the club . I ' ll give everything for the club , like I did when I was small and did for Lille . I ' m hoping we can achieve great things together . ' Starlet : The youngster played for Belgium at the World Cup in Brazil Joy : Origi celebrates after scoring the last minute winner against Russia in Group H Rodgers relishing Champions League Pleased as punch : Brendan Rodgers is delighted with securing the youngster ' s signature And Rodgers spoke of his delight at securing the youngster ' s signature . He joins Rickie Lambert , Adam Lallana , Emre Can , Lazar Markovic and Dejan Lovren on the list of new recruits . ' For me , he can be one of the most exciting talents in world football . I genuinely believe that , ' he told the Liverpool website . ' You see a lot of good players , but this kid for 19 years of age he burst onto the scene at the World Cup , but we ' d tracked him before that , we ' d seen him as a young player playing in the youth internationals . He has everything to be world class . ' He ' s super fast , has a wonderful touch , he ' s a good size and is aggressive . What I like , and what I have in other players , is that humility to work hard . ' I ' ve seen enough of him over the course of the last couple of seasons to think this is a kid who , coming into the right environment , can genuinely be world class . ' He will go back to Lille and play there for the season on loan , but by signing him , we ' ll have a wonderful player not only now when he comes in next season , but also in the future . ' He can light up world football , for sure . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past2192403,2404,"A teacher at the Sylvia Young Theatre School , whose notable alumni include Amy Winehouse , has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children . Sylvia Young , 76 , confirmed that a male teacher at the school had been arrested about a month ago and had left the premises with police officers . She told the Mail that the man had worked at the school for a number of years and taught on the academic side , rather than at the stage school . A teacher at the Sylvia Young Theatre School ( pictured ) has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children Police arrested the teacher and seized his personal computer from the fee paying school for 10 16 year olds , which has day pupils and boarders . Notable alumni of the central London school include actor Billie Piper , Spice Girl Emma Bunton , presenter Denise van Outen and X Factor star Leona Lewis . The teacher is now on police bail and can have no contact with the school or any child under 16 . He has also been suspended from the premises in Marylebone . The incident happened during term time and came during an unrelated assessment by the Independent Schools Inspectorate . Sylvia Young ( pictured ) confirmed that a male teacher at the school had been arrested about a month ago and had left the premises with police officers Miss Young added that an email would be sent out to parents at the school tomorrow to ' allay their fears ' and said that the teacher had been fully vetted . ' At the moment , these are still allegations . The person may not even be charged . He might well be innocent . ' Police came to the office and asked to speak to the person and then he left with them . We had no idea . ' This person , who has worked here a good few years , was fully vetted . ' It was very quietly done . There was no big police raid . They just asked to see the gentleman and he left with them . ' We want to assure parents . We ' ll send an email to parents tomorrow to allay their fears . ' When asked the age of the children he taught , she said ' across the range ' . She would not confirm what the man taught and what his access to the children at the school was , but said that he was on the academic side . An education source told the Sun on Sunday that it looked like the police were acting on a tip off . The Sylvia Young Theatre School is the most famous in Britain and has produced many of today ' s leading celebrities , singers and actrors . Miss Young is married to Norman Ruffell and the pair have two children , former actresses Frances Ruffelle and Alison Ruffelle . Her granddaughter is pop singer Eliza Doolittle . Sylvia Young opened the school in 1981 and was appointed in 2005 . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2202406,2407,"Iran to resume gas exports to Turkey soon Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:10PM Energy Iran says it will resume exports of natural gas to Turkey by Monday after an explosion in the Turkish territory halted the supplies on Thursday night. Iran says its exports of natural gas to Turkey that have been halted reportedly as a result of an explosion inside the Turkish territory will resume within the next few days. Sadeq Akbarpour, the head of Gas Exports Measurement Facilities at Iran-Turkey Border, told the domestic media that the required coordination is being carried out with the Turkish Botas company to resume Iran’s exports by next Monday. Akbarpour emphasized that Iran is ready to supply Turkey with its required gas whenever it voices its readiness. Majid Bojarzadeh, the spokesman of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), also told Iran’s Shana news agency that Ankara had informed Tehran of a problem in the pipeline that carried Iranian gas into Turkey on Thursday night. Furthermore, Majid Aqababaei, the director general for border affairs of Iran’s Interior Ministry, acknowledged, as reported by Shana, that an explosion near Iran’s border had caused the problem. Iran is Turkey’s second supplier of gas after Russia, providing one-fifth of the country’s consumption. The current volume of natural gas that Iran is piping to its northwestern neighbor is 30 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d). Officials in Tehran had already emphasized that the Islamic Republic is ready to increase its gas exports to Turkey by 6 mcm/d. Iran has also for long been working on a plan to export its natural gas to Europe through Turkey. The plan – that was to be carried out though the Nabucco scheme – was eventually put on hold due to a series of technicalities. Nevertheless, officials in Tehran announced last month that the possibility that gas exports to Europe would return to the agenda exist “if the requited agreements with Europeans countries over the plan are reached”. Loading ...",fake,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past2212448,2449,"Warriors great Chris Mullin is the head basketball coach here now , and he welcomed the defending champs to come visit his practice gym and get some work in on their way to LaGuardia Airport for the quick flight to D . C . "" Being around greatness , "" said Mullin , his Brooklyn accent thicker than ever , "" is always a thrill . "" It ' s a thrill a minute these days for the Warriors , who are 44 4 , have their head coach back on the sideline and are an absolute spectacle everywhere they go . For the dozens gathered here on the sidewalk , the goal was not so much to pay homage to a championship team chasing history , but to catch a glimpse of greatness in the form of Curry . Before the doors of Madison Square Garden had even opened to the public on Sunday night , dozens of media , season ticket holders and esteemed guests flocked to the baseline to watch No . 30 put on his famous pre game dribbling and shooting exhibition . If teams were smarter , they ' d sell three kinds of tickets to Warriors games : one for the game , one for Curry ' s pre game show and one for both . Oh , the money that could be made . Kerr and Mullin , who both spent time playing and traveling with Michael Jordan , said the nation ' s infatuation with Curry is getting to that place where comparisons are warranted . "" I was around Michael during the summer of ' 92 , "" Mullin said . "" So yeah , I think it ' s at that level . "" On Saturday night in Philadelphia , where the Warriors almost lost to the lowly Sixers , something happened that longtime inhabitants of the arena had never seen : a rope lining the court to keep fans at bay as they oohed and aahed and enjoyed Curry ' s pregame show . Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson , who once got a 50 , 000 person standing ovation after taking batting practice during the 1977 World Series , even showed up at a Warriors game this month to experience the Steph Show for himself . "" Michael would just draw crowds everywhere he went , "" Kerr said . "" When we ' d get to a hotel in the middle of the night , there ' d always be 50 100 people waiting out there at 2 a . m . , hoping for an autograph . People come before games to see these guys warm up it happened with Michael , and it happens now with Steph . There ' s sort of a fascination with Steph that reminds me a lot of people ' s infatuation with Michael . "" Team officials say the biggest pre game crowd they ' ve seen for Curry was earlier this season in Denver literally hundreds of people pressing up against the boundaries of the court . It ' s good to be the , the golden boy and the object of adulation the world over . It ' s good to live in Steph Curry ' s world . Mullin , his front office career in the rear view mirror , got to orbit it up close on Tuesday . He ' d just been forced out of the Golden State front office during one of many spasms of organizational dysfunction when the Warriors ended up drafting Curry seventh overall in 2009 . Now , here was Curry a champion and defending standing on Mullin ' s practice court and posing for pictures with his awestruck players . "" For us as a coaching staff , it ' s good because a lot of this stuff that they just did today , we do every day , "" Mullin said . "" So if they thought we didn ' t know what we ' re doing , they basically saw all of the stuff we ' re trying to do with our guys that the best team in the world a historic team of all time is doing . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2222457,2458,"A police chief ' s profanity laced rant in an online video against those who disagree with him on gun laws has generated controversy online and in a small eastern Pennsylvania town , with at least one elected official calling the behavior "" unacceptable . "" Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler made the comments in videos posted to YouTube in mid July that went viral , generating a heated online debate that appeared to gain renewed traction this week when he posted a backhanded apology . Now the fallout has reached the halls of government in the small town of just more than 750 people . The mayoral office was forced to close early Wednesday because of threatening calls , Mayor Mary Lou Hennon said on Thursday . A meeting is scheduled for next week to discuss personnel and work policy . "" We may or may not take action against him , "" Hennon said . In the videos , Kessler rails against liberals for attempting to curb gun rights and Secretary of State John Kerry over his support of a recent U . N . arms treaty . At one point in the video , he dares Kerry to come and take his guns . "" It wasn ' t a threat . It was , ' if you want them come and take them , ' "" Kessler told the television station by telephone . Kessler has been the town ' s police chief for 14 years "" without a mark against him , "" Hennon said . "" Like a lot of other people , I found the video a little vulgar . It was like watching an R rated movie , "" she said . "" We have no policies regarding people ' s personal use outside of work , and we allow freedom of speech . What people do on their personal time is their business . "" Kessler , an outspoken gun rights advocate , has a history of making provocative statements . He has been featured in a number of online videos discussing his views , given numerous interviews and helped organize gun rights rallies . The police chief also has claimed in a number of interviews to be the founder of the Constitutional Security Force , a gun rights advocacy group . In the video , Kessler wears a T shirt with emblazoned on it . On the Web page , Kessler is identified as the group ' s president and is featured in his Gilberton police uniform . The latest videos have been picked up and copied on YouTube , with titles such as "" America ' s scariest police chief "" and "" Patriot police chief . "" In Gilberton , northeast of Harrisburg , resident Diane McCarthy told that she found the videos disturbing . "" I think that kind of position needs to have respect of the community , "" she said . "" It ' s pretty difficult to have respect after seeing that . "" Gilberton Borough Councilman Eric Boxter told the station the videos were "" over the top "" and "" unacceptable "" for a police chief . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2232474,2475,"Prehistoric children as young as three were encouraged by adults to make cave art 13 , 000 years ago , new research shows . The Cambridge University study sheds new light on the lives of children and the ancient art they made during the prehistoric hunter gatherer period in the French caverns at Rouffignac , known as the Cave of a Hundred Mammoths . While the caverns are famous for their striking drawings of woolly mammoths , bison and horses , the research focused on the thousands of lines made by people running their fingers along the soft clay walls throughout the five mile cavern complex . Cambridge archaeologists were able to identify the age and gender of the children who made the simple ancient art form known as "" finger fluting "" by measuring the width of the flutings and the profile of the middle three fingers . "" We have found marks by children aged between three and seven years old and we have been able to identify four individual children by matching up their marks , "" said Cambridge University archaeologist Jess Cooney . "" The most prolific of the children who made flutings was aged around five and we are almost certain the child in question was a girl . "" The fact that archaeologists didn ' t find a single place where fluting marks were made by adults alone suggests there were few boundaries between adult and child activities in this prehistoric hunter gatherer culture , according to Cooney . Not only did the adults make art alongside the children , Cooney says the fact that child sized flutings were found on the ceilings of some cave chambers means adults actively encouraged them to make art , lifting them up to areas they could not reach alone . "" Some of the children ' s flutings are high up on the walls and on the ceilings , so they must have been held up to make them or have been sitting on someone ' s shoulders , "" she said . The archaeologists believe one of the caverns is so dominated by children ' s flutings that it may actually have been a "" special place "" set aside for them by the adults . "" We sometimes think of one chamber as a playpen of sorts , since there are hundreds of children ' s flutings but only a few made by adults , "" said Cooney . Why people made finger flutings , which also appear in caves in Spain , New Guinea and Australia , is anyone ' s guess . "" We don ' t know why people made them . We can make guesses like they were for initiation rituals , for training of some kind , or simply something to do on a rainy day , "" said Cooney . The children weren ' t simply running their hands mindlessly along the cavern walls , however . Research in 2006 revealed children had made hut like shapes called tectiforms the first known instance of prehistoric children engaging in symbolic figure making , according to Cooney . Cooney says her research shines a light on an aspect of history that is typically ignored in academia . "" It ' s important to realize that children played a major role in the development of not only art , but what it means to be human , "" she said . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2242500,2501,"England The number of stray and abandoned dogs in the United Kingdom jumped by 11 percent in the past year the biggest surge in a decade possibly because of the financial crisis , a British dog charity said Wednesday . A dog looks through the door of its kennel at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London . Dogs Trust said local authorities picked up 107 , 228 stray and abandoned dogs from British streets in the past year . It called on the government to make microchipping compulsory for all dogs to help reunite owners with pets , whether lost or abandoned . "" The latest stray dog survey is very disappointing , "" said Clarissa Baldwin , chief executive of Dogs Trust . "" Even more tragically is the number of dogs that are being put down , which has gone up from 7 , 000 to just below 10 , 000 , a very worrying trend . "" Has recession hit your pet ? Send us your thoughts The 11 percent rise is the highest yearly increase since recordkeeping began in 1997 , Dogs Trust said . The rise may be due to the financial crisis , Dogs Trust said . Some households tighten their belts by giving up the dog . Another possible reason for the jump : England and Wales last year changed the law to make local councils , not police , responsible for taking in stray dogs , Dogs Trust said . Cash strapped councils might lack resources to pick up or temporarily shelter dogs . "" You ' ve got a lot of latchkey dogs that are just left to wander the streets , "" said Natalie Dexter , who works at the education center at Dogs Trust . "" Their homes aren ' t secure , gardens aren ' t secure , and so they ' re just left to wander around . "" Local authorities handle an average of 12 dogs each hour , Dogs Trust said . Only five are reunited with their owners a number that could increase if more dogs were microchipped , Dogs Trust said . A microchip is an electronic device , coated in plastic , that is the size of a grain of rice . It is implanted just under a dog ' s skin , beneath its shoulder blades , which causes no harm to the animal and cannot be felt , veterinarians and campaigners say . The microchip carries the owner ' s information , which can be updated . The information can be read by a scanner that works through a radio frequency . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2252501,2502,"An unusual sight greeted Jerusalem police as they entered one of Christianity ' s holiest sites Sunday morning : dozens of monks punching and kicking each other in a massive brawl . Israeli police scuffle with an Armenian monk Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem . Monks from the Greek Orthodox and Armenian denominations were preparing for a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City when a disagreement led to a full fledged fistfight . The fight began when Armenian clergy were holding a procession to commemorate the finding of the cross believed to have been used in the crucifixion of Jesus , according to The Associated Press . The Greek members of the clergy wanted one of their monks present , the reported , for fear that the procession would undermine their claim to an ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus . The two sides could not agree , and when the Armenians tried to begin the procession , the Greek monks stepped in and the fighting began , the reported . "" We were keeping resistance so that the procession could not pass through . . . and establish a right that they don ' t have , "" a young Greek Orthodox monk with a cut next to his left eye told the . See scenes from the brawl Many among the dozens of monks came away with cuts and bruises , said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld . Officers were called to the scene to break up the brawl . They detained two monks , one from each denomination , Rosenfeld said . The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is thought to be built on the site of Jesus ' crucifixion and resurrection . Rivalries between the different sects that share control of the church often lead to tensions . Watch police subdue the crowd in the church ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2262505,2506,"Foxboro , , 01 10 15 ) New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and Tom Brady bump heads before the first quarter of the divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium on Saturday , January 10 , 2015 . Staff Photo by Matt Stone The Chiefs will come to Foxboro Saturday on what s best described as a Patriot like roll . They re playing the way Bill Belichick usually has his team playing this time of year , having won 11 straight games . No doubt , Andy Reid s crew will have another dose of confidence to draw from : The last time the Chiefs played Tom Brady Co . , they merely bounced the three time Super Bowl from the game during a 41 14 blowout win . It s hard not to fear this team . The Chiefs defense rocks from top to bottom , and their offense is efficient enough to make it all work . Is it a good matchup for the Patriots ? Probably not as good as those out of control Bengals , who keep finding ways to lose . This was the worst of the three possible teams for the Pats to draw in the division round . But let s not get too carried away . Sure , the Chiefs crushed the Texans , but Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer didn t exactly put up a fight . With five turnovers ( four picks , one fumble ) , Hoyer was a major contributor to the Chiefs advancing . As for the Patriots , it s all about what team shows up on Saturday . Are they really the team that went 2 4 the last six games ? Because , if the team from December shows up , a team that had little semblance of offense , couldn t protect Brady , and started leaking on defense , the Chiefs will throttle them , much like they did at Arrowhead last September . Reid s team is that good and won t be intimidated by the Patriots or Gillette Stadium . But then , the Pats might ultimately prove closer to the team that started out 10 0 . The defending Super Bowl champs do have a score to settle with the Chiefs . If the bye week proves an opportunity to rest , regroup , and get pivotal players back and healthy ? such as wide receiver Julian Edelman , left tackle Sebastian Vollmer and linebacker Dont a Hightower ? then the Chiefs won t seem quite as scary of a matchup . Formidable ? Sure . Dangerous ? Absolutely . But the Chiefs are also beatable at Gillette if the Patriots get their act together , which is what you d have to figure they ll do , given the healing time and the Brady Belichick factor this time of year . They just don t lose at home , especially to a team that embarrassed them not too long ago . We re certainly going to have to prepare and coach the team a lot better than we did that night , Belichick said in reference to that nightmare performance . So that s what we ll try to do . It s reasonable to assume with a relatively healthy Edelman , Danny Amendola , Rob Gronkowski , and greater usage of third down back James White , the Patriots will be able to go back to their effective quick drop , quick release style offense . That will make it harder for the Chiefs , and their talented pass rushing tandem of Justin Houston and Tamba Hali , to take advantage of a struggling offensive line and get to Brady . The Chiefs do have a terrific secondary with rookie Marcus Peters ( eight interceptions ) and Sean Smith , along with All Pro safety Eric Berry , who has had a remarkable season since returning from cancer . The unit was second overall in interceptions made ( 22 ) . When the Pats offense is clicking , however , it really doesn t matter who s on the other side . The Seahawks vaunted defense was powerless in the second half of the Super Bowl once Brady got going . As for the Chiefs offense , they are primarily a run first outfit , and that s still been the case even after losing top back Jamaal Charles early in the year . They just keep plugging in backs who have been getting the job done , whether it s Spencer Ware or Charcandrick West . The Patriots run defense is much more difficult to budge when Hightower s in the lineup , operating at full capacity . If he s unable to do that because of a balky knee , that would pose a problem . The Patriots will want to stop the run , and force Smith to beat them through the air . And , the way it looks , Smith might not have top receiver Jeremy Maclin , who suffered a high ankle sprain in the 30 0 rout of the Texans . Even with Maclin , the Chiefs had the 30th ranked passing offense in the league , averaging 203 . 4 yards per game . Against Houston , Smith ( 17 for 22 , 190 yards , 1 , 1 ) relied on tight end Travis Kelce ( eight catches , 128 yards ) , who has given the Pats problems in the past . It s hard imagining Belichick allowing Kelce to beat him . The Pats defense has done a much better job defending tight ends this year . Kansas City is a good football team , Belichick said . They re well coached . I d say ( Saturday s ) game was a typical Kansas City game this season ? or over the last three quarters of the season ? a lot of turnovers on defense , no turnovers on offense , capitalized on opponents mistakes and didn t make any . They ve won a lot of games pretty much doing that . The Chiefs aren t the best matchup for the Pats , that s for sure . And yet , if the Pats can morph back into some semblance of the team we saw in September and October , they should advance . The problem , is that s still a big if . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2272514,2515,"Toyota ' s recent recall of millions of vehicles for sticking accelerator pedals may get drivers wondering : What should you do if a vehicle is accelerating uncontrollably ? Accelerator pedals in the 2 . 3 million vehicles that Toyota recalled may , in rare circumstances , become stuck after the pedal mechanisms become worn , the automaker has said . Toyota says it is shipping reinforcement parts to dealers , and that dealers will start repairs as soon as this weekend . The U . S . Transportation Department urges owners of the recalled vehicles to arrange fixes as soon as possible , though Toyota says the sticking problem is rare and happens gradually , and if no sticking is noticed in a vehicle , it should be safe to drive . If the pedal starts to feel sticky but isn ' t yet stuck , stop driving and call a dealer to arrange for your vehicle to be picked up , Toyota says . But if the pedal is stuck in a depressed position , here is what the driver can do , according to Omar Panjshiri , a certified Toyota technician at the Chantilly Repair Center in Chantilly , Virginia : Shift the transmission to neutral Turn off the ignition switch Apply the brakes and pull over With the engine cut off , "" you will lose some power steering assist , but you will still be able to steer the vehicle to a safe stopping position , "" Panjshiri said . Full coverage : Toyota recall Some 2009 and 2010 vehicles involved in the recall have buttons for the ignition , rather than keys . In this case , to cut power to the engine , push the button and hold it for more than three seconds , Panjshiri said . "" Otherwise , you ' ll do the same exact thing : Shift . . . from drive position to neutral , and steer the vehicle safely to a shoulder to come to a complete stop , "" he said . Vehicles in the recall are : Toyota ' s 2009 2010 RAV4 , Corolla and Matrix 2005 2010 Avalon certain 2007 2010 Camrys 2010 Highlander 2007 2010 Tundra and the 2008 2010 Sequoia . The Camry Hybrid is not included . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2282529,2530,"This is a two-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT). Her name is Akamara.This is a human baby. His name is Siegmund.Siegmund first met Akamara the day after he was born. We leave Siegmund alone with Akamara after all, she s dangerous to him. She might quite literally snuggle him to death! Here s what happens:She gets pretty sad about it, but she s only allowed to put her head near him, and only with eyes on her at all times. He s just too small and she s too insistently snuggly.She really wants to lay on that pillow.Nothing to see here, just a ferocious pit bull trying to cuddle with a two-day-old baby.He s almost two weeks old now, and she s getting pretty impatient about it. Why isn t he petting her? Why will he not play tug?Akamara really can t help but cuddle the baby. It s her instinct! Little known to most people, but American Pit Bull Terriers one of several breeds commonly referred to under the broad title pit bulls are nanny dogs. As the United Kennel Club (UKC), which recognizes and classifies APBTs as a breed, states in their breed standard: APBTs make excellent family companions and have always been noted for their love of children. They make bad guard dogs, by the way they re too friendly. Friendlier than you d believe. The American Temperament Test Society rates them higher than many common family breeds, such as golden retrievers! Here s an interesting video by Animalist on pit bulls:// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ""//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1""; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>Dogfighting has existed probably since humans domesticated dogs, and has flourished during the last century as an underground sport. Pit bulls are favored for a number of reasons, but that s not their fault, and it certainly isn t due to their temperament. It s because they bite hard, and when you factor in their size, they bite extremely hard.You can take a territorial, defensive dog a normal personality type across most breeds, which requires socialization and training as a pup to deter aggression and turn them into a fighter. It s criminal, but possible. And those dogs, if rescued, may suffer from or other mental trauma that increases the chances of an attack, especially if rescued by an inexperienced or unprepared owner. But it s not the breed. It s the choice by dog fighters to use the breed. Even if you restrict the breed, they ll find another.If it came down to it, dogfighters would probably pit chihuahuas against each other. It s the sport and the blood. It s the breeders and fighters, not the dogs. We don t put city-wide bans on cars that can go over 50 mph because a few people are souping them up and racing them. We arrest the racers and take their misused cars away.Akamara is a rescue, but a victim of only neglect. I got her at six months old with mange, no inoculations, and a desperate need for attention. Her immune system was extremely deficient due to mange and allergies, and she s struggled with secondary ear infections her entire young life. I would not advise rescuing an adult dog with unknown history in a house with children.Just remember, this isn t what most pit bulls look like:This is:",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present2292541,2542,""" I ' m deeply honoured to have been asked by Phillip ' s family to speak today . I am humbled to be in the presence of you , his family , his friends and his community . He was so proud of Macksville and it is easy to see why today . "" Taken from the game , his family and loved ones at the age of just 25 , he left a mark on our game that needs no embellishment . "" I don ' t know about you , but I keep looking for him . I know it is crazy but I expect any minute to take a call from him or to see his face pop around the corner . Is this what we call the spirit ? If so , then his spirit is still with me . And I hope it never leaves . "" I walked to the middle of the Sydney Cricket Ground ( ) on Thursday night , those same blades of grass beneath my feet where he and I and so many of his mates here today have built partnerships , taken chances and lived out the dreams we paint in our heads as boys . "" The same stands where the crowds rose to their feet to cheer them on and that same fence he sent the ball to time and time again . And it is now forever the place where he fell . "" I stood there at the wicket , I knelt down and touched the grass , I swear he was with me . Picking me up off my feet to check if I was . "" Telling me we just needed to dig in and get through to tea . Telling me off for that loose shot I played . Chatting about what movie we might watch that night . And then passing on a useless fact about cows . "" I could see him swagger back to the other end , grin at the bowler , and call me through for a run with such a booming voice , a bloke in the car park would hear it . "" The heart of a man who lived his life for this wonderful game we play , and whose soul enriched not just our sport , but all of our lives . "" Is this what indigenous Australians believe about a person ' s spirit being connected with the land upon which they walk ? If so , I know they are right about the . "" His spirit has touched it and it will be forever be a sacred ground for me . I can feel his presence there and I can see how he has touched so many people around the world . The tributes to him from cricket lovers kept me going . "" The photos , the words , the prayers and the sense of communion in this loss from people across the globe have shown me his spirit in action . "" It has sustained me and overwhelmed me in equal measure . And the love of my band of baggy green and gold brothers and sisters have held me upright when I thought I could not proceed . "" His spirit has brought us closer together something I know must be him at work because it is so consistent with how he played and lived . "" He always wanted to bring people together and he always wanted to celebrate his love for the game and its people . "" Is this what we call the spirit of cricket ? From the little girl holding a candlelight tribute to masters of the game like Sachin Tendulkar , Shane Warne and Brian Lara , the spirit of cricket binds us all together . "" We feel it in the thrill of a cover drive . Or the taking of a screamer at gully , whether by a 12 year old boy or by Brendan McCullum in Dubai . "" It is in the brilliant five wicket haul , just as significant to the players in a Western Suburbs club game as it is in a Test match . "" The bonds that lead to cricketers from around the world putting their bats out , that saw people who didn ' t even know Phillip lay flowers and that brought every cricketing nation on earth to make its own heartfelt tribute . "" The bonds that saw players old and new rush to his bed side . From wherever they heard the news to say their prayers and farewells . This is what makes our game the greatest game in the world . "" Phillip ' s spirit , which is now part of our game forever , will act as a custodian of the sport we all love . "" We must listen to it . We must cherish it . We must learn from it . We must dig in and get through to tea . And we must play on . So rest in peace my little brother . I ' ll see you out in the middle . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2302564,2565,"Stoke chairman Peter Coates does not feel Tim Sherwood ' s appointment as Aston Villa manager will suddenly transform the club into winners . City head to Villa on Saturday for Sherwood ' s first official match in charge following back to back 4 1 defeats to Manchester City and Blackburn in the Barclays Premier League and Cup respectively . With manager Mark Hughes ' side also struggling defensively due to a spate of injuries , and with Villa buoyed by their 2 1 Cup win over Leicester which Sherwood watched from the stands , many observers may feel a home victory is on the cards . Tim Sherwood was unveiled as Aston Villa ' s new manager on Monday following Paul Lambert ' s sacking Sherwood faces the media for the first time since he was appointed as Villa ' s new boss Sherwood watches with delight as Villa beat Leicester to progress to the sixth round Cup Despite that , speaking to the Evening Sentinel , Coates said : ' The appointment of a new manager doesn ' t mean they have won the game already . ' The idea the world is suddenly transformed after bringing in a new manager doesn ' t ring true . ' I think it ' s about 50 50 statistically over whether you win or lose that first match . ' I remember going to Crystal Palace some years ago and people fearing the worst because Neil Warnock had just been appointed , but we came away with all three points . ' Coates , meanwhile , has defended Hughes ' decision to send defender Robert Huth on loan to Leicester despite the club ' s injury woes . Huth , only recently returning from his own long term injury problems , joined the Foxes last month for the remainder of the campaign . Ryan Shawcross ( left ) and Marc Muniesa ( right ) have both suffered injuries at Stoke Stoke allowed Robert Huth to join Leicester on loan in January but are now short of centre backs Hughes , however , has suddenly lost Ryan Shawcross , Marc Wilson and Marc Muniesa , with little else available via way of cover . Coates said : ' Yes , I can understand why supporters would be asking ' why did you let him go ? ' , but equally I can understand the management team ' s reasons for doing so . ' They wanted to give him games after his long term knee injury and it was felt reserve games weren ' t suitable . ' We had also brought in Philipp Wollscheid to add to the centre halves we had here . ' The timing was then very unfortunate with the injuries that followed the decision to let Robert go . ' Ryan has a wonderful appearance record , for instance , but then came that bad run of injuries which included him , Marc Wilson and now Marc Muniesa . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present2312573,2574,"Reuters) - Madrid believes Russian-based groups used online social media to heavily promote Catalonia s independence referendum last month in an attempt to destabilize Spain, Spanish ministers said on Monday. Spain s defense and foreign ministers said they had evidence that state and private-sector Russian groups, as well as groups in Venezuela, used Twitter, Facebook and other Internet sites to massively publicize the separatist cause and swing public opinion behind it in the run-up to the Oct. 1 referendum. Catalonia s separatist leaders have denied that Russian interference helped them in the vote. What we know today is that much of this came from Russian territory, Spanish Defence Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal said of Russian-based internet support. These are groups that, public and private, are trying to influence the situation and create instability in Europe, she told reporters at a meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Brussels. Asked if Madrid was certain of the accusations, Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis, also at the meeting, said: Yes, we have proof. Dastis said Spain had detected false accounts on social media, half of which were traced back to Russia and another 30 percent to Venezuela, created to amplify the benefits of the separatist cause by re-publishing messages and posts. Ramon Tremosa, the lawmaker for the PDeCat party of Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, repeated on Monday that Russian interference had played no part in the referendum. Those that say Russia is helping Catalonia are those that have helped the Russian fleet in recent years, despite the s boycott, Tremosa tweeted, referring to Spanish media reports that Spain was allowing Russian warships to refuel at its ports. Those who voted in the referendum opted overwhelmingly for independence. But turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot. The separatist vote has plunged Spain, the euro zone s fourth-biggest economy, into its worst constitutional crisis since its return to democracy in the 1970s. Dastis said he had raised the issue with the Kremlin. Moscow has repeatedly denied any such interference and accuses the West of a campaign to discredit Russia. believes Moscow is involved in a deliberately ambiguous strategy of information warfare and disinformation to try to divide the West and break its unity over economic sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia interfered in the U.S. election to try to help President Donald Trump defeat rival Hillary Clinton by hacking and releasing emails and spreading propaganda via social media. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who attended the meeting in Brussels, declined to comment on Spain s accusations, but the alliance s top commander said last week that Russian interference was a concern. s Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparotti said Russian malign influence was trying to sway elections and other decisions in the West, describing it as a destabilization campaign, although he did not directly address the Catalonia referendum. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2322585,2586,"Foreign Aid to Starving Syrian Town Won t Be Enough ? Humanitarian Groups Foreign Aid to Starving Syrian Town Won t Be Enough ? Humanitarian Groups We have to humiliate ourselves to go to them and beg for food . Our children cry all night , we are unable to find anything to feed them . She said a door to door assessment was needed in the town of about 40 , 000 people 300 400 people needed special care , a local doctor told her , she said . I saw a young man killing cats and presenting the meat to members of his family as rabbit . I know other people who collected their food from the trash and others who ate grass , one resident who was not named told News . It s cold and raining but there is excitement because we are here with some food and blankets . Stephen O Brien , under secretary general and emergency relief coordinator , said around 400 people in Madaya had been identified as requiring urgent evacuation . Or they are in grave peril of losing their lives and dying with either the causes being from malnutrition or for complications for other medical reasons , he said . The scale of the problem facing the and aid workers was illustrated by the comments of Syria s Ambassador , Bashar Ja afari , who has denied anyone is starving . The first impression is really heartbreaking , said Pawel Krzysiek , spokesman for the International Committee for the Red Cross in Syria who was traveling with the convoy , quoted the Guardian . Speaking at the s headquarters in , he blamed armed terrorist groups for stealing humanitarian aid and reselling it at prohibitive prices . Aid personnel on the Madaya bound convoy described the situation on the ground as miserable , confirming they had seen severely malnourished children . The U . N . and others say people have died of starvation . Mr van Bohemen also responded to claims from Syrian officials that there was no starvation in Madaya and the crisis had been fabricated by hostile governments and media . He said the , the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were all working on the evacuation process . As part of the deal , some civilians and wounded fighters will be allowed to leave in a swap between regime held and rebel held towns . It is the first aid to reach Syria since October . Three Red Cross aid convoys are delivering life saving food , water and healthcare to Syrian people in the beseiged areas of Madaya , Kafraya and Foua . The Syria conflict , which will enter its sixth year in early 2016 , has left more than 250 , 000 people dead and turned the country into the world s largest source of refugees and displaced persons , according to the . To relieve the suffering of these tens of thousands of people , there has to be regular access to these areas . The U . N . and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say people have died of starvation . Russia , a staunch ally of Assad , began a campaign of air strikes in support of the regime in late September . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2332590,2591,"In a football world dominated by men , one woman has been quietly working in the lower leagues of Italy for a number of years . Elena Pianigiani , has been the vice president of Italian fourth division side Poggibonsi since the age of 21 . Having struggled between the Italian fourth and fifth tier for much of their existence , Poggibonsi , in Tuscany , saw former Siena director Antonello Pianigiani purchase 51 per cent of the club in 2008 . Elena Pianigiani has been the vice president of Italian Fourth Division side Poggibonsi since the age of 21 Vice president Elena ( left ) poses for a picture at the Poggibonsi ground with a shirt Buying the remaining 49 per cent two years later , Pianigiani soon appointed his daughter as the club ' s vice president . Speaking to Bleacher Report , Pianigiani revealed she didn ' t hesitate in accepting the position and said : ' In 2010 when my father asked me to join Poggibonsi , I didn ' t think twice . ' It was unusual because I was only 21 . When you ' re that age , it ' s usual for a father to give his daughter a new bag , not a football team . ' Strictly speaking , Pianigiani ' s role at the club isn ' t her first in football . ' My passion began as a 10 year old when my Dad was involved at our home town club Siena , ' she said . ' We were promoted to Serie B and I remember the fantastic atmosphere around the city I became the team ' s mascot ! Pianigiani watches on from the stands as her side Poggibonsi battle it out on the field While Poggibonsi ' s vice president admits football is dominated by males , she is encouraged by the progress women are making in the game and said : ' Calcio is very macho , but something is certainly changing with more women appearing , though I believe purely technical aspects are suitable for only men . I do think women are essential , however , companies are companies and it ' s always good to have a woman , as we can make cold decisions when the case requires it . ' However , Pianigiani isn ' t the only female making her way in the game . Both Rosella Sensi of Roma and Barbara Berlusconi of Milan , are two women who hold positions of authority within the Italian top flight . Poggibonsi fans show their support for their team with a giant banner As well , back in May , Helena Costa became football ' s first female coach when put in charge of French second division side Clermont Foot . While Costa ended up leaving the club just a month later without giving a reason for her departure , Pianigiani was pleased with Clermont ' s decision to appoint a female manager and said : ' It was a brave choice . I send big "" Good Luck ! "" to the coach . She is a great woman to manage a dressing room . They have gained a new supporter ! ' A huge football fan , Pianigiani echoes the thoughts of many match going supporters when she says : ' You ' re tense and anxious before and during the game , and your mood depends on the outcome . If you win , you ' re elated and start the working week on the right foot . But if you lose , you want to go straight to bed ! ' Hoping to guide Poggibonsi up the divisions , Pianigiani will be keen for many good starts to the week this season . Helena Costa made the headlines earlier this year when she was appointed Clermont boss she has since left ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2342601,2602,"A British football team has vowed to support any criminal action brought against its fans who were filmed as they physically stopped a black man from getting on the Paris metro Tuesday . The amateur video obtained by The Guardian , and posted on its website , shows the man make multiple attempts to board a train at Richelieu Drouot station , only to be pushed away each time by a group of passengers . The group , who appear to be Chelsea supporters , can then be heard chanting : "" We ' re racist , we ' re racist and that ' s the way we like it . "" Chelsea were in France to play Paris Saint Germain in a Champions League first leg tie Europe ' s premier football tournament which finished 1 1 . "" Such behavior is abhorrent and has no place in football or society , "" said statement released by Chelsea Wednesday . "" We will support any criminal action against those involved in such behavior , and should evidence point to the involvement of Chelsea season ticket holders or members the club will take the strongest possible action against them including banning orders . "" Both French and British police have said they will analyze the footage . "" The police department only found out about this incident once the video was uploaded on the internet . "" The prefect then wished for the Chelsea supporters to be identified . The Paris prosecutor has opened an investigation and is now in charge . "" A Metropolitan Police statement added : "" We will , of course , assist French authorities to identify the people involved and support them in any action they choose to take . "" , the body which governs European football , said it was appalled by the footage , but as it occurred outside of the stadium it could not take any punitive action . "" The doors were open and I could see and hear that a lot of chanting was going on , "" Nolan told The Guardian . "" It looked like it was quite aggressive so I just took out by phone to record it . "" He was obviously completely shocked when they pushed him off . I don ' t think he realised who they were . He then tried to get on again and got pushed off a second time . "" Sepp Blatter , the president of football ' s global governing body , also took to Twitter to register his disapproval . "" I also condemn the actions of a small group of Chelsea fans in Paris , "" tweeted Blatter . "" There is no place for racism in football ! "" This is not the first racism allegation to be leveled against the London club in recent times . In 2012 , team captain John Terry was banned for four matches and fined 356 , 000 for racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand . Terry was , however , found not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing at Westminster Magistrates ' Court in July of the same year . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2352603,2604,"A Turkish army truck loaded with a self propelled gun heading to the Syrian border near Yayladagi , Turkey . Photo The key fact is that the Russian plane , by Turkey ' s own admission , was in Turkish airspace for precisely seventeen seconds . That ' s a little less time than it takes to read this paragraph aloud . The Turks shot it down anyway and their allies publicly backed them , as loyal allies must . Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared : "" We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our ally , Turkey . "" President Barack Obama called his Turkish counterpart , Recep Tayyip Erdogan , to assure him that the United States supported Turkey ' s right to defend its sovereignty . But privately , they must have been cursing Erdogan . They know what he ' s up to . This is the first time in more than fifty years that a plane has shot down a Russian plane , and it happened in very suspicious circumstances . Even if Turkish radar data is to be believed , the two Russian 24s only crossed the bottom of a very narrow appendix of Turkish territory that dangles down into Syria . As Russian President Vladimir Putin said : "" Our pilots , planes did not threaten Turkish territory in any way . "" What harm could they have done in seventeen seconds ? According to the Russian radar data , it was the Turkish planes that crossed into Syrian territory . In this version of the story , the Russian planes were following a well established route just south of the Turkish border , probably turning into a bomb run against Syrian rebels in Latakia province . How strange that there was a Turkish crew in northern Syria , positioned just right to film the incident . ( The Russsian plane crashed 4 km . inside Syria . ) Either way , it seems quite clear that President Erdogan really wanted to shoot down a Russian aircraft , and that the Turkish pilots were under orders to do so if they could find even the slightest pretext . So why would Erdogan want to do that ? President Putin said bitterly that Erdogan and his colleagues were "" accomplices of terrorists "" . That ' s hard to deny : Erdogan is so eager to see Syria ' s President Bashar al Assad overthrown that he left the Turkish Syrian border open for four years so that recruits and supplies could reach the Syrian rebel groups , notably including Islamic State ( ) . Putin also observed that "" We have long been recording the movement of a large amount of oil and petroleum products to Turkey from occupied territories . This explains the significant funding the terrorists are receiving . "" Black market oil is Islamic State ' s largest source of revenue , and almost all of it goes to Turkey which could not happen without the Turkish government ' s active connivance . And when the Nusra Front , Al Qaeda ' s affiliate in Syria , was driving Assad ' s forces back in northwestern Syria last spring , Turkey jammed the Syrian army ' s telecommunications to help the rebels win . Erdogan is utterly determined that Assad must go , and he doesn ' t really care if Assad ' s successors are Islamist extremists . But he also wants to ensure that there is no new Kurdish state on Turkey ' s southern border . That is a problem for him , because that state already exists in embryo . It is called Rojava , a territory that the Syrian Kurds have carved out in the far north of the country along the Turkish border , mainly by fighting Islamic State . Indeed , the Syrian Kurds are the led coalition ' s only effective ally on the ground against . When Erdogan committed the Turkish air force to the Syrian war in July , he explained it to the United States as a decision to fight against Islamic State , but in fact Turkey has made only a token handful of strikes against . Almost all Erdogan ' s bombs have actually fallen on the Turkish Kurds of the ( who had been observing a ceasefire with the Turkish government for the past four years ) , and above all on the Syrian Kurds Erdogan has two goals : to ensure the destruction of Assad ' s regime , and to prevent the creation of a new Kurdish state in Syria . He was making some progress on both objectives and then along came the Russians in September and saved the Syrian army from defeat , at least for the moment . Worse yet , Putin ' s strategy turns out to quite pragmatic , and even rather attractive to the United States despite all the ritual anti Russian propaganda emitted by Washington . Putin wants a ceasefire in Syria that will leave everybody where they are now except Islamic State , which they can all then concentrate on destroying . This strategy is now making some headway in the Vienna ceasefire talks , but it is utterly abhorrent to Erdogan because it would leave Assad in power in Damascus , and give the Syrian Kurds time to consolidate their new state . How can he derail this Russian led project ? Well , he could shoot down a Russian plane , and try to get a confrontation going between Russia and . Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2362607,2608,"Detectives are "" tightening up "" their case against Justin Bieber in his alleged egg attack on a neighbor , an investigator said Tuesday . The neighbor accused Bieber , 19 , of tossing eggs over a fence and onto the mansion next door on January 9 , causing an estimated 20 , 000 in damage . A dozen Los Angeles County Sheriff ' s deputies raided Bieber ' s 6 . 5 million home in the exclusive Oaks community in Calabasas , California , two weeks ago , taking the security video system as evidence . A prosecutor reviewed the security video Monday and asked detectives to do more investigation before a decision is made about charging the pop star with felony vandalism , according to Lt . David Thompson . Could Justin Bieber be deported ? Detectives are "" tightening up the case "" this week and will likely meet again with prosecutors in the Los Angeles County District Attorney ' s office next week , Thompson said . The district attorney will then decide if a charge will be filed against Bieber . Bieber already faces criminal charges in Miami stemming from an early morning traffic stop last week . Although Breathalyzer tests suggest Bieber was not too drunk to legally drive when he was pulled over by Miami Beach police early Thursday , it could be two or three weeks before tests are back from the lab that should give a more accurate blood alcohol reading and could tell if he was high on pot . Bieber blew . 011 and . 014 in two Breathalyzer tests given to him at the police station , according to a source with knowledge of the results . Florida ' s legal limit for drivers under the drinking age of 21 is . 02 . The police report said that Bieber failed a field sobriety test given to him at the police station . He admitted to drinking , using marijuana and taking prescription pills , police said . The Miami prosecutor said no date has been set yet for Bieber to return to court on the , resisting arrest and expired license charges . We ' ve seen this bad behavior before Although Bieber was not charged with speeding , the arresting officer said it was his reason for stopping Bieber and testing his sobriety . The Breathalyzer tests and the information could help Bieber lawyer Roy Black in his defense of the singer . Bieber fled Miami late Friday , boarding a private jet for a flight to Panama City , Panama . Paparazzi photos showed Bieber strolling along a beach on the Pacific Ocean on Saturday , kicking a soccer ball while others kite surfed above the waves . Bieber has a ' frat house ' amidst millionaire mansions , detective says ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2372636,2637,"First ladies typically avoid getting into public scraps , but Michelle Obama has jumped into perhaps her biggest battle yet . She ' s fighting a House Republican effort to soften a central part of her prized anti childhood obesity campaign and she says she ' s ready ' to fight until the bitter end . ' Mrs Obama even mocked the effort in an opinion column and argued her case before her Twitter followers . Determined : First Lady Michelle Obama , seen here with students at Ron Rosner in Virginia , is fighting efforts to downscale elements of her hard won anti obesity campaign ' Remember a few years ago when Congress declared that the sauce on a slice of pizza should count as a vegetable in school lunches ? ' she wrote in The New York Times . ' You don ' t have to be a nutritionist to know that this doesn ' t make much sense . Yet we ' re seeing the same thing happening again with these new efforts to lower nutrition standards in our schools . ' Mrs Obama lobbied largely behind the scenes four years ago for the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 , which requires more fruit , vegetables and whole grains in school meals , along with less sodium , sugar and fat . It was a major achievement , the first update to school lunch rules in decades designed to make school meals more nutritious . The School Nutrition Association , an industry backed group that represents school cafeteria workers and originally supported the standards , has now turned against them . The association says it fully supports getting kids to eat healthier but says many districts are losing money because students aren ' t buying the healthier lunches . More than 1 million fewer students eat lunch at school each day since the first round of standards went into effect in 2012 , following decades of steadily increasing participation , said Diane Pratt Heavner , a spokeswoman for the association . A second round of rules , including standards for school breakfasts , took effect July 1 . ' How can we call these standards a success when they are driving students away from the program ? ' she said . Pizza sauce is not a vegetable : First lady Michelle Obama , tending the White House garden with the help of school children in 2013 , says she won ' t allow nutrition standards in schools to be lowered Her group wants more flexibility for districts that are losing money . A House bill to fund the Agriculture Department next year would give districts a chance to apply to skip the requirements for one year . Rep . Robert Aderholt of Alabama , the Republican author of that measure , said the lunch rules go too far and came too fast for school districts to handle . ' As well intended as the people in Washington believe themselves to be , the reality is that from a practical standpoint these regulations are just plain not working out in some individual school districts , ' he said after a House panel approved the bill . A vote by the full House is expected after its July Fourth break . The first lady and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack , whose department runs the school meals program , oppose changing the law . Critics of the association say the about face is motivated not only by overburdened school officials but also by the food industry . Food companies are some of the association ' s highest paying members and supply schools with most of their food . The industry largely has kept silent through the debate but will spend millions of dollars to reformulate many products to meet the new standards . ' The last thing that we can afford to do right now is play politics with our kids ' health , especially when we ' re finally starting to see some progress on this issue , ' Mrs Obama said at the White House , where she met with a group of school nutrition experts , all of whom were friendly toward the standards . Hot potato : Mrs Obama says children ' s health should not become a political issue The association requested a meeting with Mrs Obama and Vilsack . Instead it was invited to sit down next week with Vilsack and Sam Kass , a White House chef who is executive director of the first lady ' s anti obesity initiative , along with representatives from a dozen other organizations that favor the standards . The first lady ' s publicly aggressive approach against Congress and the school nutrition association stands in stark contrast to the quiet lobbying she did early on , and to her handling of earlier controversies . Her approach has been to bite her tongue and not comment in the heat of the moment . ' She very , very strongly believes in the anti obesity initiative , and I think she sees the attempt by Congress to roll back the 2010 legislation as just being anathema after trying very hard to change the culture of what we see going into these institutional lunches , ' said Myra Gutin , who studies first ladies at Rider University . Mrs Obama says the requirements are based on sound science and that 90 per cent of schools are meeting them . The association says districts are unprepared to meet the newest standards . ' I ' m going to fight until the bitter end to make sure that every kid in this country continues to have the best nutrition that they can have in our schools , ' the first lady said at a White House event where she showcased elementary school students preparing and then eating a salad lunch using vegetables they had planted in her garden on the South Lawn . The White House has threatened to veto the House bill . The Senate version does not include the one year waiver . ",true,text,test,Other sport,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2382637,2638,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump spoke separately on Tuesday with five Middle East leaders about potential decisions regarding Jerusalem amid reports he plans to move the U.S. Embassy to the city, the White House said in a statement. Trump also reaffirmed his commitment to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in his calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan s King Abdullah, Saudi King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the statement said. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2392645,2646,"Jeremy Clarkson ' s replacement on Top Gear might not be too far away after Zenit St Petersburg manager Andre Villas Boas showed he ' s enough of a petrolhead for the job . Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss Villas Boas posted a photograph of himself on Instagram behind the wheel of a 1958 A roadster on Thursday morning . Villas Boas ' s love of motors is no secret . He first told of his passion when in charge of Chelsea , revealing he owned five bikes and shares 12 vintage cars . Andre Villas Boas pictured behind the wheel of a 1958 A roadster on Thursday morning ' It feels fantastic , ' Villas Boas said . ' You feel the need for it . Driving is very adrenaline fuelled and it makes me feel good . We all have our passions and respond in different ways . ' It has been a lifelong passion . My first bike was a 350cc heavy engine . I took my licence and drove it in a national competition in Portugal then I broke my arm so I was out . ' I was coaching Porto youth at the time . The first bike was a Yamaha 350 , then I had Hondas then a couple of KTMs . I have a couple of them now . ' Villas Boas also hopes to one day take part in the Dakar Rally which is now held in South America . ' I have a couple of bikes from the Dakar Rally that I own , ' he added . ' One is for my collection , the other I ride it . I am a bit of a "" crazy head "" so I have enduro bikes as well . I go into mountains with the big rocks and almost kill myself . I have a couple of trials bikes and cars with different owners , because we have an extension collection and split ownership of them . ' Villas Boas ' love of motors is no secret as the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager collects them Villas Boas is currently the manager of Zenit St Petersburg who are in the Europa League quarter finals Villas Boas could have done with going on a long drive following his team ' s 1 0 defeat by Torino in the second leg of their Europa League last 16 tie . Zenit still qualifed for the quarter finals with a 2 1 win on aggregate , but Villas Boas ' s touchline row with the Torino bench soured the match . ' I lost my head , ' he told Sport Mediaset . ' I got it completely wrong and I apologise for my behaviour . I was angry with the Torino team manager , but it was not the behaviour of a coach and I am sorry . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2402661,2662,"Late in January 2006, Bartolo Colon received the plaque for the American League Cy Young Award. At the time, the Colon was 32 and playing for the Los Angeles Angels, and the man who presented the award to him was Juan Marichal, the first Dominican player to be selected to baseball’s Hall of Fame. Marichal ended his major league career in 1975 with 243 victories, the most to this day among pitchers from the Dominican Republic. The only Latino pitcher with more wins than Marichal is Dennis Martinez, a Nicaraguan who finished his career with 245. Soon enough, Colon may surpass them both — but he will not do it as a member of the Mets. On Friday, Colon’s tenure with the club ended when he agreed to a deal with the Atlanta Braves for the 2017 season, according to a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because the deal is not yet official. The agreement, pending a physical, will be worth $12. 5 million, according to Fox Sports, an number for a pitcher who is 43 years old and carries 285 pounds on a frame. The older, and perhaps the heavier, Colon gets, the more he defies logic. With the Mets, he had three solid seasons in which he rarely missed a start and won 15 games, then 14 and then 15 again. And he did so with a pedestrian fastball that cut and dipped and generally allowed him to outwit opposing hitters. Now, as he heads to Atlanta, Colon has 233 career wins, putting him within reach of Marichal and Martinez. Can an athlete who, these days, does not even look like an athlete still end up with the most victories by any Latino pitcher? It appears likely. “All the records that I can reach are important,” Colon said in Spanish late in his 2016 season with the Mets. “I’m always chasing after myself and pushing myself. ” For Dominican baseball players, Marichal is a significant figure. He was one of the first Dominicans to play in the major leagues and, as a star with the San Francisco Giants, helped pave the way for others. Colon, who lives about 90 minutes from Marichal’s home in the Dominican Republic, said that while growing up, he had not known much about Marichal other than his intense competitiveness. He said that becoming the Dominican pitcher with the most wins would mean a lot to him. Colon’s 2017 season will be his 20th in the majors, setting the record for longevity among pitchers. His 500 starts are already tops Marichal made 457. Colon said late last season that the 2017 season could very well be his last. He has pitched 3, 172⅓ career innings and may not surpass Marichal’s 3, 507. But if Colon has another season like 2016 — record, 3. 43 earned run average and an selection — he could surely set the victory mark. “I hope that he stays as healthy and strong as possible so that he can be the one recognized as the winningest of all Latin America,” said the Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez, who is also Dominican. Martinez finished his career with 219 wins injuries hampered him late in his career. Colon, too, has sustained shoulder and elbow injuries over the course of his two decades in the majors, and he was suspended for 50 games in 2012 for using drugs. But over time, he has evolved from a hard thrower to a crafty pitcher, and it is anyone’s guess how long he might keep going. “Even though you see him as chubby, he uses his physical abilities in his favor and works hard,” Martinez said, speaking in Spanish. The Mets wanted to keep Colon around for 2017 because of the mentoring he has provided to younger teammates and the security he would offer for a starting rotation that is highly talented but prone to injuries. But money was clearly a concern. The Mets paid Colon $7. 5 million in 2016, and as they try to find a way to keep Yoenis Cespedes in Queens with a new, expensive deal, any significant money spent elsewhere — such as on Colon — could affect that effort. As a result, the Mets knew that Colon might land a better deal elsewhere amid an overall scarcity of reliable starting pitching, and his departure is not a surprise. With Colon gone, the Mets still have seven starters for 2017, at least on paper. That group is led by Noah Syndergaard, who managed to stay relatively healthy last season. Behind him are Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler, all of whom are expected to be ready for spring training after dealing with injuries and, in some cases, surgery in 2016. The Mets can also look to Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, two unheralded minor leaguers called up last season who were crucial to the team’s successful bid for a spot. Still, Colon’s veteran presence will be missed. As will his adventures at the plate, where his sometimes zany helped make him a folk hero to Mets fans and were worth at least half the price of admission. In all, he managed to get 15 hits as a Met, the most memorable being the home run he hit May 7 in San Diego. That shot made him the oldest player in major league history to hit his first home run. With the Braves, a rebuilding team, Colon will join R. A. Dickey, a knuckleballer who won the 2012 Cy Young Award with the Mets, moved on to Toronto and signed a deal with Atlanta on Thursday. Together, they will make the Braves more interesting, particularly if Colon can chase down Marichal and Dennis Martinez.",true,news,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2412667,2668,"Reuters) - Britain s Prince Harry and U.S. actress Meghan Markle announced on Monday they were getting married next year, saying their relationship had blossomed incredibly quickly after meeting on a blind date. Harry, 33, Queen Elizabeth s grandson and fifth-in-line to the British throne, and Markle, 36, best known for her role in the U.S. legal drama Suits , said they had got engaged in London this month and will wed in the spring next year. The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect. This beautiful woman just tripped and fell into my life, I fell into her life, Harry said in a broadcast interview. [L8N1NX5AE] The queen, who had to give her assent for the union, and her husband Prince Philip were delighted, Buckingham Palace said, while Harry also received the blessing of Markle s parents. We re thrilled. I hope they will be very happy indeed, his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles said. Harry and Markle, who is a divorcee, met in July 2016 after they were introduced through a mutual friend, with both knowing little about the other. I had never watched Suits, I had never heard of Meghan before and I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. I was like I m going to really up my game here, Harry said. After just two dates, the couple decided to go on holiday together to Botswana but it was only months later that the prince, the younger son of Charles and his first wife Princess Diana, publicly confirmed their relationship in a rebuke to the media over its alleged intrusion into Markle s private life. I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like, she said. Both of us were totally surprised by the reaction, added Harry, who said they had had a frank conversation about what she was letting herself in for. It was not until September this year that they made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Games in Toronto, a sports event for wounded veterans. Earlier the couple posed for photographs in the grounds of Kensington Palace in central London where the couple will live in a cottage. Asked when he knew Markle was the one , he replied: The very first time we met. Markle showed off a dazzling three-stone ring, designed by Harry himself with at its center a diamond from Botswana surrounded by two diamonds taken from the personal collection of his late mother Diana. Harry said she would have been thick as thieves with Markle. It s so important to me to know that she s a part of this with us, Markle said. The wedding is likely to attract huge attention across the world, as did the marriage of Harry s elder brother William to Kate Middleton in 2011. We are very excited for Harry and Meghan, William and Kate said in a statement. It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together. In his office s warning to the media, Harry referred to the sexism and racism directed at Markle, whose father is white and her mother African-American. We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry. Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person, Markle s parents Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland said in a statement. To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are very excited for their future together. Educated at the exclusive Eton College, Harry s teenage years were overshadowed by negative headlines, fostering an intense dislike which he and his brother harbored because of the way papers hounded their mother. She died in a Paris car crash in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi. Harry was portrayed as a royal wild child and playboy prince, and in 2002 he admitted smoking cannabis and getting drunk when underage in a pub near the royal family s country estate amid suggestions he had fallen in with a bad crowd. He later scuffled with paparazzi outside a London nightclub and drew outrage by dressing as a Nazi officer at a party. But he turned around his image after joining the army, where he spent 10 years and included two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He said it was a role where he felt he could be himself without media scrutiny or any other trappings of his gilded upbringing. Even when he was photographed partying naked and playing billiards in a private room in Las Vegas in 2012, the response was less critical and more understanding. He left the army in 2015 to focus on royal duties and charity work, particularly the welfare of military veterans, and continuing his mother s work helping those with AIDS, and mental health issues. His easy-going manner with the public has made him one of the most popular members of the Windsors. That has put him at the forefront of a rebranding of the monarchy as modern and relevant, a far cry from the perception of a hopelessly out-of-touch institution following the 1997 death of Diana. To coincide with the 20th anniversary of her death this year, Harry opened up about his own trauma at losing his mother at a young age, and was even quoted as saying he wanted out of the royal family altogether. Like William s wife Kate, Meghan will not become a princess in her own right after marrying Harry. However, Harry, like his brother, is likely to be made a duke when he marries, meaning Meghan would become a duchess. Markle was born in Los Angeles in 1981. Her father was a lighting director for soaps and sitcoms and her mother a clinical therapist. She made her first appearance in a 2002 episode of medical drama General Hospital has appeared in a number of shows and films, such as Horrible Bosses , but achieved greatest fame for her starring part as Rachel Zane in the ongoing Suits series. In 2011, she married film producer Trevor Engelson but they divorced two years later. She had her own lifestyle blogweblink, which she recently shut down, and like her future husband has become a prominent humanitarian campaigner. She also criticized U.S. President Donald Trump in a interview before last year s U.S. election, calling him misogynistic. Britain s royals are traditionally supposed to avoid making any political interventions and Harry said he had confidence that his wife-to-be would be able to handle the pressures her role would bring. I know the fact that she ll be unbelievably good at the job part as well is obviously a huge relief to me because she ll be able to deal with everything else that comes with it, he said. We re a fantastic team. We know we are. (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in lead) ",true,dataset,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2422669,2670,"— Donald J. Trump’s statement that the United States might not come to the defense of allies that do not foot their share of the bill fueled anxiety on Thursday in a Europe that is already deeply unsettled about Russia’s assertive posture, Britain’s decision to withdraw from the European Union and the rise of populist and nationalist parties. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump suggested that if elected president he would use a country’s level of military spending as a factor in deciding whether the United States would honor its commitment to defend any member nation that comes under attack. While President Obama and other American officials have also pressed European countries in recent years to increase military spending in line with their commitments to NATO, Mr. Trump more explicitly linked financial considerations to the strategic response he would order as president in the event of an attack by Russia. His comments left some European officials concerned that the United States under Mr. Trump would edge away from the security guarantees that Washington has provided to the Continent since World War II. But they also stoked the debate over cost sharing after years in which Europe had been slow to meet its commitments on military spending. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general and a former prime minister of Norway, said that he “will not interfere in the U. S. election campaign,” but made clear that he was alarmed by Mr. Trump’s remarks. “Solidarity among allies is a key value for NATO,” he said in a statement. “This is good for European security and good for U. S. security. We defend one another. We have seen this in Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of European, Canadian and troops have stood shoulder to shoulder with U. S. soldiers. ” He added, “Two world wars have shown that peace in Europe is also important for the security of the United States. ” Article 5 of the 1949 treaty that set up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization obliges any member of the alliance to come to the defense of another member if it comes under attack. The article has been invoked only once — after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. “They have an obligation to make payments,” Mr. Trump said in the interview. “Many nations are not making payments, are not making what they’re supposed to make. ” Asked whether the United States would come to the aid of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — three Baltic states that were invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, and joined in 2004 — in the event of a Russian invasion, Mr. Trump replied, “I don’t want to tell you what I’d do because I don’t want Putin to know what I’d do,” referring to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, for whom Mr. Trump has expressed admiration. Reminded that members are obligated by treaty to come to one another’s defense, Mr. Trump responded: “Have they fulfilled their obligations to us? If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes. ” Asked on Thursday about Mr. Trump’s comments, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon of Britain snapped: “Article 5 is an absolute commitment. It doesn’t come with conditions or caveats. ” Less than two weeks ago, at a summit meeting in Warsaw, Mr. Obama reassured America’s allies that “in good times and in bad, Europe can count on the United States — always. ” Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the president of Estonia, took to Twitter to emphasize that his country was one of only five members to meet the target that it spend 2 percent of gross domestic product — a broad measure of economic activity — on military spending. (The others are the United States, Britain, Poland and Greece.) Mr. Ilves also noted that Estonia contributed troops to the fight in Afghanistan in keeping with Article 5. Artis Pabriks, a former foreign and defense minister of Latvia, which borders Russia and has stepped up military spending, wrote on Twitter: “If Trump doubts solidarity in the case of Article 5, then his election is dangerous for Baltic security. ” Lithuania’s president, Dalia Grybauskaite, tried to calm her citizens. “Regardless of who becomes the next president of the U. S. we trust America,” she told reporters. “It has always defended nations under attack, and will do so in the future. ” Ms. Grybauskaite added: “Lithuania — as well as other Baltic states — is doing everything it can. We are modernizing our armed forces, we have reinstituted conscription and our defense spending will reach 2 percent of G. D. P. in 2018. I do not think interpretations of candidate Trump’s remarks are necessary. We know that the U. S. will remain our most important partner. ” In Russia, Mr. Trump’s comments met with approval. Alexei Pushkov, head of the foreign relations committee of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, contrasted Mr. Trump with Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. “Clinton’s creed: strengthen the U. S.’s alliances. Trump’s creed: respond only to real threats,” Mr. Pushkov wrote. “Aggressive banality versus common sense. ” NATO’s 28 members pledged at summit meetings in Wales in 2014 and in Warsaw this month to do more to meet the 2 percent of spending target, and Mr. Stoltenberg has made reaching that goal a priority. Xenia Wickett, the head of the United States and Americas program at Chatham House, a foreign policy think tank based in London, said Mr. Trump was echoing — albeit in far less diplomatic terms — concerns raised by a succession of American secretaries of defense, including the three who have served Mr. Obama: Robert M. Gates, Leon E. Panetta and Ashton B. Carter. “The U. S. is no longer willing to cover the approximately 75 percent of the budget that it currently does,” Ms. Wickett wrote in an email. “Trump takes it to the extreme, which is new, but the direction is not new. Trump wants to see a more ‘fair’ division of labor. ” She added, “Unfortunately, his way of expressing it is likely to aid our adversaries rather than assist the alliance. ” Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, the head of the Paris office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a research organization, said too much was being made of Mr. Trump’s remarks. She said the imbalance in spending “is just not sustainable,” adding, “Trump is taking the debate to extreme levels, by directly calling into question U. S. responsibility as a member state to fulfill its obligations under Article 5, in case a member state got attacked by Russia. ” She added that European leaders needed to persuade their citizens “of the importance of investing in defense to face current and future security challenges. ” But Carl Bildt, a former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden, said he feared that Mr. Trump’s remarks would embolden autocratic and aggressive powers. “There is certainly a risk that he will encourage states like Russia and China to take the risk that U. S. will not stand up for its allies and its commitments, and that could be extremely dangerous for global stability,” he said. “He’s downplaying not only the defense of common interests, but also the defense of common values. Democracy seems nearly to be a derogatory term for him. ”",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2432678,2679,"Investigators have found the vehicle of a University of Georgia professor wanted in the killing of three people . Authorities examine a Jeep belonging to professor George Zinkhan on Friday in Clarke County , Georgia . Police found George Zinkhan ' s vehicle early Friday in northwestern Clarke County , home to the University of Georgia , the university said in a statement . Authorities have been looking for a 2005 red Jeep Liberty that Zinkhan was driving when he was last seen six days ago after a shooting left three people dead , including his wife . Last Saturday ' s shootings happened at a community theater group ' s reunion in Athens , Georgia , just off campus . The university fired Zinkhan from his job as a marketing professor the day after the shootings . Zinkhan had purchased a plane ticket to the Netherlands for travel on Saturday , said Gregory Jones , special agent in charge of the ' s Atlanta , Georgia , office , this week . Authorities have said Zinkhan owns a home in Amsterdam , Netherlands . Police Capt . Clarence Holeman identified the dead as Marie Bruce , 47 , Zinkhan ' s wife and an Athens attorney Tom Tanner , 40 and Ben Teague , 63 . Holeman said it appeared that Zinkhan "" and his wife were having problems . "" Police said Zinkhan has relatives in Texas as well as in the Netherlands . University Police Chief Jimmy Williams said Monday that authorities do not believe Zinkhan remains on campus or in Athens . However , he said , security has been beefed up on campus , including officers on foot patrols carrying semiautomatic weapons . The victims were all associated with the Town and Gown Players , a theater group that was holding a reunion picnic at the time of the shootings . "" The three people we lost were a part of the rich 50 year history of this theater and , more than that , were vital members of the Town and Gown family , "" the organization said on its Web site . The site described Bruce as "" the binding force that held the Town and Gown community together . "" "" Having worked with Town and Gown for over 20 years , at one time or another she served in every capacity at the theater , artistically and administratively , from leading lady to president of the board to chief cook and bottle washer . "" Police said Zinkhan arrived while the Town and Gown event was under way . According to Holeman of the Athens police , Zinkhan got into "" a disagreement "" with his wife . He left the scene police believe he went to his car , where the couple ' s children apparently were waiting and returned with two handguns . The shootings "" only took a few minutes , "" Holeman said . Police found eight shell casings , he said . After the shootings , Zinkhan left the scene with his children ages 8 and 10 still in the vehicle , police said . He drove to a neighbor ' s house in nearby Bogart , Georgia , where he lived , and left the children there . The neighbor , Bob Covington , said that Zinkhan arrived at his home shortly after noon Saturday with the two children . "" He rang the doorbell asked me if I could keep his kids for about an hour , "" Covington said . "" I said sure , and he said there ' d been some type of emergency , and he took off . "" An hour or so later , Covington said , police arrived and took the children . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2442687,2688,"Reuters) - Poland wants to be sure that Christian traditions are not subject to ideological censorship in the European Union, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday, emphasizing her party s opposition to Muslim immigration. Along with Hungary, Poland has refused to take in any of its quota of the wave of refugees from Syria and elsewhere who have come to Europe since 2015, on the grounds that Muslim immigrants are a threat to their national security and stability. Szydlo s eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party appeals directly to the more socially conservative sections of Poland s overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population. In a foreign policy speech marking the midpoint of the parliamentary term, Szydlo said Christians in Europe should not need to feel uncomfortable or ashamed about their faith and traditions. We are in favor of (an EU) where Christian traditions are not subject to ideological censorship, she told a conference organized by the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Opinion polls in Poland - one of the most ethnically and religiously homogenous countries in Europe - indicate that about three-quarters of Poles are against accepting refugees. Apart from refusing its quota, Szydlo s government has triggered a series of disputes with the executive, the European Commission, over policies that Brussels says undermine democracy and the rule of law. In a veiled criticism of France and Germany, the traditional motors of integration, Szydlo said that countries such as Poland should be a greater part of the bloc s decision-making process. The s principle of respect for the rights of its citizens will cease to be an empty one only when the debate about the future of the European Union takes place with the participation of all concerned, not in three or four capitals, she said. Opinion polls suggest up to 80 percent of Poles back membership, though many are also opposed to deeper integration and joining the euro currency. Szydlo reiterated that Poland would stay in the EU, but said that growing euroscepticism in several countries was a sign that some politicians were unwilling to recognize the problems within the bloc. It s not enough to stigmatize tens of millions of Europeans in different countries as immature and dangerous populations, or to put Poland in a corner, Szydlo said. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present2452711,2712,"James Davies scored a late try as Scarlets beat Ulster 22 13 at Parc y Scarlets to keep their chances alive of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions Cup . With Rhys Priestland kicking 17 points Scarlets have gone second in Pool Three with games against Toulon and Leicester remaining in January . Ulster could only manage a losing bonus point despite a Darren Cave try , two penalties from Ruan Pienaar and a conversion from Ian Humphreys . James Davies slides in for his late try which secured the win for the Scarlets on Sunday evening Rhys Priestland kicked 17 points for the home side as they moved second in Pool Three Scarlets were forced into a late change when Wales lock Jake Ball pulled out with a virus , with George Earle coming into the second row . For Ulster , centre Luke Marshall returned after recovering from a knee injury sustained playing for the Ulster Ravens in October . It was Scarlets who made the early inroads on the scoreboard , opening up a 6 0 lead in the opening quarter through two Priestland penalties , the first after Franco van der Merwe was penalised at a line out and another when Ulster hands slowed ball at a ruck . Another useful attack from the home side forced Van der Merwe offside as Priestland made it three out of three . And it was 12 0 after 33 minutes as Priestland found the target again after Rory Best handled the ball at a ruck . Franco van der Merwe runs into the tackle of James Davies , Rhodri Williams and Joe Snyman Tommy Bowe makes a break but Ulster came up just short at Parc y Scarlets to sit bottom of the pool Priestland sent a 40 metre attempt wide and was short with another shot but an 11 3 penalty advantage at the break had already taken its toll . But it took Ulster only 90 seconds after the restart to break their duck , with Luke Marshall and Darren Cave combining effectively twice for Cave to go in under the posts and Humphreys converting . Scarlets had put themselves under pressure when Rhodri Williams ' box kick had gone straight into touch from just outside the 22 . Priestland was wayward with another penalty after Ulster continued to struggle at the scrum . Ulster also had a chance to cut the deficit further but Humphreys was wide of the target with his first penalty shot on 55 minutes . But Scarlets got on the scoreboard next with a Priestland penalty which went over via the help of the right upright to take the home side into a 15 7 lead on 61 minutes . Darren Cave dives over for Ulster ' s only try but failed to take another golden opportunity as Ulster fell short Rory Best ( left ) and Luke Marshall ( right ) look dejected as Ulster ' s qualification hopes took a dent Referee Doyle lost his patience with the Ulster scrum and sin binned tight head prop Declan Fitzpatrick on 65 minutes . But despite being down to 14 men Tommy Bowe broke through the Scarlets defence before Cave could not hold on to what would have been a try scoring pass . But Pienaar kicked two penalties , one from close to halfway , in the space of three minutes to cut the deficit to only two points . However , on 76 minutes Pienaar missed a third penalty which would have given Ulster the lead . And the contest but was put to bed two minutes from time when flanker Davies intercepted the ball from an Ulster scrum to go over under the posts . Priestland added a drop goal conversion . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2462726,2727,"The 43 year old is the first presenter of the dance contest to be nominated for the awards When Claudia Winkleman replaced Sir Bruce Forsyth as co host of Strictly Come Dancing , sceptics thought she would struggle to fill his shoes . Now , she has proved them wrong with a Bafta nomination for her first season on the show . The 43 year old is the first presenter of the dance contest to be nominated for the awards , something both Sir Bruce and co host Tess Daly failed to achieve . It comes even though she was absent for almost a month while daughter Matilda , eight , recovered after her Halloween costume accidentally caught fire . The mother of three will compete in the entertainment performance category at next month ' s awards with Ant and Dec , Graham Norton and Celebrity Juice host Leigh Francis . Meanwhile , Sir Bruce , 87 , has said he does not miss his time hosting Strictly , admitting : ' It was never the show I thought it would be . ' The veteran entertainer said he wished he had been allowed to interact more with the celebrities . Other Bafta hopefuls include Broadchurch star Olivia Colman , 41 , who is nominated in the female performance in a comedy category for her role in BBC2 comedy Rev . Miss Winkleman ' s nomination has led the programme into its most successful ever year at the Baftas , after it won a total of three nominations , including for Entertainment Show and Audience Choice . The nominations have been voted for by 4 , 000 Bafta members . It has again come out on top against rivals X Factor and Britain ' s Got Talent , both of which have again been snubbed . The shortlists mark the continuation of a disappointing run for Simon Cowell ' s duo of talent shows . Both Sir Bruce ( centre ) and co host Tess Daly ( right ) have failed to receive a nomination from the show X Factor ' s six year run of nominations ended in 2011 and Britain ' s Got Talent has failed to make the cut since 2010 . bosses were recently reported to be considering dropping Miss Winkleman before Strictly ' s return later this year , describing her first run as a ' trial shift ' . However , with the nomination now in her corner , her case for staying is compelling . She has won the recognition despite being absent from the show for almost a month while her daughter , Mathilda , eight , recovered from a horrific Halloween accident in which her costume caught fire . In the interim , her post was covered by Zoe Ball , 44 , who fronts Strictly spin off show It Takes Two . The nominees for this year ' s Baftas : Hopefuls include Broadchurch star Olivia Colman , 41 , who is nominated in the female performance in a comedy category for her role in BBC2 comedy Rev Before taking on the role she spoke of her nerves at filling such a primetime slot . She said : ' I am going to be Tess and she is going to be Bruce . I just want to be useful . If I am useful . . . it will be fine . ' This is the fifth time Strictly has been nominated in the Entertainment Programme category but it has so far never won the award . This year it is competing with The Voice , Ant and Dec ' s Saturday Night Takeaway and Dynamo : Magician Impossible . Its third nomination is for the Audience Choice Award , which is decided by a public vote . The other contenders are The Great British Bake Off , The Missing , Game of Thrones , Eastenders , Sherlock and Cilla . Strictly has again come out on top against rivals X Factor and Britain ' s Got Talent , both of which have again been snubbed ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past2472739,2740,"Britian ' s royal family attends Spectre premiere with Hollywood stars The British secret agent James Bond ' s glitzy return to the silver screen was marked by the presence of Britain ' s highest aristocracy order . Reuters ? ? ? ? ? October 27 , 2015 ? ? posted by Aparna Singh ? ? 15 : 44 Lea Seydoux , Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci pose for photographers as they attend the world premiere of the new James Bond 007 film Spectre at the Royal Albert Hall in London . Picture courtesy : Reuters At the world premiere of James Bond starrer Spectre , the royal brigade including Britain ' s Prince William , his wife Kate and Prince Harry walked the red carpet with the film stars . The British secret agent James Bond ' s glitzy return to the silver screen was marked by the presence of Britain ' s highest aristocracy order . Bond actor Daniel Craig was greeted by hundreds of fans upon arrival at London ' s Royal Albert Hall , where residents from nearby buildings watched the premiere from their windows . Also read : ? Watch Spectre : James Bond brings the house down in final trailer Returning for the fourth time as Agent 007 , Craig said his own excitement at being allowed to continue in the series stemmed from his involvement beyond acting . "" I ' ve just been allowed to be creatively involved with these films from the very beginning and I ' ve continued to do it with this , "" he said . "" Thankfully we ' ve just got the most amazing team around us and we figure it out . "" A few months back , Craig was quoted saying that he would rather slit his wrists than play 007 again . Asked how much he knew of his future as Bond , Craig told Reuters : "" I know enough "" . Also read : Daniel Craig told to shut up after bashing James Bond ? He was joined on the red carpet by co stars Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci , Ralph Fiennes , director Sam Mendes and movie producer Barbara Broccoli . Broccoli also welcomed Prince William , Kate and Harry to the premiere . Prince William , Catherine , Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attend The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund ' s Royal Film Performance 2015 of the new James Bond 007 film Spectre at Royal Albert Hall on October 26 , 2015 in London , England . Picture courtesy : Reuters "" It ' s incredible how James Bond represents so much , not just in England but all over the world , "" Bellucci said . Trailers have shown action packed scenes typical of Bond movies as 007 uncovers the shady Spectre organization , and its dark link to villain Franz Oberhauser , played by Oscar winner Christoph Waltz . Spectre has stood as an acronym for the Special Executive for Counter Intelligence , Terrorism , Revenge and Extortion in past Bond films . "" It ' s a terrible pressure to be iconic and I practiced it at home secretly , "" Waltz said . Spectre , the 24th James Bond film , is released in cinemas on Monday and worldwide in early November . For news and videos in Hindi , go to AajTak . in . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2482741,2742,"The march is the latest demonstration in the city since Tuesday , when officials released a video that shows 17 year old Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times and prosecutors charged Officer Jason Van Dyke with first degree murder . Hundreds of protesters are blocking entrances to stores in Chicago ' s high end shopping district on Black Friday to draw attention to the police shooting of a black teenager . Some of the demonstrators linked arms to form human chains in front of main entrances to stores on both sides of Michigan Avenue for more than three blocks . Store employees were directing shoppers to exit from side doors . When one person tried to get through the front door of Saks Fifth Avenue , protesters screamed at him , shouting , "" Shut it down ! Shut it down . "" Entrances were also blocked at the Disney Store , the Apple Store , Nike , Tiffany Co . , and Neiman Marcus . Many shoppers seemed to take the disturbance in stride . Some even snapped photos of the crowd . The release of a video this week showing the fatal shooting in 2014 of 17 year old Laquan McDonald has set off days of largely peaceful protests . Not all of the groups taking part in the Black Friday protest in Chicago ' s ritziest shopping district are taking the same approach . The largest is a peaceful group led by the Rev . Jesse Jackson , who is leading a prayer from the steps of Chicago ' s historic Water Tower . The group paused for a moment of silence to remember 17 year old Laquan McDonald , who was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer last year . A smaller group , One Chicago , is calling on demonstrators to shut down businesses to protest the city ' s handling of the investigation . Mark Carter , a One Chicago organizer , is exhorting the crowd to , "" Stop watching the show . Shut this down ! Shut this down ! "" Others are yelling at the police officers lining the route . The officers are not responding . Hundreds of activists chanting "" 16 shots ! 16 shots ! "" are stopping traffic as a march begins in Chicago ' s Magnificent Mile shopping district . The demonstration Friday to protest a fatal shooting by police last year has so far been peaceful . A visitor from Fort Dodge , Iowa , 35 year old Monica Rentz , was taking photos to send to friends as she stood outside her hotel on Michigan Avenue . Rentz says she is in the city for a wedding . She says she shopped at the Disney Store before the march began and that the protesters don ' t bother her . She says it is interesting because she has never seen anything like this in Iowa . The march is the latest demonstration in the city since Tuesday , when officials released a video that shows 17 year old Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times and prosecutors charged Officer Jason Van Dyke with first degree murder . A protest march has begun in Chicago ' s shopping district , with the Rev . Jesse Jackson in the middle of a crowd that ' s shouting , "" What do we want ? Justice . When do we want it ? Now ! "" Several hundred demonstrators have gathered in the drizzling rain , many with umbrellas and plastic wrapped signs . Among them is 73 year old Frank Chapman of Chicago , who says a video released Tuesday showing the fatal shooting of 17 year old Laquan McDonald by police officer Jason Van Dyke confirms what activists have said for years about Chicago police brutality . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2492748,2749,"Iraq Iraqi firefighters work to extinguish the fire caused by a car bomb explosion at a gas station near the city of Hilla, November 24, 2016. A car bomb has reportedly exploded south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing around 100 people, mostly Shia pilgrims. According to security sources, a truck loaded with explosives went off on Thursday at a gas station in the Shomali village in the suburbs of the city of al-Hilla, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of the capital Baghdad and around 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Karbala. Reports say most of the victims were Iranian nationals. The photo shows the site of a blast at a gas station near Hilla, south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, November 24, 2016. The incident occurred at a time when buses packed with Shia pilgrims were parked at the gas station. The people were returning from Arba’een mourning rituals in the holy city of Karbala. “At least seven buses with pilgrims were inside the petrol station at the time,” an unnamed police lieutenant colonel told AFP. People carry away the bodies of victims from the site of a bomb attack near Hilla, Iraq, November 24, 2016. also quoted an unnamed police intelligence source as saying that “those buses were loaded with Iranians, Bahrainis and Iraqis. Ambulances and civil defense are on their way to the site.” The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing. In recent weeks, Daesh has resorted to similar acts of violence in areas outside its control in a desperate attempt to undermine a large Iraqi battle aimed at liberating the northern city of Mosul, the terror group’s last remaining foothold in the country. ‘Iran won’t waver in backing Iraq’ Hours after the incident, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman strongly condemned the fatal terrorist blast, expressing sympathy with the Iraqi government and nation as well as all the families of the victims. Touching on reports that Iranian citizens were among the victims, Bahram Qassemi said, “The Foreign Ministry and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Baghdad are investigating the issue with seriousness” and will take necessary measures in that regard. The Iranian official also stressed that such pre-planned and savage assaults emanate from the desperation of the terrorists, who are taking successive blows on the battlefield. “These brutal and inhumane acts will not affect the Iraqi government and nation’s determination and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for the oppressed Iraqi people in the unrelenting fight against terrorism,” Qassemi said. The photo shows the site of a blast at a gas station near Hilla, south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, November 24, 2016. ‘Terrorists killing pilgrims will be brought to justice’ In another development, Iraq’s President Fuad Masum strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Hilla, emphasizing that such terrorist crimes would not go unpunished. Issuing an official statement hours after the terrorist attack, which was claimed by the Daesh Takfiri group, Masum emphasized that terrorists, who target the lives of innocent pilgrims traveling to Iraq from Islamic countries, will be brought to justice. He also called on Iraq’s security forces to double their efforts and take necessary measures to uproot terrorist groups that endanger the life and safety of the pilgrims visiting Iraq’s holy shrines. Iraqi security forces gather at the site of a truck bomb attack targeting a gas station in the city of Hilla south of Baghdad, Iraq, November 24, 2016. (Photo by REUTERS) ‘Takfiris spilling blood in the name of religion’ Meanwhile, Lebanon’s resistance movement, Hezbollah, condemned the explosion as a crime committed by the terrorists, who have no conscience and spill the blood of innocents in the name of the religion. In a statement released on Thursday, Hezbollah extended its condolences to the Iraqi nation over the tragedy, calling for more efforts to root out terror outfits in Iraq and restore security to the country. A man reacts at the site of a truck bomb attack targeting a gas station in the city of Hilla south of Baghdad, Iraq, November 24, 2016. (Photo by REUTERS) Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive there more than two years ago, and took control of portions of Iraqi territory. Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters are trying to win back militant-held regions in joint operations. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) says a total of 1,792 Iraqis, among them 1,120, lost their lives in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in October. Loading ...",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past2502758,2759,"The men , who have British , Filipino , Taiwanese and Slovak citizenship , were being flown to New York to face charges , according to a source . Thai authorities announced the arrests after the men were turned over to U . S . authorities . A U . S . law enforcement official said the charges would be made public soon . The men are part of a broader investigation that federal prosecutors made public in September , filing charges against a group of former U . S . and European ex military men in a murder for hire and drug importation plot . The Drug Enforcement Administration concocted a sting operation and arrested Joseph Hunter , a former U . S . Army sniper trainer nicknamed Rambo , and four others in the sting case . The five more recently arrested were expelled by Thai authorities and put on a plane to New York . Additional details of the charges couldn ' t be learned because they remain under seal . Drug trafficking from North Korea has occurred for decades with at least 50 documented incidents . In previous years , North Korea had been linked to shipments of heroin and methamphetamine , according to the World Factbook . In 2003 , a North Korean ship , Pong Su which was carrying nearly 300 pounds of heroin , was seized along the eastern coast of Australia after a four day chase . There isn ' t enough information to determine whether the North Korean government is currently involved in drug trafficking , according to the 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report issued by the U . S . State Department "" There have been no confirmed reports of large scale drug trafficking involving ( Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea ) state entities since 2004 , "" it stated . "" This suggests that state sponsored drug trafficking may have ceased or been sharply reduced , or that the regime has become more adept at concealing state sponsored trafficking of illicit drugs . "" The report also highlighted that the "" proximity and availability of precursor chemicals in China likely contribute to the production of methamphetamine within North Korea . "" It alluded to reported transactions between North Korean traffickers and organized crime groups . Corrupt security agents and government officials are likely responsible for transnational drug operations , according to a different report published in North Korean Review in 2010 . There is great difficulty in collecting data or accurate information regarding drug trafficking because of the secrecy in North Korea . So the report ' s authors , Minwoo Yun and Eunyoung Kim relied on interviews with 28 North Korean defectors living in China and Thailand as well as various documents . They could not be reached Wednesday for this story . Their report alleges that in the 1980s , the North Korean state "" deliberately chose various transnational crime businesses including drug trafficking "" during economically troubled times . The North Koreans specialized in heroin trade and kept the drug away from the ordinary population . Once the economy veered into famine and economic disaster in the 1990s , individuals desperate to survive turned to private drug enterprise , according to Yun and Kim ' s report . Corrupt agents and officials sold drugs to transnational organized crime operations through the North Korea China border , they wrote . Family members also became private drug traffickers , they added . After poppy production failed due to weather , methamphetamine became more popular , according to a 2007 Drug Trafficking and North Korea report prepared for the U . S . Congress . One of the interviewees in Yun and Kim ' s report said that the city of Hamhueng is the center of methamphetamine production , because it produces the country ' s chemicals . Internally , North Koreans started using opium instead of hard to obtain and pricey medication , according to the report . And recreational drug users are more likely wealthy businessmen or members of the Party , according to South Korean media . More recently , methamphetamine is more widely used in North Korea as stricter China border controls forced drug producers to seek a local market for "" ice , "" according to a report in the Spring 2013 edition of the journal North Korean Review . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2512773,2774,"Executives at Univision, which bought Gawker Media last month for $135 million, voted on Friday to remove six posts previously published by Gawker Media sites. The posts, which were taken down on Saturday, are involved in continuing legal action. In a memo to the staff, John Cook, executive editor of Gawker Media, wrote that two Univision executives, Felipe Holguin and Jay Grant, explained that they had proposed deleting seven posts, which appeared on the Gawker sites Deadspin, Gizmodo or Jezebel, because they were “under active litigation against Gawker Media and that Unimoda had been authorized only to purchase the assets, and not the liabilities, of the company. ” (Unimoda is a subsidiary of Univision.) “Unimoda’s legal analysis was that the continued publication of the posts under the new entity would constitute the adoption of liability, and that Unimoda is therefore obligated to delete them,” Mr. Cook added. The Univision executives voted to remove six posts, while Mr. Cook voted to keep all seven online, he said. One of the seven posts, which contains a photo that is the subject of a copyright complaint, will remain online for now. A decision on whether to remove that post has been postponed pending further legal analysis. In a statement, Univision said, “At this time of transition, the decision was based on a desire to have a clean slate as we look to support and grow the editorial missions of the acquired brands. ” The decision to remove the posts was reported earlier by Gizmodo. Univision’s decision to delete the posts was a clear signal that the company does not want to deal with any of the legal baggage that comes with owning Gawker Media. In March, a Florida jury ruled against Gawker Media in an lawsuit by the former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry G. Bollea, and awarded him $140 million. Not long after the trial, Peter Thiel, a billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur, revealed in an interview with The New York Times that he had secretly funded Mr. Bollea’s case and others against Gawker Media, though he did not say which ones. The judgment, and the threat that Mr. Thiel could keep bankrolling legal actions, proved to be too much for Gawker, and in June, the company filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale. Univision won an auction for Gawker Media in August but decided it would not continue to operateweblink, Gawker Media’s flagship site, which had faced perhaps the most criticism of any Gawker Media property. In a memo to staff on Saturday, Isaac Lee, chief news, entertainment and digital officer at Univision, wrote that the decision to remove the posts “does not reflect an editorial judgment about their content. ” He also sought to reassure employees that Univision would stand behind Gawker Media posts going forward. “Should there be threats in the future related to stories published on our Gawker Media Group sites, no matter the date of publication, we will defend them as vigorously as we would defend stories published by Univision News, Fusion, The Root or any of our other properties,” Mr. Lee wrote, adding that the decision to remove the posts was “not a precedent for the future. ” The deleted posts include two that were published by Gizmodo in 2012 about the claim by a man named Shiva Ayyadurai that he had invented email. Mr. Ayyadurai filed a lawsuit this year against Gawker Nick Denton, the company’s founder and two Gawker journalists, Mr. Cook and Sam Biddle, contending that articles that cast doubt on Mr. Ayyadurai’s claims were defamatory. Charles J. Harder, who represented Mr. Bollea in the lawsuit against Gawker, is representing Mr. Ayyadurai in the lawsuit. It is not clear if Mr. Thiel is providing financial support for the case. (Mr. Harder is also representing Roger Ailes, the former chairman of Fox News, in potential litigation against New York magazine, and Melania Trump, the wife of the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, in a libel lawsuit against The Daily Mail.) Other Gawker Media posts that have been removed include two about Mitch Williams, a baseball analyst and former major league pitcher one about a conservative blogger and another that called a man acquitted of sexual assault charges a rapist. In place of the posts, a note reads, “This story is no longer available as it is the subject of pending litigation against the prior owners of this site. ” The comments about the original post remain. In his memo, Mr. Cook wrote that the posts would be removed under a provision in Gawker’s collective bargaining agreement that states: “Once a story has been posted, it can only be removed by a majority vote of the executive editor, the C. E. O. and the general counsel, unless required by law. ” The provision was written into the contract between Writers Guild of America, East, and Gawker Media when Gawker Media’s editorial employees unionized, before Gawker put itself up for sale. The guild said in a statement on Saturday that it was “deeply troubled” by the decision to remove the posts. “Though Unimoda has offered assurances that it is committed to robust, fearless journalism, this move seems to belie that claim,” the guild said. “The decision to remove these posts casts a significant pall over Unimoda’s claimed commitment to the core values of our members employed by Unimoda. ” Union members plan to meet next week to discuss “an appropriate response” to Univision’s decision, the guild added. Mr. Cook also wrote that Mr. Holguin, the chief operating officer of the Fusion Media Group, a division of Univision, had been appointed interim chief executive of Gawker Media, and Mr. Grant, the general counsel of Fusion Media, had been named the company’s interim general counsel. The decision to delete the posts was met with anger and indignation on social media by current and former Gawker employees. “This,” Mr. Cook wrote on Twitter shortly after midnight on Saturday, “would have been a good Gawker post. ”",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2522786,2787,"Some subjects are just plain hard to talk about . Religion , politics and money maybe sex , too . But try talking about race and then add the emotional context of a death penalty trial , and no one will talk at all . If you try to broach the subject during jury selection , asking all the racists to please raise their hands is not an option . We , as a nation , have to find a way to face the dirty secret of criminal justice that prejudice often carries the day . The issue of racial disparity in the administration of the death penalty has been a part of modern law . Starting with Furman v . Georgia and continuing on to McCleskey v . Zant , courts have struggled to come to grips with this issue as have those of us defending the most despised amongst us . Jury selection is actually a process of elimination : Potential jurors are called for jury duty and are questioned and either seated , excused for a cause or excused by a peremptory challenge from either side . Generally , a challenge for cause involves jurors who have a relationship with a party or witness , have a personal experience that would cause them to be unfair or are legally unable to sit . In capital cases , the number of potential jurors who can be excluded for cause is much larger because anyone who is against the death penalty can be turned away and minorities are more likely to find problems with the death penalty . Then there ' s the misuse of peremptory challenges each side gets a certain number of these that it can use to excuse a juror for any reason . The prosecution often uses this strategy to strike as many minorities from serving as jurors as it can . The problem this creates is obvious . A black or Hispanic defendant facing death is the most likely to have an all , or nearly all , white jury . To combat this , the U . S . Supreme Court in Batson v . Kentucky held that the defense could object if it believed the prosecution was using its peremptory challenges to limit the number of minority jurors . If the trial judge so ordered , the prosecution would then be obliged to give "" race neutral "" reasons for the exclusions . If the trial court accepted these explanations , the trial would continue . If not , a mistrial would be declared . This procedure was supposed to fix the problem . It hasn ' t had that effect . Almost any excuse will do a prosecutor can call the juror "" arrogant "" for example , and that is enough . In one case I tried , the prosecution excused a black woman who was married , a homeowner , had two children and taught elementary school . They kept a white woman who was married , a homeowner , had three children and taught elementary school . His "" race neutral "" explanation ? The black woman wore her dress too tight . No kidding . And the judge accepted that explanation . Obviously , prosecutors know that this form of discrimination increases their odds of winning , and the desire to win is hard to resist . But a prosecutor is supposed to represent the people of his or her state or the federal government , and that includes not only the victim and his or her family , and public safety , but the accused and the community . Systematic exclusion of a race from jury selection sends an ugly message African Americans and Hispanics need not apply . In an analysis of Jefferson Parish , the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center found that from 1999 to 2007 , blacks were struck from juries at more than three times the rate of whites . The Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama has just issued a report , "" Illegal Racial Discrimination Jury Selection : A Continuing Legacy , "" that details racial discrimination in jury selection in eight Southern states . "" Key decision makers in death penalty cases across the country are almost exclusively white , "" the Equal Justice Initiative said . Confronting racial attitudes in the courtroom is often necessary . The problem is fear . When a lawyer speaks up about these issues , he or she is inviting anger from the prosecution , potentially the judge and maybe even the jury . But we have to talk about this and by "" we "" I mean not only defense lawyers , but all of us and openly . The courts have to stop glossing over the problem by pretending that "" race neutral "" reasons really exist or are even close to satisfactory . And courts should name the offending parties . The prosecutor who said he didn ' t want the teacher on the jury because of her so called tight dress might have hesitated if he knew his name could be published . In one case I tried , the complaining witness was white , the defendant black , and race was all over the case . I was afraid to talk about it , but I believed it was a motivating force behind the choice to prosecute at all . So I took a deep breath and spoke . The jurors acquitted and thanked me for giving them permission to speak about race so they could talk about it and then move on and be able to "" get to the case . "" It ' s time we all did the same . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andrea Lyon . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past2532835,2836,"The latest North Korean missile test failed on Wednesday, with the rocket exploding “within seconds of launch,” according to the U. S. Pacific Command. [“South Korea and the are aware of the missile launch and to their knowledge, North Korea’s missile was not successfully launched,” said South Korea’s Ministry of Defense about the North Korean missile test, in a statement relayed by CNN. Reuters reports the launch was made from “near the city of Wonsan, on North Korea’s east coast, the same place from where it launched several missiles last year, all but one of which failed. ” A South Korean military official agreed with the U. S. assessment that the missile “may have exploded right after it took off from a launch pad. ” The Washington Post writes that American and South Korean military intelligence services are still analyzing the data they gathered about the launch and are not yet certain precisely what type of missile it was. North Korea tested a rocket engine that dictator Kim described as technology of “historic significance” over the weekend, but it’s not clear if this failed test involved one of those engines.",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2542836,2837,"Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders went head to head in the last Democratic presidential debate late Sunday night , with Sanders hammering Clinton over her relationship with Wall Street , America s financial and business hub . When asked about the differences between the candidates plans to reign in the financial sector , Sanders responded that the first difference is I don t take money from big banks . Can you really reform Wall Street when they are spending millions and millions of dollars on campaign contributions and when they are providing speaker fees to individuals ? Sanders said , pointing to 200 , 000 he said Clinton received in 2013 to deliver a speech at investment giant Goldman Sachs . Sanders said the United States needs a political revolution to rein in the power of big corporations , while accusing Clinton of being in the pocket of Wall Street . I don t get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs , he said Sunday night during the fourth and last Democratic debate in Charleston , South Carolina . You ve received over 600 , 000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs in one year , Sanders said , referring to Clinton . Clinton , meanwhile , tried to frame herself as a natural heir to President Barack Obama on a host of issues and accused the Vermont senator of being disloyal to him . She said that Sanders criticized President Obama for taking donations from Wall Street . Senator Sanders called Obama weak , disappointing he even in 2011 publicly sought someone to run in a primary against President Obama . Sanders rebuked the charge , saying that he and the president are friends and worked together on many issues . However , Sanders acknowledged that he wants to move beyond Obama s agenda . The two candidates also sparred on the issue of gun control , with Clinton attempting to connect Sanders to the gun industry and lobby . He has voted with the , with the gun lobby , numerous times . He voted for immunity for gun makers and sellers , Clinton said . There is no industry in America that was given the total pass the gun makers and gun dealers were , and that needs to be reversed . Sanders accused Clinton of politicizing the issue . This should not be a political issue . What we should be doing is working together , and , by the way , as a senator from a rural state that has virtually no gun control , I believe I am in an excellent position to bring people together . Former Maryland Governor Martin O Malley , who is trailing Clinton and Sanders in polls , said neither of them has been a leader on gun control . They ve both been inconsistent when it comes to this issue , he said . Hours before the debate , Sanders unveiled a healthcare plan for all American citizens through Medicare for all . The plan would see citizens pay a 2 . 2 percent income based premium towards healthcare , while companies would pay an extra 6 . 2 percent of an employee s income , the senator said . Clinton said she would continue to build up on the existing healthcare system known as Obamacare . We have accomplished so much already . I do not to want see the Republicans repeal it , and I don t to want see us start over again with a contentious debate . Clinton leads in most national polls , but Sanders is a threat in key states . foreign policy , Sanders called for normalizing relations with Iran in light of implementation of the Iran nuclear deal . Clinton and Sanders both praised the deal . Clinton took credit for imposing sanctions against Iran , which she argued compelled them to come to the negotiating table . Clinton said the United States should proceed with caution when it comes to Iran . Clinton rejected the idea of deploying ground troops in Syria to combat the Islamic State . She instead supported continued airstrikes , as well as support for the Iraqi and Kurdish armed forces . Sanders went a step further , slamming Republicans who call for ground troops in Syria . He said the United States should have learned from the Iraq war . Governor O Malley supported Obama s current strategy in the Middle East , which Sanders and Clinton both mirrored . O Malley also knocked Republicans for using the term boots on the ground , saying it was dehumanizing to American troops . Sanders said the Islamic State was created by the war in Iraq , and that the United States did not do enough to stabilize the region after the downfall of Saddam Hussein . He called for Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar to foot the bill for combating the Islamic State . In order of priority , he said the destruction of the Islamic State came first , and then deposing Syrian President Bashar al Assad . O Malley said the United States does not know enough to understand the ramifications of regime change . He called for an increased investment in foreign intelligence . O Malley said the federal government should get a warrant to compel tech companies to share users data in an investigation . He defended personal privacy in the digital age , calling for the judicial system to catch up to cybersecurity issues . Sanders echoed sentiments that public policy has not caught up with the digital age . He said Silicon Valley should work with the federal government to target online recruitment from the Islamic State . Clinton said the key to combating lone wolf extremists was to engage Muslim Americans . She slammed anti Muslim rhetoric by conservative politicians . O Malley echoed those calls , calling Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump a fascist . He said if Trump wants to start a registry of Muslim Americans , that he could put O Malley s name first . Sanders called for a shift in defence priorities , saying much of America s defense spending focused on the old Cold War . Clinton said she would consult with her husband on economic policy . Sanders fired back : If you have an administration stacked with Wall Street appointees , you re not going to accomplish much . Sanders was asked about his previous response to ex President Bill Clinton s extramarital affairs . That question annoys me , Sanders retorted , insisting he wanted to run an issues oriented campaign . I m going to debate Secretary Clinton and Gov . O Malley on the issues facing this country , not on Bill Clinton s personal behaviour , he said . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present2552837,2838,"We want to eliminate Isis but we need to understand that there has to be a post conflict resolution . I am open minded , we want to see what Mr Cameron comes back with . In response to a horrific outrage like the one in Paris , or the one in Beirut , we shouldn t have a hot headed knee jerk response . But neither should you have the kind of hot headed knee jerk response that Jeremy Corbyn and Alex Salmond have kind of exemplified , which is you mustn t do anything , ever . I have always said I m very proud of Charles Kennedy leading the fight against the Iraq war , I m equally proud of Paddy Ashdown who called for intervention in Kosovo when nobody else was . A colleague is hoping one day to nominate Sir Jeremy Heywood , the cabinet secretary and the most powerful unelected person in the country , for a prize for sending out Britain s most boring tweets . Heywood has been showing his form again today , prompted by the defence review . ? Sir Jeremy Heywood ( HeadUKCivServ ) November 23 , 2015 New National Security Strategy weblink : t . co Q84uWTpWRq Product of great collaborative work across Whitehall leadership of cabinetofficeuk ? Sir Jeremy Heywood ( HeadUKCivServ ) November 23 , 2015 Chap . 7 highlights important new steps to improve horizon scanning , data analytics , implementation joint working across depts SDSR2015 Tim Farron , the Lib Dem leader , has put out this statement about the defence review . Only this government could create a rapid reaction force and will take 10 years to react . The government s strategic defence and security review ( ) has some good points , especially the new maritime patrol boats and extra frigates . The world is more dangerous and uncertain since the last and that is why we need more flexible forces and greater coordination with allies in Europe . For all the prime minister s bluster that piece of the jigsaw is sadly missing . I welcome the s investments in security defence , the clear conclusion that will remain at the heart of defence . SDSR2015 Here is some industry and union reaction to the defence review . From Terry Scuoler , chief executive of , the manufacturers organisation ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present2562841,2842,"Midfielder Alex Oxlade Chamberlain loves playing in such an attacking Arsenal team but accepts they will always have to work at keeping it tight at the back . Arsenal recovered from going behind in the north London derby to a breakaway Tottenham goal for Nacer Chadli as Oxlade Chamberlain ' s close range strike secured a 1 1 draw . Arsene Wenger ' s side , however , had enjoyed plenty of possession and should have been ahead before a lapse in concentration from defensive midfielder Matheiu Flamini allowed Christian Eriksen to snatch the ball and set up a swift counter . Arsenal ' s Alex Oxlade Chamberlain slots home the equaliser against local rivals Tottenham on Saturday Oxlade Chamberlain accepts it is a part of Arsenal ' s game which can hurt them , but is worth it for what the Gunners offer going forwards . ' That is the risk you take when you play the way we play football , ' said England international Oxlade Chamberlain . ' We try to take control of games , we like to set the tempo , We send a lot of bodies forward in a positive and attacking fashion and you do leave yourself at times a little bit vulnerable to the counter attack . Oxlade Chamberlain celebrates netting against Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby at the Emirates Arsene Wenger ' s side salvaged a point thanks to Oxlade Chamberlain ' s first Gunners goal since February ' It is just important that when we do , we have got people in the team that are willing to take the responsibility of holding back and being there to stop counter attacks . ' But , yeah , I do love playing in this team and the style of play that we do , as I think all the players could say . ' We do , though , need to obviously be careful and make sure we are defending at the same time as when we are attacking . ' It is something we have always worked on because it is an area I am sure teams look at to try and break us down , so we have got to be ready for that . ' Oxlade Chamberlain handles the ball last season at Chelsea , which resulted in Kieran Gibbs being sent off Despite attempts to reason with referee Andre Mariner after Kieran Gibbs was sent off at Chelsea last season Arsenal head to leaders Chelsea next weekend , where they were thumped 6 0 last season , in what was Wenger ' s 1 , 000th match in charge . Oxlade Chamberlain , though , insisted that result would not make Arsenal any less cavalier . ' We do understand what happened there last season . Maybe we have got a point to prove there , we know this year we have got to step up in the big games and get some results in them , ' he said . ' We are really looking forward to that game and we definitely give Chelsea the respect they deserve , but , at the same time , I have belief in my team mates and we do in ourselves to be able to go to a place like Chelsea and set the tempo and hopefully take control of the game . ' There will be times in the game I am sure when they have a spell , because they are a top team . ' They are going to have their time , we are going to have ours , we just have to make sure that when we do have our chances we make them count . ' Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal holds his leg as he lies on the pitch after picking up an injury against Tottenham Arsenal were left counting the cost of injuries against Spurs , with captain Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey limping off in the first half , before Jack Wilshere , who suffered a twisted ankle , was replaced for the final 30 minutes . Wenger was at a loss to explain why soft tissue injuries continue to dog his squad . ' I don ' t know if we really have to look at it because there is no logic there , ' said the Arsenal manager . ' It is two players who were not involved in the ( cup ) game in the week . We had quite a light week for them and we have to analyse what happened to them . I don ' t understand . ' Like our Arsenal Facebook page . Mikel Arteta sits and angrily throws his boot to the ground after injury forced him out of the Tottenham game Jack Wilshere is a doubt for Wednesday ' s match with Galatasaray after picking up an ankle injury ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2572858,2859,"It ' s fondly remembered as the classic bodice ripper , with millions of television viewers in the 1970s enthralled by scenes of passion and adventure played out against a backdrop of windswept Cornish landscapes . And now , the ' s new adaptation of Winston Graham ' s Poldark novels is again set to shock viewers but this time because of a lack of sex scenes and nudity . Debbie Horsfield , the acclaimed dramatist who has written the new series , said : ' I am always fascinated by the way Poldark is described as a bodice ripper . ' There don ' t seem to be any bodices being ripped in the original material and this new series is very much an adaptation of the source material . ' Fresh faces : Aidan Turner as the brooding Captain Ross Poldark with Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza Horsfield ' s comments might reassure fans of Graham ' s 12 Poldark books but will surprise fans of The Hobbit star Aidan Turner , cast as the brooding Captain Ross Poldark in the 2015 adaptation . They have welcomed a ' sexy and steamy ' trailer for the show which shows ' a buffed ' Turner topless and then has him swimming naked in the sea . One wrote online : ' , Aidan Turner has made me feel things again ! ' while another added : ' I have Turner fever ! ' But Horsfield , who created the hairdressing drama Cutting It , said the trailer , which has been shown frequently on the , wasn ' t necessarily typical of the drama to follow . She said : ' I can ' t comment on what choices are made for a trailer . I don ' t think you will be seeing those sorts of scenes every few seconds . My view is that less is more . ' Topless scenes : A ' sexy and steamy ' trailer for the show shows ' a buffed ' Turner topless , pictured as he prepares for a scene during filming at Dollar Cove Screen Shot episode one of the new drama Poldark . . . mos web grab . . 20 02 2015 . . Captain Poldark together with Ellizabeth . Heida Reed in the roles of Demelza and Elizabeth respectively The Mail on Sunday has seen the first episode of the new adaptation and can confirm there is no actual nudity . The new series will not be short of romance and intrigue , however , as it focuses on an 18th Century love triangle involving Poldark , his former fiancee Elizabeth and the servant girl Demelza whom he eventually marries . The new series will inevitably be compared with the previous adaptation which caused a sensation when it was broadcast from 1975 to 1977 . That version , which starred Robin Ellis as Poldark , Jill Townsend as Elizabeth and Angharad Rees as Demelza , proved to be a ratings hit and is still considered one of the best television dramas ever made . Bodice ripper : The new series will inevitably be compared with the previous adaptation starring Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark and Angharad Rees as Demelza Poldark But Horsfield said she didn ' t give it a second thought when she started work on her own adaptation , which has Eleanor Tomlinson and Heida Reed in the roles of Demelza and Elizabeth respectively . She said : ' I know there is a certain generation that watched the 1970s version . I just wanted to convey the complexity of the story telling . I didn ' t think of the earlier version when I was writing it . We are sticking much more closely to the novels . The 1970s adaptation diverged quite considerably . ' The new eight part series , which will be shown on BBC1 on Sunday nights , is based on Graham ' s first two novels . But the hopes to adapt all 12 books if audiences warm to the story . The original series only covered the first seven novels although did adapt the eighth in 1996 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past2582867,2868,"Last updated on : December 02 , 2015 1 : 12 Russian Defense Ministry officials on Wednesday presented what they said was proof of Turkish involvement in illegal oil trade with the Islamic State group ( ) , accusing top Turkish officials , including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his family , of complicity . Calling the "" absolute leader "" in international terrorism , Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said during a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday that terrorists in Syria earn around 2 billion a year from the illegal extraction of oil , which they use to recruit and arm terrorists "" around the world . "" "" That is why is so protective of the infrastructure of illegal oil production in Syria and Iraq , "" Antonov said using another name for . "" The main customers for this oil stolen from its rightful owners Syria and Iraq ? is Turkey . According to information we have received , the highest political leadership of the country President Erdogan and his family are involved in this criminal business . "" However , no evidence that Erdogan or any member of his family has been involved in trading oil was presented at the news conference . Erdogan lashed out at the latest Russian accusations . "" No one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh ( ) , "" he said while on a visit to Qatar . Turkey ' s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses an audience after receiving an honorary doctorate from Qatar University , in Doha , Qatar , Dec . 2 , 2015 . The latest Russian claims come amid growing tensions between Moscow and Ankara after Turkey last week shot down a Russian warplane it said violated its airspace from Syria , a charge Russia denies . The deputy chief of the Russian military ' s General Staff , Sergei Rudskoi , said during Wednesday ' s briefing that there are three main routes for the transport of oil extracted in Syria and Iraq into Turkey . One , he said , goes from Syria westward to Turkish ports on the Mediterranean Sea , the second passes from Syria northward to a oil refinery in Turkey ' s Batman Province , while the third passes from northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq to a "" major trans shipment base "" in the Turkish town of Cizre . Rudskoi presented satellite imagery taken at various times over the last several months , each showing hundreds of trucks and , in several shots , what he said were thousands of trucks . ? He said the vehicles were carrying oil and either crossing into Turkey or headed for Turkey . According to the Russian Defense Ministry , the illegal oil flow into Turkey does not involve only the Islamic State group . The ministry showed one piece of video at Wednesday ' s briefing that it said was taken of a border crossing at the Turkish town of Reyhanli , adjacent to parts of Syria ' s Aleppo region controlled by Jabhat al Nusra , al Qaida ' s affiliate in Syria . The video clip shows a long line of large trucks at the border crossing , where a Turkish flag is visible . A video screen grab from the Russian Defense Ministry ' s YouTube channel shows an image of the ministry ' s presentation of what it says is Turkey ' s involvement in trading Islamic State oil . Following last week ' s downing of the Russian warplane , President Vladimir Putin said it was shot down by "" accomplices of terrorists "" and claimed oil was flowing through Turkey . Erdogan denied the claim and asked Putin to prove it , saying he would resign if such evidence was forthcoming . On Wednesday , Erdogan again said he would resign if Russia proved its accusation , but added "" those who spread this slander shouldn ' t retain their seats either . "" "" Turkey has not lost its moral values so as to buy oil from a terrorist organization , "" he added . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2592869,2870,"Share on Facebook Share on Twitter I believe we are in the midst of one of the biggest evolutions in our consciousness we have ever seen. I say this because everywhere you look, things seem to be changing in a very big way. But some back story first. About 7 years ago, something happened in my life that changed the way I saw myself, my life and the world. I left college for good. I had been through 3 different programs in 3 years trying to figure out what worked for me. I was depressed on and off. I couldn’t believe that life was simply wake up and go to school until you get a degree. Then, wake up and go to a job you don’t truly like to make money to support your life until you’re 60 and then hopefully you can retire. Then, you die. I had to make a change and all along something told me that if I did, everything would be okay. Regardless of what everyone told me my whole life, I knew deeply that I didn’t (just as you don’t) have to live life in the way everyone tells you. 5 years ago Collective Evolution was born. A platform that has touched millions of people in a positive way over its 5 years and has changed my life in a positive way. likely wouldn’t be around if I didn’t choose to leave school for good. I was invited by Columbia University’s Teacher’s College to give a TEDx talk as they felt I was an agent of change. Below is that talk and it tells my story as well as what I feel is one of the most important things we need to know and internalize: change starts within. This is what I feel is changing our entire world. Follow Your Passion, It’s Important The bottom line is, I believe we need to begin following our passions as a first choice when we are young. If we don’t yet know what our passions are, take the time to enjoy life and figure them out. There is no need to rush into post secondary school so we can get in debt and be stuck in a job for the rest of our lives. This, unfortunately, is a western mentality where we operate under the idea that this is the only way and since people who follow this path are praised and celebrated, many follow the same path. Even for people who are older and well out of school, it’s never too late to start doing something new and following your passion. Although there may be financial responsibilities at times, make arrangements and plans to transition into doing something you love. It’s always possible and there is a way, we just need to begin trying and putting the steps into place. I believe that the moment we truly choose to begin doing something from our hearts, the world around us begins to conspire to make it happen as a result of our conscious desire to make it happen. Since the thoughts might be building, I want to be clear, I am not saying there is no value in education or post secondary school. I am simply stating my belief that it should only be attended when you know what you want to do, need the education for it and are passion about it. I believe that the education system is designed the way it is for ulterior purposes more so than simply educating with pure intention. More on that below. Does Education Kill Creativity? The Sacred Science follows eight people from around the world, with varying physical and psychological illnesses, as they embark on a one-month healing journey into the heart of the Amazon jungle. You can watch this documentary film for 10 days by clicking here. ""If “Survivor” was actually real and had stakes worth caring about, it would be what happens here, and “The Sacred Science” hopefully is merely one in a long line of exciting endeavors from this group."" - Billy Okeefe, McClatchy Tribune",fake,news,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past2602875,2876,"took my mayor away ? Oklahoma official ' s job in jeopardy after hubby ' s ' prank ' A small town Oklahoma mayor is under fire after her husband and friends donned white robes and hoods to resemble Ku Klux Klan attire as they held crosses around a bonfire in what the mayor called a Halloween "" prank gone bad . "" A photo that has spread widely on social media shows Cary Sharp , husband of Lahoma mayor Theresa Sharp , standing around a fire on Saturday night with three other men . Two of the figures are wearing white robes with pointed hoods , the traditional clothing of the . Cary Sharp said he and his friends decided on the stunt after drinking some beers on Halloween night , though they did not burn the cross , he emphasized . There was no cross that burned , Cary Sharp ? told the Enid News Eagle , a local newspaper . It was held behind the fire to look like it was burning , but there was no fire . The pictures we ve seen claimed they were burning one , but there was not one burnt . Oklahoma mayor apologizes for husband ' s Halloween costume weblink : t . co rVF1WWUSyM pic . twitterweblink q1iVurB29k A neighbor reported the group to the local authorities , according to the Enid News Eagle . "" We are a small community , and in no way do I feel this represents our views as a whole , "" said witness Misty Meister . "" It is upsetting due to the fact that we live in a community with families of different ethnic backgrounds , and this is a symbol of hate and intolerance . "" Garfield County Deputy Aaron Moore approached the group , but told the neighbor that , although the men were acting "" in poor taste , "" he could not make them stop . Seriously , white people ? ? The one time that it ' s to wear costume is . weblink : t . co 6zVw8en5At pic . twitterweblink aBFEVIHHvS I advised the group why I was there , and that although I know it was a joke that they ? save them and myself anymore headaches to not burn anymore crosses , Moore wrote in his report of the incident . Mayor Theresa Sharp said she was not involved in the stunt . It was poor judgment on the part of him and his friends , she ? told The Oklahoman . I was not involved . I was trick or treating with my child . Myself and the city ? do not endorse the behavior that was reflected that night . Cary Sharp expressed remorse over the incident , which has garnered attention far and wide thanks to social media . I ' m very sorry that this happened , he told The Oklahoman . I have huge regrets , trust me . No you just got caught . No man at his age would be playing tricks on little kids as members . weblink : t . co ws6TbXRFuM Garfield County Sheriff Jerry Niles said the "" Halloween prank gone bad "" showed "" very poor judgment . "" It was done in very , very poor taste , Niles said . It brings up bad images of things that 99 . 9 percent of Americans , especially Oklahomans , are adamantly against . We re all Americans , born and raised here , and we have a responsibility to honor the Constitution and the rights of others and feelings of others . Get the blacks out : Racist political fliers show cop pointing gun at black kid Mayor Sharp said some in the Lahoma community are pushing for her resignation following the incident . I know they are calling for my resignation , and I believe that ' s something the board members and myself will probably discuss in the future , "" she told The Oklahoman . The Garfield County Sheriff ' s Office has not notified higher authorities of any pending investigation of the incident , the local district attorney said . Such a probe could happen if law enforcement deems the gathering a hate group , as it first appeared to be . Lahoma , a town of 650 people , is about 70 miles northwest of Oklahoma City . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2612876,2877,"He only started his new job two weeks ago . But Prince William confirmed yesterday that he will take his full fortnight of paternity leave when his second child is born later this month . The future king , 32 , became the most senior member of the royal family to work as an ordinary employee when he became a pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance . According to Kensington Palace , he plans to take time off to be with his wife and new baby , just like he did when his son , Prince George , was born in 2013 . Dash : Prince William faces a two hour hospital dash to be at his wife ' s side when she goes into labour The second in line to the throne will be working throughout April in three sites Cambridge , Norwich and Gloucestershire Airport . The Duchess of Cambridge , meanwhile , will largely be based at their London home Kensington Palace . Royal staff have already ruled out using a helicopter to transport William back to London , meaning the prince faces a two hour ' blues and twos ' dash back to the capital . He could even risk missing the birth if their second child arrives more quickly than expected , although aides acknowledge that the scenario is unlikely . On maternity leave : The Duchess won ' t be seen in public again until she leaves hospital with the new baby Frenetic : The scenes outside the Lindo Wing at St . Mary ' s Hospital during Prince George ' s birth There will be no Lindo Wing fervour like there was for George as the Press and public are banned from the street outside . Sources said the couple , who do not know the baby ' s sex , were ' grateful ' for interest in their new arrival who will be fourth in line to the throne but want to avoid a ' media circus ' . They have also vowed not to make a public announcement until at least 8am the next day if the baby is born after 10pm , and not before they have informed their families including Prince Harry , who is likely to be in Australia when the baby arrives . They also made clear that Kate , who has been staying at the couple ' s new country home in Norfolk , Anmer Hall , plans to return to the capital soon and intends to give birth at the Lindo Wing of St Mary ' s Hospital , where a natural birth costs up to 10 , 000 . Her team will be led by Guy Thorpe Beeston , Surgeon Gynaecologist to the Royal Household . The doctor , who says he likes to ' keep things simple ' by ' offering honest advice ' , specialises in pre natal diagnosis , deliveries and ultrasound . He graduated from Cambridge University in 1984 and worked at King ' s Hospital in London before becoming a consultant in foetal medicine at Chelsea and Westminster in 1996 . Safety first : Contingency plans have been put in place in case Kate is outside of London when labour starts Crazy : Preparations for a media pen outside the Lindo Wing ahead of the April 25th birth are underway Not long to go : The Duchess , seen here at events last month , still doesn ' t know the sex of her child Contingency plans have been put in place at other hospitals Addenbrooke ' s in Cambridge and the Royal Berkshire , close to Kate ' s parents should the Duchess , 33 , go into labour outside of the capital . Kate , whose public duties ended last month , has not specified how much maternity leave she intends to take . But sources have told the Mail that she will return to Kensington Palace to recuperate before travelling to Norfolk to set up home at Anmer Hall . An aide said : ' Her focus will be on her family over the summer . ' With an imminent General Election , aides were also asked whether they might time their announcement around the campaign , but one quipped : ' Babies arrive when they arrive ! ' Excited : Prince George is apparently looking forward to the impending birth according to his parents Delighted : The couple also revealed their delight at receiving warm wishes from around the world A spokesman for the couple added yesterday they were touched by the public reaction to the birth of their new baby , who will be fourth in line to the throne . In a statement about the impending royal arrival , he said : ' The Duke and Duchess are hugely grateful for the warm wishes they have received from people throughout the and indeed around the world over the last few months . ' They know that people are excited Prince George will soon have a little brother or sister and it means a great deal to them that so many will be celebrating this important moment for their family . ' They are very appreciative that so many people share their excitement as they await the arrival of their second baby . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2622885,2886,"Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered a halt to non-essential road, bridge and mass transit projects late Thursday after lawmakers failed to reauthorize the state fund that pays for them. Christie’s executive order calls for the state Department of Transportation and New Jersey Transit to devise a plan before midnight Saturday for the “orderly” shutdown of projects funded by the Transportation Trust Fund. Federally funded projects will continue, Christie said in his executive order. The state expects to receive an estimated $906 million of federal transportation aid, according to the state treasurer’s annual report. New Jersey’s ability to borrow for new transportation projects ran out on Friday, the start of the new fiscal year. The trust fund already has about $16 billion of outstanding debt for existing road projects. The fund has roughly $80 million left, said Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski, who called Christie’s executive order “pure theater.” Without new appropriations or bond proceeds, the authority cannot pay vendors for construction. Projects at any stage - procurement, design and construction - are affected by Christie’s order, the Department of Transportation said. About a month ago, lawmakers discussed issuing grant anticipation revenue bonds, or so-called GARVEEs, as a stop-gap measure, but the idea was never acted upon, Wisniewski told Reuters. The flow of federal money backing those bonds is often uncertain from year to year. “You can’t do an annual capital program on bonds,” he said. Christie ordered the remaining money in the fund to be held only for the most essential projects “in order to protect the health, safety and welfare” of New Jerseyans, he said. Christie had hatched a late-night deal earlier this week with the Assembly to raise the state gasoline tax by 23 cents to 37.5 cents per gallon to replenish the fund. In exchange, the sales tax rate would shrink 1 percentage point to 6 percent, which could lead to an annual $1.7 billion shortfall in future budgets. But the Senate ended its session on Thursday without replenishing the program, which is expected to run out of money in August. Senators were pushing their own bill, which would have phased out the estate tax on wealthy residents instead of reducing sales taxes. Christie also stripped several items out of the legislature’s budget on Thursday, signing a reduced $34.5 billion budget for fiscal 2017 that is just 2.1 percent higher than that for fiscal 2016. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2632892,2893,"Medical workers expressed alarm Friday over the increase in hospitalizations and deaths in Haiti ' s cholera outbreak as the earthquake devastated nation ' s already strained health system overflowed with the sick . On the outskirts of the capital city of Port au Prince in the slum of Cite Soleil , Medecins Sans Frontieres ( Doctors Without Borders ) saw 216 cases of cholera at Choscal Hospital on Thursday . Five days ago , that number was only 30 . Stefano Zannini , the head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres , said his staff was seeing seven times the cases they were seeing three days ago . "" The trend is extremely , extremely alarming , "" he said . "" We have not reached a peak yet , but it could arrive next week . "" The U . N . Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs put the death toll Friday at more than 800 , with more than 12 , 000 people hospitalized . Epidemiologists predict the outbreak could last for months and say the entire nation of almost 10 million people is at risk because they have no immunity to cholera . The United Nations warned that Haiti is facing one of the most severe outbreaks of the disease in the past 100 years . It appealed to international donors for 164 million in aid and said it anticipates as many as 200 , 000 people to be sickened with cholera over the next six to 12 months . "" A major effort has already been made , but the sheer quantity of relief items that need to be delivered in the days and weeks ahead is going to require more logistical and financial support for the government by all humanitarian agencies and donors and very close coordination , "" said Nigel Fisher , U . N . humanitarian coordinator in Haiti . "" Without this the epidemic could well outrun our efforts . "" Of grave concern are cases that originated in the tent cities of Port au Prince , which sprang up to shelter those left homeless by the massive earthquake that killed more than 200 , 000 people last January . Health officials fear that infection could spread quickly in the makeshift cities ' congested , unsanitary conditions and in impoverished neighborhoods where clean drinking water is at a premium . Symptoms of cholera , an acute , bacterial illness caused by drinking tainted water , can be mild or even non existent . But sometimes they can be severe : profuse watery diarrhea , vomiting , and leg cramps , which can cause rapid loss of body fluids and lead to dehydration , shock and death . Aid workers in Haiti are scrambling as the nation recovers not only from the earthquake , but from last week ' s hurricane . "" We are stretched thin , "" said Julie Schindall , a spokeswoman for the humanitarian agency Oxfam . Zannini reminded the world that cholera is as much a logistical problem as a medical one . It ' s not just a matter of medical donations or more doctors on the ground , he said . Who will supply clean drinking water ? Who will make sure there are proper bathroom facilities ? Who will dispose of the waste ? Or for that matter , the dead bodies ? "" It ' s not just about donating money , "" Zannini said . "" It ' s about concrete actions . "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past2642894,2895,"Tomas Rosicky is 34 years old . He has been at Arsenal for nine years , but has averaged just 19 Premier League games a season under Arsene Wenger . Yet , when the ' Little Mozart ' is at his best , Wenger ' s fluid style of play is rarely encapsulated more . His individual masterclass at Brighton in the Cup on Sunday typified the type of performance Arsenal fans have grown to love , full of energy , pressing on and off the ball and flair . Phil Neville may want to ' two foot him ' , but really , we must saviour the moments when the Czech star lights up a football pitch with his touch . Tomas Rosicky gives a ' no look ' pass during the build up to his spectacular goal against Brighton The Czech midfielder used the same move a number of times during Arsenal ' s 3 2 win against Brighton ' If you love football , you love Tomas Rosicky , ' Wenger gleamed after the 3 2 victory . Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott returned for the Gunners , but were dictated by the midfield maestro on the South Coast . Rosicky is an odd footballing creature , someone who can go missing when he ' s not found his rhythm , someone who is more likely to put in the performance of the season than nail down a position in the starting . In fact , he looked set for a January departure before injuries played their part in north London . Rosicky celebrates his goal while Aaron Ramsey ( centre ) rushes over to congratulate him Former Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale dived too late to keep out Rosicky ' s perfectly executed strike ' The lack of match practice has been absolutely terrible and , naturally , it makes me very sorry that I haven ' t been given a chance yet , ' Rosicky said back in September . A limp outing in his first start of the campaign against Southampton in the Capital One Cup did nothing for him , and even had some sections of the Emirates Stadium crowd booing . This was not the Rosicky they knew and loved . But Rosicky is always a man Wenger rates so highly , and is perhaps his most trusted member of the first team squad . Year in , year out , he comes into form when Arsenal need him most , from December to May . The French boss has always been firm with players aged 30 or older when it comes to new deals in the past , but not with Rosicky , who has signed on in March in two of the last three seasons . He will get a testimonial next year if he opts for a contract extension at the club . Rosicky ( left ) , despite his inconsistent form , is rated very highly by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger At Manchester City , when Santi Cazorla ran the show , faith was placed in Rosicky to come on for Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and steer the ship home . His knowledge of where to run with the ball when defending a lead , and when to bring out the flicks and tricks , is all so important . He mixes the experience of a 34 year old with the exuberance of a young teen trying to make a point . You might say it ' s the perfect combination . Rosicky has had to change his game over the years . A career threatening injury back in 2008 kept him out of action for almost two years . He insists his ' football age ' is 32 because of it , while some call him Peter Pan . Before that hamstring problem , the playmaker was one of the few in the Arsenal squad who seemed keen to pull the trigger , with a ferocious shot from a short back lift . Rosicky ( left ) was a calming influence from the bench as he helped Arsenal close out a 2 0 against City Now , his burst of pace from midfield is more evident , his selflessness and weight of pass usually to perfection . At Brighton , we got to see all sides to his game . The ball through to Ozil for the Gunner ' s second goal of the game was effortless , the no look pass and subsequent volley past goalkeeper David Stockdale sublime . Rosicky earned his ' Little Mozart ' name back in Germany with Borussia Dortmund , but the nickname has never been more suitable than for the man we see today . The game Wenger tries to play is all about finding angles and avenues in and around the opposition midfield . Different trajectories and speed of pass is ' the Arsenal way ' . In Rosicky , he has a player that will always look for the forward pass , finding miniscule gaps to thread balls through , eager for one twos and runs beyond the defence should they be needed . Rosicky earned his ' Little Mozart ' nickname during his younger days with Borussia Dortmund The midfielder has come through a difficult era with Arsenal , often a barren one , to become the player he is today , an intelligent technician to compliment the likes of Cazorla . The duo , best friends off the pitch , have both been praised in recent weeks , and Ozil , Walcott and Aaron Ramsey will struggle to oust them from the side on current form . However , Rosicky for one will know the time will come this season when he plays second fiddle once again . Not usually one for the limelight , more one for the highlight reel , there aren ' t many left like the Czech Republic captain . We should appreciate this conductor while we still can . The likes of Mesut Ozi ( left ) and Theo Walcott will struggle to oust the in form Rosicky ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2652896,2897,"Celebrity chef Bill Granger is selling his spacious Californian style bungalow for an estimated 3 . 3 million because its time to upsize , less than a month after he opened a brand new beachside restaurant nearby . The self taught cook and his wife Natalie Elliott bought the house , situated in walking distance from Bronte beach in Sydney , in April 2008 for 2 . 88 million . His new restaurant , Bills Bondi , opened down the road in September twenty one years after he opened his first restaurant in Darlinghurst at the age of 22 . An advert for the house boasts that it is ' privately positioned amid established gardens ' and has ocean views . Celebrity chef Bill Granger ' s house in Bronte , east Sydney , is up for sale less than a month after he opened a brand new beachside restaurant nearby The beach side home is expected to reach 3 . 3 million when it goes to auction on November 1 The four bedroom home goes up for auction on November 1 with Goodyear Real Estate . Granger met his wife Natalie through one of his employees while she was working as a film producer . She now helps manage his business and they have three daughters together , named Edie , Ines and Bunny . The family are currently based in London but plan to move back to Sydney permanently to a bigger house in the eastern suburbs , Property Observer reports . Granger ( left ) bought the house in 2008 . It is situated amid established gardens on a 590sqm block The two level Californian bungalow is set on one of Bronte ' s most prized family streets and the kitchen has no doubt seen Granger cook up some tasty meals The dining area is casual and relaxed with plenty of natural light . The self taught cook opened his first restaurant at the age of 22 in Sydney ' s Darlinghurst Granger , his wife , and three daughters are currently based in London but plan to move back to Sydney permanently Inside of their Bronte house , the modern white interiors are complimented by a wealth of original period features , including ornate ceilings . The casual kitchen , where Granger has no doubt cooked up many delicious meals , looks out on to the garden . After Bills restaurant opened in Bondi , on the website for his restaurant chain , the 45 year old said : ' It ' s hard to believe that we ' re only just opening in Bondi in 2014 . ' Bondi beach and Bills go together like surfers and boardshorts , limes and mojitos , and hotcakes and honeycomb butter ? We can ' t wait to welcome you into our newest urban beach house , at the very sunny heart of the fabulous city where it all began . ' The house has well maintained gardens and is a ' short walk to the sand , surf buzzing beachfront caf s ' Granger boasts an international portfolio of businesses now . He has four restaurants in Japan , a couple in London , one in Hawaii and another planned for Seoul In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in September , Granger explained that Bondi was where he wanted to open his first Bills but he was ' too young ' . ' Bondi felt really right . When the lease was up on Woollahra , the opportunity to do Bondi came up and I thought , "" ohhhh that sounds quite exciting "" . ' ' Bondi has a great new energy about it . It ' s a lovely mixed up crowd too which I really enjoy , ' he said . Granger moved from Melbourne to Sydney in the late 1980s and worked at the now closed La Passion De Fruit in Surry Hills as a waiter while he studied art . Granger has been proudly posting pictures from his new Bondi restaurant ( centre , right ) and swims at Bondi Icebergs swimming club ( left ) since being back in Sydney His passion for food grew and in 1993 , he opened a restaurant his first ' Bills ' restaurant in Sydney ' s Darlinghurst . Next came Bills Surry Hills , then Bills Woollahra and in 2008 , he opened the first Bills restaurant outside Australia in Japan . He now has four restaurants in Japan , a couple in London , one in Hawaii and another planned for Seoul . His huge international business expansion came at the same time he was making a name for himself on with cooking shows that were screened around the world . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2662920,2921,"England It is still remembered as one of the worst days in the history of modern sailing . The Fastnet race still remains one of the biggest events in the yachting calendar . Yet the Fastnet tragedy of 1979 in which 15 people were killed and ex British leader Edward Heath went missing helped to usher in a new era of improved safety in the sport . It was 30 years ago today that a freak storm struck over 300 vessels competing in the 600 mile yacht race between England and Ireland . Mountainous seas and vicious high winds sunk or put out of action 25 boats . The British rescue attempt turned into an international effort with a Dutch warship and trawlers from France also joining the search . In spite of the biggest rescue operation launched by the authorities since the Second World War a total of 15 people died . Some of them drowned and others succumbed to hypothermia . Six of those lost went missing after their safety harnesses broke . "" Most people in the sailing community at the time knew someone who was involved in one way or another . I had a friend who lost his father . It was devastating . "" Witt said that in the aftermath of the disaster the rules governing racing were tightened to ensure boats carried more ballast . Improvements were also made to the safety harnesses that tied crewmen to their boats , many of which proved ineffective in the tragedy . It also became mandatory for all yachts to be fitted with radio communication equipment and all competitors were expected to hold sailing qualifications to take part . At the time of the tragedy the Fastnet race was the last in a series of five races which made up the Admiral ' s Cup competition , the world championship of yacht racing . Competitors from around the globe attempted the route which sets off from the Isle of Wight , off the English south coast , and rounds the Fastnet rock on the southeast coast of Ireland . Roger Ware was in charge of handling press for the event on behalf of the organizers , the Royal Ocean Racing Club . Ware said that even today the tragedy "" still spooks me . "" The racers set off on a Saturday but it wasn ' t till three days later that the authorities in the English coastal town of Plymouth realized there was a problem . The press team was based at the Duke of Cornwall hotel in Plymouth and early Tuesday morning Ware got a call from his superiors to go to the hotel immediately in order to field calls from journalists . Ware said the worst part for him was fielding calls from concerned relatives . "" The Royal Ocean Racing Club headquarters was overloaded so calls were getting transferred to the press team . "" I found myself talking to a woman whose husband I knew was in one of the boats where there ' d been fatalities . I couldn ' t give her the information she wanted and to this day I still think about that telephone call . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2672932,2933,"It was intended as a piece of comedy , but it ' s turned into a drama . A young American living in the United Arab Emirates has been imprisoned since April , his family says , for posting what was intended to be a funny video on the Internet . Now , the family of Shezanne "" Shez "" Cassim wants to bring attention to his case ahead of a hearing December 16 . The video in question is a 19 minute short that pokes fun at a clique of Dubai teens who are influenced by hip hop culture . In the 1990s , the label "" Satwa G "" was coined for a group of suburban teens who were known to talk tougher than they really were . The video depicts a look at a "" combat school "" in the suburb of Satwa , where these "" gangsters "" are trained . The training includes how to throw sandals at targets , using clothing accessories as whips , and how to call on the phone for backup . Cassim ' s family says Shez , 29 , has been charged with endangering national security , but they ' ve not been told what about the video endangered security . "" It ' s just a straightforward silly comedy video . And he ' s being treated like some sort of dangerous criminal , high security criminal that they need to keep under maximum security conditions , "" Shervon Cassim told about his brother . Cassim , from Woodbury , Minnesota , moved to Dubai in 2006 after graduating college to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers . Dubai lands Middle East ' s first World Expo He and some friends made and posted the video online in 2012 . He was arrested in April 2013 . According to the family , Cassim and eight friends have been charged under a cybercrimes law for endangering public order . This law , the family says , wasn ' t passed until after the video had been released . Two attempts by Cassim ' s lawyers to get him released on bail have been rejected . The U . S . State Department is providing consular services to Cassim , a department official said , and has attended all his court hearings . "" The U . S . Embassy and Consulate General have engaged with counterparts to urge a fair and expedient trial and judgment , "" the official said . The Satwa G ' s , the family said in a statement , were known as wanna be gangsters , and that ' s how Cassim portrayed them . "" These ' gangstas ' were known for their decidedly mild behavior and were seen as the total opposite of actual criminals , "" the statement said . "" The fictional training depicted in the video teaches techniques that include the best way to throw a sandal at a newspaper ( target ) and , ultimately , how to use the mobile phone when in trouble . "" At the last hearing , the judge in the case asked for an Arabic translation of the video , giving the family some hope that the authorities will realize that it was a parody . "" I just want my son home for Christmas , "" said Cassim ' s mother , Jean Cassim , in a statement . "" He ' s a good young man with a great career and has never been in trouble . Now he ' s being held for no reason . I ' ve been praying , going to mass and lighting candles , and that ' s what I ' m going to keep doing . "" An average of about 2 , 500 Americans are jailed abroad every year , and about a third of those arrests are related to illegal drugs , the U . S . State Department says . "" In 2010 alone , consular officers conducted more than 9 , 500 prison visits , and assisted more than 3 , 500 Americans who were arrested abroad , "" the State Department ' s website says . Advice for U . S . citizens traveling abroad U . S . travelers in foreign countries are subject to the laws of those countries , and there ' s a limit to how much help they can get from the U . S . Embassy or Consulate there . U . S . diplomatic corps officials "" cannot represent you in legal proceedings or pay your legal fees or other expenses . But they can perform many vital services such as providing a list of attorneys , assisting in contacting your family , helping your family to send money , and monitoring your health and welfare , "" the State Department says . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2682936,2937,"Print Of all the weeks to turn in a late Follies post from your Football Commentary Service. We’ve already had two outcomes for our Inner Circle (more below, in case you’re still in suspense). But we’re also in a position to ask the eternal question: if Cal and play and no one pays attention, did anything happen? (FWIW, won, 45-24. Another Storied Rivalry settled for 2016. Cal ballcaps back in the closet, folks.) Next week: rankings to lampoon. Tennessee whupped up on Jacksonville Thursday night in the pros. As nature seems to have intended this year. Get a defense, Jags. Inner circle The University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-2), which beat Notre Dame 28-27 on 30 October 2010, will be at Memphis Saturday for an American West showdown. The Tigers are giving 6.5, but we think has a better shot than that. Should be a good game. Oklahoma, holding steady at #16, hosts Kansas (motto: “What difference, at this point, does it make?”) on Saturday evening, while laying a ridiculous 40.5. Has the betting fraternity been held in isolation for the last six weeks? Kansas isn’t nearly as bad as they were a year ago, and Oklahoma’s defense couldn’t stop a gum-wrapper chain if it were barreling down the field. Anything could happen, but this is just the sort of situation where Oklahoma ends up struggling in the final 2 minutes to stay on top of a 3-point lead. We’ll believe 40 when we see it. Oklahoma State gets to host #10 West Virginia, pride of the Big 12, in Stillwater early Saturday. As befits a ranked visitor facing a Gundy squad, the Mountaineers are giving, but not a lot – 3.5. That said, could well find a way to rattle Cowboy Mason Rudolph. Game by game, the Mountaineers have tended to be a one-trick pony on defense this year, but they keep finding the right trick to get the job done. New #22 Navy will be squaring off with South Florida at Ray-Jay in Tampa by the time this goes to post. The 6-2 Bulls top the American East at the moment, while 5-1 Navy leads the American West, so there will be a lot of talk about a conference-champ preview. The Bulls scored 35 on Florida State in a wild early-season loss, but just took a bad dive last game against Temple. They’re favored by 6, but Navy’s likely to cover. (Umm. Well, any minute now, Navy’s going to start getting in the same hemisphere as “covering.” Good grief, Navy’s secondary just can’t keep up with these guys.) Army will be in Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest Saturday, on the short end of 7. Wake could more than cover, but Army took a drubbing from North Texas last week, and will be out for blood. Key week to see if this year’s Black Knights are for real. Air Force , also coming off a painful loss to Hawaii, heads to Fresno State Friday evening for the late game. Falcons give 14.5. We think the Bulldogs will cover. Virginia Tech , back at #25 (for now), knocked off Pitt 39-36 in a rock-‘em-sock-‘em slugfest last night in Pittsburgh. Hard-fought battle with major yardage on both sides, but some intermittently impressive defense poking through as well. See what you can do, Hokies, when you don’t eat yourselves alive with penalties and turnovers? Nevada , we’re happy to say, has the week off. New #19 is off this week as well, preparing for the rivalry bout with Alabama next week. For all you offense fans out there, hosts Texas Tech on Saturday. We, personally, are going to be extremely disappointed if the combined total points clock in anywhere south of 130. Toads give 9.5. Kansas State is off to Iowa State to see what the Wildcats can do with the 1-6 Cyclones’ bad habit of losing. K-State is 4-3 and a solid shot for a bowl bid – but, still facing OK-State, Baylor, rival KU, and down the stretch, they really want to add to the “W” column this weekend. Toledo is our other Thursday night winner, because we just know they had a Great Learning Experience coming in second to Ohio last night (31-26, for those with a thirst for data). Apparently it’s been quite a while since the Bobcats won in Toledo. Seemed to be all anybody could talk about. Rockets go to 6-2; their biggest conference game at division-leader (and #20) Western Michigan will be Thanksgiving week, and when they win that one, they may just get another crack at Ohio for the crown. Wyoming hosts #13 Boise State, and it’s a measure of the Cowboys’ improved performance this year that the Broncos are only laying 13.5. It wouldn’t surprise us, exactly, for the Pokes to cover. Top 10 #1 Alabama is off, preparing as any sensible team would to meet LSU. New #2 Michigan heads to East Lansing for something they’ve been wanting to do since 2012: win the Paul Bunyan Trophy back from Michigan State. This is the year they can do it. The Wolverines give 24 at the moment. The 2-5 Spartans will play them tough, of course, but we’re figuring on Blue from out here in the cheap seats. And who cares if the trophy looks like a manly man’s Hummel figurine? There’s nothing foofy about, you know, collecting. In default of better options, Clemson is cycling back through #3, and takes on #12 in Tallahassee, in the marquee slot on Saturday evening. Tigers give only 4, even though the ‘Noles haven’t been all that, recently. The one and only Paul Bunyan Trophy, in play once more. (Image: Wikipedia) New #4 Washington is at #17 Utah, giving 11. New #5 Louisville heads to Charlottesville with a gift of 33 for hapless Virginia. New #6 Ohio State, which owes us all an apology for upsetting the top 10 in this incontinent way, hosts Northwestern, giving 27.5. New #7 Nebraska will be at #11 Wisconsin, facing the real probability of losing top 10 standing in their Storied Rivalry game, not to mention the Freedom Trophy. Which may be Just A Trophy, but is discreetly attractive at least. Badgers give 9.5. Why they fight. (Image: Athletic Communications via Fox Sports) New #8 Baylor is at Texas, giving 3.5, and better watch its six. #9 Texas A&M hosts New Mexico State, which makes for a meeting of Aggies but doesn’t seem to have a lot of other merits. A&M is laying 43.5. Best of the rest We can’t vouch in advance for the football, but it’s always an exciting weekend when Florida (#14) and Georgia meet in their Storied Rivalry to fight for the Okefenokee Oar. #15 Auburn at Ole Miss might be kind of interesting. Miami at Notre Dame holds possibilities, featuring a tight 1.5-point spread (Arsh) and the usual primo slot on the Notre Dame Broadcasting Channel. The Okefenokee Oar’s glamour shot from its Facebook page. Other ranks In FCS, McNeese State hosts Abilene Christian for the Cowboy Homecoming on Saturday evening. Abilene Christian is 1-7 and sucks royally, but they are coming off their one win (over Incarnate Word), and McNeese has whiffed on some softballs this season. But Go Pokes! 70s and clear for the 6 game start. In Div II, Slippery Rock (5-3) heads to Clarion to take on rival Clarion U. on Saturday. The Eagles are 2-6 and have already had their obligatory losses to ranked powerhouses California U. (PA) and IUP. We don’t want to say it’s cake for Clarion from here on, but we do suspect may be a tad more motivated. Little Clarion P-A (pop. 5,000) is northeast of Pittsburgh (and Slippery Rock), and just southwest of the Allegheny National Forest, where it will be in the 60s and clouding up something fierce for the noon kickoff. In Div III, Rose-Hulman , The Bomb, is now 6-2 and perched atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference after the epic win over Franklin. The Fightin’ Engineers host Bluffton U. (OH) in Terre Haute on Saturday, in a game that could be a showstopper. The Beavers come in 6-1 (4-1 conference), and although they lost to Franklin, they beat RHIT’s archrival Mt. St. Joe in September. Fight hard, Engineers. 70s and overcast for the 1:30 kickoff. Christopher Newport , now 5-2 after the owwie at Frostburg State, could do itself some major good hosting Salisbury U. (MD) for Homecoming Saturday night. Salisbury (6-1) is second in the NJAC, behind Frostburg, but also ranked #17 in the Coaches’ Poll. See how easy? Vault Salisbury and Wesley (which beat a few weeks ago) in the NJAC, and maybe surge back into the top 25. Well, it’s a goal. Topping out at 70, with clear skies, for the 4 game start. Merchant Marine has the week off. Pros Our Redskins lead us off Sunday morning, playing Cincinnati at the ungodly hour of 6:30 because they’ll be at Wembley Stadium in London. Bengals give 3. New Orleans hosts Seattle (-2.5) in the (godlier) early slot. San Diego and Denver are going to get right back on that horse in Sports Authority at Mile High, and we’d like to see the Broncos do something with their 4-point give this time. They did wallop the Texans, for what that’s worth. Dallas has a big one coming up Sunday night, hosting Philly in Arlington. The 5-point Cowboy advantage isn’t completely unjustifiable. Steelers have the week off. Monday night gives us Minnesota (-4.5) at Chicago.",fake,news,test,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past2692952,2953,"According to the "" Guinness Book of World Records , "" Sherlock Holmes is the most popular role in the movies . So if Robert Downey Jr . hardly seems like the iconic Sherlock ( he ' s too short and muscular , and strains to suggest the intellectual arrogance that comes so easily to the English ) , he can take his place alongside such oddball castings as Buster Keaton , Charlton Heston and George C . Scott . And he ' s ideally suited to director Guy Ritchie ' s purpose , which is not to dust off your grandfather ' s Conan Doyle , but to juice today ' s kids with a quirky 19th century super sleuth . What ' s fun about these movies is that the equation works both ways . Yes , this Holmes is more likely to get physical than his predecessors , he ' s even a bit of a boor , but he ' s still a more cerebral action hero than we find in most blockbusters , and the period trappings ( a seamless blend of and location work ) help this franchise stand out from the crowd of comic book adaptations . Ritchie and husband and wife screenwriters Kieran and Michele Mulroney ( "" Paper Man "" ) map out a fast moving if ridiculously digressive Victorian adventure that crisscrosses Europe by horseless carriage , train , boat , and , in Sherlock ' s case , pony . Just down the road from 221 Baker Street they ' re digging a tunnel for what will become the London Underground . The Industrial Age is beginning to stretch its muscles , while a series of terrorist atrocities are gnawing at the fragile understanding between the great European powers . Holmes detects something other than social unrest behind the bombings : an evil master plan leading inexorably to his nemesis , Professor Moriarty ( Jared Harris ) . There are big themes there , but the movie doesn ' t take itself remotely seriously . This is a rambunctious romp , even brazenly camp when it ' s poking fun at the always intriguing Holmes Watson relationship . Sometimes it seems like the real motivation behind Moriarty ' s scheme is not to plunge Europe into war so much as to prevent the doctor from consummating his marriage and reunite him with his former roommate , which is where he rightfully belongs . Nothing if not versatile , Downey dons myriad disguises through the course of the movie ( he even impersonates a bookcase ) , and he does a long , very funny turn in drag . Jude Law is Hardy to his Laurel , always piqued , but somehow affectionate in his aggravation . And Ritchie has the good instincts to let their byplay run the show . They make such a splendid comic double act , there ' s not much more than a look in for the fairer sex . Sherlock ' s main squeeze , Rachel McAdams ' Irene Adler , scarcely makes it to the opening titles . Watson ' s intended , Kelly Reilly , fares a little better , but her most memorable scene comes when the great detective rudely shoves her out of a moving train . As for Noomi Rapace , the original "" Girl with a Dragon Tattoo , "" at least she comes along for the ride as a gypsy soothsayer with anarchist tendencies , but the screenwriters ' appear to forget about her existence whenever things start to get exciting . No matter . The movie has more than its share of good gags , and if Ritchie ' s tic y histrionics with the camera are starting to flag ( I think we ' ve seen the pre rehearsed fisticuffs more than enough now , thanks ) , he ' s a dab hand in the editing suite . Playful and polished , "" Game of Shadows "" is at least as much fun as its predecessor . "" Who taught you to dance ? "" asks Sherlock , as he waltzes the good doctor through another deadly scrape . "" You did , "" comes the inevitable reply . They make a lovely couple . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2702969,2970,"Everton boss Roberto Martinez feels the way his side now react to suffering their first back to back Barclays Premier League losses this season will be vital to how their campaign pans out overall . After being beaten 3 0 at Southampton last Saturday and then 1 0 at home by Stoke on Boxing Day , the Toffees who came fifth last term and had been targeting the Champions League places this time around are 12th in the table , 11 points off the top four . They have only won one of their last six league games , with four of those ending in defeat , and struggled to create much going forward in what was a physical encounter with the Potters . Roberto Martinez has demanding a reaction from his players after back to back defeats Everton lost 1 0 at home to Stoke City on Boxing Day thanks to a Bojan penalty at Goodison Park Martinez ' s men are next in action on Sunday at Newcastle , another outfit who will be keen to make the most of the opportunity to boost their points tally following a sequence of disappointing results . And ahead of the trip to St James ' Park , the Spaniard said : ' I don ' t think in general we are lacking confidence , but I think this is a moment of the season that is pivotal for us seeing how we can react . ' The reaction now has to be that we make sure we know what we are doing . We have a real understanding of how to perform and if we can keep that , the results will come . ' But football gives you these sorts of challenges , and this is the challenge of the season . We need to make sure we get through this period stronger than ever , and that could really give us a very strong second half of the season . ' Martinez admits Everton have not been ' in a great moment ' of late , but was keen to stress that against Stoke in particular ' nothing that could have gone our way did go in our favour . ' He was critical of referee Lee Mason ' s decisions to only yellow card apparent last man Jonathan Walters for pulling back Leighton Baines in the first half and then award a penalty to the visitors moments later , having adjudged James McCarthy to have fouled Bojan Krkic , who converted the spot kick himself . Jonathan Walters was only booked for pulling back Leighton Baines in the first half Bojan won Stoke ' s decisive penalty after he was fouled by James McCarthy ( left ) Everton midfielder Gareth Barry was also surprised Walters was not red carded . Barry , quoted by the Liverpool Echo , said : ' To me , at the time , it looked as though he ( Baines ) was going through clear on goal . ' Leighton was making the forward movement and travelling a lot quicker than anybody else . He ( Walters ) was the last man so I expected the red . ' With regard to his side ' s inability to make real inroads against Stoke , Martinez suggested an ' accumulation ' of things had made life difficult for the hosts . In what seemed a slightly backhanded compliment to the Potters , he said : ' What Stoke wanted to do helped them . They did really well coming here and trying to stop the play , making it difficult to be an open game . ' I think they defended really well , but I don ' t think we have seen a good spectacle because I don ' t think that was the intention of the opposition . ' Martinez added : ' Also , we have very good , talented young players but they need a bit of direction and I did feel we missed that leadership from Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka in the second half . That was frustrating . ' Gareth Barry ( right ) became the first player to reach 100 bookings in the Premier League TimHoward had to come off at half time after injuring his calf during the opening 45 minutes Phil Jagielka ( centre ) winces in pain after going over on his ankle following a collision with Walters Goalkeeper Howard and skipper Jagielka were forced off at half time due to calf and ankle problems respectively and look likely to miss the Newcastle game . Additionally , Jagielka ' s fellow centre back John Stones and winger Kevin Mirallas are doubtful due to knocks they picked up in the Boxing Day match . The fixture also saw forward Steven Naismith receive a fifth Premier League booking of the season , meaning he will be suspended for Sunday ' s encounter . Newcastle , who are 10th , head into that game off the back of three straight league defeats . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2712988,2989,"In case you were unaware, Sean Spicer has spent much of the week attempting to justify his claim that Adolf Hitler wasn t as bad of a guy as everyone says because he drove people to concentration camps sorry, Holocaust centers rather than just gas them in town like Assad does. We didn t use chemical weapons in World War II, Spicer, apparently under the impression that Passover needed a little bit of Holocaust denial from the White House press secretary, said Tuesday. You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn t even sink to using chemical weapons. I think when you come to sarin gas, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing, Spicer later said in an attempt to clarify his remarks, forgetting about all those gas chambers in what he calls Holocaust centers (or, of course, the mobile execution vans). Spicer continued to apologize throughout the week, but for some inexplicable reason found himself unable to undo the damage he did when he decided that Hitler wasn t such a bad guy after all.Spicer s Hitler week had all the makings of a perfect Saturday Night Live sketch, and Melissa McCarthy did not disappoint. Dressed as Spicer in his Easter Bunny costume (if you didn t know, he played the role of the egg-delivering Easter hero during the Bush years)McCarthy s Spicer admitted that he finally made a mistake with the Hitler gaffe. Everybody was like boo hoo, well what about the Holocaust centers?' Yeah, I know they re not really called Holocaust centers Duh, I know that. I m aware, Spicer added. I clearly meant to say, concentration clubs, ok? Let it drop. It would be really great if the nitpickers could try and see the big picture and didn t focus on every little slur and lie I say, Spicey said. That d be nice. We won t ruin any more of it for you. Watch it below:Featured image via screengrab",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past2722990,2991,"Tottenham are edging closer to agreeing a groundshare with Dons while work is carried out on their new stadium and are also considering the prospect of playing up to three Premier League games at Wembley . Spurs have held formal talks with the League One outfit about the possibility of fulfilling their 2017 18 season fixtures in Milton Keynes . The stadium is almost 50 miles away from White Hart Lane but has good road and rail links from London . Sportsmail understands discussions between club officials were positive as Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy moves nearer to securing a temporary home , when building work means they cannot play at their current ground . Tottenham are edging closer to agreeing a groundshare with Dons following positive talks with the club The north London club will need to move out of their current White Hart Lane stadium for the 2017 18 season Spurs will be moving 48 . 3 miles away but stadium : mk does have good road and railway links from London Spurs could also play three matches at Wembley Stadium with a maximum of 37 events allowed per year Tottenham and Dons wouldn ' t be the first to find reasonable success with ground sharing . Fulham and : The west London clubs shared Loftus Road for two season between 2002 and 2004 while Craven Cottage was being redeveloped . Crystal Palace and Charlton Crystal Palace and Wimbledon : Crystal Palace shared Selhurst Park with Charlton between 1985 and 1991 before playing hosts to Wimbledon until their extinction in 2003 Milan and Inter : Both called the San Siro home since 1947 in a move that his little impact on the success of either club and the two Milan teams have acquired almost 100 major titles between them . West Ham made it clear they would not enter into negotiations with their rivals over the use of the Olympic Stadium , and backlash from supporters surrounding a move to Arsenal ' s Emirates Stadium would prove to be too great . Any deal struck with Wembley would be dependent on the limitations imposed by Brent Council , with a maximum of 37 events per year currently allowed . Tottenham would have to seek permission from the Premier League if they were to seal a contract with Dons and the national stadium but there are no rules preventing clubs from playing in two separate locations during a campaign . The club have confirmed they will move away from their current home for one season when work finally begins on their 56 , 000 capacity ground as part of the Northumberland Development Project . Christian Eriksen ( left ) and Erik Lamela ( right ) celebrate Eric Dier ' s goal against earlier this season White Hart Lane , which has a capacity of 36 , 000 , has been the Premier League side ' s home since 1899 Tottenham were impressed with the facilities during Dons ' victory against Manchester United in August Sportsmail ' s Chief Sports Writer gave his opinion on the proposed groundshare in September here Given stadium : mk holds 30 , 500 just six thousand fewer than White Hart Lane it would represent an agreeable arrangement for Tottenham . The venue will host a Rugby World Cup game next year and Spurs were impressed with the facilities during the televised Capital One Cup win against Manchester United in August . Levy still remains at loggerheads with a local business in north London Archway Sheet Metal Works over one piece of land on the site for the new stadium . If that is resolved , Tottenham can press ahead with plans to relocate to Milton Keynes . A Tottenham spokesman said : ' As we have said , we will not be commenting on speculation concerning any individual venues and continue to explore all options . ' Ticket prices rising more than cost of living ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present2732991,2992,"As Tracy Ocasio ' s 28th birthday came and went last week , her mother remained hopeful that she would soon get answers about the young Florida woman ' s disappearance nearly three months ago . Tracy Ocasio disappeared after watching a ball game with friends at an Orlando , Florida , sports bar . Police have a person of interest in custody on unrelated charges , but they still don ' t have the full story , said Detective Mark Olson of the Ocoee Police Department near Orlando . In honor of Ocasio ' s birthday , her family increased the reward for information on her disappearance to 20 , 000 . Elizabeth Ocasio said she last spoke with her daughter about 8 : 30 p . m . May 26 . Tracy Ocasio said she planned to come home that night after watching a televised basketball game with friends at the Florida Tap Room , a popular sports bar in Orlando . When Ocasio didn ' t come home that night , her mother said she assumed she ' d decided to stay at a friend ' s house . She often stayed with the friend when she was too tired to drive home . At 6 : 30 the next morning , Elizabeth Ocasio sent a text message to her daughter : "" Where are you ? "" She did not receive a response , she said , so she called her daughter ' s cell phone again two hours later . The phone rang a few times and then went to voice mail . She tried calling Ocasio several more times that day , and each time , the call went to voice mail . "" I was worried , but I still did not imagine that anything terrible could have happened , "" Elizabeth Ocasio said . Panic set in when she received a call from police on the afternoon of May 27 . They ' d found Tracy Ocasio ' s car in a rundown neighborhood three miles from the Ocasio home . The car was parked on private property , and the residents had called to have it towed . By 7 p . m . , Tracy Ocasio was officially reported missing and a county wide search was under way . It lasted for weeks . "" We searched bodies of water and heavily wooded areas , "" Olson said , "" and we continue to search based on tips we receive . "" The investigation led detectives to James Hataway , 28 , who is considered a person of interest because a Tap Room surveillance video shows him leaving the bar with Tracy Ocasio , Olson said . A spokesman said the Orange County Public Defender ' s Office would have no comment . Police questioned Hataway for 11 hours over two days . He told investigators that Ocasio had given him a ride home from the bar that night , Olson said . Hataway told police that he didn ' t see Ocasio after she dropped him off . His home was just 200 yards from where Ocasio ' s car was found , police said . During questioning , Hataway took a polygraph test , which police said showed some discrepancies , Olson said . Police brought bloodhounds to where Ocasio ' s car was found , but the dogs didn ' t hit on her scent , leading police to believe she wasn ' t the one who parked her car there . Police also say no forensic evidence was found to suggest Ocasio was injured or killed inside her car . Police are holding Hataway on unrelated charges at the Orange County Jail . He is charged with aggravated battery , robbery and false imprisonment stemming from an incident in neighboring Seminole County in August 2008 . A young woman said she gave him a ride home one night . She said he attacked her and tried to break her neck , but she fought back . She ' d reported the assault when it happened but only later were police able to identify Hataway as the alleged assailant . Hataway remains in custody on those charges with bail set at 250 , 000 . He has not pled . Shortly after his interrogation in the Ocasio case , the public defender ' s office took Hataway ' s case , and he stopped talking . Hataway has not been named a suspect and has not been charged in the Ocasio case . Police and family urge anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of the person responsible for Ocasio ' s disappearance to call the tip line at 1 800 423 . A 20 , 000 reward is offered . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2742994,2995,"In Egypt prominent liberals are now supporting a military backed government overseeing a resurgence of post Mubarak authoritarianism . Since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsy on July 3 , those few remaining true to basic principles have found themselves marginalized as the goals of the 2011 revolution are squandered by the military . Many of the self identified liberals who filled the streets of downtown Cairo on June 30 demanding Morsy ' s resignation justified their actions by pointing to a broken political system and the absence of democracy . In the eyes of protesters , Morsy used his electoral victory as a free pass to enforce an authoritarian style of government which denied its people basic human rights , supervised an increase in sectarian violence , and prioritized a regional Islamist agenda over the basic needs of the Egyptian people . Although these same "" liberals "" described their revolution as democracy in action , a considerable number of them have since supported the increasingly authoritarian decisions of the interim government which followed . The targets of these actions expand beyond the Muslim Brotherhood to a comprehensive swath of Egyptian society as journalists and activists are detained , satirical programs are canceled by private networks , and the constitutional drafting committee proposes laws meant to restrict freedom of expression and operation . Egypt ' s armed forces , the driving force behind these events , has simultaneously amended its oath to renounce loyalty to the elected president and sought after immunity for its top leaders . Egypt ' s liberals have responded to these moves with outward support on numerous occasions . Perhaps most disheartening is the explicit praise and backing coming from leaders of Egypt ' s National Salvation Front ( ) , a liberal left coalition formed in opposition to Morsy ' s authoritarian rule . Current leader and former Secretary General of the Arab league , Amr Moussa , presently chairs the same constitutional drafting committee unable to scale back military authority and secure basic civil liberties while Wafd party leader and stalwart El Sayyid el Badawi , recently stated that the will endorse General Abdel Fattah el Sisi ' s prospective presidential bid . Much of ' s leadership has also supported the interim government ' s violent dispersal of sit ins at Rabaa el Adawiyya and el Nahda , an event which claimed the lives of hundreds of Egyptians . More recently , the same supposed bedrock of Egyptian liberalism failed to condemn a court ruling that disbanded the Muslim Brotherhood and a constitutional provision granting the military immunity . On the surface , the predicament of liberals seems illogical . What would drive a high ranking , liberal public official to back such a flagrant disregard for civil liberties and transparent government ? The answer lies within the Egyptian electorate . Since January 2011 , liberals have failed to instill their values within the political ideology of Egypt ' s voters . : Egypt not on a ' proper path to democracy , ' suggests Egypt deputy In fact , since the revolution , more than two thirds of the votes across parliamentary elections , the constitutional referendum , and the presidential election have gone to representatives of political Islam . Former presidential candidates , Hamdeen Sabahi and Amr Moussa , who captured roughly 20 and 11 of the vote respectively , are now opting for a new strategy : "" If you can ' t beat them , ban them . "" The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies within political Islam cannot be beat fair and square so liberals are now opportunistically working with the military to efface them from Egyptian life . The result is a man made political landscape handcrafted to undemocratically meet the needs of the country ' s most powerful liberals . The events following June 30 have rendered Egypt an inoperable landscape for the few citizens pursuing the genuine aims of liberalism . The isolated voices of figures such as Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Hamzawy , who have spoken out against the interim government ' s authoritarian tactics have been shunned by their "" liberal "" brethren working in concert with the military ' s government . Consider ElBaradei , former interim vice president and director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency . A strong proponent of liberalism , ElBaradei expressed vehement disagreement with the interim government ' s plan to employ violence to crack down on Brotherhood protesters on August 14 . Remaining loyal to his principles , ElBaradei resigned from his position when the interim government moved forward with this decision . In the meantime , "" liberals "" backing the government harshly criticized ElBaradei while his own Constitution Party filed a lawsuit against him . On July 31 , Hamzawy , a prominent political scientist , former member of parliament , and head of the Egypt Freedom party thrashed his fellow "" liberals "" in Egypt ' s daily Al Shorouk for betraying their principles in support of the military . His article was met with strong criticism and personal attacks . When fabricated headlines told of a relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood and the United States , he responded to rumors on his Twitter account , warning that the current regime was working to silence pro democracy voices . We are now seeing a brand of liberalism in Egypt which does little to serve its own values and principles . Disenchanted onlookers and advocates of the goals of Egypt ' s 2011 revolution look on as so called liberals work with the military to supervise the resurgence of authoritarianism . An Egypt which serves the interests of Bread , Freedom , and Social Justice cannot exist without a pluralistic society participating in an inclusive democracy , the principles of which struggle to survive within the minds of a powerless minority . : Egypt ' s growing militant threat ? ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2752999,3000,"Reuters) - India s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to win an election in Prime Minister Narendra Modi s home state on Monday, the vote count showed, but with a reduced margin, which will be a boost for the opposition. A combined opposition led by the Congress party had mounted a tough challenge in the western state of Gujarat, hoping to weaken Modi in his home base by exploiting discontent over a lack of jobs and a national sales tax that hit business. The won more than 100 seats in the 182-member state assembly, projections by India Today, News18 and TimesNow showed. A party needs 92 seats to rule the state. Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, who formally took over as party president at the weekend, was set to win more than 70 seats, far better than it had done in the past. A relieved said Modi s popularity remained intact. There is no other leader close, said Shyam Jaju, party vice president. The mood in the headquarters in New Delhi and in Gujarat s main city Ahmedabad was initially tense as early trends showed a close fight. But later workers gathered to shout slogans and cheer victory. Modi s party was also ahead in Himachal Pradesh, the Himalayan state in the north also voting for a new state assembly. Modi faces a general election in 2019, but before then, the opposition aims to slow down Modi s momentum in state elections, with two more next year. Businesses across India have been struggling with the poor implementation of a goods and services tax that aims to harmonize an array of state and federal taxes but entangled them in cumbersome procedures. Modi s shock ban of high-value currency notes in November last year, as part of his fight against corruption, also disrupted small business that forms the bedrock of his support base. Indian stock markets opened weaker, with the 50-share index down almost 2 percent as early trends showed a close contest in Gujarat. But stocks reversed the losses later - the 50-share index was trading up 0.7 percent at 0455 GMT. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 64.32/33 to the dollar versus its previous close of 64.04. The rupee had dropped to a low of 64.74 in early trade. Almost all pre-vote and exit polls had predicted a comfortable victory, but the polls have often gone wrong in the past. To ensure his party s prospects, Modi addressed dozens of rallies during his campaign in Gujarat, performed rituals and even waved from a seaplane on his last day on the campaign trail. If they had lost Gujarat, the would have collapsed like a pack of cards, said Congress member Sharmistha Mukherjee. This is their citadel, they threw everything at it. In the Congress party office in Ahmedabad, posters of Rahul Gandhi were being pasted on the wall. Rahul Gandhi s hard work has paid off in the state and it proves that Modi s governance is not making anyone happy, said a Congress leader, Shaktisinh Gohil. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2763020,3021,"Barcelona players were put through their paces as they put the finishing touches to preparations for the Champions League quarter final clash with French giants . The first leg of the highly anticipated tie will take place at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday . Speaking to the club ' s official website , defender Adriano warned his team mates ahead of the game they must be at their absolute best if they are to overcome ' s star studded squad , which includes the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Thiago Silva and Lucas Moura . He said , ' We have to be alert throughout the match . If we make any mistakes , even small ones , they have excellent players that can break the game . ' Xavi Hernandez ( centre ) is challenged by Rafael ( left ) and Javier Mascherano ( right ) during training Barcelona players are put through their paces ahead of the Champions League quarter final with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen ( centre ) in action during the club ' s training session on Monday Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique watches over his players in training as they prepare to travel to Barca have already encountered twice during this year ' s Champions League campaign , as the two sides were drawn together in the group stage . The Catalans triumphed 3 1 on home soil at the Nou Camp , but were defeated 3 2 in their last trip to the French capital . Adriano conceded that ' this game will be tricky ' and said Barcelona must brace themselves for to ' come at us with a lot more intensity ' than they did earlier in the season . Claudio Bravo ( centre ) enjoys a joke with his team mates during the training session before facing The full back , who won 17 caps for Brazil between 2003 and 2013 , was also quizzed on the Brazilian players in ' s squad . Laurent Blanc ' s side boast five Brazil internationals in Silva , Lucas , Marquinhos , Maxwell and David Luiz . And Adriano was quick to heap praise on his fellow countrymen ' all of them are excellent players ' but noted Lucas in particular as the main threat for the opposition . ' Lucas we know is a dangerous player . In the games we ' ve seen him , he ' s a player who ' s very difficult to cover . ' Barcelona forward Lionel Messi controls the ball during the training session ahead of the game against Barcelona striker Neymar ( left ) in action during the training session at the Ciutat Esportiva on Monday ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present2773028,3029,"He ' s been taking daisies and a few pennies to a bench in Wisconsin every day for the past two years to honor his late wife . But after snow blanketed the walkway to the seating area in a Fond Du Lac park it looked as though Bud Caldwell , 82 , would have to stop his daily routine . That was until two kind strangers stepped in and decided to shovel the snow covered walkway . Love : Bud Caldwell , 82 , has been taking daisies and a few pennies to a bench in Wisconsin every day for years to honor his late wife Devotion : Caldwell bought and dedicated the bench to his late wife , Betty , after she died two years ago Marriage : Caldwell and his wife spent nearly 56 years together and he has found comfort in his daily routine since she passed away Jerrod Ebert and Joe Smaltz , two Fond Du Lac park employees said that they spotted the 82 year old sitting in his car staring at the bench because he could not get to it . And realizing that he was stranded , they decided to shovel the walkway and keep the path clear all through winter . The employees said that they did it so that the romantic could visit the spot he bought and dedicated to his late wife , Betty , after she died two years ago . Ebert said : ' We both commented that we just can ' t have this . We ' ve got to make sure he can get to his bench and talk to his wife . ' ' We did it only because of his love for his wife . He truly misses her . ' Caldwell and his wife spent nearly 56 years together and he has found comfort in his daily routine since she passed away . Help : Jerrod Ebert , left , and Joe Smaltz , right , two Fond Du Lac park employees decided to shovel the walkway and keep the path clear all through winter Thanks : Caldwell is truly grateful for the park employees gesture he said it was a ' nice thing for an old man ' He told 58 News : ' A lot of people might think it ' s a dumb thing . But I don ' t . ' In fact it is the best part of his day . ' Good morning dear , ' he says as he approaches her bench with her picture on it . And come rain or shine he makes sure that he is there to spend time remembering his dearly departed wife . The gifts that he leaves the daisies and the pennies are both tributes to songs the couple loved during their years together : ' Daisy a Day , ' and ' Pennies From Heaven . ' So , Caldwell is truly grateful for the park employees gesture . He said with pride : ' Two young men did such a nice thing for an old man . ' He then ends his daily trip by telling his wife : ' See you later munchkin ' and kisses the picture of Betty as he walks away . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2783030,3031,"Members of the Senate Finance Committee met Tuesday with treasury secretary nominee Tim Geithner over concerns involving his personal taxes and the immigration status of a former housekeeper , transition officials said . Timothy Geithner has been nominated for the post of treasury secretary in the Obama administration . The Geithners employed a housekeeper whose employment authorization document expired about three months before she stopped working for them in October 2005 , according to a written statement from the Senate Finance Committee . Later , the housekeeper , who is married to a U . S . citizen , was granted a green card , transition officials said . The second concern involves Geithner ' s taxes while he worked for the International Monetary Fund ( ) . According to a statement released by the committee , Geithner failed to pay self employment taxes while the paid him from 2001 to 2004 . In 2006 , the Internal Revenue Service audited Geithner for tax years 2003 and 2004 , and he paid 16 , 732 for the taxes and interest for those years , the statement said . After Obama nominated him for treasury secretary , Geithner voluntarily amended his taxes for 2001 and 2002 , paying 25 , 970 for those taxes and interest , the committee said . The presidential transition team told Finance Committee staff about Geithner ' s taxes early last month , the committee said . As an international organization , the does not withhold money from employees ' paychecks to pay Social Security and Medicare . U . S . employees are required to pay them on their own . Robert Gibbs , the incoming White House spokesman , called Geithner ' s tax issue a "" common mistake . "" "" The president elect chose Tim Geithner to be his treasury secretary because he ' s the right person to help lead our economic recovery during these challenging times , "" Gibbs said in a written statement . "" He ' s dedicated his career to our country and served with honor , intelligence and distinction . That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes , which , upon learning of them , he quickly addressed . "" The Finance Committee said it would continue to review Geithner ' s tax returns and other information ahead of a nomination hearing . "" When errors or issues of concern are discovered , transparency is vital to allow members of the committee and the entire Senate to fully review and assess the relevant information before hearings and votes occur , "" the committee said . "" I believe that these errors , although serious , do not rise to the level of disqualification . He is an extremely competent man , "" said committee Chairman Max Baucus , D Montana . "" The errors were , in my judgment , honest mistakes . He did not in any way intentionally make those mistakes . "" Sen . Charles Schumer , D New York , also said the mistakes were "" not at all disqualifying . "" "" Tim came to the committee , admitted he had made some mistakes , and was very contrite , "" he said . "" I continue to strongly support his nomination and given the tough economic conditions , hope we can confirm him as quickly as possible . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2793031,3032,"Los Angeles Authorities on Saturday identified a gunman killed by police after he opened fire at passing vehicles along a downtown street in Hollywood . But they said they don ' t know why Tyler Brehm , 26 , went on a surreal shooting rampage captured on amateur video Friday . The video shows Brehm walking down Sunset Boulevard , wielding a handgun and firing at vehicles , seemingly at random . Brehm fired a "" significant number "" of rounds , wounding three , police said . He then returned to an intersection , where he was confronted by a plainclothes police detective and an off duty police officer working on a nearby movie set , officials said . Brehm died at a nearby hospital , a police statement said . Christopher Johns filmed much of the five minute scene from his apartment window and can be heard shouting at Brehm throughout . "" Why don ' t you come up here ? "" he yelled , later describing that he intended to distract the gunman . "" I ' m screaming anything I can "" in an effort to disrupt the shooting , Johns said . At one point , Brehm spoke with Johns , asking him for ammunition and to call an ambulance . Fierro said it appeared Johns could interact with the suspect without jeopardizing his safety . "" It appears from the video that he was able to distract the suspect and keep him from shooting at additional people before the police arrived , "" she said . Police have contacted Brehm ' s family back east and are talking to acquaintances . Three people were injured during Friday ' s incident , including one man in silver Mercedes Benz sedan who was shot multiple times in the face and upper torso , Fierro said . Two others suffered minor injuries . The current status of the man in the car was unknown Saturday . "" We ' re very fortunate that more people weren ' t injured during this incident , "" Fierro said . Witnesses were stunned by the shooting rampage . Torgeson said vehicles began "" swerving and braking , "" and she sought cover at a nearby bank . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2803032,3033,"Email The day after Hillary Clinton testified in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi last October, John Podesta, the Democrat’s campaign chairman, met for dinner with a small group of well-connected friends, including Peter Kadzik, a top official at the Justice Department. The dinner arrangement, revealed in hacked Podesta emails released by Wikileaks, is just the latest example of an apparent conflict of interest between the Clinton campaign and the federal agency charged with investigating the former secretary of state’s email practices. Podesta and Kadzik, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, were in frequent contact, other emails show. In one email from January, Kadzik and Podesta, who were classmates at Georgetown Law School in the 1970s, discussed plans to celebrate Podesta’s birthday. And in another sent last May, Kadzik’s son emailed Podesta asking for a job on the Clinton campaign. The post-Benghazi dinner was attended by Podesta, Kadzik, superlobbyist Vincent Roberti and other well-placed Beltway fixtures. The exchanges are another example of the Clinton campaign’s “cozy relationship” with the Obama Justice Department, one former U.S. Attorney tells The Daily Caller.",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past2813036,3037,"president Sepp Blatter has admitted that he did know about alleged bribe payments made to former executives , but insists he didn ' t think they were illegal at the time . "" You can ' t judge the past on the basis of today ' s standards . Otherwise it would end up with moral justice . I can ' t have known about an offense that wasn ' t even one , "" he told the website of football ' s world governing body . A Swiss court has published its findings following an investigation into alleged illegal payments made by marketing partner International Sports and Leisure ( ) to former president Joao Havelange and former executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira . The report found that Havelange had received at least 1 . 5 million Swiss francs ( 1 . 53 million ) and Ricardo Teixeira was paid at least 12 . 4 million ( 12 . 64 million ) from marketing partner . Blatter was ' s general secretary at the time of the alleged irregularities , and in that role he co signed agreements with the marketing group . Blatter has confirmed that he is the "" P1 "" character investigators referred to in several key points of the report . The investigators specifically identified "" P1 "" as someone who knew about the illegal payments . "" It was confirmed by the former chief financial officer of . . . that a certain payment made to Joao Havelange by the Company 1 amounting to 1 million was mistakenly directly transferred to a account not only the had knowledge of this , but also , among others , P1 would also have known about it , "" the report stated . However , Blatter defended his involvement on the website in a move that shows the 76 year old is making some effort to keep the promises of greater transparency he made after being re elected in 2011 . "" Back then , such payments could even be deducted as a business expense , "" he said of ' s transactions , which were made between 1999 and the company ' s collapse in 2001 . "" Today , that would be punishable under law . "" However , one of ' s critics insists that Blatter should take more responsibility for the ruling body ' s actions . "" The president is trying to defend acts that would not be tolerated anywhere else . "" has been keen to point to its active involvement in the case , declaring on Wednesday in a response to the document ' s publication : "" The decision by the Federal Court is in line with what and the president have been advocating since 2011 , when world football ' s governing body announced its commitment to the publication of the non prosecution order . "" Blatter highlighted the formation of an Ethics Committee , an adjudicatory body and an investigatory body , and told the website that "" some important steps have already been taken . "" However , Larkin described as "" the least qualified people to investigate "" the allegations against it . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2823043,3044,"Kaka has seen a lot during his 14 year professional career . After making his debut for Sao Paulo as an 18 year old in 2001 and being snapped up by Milan just two years later , the Brazilian has been crowned the best player in the world , won league titles in two countries and conquered the Champions League with the Rossoneri . Here , Sportsmail takes a look at the highs and a few lows in his astonishing career . Kaka , pictured in action for Sao Paulo against Atletico Minero in December 2001 , made his debut for the club 10 months earlier Kaka tries to avoid a tackle from Ancona defender Andrea Sussi during his debut for Milan on September 1 , 2003 Kaka celebrates with his Milan team mates after sealing the Serie A title in 2004 with a 1 0 win against Roma at the San Siro Kaka steps up to score his penalty in the 2005 Champions League final against Liverpool but the Reds would emerge victorious Kaka scores as Brazil beat Argentina 4 1 in the final of the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany Kaka scores a stunning individual goal for Milan against Manchester United in the Champions League semi finals on April 24 , 2007 Kaka shows off an ' I belong to Jesus ' vest after Milan ' s Champions League final victory against Liverpool on May 23 , 2007 Kaka grins as he lifts the 2007 Ballon d ' Or trophy at an event in Paris on Decemeber 2 , 2007 , following a fine year for Milan Kaka proudly displays his World Player of the Year award at a gala ceremony in Zurich on December 17 , 2007 Kaka celebrates winning the 2009 Confederations Cup with Brazil and the Golden Ball award for being the top scorer Kaka smiles as he shows off his No 8 shirt during his official presentation at Real Madrid ' s Bernabeu stadium on June 30 , 2009 Kaka gets away from Deportivo ' s Angel Lafita at the Bernabeu during his La Liga debut for Real Madrid on August 29 , 2009 Kaka ( centre ) is sent off for Brazil during their game against Ivory Coast at the 2010 World Cup Kaka celebrates becoming the top Brazilian scorer in the Champions League with a goal against Ajax on December 4 , 2012 Kaka celebrates winning La Liga in 2012 with his Real team mates Xabi Alonso , Sergio Ramos , Esteban Granero , Marcelo and Jose Callejon Kaka shows off a specially made shirt to celebrate scoring his 100th goal for Milan against Atalanta on January 6 , 2014 Kaka s mobbed by fans as he is presented as s Sao Paulo player during a ceremony in Brazil on July 6 , 2014 Kaka celebrates a goal after returning to his boyhood club Sao Paulo on loan from Orlando City in November , 2014 Kaka leads out Orlando for their first ever game against fellow new franchise New YorK city earlier this month Kaka scores his first goal for Orlando City against New York City on March 8 ( left ) and runs off to celebrate at the Citrus Bowl ( right ) ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2833044,3045,"Reuters) - Indonesia s military said on Friday it was prepared to take tough measures against rebels who have threatened to destroy the mining operations of Freeport-McMoRan Inc in the eastern province of Papua in their independence struggle. Police say an armed separatist group linked to the Free Papua Movement (OPM) is preventing about 1,000 people in five villages from leaving an area near the giant Grasberg copper mine, operated by a unit of the Arizona-based company. A state of emergency has been declared and at least 300 additional security forces have been deployed to the area after a string of shootings since Aug. 17 killed one police officer and wounded six. The group, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), on Friday denied occupying villages near the mine. Hendrik Wanmang, a representative of TPN-OPM, said none of its more than 2,000 fighters was stationed in the villages. We cannot mingle with the community, Wanmang said in a telephone interview. That would endanger them. Wanmang also denied police allegations his group had carried out rape and torture of civilians, saying villagers were continuing to carry out activities as usual . But he warned that Freeport employees and security personnel remained in the area at their own risk. We are at war against the National Police, Indonesian military and Freeport, he said. (TPN-OPM) will continue to fight until the root of this problem - Freeport - is removed, Wanmang said. A Freeport Indonesia spokesman declined to comment. Papua Police spokesman Suryadi Diaz said the situation in the villages near the town of Tembagapura was conducive and the community was functioning as usual . They aren t hostage, but if you want to get to these villages you have to get past this armed criminal group, Diaz said, referring to the OPM. Police were taking persuasive steps to resolve the conflict through negotiations and dialogue with community, religious and tribal leaders, he said. Authorities made conflicting statements about the situation. Indonesian military chief Gatot Nurmayanto said the group had taken hostages in the villages and the army would take a hard approach if necessary. Tough measures, including armed conflict, would be a last resort if negotiations with the group failed to resolve the issue, Papua military commander George Enaldus Supit said later, clarifying the statement. Wanmang said his group was not interested in negotiating. If the government wants to send millions of national police and Indonesian military troops to protect the Freeport area, go ahead - they are just trying to protect the deception. The Grasberg mine has been dogged by security concerns for decades, as pro-independence rebels have waged a low-level conflict in Papua. Between 2009 and 2015, shootings in the mine project area killed 20 people and wounded 59. More recently, Freeport, the world s largest publicly listed copper producer, has been grappling with labor problems at Grasberg and a mine rights dispute with Indonesia. The Freeport dispute is likely to overshadow efforts by President Joko Widodo s government to resolve conflict in Papua, the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict said. Any violence in the Freeport area can involve multiple actors with multiple interests, it said in a recent report. Even if the is blamed, Papuans will be asking who else was involved. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2843048,3049,"The fallout over U . S . Senate candidate Todd Akin ' s controversial comments on rape jolted Republicans nationally on Monday and threatened longer term consequences for them , potentially reviving the "" war on women "" debate and possibly hurting their campaign to win control of the Senate . Republican leaders let out a collective groan when Akin claimed in a television interview on Sunday that "" legitimate rape "" rarely resulted in pregnancy , saying that "" the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down . "" A social conservative congressman , Akin apologized repeatedly as the political uproar intensified and sought to clarify his remarks , saying he misspoke . Democrats skewered him nevertheless and many top Republicans called for Akin to reconsider his decision to stay in the Missouri race a week before they nominate Mitt Romney for president at their Tampa convention . Abortion moves front and center In an interview with the National Review Online , Romney said that Akin ' s comments on rape were "" insulting , inexcusable , and , frankly , wrong . "" But Democrats sensed a political opening to shift the conversation away from the sluggish economy , saying that Republicans led by Romney and his running mate , Paul Ryan , were pushing policies that were anti women . Jennifer Duffy , a senior editor at the Cook Political Report , said Akin potentially reignited the "" war on women "" rhetoric that factored prominently in the political debate earlier this year and for a time put Republicans on the defensive . "" It plays into this Democratic messaging that it is not a party friendly to women , "" Duffy said . "" As the top political story of the day it is going to be something that plays into the larger narrative that Democrats want in order to appeal to women voters . "" A Republican National Committee member who spoke candidly on the condition of anonymity said the issue is "" is not where ( Governor ) Romney and his ticket want to spend their time "" between now and Election Day . President Barack Obama handily won over women voters in the 2008 election and holds an edge with that key bloc in his race with Romney , polls show . A recent Gallup survey showed Obama with an 8 lead over his Republican rival among women . The "" war on women "" label stemmed in part from a fierce political fight in Washington this year over contraception coverage for employees of religiously affiliated institutions . Congress , in addition , waged a partisan fight over updates to the Violence Against Women Act . The Romney campaign has adopted a message that Democrats are the ones waging a "" war on women . "" For instance , Romney has accused the Obama ' s administration of failing working women . The potential longer term implications of the Akin controversy also were evident in Republican calls for him to withdraw from his Senate race where incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill has been trailing in the polls . Republicans were concerned the flare up would permanently harm their chances of upending McCaskill in November and push them closer to taking control of the Senate . Ron Bonjean , a veteran strategist for several congressional leaders and partner at the political communications firm Singer Bonjean Strategies , said Akin ' s comments were "" politically indefensible "" and "" virtually guarantees "" McCaskill would be re elected . Outside of Missouri , Republican Sen . Scott Brown , locked in a tough fight in Massachusetts , also called for Akin to step aside . Stuart Rothenberg editor of the Rothenberg Political Report , said he has been told by Republican strategists that Akin is now "" too radioactive . "" "" There is a lot of national pressure being put on Akin that he ' s not going to be able to raise Republican money and get the party behind him , "" Rothenberg said . Akin said he plans to remain in the race . Video of the Akin interview with Missouri television station was posted online by the liberal super American Bridge . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2853056,3057,"Warriors improve to 22 0 with blowout win against Nets Brooklyn took the lead early in the third , but Golden State responded to stay unbeaten . Warriors improve to 22 0 with blowout win against Nets Brooklyn took the lead early in the third , but Golden State responded to stay unbeaten . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1QpO3hr A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address . A link has been posted to your Facebook feed . To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Warriors improve to 22 0 with blowout win against Nets Howard Megdal , Special for Sports 5 : 05 p . m . December 7 , 2015 Sports ' Sam Amick breaks down 22 0 Golden State ' s matchup against 12 7 Indiana . Sports Stephen Curry scored game high 28 points for the unbeaten Warriors . ? The Beatles came to Barclays Center on Sunday night . For Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins , the opportunity to play a part in history ? specifically , ending the Golden State Warriors ' record undefeated start ? ? looked to him like an opportunity . "" Yeah , I do think about it , because I thought we should have beaten them out there , "" ? Hollins said before Sunday night ' s 114 98 loss . "" Of course you want to be a part of history , and upsetting somebody , and just shocking the world . That ' s what this business is all about . Going out there and making big noise . "" The Warriors , however , are no stranger to raising decibel levels . A largely pro Warriors crowd saw the putative road team race out to a 9 0 lead before the game was three minutes old , part of a 25 8 run to start the game . After one , it was 30 16 . "" I am sure that we pointed that out to our guys in the film session , that this team definitely believes they can beat us , "" ? Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said . "" And they got us last year , they almost ? got us this year . So that message is out there to the guys . "" So on a night when Stephen Curry missed his first three free throws ? shaking his head in disbelief shared by the entire arena ? the Warriors still managed to dominate early ? and put this one away quickly after the Nets battled back to take a third quarter lead . The Warriors were buoyed by a local crowd teeming with blue and gold jerseys adorned with ? Curry ' s name . The cheers that followed , both during introductions and every time he touched the ball , easily drowned out Nets partisans . Q A : Jerry Colangelo may have tough Olympic decision on Kobe Bryant "" Steph knows he ' s going to be on the court for most of the game , and he ' s going to have the ball in his hands for most of the game , "" ? Walton said when it was over . "" He can choose when he wants to get aggressive and take over , and when he wants to get his teammates involved . It ' s his job to decide out there , and he does a great job of judging both . "" Curry rewarded teammates and fans alike , whether with a backdoor cut and finish from a Draymond Green feed in the first , or shaking off his defender and punctuating the rising sound of the crowd with a teardrop finish in the second . He finished with 28 points on 11 of 17 shooting . Green had 22 and Klay Thompson had 21 . Eddie Johnson breaks down which of these two franchises has been the most dominant . The Nets , however , made a late run ? throwing Thaddeus Young as the second man in a two man trap of Curry on the perimeter ? and cut the Warriors ' lead to 57 54 at halftime , with Brook Lopez ' s turnaround giving the Nets a 58 57 lead early in the third quarter . It stayed tight throughout the third . But Curry , who shot an uncharacteristically low six times in the first half , scored on an acrobatic baseline jumper and pull up 3 on consecutive possessions to give the Warriors a 79 76 lead . Then came an alley oop to Festus Ezeli , and an old fashioned three point play he completed as fans chanted "" ! "" ? A 3 at the end of the quarter by Curry , and suddenly the Warriors led ? 87 80 . "" It was pretty purposeful , "" ? Curry said of his decision to take over . "" Just see if I could get some room ? and impact the game . And things started to click . "" From there , the Warriors ' bench salted it away , putting the Warriors ahead 106 89 by the 6 : 58 mark . The rout was on . History , at least for some Warriors opponent , would have to wait . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past2863072,3073,"Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will delay the release of tax legislation for a day as lawmakers try to overcome differences involving the treatment of retirement savings accounts and state and local taxes, sources said on Tuesday. Two sources knowledgeable about the discussions said the House Republican tax committee is still expected to begin deliberating on tax legislation at hearings set to start on Monday. The bill was initially expected on Wednesday, but the sources said it would be released on Thursday instead. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present2873078,3079,"Reuters) - China and Sri Lanka should focus on strengthening cooperation over key investment projects, Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday told his visiting counterpart from Sri Lanka, amid strong local opposition to some major Chinese-invested schemes. In July, Sri Lanka signed a long-delayed $1.1 billion deal to lease its southern Hambantota port to China, ignoring an appeal by opposition parties to debate the pact in parliament. The $1.5-billion port, close to the main shipping route from Asia to Europe and likely to play a key role in China s Belt and Road initiative, has been mired in controversy since a Chinese firm agreed to take an 80 percent stake in it. The pact signed last year sparked widespread public anger, as Chinese control of the port, which included a plan for a 99-year lease of 15,000 acres (23 sq miles) to develop an adjacent industrial zone, provoked fears it could be used by Chinese naval vessels. Meeting in Beijing, Wang told Tilak Marapana that the two countries should take this year s 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties as an opportunity, China s foreign ministry said in a statement. Both should emphasize strengthening traditional friendship and political mutual trust, major infrastructure projects, investment and trade to upgrade their relationship, Wang added. The short statement did not mention any specific projects. As one of the first countries to help in Sri Lanka s post-war reconstruction after the 2009 end of its 26-year civil war, China s ties with Sri Lanka have unnerved India, traditionally the island nation s most important partner. By 2014, Chinese navy submarines were also docking in Colombo, raising alarm in New Delhi and prompting a push by the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to claw back influence in the region. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2883080,3081,"Donald J. Trump explicitly acknowledged for the first time during Sunday’s debate that he used a $916 million loss that he reported on his 1995 income tax returns to avoid paying personal federal income taxes for years. Mr. Trump’s response — “Of course I do. Of course I do” — was the fullest the wealthy developer had provided since The New York Times reported that he had declared the loss, and that the tax deduction could have been large enough to allow him to avoid federal income taxes for up to 18 years. Previously he had declined to comment on the documents, issuing a statement that neither challenged nor confirmed the $916 million loss. Asked directly during the debate if he would say how many years he had avoided paying federal income taxes, Mr. Trump responded, “No. ” But at the same time, he asserted that he paid “hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes,” calling it a “simple” thing. “I pay tax, and I pay federal tax, too,” he said. Unless Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, releases his tax records, it is impossible to determine exactly how he has handled his taxes and what he has paid over the years. If he does not make his taxes public, he will be the first presidential candidate in four decades not to do so. Though the issue has been overshadowed in recent days by a recording of Mr. Trump’s lewd comments about women, his refusal to release his tax returns — and the possibility that he had not paid federal income taxes for years — has emerged as a central issue in the campaign. During the debate, Mr. Trump appeared to shed some light on his approach to taxes, saying that he knew more about the tax code than any other presidential candidate in history. “I have a . A lot of it is depreciation, which is a wonderful charge,” he said. “I love depreciation. ” But as Mr. Trump explained his own tax situation, he tried to make the case that his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was among those responsible for the tax code that enabled him to get benefits. “She has given it to us,” he said. Mr. Trump also went on to invoke Mrs. Clinton’s wealthy allies. “Many of her friends took bigger deductions,” he said. “Warren Buffett took a massive deduction. ” Mrs. Clinton, though, contended that Mr. Trump provided an example of what needed to change in the tax code — saying he was among the people who “paid zero in taxes, zero for our vets, zero for our military, zero for health and education. That is wrong. ” She proposed a tax on people who make more than $5 million, calling it the “Buffett rule. ” In Mr. Trump’s case, what is clear is that he derived remarkable tax benefits from the financial ruin he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his foray into the airline business and his purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. “Simply put, the organization is in dire financial straits,” New Jersey casino regulators concluded after reviewing his business balance sheet woes in 1990. The 1995 tax documents, which were anonymously mailed to a New York Times reporter, were the first page of a New York State resident income tax return, the first page of a New Jersey nonresident tax return and the first page of a Connecticut nonresident tax return. They did not include any pages from Mr. Trump’s 1995 federal return. Mr. Trump was correct when he said he benefited from a provision that had been used by other wealthy families. Known as net operating loss, it allows an array of deductions, business expenses, real estate depreciation, losses from the sale of business assets and even operating losses to flow from the balance sheets of those partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations onto the personal tax returns of people like Mr. Trump. In turn, those losses can be used to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income. With a $916 million net operating loss in 1995, Mr. Trump could have avoided paying more than $50 million a year in taxable income over 18 years. Mr. Trump appears to have embraced other elements of the tax code. In 1991, he lobbied federal lawmakers to relax tax rules that he claimed had strangled the real estate industry. And in less than two years, as part of a budget deal, Congress passed a set of provisions sought by developers that could have helped Mr. Trump avoid large tax bills linked to his enormous debt racked up by the early 1990s, while also allowing him to spin other real estate losses into valuable offsets on his future earnings in licensing, television and other ventures. One provision allowed real estate investors with highly leveraged properties to accept forgiveness of their bank loans without paying taxes on the money, in exchange for giving up other tax benefits. Another allowed them to apply some real estate losses against other kinds of income. While details of Mr. Trump’s income taxes and any deductions are scarce, limited details are contained in government filings that have been unearthed during his campaign. For example, Mr. Trump paid more than $71, 000 in federal income taxes on about $218, 000 of taxable income earned from 1975 to 1977, according to a 1981 report assessing his fitness for a casino license. During the next two years, 1978 and 1979, he paid no taxes, the report said. Mr. Trump also avoided paying any federal income taxes in 1984, tax court records show. With his Atlantic City casinos in financial trouble in 1991 and 1993, casino commission reports show that he claimed losses that would have allowed him to avoid paying income taxes in those years. Voters in recent polls have shown interest in Mr. Trump’s taxes. A York Times poll last month showed that 59 percent of respondents said it was necessary for him to release his tax returns. Mr. Trump has said he will not release his taxes while he is facing an audit from the Internal Revenue Service. “I pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, but, but as soon as my routine audit is finished I’ll release my returns,” he said. “I’ll be very proud to. ”",true,news,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2893088,3089,"Peyton Manning is a Super Bowl underdog for the first time in his career . Photo : Getty The Carolina Panthers began the season as longshots to win Super Bowl 50 , but they head into the biggest game of 2016 as decided favorites over the Denver Broncos . The betting line for the contest opened at 3 . 5 points at multiple Las Vegas casinos , and it quickly increased in Carolina s favor . As of Monday morning , Carolina is ? a four point favorite at some sportsbooks , while others have the Panthers favored by 4 . 5 points , according to vegasinsiderweblink . The Panthers moneyline is 180 , while the Broncos have 160 betting odds to pull off the upset and win outright . The over under is 45 points . Carolina wasn t favored to represent the in Super Bowl 50 when the playoffs began , but they ve looked dominant this postseason . After taking a 31 0 lead in their divisional playoff win ? over the Seattle Seahawks , the Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals by 34 points in the Championship Game . Denver was a home underdog in the Championship Game , but they managed to hold off the New England Patriots and reach the Super Bowl for a second time in three years . The Broncos weren t favored in the when the postseason began , despite being the No . 1 seed in the conference . Preseason Super Bowl Champ odds : 10 Broncos 10 1 ( only 5 teams with better odds ) 10 Panthers 60 1 ( only 9 teams with worse odds ) Being the Super Bowl favorite hasn t worked out well for teams in recent years . Last year s game was a pick em at most sportsbooks , though some casinos had ? the Seahawks ? favored by one point over the eventual champs . In the five Super Bowls prior , the underdog won outright every year . The Broncos find themselves in a very different position from the one they were in two years ago . Peyton Manning and Denver s high powered offense was favored to beat Seattle , who ended up winning by 35 points . This time around , the Broncos are decided underdogs as Manning appears to be in the twilight of his career . The Panthers made one previous Super Bowl appearance , losing to the Patriots by three points in 2004 as seven point underdogs . Led by candidate Cam Newton , the No . 1 scoring team in the regular season has 80 points in two playoff games . It is not expected to be a high scoring game ? as two of the league s best defensive teams go head to head at Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara , California , on Feb . 7 . Arizona had the No . 1 ranked offense in the regular season , but Carolina limited them to 15 points on Sunday while intercepting ? Carson Palmer four times . Denver ranked No . 1 in regular season defense , and they held Tom Brady and the Patriots to just 18 points as they advanced to Super Bowl 50 . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present2903093,3094,"New York A Bronx Supreme Court Judge dismissed on Wednesday the manslaughter indictment against New York Police Officer Richard Haste , who fatally shot an unarmed teenager in 2012 . Judge Steven Barrett threw out the case based on instructions given by the prosecution to the grand jury regarding communications among officers before the shooting , attorneys on both sides of the case confirmed . "" The whole defense against Officer Haste is , what his state of mind was prior to discharging his weapon one time , "" said Stuart London , Haste ' s attorney . The original indictment alleges that Haste acted "" recklessly "" and ultimately killed 18 year old Ramarley Graham while "" acting with intent to cause serious physical injury . . . by shooting him . "" "" Officer Haste ' s actions were formulated by information given by other officers at the scene who said the individual he was chasing was armed , "" London said . "" So his state of mind was , this person is dangerous . "" "" My ruling does not end this case , "" the judge added . After Barrett read his decision , Constance Malcolm , Graham ' s mother , yelled , "" He killed my child ! "" "" It cannot be said more forcefully that we disagree with the court , "" a statement issued by the Bronx District Attorney ' s Office said . The district attorney ' s office will now decide whether it will appeal this decision or present the case to the grand jury again . "" This is a long road and we are certainly gratified that the system is fair , "" London said . "" We are ready to testify again , if the district attorney chooses to represent to the jury , because Officer Haste feels justified in his actions . "" The charges against Haste stemmed from an incident in the Bronx on February 2 , 2012 , when , police say , investigators observed a young man now believed to be Graham acting suspiciously . When police approached , they say , the man fled , eventually running into a three family home . Police say investigators pursued the young man into his house , where a struggle occurred . Haste fired one shot and hit Graham in the chest as he barricaded himself in the bathroom . Graham ' s family said he was shot as his grandmother and his 6 year old brother looked on . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past2913106,3107,"Iraq Edwin Salau knew coming back would be hard . But he had to do it . The retired U . S . Army first lieutenant needed to know that his sacrifice was worth it . Retired Army 1st Lt . Edwin Salau says he sees progress in Iraq since he left five years ago . "" I wanted to make sure I didn ' t bleed in vain for the Iraqi people , "" Salau said . "" And what I found is I did not . I see the progress over five years . I see free Iraqis doing what Iraqis want to do in their country , and I see the U . S . taking a back seat . "" Salau left the battlefield in November 2004 , after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire during an ambush close to the town of Tuz . Those injuries cost him most of his left leg it was amputated above the knee and he now wears a prosthesis . Recently , he and seven other wounded American veterans returned to Iraq so they could heal emotionally . It was part of a nonprofit pilot program called Operation Proper Exit , an initiative started a little over a year ago by the Troops First Foundation , based in Maryland . The supports the mission . Watch Salau describe his feelings on returning Rick Kell , head of Troops First , traveled to Iraq with the soldiers and said the idea came from American troops . "" After spending much time at Walter Reed and Brooke Army medical centers , inevitably in any conversation , something reminds somebody that they want to go back . And the soldiers don ' t hesitate to tell you that , "" Kell said . "" They are soldiers and they want to come back primarily for several reasons , but they want to come back and let the troops here on the ground know that they are still part of them , they support them , and they would very much like to be with them , although they can ' t . "" It ' s an emotional journey for the returning veterans , a chance to visit bases where they were stationed , and , in some cases , the sites where they were wounded . Though other programs have allowed wounded American soldiers to return to the scene of their service and sacrifice , this is the first to allow them to do so while a war is still being waged . All in all , 13 soldiers have participated in the program so far eight this trip and five on a previous trip , which took place in June . The earlier trip was kept quiet because of fears that the experience would be too overwhelming for the participants . According to Kell , he encounters many soldiers who would like to return , but those who are selected are chosen carefully . "" Well , first of all , when we come in contact with someone who wants to come back and that ' s somebody who is thriving , that is mentally and physically moving forward in their life , they ' ve demonstrated that they have a plan for what ' s next and they ' ve begun to implement that plan , "" he said . "" So we feel pretty good about this person being squared away . And there are concerns , but it ' s a very personal decision . We only ask for one of three answers : yes , no or not now . "" Salau , who now works with other wounded soldiers at Camp Lejeune , in North Carolina , thinks he ' s become an ambassador for them . When Salau departed Iraq the first time , he couldn ' t do it on his own . That ' s why this trip was so important to him . "" My purpose for this trip was for my soldiers to have that last memory of me in Iraq walking out of here on my own power , "" he said . "" And I achieved that and it was closure . "" Salau and Kell think the program has been a success so far . According to them , the main reason for that is the support they ' ve gotten from the military command in Iraq , particularly Gen . Raymond Odierno , the top U . Sweblinkmander there . Odierno ' s experiences with his son , who lost his arm in Iraq , helped the general better understand these soldiers ' plight , Kell said . "" He has insight and perspective that a lot of leaders don ' t , thank goodness , "" Kell said , calling Odierno a very compassionate man . "" Gen . Odierno is . . . he ' s a soldier ' s general , "" Salau said . "" He understands . It was clear when I met him the first day of our trip that he knew what the results would be at the end of our trip . I thank them for letting us come back . "" Whether the program will help the wounded soldiers psychologically has yet to be proven . Also in question is whether more soldiers will be able to participate . Troops First would like to include as many soldiers as possible , Kell said , but U . S . troops will not be in Iraq for much longer . "" We ' ve got a short window , "" he said . "" We ' ve got a formula down . We can only do six to eight on each trip , so we can make it a very personal experience and have it be meaningful . "" For Salau , it was extremely meaningful . Now he can go home on his own terms . "" Today , I packed my stuff and I dressed in a uniform . . . and then I ' m going to undress at home and not Walter Reed , "" he said . "" That feeling , it can ' t completely be put into words . I ' m gonna get greeted at the airport by my wife and children . I ' m not gonna be greeted at Walter Reed . And I ' m gonna keep on living the dream . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past2923112,3113,"Former archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has spoken of his fears for the global climate Former archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has spoken of his fears for the global climate , saying the winter flooding was a portent of what is to come in the future . He has blamed the lifestyle of Western countries for climate change , which he said is ' pushing the environment towards crisis ' . He said the floods in Britain and similar weather related catastrophes around the world are the clearest indications yet that predictions of ' accelerated warming of the Earth ' caused by the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels . . . ' are coming true ' . His comments come as the ' s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( ) prepares to release a major report that is expected to warn of catastrophic consequences to food supplies , livelihoods , health and security across the world if climate change is allowed to continue unchecked . Leaked versions of the report , published in Japan tomorrow , warn that rising global temperatures , droughts and heat waves will threaten food supplies and human health , while hundreds of millions of people will be affected by coastal flooding . Climate change will cause economic losses , exacerbate poverty and increase migration and risks from violent conflict as well as causing damage to wildlife and habitats , the study by experts from around the world is expected to warn . In Europe , heatwaves , droughts and heavy rainstorms will increase and there will be a greater risk of coastal and river flooding , it is expected to say , while heat related deaths will also increase . The report , which collates work by thousands of scientists from across the planet , is likely to state that global warming has already left its mark on all continents and oceans , and is expected to warn that even a small increase in temperatures could lead to irreversible changes . Residents struggling to move in the flood water in Shepperton , Surrey , during the floods in February Energy Secretary Ed Davey has also declared that Britain must spearhead the worldwide battle against global warming . Climate change is ' hugely threatening ' to life both in the and globally , Mr Davey told The Observer , saying that not to lead the fight against it would be ' deeply irresponsible ' . Mr Davey , whose portfolio also involves responsibility for climate change , said more people should be worried about the issue than ever . Energy Secretary Ed Davey has also declared that Britain must spearhead the worldwide battle against global warming The Lib Dem said : ' Climate change is impacting our way of life in the . . . The impacts on our people could be huge . We could see problems of real devastation from flooding and other severe weather events hitting food and water availability really significant things . ' He added : ' Climate change is hugely threatening to our way of life , in the , Europe and the world . Not to lead is deeply irresponsible . If you don ' t lead , you will not bring others with you . ' Britain has made recent decisions that put the environmental agenda low on its list of priorities , scrapping green levies from energy bills and defeating efforts in Europe to set renewable energy targets for 2030 for each nation , the newspaper said . But Mr Davey was adamant that climate change sceptics in the Government had been defeated , saying : ' Those of us who care about climate change and believe it is something we need to lead on have won the argument internally . People don ' t realise that we got a deal across the coalition that puts Britain right at the head , the most ambitious country . ' He added that Britain had agreed to slash emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 as part of a global deal . Dr Williams , who stepped down as leader of the Anglican Church just over a year ago , said tomorrow ' s report puts ' our local problems into a deeply disturbing global context ' . Writing in his capacity as chairman of Christian Aid , he said : ' We have heard for years the predictions that the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels will lead to an accelerated warming of the Earth . ' What is now happening indicates that these predictions are coming true our actions have had consequences that are deeply threatening for many of the poorest communities in the world . ' Rich , industrialised countries , including our own , have unquestionably contributed most to atmospheric pollution . Both our present lifestyle and the industrial history of how we created such possibilities for ourselves have to bear the responsibility for pushing the environment in which we live towards crisis . ' Sign of what is to come : An aerial view of the River Thames after it burst its banks following bad weather in Weybridge Campaigners yesterday warned that the world faces a ' bleak future ' without action to tackle climate change and leading environmentalists called on politicians to break the world ' s dependency on fossil fuels . Friends of the Earth ' s executive director Andy Atkins said : ' We face a bleak future if the world continues to ignore the grim scientific warnings of our failure to tackle global warming . ' Droughts , floods and famines are just some of the devastating effects that people around the world are already suffering from more frequent extreme weather and , unless we take urgent measure , it will get far worse . ' A man tries to protect his home in Staines , Middlesex , after the River Thames caused flooding earlier this year Sally Uren , chief executive of Forum for the Future , which advises businesses and governments on sustainability , said : ' The report should be read as a vital wake up call . ' It is now more clear than ever that the risk to society from climate change is real and that large scale action is needed now , by all of us , to both cut our carbon emissions , and also to accelerate the pace at which we adapt to a rapidly changing climate . ' Yesterday major landmarks in the and across the globe switched off their lights for 60 minutes to mark Earth Hour , the World Wildlife Fund campaign to raise environmental awareness . Big Ben , the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace all went dark , along with Edinburgh Castle , Brighton Pier , the Eiffel Tower and Sydney Opera House . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2933126,3127,"The unexplained beachings of scores of dolphins over the past month along Cape Cod , Massachusetts , is the largest "" single species event "" of its kind on record in the northeastern United States , a marine mammal specialist said Monday . A total of 129 common dolphins have been found since the animals began stranding themselves in early January , said Katie Moore , marine mammal rescue and research manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare . Team members have been able to successfully release 37 of the 54 they were able to recover alive , but 75 others were dead or had to be euthanized on the spot , for a total of 92 dead , Moore told reporters in a conference call . Specially equipped trailers have been used to treat and transport the living dolphins . The ones that are healthy enough are taken to the outer Cape Cod coast to be released . Nine of the dolphins have been tagged with satellite tracking devices , Moore said , and most of the six that are still transmitting are north of Cape Cod , "" where dolphins should be . "" While dolphin strandings are not uncommon on the cape , Moore said this event is extraordinary in its "" protracted "" nature as well as the number of dolphins involved . "" We ' ve seen see an ( annual ) average of 228 strandings of dolphins and seals over the past 12 years "" in the International Fund ' s Northeast region , which spans from Virginia to Maine , Moore said . "" There is a large variability year to year , "" she said , but this event represents "" more than half my annual average in a month . "" Moore said the International Fund staffs a 24 hour hotline , and when they get reports "" from beach goers or anyone who finds an animal , "" they alert one of their 300 trained volunteers and dispatch them to the scene . These responders are able to relay information about the dolphin ' s species , sex and condition . Once beached , a dolphin is vulnerable to predators and susceptible to organ damage and sunburn . If a dolphin is still alive , the responders get it onto its stomach , if it is not already , for easier breathing , keep away seagulls that would otherwise peck at it , and warm it with blankets or cool it with water as necessary , Moore said . Necropsies have been performed on nine of the dolphins , and blood and microbial swab samples have been taken from some that were found alive , Moore said , but so far no pattern of disease or trauma has been found that would point to a cause . Although the winter and early spring are the normal time of year for dolphin strandings to occur , the weather this season has been unusually warm , leading to speculation about climate change and subsequent "" distribution of prey "" as a possible causes . Last week , Wellfleet harbormaster Michael Flanagan explained that usually , in the winter , "" the harbor ices over and inhibits the animals from coming close to the shore . But now that the water is warmer , we ' re seeing lots more dolphins washing up than ever before . "" However , the International Fund ' s Moore cautioned , while climate or other external factors such as acoustic disorientation can ' t be ruled out , "" we don ' t have a single answer . "" "" As time goes on we can put more of the pieces of the puzzle together , "" she said . "" The sad fact in these events is that we often never come up with that answer , and that is incredibly frustrating . "" She did , however cite the nature of the dolphins and the geology of Cape Cod as two contributing factors in these events , historically : "" Common dolphins are incredibly social animals and form bonds to forage for food and avoid predators , "" she explained . Those bonds , while they serve the animals greatly in the open ocean they ' re accustomed to , can be devastating when the creatures are brought in contact with Cape Cod ' s gently sloping shallows and convoluted estuaries , which are "" very foreign to these species . "" Moore said the event , because of its scale and duration , is taking "" a huge toll "" on the resources of the animal rescue and advocacy group , financially and physically . "" This is very hard labor . These animals can weigh 200 or 300 pounds each , "" she said . The organization , which gets its funding through donations and grants , has a base operating budget of less than 300 , 000 , and she estimated this event has coast "" at least 50 or 60 thousand dollars , "" not including staff time . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2943142,3143,"Love visual aspect of news ? Enjoy this exclusive slideshows treat ! : The United States has halted the course of the Islamic State group , President Barack Obama said in remarks broadcast Friday , calling for a stepped up drive to "" completely decapitate "" the militants ' operations . The News interview was recorded yesterday at the White House , hours after the start of a major operation by Iraqi Kurdish forces , backed by led strikes , to drive out of the northern town of Sinjar . "" I don ' t think they ' re gaining strength , "" said Obama . "" From the start , our goal has been first to contain , and we have contained them . They have not gained ground in Iraq . "" "" And in Syria they ' ll come in , they ' ll leave . But you don ' t see this systematic march by across the terrain , "" he said , using an alternate acronym for . Obama gave the interview before news broke of a air strike in Syria targeting "" Jihadi John , "" a masked British militant who appeared in a string of graphic execution videos . has seized large chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria . "" What we have not yet been able to do is to completely decapitate their command and control structures . We ' ve made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters , "" Obama said . "" Part of our goal has to be to recruit more effective Sunni partners in Iraq to really go on offense rather than simply engage in defense . "" The president warned that regional strife will persist "" until we get the Syria political situation resolved . "" "" Until Assad is no longer a lightning rod for Sunnis in Syria and that entire region is no longer a proxy war for Shia Sunni conflict , we ' re going to continue to have problems , "" he said . "" I would distinguish between making sure that the place is perfect that ' s not going to happen anytime soon with making sure that continues to shrink in its scope of operations until it no longer poses the kind of threat that it does . "" Stay on top of business news with The Economic Times App . Download it Now ! ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2953143,3144,"Stuck last minute trying to figure out a gift for the father who has everything he possibly needs ? Well , these unique gift ideas will let your dad know you ' ve been thinking about him . Your dad will love sitting around the house on weekends playing this Indian instrument or getting together with his sitar playing friends for a quick bhajan session in the garage . Give your dad a gift money can ' t buy with a personally written coupon granting him one thorough , 14 hour back massage from you . Make your dad flip with this temporal vortex granting him full access to the year when the peak of his life and career was still ahead of him , Reagan was president , and you weren ' t born yet . Not quite sure what dad wants this year ? Well , this gargantuan sack of grade A beef , power tools , and albums from the seminal British rock band will have you covered . Soak the bag with a few cans of Miller Lite for a bonus treat ! There ' s no way you can afford it , but just know that some rich asshole did this for his dad and you didn ' t . Comes in whatever size is in your father ' s printer right now . You can also sign it with one of the pens on his desk if you want . Perfect for when your dad just wants to unwind , this bottle opener will , every time he cracks open a beer , play the full four minute long audio of the scene in which Capt . Ross ( Kevin Bacon ) and Lt . Kaffee ( Tom Cruise ) question Cpl . Barnes ( Jack Nicholson ) about "" Code Reds . "" There ' s nothing your dad really wants this year , but just a good photo of all you kids together for his wallet or office would be nice . You guys are all so far away now and the family is rarely all together . It ' s the least you can do . Tiny , nondescript bottle of dirt you can make your dad believe was collected from Tiger Stadium before it was demolished , or from the fields of Gettysburg , the shores of Normandy , the old Yankee stadium , or , you know , wherever . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present2963149,3150,"AP) — A German court has convicted a Iraqi man of raping two Chinese college students in the western city of Bochum. [The dpa news agency reported Tuesday that the court sentenced the man to 11 years in prison. The defendant, who wasn’t identified by name, acknowledged in court that he assaulted the women in August and November last year. evidence linked him to both crimes. The defendant came to Germany as an more than a year ago with his wife and children. The victims, who were 21 and 27 years old at the time, had been studying at Bochum university. The case was one of several that fanned a national debate in Germany about how to respond to a rise in violent crimes committed by migrants.",true,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past2973164,3165,"It was special , just like Emilie Parker . That ' s how Jill Cottle Garrett described Saturday ' s funeral for her 6 year old niece , one of 20 children and six adults killed at a Newtown , Connecticut , school . The Rock Cliff Stake Center church in Ogden , Utah , was filled with glitter and pink flowers Emilie ' s favorite color "" fancy "" and effervescent like the little girl herself . "" Everything was special to Emilie , "" her aunt told reporters outside the church . "" Emilie was an example to not only her little sisters but to her family , to all her little friends . And now she ' s an example to the world about purity . . . tragedy and forgiveness . "" Emilie had been practicing for a Christmas show , which would have been Sunday . She never got the chance to perform , but the songs "" Angels We Have Heard on High "" and "" Silent Night "" were played during her funeral . Her two little sisters sang along , smiled , danced , even took flowers off Emilie ' s casket and threw them into the air . "" They were celebrating Emilie and her life today , "" Garrett said . The girl was one of three Sandy Hook Elementary School students laid to rest Saturday , the last of the victims of the December 14 mass shooting to be buried . official to face questions on gun control One was Josephine Gay , who had turned 7 just days before Adam Lanza forced himself into her school and began firing . A photo of the happy child , wearing a green hat and with glasses on the end of her nose , has been republished widely . On a Facebook memorial page , people remembered Josephine as "" a beautiful little angel . "" Her funeral took place on a blustery day in Newtown , as strong winds whipped the hairs of emotional mourners outside Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church . Honoring victims and paying tribute to Newtown Some who did not go inside the church instead left tributes at a makeshift memorial steps away , which was full of messages and flowers . Services also were held Saturday for 6 year old Ana Marquez Greene , who is remembered for a singing voice bigger than her size . A representative for her father , the jazz musician Jimmy Greene , described the girl as "" beautiful and vibrant . "" On a Facebook memorial page , Ana was remembered as a smart and "" sweet caramel princess "" part African American , Puerto Rican , Canadian and Irish who loved math picture problems , arts and crafts , ballet and "" loved people fiercely . "" Bells toll for shooting victims "" We , your friends and family , commit to remembering you . . . your loving heart , generous spirit and spunky attitude ! "" one update read . "" We know you are with Jesus and we will tell the world that love wins . "" After Saturday ' s "" going home celebration "" at The First Cathedral in Bloomfield , Connecticut , her family offered a message of thanks . "" Overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support , "" the post said . "" Love wins in newtown ! ! ! ! Sunday will mark a new chapter in this horrific saga , as the first full day when U . S . and Connecticut flags will be at full staff since the violence , as directed by Gov . Dannel Malloy . After that , the quest to understand what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary , and why , as well as how to prevent more such carnage in the future , will continue . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past2983171,3172,"Clint Eastwood has just announced that he will be directing Lindsay Lohan and Katrina Darrell aka "" Bikini Girl "" in the Amaretto Monteverdi production of The Lolitas The film is based on the story by Danielle Sweetwater . The original movie which was actually entitled Las Lolitas came out in 1968 and starred Jane Fonda in the role of "" Bubbles "" Montague and Ann Magret in the role of "" Bubbles "" Landetta . Lindsay Lohan will assume the role played by Jane Fonda and Kat will be playing the part that Ann Magret played . The movie is set during World War in The House of Deep Blue Lights Bordello on Bourbon Street in New Orleans . The house of ill repute is run by Haddy May Middleditch who will be played by Wynonna Judd . Her husband Corporal Byron Middleditch , played by Billy Bob Thornton speaks perfect Japanese and is serving with the famed 99th Louisiana Infantry Regiment which is based on the unknown Pacific island of Iwo Jima . Corporal Middleditch ' s duties include shooting Japanese soldiers , planting hedges , and making charcoal drawings of the Iwo Jima sky . He is also the regiment ' s chief pastry cook which means he is in charge of baking all of the cookies , biscuits , muffins , and wedding cakes . While her husband is off fighting the Japanese and baking tamales ( tamales ) for the G . I . ' s , Haddy May is home fighting the drunks , derelicts , ne ' er do wells , vagrants , gutterpups , and transients . Middleditch has a roster of over 70 girls , 43 of which have the middle name Belle . The girls come in all sizes , shapes , colors , ethnic backgrounds , and political affiliations . The twin Bubbles played by Lindsay Lohan and Katrina Darrell soon become the two most popular floozies in the whole cathouse . The reason that the two become so popular is because both possess certain amazingly erotic talents . Montague ( Lohan ) can hang from the chandelier and perform any kind of sex act known to man while holding a glass of Singapore Sling in her right hand . And Landetta ( "" Bikini Girl "" ) can French Kiss better than Brigitte Bardot , Catherine Deneuve , and Joan of Arc all put together . The two Bubbles become so popular that men from as far away away as Mobile , Alabama and Topeka , Kansas make a weekly trek and come a callin ' . 1940 ' s New Orleans had over 50 houses of ill repute , but Haddy May ' s House of Deep Blue Lights Bordello was considered to be the very best not only in New Orleans , but in the entire south as well . Good Housekeeping Magazine even gave it a five star rating . A lot of clients attributed Deep Blue ' s popularity to the fact that Haddy had some very strict rules , quidelines , and regulations when it came to her girls . For one , she insisted that the girls bathe on a daily basis , whether they felt that they needed to or not . Haddy also made it a habit to never hire a girl who had a tattoo ( ' S : Of course back then , it was virtually unheard of for a woman to have a tattoo , and only the most hardcore of whores had them and then it was a little flower the size of a dime which was on an extremely intimate part of her body , that no one but a ' customer ' would ever see . . . boy oh boy have things changed ) . Another one of Haddy ' s requirements was that her ' Girls ' had to absolutely keep their underarm hair neatly trimmed at all times . No exceptions ! Film director Clint Eastwood asked several of his friends to appear in cameo roles as ' Customers ' of the brothel and everyone of them agreed . So appearing in The Lolitas as paying clients will be Brad Pitt , Jack Nicholson , Matthew McConaughey , Bill O ' Reilly , Woody Allen , and Rush Limbaugh . ( ' S : Rush Limbaugh plays the part of Elroy Bob Shirtbox , a 400 pound fried okra truck driver from Broken Arrow , Oklahoma . Eastwood said that both Limbaugh and O ' Reilly tested so good in the preliminary screen tests that there is talk that they may be offered their own sit com spinoff ala the likes of the "" Dukes of Hazzard "" to be called the "" Dorks of Des Moines . "" . ) ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past2993177,3178,"Model Jerry Hall and media baron Rupert Murdoch began dating in summer Mr Murdoch proposed over the weekend while in for Golden Globes Marriage will be the billionaire businessman ' s fourth and Miss Hall ' s first Her and Mick Jagger ' s 1990 Hindu ceremony in Bali is not legally binding Published : 19 : 51 , 11 January 2016 Updated : 08 : 21 , 12 January 2016 Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and former supermodel Jerry Hall have announced their engagement after a whirlwind four month romance . Mr Murdoch , 84 , the executive chairman of News Corporation , which owns ? The Times , announced the news on the Births , Marriages and Deaths page of the newspaper today . ? They got engaged in Los Angeles over the weekend , where they attended the Golden Globes awards gala in one of their few public appearances as a couple . The billionaire ' s new fiancee , Miss Hall , 59 , has four children with former partner Sir Mick Jagger , although the couple were never legally married . ? Whirlwind romance : Media mogul Rupert Murdoch , 84 , and former supermodel Jerry Hall , 59 , posed arm in arm on the red carpet of the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night . Mr Murdoch proposed over the weekend Announcement : Mr Murdoch , the executive chairman of News Corporation , which owns The Times , shared the the news of their upcoming nuptials in an article on the Births , Marriages and Deaths page of the newspaper Mr Murdoch and Miss Hall started dating in the late summer after being introduced by one of Murdoch ' s sisters and his niece in Australia . The couple made their relationship public in October when they were seen for the first time together at the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham in London . They were next seen walking arm in arm down the red carpet ahead of the Golden Globes awards ceremony on Sunday , although Miss Hall did not appear to be wearing an engagement ring . ? The classified advertisement announcing their engagement reads : ' Mr Rupert Murdoch , father of Prudence , Elisabeth , Lachlan , James , Grace and Chloe Murdoch , and Miss Jerry Hall , mother of Elizabeth , James , Georgia and Gabriel Jagger , are delighted to announce their engagement . ' ? A spokesperson for the Murdoch family told MailOnline : ' They have loved these past months together , are thrilled to be getting married and excited about their future . ' No date for their wedding has been given . ? ? ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3003191,3192,"Editor’s note: We’re resurfacing this 2013 magazine article to remind you that tirelessly helping others could be the key to hyperefficiency. Just after noon on a Wednesday in November, Adam Grant wrapped up a lecture at the Wharton School and headed toward his office, a speed walk away. Several students trailed him, as often happens at conferences, Grant attracts something more like a swarm. Grant chatted calmly with them but kept up the pace. He knew there would be more students waiting outside his office, and he said, more than once, “I really don’t like to keep students waiting. ” Grant, 31, is the and professor at Wharton. He is also one of the most prolific academics in his field, organizational psychology, the study of workplace dynamics. Grant took three years to get his Ph. D. and in the seven years since, he has published more papers in his field’s journals than colleagues who have won awards. His influence extends beyond academia. He regularly advises companies about how to get the most out of their employees and how to help their employees get the most out of their jobs. It is Grant whom Google calls when “we are thinking about big problems we are trying to solve,” says Prasad Setty, who heads Google’s people analytics group. Plenty of people have made piles of money by promising the secrets to getting things done or working a week or figuring out what color your parachute is or how to be a brilliant manager. But in an academic field that is preoccupied with the study of efficiency and productivity, Grant would seem to be the most efficient and productive. When we arrived at Grant’s office on the Philadelphia campus, five students were waiting outside. The first was a student trying to decide between Teach for America and a job at Google. Grant walked her through some other possibilities, testing her theories about potential outcomes. Although she was aware of the crowd, she seemed to be in no hurry to leave, in part because Grant was so clearly engaged. A second student came in. Then a third. Someone dropped off a bottle of wine to say thank you another asked for a contact (Grant pledges to introduce his students to anyone he knows or has met, and they shop his LinkedIn profile for just that purpose). For every one of them, Grant seemed to have not only relevant but also scientifically tested, advice: Studies show you shouldn’t move for location, since what you do is more important than where you do it. Studies show that people who take jobs with too rosy a picture get dissatisfied and quit. If you truly can’t make a decision, consider delegating it to someone who knows you well and cares about you. Is there anything else I can help you with? How else can I help? He was like some kind of . Grant might not seem so different from any number of accessible and devoted professors on any number of campuses, and yet when you witness over time the sheer volume of Grant’s commitments, and the way in which he is able to follow through on all of them, you start to sense that something profoundly different is at work. Helpfulness is Grant’s credo. He is the colleague who is always nominating another for an award or taking the time to offer a thoughtful critique or writing a lengthy letter of recommendation for a student — something he does approximately 100 times a year. His largess extends to people he doesn’t even know. A student at Warwick Business School in England recently wrote to express his admiration and to ask Grant how he manages to publish so often, and in such journals. Grant did not think, upon reading that I cannot possibly answer in full every such query and still publish so often, and in such journals. Instead, Grant, who often returns home after a day of teaching to an of 200 responded, “I’m happy to set up a phone call if you want to discuss!” He attached handouts and slides from the presentation on productivity he gave to the Academy of Management annual conference a few years earlier. For Grant, helping is not the enemy of productivity, a diversion from the actual work at hand it is the mother lode, the motivator that spurs increased productivity and creativity. In some sense, he has built a career in professional motivation by trying to unpack the puzzle of his own success. He has always helped he has always been productive. How, he has wondered for most of his professional life, does the interplay of those two factors work for everyone else? Organizational psychology has long concerned itself with how to design work so that people will enjoy it and want to keep doing it. Traditionally the thinking has been that employers should appeal to workers’ more obvious forms of : financial incentives, yes, but also work that is inherently interesting or offers the possibility for career advancement. Grant’s research, which has generated broad interest in the study of relationships at work and will be published for the first time for a popular audience in his new book, “Give and Take,” starts with a premise that turns the thinking behind those theories on its head. The greatest untapped source of motivation, he argues, is a sense of service to others focusing on the contribution of our work to other people’s lives has the potential to make us more productive than thinking about helping ourselves. “Give and Take” incorporates scores of studies and personal case histories that suggest the benefits of an attitude of extreme giving at work. Many of the examples — the selfless C. E. O. ’s, the consultants who mentor ceaselessly — are inspiring and humbling, even if they are a bit intimidating in their natural expansiveness. These generous professionals look at the world the way Grant does: an filled with requests is not a task to be dispensed with perfunctorily (or worse, avoided) it’s an opportunity to help people, and therefore it’s an opportunity to feel good about yourself and your work. “I never get much done when I frame the 300 as ‘answering ’ ” Grant told me. “I have to look at it as, How is this task going to benefit the recipient?” Where other people see hassle, he sees bargains, a little work for a lot of gain, including his own. The message sounds terrific: Feel good about your work, and get more of it done, and bask in the appreciation of all the people you help along the way. Nice guys can finish first! (Now there’s research to prove it.) But I couldn’t help wondering, as I watched Grant race through his marathon day (even one of his mentors admitted, “He can be exhausting”) about the cost of all this . If you are devoted to being available to everyone, all the time, how do you relax? How can you access the kind of creativity that comes from not being on task every waking moment? How do you make time for the more important relationships in your life? As Grant’s office hours came to an end four and a half hours later, he patiently continued offering help until he finally had to close the door and tell a student to try him by phone he would squeeze him in on his commute or by . But he would not say no. The study of job design in the and century focused on how to improve the drudge work of manufacturing: Grant is credited with reviving the field, shifting the thinking toward the more modern conditions of a service and knowledge economy. He first realized that his ideas about giving at work might actually yield quantifiable results when he was a graduate student at the University of Michigan, and he proposed a study set in a university call center. Call centers, even on college campuses, are notoriously unsatisfying places to work. The job is repetitive and can be emotionally taxing, as callers absorb verbal abuse while also facing rejection (the rejection rate at that call center was about 93 percent). The manager, Howard Heevner, did not have a lot of faith that Grant would be able to motivate his . He had already tried, in a previous job at a call center, the usual incentives — cash prizes, competitive games — and was generally unimpressed with the results. But Grant had a different idea. When he was an undergraduate at Harvard, he took a job selling advertisements for the travel guide series “Let’s Go,” but he was terrible at it. “I was a pushover,” he says in “Give and Take,” “losing revenues for the company and sacrificing my own commission. ” Then he met another undergraduate whose job at “Let’s Go” was helping her pay her way through college. Suddenly the impact of his role became clear to him: without advertising revenues, the company could not make money, which in turn meant it couldn’t provide jobs to students who needed them. With that in mind, he was willing to make a harder sell, to take a tougher line on negotiations. “When I was representing the interests of students, I was willing to fight to protect them,” he writes. It would not be a psychology book if every anecdote did not have a dramatic ending: Grant eventually sold the largest advertising package in company history and less than a year later, at 19, was promoted to director of advertising sales, overseeing a budget of $1 million. As a psychology major, Grant always hoped to do a study on the “Let’s Go” staff, in which the books’ editors and writers would meet with or read letters by people whose travels had been enhanced by their work. Would knowing how the books benefited others inspire them to work harder? Now, at the call center, Grant proposed a simple, experiment: given that one of the center’s primary purposes was funding scholarships, Grant brought in a student who had benefited from that . The callers took a break as the young man told them how much the scholarship had changed his life and how excited he now was to work as a teacher with Teach for America. The results were surprising even to Grant. A month after the testimonial, the workers were spending 142 percent more time on the phone and bringing in 171 percent more revenue, even though they were using the same script. In a subsequent study, the revenues soared by more than 400 percent. Even simply showing the callers letters from grateful recipients was found to increase their draws. When Grant went back and talked to the callers about their improvement, many actively discounted the possibility that the brief encounter with a scholarship student helped. “Several of them were stunned,” Grant said. “Their response was, ‘Yeah, I knew I was more effective, but that was because I had more practice,’ or, ‘That was because I had a better alumni pool in that period — I got lucky.’ ” Eventually, having replicated the test five times, Grant was confident that he had eliminated other explanations. It was almost as if the good feelings had bypassed the callers’ conscious cognitive processes and gone straight to a more subconscious source of motivation. They were more driven to succeed, even if they could not pinpoint the trigger for that drive. The study quickly raised Grant’s profile in his field, partly because it relied on hard data: dollars, as opposed to manager assessments or . “I don’t know the last time there was a study in our field that had such striking results,” says Stuart Bunderson, a professor of organizational behavior at Washington University. “In terms of an intervention that has practical significance and moves the needle on employee behavior — you don’t see them that often. ” The intervention was also a manager’s dream: fast and practically free. Over the years, Grant has followed up that study with other experiments testing his theories about prosocial motivation — the desire to help others, independent of easily foreseeable payback. In one study, Grant put up two different signs at stations in a hospital. One reminded doctors and nurses, “Hand hygiene prevents you from catching diseases” another read, “Hand hygiene prevents patients from catching diseases. ” Grant measured the amount of soap used at each station. Doctors and nurses at the station where the sign referred to their patients used 45 percent more soap or hand sanitizer. These studies, two of Grant’s best known, focus on typically worthy beneficiaries: needy students and vulnerable patients. But some of his other research makes the case that prosocial behavior is as applicable in corporate America as it is in a hospital or a university. “Think of it this way,” he said. “In corporate America, people do sometimes feel that the work they do isn’t meaningful. And contributing to can be a substitute for that. ” Take, for example, Grant’s study of workers at Borders who contributed to an fund managed by the staff, with Borders matching donated funds. The money was set aside for employees in need — someone facing a pregnancy that would put a strain on their finances, for example, or the funeral of a loved one. Interestingly, Grant found that it was not the beneficiaries who showed the most significant increase in their commitment to Borders it was the donors, even those who gave just a few dollars a week. Through interviews and questionnaires, Grant determined that “as a result of gratitude to the company for the opportunity to affirm a valued aspect of their identities, they developed stronger affective commitment to the company. ” The study is uplifting and troubling at the same time: even Grant acknowledges the possibility of corporations playing off their employees’ generous impulses, as a sop to compensate for other failings — poor pay or demeaning work. (After all, if the employees at Borders had better benefits and pay, they might not have needed the emergency fund.) Jerry Davis, a management professor who taught Grant at the University of Michigan and is generally a fan of his former student’s work, couldn’t help making a pointed critique about its inherent limits when they were on a panel together: “So you think those workers at the Apple factory in China would stop committing suicide if only we showed them someone who was incredibly happy with their iPhone?” Grant’s answer to these questions is academic: he tries to understand how these mechanisms function but does not necessarily advocate implementation. “I am also skeptical about the motivations of corporations,” he said. “My concern is ultimately for the success and of people in organizations. To the extent that individual and group accomplishments and quality of work life contribute to profits, I’m happy, but that’s not my primary goal. ” For all his general interest in psychology, Grant doesn’t seem interested in digging too deeply into the origins of his own psyche. About his desire to help, he says simply: “My mother has what she calls the gene. Maybe I just inherited it. ” He grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, raised by a lawyer, his father, and a teacher, his mother. He was an upbeat boy, though socially awkward and burdened by numerous food allergies and strong aversions — to haircuts, to bluejeans, to chocolate. He felt things deeply those aversions were matched by equally consuming passions. An aspiring basketball player, he would not allow himself to go inside until he made 23 consecutive free throws, even if it meant missing dinner. (That he never made the team is the one failure that still pains him.) On weekends, he played video games for so many consecutive hours — 10 was not unusual — that his mother called the local paper to complain about what the paper called, in the subsequent article, “The Dark Side of Nintendo. ” Grant started significantly losing his hair in his 20s, as if his head were trying to keep pace with his overall precociousness. Now almost entirely bald, he has a striking, monklike look. Though he comes across as charming and agreeable, there are still traces of the awkward boy he says he once was, a hint of discomfort in the smile he gives a student he runs into unexpectedly, a longstanding dread of parties (“unless they like psychology or magic tricks, in which case I’d come alive,” he said). He is aware of his own introverted tendencies, and some of his research involves the strengths of introverts at work. For the most part, Grant has more than compensated for the shyness he felt growing up. Once phobic about speaking in public, he forced himself to lecture as much as he could as a graduate student, handing out feedback forms so he could methodically learn from his weaknesses. He developed strategies for socializing comfortably, even though, he said, “I feel uncomfortable when I’m in a situation and I don’t know what people want or expect of me. ” Giving, he eventually realized, was a reliable way of mediating social interactions. On the day I followed Grant as he hurried to his office hours at Wharton, I read something on his face that registered as more than just busyness he seemed anxious. I wondered whether Grant was driven by the desire to help or a deep fear of disappointing someone. “That is one astute observation!” Grant said when I asked him about that by . (With Grant, every observation is an astute one.) Grant often starts his research with observations about himself — “” they call it in the field — and he had conducted a study trying to determine which of those two impulses was more motivating. The answer turned out to be a combination of the two. “Givers motivate themselves to avoid complacency by focusing on the benefits to others if they succeed and worrying about disappointing them if they fail,” Grant wrote. One of Grant’s roommates, he went on, once joked that he had a productive form of O. C. D. “He noticed that when I was anxious about something, I had a habit of throwing myself into tasks in which I felt responsible to others,” he said. “A few days later, my mentor, Brian Little, sent me an article by Ian McGregor, one of his doctoral students, who studied ‘compensatory conviction’: anxiety in one domain motivates people to dive into passionate pursuit in another. It was one of those crystallizing moments that triggered a ‘Yes, I want to be a psychologist!’ reaction — I was fascinated by how closely his theory and findings mapped onto my own experience. ” It’s not hard to imagine a interpretation of Adam Grant: that his generosity might have its roots in some kind of need — maybe a need he feels, even more than the rest of us, to be liked. Or perhaps that he is channeling his extreme ambition into a form of achievement. Productive and happy, Grant could even be seen as a paradigm of Freud’s definition of mental health: aggression sublimated into work. But he has never put much stock in psychoanalysis — if the work is not he’s skeptical. “I think a lot of it is baggage that goes back to Freud, and Freud would always say that whatever is going on with you can be traced back to something that happened early in childhood with your mother,” he told me, by phone, as he was driving to work one day. “You can either accept that or be in denial. You can’t win!” He would rather simply understand himself as someone who gets a lot out of giving, then harness that feeling, study it and see how the mechanisms involved can inspire others to succeed. One night Grant forwarded me a grateful from a student whose life, the student said, changed because of some advice Grant gave her. I commented that most people would be thrilled to receive one note like that in a lifetime. “I get several dozen a week,” Grant said. He agreed to send some my way. That evening, at around 8:30, the started coming — Thank you for our conversation the other day and for your genius. . . . I couldn’t have done this without you. . . . I cannot thank you enough for your time and insight. . . . I’m thrilled. And I have you to thank. . . . After the first 10, I was impressed when they kept arriving, I was surprised. On and on, until almost 11, my kept pinging when I awoke the next morning, I saw that he had forwarded me 41 from the preceding week, each one of them numbered for my convenience. Was this compulsive behavior? “Not really,” Grant said. “I would see it as and focused. ” He said the question had generated a new research idea for him: “How Prosocial Behavior Can Mitigate O. C. D. Tendencies. ” Grant’s book, incorporating several decades of research on reciprocity, divides the world into three categories: givers, matchers and takers. Givers give without expectation of immediate gain they never seem too busy to help, share credit actively and mentor generously. Matchers go through life with a master chit list in mind, giving when they can see how they will get something of equal value back and to people who they think can help them. And takers seek to come out ahead in every exchange they manage up and are defensive about their turf. Most people surveyed fall into the matcher category — but givers, Grant says, are overrepresented at both ends of the spectrum of success: they are the doormats who go nowhere or burn out, and they are the stars whose giving motivates them or distinguishes them as leaders. Much of Grant’s book sets out to establish the difference between the givers who are exploited and those who end up as models of achievement. The most successful givers, Grant explains, are those who rate high in concern for others but also in . And they are strategic in their giving — they give to other givers and matchers, so that their work has the maximum desired effect they are cautious about giving to takers they give in ways that reinforce their social ties and they consolidate their giving into chunks, so that the impact is intense enough to be gratifying. (Grant incorporates his field’s findings into his own life with methodical rigor: one reason he meets with students four and a half hours in one day rather than spreading it out over the week is that a study found that consolidating giving yields more happiness.) The studies are elaborate, the findings nuanced — but it is easy to walk away from the book forgetting the cautionary tales about people who give too much and remembering only the wash of stories about boundless generosity resulting in surprising rewards: a computer programmer who built a Web site at no cost for music fans (one of whom turns out to be an influential figure in Silicon Valley) a financial adviser who travels to take on a client thought to be impoverished (only to find that person sitting on a significant fortune) the writers who start out working free on a project for a friend (and somehow end up among the most successful in Hollywood). I had assumed that Grant, and the other examples of extreme givers in his book, were simply superhuman in one way or another — not only in the acute empathy that makes giving so rewarding for them but also in their unusual focus and stamina and speed, traits that allow them to bend time and squeeze in more generosity than the rest of us. Grant, clearly, has some advantages beyond his propensity to help: more than one of his colleagues told me, for example, that when they cannot find the citation for a particular paper, they simply Grant directly, who is more reliable than Google and almost as fast (his childhood friends called him Mr. Facts). But Grant believes that in terms of giving, we all have the same muscle it’s just that he and the other givers in his book have exercised it more. In “Give and Take,” he cites a study that found that most people lose physical strength after enduring a test of will, like resisting cookies when they are hungry. Typically, the study’s subjects could squeeze a handgrip for only 25 seconds after an exercise in willpower. But one group distinguished itself, squeezing the grip for 35 seconds after the test of will. They were people who were on the giving end of the scale. “By consistently overriding their selfish impulses in order to help others, they had strengthened their psychological muscles, to the point where using willpower for painful tasks was no longer exhausting,” writes Grant of the study, conducted by researchers at Northwestern University. It seems too simple to assume that Grant just happens to be capable of great discipline across all facets of his life all those exercises in will, he would argue, feed each other, with one making the others possible. I like to think I am a typically helpful person, but after reading Grant’s book, I found myself experimenting with being more proactive about it. I started ending by encouraging people to let me know if I could help them in one way or another. I put more effort into answering random entreaties from students trying to place articles. I encouraged contacts seeking work or connections to see me as a resource. And I did notice that simply avoiding the mental lag of deciding whether to help or not was helpful. At a minimum, Grant’s example presents a rule: Unless the person on the other end is a proven taker, just do it — collaborate, offer up, grant the favor. The first time I exchanged those I usually felt good after the second exchange on a given topic, I thought perhaps I had done my duty. But I noticed that every offer of help I initiated or granted engendered four or five at the end of which I sometimes felt surly and behind on my work — and then guilty for feeling that way. Worse, those exchanges often even ended with the person on the other end wanting to meet for coffee. Coffee! Now I struggled to find a way to say, gracefully, that there was no way I could meet for coffee — not this week or next or the week after that, because there are only so many hours in the day, and if I do not get home in time to make dinner, my children will dine on Pirate’s Booty and Smarties, which would not make me feel helpful or productive or good. Children. It must be said that in the middle of a national debate about flexible hours and telecommuting, there is precious little in Grant’s book about work and family balance. The division of labor in Grant’s own marriage is very traditional his wife, who has a degree in psychiatric nursing, does not work outside the home, devoting her time to the care of their two young daughters and their home. Grant would be an extraordinary giver under any circumstances but it can only help that he doesn’t have to worry about running to the grocery store or renewing the car registration. “Sometimes I tell him, ‘Adam — just say no,’ ” his wife, Allison, told me, referring to the hundreds of requests he gets every day. “But he can’t say no. That’s what he is. That’s his way. ” Grant is devoted to his family — he has dinner most nights at home and takes his daughter to a preschool activity on many afternoons. But he also works at least one full day on the weekend, as well as six evenings a week, often well past 11. Once, when Grant was asked to give a talk on productivity, he confessed to a mentor that for all his research, he was still not sure what he did that was any different from anyone else. It wasn’t exactly a mystery, his mentor told him: He worked more. “I made a commitment to talk about that more,” Grant said. He did not mean to suggest that everyone should work on weekends he wanted them to be aware that they were making a choice, maybe even one they felt good about. “The way I see it, I have several different roles,” he told me: teacher, scholar, adviser, friend, to name a few. “I’d be concerned if any of those roles took more of my time than my family. ” Grant, of course, has conducted a study investigating whether giving behaviors at work translate into happiness at home. He found that people who felt they had contributed to others’ at work did not always feel great at the end of the workday but they usually did by bedtime, especially if they had reflected about their contribution in the intervening hours. It turns out that bringing your work home with you can be beneficial after all — if you’re thinking about it the right way. A skeptic might read Grant’s book and conclude that extreme givers are just matchers who are in it, maybe even subconsciously, for the long run. Eventually, in ways that are predictable and unpredictable, the bounty returns to them. Grant’s giving instincts might be reflexive, but they do clearly contribute to his success. “The entire world feels like it owes him a favor — including me,” says Justin Berg, a doctoral candidate who studies creativity at Wharton and who has collaborated with Grant. “People rush at the opportunity to work with him. ” And one round of giving enables another: when Grant calls on a work contact and asks her to meet with an undergraduate seeking work, chances are that contact is more than happy to enable Grant’s favor, because she has already been the beneficiary of more than one from him herself. The path to success is filled with people helping to clear the way. From the point of creativity, Grant’s undiscriminating helpfulness also reaps professional benefits, Berg says. “The best ideas occur to people who are touching multiple worlds and domains. And in our field, he’s at the nexus of a lot of them. ” Because one study found that old friends and connections can be even more valuable as resources than current ones — because they intersect with different worlds and therefore have more fresh ideas — Grant has a tickler built into his calendar reminding him, once a month, to get in touch with a contact he likes but with whom he has temporarily lost touch. And he is highly efficient about his giving: he virtually never says no to the favor, something that will help someone out — an introduction, a quick suggestion — but cost him very little, relative to impact. We were sitting in Grant’s office one afternoon talking about efficiency, when he said: “The truth is, I don’t care how many articles I publish or how many words I write. Productivity is an imperfect way of indexing how much I’m contributing, how I’m using my limited time to make the most difference. ” It wasn’t until I was transcribing the conversation a few days later that I realized that when he referred to his limited time, he wasn’t just talking about a busy schedule there was a more existential tug in the phrase. I brought it up with him by phone. “It’s the kind of thing I almost never talk about,” Grant said. “But my responsibility is to be open. ” Mortality, he said, was the one subject that gave him something like panic attacks. He had always felt that way, since he was a brainy, sensitive kid playing basketball in his driveway, staring at the sun, suddenly terrified of what would happen when it burned out. That was why he first wanted to be a scientist — before he realized biology bored him and he would never reinvent physics — so he could help figure out how to extend life, or at least design the spacecrafts that he is sure, even now, will take us to safer planets if this one runs dry. Mortality, he said, is “something I can’t fix. I can’t do anything with or about it. ” He can’t let himself think about it too much he has lost days at a time to his anxiety, “to the point that it’s the equivalent of extreme physical pain. ” It struck Grant as odd that no one had ever tried to figure how the awareness of death motivates people’s behavior at work, and in 2009, he published a paper trying to understand the link between mortality and productivity: “The Hot and Cool of Death Awareness at Work: Mortality Cues, Aging and and Prosocial Motivations. ” The study walks the reader through the fascinating field of death awareness, which measures how people respond to reminders of death, like a news clip about a deadly car crash. When and how, he asked, does the prospect of death become relevant to employees at work? Grant argued that when people’s reactions to reminders of death are “hot” — anxious and panicked — those workers tend to withdraw. But when they are “cool” — more reflective, as in response to chronic reminders, the kinds, for example, firefighters face — those workers would be more likely to “reflect on the meaning of life and their potential contributions. ” Grant wrote the paper, in part, to try to sort out his own hot and cool feelings on the subject. Contemplating the meaning of life doesn’t make him want to relax and work less. “I always go back to William James,” he said. “ ‘The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.’ A big part of it is being remembered. ” Besides, relaxing stresses him out. “For me, in my moments of idleness, I experience the most existential anxiety, so I like that every moment is scheduled, even when it’s having on my calendar that I’m going to watch a television show with my wife. It means my brain is engaged in other things, and it’s not going to be a terrifying evening. ” Grant would be the first to say that he is not purely altruistic — that pure altruism, giving without regard for one’s perhaps does not even exist. When he writes those 100 student recommendations, he says, he gets the satisfaction of helping them succeed. But there are other happy byproducts of that work as well: he might end up the beneficiary of those students’ good will later on and possibly inspire them to try to do right by those who will eventually ask them for help. He will also have kept himself busy enough that he won’t have much time to spend agonizing over what happens when he can’t give anymore. As he left the office after one of our meetings, Grant headed for his car, carrying another gift of gratitude: a twiggy box filled with organic jellies and dried fruit from the Environmental Defense Fund, to which he had recently spoken about how to motivate their . On the way to the garage, Grant told me the story of a time that someone asked quite a lot from him. “So I got an out of the blue from a recent Ph. D. who wanted career advice,” Grant said. “And I spoke to him for a while on the phone — twice. But then, after that, he asks me if I could give him comments on his dissertation, and he sends me this thing that was like 300 pages long. It was one of those moments — yikes!” Grant did not know this academic and was not an expert on the subject. This, I thought, was the last straw, an occasion when Grant not only said no but also perhaps found the request itself galling. Surely he did not shun his family, his students, his ultimate Frisbee game, his research and his list of requests for the hours that it would have taken him to analyze a dissertation. Even Adam Grant must say no sometimes. Grant said that he rarely feels resentful of such requests. “It’s on me if I want to say no,” he said. “I own my guilt. ” He did decide that in this case, the time it would take to read the paper would be excessive — and that indulging the impulse to read it all would be tantamount, in the logic of Grant’s thinking, to letting himself down, flouting his own rules of efficient giving. “So I just skimmed it for the most important parts,” he said, and gave general feedback on those points. The author then reworked the paper completely and sent it back to Grant to read again. Grant, of course, complied. “And guess what?” Grant said, breaking out in a smile. “The paper was great!”",true,news,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3013199,3200,"A Michigan man and woman were convicted Thursday of trying to extort 680 , 000 from "" Full House "" actor John Stamos by threatening to sell compromising photos that prosecutors say were never found . Scott Edward Sippola , 31 , and Allison Lenore Coss , 24 , could face up to nine years in prison for convictions of conspiracy and interstate communications to extort money , said assistant U . S . Attorney Maarten Vermaat . Sentencing is set for October 8 . "" The case was made by the fact that these defendants made threats to damage his Stamos ' reputation in order to have him pay them , "" Vermaat said after the verdict in Marquette , Michigan . Jurors deliberated for about five hours Thursday . Vermaat said the defendants sent about 40 e mails to Stamos threatening to sell the photos . agents got involved and started monitoring Stamos ' e mail account and "" eventually communicated by cellular telephone with the defendants pretending to be Mr Stamos ' business manager . "" Sippola and Coss were arrested in December 2009 at an airport , a pre arranged drop off spot for the money . Defense attorney Sarah Henderson alleged at trial that Stamos had a fling with Coss when she was a 17 year old vacationing on spring break in 2004 . Prosecutors said Stamos met Coss during a trip to Disney World in Orlando , Florida . They developed a friendship and the two communicated by e mail occasionally until November 2009 , when the actor turned the photos matter over to the . According to , Coss testified there were several photos depicting Stamos using cocaine . She claimed the actor seemed interested in buying the photos . The actor testified that nothing inappropriate happened at a 2004 spring break party and , accordingly , he didn ' t believe compromising photos existed . Stamos said Thursday he wants to get back to work . "" I would like to thank the court , the and the U . S . Attorney ' s office for their swift and efficient dealings in connection with this case , "" Stamos said in a statement Thursday afternoon . "" I am shocked and perplexed how individuals could fabricate so many false stories in an effort to defend a crime . I agreed to be a witness for a federal criminal prosecution and endured countless false accusations about my behavior and appropriateness . The allegations made regarding an inappropriate relationship are completely untrue . These slanderous allegations to smear my reputation were part of their defense to redirect attention away from the federal crime of extortion . There was no hot tub , no drugs , no nudity and nothing sexual in nature involved in my friendship with this woman . They lied about everything from a pregnancy to compromising photos . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3023214,3215,"Editor ' s note : A nationally syndicated columnist , Roland S . Martin is the author of "" Listening to the Spirit Within : 50 Perspectives on Faith "" and "" Speak , Brother ! A Black Man ' s View of America . "" Visit his Web site for more information . Roland S . Martin says America ' s history with Iran has not been a happy one . Critics of President Obama , mostly Republicans , have seethed that he has not been more forceful in ripping the theocratic leadership in Iran for their brutal handling of protesters angry with what they see as a stolen election . In Tuesday ' s press conference , the president toughened his talk , saying , "" The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats , beatings and imprisonments of the last few days . "" Still , Obama ' s measured and calm approach has been right on target , while his critics have been totally off base . What these shortsighted naysayers should do is pick up a history book , or take a quick trip to Langley , Virginia , and let the tell them our own sordid past with Iran . Whenever U . S . relations with Iran are raised , everyone seems to want to refer back to 1979 , when our embassy was overrun by militants and Americans were taken hostage for 444 days . The nation , and the world , was captivated by the drama , and many consider the affair the chief reason why President Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election . The Iranian revolution of that era is what led to today ' s theocratic rule in Iran , where the clerics hold sway over every facet of the country . They replaced the Shah of Iran , Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , himself a dictator who ruled with an iron fist with the help of his trained death squads . How did he come to power ? The United States helped overthrow a democratically elected government in Iran . To understand the hatred of the United States in Iran , we have to go further back than 1979 to 1953 , when Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh had the gall to care more about his country than what the British and the United States wanted . The two superpowers were angry that he nationalized oil interests at the time Anglo Iranian Oil , now known as British Petroleum , was receiving 93 percent of oil proceeds and the Iranians were getting 7 percent . So with the leading the charge , along with British intelligence , the United States helped destabilize the country , blocked the importing of goods , spread leaflets around the country blasting Mossadegh for a lack of leadership , and used local goons to lead protests . It was this effort that led to the installation of the Shah of Iran , who subsequently had Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini exiled . Khomeini was a revolutionary leader who used his voice to label the United States the "" Great Satan "" for its actions . Nice history lesson , you might say , but what does it have to do with today ? Everything . Khomeini rose to power by blasting the United States for intervening in the affairs of Iran . It was the younger voices in Iran who responded to his criticism of the United States , and they cast their lot with a revolutionary figure rather than the pro Western Shah of Iran . One of those young men who cared more about their own country than the interests of the United States ? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , now the president of Iran ( A fascinating account of our sordid history with Iran is detailed in Stephen Kinzer ' s "" Overthrow : America ' s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq "" ) . President Obama knows that every word uttered by U . S . leaders can be turned right around and used against the protesters who are in the streets . He also understands how deep resentment of the United States is in Iran , and if the clerics can successfully get people to believe that the United States is behind the protests , they have the possibility of using America as the scapegoat . Isn ' t it ironic that the president ' s conservative critics want him to stand up for democracy in Iran , when it was the United States that chose to destroy democracy and install a dictator we could control more than 50 years ago ? Folks , democracy can never be imported . It must be homegrown . If we look at our own Civil Rights Movement , the democratic movement in Poland and all of Eastern Europe , they were all driven by the people at the bottom , not the top . We are seeing a remarkable amount of courage in Iran . The people there are tired of being treated like children , and are putting their lives on the line to demand change in the country . Instead of inflaming tensions , the United States should continue to issue tempered comments , and allow the people in the streets to drive this issue . This should not become a U . S . vs . Iran discussion . If the focus remains on those demanding change in the streets of Iran , especially if the beatings and oppression continues remember Selma , Alabama , and Bloody Sunday ? then those who are silent in Iran will be silent no more , and other countries will begin to weigh in on the brutality . The change we desire in Iran will not happen with a press release or a comment by the president of the United States or even a congressional resolution . We must show support , but from a distance . The United States played a direct role in the mess we see in Iran today . It ' s best that we shut up and allow Iran to determine Iran ' s fate . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S . Martin . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3033225,3226,"The justices of the United States Supreme Court confirmed this week that although he has been on the job less than a year , their new agent , Rory McCleft , has already started to help the nine member panel land more high profile cases . Early in its 2011 2012 term , the nation ' s highest court reportedly began to voice dissatisfaction with longtime agent Jeffrey Muslin , who many justices felt had lost sight of their jurisprudential interests , in particular failing to get them access to "" cream of the crop "" immigration , health care , intellectual property , and search and seizure cases . "" The truth is , we never would have gotten a case like National Federation of Independent Business v . Sebelius with Jeff , "" said Chief Justice John Roberts , referring to the recent landmark decision upholding the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act . "" But Rory was all over it . He burned through his Rolodex , called in every favor he had , and made the deal happen . "" "" He just he gets it , you know ? "" Roberts continued . "" Rory ' s always got his ear to the ground for any circuit court cases that might play to our strengths as a group . He understands what we ' re about , and he ' s very hands on and curious about what we ' re trying to do . He came into the room and just asked us flat out , ' Where do you want to go as a court ? What kind of cases do you want ? Gun control ? You got it . Abortion ? Let ' s do it . ' It was so refreshing after all those years where it felt like we were just treading water . "" According to legal experts , McCleft , a senior partner at Taggart , Stanley McCleft Representatives and a rising star in judicial talent management , has in a few short years in the business built up an impressive client roster that includes numerous federal district courts , state appellate courts , and even a handful of military tribunals . Sources said the Supreme Court justices often became frustrated with their former agent when he seemed to place greater priority on his other top client , the New Jersey Superior Court . Their rancor came to a head when Muslin booked Englewood Boat Basin et al . vs . Quartello and Quartello for the New Jersey judges . "" Any case with substance , his precious Superior Court in Jersey always got the first call , "" Justice Anthony Kennedy said . "" That ' s a talented court , no question , but their success kind of came at the expense of our own , you know ? Jeff ' s a sweet guy , and I respect him , but toward the end there it seemed like we were doing all the heavy lifting just to keep our name out there . Seriously , we had to bring Citizens United to his attention . Can you imagine ? "" "" At that point it ' s like , what are we even paying this guy for ? "" Kennedy added . "" We just felt it was time to move on . "" The Supreme Court has had its share of notable agents over the years , including the legendary Saul Rosen , whose savvy negotiations were credited with making the Warren Court the most powerful in Beltway history , and the notorious Frank Tanner , whose backroom dealings allowed the Rehnquist Court to become the first ever to decide an American presidential election . Given the court ' s infamously rigorous demands , McCleft is expected to have his work cut out for him . "" We ' re hands down the most talented judicial body in the nation , and there ' s no reason we shouldn ' t be landing the top tier shit , "" Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said . "" I can ' t tell you how much it stings to pick up the paper in the morning and read about the Ninth Circuit making some groundbreaking ruling , while we ' re all sitting around with our dicks in our hands . All Rory needs to do is get us in the door on those cases . Pitch it to us , we ' ll knock it out of the park . "" Although McCleft ' s compensation remains undisclosed , it is assumed he will be given the industry standard rate of 10 percent of all court cases to decide for himself . ",satire,text,test,Other sport,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past3043237,3238,"Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy on Friday texted two former work colleagues and current head coaches , Miami ' s Erik Spoelstra and Charlotte ' s Steve Clifford , with essentially this message : If it can happen to David Blatt , it can happen to anyone . "" We have jobs , maybe , because our front offices aren ' t quite as crazy as theirs , but that ' s about it , "" Van Gundy said . Blatt ' s firing Friday as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers , while that team leads the Eastern Conference , is the talk of the , and Van Gundy talked about it plenty after shootaround today at Pepsi Center , where the Pistons ( 23 20 ) play the Denver Nuggets ( 16 27 ) at 9 : 30 p . m . ( Fox Sports Detroit ) . "" We have no idea why it happened , "" Van Gundy said . "" But there ' s no explanation that can include that he didn ' t meet expectations , in terms of winning . There ' s absolutely no way to even make a flimsy case , let alone a solid one , for that . "" Van Gundy said he reached out to Blatt "" and used a few expletives , and just said , like , ' What the heck ' s going on ? ' "" "" The only thing more absurd than what just happened would be ( Golden State ' s ) Steve Kerr or ( San Antonio ' s Gregg ) Popovich getting fired , "" Van Gundy said . Blatt was fired Friday with a 30 11 record , one season after Cavaliers lost the Finals to the Golden State Warriors . "" He went to the Finals , and who knows what would ' ve happened had he had Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving ? And even without them , that was a damn competitive series , "" Van Gundy said . "" He did a hell of a job . Then he comes back this year , and at the halfway point , despite having injuries , and Kyrie missing most of the time , ( Iman ) Shumpert missing time , he ' s on pace to win 60 games , and he ' s on top of the ( conference ) . "" You can ' t even make a flimsy case for the fact that the guy wasn ' t meeting expectations . So obviously , there ' s something else going on , and that ' s what I ' m saying none of us now has any clue , whatsoever , what the expectations for coaches are . "" Van Gundy was asked whether part of the job expectations is being satisfactory to superstars . Cavaliers star LeBron James widely is known to have preferred talking through Tyronn Lue the assistant who replaced Blatt as head coach rather than going to Blatt himself . Blatt was hired before the Cavaliers re signed James and the superstar never gave any endorsement of the coach , even when asked directly . "" Look , that ' s the stuff we don ' t have any idea about , "" Van Gundy said . "" I ' m not going to throw anybody under the bus on that because we have no idea . But clearly , there were expectations on David Blatt other than to meet , or even exceed expectations , and he did all that . So clearly , there was something else there . "" Click on the video to see more of Van Gundy unplugged on the Blatt firing . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3053246,3247,"Locked up : David Norris , 51 , was jailed for 20 years for the attempted murder of his estranged wife A jilted husband who repeatedly stabbed his estranged wife in a graveyard screaming ' Go to sleep with your mum ! ' has been jailed for 20 years . David Norris ' s wife begged him to think of their children as he launched his vicious attack but he only stopped stabbing her when she ' played dead ' and a member of the public intervened . Today he was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court after being found guilty of attempted murder . Norris , 51 , pounced on his wife Dionne in the graveyard of St Nicholas Church in Southfleet , near Gravesend , in Kent , as she was about to lay flowers at the grave of his grandmother on October 11 last year . The pair , whose marriage had broken down in August of that year , had arranged to meet up to lay flowers first at the grave of the victim ' s mother , then at Norris ' s grandmother ' s , as they did every year . Norris collected his wife and they visited the first gravesite before they had a conversation about their marriage and whether it could be saved . She told Norris she did not feel she could forgive him for some of his actions and he told her she had destroyed their family . Mrs Norris said she did not want to argue and they agreed to carry on to the second graveyard as planned . While she was unwrapping the bouquet of flowers , Norris lingered at the car boot before walking over to join her . He said : ' If I can ' t have you , no one can have you . ' He lunged at her , knocking her over and grabbing her round the throat . Screaming , she managed to struggle free momentarily before he jumped on her again , brandishing a knife . She begged him to think of their children but Norris stabbed her repeatedly . A member of the public tried to intervene but Norris threatened him with the knife before turning to stab Mrs Norris again , telling her : ' Go to sleep , go to sleep with your mum . ' He walked away and the member of the public returned and called the police , comforting Mrs Norris until the emergency services arrived . She had suffered numerous stab wounds to her upper body , arms and hands , as well as a collapsed lung . Officers immediately began searching for Norris , who had called his sons and an uncle and asked them to meet him as soon as he had left the crime scene . He met them and they convinced him to hand himself in to police . Norris and his wife Dionne had visited St Nicholas Church , Southfleet ( pictured ) to lay flowers on his grandmother ' s grave . The 51 year old then began stabbing his wife , screaming ' Go to sleep with your mum ! ' He was arrested at North Kent Police Station in Thames Way and charged with attempted murder . Senior Investigating Officer , Detective Inspector Gavin Moss , said : ' Norris attacked his estranged wife after she made it clear to him she had no interest in reconciling . ' He pounced on her when she was having a private moment of reflection in a graveyard and stabbed her repeatedly , ignoring her as she pleaded for her life . ' When he was arrested , he told officers he was a good man and had never done something so awful before . ' Kent Police had never received any reports of domestic abuse from either Norris or his victim but the violence and lack of mercy he demonstrated in this vicious assault show that he intended to kill his wife . ' It is extremely fortunate that she did not suffer any fatal injuries and I would like to take this opportunity to commend her courage and wish her all the best in her continued recovery . ' Faced with the evidence our officers had built up against Norris , including eyewitness testimony , the jury has convicted him today and handed him a lengthy custodial sentence where he may finally recognise the horrendous ordeal he put his victim through . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past3063261,3262,"Reuters) - The Trump administration has reversed an Obama administration stance and will support Ohio in its bid at the U.S. Supreme Court to revive a state policy of purging people from voter-registration lists if they do not regularly cast ballots. The Justice Department filed legal papers with the high court on Monday staking out the new position in the voting rights case, backing the Republican-led state’s policy to purge inactive voters. Former President Barack Obama’s Justice Department had argued in a lower court that Ohio’s policy violated the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which Congress passed to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. Civil liberties advocates who challenged Ohio’s policy have said it illegally erased thousands of voters from registration rolls and can disproportionately impact minorities and poor people who tend to back Democratic candidates. The state on Tuesday welcomed the administration’s action but voting rights advocates opposed it. The League of Women Voters accused the administration of “playing politics with our democracy and threatening the fundamental right to vote” by siding with an Ohio policy it said disenfranchises eligible voters. “Our democracy is stronger when more people have access to the ballot box - not fewer,” the Democratic National Committee added. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati last year blocked Ohio’s policy, ruling that it ran afoul of the 1993 law. The state appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed in May to hear the case. The legal brief filed by the Justice Department said President Donald Trump’s administration had reconsidered the government’s stance and now supports Ohio. The brief, signed by Acting U.S. Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, argued that Ohio’s policy is sound because it does not immediately remove voters from the rolls for failing to vote, but only triggers an address-verification procedure. The American Civil Liberties Union last year sued Ohio Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted over the policy. The suit said the policy led to the removal of tens of thousands of people from the voter rolls in 2015. Husted said in a statement he welcomed the federal government’s support, noting Ohio’s policy “has been in place for more than two decades and administered the same way by both Republican and Democrat secretaries of state.” Under Ohio’s policy, if registered voters miss voting for two years, they are sent registration confirmation notices. If they do not respond and do not vote over the following four years, they are removed from the rolls. Ohio officials argue that canceling inactive voters helps keep voting rolls current, clearing out those who have moved away or died. Democrats have accused Republicans of taking steps at the state level, including laws imposing new requirements on voters such as presenting certain types of government-issued identification, intended to suppress the vote of groups who generally favor Democratic candidates. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3073266,3267,"Thousands marched in Washington this weekend to call for action to counter climate change . With organizers estimating 35 , 000 people filling the National Mall , the Forward on Climate Change march was said to be the biggest demonstration thus far in support of this issue . "" While they were fighting for equality , "" the Rev . Lennox Yearwood told the crowd , comparing them to those who took part in the March on Washington for civil rights in 1963 , "" we are fighting for existence . "" The protesters have support from President Barack Obama , who announced that he wants to make climate change a major issue in his second term . During his inaugural and State of the Union addresses , the president did not shy away from this controversial subject . But persuading Congress to pass this kind of legislation will be extremely difficult . Photos : 40 , 000 rally to stop Keystone pipeline Standing Tuesday before visibly unhappy House Speaker John Boehner , Obama pointed to the recent natural disasters we ' ve seen and spoke about the science of the environment , calling on Congress to act or threatening to do so himself if they refuse : "" We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy , and the most severe drought in decades , and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence . Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science and act before it ' s too late . "" Democrats applauded . Republicans kept their hands in their pockets . If Obama can persuade Congress to take action on climate change , it would be one of the biggest accomplishments of his administration . But unlike some of the other issues that he has tackled including health care climate change is extraordinarily difficult since the benefits to voters are not immediate and not necessarily visible . His mission could be made more difficult if he decides to approve the proposal for the Keystone pipeline , which would run from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico . Environmental groups that backed the president ' s re election strongly oppose the project . To break through the gridlock on this issue and to persuade some of the congressional Republicans to start clapping , Obama will need more than crisis and science . The march this weekend must be the first of more organized grass roots protests , not just on the mall in Washington but in the districts and states of key members of Congress . Most of the biggest policy breakthroughs in recent history have depended on strong grass roots mobilization . In 1935 , Congress passed the Wagner Act , which created the National Labor Relations Board and legitimated unions . This mobilization of industrial workers who would form the was pivotal in providing President Franklin Roosevelt with the strength he needed to take on business with enormously controversial legislation . Several decades later , the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 only came about because local activists , led by prominent leaders such as Rev . Martin Luther King Jr . , forced the White House and Congress to deal with the issue of racial equality over their deep political reservations . While both Presidents John F . Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were concerned about the huge risks that pushing for civil rights posed for the Democrats ' stronghold in the South still the electoral base of the party back then both were finally moved to take action because of the valiant efforts of grass roots activists who placed pressure on them and on uncommitted legislators . The civil rights movement changed public opinion and made inaction politically unacceptable . Conservatives have also depended on the grass roots to mobilize support for their issues . President Ronald Reagan ' s drive for deficit inducing tax cuts and deregulation might not have worked if it were not for the grass roots conservative activism of the 1970s that pushed national debate to the right . In the past few years , tea party activists have succeeded in moving the toward an agenda of deficit reduction even at a moment when the key problem is generating economic growth and lowering unemployment rates . Environmental organizations have created a vast organizational infrastructure since the 1970s and remain a huge presence in Washington . But in recent years , they have been less effective at developing the same level of grass roots energy as earlier movements , including their own in the 1970s . Climate change has too often been an issue that is Washington focused rather than grass roots focused . Instead of having former Vice President Al Gore be the face of efforts to counter climate change , Obama needs the images of local protesters gathering to make sure that Congress deals with the issue . Obama , a former community organizer , knows this as much as anyone . He has seen the profound effect tea party activists have had on the Republican Party , much to his consternation . As Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol has written , "" To counter fierce political opposition , reformers will have to build organizational networks across the country , and they will need to orchestrate sustained political efforts that stretch far beyond friendly congressional offices , comfy board rooms and posh retreats . . . insider politics cannot carry the day on its own , apart from a broader movement pressing politicians for change . "" Skocpol explains convincingly that one of the reasons for the failure of cap and trade legislation was that climate reformers focused their energy on Beltway lobbying rather than mobilizing support in local communities . Members of Congress know that climate change legislation doesn ' t offer tangible benefits to voters , so they ' re unlikely to act unless they feel pressure from activists in their districts . Sens . Bernie Sanders , I Vermont , and Barbara Boxer , D California , have taken the lead on the issue by putting forth a bill to impose a tax on the country ' s largest polluters , requiring them to pay 20 per ton of carbon and methane emissions , a sum that would rise over time . Under their bill , the government would invest the money in developing renewable fuel and more efficient energy policies , including a plan to weatherize more than a million homes . If the administration is going to build support for a version of this legislation , it will need support from the bottom , not just the top , in swaying and pressuring senators who will be leery about taking on this issue . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3083270,3271,"Jamie Foxx and his daughter , Miss Golden Globe Corinne Foxx , at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and InStyle Celebration on Nov . 17 , 2015 in West Hollywood , California . Photo : Getty The Golden Globes are ? an exciting time of year for Hollywood offspring . Ahead of each year s ceremony , one son or daughter of a well known member of the entertainment industry is named Mr ? or Miss ? Golden Globe . This year ? the Hollywood Foreign Press Association s honor ? duties include helping out during the awards ceremony ? has been bestowed to Corinne Foxx . Before the 2016 awards show airs Sunday , get to know this year s honoree . 1 . Famous Dad ? The last name Foxx should ring a few bells . Corinne s father is "" Django Unchained "" ? star Jamie Foxx . The Oscar winning actor welcomed Corinne , 21 , in 1994 . Foxx has never publicly revealed who Corinne s mother is . ? 2 . Well Behaved ? ? Unlike some Hollywood offspring , Corinne is not known for breaking the rules . She s humble , she s never in trouble , Jamie , now 48 , told Variety in November 2015 after his daughter was named Miss Golden Globe . ? 3 . College Educated ? Corinne has spent the last several years hitting the books . She s a second semester senior at the University of Southern California . Just landed in . Final tomorrow at 8am . Haven 39 t started studying . PrayForMe 4 . Modeling ? She may be a smart cookie , but she ? also has model good looks . ? According to her Instagram profile , she ? work for Models and is represented by Management . She was featured in the February 2015 issue of Rollercoaster magazine . She also ? recently shot a campaign for The Icing , ? according to Variety . 5 . ? Cultured ? While she ' s based in Los Angeles , Corinne spent five months traveling Europe in 2015 . One year ago today , I packed my bags and left for one of the biggest adventures of my life , she captioned a shot of her standing in front of London ' s ? Big ? Ben on Instagram Tuesday . I m so thankful everyday to have lived in London and have traveled around Europe Get to know Corinne more on social media . You can follow her on Twitter Corinnefoxx ? and ? Instagram corinnefoxx . The 2016 Golden Globes airs Sunday at 8 ? p . m . on . ? ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present3093275,3276,"A new poll out Tuesday shows Hillary Clinton 41 points ahead of Bernie Sanders in Iowa , the largest lead for Clinton in the state since August . According to a new Monmouth University Poll , Clinton earns 65 percent of the vote from likely Democratic caucus goers to Sanders ' 24 percent . Martin O ' Malley gets 5 percent and Larry Lessig , who is not often included in early state polls , gets 1 percent . Clinton on top in Iowa , gains in New Hampshire "" We now have a two person race , but one of those competitors has just pulled very far ahead , "" said Patrick Murray , director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute , in the poll ' s release . The poll conducted between October 22 and 24 , is the first poll that captures Democratic caucus goers ' opinions after Clinton ' s appearance before the Select House Committee on Benghazi last week . The marathon day of testimony , which lasted 11 hours , was largely seen as a victory for Clinton over a committee divided on party lines and mired with controversy . Her performance on Capitol Hill , along with a commanding presence on the debate stage the week before , had Clinton and her supporters on a high as she headed to Iowa over the weekend for the state party ' s annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner . "" I think the next time she ' ll be up on the Hill will be in January 2017 , "" said Robert Carpenter , a retired computer specialist from Alexandria , Va . who attended a Clinton rally there on the day after her testimony . The Monmouth poll is also one of the first polls that does not include Vice President Joe Biden , who announced last week that he would not be seeking the Democratic nomination . Earlier polls had shown that Biden pulled support away from Clinton , and this new poll supports that . ? 2015 Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3103276,3277,"Fire at Russian mental health clinic in Voronezh region kills 23 Reuters author ? Crime ? Fire ? Japan ? markets ? Politics ? United States ? A fire swept through a psychiatric clinic in a village in the Voronezh region south of Moscow late on Saturday killing 23 people , Russia ' s Investigative Committee said on Sunday . Russia ' s Emergencies Ministry said it had taken more than 270 people and 50 vehicles to deal with the blaze and police investigators said the bodies of 23 people had been recovered after the fire had been put out . Another 23 people were taken to various medical facilities in the area , police said . The police said they had begun an investigation into possible negligence and experts from Moscow would be brought in to help out . "" Investigators will look into every possible version of how the fire started and led to such tragic consequences , "" Russia ' s Investigative Committee said in a statement , saying it considered the incident a crime . They said they did not know what had started the fire , which broke out late on Saturday at the clinic in the village of Alferovka , around 300 miles ( 482 . 8 km ) south of Moscow . Seventy patients , some of them bed bound or disabled , and four staff were in part of the building hit by the blaze . State showed pictures of fire fighters using hoses to pour water on what was left of the roof of a red brick building . Lax fire safety standards and staff negligence have often been blamed for such episodes . In 2013 , a fire killed 37 people in a psychiatric hospital in a provincial village north of Moscow , the second deadly blaze at such a facility that year alone . ( Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Katya Golubkova Editing by Jane Merriman ) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto feed . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3113291,3292,"Michael Hoey held off a last round charge from U . S . Open champion Rory McIlroy to claim the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews Sunday . Hoey , who like McIlroy hails from Northern Ireland , carded a final round 68 to beat his illustrious compatriot by two shots on 22 under 266 . McIlroy , looking for his first win since claiming his first major in such emphatic style at Congressional , carded a seven under 65 at the home of golf but came up just short as overnight leader Hoey kept his nerve on the closing holes . Graeme McDowell completed the domination of players from Northern Ireland by claiming joint third on 18 under with George Murray of Scotland after a 69 . South Africa ' s Louis Oosthuizen , playing his first tournament at St Andrews since his British Open victory on the famous links in 2010 , was in a three strong group a shot further back with Marc Warren and joint halfway leader Tommy Fleetwood . World No . 1 Luke Donald could not build on his nine under third round 63 and finished in a tie for ninth as he bids to top the money list on the European and Tours . But it was Hoey who eventually upstaged the big names , leading after his third successive 66 going into the final day and then maintaining his composure as McIlroy went to the turn in just 30 to mount his expected challenge . He came to the last with a one shot lead over McIlroy and after a big drive needed just a deft chip and a putt to close with a birdie to seal his triumph . The 32 year old was claiming his second victory of the year after struggling for so long to break into the big time . "" It hasn ' t sunk in yet and it won ' t for a while , "" Hoey told the European Tour website . "" It ' s taken a long time but I supposed in a weird way you enjoy it more because you have struggled through six goes at the qualifying school , "" he added . McIlroy , who was seven under for his first 11 holes on the final day , was disappointed to miss out on victory . "" I ' ve been very consistent , which is a good thing , but I want to get wins and that ' s the most important thing . "" It ' s good to be one , two , three and see all of us boys up there , I ' m just obviously disappointed that it wasn ' t me lifting the trophy . "" He will now head to play in Korea Open which starts Thursday . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past3123299,3300,"Besides chatter about a third term , there ' s even talk of putting Obama ' s image on Mt Rushmore With a few changes of course ! The 32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( ) , a Democrat , was elected to four terms as president from 1933 to 1945 , through the great Depression and years . The 22nd amendment to the Constitution , ratified in 1951 , limits a president to two consecutive terms . The 22nd amendment keeps President Obama from running for a third term unless a 2 3 vote in both Houses of Congress and 3 4 of the state legislatures approve a change . President Obama has endorsed a new not for profit Democratic Political Action Committee ( ) , Organizing for Action ( ) , that asks for donations of 50 , 000 per person and bundling of 500 , 000 in contributions from rich anonymous progressives ( a contradiction in terms ) . The money provides political access to the president and a night in the Lincoln Bedroom . Five dollar email contributions from the "" great unwashed were not good enough for this Democratic president . Vice President Joe Biden , the shotgun toting kid , with nothing to do the Cleveland poll worker that voted six times for President Obama Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton the ObamaPhone lady , also from Cleveland Hollywood ' s left wing elitist stars Hugo Chavez ( deceased ) labor unions and the New Black Panther party have been contacted by . Employing an unlimited budget these activists are to start an email social media campaign , an in your face rally campaign and place Obama 2016 bumper stickers on Prius and Volt automobiles in each of the 50 states . The goal is to convince members of Congress to initiate the repeal of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution . President Obama ' s new political advisors have indicated he should start smoking cigarettes using a long black cigarette holder , buy a Scottish Terrier , name it Fala and Michelle should change her name to Eleanor . Additionally , White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is to announce that Obama has blown out his knees playing golf with Tiger Woods , must use a motorized wheel chair and has bought a house in Warm Springs Georgia . President Obama sees himself as another , but in reality he is just another failed divisive radical ( fdr ) ! Democratic liberal congresspersons like Nancy Pelosi ( D ) and her lefty compatriots are having an orgasm over another term for President Obama . However , as Republicans control 28 of the 50 state legislatures the possibility of success is slim to none ! April fool ' s day has been renamed foolish electorate day ! ",satire,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present3133300,3301,"New York Three bikers have been indicted in connection with a well publicized clash with a New York driver , the Manhattan District Attorney ' s office said Friday . Craig Wright , 29 , and Reginald Chance , 37 , were indicted Friday , according to the district attorney ' s office . A third man , Robert Sims , 35 , was indicted on Thursday , it said . Authorities say Alexander Lien was chased by bikers after he initially bumped one during a biker rally on September 29 . When his was surrounded by several bikers , Lien called 9 1 1 , told police he feared for his life and drove off , running over bikers and critically injuring one . Lien ' s wife and 2 year old daughter were in the vehicle with him . Lien has not been charged . The chase that followed ended in traffic . Police say Lien ' s windows were smashed he was dragged out of the and beaten . He was treated and released from a hospital . Officials did not detail the formal charges against the three men . In New York , charges in an indictment are not announced until defendants have been arraigned and can enter a plea . Chance was accused of using his helmet to smash the window , according to police . The lawyer for Chance concedes his client "" overreacted , "" but claims he did not take part in beating the driver . Authorities arrested Wright for allegedly hitting the driver through the window of his vehicle . Sims was accused of stomping on the driver after he was pulled from his , authorities said . Wright , Chance and Sims are scheduled to be arraigned on October 30 , according to the district attorney ' s office . At least seven people have been arrested , including the three who were indicted . Authorities , who have appealed for the public ' s help in identifying people in photos , haven ' t ruled out more arrests or charges . Meanwhile , a New York Police officer who works in Internal Affairs joins the ranks of at least two others with the who waited several days to tell their superiors they were at the rally where the driver was beaten and kicked , according to the lawyer for the officer . Bonanno says the officer belongs to a motorcycle club and was riding with hundreds of bikers who participated in the September 29th rally , but insists he didn ' t witness the assault on Lien . "" He wasn ' t aware of anything of the nature posted on YouTube and he doesn ' t have any firsthand knowledge of what was going on , "" Bonanno said . "" Once all the videos are reviewed and witnesses interviewed , we ' ll find that my client has no culpability for anything that happened that day . "" Bonanno offered no explanation as to why the officer waited so long to tell his superiors he was there . "" That will be addressed in an appropriate time and manner , "" he said . Deputy Commissioner John McCarthy declined comment as did the Manhattan District Attorney ' s office . At least two other officers are under investigation . One of them is Detective Wojciech Braszczok , who faces three felony counts including gang assault . Prosecutors say the off duty cop is on video allegedly using his fist to bash in the rear window of Lien ' s and kick it . Braszczok ' s lawyer has denied his client did anything wrong and says video will exonerate him . He is not believed to have witnessed the assault and is not expected to be charged , said the source , who was spoke on condition of anonymity . Outlaws or stunt artists ? Watch Piers Morgan Live weeknights 9 p . m . . For the latest from Piers Morgan click here . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3143313,3314,"For it is a new dynamic , experts say : demanding high value prisoners in exchange for hostages . Three of the prisoners apparently wants back are women a failed suicide bomber , an alleged bomb maker and a woman tied to the head of . The fourth is a child . Many countries have a strategy of not negotiating with terrorists . But this new approach by is putting governments to the test . In its most recent demand , called for Sajida al Rishawi to be handed over . She is a female Jihadi imprisoned for her role in a 2005 suicide bombing at a wedding reception in Jordan that killed dozens . If she wasn ' t brought to the Turkish border by sunset Thursday , the militants said , two hostages would die : Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian pilot Moaz al Kassasbeh . The deadline has passed but the hostages ' fate is unknown . "" By negotiating with , by recognizing them , by even having dialogue with them , it gives them the impression of acting as a state , "" said Sajjan Gohel , international security director at the Asia Pacific Foundation . Jordanian officials have said they are willing to swap al Rishawi for the pilot . But they have demanded "" proof of life "" to demonstrate that al Kassasbeh , captured in December after his fighter jet crashed in Syria , is still alive . Former negotiator Chris Voss said Jordan was absolutely right to do so and that the failure of so far to provide proof of life was suspicious . "" It ' s just a natural and ordinary course of bargains in these types of negotiations and they are choosing not to do that at this point , "" he said . The latest proposal by is not a prisoner exchange in the usual sense since the militants now want the release of al Rishawi just in order not to kill the two hostages , rather than promising their release . Voss said entering into this kind of territory with terrorists was dangerous "" If you engage in that sort of bargain then they can threaten to kill the same person over and over and over again and continue to demand release of hostages or whatever their demands are , "" he said . "" You can ' t give in to that sort of thing because then it puts you in an endless loop where they have all the power . "" It ' s important to remember that for and groups like them , the key factor is gain , Voss said . "" Kidnappers are in a commodities exchange business . While it ' s a horrifying concept to us , to them it ' s business and it ' s the business is in and so you have to treat it like that . "" Besides failed suicide bomber al Rishawi , wants two other women an alleged bomb maker and a woman tied to the head of and a child . Each of the prisoners is symbolically and strategically important for the terror group . Al Rishawi is connected to through her brother , once a ranking member of al Qaeda in Iraq , which spawned . In exchange for American journalists James Foley and , later , Steven Sotloff demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui , nicknamed "" Lady Al Qaeda "" an imprisoned neuroscientist in the United States , linked to 9 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . She was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 carrying bomb making documents for a "" mass casualty "" chemical and biological weapons attack against American targets including the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge . One high profile prisoner who has not yet publicly demanded is Saja al Dulaimi . She may be the wife of shadowy leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi , who fought with al Qaeda in Iraq , though the Iraqi Interior Ministry has disputed that . Since their capture in March 2014 , Baghdadi has been calling to get his child released , a regional source said . In the past , in similar cases , governments have budged . Last year , the United States traded several Taliban captives for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl , who was captured by the extremist group almost five years earlier . Despite claims that Bergdahl may have abandoned his post before being kidnapped , the State Department defended the move , saying it was nothing unusual . "" It is consistent absolutely with what ' s happened in previous wars including Korea , including Vietnam , "" said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf , adding that there was "" a long history in the United States of prisoner swaps . "" During the Cold War , the West also swapped hundreds of spies with Communist bloc countries . But prisoner swaps with extremist groups remain controversial . In 2011 , Israel made a major made a major concession to its arch enemy , the Palestinian militant group Hamas , which runs Gaza . It exchanged more than 1 , 000 Palestinian prisoners in return for the soldier Gilad Shalit , who had been kidnapped in Gaza in 2006 . Hamas celebrated the deal as a major victory and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was heavily criticized . Duncan Bullivant , a based risk consultant , says swapping prisoners for hostages is still better than paying for release of prisoners , as some European countries do . "" The payment of cash ransom can been seen as the direct funding of terrorist organizations and for that reason and a few others , is regarded as unacceptable certainly by the U . S . , and increasingly other nations , "" he said . "" There would be nothing unusual about the swapping of combatants and if the Japanese victim is thrown in as part of the deal , then that is a great bonus . "" It ' s sadly far from certain that Goto and al Kassasbeh will emerge from the current negotiations alive . But whether they gain the release of al Rishawi or not , ' leaders have very clearly achieved one goal : maximum media coverage for their cause . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present3153338,3339,"A collection of weird and wonderful postcards dating back to 1900 show the Victorians were not far off in predicting the future of travel in the 21st century . While most of the ideas remain totally unachievable in the modern world , some of the concepts are not dissimilar to the lives we lead today . The moving pavement is one that we can credit the Victorians for just about every airport now has travelators , and even a break to the North Pole isn ' t too far from reality , as more and more people begin to venture further afield for a more adventurous holiday . It may not quite be mainstream yet , but trips to the North Pole are taken on my some explorers as we seek to broaden our knowledge Ships that can go out to sea and then transform into a wheeled vehicle to carry on land are yet to make an appearance Travel on boats with glass lookouts that go underwater the nearest we have is submarines The 12 drawings are based on predictions made in 1900 as to how the world would look 100 years on , and they leave little to the imagination . Among the warped ideas are moveable houses , undersea ships and even a roofed city , each illustrated with a suitably unrealistic picture of how the idea would play out . However , a good weather machine remains as much of a pipe dream as it did a century ago , and people seem happier to travel by commercial aeroplane rather than an individual flying machine . Moveable brick stone houses and buildings might not be quite right , but we do have mobile homes Hot air balloon rides to travel the world have been somewhat superseded by aeroplanes and trains The postcards were the idea of Theodore Hildebrand and Son a German chocolate company pictured here is a weather machine A walled city , as predicted by the Victorians , might not work in this days and age with pollution from fumes being the biggest worry But , in an era that invented the telephone , the light bulb and even the first ceramic toilet , the Victorians appear to have had a fairly good insight into what the future had to offer . The postcards were the idea of Theodore Hildebrand and Son a German chocolate company who decided to get in on the future telling business with a crafty marketing campaign . For a short time , they slipped the colourful cards depicting theoretical life in the year 2000 into boxes of their sweets , predicting how a range of activities would be upgraded for the 21st Century . This scene is not too dissimilar to us using paragliders and handgliders to get around and explore the landscape Individual water travel was predicted by the Victorians , but this hasn ' t exactly taken off Moving walkways to get around were predicted by the Victorians , and these are seen today in many of our airports The Victorians looked ahead to how our states would be policed as well as how we would travel the world The postcards predicted what life would be like in the year 2000 ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3163339,3340,"presidential hopeful Donald Trump talks to supporters following the Republican presidential debate at Milwaukee Theatre last night . Republicans clashed on immigration last night as the high stakes fight that could decide the 2016 election , with Ted Cruz saying the party has to avoid acting like Democrats , while Jeb Bush claimed that touting mass deportation is the worst thing the could do . The Democrats are laughing , because if Republicans join Democrats as the party of amnesty , we will lose , Texas Sen . Cruz said in the fourth debate . The politics of it would be very , very different if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were crossing the Rio Grande . Or if a bunch of people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down the wages in the press . Citing rule of law , Cruz said , We re tired of being told it s anti immigrant . It s offensive . But former Florida Gov . Bush insisted deporting as many as 12 million illegal immigrants isn t feasible and campaigning on such a plan would hand the presidential election to the Democrats . Even having this conversation sends a powerful signal ? they re doing high fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this , said Bush . That s the problem with this . We have to win the presidency . And the way you win the presidency is to have practical plans . Ohio Gov . John Kasich was more dramatic , trying to paint a picture of what a mass deportation would do across America . Think about the families , said Kasich . Think about the children . Come on , folks , we all know you can t pick them up and ship them across the border . It s a silly argument . Donald Trump , who supports mass deportation , said he was so happy about the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unbelievable decision to block President Obama s executive orders on illegal immigration on Monday . It was a terrific thing that that happened , said Trump . We are a country of laws . We need borders . We will have a wall . . . If you think walls don t work , all you have to do is ask Israel . Neurosurgeon Ben Carson sought to cast media scrutiny he s faced over his life story as baseless . The fact of the matter is we should vet all candidates , said Carson . But he said that reporters hardly applied the same level of examination to Democrat Hillary Clinton over Benghazi : When I look at someone like Hillary Clinton who sits there and tells her daughter and government official this was a terrorist attack and tells everyone else it was a video ? where I come from they call that a lie . Florida Sen . Marco Rubio was not questioned about the personal finances controversy that has dogged him over the last week , and had one of his strongest moments with a call to avoid raising the minimum wage , even as protesters around the country yesterday called for it to be hiked to 15 . If you raise the minimum wage , you are going to make people more expensive than machines , said Rubio . Moderators Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Network and Gerard Baker , the editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal , were hoping to avoid a repeat of the debate meltdown last month where the hosts were unprepared and quickly became the target of candidate ridicule . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3173347,3348,"Angela Merkel Suggests China Resolve South China Sea Row in Courts World Reuters Updated : October 29 , 2015 17 : 54 German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin , Germany , October 28 , 2015 . ( Reuters ) Beijing , China : ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern today about a territorial dispute between the Chinese and navies in the South China Sea , and suggested China go to international courts to resolve the row . On a two day visit to China , Merkel said it was essential that sea trade routes remain open despite the dispute , which flared up after a warship challenged China ' s territorial assertions in the disputed waters this week . "" The territorial dispute in the South China Sea is a serious conflict . I am always a bit surprised why in this case multinational courts should not be an option for a solution , "" Merkel said in speech in Beijing . "" Nevertheless , we wish that the sea trade routes stay free and safe , because they are important for all . "" Beijing rebuked Washington for sending a guided missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of one of China ' s man made islands in the Spratly archipelago on Tuesday , saying it had tracked and warned the Lassen and called in the ambassador to protest . Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang earlier addressed the situation in Syria , and agreed there must be a political solution to the crisis there . Russia last month began air strikes on targets in Syria in a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war . This has been criticised by the West as an attempt to prop up Syrian President Bashar al Assad , rather than its purported aim of attacking Islamic State militants . A big focus of Merkel ' s China trip is trade and she keen to shore up German business interests challenged by Volkswagen ' s emissions scandal and the flurry of deals clinched during President Xi Jinping ' s visit to Britain last week . Her visit paid dividends , with China and Germany signing a deal that will see Chinese airlines buy 130 jets manufactured by European planemaker Airbus Group . Merkel also said Germany and China were ready to sign a deal to abstain from industrial spying . "" We want to sign an agreement that both sides abstain from industrial espionage , "" Merkel said , noting that the United States and Britain already have such accords with China . "" We want to follow quickly , "" she added . "" We are happy that China is willing to do that . "" Merkel is making the trip a year after agreeing an innovation partnership deal with China to develop business ties . China would like to make better use of it to tap German know how in technological developments . Li said China would like to learn from Germany ' s industrial capabilities . "" The Chinese government will continue to firmly promise to protect intellectual property , and firmly oppose the theft of commercial secrets , "" he said . "" We both hope and believe that we should start , as soon as possible , a feasibility study on China free trade area negotiations , and work to establish a China free trade area , "" Li added . Story First Published : October 29 , 2015 17 : 51 ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3183348,3349,"One of the brothers suspected of carrying out the Charlie Hebdo attack was mentored by a terrorist linked to London ' s notorious Finsbury Park mosque . The revelation will raise concerns about British links to this week ' s terrorist atrocity in France . Cherif Kouachi , 32 , met Djamel Beghal , 50 , who was once accused of being Osama bin Laden ' s main European recruiter , while in prison in Paris . Mentored : Cherif Kouachi ( left ) , 32 , met Djamel Beghal ( right ) , 50 , who was once accused of being Osama bin Laden ' s main European recruiter , while in prison in Paris Notorious : Kouachi was mentored by terrorist Beghal , who has links to London ' s Finsbury Park mosque He maintained his links with the Al Qaeda lynchpin after being released from jail . Kouachi , who is on the run after Wednesday ' s attack on the Paris satirical magazine , was secretly photographed by French intelligence officers meeting Beghal while he was under house arrest in Murat in central France in April 2010 . Also present were two other convicted terrorists , jihadi recruiter Ahmed Laidouni and Algerian Armed Islamic Group member Farid Melouk . Beghal attended hate cleric Abu Qatada ' s prayer meetings in London , and is also said to have been a ' constant presence ' at the Finsbury Park mosque in the late 1990s , when it was Abu Hamza ' s base . He allegedly recruited the shoe bomber Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui , the ' 20th hijacker ' in the 9 11 attacks , at the London mosque . Claimed links : Beghal allegedly recruited the shoe bomber Richard Reid ( left ) and Zacarias Moussaoui ( right ) , the ' 20th hijacker ' in the 9 11 attacks , at the London mosque Radical : Beghal attended the prayer meetings held by hate cleric Abu Qatada ( pictured ) in London Knowledge : Reda Hassaine ( pictured ) , who worked as a paid MI5 informant inside the Finsbury Park mosque in the late 1990s and early 2000s , said Beghal was a well known figure there in this period Beghal , who also had links to Leicester , is also said to have met one of Osama bin Laden ' s key deputies at the former Al Qaeda leader ' s base in Afghanistan . The terror leader spent ten years in prison in France for planning attacks . He was only released in 2010 . Reda Hassaine , who worked as a paid MI5 informant inside the Finsbury Park mosque in the late 1990s and early 2000s , said Beghal was a well known figure there in this period . He said Beghal had connections to both Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza , and had been influenced by their teachings . ' A completely new generation , who have never met these people in London , have learned their ideology indirectly and are now willing to die in jihad . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3193367,3368,"Russia has moved air defence system into Syria Germany , U . S . have moved Patriots out of Turkey , Dec 1 allies sought on Tuesday to strengthen Turkey ' s defences along its Syrian border after the United States withdrew its missile defence battery for modernisation , leaving Ankara exposed as Russia intensifies actions in the area . Germany has also removed its Patriot battery supporting Turkish air defences on the frontier , leaving Spain as lone ally with Patriots there , and raising strategy questions at a time when Ankara says it faces Russian airspace violations . "" We need to support Turkey , "" Canada ' s Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said on arrival in Brussels for meetings with his peers , as offers of ships and aircraft began to trickle in from allies . U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry will also push for other members to do more to protect Turkey as well as to step up actions in the U . S . led coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria , a senior State Department official said . "" We have a number of allies who are considering increasing their effort to support Turkish sovereignty and security , but also looking at operations in Syria , adding to what the French have been doing over recent weeks , "" the official told reporters . "" The secretary will make the case that we need even more . "" Foreign ministers are expected to formally agree on Tuesday to send more military hardware to Turkey ' s borders and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he expected a decisions on a package "" within weeks "" . deployed its Patriot missiles along the border in January 2013 , to shoot down any missiles from Syria ' s conflict fired into Turkish territory . Ankara had appealed to the alliance to maintain the defences even before the flare up of tensions with Russia over airspace violations . Turkey shot down a Russian bomber in its airspace on Nov . 24 , in the first known incident of its kind since the Cold War . While the Turkish air force has shown it is capable of intercepting Russian jets on bombing raids in Syria that stray into Turkish airspace , diplomats say sending military support to Turkey is also designed to reassure Ankara and calm tensions . So far , the United States has moved jets to the Turkish air base Incirlik , while Britain has said it will also send jets to the region . Germany and Denmark are sending ships to the fleet in the eastern Mediterranean . Seeking to engage with Russia to defeat Islamic State , ' s Stoltenberg said strengthening the Turkish air defence was not a knee jerk reaction to the Nov . 24 incident . "" We have decided to address the need to support Turkey before the incident last week , "" he said . "" The focus now should be on how we can de escalate and how we can calm tensions . "" However , diplomats noted that Islamic State does not have an air force that could confront ' s anti aircraft deterrents . Russia has said it will move a modern air defence system that can hit missiles and aircraft from up to 400 kilometres away to its Syrian base at Latakia . ( Reporting by Robin Emmott , Sabine Siebold and Arshad Mohammed Writing by Robin Emmott editing by Ralph Boulton ) ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3203373,3374,"Battles for Senate Lead to ‘Precipitous Rise’ in Cloaked Money Spending Deirdre Fulton / Common Dreams Hey, big spender: The battle for one of Pennsylvania’s seats in the Senate pits Republican incumbent Pat Toomey (pictured) against Democratic opponent Katie McGinty in a race edging close to the record for total spending on a campaign for Congress. (Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC-BY-SA) “We have truly crossed a new Rubicon,” one campaign finance expert says in response to new data showing record levels of outside spending pouring into high-stakes Senate races this election cycle. According to an analysis released Tuesday by the Brennan Center for Justice at School of Law, outside groups—free from contribution limits and sometimes able to conceal their donors from the public—are outspending both political parties and candidates “in the battle for control of the U.S. Senate.” In fact, of the $557 million spent so far in 10 key Senate contests, the Brennan Center says such groups are responsible for $282 million, or 51 percent. Further, in each of the four most expensive contests—Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania—candidates account for 37 percent or less of total spending. Advertisement Square, Site wide “This may be a new high for non-party outside spending, although direct comparisons to past cycles are hindered by a lack of available data,” the report states . Brennan Center The analysis takes into account “shadow party groups—super PACs and nonprofits run by former top staff of party committees or party leaders and able to mimic party spending strategy—as nonparty outside groups,” the Brennan Center explains. “This is because these groups, despite being controlled to some degree by the parties, take unlimited contributions and sometimes hide their donors. That the parties are increasingly outsourcing their finances to unregulated shadow parties severely weakens the campaign finance system’s protections against corruption and undue influence.” Among the report’s other notable findings: ● winning outside money battle: Nearly 60 percent of the money spent so far in top Senate races supports candidates, a reversal from 2014. Dark money spending, from groups that conceal their donors, favors candidates six to one. ● Dark money spending is highly concentrated: Just three groups, One Nation, with ties to Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; the Koch network’s Americans for Prosperity; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, account for 67 percent of all dark money spending. “The precipitous rise of outside groups is problematic for a few reasons,” said study author Ian Vandewalker, counsel in the Brennan Center’s democracy program. “Unlike the parties and candidates, they are free to accept donations of unlimited size and can conceal their funders from the public,” he continued. “So the bigger a role they play in an election, the more political power is concentrated in the hands of a few million-dollar funders and professional political operatives, with a consequent loss in power for the millions of Americans who can’t afford jumbo donations. While this problem was created in part by 2010’s Citizens United decision , the 2016 data shows we have truly crossed a new Rubicon.” To snatch back some of that power, the Brennan Center calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its damaging decision in Citizens United; for stronger rules against coordination between candidates and outside groups; for improved disclosure and transparency laws; and “most fundamentally” for a public campaign financing system to “provide an alternative to the incentives to chase bigger and bigger checks that currently drive political spending, allowing candidates to fund competitive campaigns without relying on the wealthiest donors.” Two such public financing systems are on statewide ballots this November. TAGS:",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past3213395,3396,""" Mississippi Sen . Trent Lott , the Republican leader , said he thought that we need to fish or cut bait ( on a stimulus package ) this coming week ' because there are indications the economy could be recovering . "" , Dec . 10 , 2001 Partisan Bickering Temporarily Halted to Fend Off Common Threat Washington , D . C . Concerned over reports the economy could rebound on its own , both houses of Congress on Monday passed legislation that prohibits the economy from recovering until Congress can pass legislation allowing it to recover . "" We have been fighting for two months to pass an emergency economic stimulus package , and now , when we ' re perhaps only two to four years away from agreement , we cannot allow some rogue economy to unilaterally decide to recover without our involvement , "" said Sen . Harry Reid , D Nev . , who co sponsored the bill . "" Just imagine the anarchy , "" Reid continued . "" Without oversight , what would this recovery look like ? Who would receive the most benefits ? Would this be a Republican recovery , or a Democratic recovery ? It ' s chilling to consider that these questions would not have answers . "" Added South Carolina Republican Sen . Strom Thurmond : "" The American people elected me to do a job , and I ' d appreciate it if someone could tell me what it was . "" As for the penalties that await the economy should it attempt to act without legislative approval , Congressional leaders did not hesitate to wave the big stick : anti trust hearings . "" Up until now , we ' ve allowed the U . S . economy to function as a monopoly , but we could easily change that , maybe open things up to some competing economies , "" said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott , R Miss . "" Perhaps we could invite the Japanese economy in here . Or the Romanian economy . That wouldn ' t be too pleasant . "" Meanwhile , Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle , responding to accusations leveled Sunday by temporarily visible Vice President Dick Cheney , denied he was purposefully obstructing the stimulus package to make Republicans appear weak on the economy . Instead , Daschle insisted , the stimulus package is being held up by the Centers for Disease Control . "" My staff is under strict instructions that any package or parcel that arrives must be cleared by health officials before it is opened , "" Daschle said . "" Until that stimulus package is adequately tested , we simply will not open it . "" White House spokesman Ari Fleischer , however , said he found it "" suspicious "" that Daschle had so far requested the conduct 136 , 442 separate tests on the package . Asked for his response , Vice President Cheney said he would not be corporeal again until Thursday . Added Sen . Thurmond : "" The American people elected me to do a job , and I think this is Wednesday . "" ",satire,text,test,World conflict,US elections,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past3223401,3402,"Hillary Clinton , Bernie Sanders and Martin O ' Malley marked Martin Luther King Day on Monday The candidates noted the removal of the Confederate battle flag last year Hillary Clinton , Bernie Sanders and Martin O ' Malley marked Martin Luther King Day on Monday by telling a largely black audience on the steps of the South Carolina statehouse that King ' s legacy is alive and well in today ' s civil rights movement . A day after the candidates squared off in a fiery debate , they came to Columbia , South Carolina , and largely agreed that while King ' s impact can still be felt today , work still needs to be done to guarantee racial equality . Candidates Martin O ' Malley , Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders take part in the final Democratic presidential debate before the caucuses . Clinton and Sanders began the evening trading barbs on gun control . Clinton slammed Sanders for voting "" with the , with the gun lobby numerous times . "" Sanders hit back , arguing that he had a D minus voting rating from the National Rifle Association and rejected her list of charges . Clinton and Sanders also argued over health care . "" We finally have a path to universal health care , we have accomplished so much already . I do not want to see the Republicans repeal it and I don ' t want us to start all over again with a contentious debate , "" said Clinton . Sanders angrily rejected Clinton ' s claims that his plans would result in the gutting of Obamacare , saying that he wanted to build on the achievements of the current president , not overturn them . "" No one is tearing this up , we are going to go forward , "" Sanders said , his voice rising in anger . "" That is nonsense . "" A new Wall Street Journal national poll on Sunday showed Clinton leading Sanders 59 to 34 , with the third candidate in the race , former Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley , at 2 . Martin O ' Malley delivered a dig at the candidates , recounting a voter asking him to not refer to her son , who serves in the military , as a pair of boots on the ground . O ' Malley said Republicans use , "" boots on the ground , "" when they ' re "" trying to look all bravado and macho sending other peoples ' kids into combat . "" "" Yes , the challenges we face are many , but so are the quiet heroes working in every corner of America today doing their part to make our country a better place , "" said the former secretary of state . "" I for one receive much inspiration from that simple fact . "" There was symbolism in the event organized by the : In front of a statehouse that flew the Confederate battle flag until it was taken down last year . All three candidates noted the flag being removed . "" The flag is down but we are still here because that flag was just one piece of something bigger , "" Clinton said . "" Dr King died with his work unfinished and it is up to us to see through . "" : Democrats outraged at Michigan governor over Flint water crisis Sanders argued that King is not just a historic figure , but someone whose moral compass should guide people today . Repeating the phrase "" I think if he were here today , "" Sanders argued that if King were alive today , he would be supporting many of his presidential positions . "" As we celebrate his life it is terribly important to me that we don ' t just look at him as a museum figure , somebody in the past , "" the Vermont senator said . "" It is important to me that we look at his vision , to see the America he wanted to see . "" Sanders and O ' Malley walked in the sponsored march before the event , strolling down the streets of Charleston as activists chanted . O ' Malley , whose birthday is Monday , laughed when asked what he wanted for his birthday , telling reporters that he is hoping for "" beat expectations "" in Iowa for his birthday . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3233408,3409,"He is no stranger to controversy and has made headlines for his views on rape , paedophilia and aborting babies with Down ' s syndrome . Yesterday Professor Richard Dawkins turned his attention to the subject of people who set fireworks off all year round and the distress they cause animals . The 73 year old biologist unleashed a furious rant on line after he claimed his beloved dogs were left terrorised by the loud bangs . Prof Richard Dawkins unleashed a furious rant on line after he claimed his beloved dogs were left terrorised by the loud bangs caused by fireworks Taking to social network site Twitter , Prof Dawkins told his one million followers the explosions are no longer reserved for specific celebrations : ' It isn ' t Guy Fawkes Day . It isn ' t New Year . It isn ' t even a weekend . Why are there fireworks , terrifying the dogs and other non human animals ? ' Prof Dawkins , who taught at Oxford University until his retirement in 2008 , added in a second Tweet : ' Selfishly , I like fireworks . But I suspect that my dogs ' terror is typical of thousands of animals , tame and wild . Don ' t you care about them ? ' Prof Dawkins , an outspoken atheist , made his comments on Monday night , several days after Diwali , known as the festival of light and celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs , which saw scores of fireworks let off last week . In theory the next set of rockets should not be expected until November 5 when bonfire night marks Guy Fawkes ' s unsuccessful plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 . Prof Dawkins takes to twitter to vent his spleen about the letting off of fireworks all year round According to Prof Dawkins , this is no longer the case . He later tweeted : ' Many replies to my firework tweet say it ' s only 2 or 3 days a year . If only . In Oxford it ' s most weekends and often ( as now ) weekdays too . ' The academic was flooded with support for his comments , made on Monday night , from dog owners across the world who called for firework displays to be restricted or banned . One wrote : ' We had to lock our dog in the bathroom with a fan running to dull the noise this year . Terrified of sounds for weeks after . ' Another posted : ' My mother ' s dog was diagnosed by the vet with a "" stress reaction "" related to fireworks on July 4 here in the . ' Others told how their dogs had run away or been injured after being scared by the noise . And many of Prof Dawkins ' s followers from overseas shared their own nations ' rules on firework use , including in Vancouver British Columbia , Canada , where use of fireworks requires a permit to be obtained . Private displays are also prohibited in most of Australia . In the , under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 , anyone over the age of 18 can buy and use fireworks One Twitter user wrote : ' Believe it or not Prof , but even South Africa has banned private fireworks years ago in consideration to pets and animals . ' In the , under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 , anyone over the age of 18 can buy and use fireworks . Some shops are only licensed to sell fireworks around special events , such as New Year , but others are licenced all year round . According to the Dogs ' Trust , 66 per cent of dogs in the are frightened of fireworks . A recent survey carried out by the charity found that 80 per cent of pet owners believe fireworks should be restricted to organised official displays . According to the Dogs ' Trust , 66 per cent of dogs in the are frightened of fireworks Describing the distress fireworks can cause , a spokesman for the campaign group Peta said : ' Richard Dawkins is absolutely right fireworks can be a nightmare for animals as , from their perspective , it seems that World War has suddenly broken out . The booms , bangs , pops and whizzes of Catherine wheels , Roman candles and other fireworks ignite fear , terror and panic in our beloved animal companions as well as in birds and other wildlife . ' Prof Dawkins did not elaborate on the number of dogs he owns during his Twitter discussion but in a photoshoot for a newspaper last year he was pictured clutching his dog Tycho . Another of his dogs called Pamba died five years ago . Earlier this year the scientist said babies with Down ' s syndrome should be aborted and parents should ' try again ' . He was also condemned by women and child abuse victims for referring to ' mild date rape ' and ' mild paedophilia ' in a Twitter discussion about ' logical thinking ' . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3243430,3431,"Some Liverpool fans might look down tonight ' s team sheet and wonder who many of the Bournemouth side are . But one name will evoke pain , far more even than was felt during the weekend humbling at Old Trafford . It ' s five years since Dan Gosling waltzed inside the Park End penalty area at Goodison Park in the dying minutes of extra time to score the winner in a fourth round Cup Merseyside derby replay . The goal went down in Everton legend . Then 19 , Gosling became big business overnight but saw a hugely impressive start curtailed by two season ending injuries . Dan Gosling relaxes in the stands at Dean Court ahead of his side ' s clash with Liverpool Gosling ( right ) and his Bournemouth side have blazed a trail through this season ' s League Cup competition With the scores tied 0 0 in the 2009 fourth round replay , Gosling fires a shot just two minutes before full time Gosling ( right ) watches his strike soar over the Liverpool defence during extra time at Goodison Park Gosling is mobbed by Leighton Baines ( second left ) and Phil Jagielka ( right ) after his match winning strike The rest of his Everton team mates arrive to congratulate the Merseyside derby hero Now , under the watchful eye of Eddie Howe , Gosling and the rest of this small seaside town are ready to have a crack at Brendan Rodgers ' beleaguered Reds in tonight ' s Capital One Cup quarter final . ' It was a proud moment , one of the greatest of my career so far , ' says Gosling , reflecting on a goal that half the country didn ' t see after television feeds momentarily failed . ' It flashed back on when I was at the bottom of the pile . It cut off down in Brixton where my mum lives , but they made the Tic Tac advert out of it ( the company recreated the goal ) , so it probably got more exposure than it would ' ve done . It ' d be nice to replicate it tonight . ' Gosling ' s goal was recreated by the Tic Tac ' s company for a humorous ad Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has steered his side to the summit of the Championship table While the central midfielder is finding it difficult to force his way into the Championship table toppers ' league side , the former Newcastle man has been key in this cup run . Bournemouth are the top scorers in the country , and a 12 match unbeaten run has propelled them from quirky outsiders to potential New Year league leaders . Gosling and Howe laughed off suggestions that they are favourites for tonight ' s tie , but the problems sweeping Anfield makes this a tougher result to call than it was when they met in January . Why the Cherries , whose 12 , 000 capacity Goldsands Stadium would be the smallest ever in the top flight , are performing way above their natural station is no mystery . Howe is the hottest young property in English management . ' Training ' s very intense , ' says Gosling . ' It gets videoed , so there ' s no slacking off . We video every training session , and the coaching staff watch it every afternoon . ' That has the stamp of Rodgers on it . The two managers are good friends and Howe has observed his methods . But this level of analysis isn ' t even common practice in the Premier League . ' Sometimes you get pulled in the morning after yesterday ' s display , ' Gosling adds . ' When I signed and they told me I was a bit like , "" really ? "" I didn ' t believe it . Bournemouth ' s Matt Ritchie ( centre ) celebrates scoring during his side ' s 5 3 demolition of Cardiff City Harry Arter ( right ) celebrates making it 2 0 as Bournemouth took the Welsh club apart Bournemouth ' s Pugh ( right ) is congratulated by Brett Pitman ( left ) as they warm up for the visit of Liverpool ' Whether it ' s rain , snow , the cameras are always up . You end up forgetting about it . This is your profession . If you ' re not working hard and not enjoying it there ' s something wrong . ' Our manager is so young ( 37 ) and so clever tactically . To know all the stuff he does is amazing really . ' When we do some of the drills how has he thought of them ? Give me a week and I wouldn ' t think of some of the passing drills he does . ' Howe puts his rise down to watching football all week , every week , much like Roberto Martinez or Rodgers . When asked exactly how much he watches , Howe said : ' I would have to lie my wife will see this . ' As for Gosling , he hopes a Bournemouth goal to sink Liverpool will be replayed just as many times as that one back in 2009 . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3253451,3452,"Reuters) - Arab countries and Qatar should enter into direct talks to solve a diplomatic dispute, Russia s foreign minister said on a trip to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, urging all parties to restore regional unity. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups - a charge it denies. We have confirmed our position (that we are) in favor of settling the disagreements by means of negotiations, by directly expressing concerns and achieving solutions which would take into account the concerns and the interests of all parties, the minister, Sergei Lavrov, told a news conference in Jeddah. We are interested in all those mediatory efforts that are currently being made producing results and the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) being restored, he added. Kuwait and the United States have been mediating to reach a breakthrough in the three-month long crisis that has put the whole region on edge, and prompted Turkey to send troops to the wealthy Gulf state in a sign of support. Last week, Saudi Arabia suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of distorting facts , just after a report of a phone call between the leaders of both countries suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the news conference that Qatar needed to show seriousness in finding a solution to the crisis. We want clarity in the Qatari position, we want seriousness in finding a solution to this crisis that leads to the implementation of principles which all countries support: no supporting terrorism, no welcoming unwanted guests, no spreading hate, no intervention in others affairs, Jubeir said. The two ministers also discussed the planned de-escalation zones in Syria and unification of the Syrian opposition. The kingdom supports the creation of de-escalation zones and looks forward to starting a political process that will end the Syrian crisis, Jubeir said. President Bashar al-Assad s negotiators have not met directly with the opposition because there is no unified delegation from the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) and two other groups, known as the Cairo and Moscow platforms, all claim to represent the opposition. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3263481,3482,"SHOCK: 15-Year-Old Document Explodes on Hillary… 21 Children Died Oct 28, 2016 Previous post It has been suggested that Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is perfectly with people dying if it furthers a particular agenda or serves to protect her own vested interests. By way of example we could easily point to the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack, in which four Americans under the auspices of Clinton’s State Department were killed, or her staunch support for abortion , which has abruptly ended the lives of millions of innocent babies before they were even born. Now it has been alleged that Clinton may bear responsibility for the deaths of children who had already been born, 21 of them to be exact, who perished tragically in the massive inferno that enveloped the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993, according to David T. Hardy, an attorney and Waco expert writing for The American Thinker . Those who remember what happened in Waco will recall that there had been a long and intense standoff between dozens of members of a cult and federal authorities over alleged trafficking and possession of illegal firearms. That standoff ultimately degenerated into an all-out assault on the compound with armored vehicles, heavy weapons and copious amounts of tear gas, eventually starting a massive fire that burned the compound to the ground, killing 74 members of the group, including 21 children. That tragedy has been largely blamed on then-Attorney General Janet Reno, but there is some evidence to suggest that the order to assault the compound came from the Clinton White House, perhaps even from Hillary herself. One piece of evidence that may point to that conclusion is the transcript of the FBI’s interview with Lisa Foster following the death of her husband Vince, which was ruled a suicide. Foster described how troubled",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past3273488,3489,"Ohio Early on , Maria Lauterbach knew exactly what she wanted to do in life . Dressed in her high school soccer uniform , Maria Lauterbach said she wanted to be a Marine , then a cop . Lauterbach became a Marine , but her dreams were cut short . Her body was found buried in the backyard of a fellow Marine , Cpl . Cesar Laurean , near Camp Lejeune , North Carolina , in January . Watch Lauterbach talk about her future plans Mary Lauterbach , Maria ' s mother , wants to know why the Marines didn ' t do more to protect her daughter from Laurean , whom Maria Lauterbach had accused of rape in May 2007 . Laurean now faces murder charges . He fled the Camp Lejeune area on January 11 . The says he went to his native Mexico , and a cousin of Laurean ' s reported seeing him in Zapopan , Mexico , in mid January . Mary Lauterbach has sent a list of more than 30 questions to the commandant of the U . S . Marine Corps , Gen . James Conway , through her congressman . She says she ' s unconvinced her daughter ' s rape allegation against Laurean was treated seriously . Maria Lauterbach was 20 years old and eight months pregnant when she was reported missing after she failed to report for duty at Camp Lejeune in mid December . Her body was found nearly a month later beneath a fire pit in Laurean ' s backyard . It is unclear whether he was the father of her unborn child . After Maria Lauterbach accused Laurean of rape , she was moved to another office , and military protective orders were issued to keep the accused from the accuser . But Mary Lauterbach and her congressman , Rep . Mike Turner , say the Marines didn ' t do enough to protect her . "" My daughter wanted to be transferred to another base , "" her mother said . She said her daughter told her in phone conversations that she would occasionally see Laurean at meetings and that it traumatized her . The questions Turner , an Ohio Republican , sent to Conway include what steps were taken to protect Lauterbach after she accused Laurean of rape why no search was launched immediately after she failed to report for duty whether she requested a transfer to another base before her death and whether Laurean was asked for a sample after her pregnancy was confirmed . Merle Wilberding , Lauterbach ' s family attorney , said the military protective order "" really wasn ' t very effective . "" Wilberding also questions the length of the investigation . The next step would have been an Article 32 hearing , the military ' s equivalent of a open grand jury proceeding . Lauterbach disappeared in mid December when she failed to show up for work . "" May 11 to December 14 is a long time for resentment to fester , if that ' s what it was , "" Wilberding says . "" The longer these cases go on , I think the more difficult it is for the victim , "" he adds . After Maria Lauterbach first leveled her charges , she changed her story but later continued to claim she was raped by Laurean . "" The problem is when someone has perceived credibility issues , you still must protect the person who is making those claims , "" her mother said . The Marine Corps has said it reviewed its handling of Lauterbach ' s rape allegations . Turner says a general told him everything was done appropriately . Laurean denied the rape allegation or any other sexual contact with Lauterbach . In a statement issued after her death , the Marine Corps said Laurean ' s denial "" was believed to significant evidence . "" During a press briefing after Lauterbach ' s body was found , the Marines described her as a "" solid Marine "" and the fugitive Laurean as a "" stellar Marine . "" Turner called the latter statement "" really unexplainable . "" "" I don ' t know how you can be a stellar Marine and have another Marine buried in your backyard , "" he said . "" And when that statement was made , those Marines already knew of the tragedy that had befallen Maria . "" Mary Lauterbach said her daughter would be proud of her persistence : "" I do this totally for her and for the protection of everyone else ' s daughter . "" E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past3283492,3493,"The series "" Mad Men "" has been honored for its sharp writing , polished acting and engaging portrayal of life at a New York advertising agency in the early 1960s . "" Mad Men "" has gotten attention from fashion designers and clothing merchandisers . It has also been much noticed for something else : its fashion sense . The series , which features all the looks of that era thin lapeled suits and skinny ties , crinoline puffed dresses and pencil skirts , Peter Pan collars and subdued pinks and greens has attracted attention from fashion designers and clothing merchandisers . Banana Republic , which has placed "" Mad Men "" inspired clothes in its window displays , is even offering a walk on role for the winner of a contest . "" Mad Men , "" which returns for its third season Sunday , isn ' t the first Hollywood creation to influence fashion trends . For decades , movies and television shows have played a primary role in dictating people ' s fashion choices , whether they ' ve been aware of it or not . Here are a few examples . 1 . In the 1934 film "" It Happened One Night , "" star Clark Gable took off his shirt and showed his bare chest , instead of the standard white undershirt . For decades , an urban legend has maintained that undershirt sales dropped up to 75 percent , not to recover until World War . Though the mythbusting site Snopesweblink says the truth is uncertain , it ' s testimony to the legend ' s strength that we ' re still talking about it 75 years later . 2 . The 1967 film "" Bonnie and Clyde , "" with its ( somewhat idealized ) Depression era fashion , continues to inspire today ' s designers . Faye Dunaway ' s berets , scarves , trench coats , fitted cardigans and long pencil skirts were a hit at the time and remain so today . 3 . "" Annie Hall "" boldly showed women that the masculine preppy look was attractive . Star Diane Keaton wore baggy pants , dress shirts , a vest and tie in the 1977 Woody Allen film . The film is said to have influenced a spike in tie sales for women . 4 . "" Saturday Night Fever "" rejuvenated a fading disco craze in 1977 and told men it ' s to wear crotch hugging pants , wide open , chest baring shirts and large medallion jewelry . John Travolta ' s white polyester suit later bought by film critic Gene Siskel at auction became a disco era icon . 5 . The 1983 film "" Flashdance "" made active wear like a ripped sweatshirt off one shoulder , tight leggings and leg warmers sexy for women in the early 1980s . Actor Jennifer Beals is said to have cut the collar off a sweatshirt that had shrunk in order to get it over her head , according to the Internet Movie Database . 6 . The 1980s series "" Miami Vice , "" with its lightweight fabrics and pastel colors , proved a hit on television and in menswear departments . Star Don Johnson ' s signature look T shirt , suit jacket , linen pants and shoes worn sockless could be seen all over the country . ( He also popularized the unshaven , stubble bearded look . ) 7 . "" Sex and the City "" trendsetter Sarah Jessica Parker , who played Carrie , talked about her shoe addiction constantly during the series , which ran from 1998 to 2004 and spawned a 2008 movie . Soon , stilettos paired with a thrown together look became something the cool crowd of viewers would follow , along with brands such as Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo . 8 . A game show starting a fashion trend ? It happened with "" Who Wants to Be a Millionaire , "" which featured host Regis Philbin sporting a monochromatic shirt and tie look . Later , he launched a line of shirts and ties in the Regis by Van Heusen collection . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past3293498,3499,"Ian Poulter became the latest brave ( or mad ) star to take up the craze sweeping and freezing professional golf right now : the Ice Bucket Challenge . The flaymboyant Englishman shared a video of himself pouring a huge bin full of ice and water over his own head in his garden in England on Tuesday , mimicking many of the game ' s biggest names who have already taken up the gauntlet . After doing so , Poulter immediately challenged his friend and Ryder Cup team mate Justin Rose to follow suit , as well as Open champion Martin Kaymer and one more player who might prove a little harder to convince . . . Tiger Woods . Scroll down to watch Ian Poulter and the stars of golf take the Ice Bucket Challenge Brrrrrrrrr ! Ian Poulter picks up a container full of ice water ( left ) before soaking himself ( right ) Freezing : Poulter emptied an entire bin full of water on himself and looked a little shaken afterwards Poulter fit to play on Thursday Woods is known for his often cold demeanor , so whether he needs any further cooling down is a matter for debate . But if Woods does not accept the dare within 24 hours , in the spirit of the competition he will have to donate 100 to a charity of Poulter ' s choosing . Are you up to it , Tiger ? Poulter nominated 14 time major winner Woods to repeat the challenge Brave : Women ' s Open champion Michelle Wie ( with her trophy , right ) douses herself in ice cold water Nuts : American rising star Rickie Fowler ( left ) and Swedish star Suzann Pettersson have done their dares Rose , meanwhile , claimed he would be doing his bit very soon . ' Got a little work to do today then I guess it ' s IceBucketChallenge time this afternoon ! Thanks for that IanJamesPoulter ' , the former Open champion said on Twitter . The craze has become a social media phenomenon in the world of golf over the last few days , with many of the game ' s biggest names enjoying a bit of masochistic fun . Women ' s Open champion Michelle Wie shared a video of herself taking on the ice bucket , as did Lydia Ko , Lexi Thompson and Suzann Petterssen , her fellow stars in the women ' s game . Rising American star Rickie Fowler is among the high profile male players to take part so far . But the world will be on tenterhooks for the next 24 hours waiting to see if Woods rises to the challenge . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present3303506,3507,"If you haven t yet heard that Fox News came out on top in ratings during Donald Trump s inauguration, all you need to do is check President Asterisk s Twitter timeline. After a rousing first few days of working toward dismantling Obamacare, endangering the health of women and girls worldwide, and signing our environment away for a few short-term construction jobs, The Donald hopped on Twitter to get right back to what appears to be his real job: attacking news agencies that report unflattering details about him. Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings, Trump tweeted. They were many times higher than @ public is smart! Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than @ public is smart! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017Neilson estimates that 30.6 million people tuned in to watch the trainwreck that was Trump s sparsely-attended inauguration millions fewer than Barack Obama s first swearing-in (maybe that s why he just threatened to send the feds to march on Chicago). Trump is correct that more people watched Fox News than any other individual news station, but he is also correct that the public is smart. What he fails to realize is that the majority of the smart public didn t watch Fox.Mediaite reported Monday that during the peak coverage block of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST, Fox News drew 8.77 million viewers. This may seem like a lot, but brought in 5.90 million people, attracted 4.90 million, had about 4.65 million viewers, 2.61 million watched CNN, and 1.38 million tuned in to MSNBC. In other words, the smart people watched different networks than the vapid, meth-addled freaks who enjoyed Trump s victory with the whitest news team on television.Naturally, the Internet wasn t about to tolerate the President* attacking legitimate news agencies:@realDonaldTrump This is beyond sad. Turn off the and start running the country. Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) January 25, 2017@realDonaldTrump @FoxNews @ Yes, we are smart. We see you for who you are, you orange huckster. Ben Berkon (@BenBerkon) January 25, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Well you didn't last a week. Back to insulting people again. Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 25, 2017@JordanJamie @JordanUhl @realDonaldTrump His Majesty has spoken. pic.twitter.com/KmvwqFhVxX Wm Bruce Murdock (@Bruce466177) January 25, 2017@realDonaldTrump @FoxNews @ Nobody intelligent respects Fox News. Tommy Campbell (@MrTommyCampbell) January 25, 2017@pourmecoffee a very reliable source tells me Fox News' ratings are fake and they're actually Kenyan ratings. Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 25, 2017Just a reminder of something he wants to forget: the Women s March in D.C. alone drew 750,000 (three million nationwide), many times The Donald s sh*tty inauguration numbers. Public is smart!Featured image via Getty Images (Chip Somodevilla)/screengrab",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past3313515,3516,"The members of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce had broken their fasts and left the mosque near Florida’s eastern shoreline. In the waning minutes of Sunday, less than an hour later, a surveillance camera recorded a man as he approached the mosque. Then came a flash as flames damaged the house of worship where the man who attacked an Orlando, Fla. nightclub often prayed. The authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were investigating the fire as a potential hate crime, even as officials cautioned that they remained uncertain about the motive. The blaze occurred on the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and nearly three months after Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. It also happened around the beginning of Eid a Muslim holiday. “Today was supposed to be a day of this community exchanging gifts with their kids, visiting their family members, having dinners, having lunches,” Wilfredo Ruiz, a spokesman for the mosque, said at a Monday afternoon news conference in Fort Pierce, Fla. “Instead, they needed to go to another place to worship. ” No one was injured in the attack, and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office sought help identifying the suspect, whom the authorities described as a white or Hispanic male. Video showed the man arriving at the mosque, which is in a former Presbyterian church, about 11:38 p. m. on Sunday, appearing to carry paper and a bottle of some type of liquid. The camera recorded a flash, presumably when the fire ignited, and the man waved his arms, perhaps from a burn, before he fled on a motorcycle. Officials refused to speculate about a connection between the fire and the anniversary of the terrorist attack. A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, Bryan Beaty, declined to discuss whether Mr. Mateen’s ties to the mosque might have prompted the fire. With its painted star and crescent, palm trees and occasional protester outside, the Sunni mosque is central to Islamic life in Fort Pierce, a city of around 44, 000 people about an hour’s drive north of Palm Beach. Yet it has also been a hub of controversy, drawing attention twice in recent years as a place where young men who staged attacks had worshiped. In addition to Mr. Mateen, who was killed during the siege at Pulse, which left 49 other people dead, the Islamic Center was a frequent stop for Moner Mohammad Abusalha, who carried out a 2014 suicide bombing in Syria. (The F. B. I. director, James B. Comey, said the men had known each other “casually. ”) In June, the Islamic Center’s imam, Syed Shafeeq Rahman, distanced himself and the mosque from Mr. Mateen and, more generally, from extremist ideology. “There is nothing that he is hearing from me to do killing, to do bloodshed, to do anything, because we never talk like that,” the imam said of Mr. Mateen. The mosque, like many in the United States, has expressed concerns about security and the commitment of the local authorities to protect its members and property. Tensions mounted in July after the authorities arrested a man they said had repeatedly punched someone who had been at the Islamic Center to pray. The case is pending in the local circuit court, where a prosecutor said in a filing last month that the accused man had “evidenced prejudice” during the attack. Mr. Beaty said deputies had also investigated two suspicious vehicles and a harassing phone call at the mosque since the June 12 attack in Orlando. The fire at the Islamic Center is at least the third suspected arson at a Florida mosque this summer. A Tampa mosque was targeted twice in less than 24 hours last month, and a spokesman for the city’s Fire Department, Jason A. Penny, said Monday that the inquiry there remained active. In Fort Pierce on Monday, people responded to the attack with a mix of outrage and sadness. “An attack on any house of worship is an attack on all houses of worship,” said Ahmed Bedier, a Muslim activist in Florida. “It’s unacceptable. ”",true,news,test,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3323535,3536,"Reuters) - Two Saudi guards were shot dead and three others injured on Saturday morning when a man drove up to the gate of the royal palace in Jeddah and began shooting, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state news. Royal Guards killed the gunman, who was identified in the statement as Mansour al-Amri, a 28-year-old Saudi national. The attack occurred at a checkpoint outside the western gate to the Peace Palace in Jeddah, where the royal family conducts official business during the summer months. Saudi King Salman is currently outside the kingdom on a state visit to Russia. The statement did not elaborate on the whereabouts of his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although recent state news reports have placed him in Jeddah. Security forces seized Kalashnikov rifles and petrol bombs that had been in Amri s possession. Amri did not have a criminal record or any known connection to extremist groups, said Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki, speaking by phone to al-Arabiya television. An investigation was underway to determine his motive for the attack, said Turki. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3333551,3552,"House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday the Rep . Steve Scalise will remain a Republican leader after apologizing for a 2002 speech before a white supremacist group a moment in his career he called ' a mistake I regret . ' Scalise , who confirmed this week that he spoke at a meeting of the European American Unity and Rights Organization ( ) , will remain as third in command among the leadership of the House of Representatives . ' Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle , I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character . He has my full confidence as our Whip , and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans . ' Moments earlier , Scalise released a statement distancing himself from the white power group , which was run at the time of his speech by Louisiana Ku Klux Klan founder and former grand wizard David Duke a powerful Pelican State politician . Duke had threatened to release a list of all his political allies , both Republicans and Democrats , if the threw Scalise under the bus . : Louisiana Rep . Steve Scalise spoke at an international convention of white supremacists in 2002 while serving as a member of his state ' s legislature , but House Speaker is letting him stay in leadership : House Speaker John Boehner ( right ) held a press conference in June to announce the election of Scalise ( left ) as the House Majority Whip and he is standing by him as the racially steeped controversy boils Scalise said Tuesday that ' twelve years ago , I spoke to many different Louisiana groups as a state representative , trying to build support for legislation that focused on cutting wasteful state spending , eliminating government corruption , and stopping tax hikes . ' ' One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn . It was a mistake I regret , and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold . ' ' I am very disappointed that anyone would try to infer otherwise for political gain , ' he said . Scalise insisted that his Roman Catholic faith has led him to recognize that holds ' views that are vehemently opposed to my own personal faith , and I reject that kind of hateful bigotry . ' Rumors had swirled Tuesday around Capitol Hill , speculating about Scalise ' s future . After Boehner backed the Louisiana lawmaker , House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy , the No . 2 Republican in Congress , also threw his support behind his colleague . ' Congressman Scalise acknowledged he made a mistake and has condemned the views that organization espouses , ' McCarthy said in a forgiving statement . Scalise did not address a 1 , 000 campaign contribution he received from top Duke aide Kenny Knight in 2008 six years after his now infamous speech . ' Poor Steve Scalise is getting a bad rap , ' Knight said . ' I don ' t think Steve Scalise would come anywhere near a white hate group . ' Knight recalled that Scalise spoke for 15 minutes during the 2002 meeting . Duke , among America ' s most notorious white supremacists , was a political kingpin in Louisiana who ran unsuccessfully for governor after holding a statewide legislative seat in a district near where Scalise would later serve before he was elected to Congress . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3343582,3583,"On Monday night , Lionel Messi , Neymar or Cristiano Ronaldo will step on to a stage in Zurich to receive the Ballon d Or trophy and be officially anointed as the best player in the world . ? It is likely to be the incomparable Messi holding the trophy for the fifth time in seven years while his team mate Neymar offers congratulations , and his old rival Ronaldo wears a fixed grin to hide his annoyance and disappointment . At the same time , La Liga president Javier Tebas will be somewhere wearing a rather large smile , for this ceremony has also become an annual celebration of the Spanish league as the best in the world in recent years . Once again , La Liga has greedily dominated the Ballon d Or this year , and the trophy is guaranteed to return to Spain for a seventh consecutive year . Since 2010 when the original Ballon d Or and the World Player of the Year award were merged , players from La Liga have occupied 16 of the 18 final three positions , with only Manuel Neuer last year and Franck Ribery in 2013 able to gatecrash them . At least the Bundesliga has managed to get itself an invite in recent years , whereas each year the Premier League becomes the awkward and uninvited guest to the big party , who discovers they are not as popular as they thought . The Premier League likes to call itself the best league in the world , but every year the Ballon d Or openly mocks that title and provides an uncomfortable reminder that it still has a long way to go before it earns it . It is now eight years since the Premier League could boast a Ballon d Or winner when Cristiano Ronaldo claimed it at Manchester United , and it is unlikely this embarrassingly barren run will end any time soon . Back in October , there was at least a Premier League presence on the original Ballon d Or shortlist , with five of the 23 players plying their trade in England . However , none of the five ? Sergio Aguero , recent arrival Kevin De Bruyne , Yaya Toure , Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez ? were ever potential winners and were merely there to make up the numbers . England s reigning Footballer of the Year Eden Hazard was a remarkably poor candidate to go forward and compete for the bigger prize of the Ballon d Or . Since becoming the Footballer of the Year in May last year , the Chelsea man has visibly shrunk and done everything he could to undermine his former manager Jose Mourinho s laughable assertion that he was now better than Ronaldo . This season , the Belgian playmaker has failed to score in the league as Chelsea have slumped to the edge of the relegation places in the table . The inescapable truth is the Premier League simply does not have the depth of quality to produce a Ballon d Or winner at the moment . If Aguero and Sanchez couldn ' t make the final three , this season s most outstanding players ? Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez ? have even less chance . It remains an anomaly that for all the Premier League s popularity and strength the very best players in the world still opt to play elsewhere . The lure of those twin monolithic Spanish powers , Barcelona and Real Madrid , remains too great for almost all players to resist , and it is only getting bigger . As Mourinho declared , per the ? Daily Mail , If you are an attacking player and go to Barcelona or Real Madrid it is easier to score 50 goals than if you re playing in England . Spain is a comfort zone for these players , offering the best and most compelling stage on which to perform , and above all , a near guarantee of trophies , whereas playing for one of the Premier League s biggest powers carries too much risk . Just look at the travails of Chelsea this season , or Manchester United since 2013 or Arsenal s now 12 year wait to be champions again . And even when the Premier League appears to be developing a potential Ballon d Or winner , Barcelona or Real Madrid will swoop in and offer them a safe passage to La Liga , as they did with Gareth Bale in 2013 and Luis Suarez in 2014 . At the moment , there is probably only one player in the Premier League who could develop in to a Ballon d Or winner : Anthony Martial . Why do you think Monaco insisted on a clause that they would receive further payments if he won the award when they sold him to Manchester United ? But the Premier League should not lose hope of finally getting an invite to Zurich as it prepares to be submerged in an unprecedented amount of television money . The new deal ? worth ? 5 . 14 billion over three years ? takes effect from next season , and it will arm the league s leading clubs with the funds to make a raid on La Liga . Richer than ever before , Manchester United , Chelsea and Manchester City would all dearly like to purchase a genuine franchise signing this coming summer . And Tebas is well aware that this new money will make English clubs more powerful than ever before , and embolden them to come calling for some of La Liga s jewels . Do not be surprised to see an English club break the world transfer record in the next year , and when that happens , they might finally land a Ballon d Or winner as well . ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3353584,3585,"Unless you re Bill Belichick , trips to the Super Bowl don t come around all that often . He is 26 , and 13 years and 48 days younger than the Broncos Peyton Manning , the largest age gap between starting quarterbacks in Super Bowl history . As Davis closed on Fells , Fells went airborne and caught Davis awkwardly . We are virtually guaranteed to see the internet turned into a nuclear wasteland of Hot Cam Takes because that s what happens whenever we get something wonderful like Cam Newton in our lives . With Carolina leading 3 0 , Ginn fielded a punt and weaved through traffic for a 32 yard return to set the Panthers up in Arizona territory . The only real storyline left is that this will be Peyton Manning s last hurrah ( come on , you know it too ) , so everyone will be hoping that the old Sheriff will go out like the owner of the Broncos once did . Manning , who had been plagued by injury and questionable form all season , turned in a performance worthy of a five times Most valuable player , tossing a pair of first half touchdowns to Owen Daniels . There really wasn t much that came from special teams against the Panthers . The heart and soul of the Panthers defense isn t wasting any time in his quest to play in the Super Bowl . Manning is 1 2 in Super Bowls with a rating of 81 . 0 . Coach Ron Rivera says as gratifying as it is to be Champs , they still have work to do to win the Super Bowl . Linebacker Von Miller was the key to the Broncos success on defense , recording two sacks and hitting Brady four times while also somehow finding the time to record an interception . Newton had two before the fourth quarter ? a 1 yard stretch across the goal line and a 12 yard somersault into the end zone . Capping the barrage was Kuechly , who returned an interception 22 yards for a score . The Panthers forced Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer into six turnovers ? two fumbles and four interceptions . We re Thieves Avenue , Coleman said . Cox Getty Images After breaking his arm in the Championship , Thomas Davis said he ll do everything in his power to play in the Super Bowl . During the buildup to the championship game in the Mile High City , the spotlight was fixed on Manning and Brady , the two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks who were meeting for the 17th , and perhaps final time on the gridiron . Panthers safety Roman Harper injured an eye in the first half and didn t return . He s throwing the ball unbelievable right now and you know what he can do with his legs , Talib said . This is something that if it comes down to a pain tolerance and playing through it , I will be there . ? New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski , whose first missed extra point in 524 tries played a huge role in the Patriots 20 18 loss to Denver in the championship game . We re going to live in the moment right now . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3363588,3589,"What a completely worthless organization, UNESCO. Israel has an undisputed claim to the land. God said so.",fake,news,test,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present3373602,3603,"Faulty equipment and the crew ' s "" inability to control the aircraft "" caused an AirAsia A320 to crash into the Java Sea last year , killing all 162 people on board , an Indonesian report says . Flight QZ8501 plunged into the ocean in stormy weather on December 28 , during what was supposed to be a routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore . The crash of the Airbus A320 200 triggered a huge international search , with ships and aircraft from several nations involved in a lengthy hunt that was hampered by strong currents and bad weather . The bodies of 56 of those who died have never been found . In their final report into the accident released on Tuesday , Indonesia ' s official National Transportation Safety Committee said poor maintenance and a fault with the system that helps control the rudder ' s movement was a major contributing factor in the crash . Cracked soldering in the component caused it to malfunction and send repeated warning messages to the pilots , it said . When they received the fourth warning , the pilots tried to reset a computer system but also turned off the plane ' s autopilot , sending it into a sharp roll from which they were unable to recover . "" Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft , "" said the report . The plane went into a "" prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the crew to recover "" , it said . The report said the faulty component , the Rudder Travel Limiter , had suffered 23 problems in the past 12 months , citing maintenance records . It said that maintenance records were "" unable to identify repetitive defects and analyse their consequences "" . It added the flight data recorders did not indicate the weather had affected the aircraft . An Airbus spokesman said : "" Airbus has given Indonesian authorities all the support and technical expertise requested , and is studying the detailed contents of the report and its recommendations . "" A minister previously described how the plane climbed fast and then went into aerodynamic stall , losing lift , before it went down , while an investigator said the warning alarms were "" screaming "" as the pilots desperately tried to stabilise the aircraft . Investigators had also revealed that the French co pilot , Remi Plesel , was at the controls of the AirAsia plane in the moments before it crashed , rather than the more experienced pilot , Captain Iriyanto , who had around 20 , 000 hours of flying time . Rescuers faced difficulties in the choppy waters of the Java Sea , but the main body of the plane was eventually located on the seabed by a Singapore navy ship and both black box data recorders were recovered . Search efforts were finally called off in March after almost three months of hunting . The crash was one of several aviation disasters in the sprawling archipelago in the past year , and the first major setback for Malaysia based AirAsia group and its flamboyant boss Tony Fernandes after a spectacular run of success . Originally published as Faulty part , crew cited in AirAsia crash ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3383616,3617,"Madison , Wisconsin A Wisconsin Republican official compared the protests over Gov . Scott Walker ' s attempts to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees to the Holocaust on Wednesday , a remark he later conceded was "" a bad word "" to use . Wisconsin Agriculture , Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Ben Brancel , a Walker appointee , told visiting members of the state Farm Bureau that rookie lawmakers "" got stuck in the middle of the Holocaust "" when pro union demonstrators led rallies and camped out in the Capitol for days . "" Some of you might have had past relationships with your legislators , because they ' ve been here for a while , "" Brancel said . "" But there ' s a huge number who this is their first time around . They came to town with a lot of ideas and a lot of concepts they could really work on , and they got stuck in the middle of the Holocaust and the horror story that was going on in town as far as people using the building all night long and some shenanigans . "" Brancel was making off the cuff remarks before the arrival of Walker , who spoke to the farmers Wednesday afternoon and was unaware of his appointee ' s comments . Brancel later told reporters , "" I better go back to English school . "" "" That was a bad word , "" he said . "" It should have been total confusion in the Capitol . It was not an appropriate word to use in the context of which I used it . "" Brancel also issued a written apology through his office , apologizing for his "" unfortunate choice of words . "" And Walker "" hopes everyone accepts the apology that was immediately issued , "" Walker ' s office said in a separate statement . Walker and lawmakers are trying to close a 137 million budget shortfall with a plan that calls for curbs on public employee union bargaining rights and requires public workers , with the exception of police and firefighters , to cover more of their retirement plans and health care premiums . The proposal ignited fierce opposition from labor leaders and their supporters , and state Senate Democrats have skipped the state to prevent their chamber from advancing the bill . Public employee unions agreed to financial concessions that they say will help meet the state ' s fiscal needs , but Walker has said the limits on public bargaining are a critical component of his plan . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3393628,3629,"Eman al Obeidy , who grabbed the world ' s attention this spring when she accused Moammar Gadhafi ' s security forces of gang raping her , has been forced back to Libya , which she had fled in fear . Qatari authorities took her and her parents from a hotel in Doha , the capital , and forced them onto a military plane that left Qatar early Thursday and landed in rebel held Benghazi . Al Obeidy , who has gone into hiding in the city , said the Qataris beat and handcuffed her before forcing her onto the plane . Al Obeidy told a journalist that officials in the Transitional National Council had pressured the Qataris to expel her . "" Forcibly returning a refugee who survived gang rape not only violates international law , but is cruel and could trigger further trauma , "" said Bill Frelick , refugee program director at Human Rights Watch . "" All eyes are now on the authorities in eastern Libya , who should allow al Obeidy to leave the country . "" Human Rights Watch called on the Transitional National Council to allow al Obeidy to leave the country immediately . added that an spokesman had told the group that she was free to travel domestically and abroad . Al Obeidy received worldwide attention on March 26 when she burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli while international journalists staying there were having breakfast . She told reporters she had been taken from a checkpoint east of Tripoli and held against her will for two days while being beaten and raped by 15 men . She later fled Libya to Tunisia with the help of two defecting Gadhafi army officers and their families . French diplomats drove her from the border and handed her off to rebel officials members of the Transitional National Council who organized her flight to Qatar . She was in Qatar awaiting resettlement as a refugee when she was deported . The Office of the U . N . High Commissioner for Refugees had prepared papers for her departure from Qatar to begin a new life . But her deportation to Benghazi puts her in a city that remains unstable . A bomb detonated Wednesday night outside the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi , which has housed foreign journalists , aid workers and foreign officials since the Libyan conflict began . In Washington , State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday that the department is "" very concerned "" about al Obeidy ' s safety and had communicated with her . He said officials were working with international organizations to make sure she is safe and finds asylum in "" a third country . "" A number of nongovernmental organizations said they were making efforts to get al Obeidy out of Benghazi to a destination in Europe in the next few days . After arriving in Qatar , al Obeidy made public statements saying the Transitional National Council the Libyan rebel leadership was using her . The council denied that , but her presence in Qatar appears to have become an embarrassment to the organization . Qatar ' s government is allied with the rebels . The said it was seeking an explanation from Qatari authorities for al Obeidy ' s deportation . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past3403639,3640,"tourists will have plenty of options for accommodation when they invade Cuba , with Airbnb now allowing American travellers to book rooms on the Caribbean island for the first time . More than 1 , 000 Cuban properties are listed on the popular home rental website private rooms are available for as little as 12 ( 8 ) a night and the bulk of them are located in the capital of Havana . Airbnb has plans for rapid growth in Cuba , where its employees have spent the last three months signing up property owners in advance of the expected crush of American visitors . More than 1 , 000 Cuban properties are listed on Airbnb , with 40 per cent located in the capital of Havana Kay Kuehne , regional director for Airbnb , told the Associated Press : ' We believe that Cuba could become one of Airbnb ' s biggest markets in Latin America . ' We are actually plugging into an existing culture of micro enterprise in Cuba . The hosts in Cuba have been doing for decades what we just started doing seven years ago . ' Forty per cent of Airbnb ' s listings in Cuba are in Havana , while the rest are mostly located in tourist hotspots along the coast . With more than one million private listings , Airbnb ' s ambitious plans for Cuba are being hailed by has the most significant business expansion on the island since the old Cold War foes pledged to restore full diplomatic relations and move towards opening trade . One of the biggest hurdles Airbnb hosts are currently facing is the lack of internet access across the island Property owners are welcoming the opportunity to make some extra cash in a country with a sluggish state run economy , and they hope it will help to spur a revival on the island as they compete with hotels for business . Israel Rivero , who owns pre war flat in central Havana and will charge 30 ( 20 ) a night on Airbnb , told : ' I think this is going to help our business prosper , to definitely improve , not just private business , but everything here . ' Collin Laverty , owner of tour operator Cuba Educational Travel , said property owners have already been investing central air conditioning , improved water pressure and other amenities in order to be able to charge more than 25 ( 16 ) a night for basic service . He said : ' You ' re starting to see places that can compete with three and four star hotels . ' Tourists leave a privately owned home with rooms for rent in Havana For the time being non travellers will not be able to book rooms or flats in Cuba through Airbnb One of the biggest hurdles Airbnb hosts are currently facing is the lack of internet access across the island , which restricts their ability to check on bookings and respond to questions from potential guests . They also face challenges when it comes to accepting credit card payments , as they are unable to access much of the international banking system due to sanctions that haven ' t been lifted . Mr Kuehne said Cuban and authorities have welcomed Airbnb ' s expansion . But for the time being non travellers will not be able to book rooms or flats in Cuba through the website . With many hotels filled with non visitors , one of the biggest concerns about the return of American tourists in Cuba is a shortage of suitable accommodation . While diplomatic talks continue , Americans still can ' t freely travel to the Caribbean nation . Because of restrictions under the embargo they must meet one of 12 government approved categories for legal travel , including professional research and religious activities . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present3413642,3643,"Geneticists at the Johns Hopkins University announced Monday that an estimated seven million people worldwide carry a distinctive genetic marker linking them to a single smooth talking common ancestor . According to the study , which analyzed blood samples from 4 , 000 participants in 17 countries , the lineage appears to have originated with a highly virile ninth century Welsh nobleman known as Gwilym of Many Conquests . "" This is one of the largest diasporas known to have descended from a single progenitor , "" said head researcher Lawrence Ghilcrest , adding that evidence now corroborates stories about the Welshman that historians once dismissed as myth . "" To have propagated his genetic material so effectively , and across so much territory , we can only infer Gwilym was quite the charmer . "" "" As the poets often wrote , he got ' more arse than a chamber pot , ' "" Ghilcrest added . According to lore , Gwilym was a persuasive mead house balladeer known for his "" gilded , tunic dropping verse . "" Many texts note his total lack of standards concerning the age , weight , and appearance of the women he bedded , claiming that his silk adorned pallet never lay cold for even a single night after his 17th birthday . The Johns Hopkins study attempts to trace the flow of Gwilym ' s genes from the British Isles through Europe , North Africa , South America , Asia , and back to South America . Because his spread so quickly , researchers put credence in stories about Gwilym and his immediate offspring traveling great distances on the mere rumor of a loose handmaiden . Though little is known of Gwilym ' s life , artists have traditionally depicted the suave nobleman riding an eye catching white mustang and wearing garishly colored linen garments that fall loosely about the chest to reveal a large medallion bearing his family ' s crest . It is remarkable , historians note , that he was able to spread his seed so far and wide before the age of 29 , when he was savagely beaten to death by a neighboring lord known as Dafydd of Nine Cuckolds . "" Records indicate Gwilym was often accompanied by a retinue of male hangers on , to whom he would occasionally bequeath a female he had already had his way with , "" said Lucas Pearson , a prominent medievalist at Cardiff University . "" A surviving account from one of these men , Emrys the Drought Plagued who described himself as ' saddled by cruel fate with damnable bouts of celibacy ' bitterly derides Gwilym ' s callous , indifferent treatment of his conquests after his seductions were complete . "" "" You really can ' t blame people for being envious of Gwilym , though , "" Pearson continued . "" I mean , how did this jerk do it ? Unbelievable . "" According to Johns Hopkins ' Ghilcrest , the genetic marker his team discovered primarily manifests itself in the trait of extreme persistence , often making its carriers completely impervious to rejection . "" It ' s rare to see one dominant trait express itself so uniformly in a genealogy across time , "" said Ghilcrest , noting that this very trait appears to explain why Gwilym had such success in passing down his . "" Like his modern descendants , Gwilym would systematically approach every woman in his immediate vicinity and engage in elaborate courtship rituals that sometimes lasted 10 or 12 hours . When every opportunity for coupling was exhausted , he would move on , often covering a great deal of ground in a single evening . "" Emmanuel Chereskin , a biologist at the University of Rochester , said the genetic marker also produces some unique secondary phenotypes among those who carry it . These include long , flowing hair superior whistling skills and especially muscular arms and shoulders that may facilitate long bouts of casually leaning against walls . Gwilym ' s descendants have also been shown to produce a strong and intoxicating natural musk . "" These individuals are extremely adept at feigning interest in even the most tedious topics , "" said Chereskin , referring to an experiment in which men who carry the marker were asked to listen to an attractive woman talk at length about plans for her sister ' s upcoming wedding . "" Additionally , when properly cued , they will reflexively spin subtle innuendo from even the most banal phraseology . "" Chereskin added that theories of genetic expression suggest several well known public figures are likely descendants of Gwilym , including actor Matthew McConaughey and Vice President Joe Biden . News of these findings have prompted many to undergo testing to determine if they too might be descended from this celebrated medieval Lothario . Reginald Sperino , a 36 year old Henderson , waterbed salesman who tested positive for the sequence , said he is proud to come from such a noble line of sweet talkers . "" I always thought there was something special about me , "" Sperino said . "" I mean , what can I hey , there , beautiful what can I say ? It ' s nice to finally have an explanation for my je ne sais quoi . "" ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past3423674,3675,"We just read the blog by an angry black woman . In it she tries to pinpoint the problem of Ryan Lochte . What she failed to recognize is that he ' s a pretty pinhead . This privileged blogger claimed Lochte was a privileged white male . She built a case that he also had a God complex . In her estimation , this was a pretty bad crime . What she failed to notice is that Lochte has a head full of chuckle . He is a deadhead partygoer . He is a boy of privilege for sure . We used to call it being a spoiled rich kid . What else can you call someone whose whole life has been dedicated to a sport with some inane purpose ? Lochte is most guilty of being a drunken idiot . Alas , abusing alcohol is no longer a moral issue . It means he is suffering from an addiction . And we cannot call him an idiot because we are discriminating against people with brains that are lame . Lochte has a life in which his perfect body provides a passport to pleasure . He ' s tall and lithe , lean and lovely . The perfect boy for Ipanema . How can we be disappointed when his beautiful body without blemish is on display for the world to pant upon ? In fact , without pants , he remains defiant . He lives in a world of constant chlorine . He is a walking , bleached whitewash . He is clean as a houndstooth . At least on the outside . Inside his head has been sloshed clean by endless laps . When the world has the hots for you or at least your body , you will find you are a child of privilege or sex icon . But let ' s not lose sight of the fact that Ryan Lochte is an imbecile . Gods like Lochte are not complex . What a simpleton . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past3433678,3679,"Thursday night, Democrats did what party people do in Brooklyn. They rented out a big space on the waterfront and held a rave. Along with a few rants. The debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders was not, substantively, much different from their previous showdowns. But man, was it louder. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders, heading into Tuesday’s New York primary, went at each other hard, sniping, snapping and jockeying for attention like starving customers trying to order the pastrami at Katz’s. It was a Midtown traffic jam of a debate. The charges were sharp — she questioned his command of facts, he condemned her “racist” use of the term “ ” in defense of a 1990s crime bill but the hectoring was sharper. At one point, Wolf Blitzer, one of the moderators, broke in to scold the pair: “If you’re both screaming at each other, the viewers won’t be able to hear either of you. ” Did the candidates realize they had microphones? Any undecided New York voters didn’t need cable to tune in they could probably just open a window. But credit where it’s due: The true cause of political junkies’ lingering headache Friday morning was the audience. Good lord, that audience. It sounded like someone told it the primary was going to be decided by . From the audience members made themselves a factor, or an obstacle. The crowd cheered, booed, kibitzed. Someone shouted “Free Palestine!” during an answer on Israel. Mr. Sanders’s section broke into “Bernie! Bernie!” repeatedly, like concert fans calling for an encore. In fairness, we’ve heard competitive hooting at plenty of Republican debates this cycle. And while Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders were especially feisty Thursday, no one defended the proportions of any of their body parts. It would be reasonable if their campaigns had concluded that, if you want to be heard in 2016, you had better bring your own amplifier. Indeed, if this campaign’s debates in both parties have made one persuasive argument, it is this: We should ban debate audiences. They’re tent revivals of the converted, full of staffers and supporters whose huzzahs and boos may be heartfelt but are meaningless all the same. A debate audience’s only real purpose is as a prop. It reflects the candidates like a vanity mirror, howling at the applause lines and hissing at uncomfortable arguments, cueing us how to feel. For the networks, it pumps up the excitement and drama that keep viewers coming back. Debate audiences are the laugh tracks of politics. In the middle of the din, Mr. Blitzer, CNN’s Dana Bash and Errol Louis of the NY1 news channel did a good job following up and pointing out when candidates evaded answering. By this stage in the campaign, though, most of those questions and answers are familiar. Early on, Mr. Blitzer brought up Mr. Sanders’s attacks on Mrs. Clinton’s qualifications later, Ms. Bash raised Mrs. Clinton’s questioning of Mr. Sanders’s bona fides as a Democrat. In between, it was sparring over banks, guns, the Middle East, once more and with feeling. It’s not as though there are no other topics to cover. Late in the debate (and during the debate from her Twitter account) Mrs. Clinton chided the panel for not asking “one question about a woman’s right to make her own decisions about reproductive health care. ” (Scoring points off the moderators is another tactic we’re more used to seeing at Republican debates.) Much had been made in advance of the location: not just New York City but Brooklyn, where Mr. Sanders was born and where the former New York senator Mrs. Clinton has campaign headquarters. In the end, though, the most New York thing about the debate was the noise. It was set on the same red, white and blue, stage that you could have dropped in Atlanta or Indianapolis or Sacramento. There is only one place now: Debateland. We have been living there since last summer, and it feels as if we will never get out. But we will: If the blaring of the candidates and their rooting sections said anything, it was that we’re approaching the finish of the primary and they know it. Did this debate move the needle? Absolutely. It moved the needle all the way into the red.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3443685,3686,"Sepp Blatter is urging England to bid for the next World Cup in Europe , standing firm on Russia and Qatar as hosts for 2018 and 2022 and promising to speed up the introduction of more new technology . The president approaches another four year term in office promising to step up the fight against racism , with the imposition of punitive points deductions and expulsion from cup competitions . He will use the awarding of a women ' s tournament to Jordan as football ' s instrument in the campaign for female equality in the Arab world . He reports , also , on how is working as a force for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine . Sepp Blatter discussing Qatar and Russia with Jeff Powell ahead of Soccerex Outspoken : president Sepp Blatter ( left ) has given an exclusive interview to Sportsmail ' s Jeff Powell ( right ) Head of the global game : Blatter spoke on a number of crucial issues surrounding world football All this , and more , emerges from Blatter ' s first major interview since Brazil 2014 . This exclusive discussion was conducted by me at headquarters in Zurich for premier screening to thousands of delegates at the opening of the SoccerEx Global Football Convention in Manchester on Monday morning . Blatter expresses his profound delight at the success of Brazil 2014 , as well as his gratitude to the Brazilian people for justifying his optimism that their love of the Beautiful Game would not let their socio economic protests spoil ' this great World Cup . ' He also reveals the multi billion dollar scale of ' s income during this four year World Cup cycle and its distribution of a high proportion of that wealth to aid the development of football around the world . All round success : Blatter was delighted with Brazil for a great World Cup , which was won by Germany Coming home : Before a World Cup can be held in England it will likely visit Africa , as it did in 2010 Final venue ? Wembley could host just its second World Cup final after 1966 if Blatter is to be believed Michel Platini , it emerges , advised ' s president in advance of his decision not to stand against his re election next year , but to remain at the head of . Thus Blatter predicts growing unity between the two bodies , totally discounting any possibility of star players with major European clubs ever boycotting the World Cup , ' the high point of their careers . ' That said , he went on to announce that he will formally confirm his candidacy for four more years in the next few weeks . That may be the worst kept secret in sport . But making it official for the first time enabled him to address the corruption accusations that have been dogging the governing body of the world game . Brothers in arms : Blatter sees Michel Platini ' s growing closer to in the coming years Friends ? It now looks like Platini will not rival Blatter for the crown as he goes for re election In so doing Blatter offers a rare , personal insight into himself as a football loving man , as he admits how deeply hurt he was by allegations in an English newspaper which attempted to connect him to any wrong doing . His reminder to the world that he has been totally exonerated is passionately delivered , as is his assurance that the independent investigation being led by New York lawyer Michael Garcia will be completely transparent and honest . He asks only that all such deliberations and any critical discussions are conducted with mutual respect , not the heated discourtesy which he sees as having reflecting poorly on the game . Experience : Wembley has hosted a Champions League final , an Olympic final and is in line for the big one European choice : An English held World Cup is possible in 2030 but it might host Euro 2020 ' s final too On the English question , raised after Greg Dyke ' s outburst against him at a convention in Brazil , Blatter makes it clear that he ' likes ' the new chairman , holds no grudge and is sure he will be ' respectful ' next time they meet . He also urges Dyke to step back from vowing that England will never again bid for the World Cup while he is president . That statement was born of England ' s angst at their high profile bid team securing only one vote in the ballot for 2018 but Blatter says : ' You have to be prepared to accept losing and of course be ready to bid again . ' However , the earliest England could host the Finals is 2030 . Beauty : Blatter is determined to bring a World Cup to the Middle East and says Qatar 2022 will go ahead Stunning vision : The stadiums in Qatar have been unveiled and all feature futuristic designs Blatter expects that under the rotation system , Qatar will almost certainly be followed in 2026 by either an African contender , a joint staging by Uruguay and Argentina , or the following the huge audiences recorded in Ameriica for Brazil 2014 . Of the Qatar controversy , he explains ' the need to take the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time ' and adds that are ' totally committed ' to that decision . He confirms that the tournament will be moved to the cool of winter , although the precise timing will not be resolved until after discussions this week about re scheduling the European club season that winter . Still coming : No world stars , including the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo , will boycott a World Cup , says Blatter Of the Russia controversy , Blatter says that while will ' continue to monitor ' the situation in Ukraine ' we are already working with Russia to prepare for that World Cup . ' He also reasserts ' s principle of resisting the interference of politics in football . Of the call by some ambassadors for a boycott , he says : ' They never do any good . ' On the issue of racist abuse be it evident in players , team officials or fans he is urging the application of regulations already in place for points to be deducted or offending clubs to be thrown out of even the most important cups . While he admits that identifying offenders in crowds that can be infiltrated by rival fans , he anticipates extra security scrutiny and adds that ' sometimes you have to take a chance ' to make progress . Changes : Jose Mourinho and other manages could be handed the chance to appeal against referees ' decisions Blatter sees no risk in the next hi tech step which will follow the success of goal line technology . He is bringing forward trials for managers and coaches to be given two challenges in each half of a game against decisions . Referees will be engaged in the review process , going to the touchline as soon as play is stopped to study the video replays . That innovation will be in place before the next World Cup . Of the one just ended , he had ' no doubts ' that Brazil ' s stadia and infrastructure would be ready in time . He thanks all in that country for staying behind the Finals after their team were knocked out . He suspects , also , that the very decisive nature of Germany ' s seven goal victory helped the Brazilians accept that exit without complaint and continue enjoying a magnificent tournament . Success : Blatter says he had ' no doubts ' that Brazil would be ready in time for the World Cup last summer That helped boost ' s income from the World Cup cycle to 2 . 7billion ' of which more than 70 per cent ' will be dispersed to Brazil and the nations in the Finals , or distributed among confederations and associations for the good of the game in all corners of the football world . And all that is but a taste of a fascinating conversation . The interview was filmed in one , unbroken take with no pauses for thought and no questions ducked . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past3453693,3694,"On Friday, Donald Trump attacked players such as Colin Kaepernick at a rally for Alabama Senate candidate Luther Strange (R). The amateur president called on owners to fire players for taking a knee rather than standing during the national anthem. Wouldn t you love to see one of these owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, Trump said, adding, He is fired. Colin Kaepernick s mother wasn t having any of it. Do not mess with her son. Guess that makes me a proud bitch! Teresa Kaepernick tweeted.Guess that makes me a proud bitch! Teresa Kaepernick (@B4IleaveU) September 23, 2017While Puerto Rico remains devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the so-called president is busy attacking black athletes.Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors guard and two-time MVP, said that he wasn t interested in visiting the White House to celebrate the team s 2017 championship. He added that he would wait to see how the team feels as a group. Curry said his reasons for not wanting to visit the White House were that we basically don t stand for what our president has said, and the things he hasn t said at the right time, according to Gate. By not going, hopefully, it will inspire some change for what we tolerate in this country and what we stand for, what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye toward. So, Trump tweeted a response. Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn! Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017That s right, he can t break up with Trump. Trump is breaking up with him first, so there! star LeBron James fired back at Trump over his tweet, calling him a bum on Saturday. You bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain t going! So therefore ain t no invite, James tweeted. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up! James tweeted.U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up! LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017LeSean McCoy, running back for the Buffalo Bills tweeted, It s really sad man our president is a asshole. It's really sad man our president is a asshole Lesean McCoy (@CutonDime25) September 23, 2017Mrs. Kaepernick retweeted that.After a backlash, Trump took to his Twitter account. If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem, he tweeted. If not, FIRED. Find something else to do! Welp, if a president disrespects our country then he should be fired.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty images.",fake,dataset,test,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past3463713,3714,"Alistair Brownlee claimed Britain ' s first ever medal in the men ' s Olympic triathlon , taking gold ahead of two time world champion Javier Gomez and his brother Jonny , who won bronze despite incurring a 15 second penalty . It marked Team ' s 19th gold medal of the London Games , matching the number they landed in Beijing four years ago . The elder of the two brothers , Alistair , recovered from months out with injury to take his first Olympic gold medal in a grueling event that comprises a 1 . 5km swim , 43km bike ride and a 10km run . The 24 year old clocked a time of one hour 45 minutes and 23 seconds to edge out Gomez and could afford to grab a Union Jack flag from the crowd and canter through the final 100 meters . Jonny , 22 , had to receive medical treatment after the race but showed guts and determination to take third after being penalized for mounting his bike too soon after the swim . All the action from day eleven with our London 2012 live blog Alistair ' s triumph was soon followed by another as Laura Bechtolsheimer , Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin helped Britain win the team dressage event in Greenwich Park . "" It feels a bit underwhelming in a way because Jonny has collapsed and he ' s not feeling too good , "" Alistair told the host broadcaster after the race . "" That race was just unbelievable . I felt in control right from the start . And the crowds , I don ' t think I ' ve ever come across anything anywhere near like that and I doubt I ever will again . "" My ears are still ringing with the noise . It was absolutely amazing . I ' m massively proud . It ' s been talked about so much that Great Britain haven ' t won a triathlon medal so the pressure was stacked up . "" To get two of us , two British brothers , on the podium you couldn ' t ask for any more . "" Both brothers finished the end of the swimming leg in the leading pack but Jonny was handed a penalty for mounting his bike too early after leaving Hyde Park ' s Serpentine lake . At the end of the 43km bike stage both were at the front as British teammate Stuart Hayes played the role of pace setter . Alistair moved away from the field in the early stages of the 10km run , allowing Jonny to leave enough of a cushion to serve his 15 second penalty and rejoin the race clear in third . The elder brother ended with a time of 29 minutes and seven seconds in the 10km run just over a minute and a half slower than compatriot Mo Farah who won the 10 , 000 meters on Saturday . Alsatair said he had purposely ran a fast opening lap to give his brother the best chance to win a medal . He added : "" We knew he had a penalty early in the bike and I was telling him ' Calm down , you can still easily get on the podium with a 15 second penalty . ' "" I took the first lap of the run out really hard to try and get Jonny as far away from the others as I could . Gomez was having a great race again today so there was not much we could do about that . "" Jonny is fine , triathlon is a tough sport and we ' ve both been in that position . I think it was deceptively hard today , obviously it was fast but with this humid , muggy day , it dehydrates you and he was right on the edge at the finish . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3473725,3726,"The first shot against tyranny in Virginia has been fired!Earlier this year, after racist terrorist Dylann Storm Roof was charged with shooting nine black people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church, the media and Democrats across the nation embarked on a crusade to wipe the Confederate flag from society.One of the crusaders, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, decided to get rid of license plates containing the Confederate flag altogether and informed those with such license plates that they had until October to hand the license plates over to the Department of Motor Vehicles.Those found driving with the plates will be charged with a misdemeanor.On Friday, local station reported that the vast majority of citizens with such license plates have refused to comply with the government s flag-recall notice. The stated that just 187 Virginians had returned their license plates out of 1,600 who had received a recall notice.One of those who has refused to heed the call is Kevin Collier, commander of the Stonewall Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, whose great-great-great-grandfather fought with the Confederacy. Next thing you know, they re going to say you can t wear blue on Monday or you can t wear yellow on Thursday, he told WAVY. Where s it going to end? The answer: It isn t. In forwarding the regulation, McAuliffe said the Confederate flag was unnecessarily divisive and hurtful. He added, Even its display on state-issued license tags is, in my view, unnecessarily divisive and hurtful to too many of our people. Apparently, McAuliffe missed the fact that the victims in Charleston did not suffer from hurt feelings thanks to license plates, but from murder at the hands of a racist renegade criminal. But government s job is now to protect feelings rather than lives. Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past3483731,3732,"If your childhood happened between the mid 1970s and early 80s , you will probably recall a particularly miserable symbol of that era s reduced budgets and shrinking horizons : the broken down , litter strewn park . Slides would be so caked in mud as to make them unusable roundabouts wouldn t go round grass would go uncut . I grew up in suburban Cheshire , and even there , the same applied : in amid the fag ends , dog shit and broken bottles , a weird sense of times so topsy turvy that places meant to deliver happiness had become a byword for a kind of low level sadness . Is there a more forlorn sight than a broken swing ? Two weeks ago , I spoke to a mum and dad in Newcastle who were trying to entertain their toddler in a play area with a cracked slide , and talked about other places nearby now covered in graffiti , and rendered all but unusable . The national statistics show how widespread this almost silent crisis is becoming . At the last count , 86 of the people in charge of local parks had seen cuts to their budgets since 2010 and almost half of local councils were considering either selling their parks , or somehow contracting them out . All over the country , in fact , you now see much the same sight : perhaps the most vivid , immediate embodiment of what some people call the public realm , rotting away at speed ? and now set to decline even further , as the Conservatives continue to strip money from councils budgets . Related : Autumn statement : Osborne isn t fixing the roof , he s eroding the foundations Mariana Mazzucato But as evidenced by the reaction to George Osborne s autumn statement , in the dizzy heights of the London based media , this is not how the world looks at all . Whatever happened to austerity ? parped the front page of Thursday s Daily Mail , while the Telegraph apparently announced that spending cuts had now finished ( The end of austerity ) . The ever thoughtful Sun ran a front page illustration of three Osbornes lined up on a fruit machine , with the headline Borne lucky and a story announcing nothing less than a ? 27bn jackpot . To judge from the newsstands , the munificent bonanza facilitated by dodgy fiscal forecasts and headed up by the U turn on tax credits had been perfectly timed to coincide with Christmas . These are truly Orwellian times , but this recasting of want as plenty is particularly surreal . Over the next five years ? and possibly for even longer than that ? the kind of dire , drastic cuts councils have been forced to make since 2010 will be continuing . Indeed , the situation looks more impossible than ever . To quote one very reliable source : Even if councils stop filling in potholes , maintaining parks , closed all children s centres , libraries , museums , leisure centres and turned off every street light , they will not have saved enough money to plug the financial black hole they face by 2020 . Lord Porter said that . He s the chair of the Local Government Association . He s also a Tory . The chancellor s hopeless offers of assistance extend into the distance Before the spending review , councils in England and Wales were anxiously modelling cuts to their spending of between 25 and 40 , and worrying about increases in demand for the services they have to provide as a matter of law , which are forecast to add ? 10bn to their costs by 2020 . But between now and then , money that currently goes from central to local government will be cut by more than 50 . On Wednesday , almost no one seemed to notice this , not least in the House Of Commons . But while John McDonnell was quoting Chairman Mao , a lone note of alarm from Yvette Cooper ? remember her ? ? drew attention to what was afoot . Appears to be a 56 cut to Govt funding for local councils did I miss that in Chancellor s speech ? she tweeted . Appears to be a 56 cut to Govt funding for local councils table 2 . 1 p78 did I miss that in Chancellor ' s speech ? spendingreview This huge cut will happen , but it is part of a bigger plan . Since 2013 , with some caveats , councils have kept half of the money they get from business rates , and carried on putting the rest into a centrally administered pot . This is then spread around the country according to the current council funding formula ? whose iniquities are a big source of complaint among council leaders , but which at least represents some residual idea of redistribution , not least from south to north . Now , councils are to largely keep all their income from business rates , while the money passed to local authorities from central government will eventually be cut to nothing . How this will be phased in and what any redistributive element might look like is unclear , though it s pretty obvious that a system of top ups and tariffs will be much less redistributive than the current system . The chancellor s hopeless offers of assistance extend into the distance . He has also come up with the idea of allowing local politicians to somehow protect adult social care ? for elderly people , as far as anyone understands it ? by putting up council tax by up to 2 , and far too much of the media has fallen for the idea that this represents something credible . In Liverpool , the full 2 hike would raise ? 3 . 2m a year , but the city s annual social care bill is ? 172m . Even the government s plans to eventually give councils ? 1 . 5bn for social care via the so called Better Care Fund woefully fail to meet the scale of a mounting problem . The research charity the Health Foundation reckons that Britain s care gap will be ? 6bn by 2020 even if he is lucky , both of Osborne s measures would barely scrape together half that sum . Related : David Cameron hasn t the faintest idea how deep his cuts go . This letter proves it George Monbiot Buried in the autumn statement , there was also an announcement that the government intends to completely cut the ? 2 . 6bn a year it gives to councils for public health spending ( which covers areas such as drug and alcohol abuse , sexual health , and teenage pregnancy ) . The idea , apparently , is that the money can be made up thanks to all those business rates . The more likely outcome , of course , is that these things will fall into the same fragile category as libraries , parks , bus subsidies , welfare advice , help for homeless people , transport to school for children with special educational needs , and more : a great roll call of the basics of any halfway civilised society , either under threat , or disappearing fast . This , then , is Osborne s dystopia ? where newspapers announce that two and two make five , wealth collides with public squalor , and the slides and swings stay broken . One question demands to be asked , which should be addressed to the supposed forces of opposition , as much as the government : ? how long can it last ? ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3493732,3733,"Berkeley , California On a research trip in Nigeria , Dr Laura Stachel watched as physicians performed an emergency cesarean section . What happened next stunned her . "" The lights went out , "" Stachel recalled , "" and I said , ' How are they going to finish ? ' "" She was even more surprised by the nonchalant response . "" You didn ' t even see people reacting because it was something they were so used to , "" she said . Fortunately , Stachel had a flashlight with her , and the doctors were able to use it to complete the surgery . But during that two week trip in 2008 , she witnessed countless other times when the lives of mothers and babies were at risk simply because of a lack of reliable electricity . Pregnant women would arrive at the hospital with severe complications , but without adequate light to treat them , procedures had to be compromised or delayed until daylight . Some women were even turned away . "" I realized that my skills as an obstetrician gynecologist were utterly useless ( without ) something as basic as light and electricity , "" Stachel said . Stachel said midwives in Nigeria use all kinds of makeshift lighting when they deliver babies : kerosene lanterns , candles , even cell phones . "" That ' s not adequate light for maternity care , "" she said . "" If somebody is hemorrhaging , if a baby needs resuscitation , you need to have directed light . "" Nigeria is one of the 10 most dangerous countries in the world for a woman to give birth . In 2010 , an estimated 40 , 000 Nigerian women died in childbirth 14 of all such deaths worldwide , according to the World Health Organization and the United Nations . Meanwhile , the neonatal mortality rate is also one of the worst in the world . Each year , about 4 of babies in Nigeria die before reaching 28 days old for comparison , the United States rate is only a fraction of this at 0 . 4 . Stachel said that in her two weeks in Nigeria , she saw more complications than she had in her entire career in the United States . "" Once I witnessed the things that I saw , "" she said , "" I had to let people know , and I had do something about it . "" With the help of Hal Aronson , her husband and a solar energy educator , Stachel worked to find a solution . He drew up designs for a solar electric system to provide a free source of power to the state hospital in northern Nigeria where Stachel had conducted her research . While they raised funds for the project , Stachel returned to Nigeria with a small kit to help show what the system would be able to do : It had a couple of solar panels inside , some lights and walkie talkies to improve communication . The kit was only meant for demonstration purposes a miniature model of the larger system . But the surgical technicians saw it as something else . "" They said : "" This is incredible . You have to leave this with us . . . . This could help us save lives right now , ' "" Stachel said . She did just that , and news of the kit soon spread to other clinics . So each time Stachel would return to Africa , she came with one or two new "" solar suitcases "" assembled by her husband . Today , the solar suitcase includes two solar panels that are mounted on a clinic ' s roof and connected to high quality lights . Once fully charged , it can provide light for up to 20 hours . The kit also contains headlamps , a fetal Doppler to monitor a baby ' s heart rate and a cell phone charging unit . Over time , the solar suitcase has become simpler in design . "" We got to something that was really rugged , simple to use , portable and that we knew would really work in harsh environments , "" Stachel said . It also spread to other countries after Stachel and Aronson started a nonprofit , We Care Solar . Since 2009 , the kits have been helping health care workers save lives not only in Nigeria but in facilities throughout Africa , Asia and Central America . For Stachel , the solar suitcase is only part of a bigger mission to improve maternal health care and lower mortality rates in developing countries . According to the World Health Organization , about 800 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth . And 99 of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries . "" I really want a world where women can deliver safely and with dignity , and women don ' t have to fear an event that we consider a joy in this country . To see birth associated with death and fear is an outrage , "" Stachel said . "" Before I went to Africa , I knew women were dying at high rates . I just didn ' t know they were run of the mill things we can take care of . "" In 2009 , We Care Solar completed the solar electric installation that her husband originally designed for the state hospital . Over the next year , the hospital reported that the death rate for women had decreased 70 . Nurses told Stachel they could see what they were doing , they didn ' t have to turn women away , and they had blood for transfusions because the electricity provided power for a blood bank refrigerator . "" When we saw the impact , that gave me the impetus to provide this fundamental thing for people to do the job they knew how to do , "" Stachel said . We Care Solar provides its solar suitcase , along with training and installation , to hospitals and clinics for free . Each solar suitcase costs 1 , 500 , which the nonprofit funds through grants and support from partner organizations and sponsors . Stachel also works with its partners in various countries to identify clinics in need and help engage the community . "" We often ask them to be involved participating in research studies , giving us feedback and making a commitment to maintain these and to replace parts as they ' re needed , "" Stachel said . So far , We Care Solar has provided nearly 400 solar suitcases to facilities in 27 countries . They ' re being used in main hospitals as backup systems and in rural clinics as a primary source of electricity . "" It ' s just shifted the morale of the health care worker , "" Stachel said . "" They ' re now excited to come to work . . . . Mothers are now eager to come to the clinics . "" Fanny Chathyoka , a midwife at a rural clinic in landlocked Malawi in southern Africa , used to use light from her cell phone when treating patients at night . She said the solar electric kit she received from Stachel last month "" keeps me going . "" "" This light . . . is going to bring good changes , "" she said . "" We should not lose any women . I will be able to give good deliveries . Suturing will not be a problem for me . Resuscitation of a baby during the night will not be a problem , because of the light . I feel very happy . "" Ultimately , Stachel hopes her efforts will be part of a movement that makes a dent in a very big problem . "" We didn ' t set out to transform maternal health care around the world , but it feels like this has grown to something so much bigger than I had ever imagined , "" she said . "" Communities are celebrating the fact that they have light . And that they now have one more component to help with safe motherhood . It ' s amazing . "" Want to get involved ? Check out the We Care Solar website at wecaresolar . org and see how to help . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3503744,3745,"David Cameron says it may "" take some time "" to start flying tourists back from Egypt , as security is tightened after the jet crash . David Cameron has said the downing of a Russian passenger plane in Egypt was "" more likely than not "" caused by a bomb hours after his Foreign Secretary told Sky News there is a "" significant possibility "" that was responsible . The Prime Minister has also warned it could "" take some time "" to start flying tourists back from Sharm ? el Sheikh , as more security is needed at the airport serving the Egyptian resort . Philip Hammond had earlier told Sky News that British holidaymakers ? could start flying home tomorrow . It comes after a group linked to Islamic State which operates in the Sinai peninsula claimed responsibility for Saturday ' s crash , which killed 224 people and vowed to tell the world how it carried out the attack . Speaking to Sky News , Philip Hammond ? said : "" We ' ve looked at the whole information picture , including that claim , but of course lots of other bits of information as well , and concluded that there is a significant possibility . "" Play video "" We Will Bring Brits Home Safely "" : : Sharm Travel Advice As 20 , 000 Left Stranded Both Russian and Egyptian officials have dismissed allegations that the Airbus A321 may have been brought down by a bomb with one Cairo minister saying Saturday ' s crash was "" not a terror act , it was an accident "" . However , the team investigating the crash will examine whether there was any explosive material on the plane , according to Russian officials , with the first conclusions reached in a few months . David Cameron is making a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the plane crash this afternoon . aviation experts have identified serious security flaws at Sharm el Skeikh International Airport . : : Live Updates : Latest On Egypt Plane Crash Additional levels of baggage screening and searches are expected to be implemented on a short term basis , and the Government plans to work with Egyptian authorities on "" long term sustainable measures "" to make the airport safe . The Foreign Secretary predicted other countries would join the in suspending flights to and from the region soon with Ireland and the Netherlands launching similar bans so far . Germany ' s Foreign Ministry has urged travellers to avoid the Sinai peninsula altogether with a "" partial travel warning "" but said its intelligence suggests the cause of Saturday ' s plane crash remains unclear . His Egyptian counterpart described the travel restrictions as "" premature and unwarranted "" , amid concerns it could seriously damage the country ' s tourism industry . Nineteen flights that were due to leave airports for Sharm el Sheikh today have been cancelled causing a knock on effect for thousands of tourists who are scheduled to fly back home . However , Mr Hammond stressed there is no need for Britons currently in the Egyptian resort to cut short their holidays , as the threat rating for the Sharm area remains unchanged . The Transport Secretary , Patrick McLoughlin , has made a statement on aviation security in the Commons and told MPs how it was "" necessary to act "" following a review of the information available . Mr Hammond has warned it could take weeks or months before flights between the and Sharm return to normal but it is hoped normal services will resume ahead of the Christmas rush . The Prime Minister has welcomed Egypt ' s president , Abdel Fattah el Sisi , to Downing Street after he arrived in London for a pre planned visit . Meanwhile , video has emerged of Russian speaking militants making direct and personal threats to Vladimir Putin . In the footage , a fighter says : "" I would like to congratulate our brothers from the Sinai peninsula for crashing that plane with those non believers from Russia . "" The militant also calls Mr Putin ? a "" pig "" in the recording and warns that involving Russian jets in the Syria conflict was a mistake . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present3513747,3748,"It ' s as if he came from the Dark Side of the Moon . Few would have predicted that an 18 year old Egyptian , who wasn ' t even born the last time Pink Floyd released an album , would become the cover designer of the British band ' s latest album "" The Endless River "" . However , Ahmed Emad Eldin was plucked from obscurity when a creative agency working for the band saw his design portfolio on Behance , an online notice board for creative professionals . Born in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia , Eldin is a self taught digital artist , who says he used the internet as a tutor to hone his skills . The offer to create the images for the band , he says , was "" a total surprise . "" Featuring a lone figure punting a boat across a sea of clouds , Eldin says the image was created while he was "" thinking about life and nature . "" Despite his young age , Eldin says he was a fan of the band before they contacted him and is really excited to work with them . He could only hint that he may be working with the band on future releases or projects . The British band formed in the 1960s but found global fame in the 1970s with progressive rock albums such as "" Wish You Were Here "" and "" Animals . "" The cover art for "" The Dark Side of the Moon "" , designed by Storm Thorgerson , and "" Animals "" , with a pig floating above Battersea Power Station , remain some of the most recognizable album covers of all time . "" The Endless River "" will be released in November and is Pink Floyd ' s first album since "" Division Bell "" in 1994 . It is mostly instrumental apart from one song called "" Louder than Words "" and comes from the same sessions that produced the 1994 album . Last year David Gilmour and Nick Mason from the band revisited the music from those sessions and decided that the tracks should be made available as part of the Pink Floyd repertoire . The band state that the new album is a tribute to Rick Wright , "" whose keyboards are at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound "" and died in 2008 . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present3523749,3750,"Luke Shaw thinks it would be foolish to write Manchester United ' s title chances off just yet . With nine games gone , United are eighth in the Barclays Premier League , some 10 points off the summit . Shaw has been encouraged by the team ' s performance in the 1 1 draw against leaders Chelsea though , and he believes he and his team mates are still playing below their potential . Luke Shaw claimed that Manchester United are still a daunting proposition for other teams Shaw has struggled to break into the team this season but did start against Chelsea at Old Trafford The former Southampton player thinks when United hit top gear they will strike fear into the hearts of their opponents and that is why he refuses to give up hope of topping the table come May . ' Of course we are still in the title race , ' the United defender said . ' It ' s a long season and we are at the start of it . You don ' t know what will happen during the middle of the season . ' It will take time but when we are all on form I think we are going to be a scary team to face . ' Although Chelsea top the table , arguably the biggest test for Shaw and his United team mates will come on Sunday when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on bitter rivals Manchester City . The England defender said the Manchester derby was one of the biggest games in the world The former Southampton man posted a photo of himself after playing crazy golf with friends If as is expected Radamel Falcao recovers from a leg injury he sustained in training , and Ander Herrera returns to the starting , United will have six players in their team who have never experienced a Manchester derby before . Each and every one of them will be acutely aware of what the fixture means to the fans , Shaw says . ' It ' s pretty obvious what this match means to the fans and the club . I don ' t think I need to be told about it and the other ( new signings ) will be aware too , ' the Surrey born teenager said . ' I ' ve watched it for the past years and I ' ve seen how much it means to everyone . ' It ' s one of the biggest occasions in football after the World Cups and Champions League finals . ' It ' s a massive occasion for everyone involved in it . We need to come out firing on Sunday . ' Shaw picks out United ' s 2 1 victory over City in 2011 as his favourite Manchester derby . Wayne Rooney is expected to return for the Manchester derby after serving a three game suspension Colombian forward Radamel Falcao could also return against City after injuring himself in training That day Wayne Rooney scored the most memorable goal of his career an acrobatic overhead kick which sealed victory for United with 12 minutes left . Rooney has sat out the last three games due to suspension so Shaw thinks the striker will be itching to put on another match winning display when he returns this weekend . ' It ' s a massive boost for us to have him back , ' Shaw said . ' It ' s something I think he ' s looking forward to . Wayne hates sitting on the sidelines watching . ' That goal ( in 2011 ) was an unbelievable goal in a match that big . It was something special . ' Shaw revealed his father Paul was in the stands at Old Trafford on Sunday to watch the 1 1 stalemate with Chelsea . Shaw senior used to take his son to Stamford Bridge to watch the Blues , but the Londoner is now very much a red , according to the England full back . ' My dad is a United fan now . He ' s not Chelsea any more , ' Shaw said with a smile . ' He is a United fan now and he won ' t be too happy ( with Sunday ' s result ) because he wanted us to win really badly . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3533783,3784,"I always thought international football was about the best players from one country pitting themselves against the best players from another country . But this is a fantastical idealistic notion . The cosmopolitan nature of the world in general , and the easy , frequent movement of large numbers of people from country to country in modern times has made the globe a smaller place . At the weekend , Italy ' s equaliser against Bulgaria was scored by a Brazilian , Eder , who first arrived in Italy when he was 16 . He has admitted he doesn ' t know the words to the Italian national anthem . An Argentina born striker , Franco Vasquez , is also in Antonio Conte ' s squad . Eder , who was born in Brazil , celebrates his goal for Italy in their Euro 2016 qualifier with Bulgaria Eder , who moved to Italy when he was 16 , has admitted that he doesn ' t know the national anthem Argentina born Franco Vasquez is also part of Antonio Conte ' s Italy squad Italy ' s Italian strikers are either too old ( Luca Toni , Antonio di Natale ) or out of form ( Ciro Immobile , Mario Balotelli , Graziano Pelle ) , hence the foreign call ups . The controversy led to Roberto Mancini saying that ' the Italian national team should be Italian . An Italian player deserves to play for the national team , while someone who wasn ' t born in Italy , even if they have relatives , I don ' t think they deserve to . ' It ' s nothing new for Italy : they won the World Cup in 2006 with Argentinian Mauro Camoranesi in the side . He moved to Italy at the ripe old age of 23 , didn ' t sing the national anthem , spoke in Spanish after the game when he dedicated the victory in the final in Berlin to the people back in his neighbourhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires roughly 7 , 000 miles from Rome . As if more confusion was needed , he now manages in Mexico and his middle name is German . Italy won the World Cup in 2006 with the Argentinian Mauro Camoranesi in their squad Roberto Mancini , the former Manchester City manager , said the Italian national team should be Italian only Italy ' s casual approach to ' Italianness ' when it comes to football stretches back nearly 100 years : midfielder Luis Monti played in a World Cup final for Argentina in 1930 , and then won the 1934 tournament with Italy . Italy of course are not the only ones . Spain called up Brazilian Diego Costa , and England have done it too : Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica , but there is a difference . Sterling moved to England aged five . And this is an important point : Mancini is wrong to believe you have to be born in the country for which you play : there are circumstances which may lead to you being born in one country , but brought up in another . The truth is that Sterling is proud of his Jamaican roots , but feels English . ' Irish Blood , English Heart ' sang Morrissey , summing up the complexity of identity in four words . Diego Costa is another high profile player who was born somewhere other than the country he plays for Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica but has lived in England since the age of five There are plenty of English born players who feel Irish because of their family history a father from Ireland perhaps . Would it be wrong to deny them the chance to play for Ireland ? I think so . Back to Camoranesi , who even after winning the World Cup for Italy , said he felt Argentine . Italy and Spain are stretching credibility with their foreign internationals . And perhaps the worst of all is Gordon Strachan selecting Matt Ritchie . The Bournemouth star admitted he had not even been to Scotland before his call up and debut last week . He belted out the national anthem like he was one of The Proclaimers . No rules were broken because his dad was born in Edinburgh , but how Scottish can Ritchie feel if at the age of 25 he had failed to make the effort to even visit the country of his father ' s birth ? Good luck to him , but the whole mess raises questions about the nature and future of international football . Matt Ritchie of Bournemouth had never been to Scotland before making his debut for them last week Ritchie ' s father was born in Edinburgh , making him eligible to play for Scotland When one country faces another country on a football pitch , shouldn ' t the main purpose of that match be to see how 11 players from one nation fares against 11 players from a different nation ? Isn ' t that a fundamental premise and prerequisite of international football ? If it isn ' t , and the international game has become a free for all involving bending the rules so that it no longer matters where you were born and which nationality makes your heart beat stronger , then what is the point of it . When I go to see England play against Italy I want to see the best English players play against the best Italian players . Not a few ringers who aren ' t good enough to play for other countries . Of course , clinging on to a view that footballers should only play for the country in which they were born will these days lead to accusations of xenophobia or discrimination . But those accusations are lazy and unintelligent . International football should always be about one country against another . There is nothing wrong or racist about that . But a Brazilian playing for Spain , an Argentine for Italy and several Englishmen playing for Scotland dilutes the passion of the occasion . It ' s become more about players enhancing their careers when it should be about the passion you feel for your country . And that just isn ' t right . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3543792,3793,"Feast your eyes on the Golden Globes . The 73rd annual awards show this Sunday isn ' t just about the red carpet and the viral moments . Stars gotta eat , too . And many A listers dine at the venue before the show starts . This year ' s official Globes menu , designed by The Beverly Hilton ( where the ceremony will be held for the 41st consecutive year ) Executive Chef Troy N . Thompson and Executive Pastry Chef Thomas Henzi , will make you salivate . So follow along , if you choose . The Beverly Hilton culinary team released the recipes to Mashable , so now you can eat like Leo , Meryl and J . Law . See also : Jennifer Lawrence says that she hopes Amy Schumer wins the Golden Globe instead of her The three course menu will be served to nearly 1 , 300 people the night of the awards . Thompson says in a press release , "" We re happy to be able to showcase the talents of our chefs and culinary team members , who look forward to presenting a show stopping menu for the guests of this prestigious star studded event each year . As for the spread , surf and turf and tiny desserts may sound like standard catering hall fare , but the execution and ingredients in each dish take the menu to star worthy level . Diners start with a California market salad featuring exotic vegetables like bok choy and daikon ( a type of radish ) in a ginger dressing . The entre ? e choices are an update on surf and turf with slow roasted black garlic steelhead trout for the surf or salt baked heirloom sweet potatoes with creamed corn glaze and a fricassee of winter vegetables . The desserts , a trio of flourless Grand Marnier carmella , lemon mousseline croquantine and California almond cake , are so fancy that you have to put on lipstick just to be seen with them . The night ' s special cocktail , designed by mixologist Karen Grill and featuring Moe ? t Chandon champagne , is the Moe ? t Ruby Red , which a press release calls "" a modern take on a French 75 cocktail and personal homage to The Wizard of Oz . "" Just like the jug of wine you have had in your fridge since 2011 , right ? ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3553800,3801,"A man who escaped from an Arkansas jail last week might be headed to a county in the neighboring state of Missouri , a sheriff ' s deputy said Monday . Derrick Estell and Tamara Upshaw , the woman alleged to have driven a getaway vehicle , may try to go Dallas County a place Estell has visited before , according to Garland County Sheriff ' s Department Deputy Scott Hinojosa . Tips on Estell ' s whereabouts have run into dead ends and law officers in Dallas County were working to see if he were in that community . July 28 surveillance video from Sunday shows Estell talking on the phone and then sliding through a 12 by 30 inch reception window at the Garland County Detention Center while another prisoner distracts deputies . He then runs out the front of the jail with a deputy not too far behind him jumps into a waiting car that speeds away . The getaway car was found , abandoned , just a few minutes away but there was no sign of Estell . Estell ' s mother was arrested Friday for allegedly helping her son . Glenda Estell , 54 , was arrested without incident around 10 : 40 a . m . at her home in Hot Springs , Arkansas , according to the arrest report . She is set to appear in court August 13 on one charge of assisting in or furnishing an implement of escape for an inmate . Upshaw had been staying with Glenda Estell and was with her the day of Derrick ' s escape , according to the affidavit laying out probable cause for Glenda Estell ' s arrest . The same document details a July 28 phone call between Glenda and Derrick Estell , while the latter was in the detention center ' s booking room , just before the escape . At the beginning of the conversation , Glenda Estell says "" it ' s all good , "" then asks if his shackles are off and questions "" is there two or three in there ? "" Previous phone conversations between mother and son that "" all have random mentions of the plan for Derrick to escape custody , just at various intervals between normal conversations , "" the arrest affidavit states . Derrick Estell has a lengthy rap sheet , which includes charges of aggravated robbery , breaking and entering , and burglary among others . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3563801,3802,"Los Angeles Actress Lindsay Lohan called 911 to ask for police help during an "" incident "" at the Betty Ford Center , her lawyer said Wednesday . The statement from Shawn Chapman Holley came after the rehab center fired an employee who reportedly leaked details of a tussle with Lohan . Holley declined to comment on what happened in the incident , but added that "" it should be noted "" that it was Lohan who called the police . Authorities in the Southern California city of Palm Desert confirmed Tuesday that they are investigating a claim that Lohan assaulted an employee at the center . Meanwhile , the employee , Dawn Holland , has hired a lawyer with an eye to filing employment and civil rights claims against the center . Holland was "" targeted , unmercifully interrogated , intimidated and threatened with her livelihood "" by the treatment center , lawyer Keith Davidson said . The accusations have thrust the actress back into the spotlight . "" The incident involved Lindsay Lohan and another female adult a staff member at the location and was reported as a suspect in the investigation , "" the Palm Desert Police Department said . "" The victim desires prosecution and the incident is being investigated as a misdemeanor committed not in the presence of a police officer . "" The employee was fired after information was leaked to the media , the center said Tuesday . "" When patients come to the center for treatment , they come to a safe place where their identity is protected , where anonymity is safeguarded , "" the center said in a statement . "" Regrettably , on December 21 , 2010 , one of our employees violated strict confidentiality guidelines and laws by publicly identifying patients in a media interview and by disclosing a privileged document . That employee has been terminated by the Betty Ford Center . "" The center did not confirm that Holland is the employee in question . Lohan checked into the Betty Ford Center on September 27 , after it became clear a judge intended to send her to jail because of a failed drug test . The judge eventually ordered Lohan to stay in the drug rehabilitation program until January 3 instead of going to jail . If Lohan violates the rules of her rehab program or fails a drug test before her next court date in February , she will be sent to jail for 180 days , a Los Angeles Superior Court has ordered . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3573802,3803,"Rome Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has survived political , corruption and sex scandals over the years , but on Friday , a Milan court sentenced the flamboyant politician to four years in prison for tax evasion . "" I was convinced that I would get acquitted of an accusation that is far from the truth , "" he said . "" This is a conviction I can easily define as political , incredible and even intolerable . "" He added : "" I ' m a victim of judicial harassment . "" His trial , which also involved executives from Berlusconi ' s Mediaset television group and the head of a Swiss bank , concerned the purchase of rights for films that were then resold within the group at inflated prices . Prosecutors said the scheme , involving about 3 , 000 American films , allowed those involved to avoid a major tax bill . They may have to pay a fine of up to 10 million ( 12 . 9 million ) if the court ' s ruling is upheld . Under the Italian legal system , Berlusconi and his fellow defendants have the right to appeal their sentence twice , in the appeals court and a higher court . Also , because the case dates to July 2006 , the statute of limitations will expire next year , meaning there is a good chance none of the defendants will serve any prison time . Berlusconi , 76 , resigned as prime minister in November amid his country ' s debt crisis , bringing to an apparent end an 18 year era in which he dominated Italian politics . Through the years , he was accused of embezzlement , fraud and bribery , but he was never convicted until the tax evasion case . He also faces trial on charges that he hired an underage prostitute and later tried to pull strings to get her out of jail when she was accused of theft . The woman involved in the long running case is the Moroccan dancer Karima el Mahroug , nicknamed "" Ruby the Heart stealer . "" American movie star George Clooney had been expected to appear Friday as a defense witness in that case but did not show up . The actor ' s representative said he would not be serving as a witness for Berlusconi . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3583806,3807,"With the winner of the 2017 Masters golf tournament determined, pro golf is in the news, but the famed green jacket is also in the news for a different reason after an authentic trophy coat was discovered hanging in a thrift store in Canada. [As the Sergio Garcia finally raced to the top to win his chance to don the green jacket, an authentic 1950s era Masters jacket turned up on an auction site after being bought for $5 at a thrift store. The final price for the sale brought the owner a hefty $139, 000. This authentic Masters jacket from the 1950s was found in a Toronto thrift store in 1994. Bought for $5, it sold for $139, 349 this morning! pic. twitter. — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 9, 2017, Calling it the Infamous “Thrift Store” Green Jacket, the auction site shows a starting bid of five grand but a final sale price of $139, 348. According to the auction site, the jacket was discovered in a Toronto thrift store in 1994, but the embroidered tag identifying which famed golfer won the piece was torn out. Tournament officials authenticated the piece as a real Master’s trophy jacket from the 1950s — one of the earliest in existence — but they refused to speculate as to which Masters champion may have originally won it. Authentic Masters Jacket found in Toronto thrift store bought for $5 being auctioned off tonight by @BidGreenJacket, currently at $31K pic. twitter. — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 8, 2017, Clearly, more detective work needs to be done to find that final piece of the puzzle, but other than missing the tag of its winner’s name it is said to be the finest original jacket of its age in existence. This isn’t the first authentic green jacket that turned up at auction. The Toronto “thrift store jacket” joins another such find from 2015. The earlier sale was of a 1960s era jacket and was sold privately for an undisclosed amount, the New York Daily News reported. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com",true,news,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past3593812,3813,"Lachlan Mullen was fit and healthy like most 20 year old men his age but in 2012 , he got the shock of his life when he was diagnosed with lung cancer . Within months of diagnosis , he was so weak he was unable to stand up long enough to have a shower because of his chemotherapy treatment . But eventually , a drug changed all that and now Mr Mullen is helping the fight to make other ' life changing ' drugs more readily available to other Australians through a Rare Cancers Australia campaign . Lachlan Mullen was 20 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer Mr Mullen ' s experience with cancer started with a cough . Six months later when it did not go away he went to see a doctor and got a chest X ray . Mr Mullen ' s doctor discovered a tumour growing in his lung and the 20 year old said he went into ' absolute shock ' when he heard the news . During his chemotherapy , Mr Mullen was so weak he could barely walk ' I worked 45 hours a week and would go to the gym every day and I pretty much felt invincible . ' Mr Mullen said it took about a week for the reality of his situation to sink in but then he came to a crossroads . Mr Mullen who is now 22 chose the latter and it was not an easy task . He started on chemotherapy two months later but by his third cycle he started to struggle . ' I struggled with it and I was hospitalised for a week , ' Mr Mullen said . ' I felt my body had shut down , I had to sit in a chair to have a shower because I couldn ' t stand up long enough to have a shower . ' The now 22 year old ( pictured ) had the opportunity to be treated with a ' life changing ' drug worth 90 , 000 for free Eventually they took him off chemotherapy when his oncologist found out the Adelaide man had a rare anaplastic lymphoma kinase ( ) mutation , which meant his cancer could be treated with a different method . Mr Mullen ' s oncologist organised for him to be put on Crizotinib , which was a 90 , 000 drug that was not available in Australia in 2013 . Luckily for him , Mr Mullen did not have to pay for the drug as his specialist appealed for the treatment on ' compassionate grounds ' . But before he could start treatment , Mr Mullen had to jump two last hurdles having a brain tumour removed and heart surgery to drain fluid from around the organ . When he eventually started taking Crizotinib , the young man said he felt better within a couple of weeks . ' I put on weight , I started walking again and within a month or two I was going back to gym and jogging . Before I knew it I was running again , ' Mr Mullen said . ' I met up with mates in Europe for three weeks and really started to get my quality of life back feeling like a 21 year old again . ' Mr Mullen ( back , second from left ) said he had a better quality of life on the drug and was helping the fight to make it more readily available to others Mr Mullen said the drug gave him a better quality of life and he wanted others to benefit from it . So he has teamed up with Rare Cancers Australia to fight for better access to medicines . The Sick or Treat campaign aims to help Australians get the best cancer care available . It wants ' empower those patients needing costly medicines with the platform to raise money via online campaigns ' , according tothe campaign ' s website . ' Crizotinib changed my life and people who have been through what I have , I want to help them , ' Mr Mullen said . ' If it was six months later , I would have had to pay 90 , 000 . ' It gave me a better quality of life and more time to find the treatment I needed . ' Even though Mr Mullen stopped responding to Crizotinib after six months , he said it gave him a seven to eight month window to find other treatments . Now he is part of a clinical trial for another inhibitor , Alectinib , which has returned his life ' back to normal ' . Mr Mullen has returned to full time study at university , last month he participated in 12km bay run and he goes boxing five times a week . And next year he hopes to return to the football field . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3603823,3824,"England ' s new record wicket taker James Anderson has promised there is more to come as he believes he is still improving as a bowler . Anderson induced an edge from West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin on the final day of the first Test in Antigua for his 384th Test scalp on Friday , breaking Sir Ian Botham ' s record which had stood for 23 years . Anderson , 32 , broke the record in the same match which saw him collect his landmark 100th cap for England , although there was disappointment as England could not force a victory . James Anderson races away to celebrate after he claimed his record breaking 384th wicket Anderson is mobbed by his England team mates after he broke Sir Ian Botham ' s long standing record Anderson is congratulated by Botham as he leaves the field following the day ' s action in Antigua In his column in the Sun on Sunday , Anderson wrote : ' I am convinced I can still improve as a bowler and take plenty more wickets for England . ' He added : ' There is no way I am going to rest on my laurels and enter cruise control just because I have the record . I ' m going to work damn hard to try to get better . ' I can definitely improve , I can learn more tricks . For example , the leg cutter with which I took my record 384th wicket was delivery I learned from Stuart Broad as recently as the World Cup . ' Anderson said he had no intention of setting himself targets in terms of either Tests played or wickets taken for England because ' I don ' t want to put limits on anything ' but said he is learning to pace himself in order to be able to play more regularly . ' I feel fit enough and strong enough to bowl in the high 80s if I need to but I ' m also sensible enough to realise you can ' t do it all the time , ' he said . ' I ' m quite relieved the record is out of the way and I can concentrate on doing my job for the rest of the series . ' Botham has a word with Anderson following his bowling feat at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium Andersons ' parents and his wife Daniella ( centre ) applaud from the stands following his seismic wicket ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3613825,3826,"A decade ago , executives at Maxx were informed that their bid to open a flagship store at London ' s famous Piccadilly Circus had been denied . At that point , the discount clothing chain wasn ' t deemed ' posh ' enough for such a prestigious location . Five years later , though , Maxx secured a prime position on Kensington High Street and now the firm ' s executives must be patting themselves on their backs . For they have really hit marketing gold thanks to pictures of Prince Harry leaving the store with his own bag of cut price bargains , which included a hoodie , a T shirt and a mobile phone cover . Bargain hunter : Prince Harry leaves the High Street Kensington branch of Maxx with his discount haul And he ' s not the only one to give the cheap as chips chain the royal seal of approval Kate Middleton has also been spotted in the Kensington branch , as has Harry ' s ex Chelsea Davy . Former model Jodie Kidd and actress Tamsin Egerton have scouted for bargains there , too . On the surface , a Maxx store looks a bit like a disorganised jumble sale , but for those in the know , it can be a style mecca . For the shopper with time , patience and a discerning eye , thousands of designer brands can be found crammed inside . Savvy customers can snap up this season ' s styles at up to 60 per cent off the normal retail price , if they know what they are looking for and when to look for it . The stock is diverse , ranging from old pieces from two to three seasons ago ( a lifetime in the fashion world ) to up to the minute excess stock from designer boutiques , from labels such as Chloe , Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen . Posher High Street favourites like French Connection , All Saints and Reiss can also be picked up at knock down prices . Maxx also brokers deals to buy up excess factory stock which , while including things that simply didn ' t sell well in High Street or designer stores , also includes gorgeous must have items in one off sizes . New deliveries arrive at stores around the country every day , with one fifth of the total stock replaced each week . Fan : The Duchess of Cambridge is known to shop at Maxx Discount : Despite her rich family , Chelsy Davy loves a bargain Fan : Polo player and former model Jodie Kidd loves Maxx There are no stock rooms so what you see is what they ' ve got . The daily delivery goes straight out on the shop floor . This is why the smartest shoppers queue patiently outside each morning . And the randomness of what ' s delivered is half of the fun of shopping in these chaotic , brightly lit warehouses . ' The store managers never know what is coming in until they throw open the doors of the lorry , ' reveals the brand ' s press officer Evelyn Morton . ' We lay our stores out very differently from other brands , organising everything by department , category and size so a lady looking for a size 14 sundress should go to head for the dress rails and look through the selection of size 14s . ' What she doesn ' t mention is the fact that in the scrum to find a designer bargain , lots of stock ends up scattered all over the place . You have to be tenacious to be a Maxx shopper . The stores tend to be located in the less salubrious corners of town centres or on retail parks and have relatively spartan interiors , while separate departments all merge into one chaotic whole , and customer service can leave a lot to be desired . Maxx languished near the bottom of a recent Which survey on the best and worst customer service at the ' s major retail stores . But it ' s the no frills experience that helps keep its prices incredibly low . So how can you make the most of Maxx ? Turning up for a random rummage really isn ' t going to cut it in land . First , you have to choose your location wisely . The stock is tailored to the demographic of the local area only 24 of the 260 stores stock the much coveted Gold Label line , for example . This includes high priced designer brands such as Alberta Ferretti , Balenciaga and Calvin Klein . Visit the store ' s website ( tkmaxxweblink ) to find out if a store near you stocks it . Second , be smart about what you buy . Stylist magazine ' s fashion director Alexandra Fullerton , who is a huge fan , snaps up designer denim like True Religion , 7 for all Mankind and James Jeans for 50 a pair they cost around 150 in high end department stores . Red and white Costume National dress , 349 . 99 , ( saving 1 , 150 ) , pink and black Giuseppe Zanotti patent heels , 149 . 99 , ( saving 216 ) Tweed and Nude Alexander McQueen jumpsuit , 399 . 99 , ( saving 1 , 525 ) , Giuseppe Zanotti nude patent heels , as before Red Costume National Jacket , 349 . 99 , ( saving 449 ) , Tommy Hilfiger jeans , 39 . 99 , ( saving 60 ) , red Giuseppe Zanotti shoes , 159 . 99 , ( saving 278 ) Gold Diane von Furstenberg gown , 169 . 99 , ( saving 730 ) , black patent Giuseppe Zanotti heels , 159 . 99 , ( saving 253 ) Sunglasses are also a smart buy as they generally have a large array of different brands from Police to Prada at a fraction of their original price . Childrenswear and the toys section can be a gold mine . Navigate your way past the gaudy fluorescent tutus and logo heavy kidswear and you can pick up Stella McCartney Kids , Ralph Lauren and Armani pieces , as well as wooden toys from cult brand Melissa Doug , for around 10 . The store also stocks niche hard to find French brands such as Petit Bateau and Antik Batik and as stock often arrives on its original hangers you can spot these treasures a mile off if you know what you are looking for . As a Maxx devotee , I would advise shoppers to avoid the accessories , shoes and leather goods departments , which all seem to be at the cheaper end of the spectrum and offer few designer steals . But do make a beeline for the beauty department , where luxury shampoos and conditioners are a quarter of the price you ' ll pay in any High Street shop . The menswear departments have decent offerings , including good sportswear staples from Lacoste and Lyle Scott , and stacks of underwear from Calvin Klein , , Pringle and Emporio Armani . But for many shoppers myself included it ' s the home department that delivers the bargains you ' ll love . Here , it ' s easy to find fabulous named brands and classic design that will give friends the impression you ' ve lavished thousands on your home . These pieces don ' t date like clothes do , which makes it astonishing to find them so generously discounted . This week , in an impromptu visit to my local store in Wimbledon , I found crystal wine glasses from Dartington , stacks of Le Creuset roasting dishes and Denby china all at half their normal price . The store is great for designer bedlinen too . Not all stores have brilliant homes departments but Maxx has 26 separate HomeSense stores across the , where home loving bargain hunters can kit out their homes like an interiors magazine . But it ' s still the womenswear which creates the biggest buzz at Maxx . Amanda Bellan , fashion director at InStyle magazine , says she was rewarded for her diligent shopping at Maxx recently with coats from Kenzo and Jil Sander , both discounted by up to 1 , 000 . ' You need to shop there regularly to discover the gems as stock changes so quickly , ' she says , adding that the store ' s online shop ( which also updates with new stock every day ) is one way of snapping up a bargain without the slog of shopping in store and is also handy if there ' s not a Gold Label store near you . One thing all Maxx fans agree on is that you must buy something when you see it : nothing hangs around for long . Like sifting for gold , you need time and patience to rummage through the rails , but there are amazing bargains to be found just ask Prince Harry . All clothes were picked up at the High Street Kensington branch of Maxx . Styling : , Pictures : L R , Hair and make up : , Fashion assistant : , Model : ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3623830,3831,"Manny Pacquiao is prepared to treat Floyd Mayweather Jnr as the ' A side ' in an attempt to finalise their 200m mega fight . After six years of wrangling , an agreement for a fight between two of the best pound for pound boxers in the world has never been closer . Mayweather visited Pacquiao ' s hotel suite in Miami on Tuesday night , hours after they had exchanged phone numbers during a basketball match . Scroll down to watch Manny and Floyd finally meet . . . at Miami Heat These pictures posted on Twitter show Manny Pacquiao ( left ) and Floyd Mayweather meeting in Miami The pair , pictured together for the first time , spoke and swapped phone numbers at the Heat game Fight fans will be hoping the exchange leads to the mega bout the world is waiting for During an hour long conversation , both men showed a desire to stage the fight at the Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 . The only outstanding issues raised during the meeting related to the broadcast of the bout . Mayweather is contracted to Showtime while Pacquiao ' s fights are shown on . But Pacquiao ' s adviser Michael Konz said those have been resolved and that any announcement about the fight will be made by Mayweather . A handshake brought an end to the brief encounter between Pacquiao and Mayweather in Miami Camera crews were all over the unexpected meeting between the two boxing legends A huge bodyguard can be seen keeping a close eye on events at the American Airlines Arena All eyes were on Mayweather and Pacquiao despite the cheerleaders strutting their stuff in the background ' For the most part , it was just Floyd , Manny and I in the room and it was a very good conversation , ' Koncz told Yahoo . ' I think Floyd is sincere about wanting the fight , I really do . I know Manny has wanted it and he ' s ready to fight and has been for a while . So I ' m very optimistic . I really am . ' Nobody can stop this . I can ' t stop it . Pacquiao ' s promoter Bob Arum can ' t stop it . can ' t stop it . Showtime can ' t . Mayweather advisor Al Haymon can ' t . The only ones who can stop it are Floyd and Manny , and right now , they ' re both saying they want the fight . ' We ' re treating him as the A side in this because we just want to get it done and we want to give the fans what they ' ve been asking for , for years . ' Mayweather has accepted a 60 40 split of the purse in his favour and could break the news over the Super Bowl weekend . Mayweather and Pacquiao ( centre ) were pictured together for the first time at the game the man on the right of the shot is the Filipino fighter ' s adviser Michael Koncz Mayweather and Pacquiao spoke during half time as Miami Heat faced the Milwaukee Bucks game The pair hugged and swapped phone numbers but there wasn ' t much smiling during the exchange Mayweather looked happier when he was able to sit and take in the action at the American Airlines Arena Pacquiao was also all smiles when he wasn ' t face to face with the man he could get in the ring with this year Pacquiao and Mayweather sat on opposite sides of the court during the action in Miami The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Miami Heat 109 102 but the game was overshadowed by the boxers Mayweather won his rematch with Marcos Maidana in September and is due to fight again in May Mayweather is undefeated in his 47 fight career and considered the best pound for pound boxer on the plane ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3633835,3836,"Elections in Israel always generate much excitement domestically and internationally . However , they hardly produce conclusive results of a clear winner in terms of policies and leadership . No single party has won an absolute majority since the country was founded more than 64 years ago . Tuesday ' s election leaves Israeli politically more divided than ever : the ruling party Likud Beitenu and its leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman are injured and badly bruised , but not knocked out . The party lost around a quarter of their combined seats in the Israeli Knesset . Nevertheless , in the mysterious ways that Israeli politics operate , Netanyahu is still best positioned to form the next government , but just barely and without absolute certainty . The results will lead to weeks , if not months , of the customary horse trading process of building a coalition that brings together into government politicians who have at times little in common , let alone a coherent agenda . Israel ' s elections confound critics Netanyahu ' s triumphant speech to his supporters on Tuesday night , following the declaration of the exit polls , couldn ' t conceal the fact that his party ' s showing in the elections was disappointing , and that the task of forming a stable coalition remains thorny . The center left bloc did better than predicted . The biggest surprise of the elections was the newly formed Yesh Atid Party ( There is a Future ) , led by Yair Lapid , which gained 19 seats , and the Labor party which also managed to increase its number of seats slightly to 15 . Following the counting of nearly all the ballots it became clear that Netanyahu ' s gamble on a joint list with former Foreign Minister Lieberman didn ' t pay off . The joint list lost to the resurgent , more right wing , party Jewish Home , led by Naftali Bennett , and some votes even migrated to the center left , which defied public opinion polls to become almost equal in size to the right bloc . The election campaigning is over , the billboards on the streets are removed , and the election jingles are silenced . But challenges remain for the new government . Internationally , the Middle East has changed dramatically , as result of the Arab Spring , posing great strategic challenges . In Israel , Netanyahu ' s party wins but centrists flex muscle Iran continues its pursuit of nuclear capability and resolving the conflict with the Palestinians seems to be as remote as ever . Domestically , disagreement with the ultra orthodox about serving in the army remains a contentious issue dividing the Israeli society , as does the genuine integration of the Arab minority into Israeli society , let alone the recent economic downturn , and the ever growing gaps between rich and poor . And this is only a few of the challenges ahead . Even if Netanyahu seems to be the one with the most realistic chance to form a coalition , Tuesday ' s results show this is no foregone conclusion . Even as the ballots were being counted , the parties started informally negotiating the composition of the next government . The next few days and weeks will reveal Netanyahu ' s preferred partners . Will he opt for a distinctive right wing coalition with which he might feel more ideologically comfortable , but will put him on a course of collision with many of Israel ' s friends around the world ? If such a government decides to expand the building of West Bank settlements and procrastinate if not block completely any progress on the peace process , it will potentially lead to the isolation of Israel in the international community and to growing tensions with Israel ' s main ally , the United States . President Barack Obama , who has already questioned the wisdom of Netahyahu ' s policies and how well they serve the Israeli national interest , might take a more assertive approach to Israeli policies which he believes also hinder U . S . national interest in the region . Free from the need to be re elected and considering Netanyahu ' s support of his opponent in the U . S . presidential elections , Obama might confront the expected Israeli prime minister ' s policies more proactively . Another option open to Netanyahu is to offer either Yesh Atid or the Labor party to join him though that would risk a rift with his traditional ultra orthodox supporters or even parts of his own party . Alternatively , he might opt to lure parties from both sides of the political map , but this might prove to be way too complex to form , and extremely divisive to preside over , for the duration of the Knesset . It will be interesting to observe how the strengthened center left bloc is going to approach coalition negotiations . Opinion : Time for U . S . to stop shielding Israel Do they believe they can form a government themselves ? Are they going to operate as a united bloc that will set clear red lines in order to join a Netanyahu government whether on the issue of progress in the peace process or socio economic issues ? Or will they will jockey for a position and outbid one another for a place around the Cabinet table ? Working as a bloc and adhering to their pre election promises might either guarantee them a stronger bargaining position in the negotiations to form a government or public credibility , which will pay off in the next elections . Israeli politicians are not known for such long term calculations and the temptation of government might prove too big . Over coming weeks , speculation will mount about the nature of the next government , while the process of coalition building will occupy the Israeli political system and its public . Whatever the outcome of forming a government , the fragmented results of the election might produce a government incapable of giving the answers to the most pressing challenges Israel faces , and in the end might not even remain in power for too long , before a call for fresh elections . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3643868,3869,"Geneva Last week United States senators expressed dismay and outrage to learn that the uniforms for American Olympians were produced in China . But this is not new . For years unrestrained globalization has seen textile and clothing multinationals race to the bottom in the search for cheaper and cheaper production . The end of the Multi Fiber trade agreement saw the volume of textile imports to the U . S . from China more than double from 2004 to 2011 . The phasing out of quota arrangements has led to the loss of millions of textile and garment jobs in industrialized and developing countries alike . For example , in 1980 West Germany had 4 , 055 textile and clothing manufacturers . Now , Germany as a whole has only 690 . As it is cheaper to manufacture in countries that do not enforce international labour standards or pay workers a living wage , textiles and apparel are most often sourced from low wage countries such as China , India and Vietnam . Developing countries need jobs for their growing populations , but they have to be good jobs , without exploitation by companies from the industrialized world . : It ' s too late to remake Team uniforms for London Games Like with Ralph Lauren for the U . S . Olympic team , a 156 million deal with Adidas makes the company a key sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics . The company is providing sportswear for the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations , and owns exclusive licensing rights for all sportswear sold at London 2012 venues and stores . Like Ralph Lauren , Adidas is not manufacturing the majority of its products in the , or even in Europe , but is sourcing its Olympic apparel from a range of low wage countries including China , Cambodia , India , Indonesia , Pakistan , the Philippines , Vietnam and Sri Lanka . What ' s really ' Made in America ' A worldwide alliance of trade unions and NGOs established the Play Fair Campaign in 2003 to demand that the Olympic principles of fairness and respect are extended to workers producing Olympic goods . In May this year the Play Fair campaign published a report on Olympic supplier plants in China , the Philippines and Sri Lanka that found the working conditions fell far short of the expectations of the London 2012 organizing committee ( ) . Far from being paid a wage sufficient to meet basic needs and provide some discretionary income a requirement for all London 2012 suppliers workers were receiving poverty wages . Half of the workers that spoke with the researchers in the Philippines told us they rely on "" pay day loans "" to get through the month , despite working more than 60 hours a week during busy periods . In Sri Lanka workers earned as little as 79 per month , and estimated this was only about one quarter of a living wage . Play Fair demands that multinational companies do more than pay lip service to human rights : they need to pay prices that enable suppliers to pay a living wage , they need to make sure that factories have the capacity to meet deadlines without requiring exploitatively long working hours , and they need to go beyond audits and engage workers and their unions in efforts to truly understand what conditions in supplier factories are like . Everyone wants to be proud of the Olympic athletes representing their country and not squirm in their seats when thinking of how the clothing the teams are wearing was produced . It is not right that workers in Indonesian footwear factories produce dozens of trainers each day , yet it would cost their entire monthly wage of 102 if they were to buy a single pair . From our readers : U . S . Olympians should go naked With labor costing as little as 50 cents in the manufacture of a 100 sports shoe in China or Vietnam , paying a living wage would have a negligible impact on retail price . As consumers we need to tell multinational companies and governments loud and clear that we are willing to pay the price for decent conditions of work . Alternative view : Why make Olympic uniforms in China ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jyrki Raina . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3653921,3922,"Bacon is as bad as cigarettes , according to the World Health Organization . So bacon , ham and sausages now rank alongside cigarettes as a major cause of cancer , according to the World Health Organisation . As shocking as that statement sounds the report ' s findings are not likely to change my eating habits in a hurry . The report says each 50g of processed meat a day the equivalent of one sausage , or less than two slices of bacon increases the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 per cent . Although processed meats have been classed in the highest risk category , alongside smoking , alcohol , arsenic and asbestos , it does not mean that each are an equal danger , experts have stressed . The classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence that a substance causes cancer , rather than the level of risk attached to it . I remain a bit sceptical about research into many carcinogens . I do not doubt chemicals like arsenic and asbestos or all the toxins in cigarettes can cause cancer and I avoid them like the plague but the list of things we should avoid has grown to ridiculous lengths . Even fresh red meat is ranked as a "" probable "" carcinogen . Our ancestors have been eating sausages , bacon , steak and mince for years and the majority have lived long , healthy lives . Sure , too much may cause health problems but that can be said of anything . Everything in moderation , I say . I agree with Beef and Lamb New Zealand spokeswoman Fiona Greig who said : "" Processed meat contributes nutrients to the diets of Kiwis and eliminating it completely is unnecessary . It can be enjoyed in moderate portions with vegetables and as part of an active lifestyle . "" Few people would eat more than 50g of processed meat a day anyway . Some days I might have a couple of sausages which would push me over the recommended amount but other days I won ' t go near processed meats . A slice of shaved ham on your sandwich or some salami will not push you over the limit either . Before cutting processed or red meat out of your diets consider it carefully and ensure you get your protein , iron , zinc and vitamin B12 another way . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present3663923,3924,"Reuters) - Foreigners aiming for temporary jobs at high-tech U.S.companies will undergo a longer visa approval process after the Trump administration announced it will temporarily suspend expedited applications for H-1B visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Friday that starting April 3 it will suspend “premium processing” for up to six months. Under this expedited procedure, applicants can be eligible for visa approvals within 15 days, instead of a regular review period that can last for up to a few months. The H-1B non-immigrant visa allows U.S.companies to employ graduate-level workers in several specialized fields, including information technology, medicine, engineering and mathematics. said that during the suspension period, individuals still can request expedited consideration, but must meet certain criteria, such as humanitarian reasons, an emergency situation or the prospect of severe financial loss to a company or individual. The United States currently caps H-1B visas at 65,000 a year, with an additional 20,000 allowed for those who have earned advanced college degrees in the United States. The visa is valid for three years but can be extended for an additional three years. The agency said that suspending premium processing will allow it to reduce a backlog of long-pending visa petitions and thus reduce overall H-1B processing times. The move comes as the Trump administration also has been implementing tougher deportation procedures against illegal immigrants in the United States and has attempted to impose a visa ban on people from seven primarily Muslim countries. That ban was put on hold by a federal court. President Donald Trump campaigned last year on a promise to crack down on immigrants who he said were taking jobs from U.S. citizens. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present3673937,3938,"Abdelhamid Abaaoud ' mingled with police during Bataclan attack ' Mohamed Aggad s mother received a text message notifying her that her son had died around 10 days ago . She then ? gave a sample to police to identify him . The family s lawyer , Francoise Cotta , said : "" The message told her that her son had died , saying : He died on November 13 with his brothers . "" She was instantly struck by the horrific thought that he might have been one of the ? Bataclan ? suicide attackers , "" said Mr Cotta . Eagles of Death Metal ' s visit to the Bataclan Eagles of Death Metal ' s visit to the Bataclan ( L R ) Jesse Hughes , Dave Catching , Matt McJunkins and Julian Dorio , members of Eagles of Death Metal band , mourn in front of the Bataclan concert hall to pay tribute to the shooting victims in Paris . The band Eagles of Death Metal , known as , was performing at the Bataclan when the deadliest of the Islamic State attacks took place in Paris on 13 November Jesse Hughes ( R ) , the frontman of the band Eagles of Death Metal , pays his respects to the victims of the 13 November attacks in front of the Bataclan in Paris Julian Dorio ( R ) , drummer of the band Eagles of Death Metal , gives a hug to bassist Matt McJunkins ( L ) as the members of the band pay their respects to the victims of the 13 November Attacks in front of the Bataclan in Paris Singer of the rock group Eagles of Death metal Jesse Hughes ( L ) and guitarist Dave Catching pay tribute to the victims of the 13 November Paris terrorist attacks at a makeshift memorial in front of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris Julian Dorio , drummer of the band Eagles of Death Metal , pays his respects to the victims of the 13 November Attacks in front of the Bataclan in Paris Singer of the rock group Eagles of Death metal Jesse Hughes ( R ) and guitarist Dave Catching pay tribute to the victims of the 13 November Paris terrorist attacks at a makeshift memorial in front of the Bataclan concert hall Jesse Hughes ( R ) and Julian Dorio , members of Eagles of Death Metal band , mourn in front of the Bataclan concert hall to pay tribute to the shooting victims in Paris Members of the band Eagles of Death Metal , Jesse Hughes , right , and Julian Dorio pay their respects to 89 victims who died in the 13 November attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris Jesse Hughes reacts as he pays his respects to 89 victims who died at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris Members of the band Eagles of Death Metal , Jesse Hughes , right , and Julian Dorio pay their respects to 89 victims who died at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris The other two Bataclan attackers were Frenchmen Omar Ismail Mostefai and Samy Amimour . Together the three men opened fire on the crowd at the Eagles of Death Metal concert . Two detonated their explosives when police special forces moved in and one was shot by police . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3683956,3957,"Cancer survivor Lance Armstrong ' s inspirational third place Tour de France finish has motivated thousands of patients battling cancer to eventually finish third to their life threatening disease . "" For years now , Lance has worked tirelessly to portray his life and his racing career as a symbol of inspiration for cancer patients everywhere , and now he ' s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams , "" said Nathan Frist , director of the Stanford Cancer Center , where the entire oncology ward watched Armstrong ' s third place Tour de France finish and proudly raised their hands to display the blue "" Do Not Resuscitate "" medical bracelets they wore to support Armstrong ' s effort . "" By tomorrow , this place will be almost empty . "" Armstrong ' s third place finish , coupled with his relentless endeavors to raise awareness of himself as a cancer survivor and role model , have taken him almost overnight from one survivor among many to a living symbol of a man who only lets two things beat him . To many cancer patients seeking guidance and inspiration , he has become the new bronze standard . "" Lance Armstrong has never missed a chance to stand up and tell cancer patients everywhere to follow his example , and seeing him there on the bottom step of the podium sent us all a powerful message , "" 42 year old Brian Goodwood , who was diagnosed with colon cancer last year , said Sunday . "" If third is the best he can do , then I know Lance would want me to do it too . "" Goodwood succumbed to a combination of cancer and complications from chemotherapy Tuesday morning . Armstrong has won seven previous Tours de France , all while making every effort to equate those performances to triumphing over cancer . However , his 2009 effort preceded by a Nike sponsored promotional campaign making it clear that Armstrong had made a career comeback specifically for those with cancer sent a new message as Armstrong struggled through the three week , 1 , 500 mile competition . While he refused to give up , Armstrong finished in third behind Andy Schleck and more than five minutes behind winner Alberto Contador , facts that were not lost on those he insisted upon inspiring . "" I love Lance , and I ' m gonna finish third just like he did ! "" said Karen Monaghan , a 6 year old patient at the Texas Cancer Center recently diagnosed with lymph node cancer and calcifications in her lung tissue , holding up three fingers to symbolize the inspiration she drew from Armstrong . "" We ' re all gonna come in third to cancer ! "" the children of New York City ' s St . Vincent ' s Cancer Center exclaimed in unison while videotaping a message they will send Armstrong to show him he was making a difference and to thank him for his third place effort . St . Vincent ' s , which is widely regarded as the city ' s third best hospital for cancer treatment , has announced that it will dedicate an entirely new oncology wing to help cancer patients better deal with their struggles . Hospital administrators said they will appoint a white ribbon panel of experts to help them design and staff the new wing , where defeating cancer will be the tertiary goal . "" My wife loved Lance . He lifted her spirits when she was diagnosed . Susan hung on his every word . . . . She couldn ' t wait to watch him in his comeback Tour , and I ' ve never seen her more moved than when he finished , "" said St . Vincent ' s Board of Directors chairman Gary James . "" I ' m really going to miss her . "" Despite having inspired people around the globe , a visibly moved Armstrong held a press conference Wednesday morning to thank his fans and supporters and to explain that he may have sent the wrong message with his third place finish and his starring role in a endless cancer themed promotional campaign . "" Please , I beg you , if you have cancer , please realize that while I may have more or less set myself up as a heroic personification of the struggle against cancer , well . . . . This is hard for me to say , but I think a lot of cancer patients out there can do better than I just did , "" Armstrong said . "" I mean , I wanted to win . "" ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3693974,3975,"Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has a story he likes to share about his first game as an head coach . It was back in 1994 , his only season with the New York Jets . Carroll ' s squad went to Buffalo to take on the Bills and came away with a 23 3 win . After the game , instead of getting on the team bus , Carroll walked back into what was then known as Rich Stadium . "" I was just hanging out , kind of reveling in the moment , first game and all that stuff , "" Carroll recalled earlier this month . "" And on the wall of that stadium , they had the championships on the wall there that they had when Marv Levy , former Bills coach was there . They had gone back and back and back to the Super Bowl and all of that , the division championships , all that stuff . "" That was the moment that it hit me , that has affected me ever since , that to be really good at something is not to just get there and do it one time . To be really good at something , what really meant something to me was to do it over and over and over and over again so that you can prove who you are and prove what you re worth and prove that you can withstand the changes and adaptations that are there . "" Carroll ' s quest to get the Seattle Seahawks back to the Super Bowl for the third straight year fell short Sunday afternoon , and that will sting for a while , just as last year ' s loss to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl was difficult for this team to get over . Carroll will try to figure out why the team got off to such a slow start against the Carolina Panthers . He might question his decision to go for it on fourth and 5 in the second quarter rather than kick the field goal . Perhaps he ' ll revisit the sequence at the end of the first half that resulted in a missed 55 yard field goal by Steven Hauschka . But before long , Carroll and the organization will turn the page . They ' ll decide on the future of running back Marshawn Lynch and other veterans . They ' ll develop a plan for free agency and start looking ahead to the draft . In about four months , the Seahawks will begin OTAs . All the planning will focus on one question : How can we get back to the Super Bowl ? The answer will start with the quarterback . For fans , it will be difficult to acknowledge with Sunday ' s loss still fresh , but the best thing to happen to the Seahawks this season was Russell Wilson taking another step in his development . He led the in passer rating . He showed he can dissect defenses when given time in the pocket . And he put the team on his back with a 24 touchdown one interception stretch that resulted in the Seahawks earning a wild card berth . Though the team fell short of reaching a third straight Super Bowl , Russell Wilson had a career year in 2015 . And that is reason for optimism for Seahawks fans . ? Wilson turned 27 in November . There ' s a good chance he has yet to reach his ceiling , and because of that , the Seahawks will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender again going into the 2016 season . Consider the quarterbacks who played this weekend : Wilson , Cam Newton , Carson Palmer and Aaron Rodgers . There are haves and have nots in the league right now . With Wilson , the Seahawks are on the attractive side . Defensively , cornerback Richard Sherman is 27 safety Earl Thomas is 26 linebackers Bobby Wagner and K . J . Wright are 25 and 26 , respectively . The Seahawks need to figure out a plan for right cornerback and decide whether to bring back linebacker defensive end Bruce Irvin . But the core of a defense that has finished first in points allowed for four straight seasons is in place . Nothing is guaranteed in the from one season to the next . Players may voice dissatisfaction with their contracts or suffer offseason injuries . But Carroll and general manager John Schneider wanted to build a roster that could sustain success over an extended time . That ' s what Carroll saw in Buffalo , and that ' s what he has going in Seattle despite Sunday ' s loss . "" That s where winning for a long period of time became the essence of what I m working to achieve , "" Carroll said . "" That s why a record that you make in one year , you get the ring and all that stuff , that s great , it s awesome , it s fun . But coming back and doing it again , coming back and showing you re worthy again is the great challenge . That s where I find my greatest inspiration to work and to try to figure things out and try to find ways to be successful . "" ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3703986,3987,"Does your dog object to vacationing in a cage ? Can ' t count on your brother in law to commit to dog sitting for two weeks ? Now there are home stay websites for four legged creatures . Frustrated with kennels that keep dogs cooped up and charge extra for petting and walks , the founders of DogVacayweblink and Roverweblink are connecting dog lovers who want to earn extra cash with travelers who want dog friendly people to care for their pets close to home while they ' re away . DogVacayweblink founders Karine and Aaron Hirschhorn loved getting away when they first moved in together but hated taking their dogs to the kennel . "" Every time we traveled , the dogs hated the kennel and came back with kennel cough , "" said Karine . And they paid up to 120 a day for the privilege . When they took their dogs to a local trainer ' s home instead , the animals came back happy and rested . It was as if the dogs had been on vacation , too . So they decided to host dogs with traveling owners in their home . With Aaron Hirschhorn working at home , he had plenty of time to bike and run with the dogs and keep them company . The couple found an incredible demand for their services , which culminated in the launch of DogVacayweblink last month . Roverweblink launched in Seattle in November and went national this week , attracting over 10 , 000 people signing up to both host dogs and use the services of dog hosts . Dogvacayweblink launched in March and already has had 6 , 000 people apply to be hosts across the country ( 1700 have been accepted so far ) . Similar to a dating site or Airbnb rental site , hosts fill out detailed profiles about their canine experience , including training , medical certification and licensing qualifications the size and dog friendliness of their homes and any resident dogs or other animals on site . Some hosts specifically will take puppies that aren ' t ready for their vaccinations yet and others will not take dogs that don ' t like children . Customers also fill out detailed profiles of their dogs , behavior issues and medical or other special needs . Fees start at around 15 per day for smaller apartments with hosts who are dog lovers to much higher fees for dog trainers with large yards where dogs can roam . Extra services , like a departure day bath , can often be had for an extra fee . Owners can even get photos or videos texts or emails sent to their mobile phones . Roverweblink Aaron Easterly , formerly in advertising for Microsoft , would get upset at the thought of Caramel , his 4 pound Pomeranian , getting stressed out before he leaves on a trip . "" Every time I leave town , I ' m in a frantic rush as to what to do with her , "" said Easterly , who now uses Roverweblink ' s services for Caramel . "" When I see how she behaves even temporarily in a cage at the vet or groomer , I would not take her to a kennel . When I take her to someone else ' s house , she ' s totally excited . The fact I ' m leaving ? She couldn ' t care less . "" Now he screens the potential hosts listed on Roverweblink near where he lives to pick the best option for his wallet and comfort level . The company also has a bill of rights and a 24 hour hotline ( "" Barkline "" in the company ' s terminology ) . DogVacayweblink offers a 100 guarantee that includes insurance and emergency support . Both sites try to screen hosts and customers but agree that host and customer alike must vet their counterpart and feel comfortable with the match . Both sites recommend a meet n greet so dog owners and humans and dogs can meet and sniff out the temporary digs . "" Generally mass murderers and animal lovers don ' t overlap , "" said Karine . "" Part of the phone interview process is making sure this person has truly devoted their life to animals . A lot of our hosts have long histories around animal rescue or trainers or work for shelters . They are known in community as animal lovers . "" Customers pay through the sites , which company officials said protects the customer in case of a negative experience . Both sites also only allow customers who have paid for a host ' s services to review that host , while Roverweblink also allows testimonials from anyone who wants to recommend the host . Dogvacayweblink allows the hosts to review their canine guests as well . Roverweblink also holds payment for three days after a home stay has ended to allow the customer to make any complaints before payment is made . A pre stay visit is a good idea , according to veterinarian Kim Hennessy , because you can see if a dog sitter keeps a clean house or has too many animals . Owners also want to make sure the other dogs are current on their vaccinations . "" You definitely want to take your dog ' s own food with you because a change in food can cause a lot of gastrointestinal distress , "" said Hennessy , a Downingtown , Pennsylvania , veterinarian . "" Make sure the dog sitter is knowledgeable about pets and has a fenced in yard that looks very safe . The main thing would be safety of the dog , not being able to escape and its exposure to other dogs . "" "" You ' d also want to have a backup vet available . I would actually call the vet and give permission for any major disasters . The vet hospital will ( usually ) write it down in your chart . "" Roverweblink , which collects 3 15 of the charge depending on the host ' s reviews and other factors , recently announced that it has raised 3 . 4 million from investors . Dogvacayweblink , which collects 3 10 of the charge , just announced 1 million in funding and is on a New York City press tour this week to draw more attention to its New York listings . Would you hire a dog sitter through a site like Roverweblink or Dogvacayweblink ? Let us know your thoughts below . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3714017,4018,"The International Criminal Court will not prosecute Israel for a 2010 raid on a Gaza bound aid ship that left eight Turks and an American dead , even though there ' s reason to believe war crimes were committed , a prosecutor with the Netherlands based court said Thursday . While conceding that war crimes may have been committed in the botched raid , the potential cases "" would not be of ' sufficient gravity ' to justify further action by the , "" prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said . "" In the final analysis , I have , therefore , concluded that the legal requirements under the Rome Statute to open an investigation have not been met and I am announcing that the preliminary examination has been closed , "" Bensouda said . The case centers on an attempt by groups including the Cyprus based Free Gaza Movement and a pro Palestinian Turkish charity to deliver goods to the Palestinian territory despite an Israeli blockade in May 2010 . Activists organized a flotilla and departed Cyprus for Gaza , hoping to raise awareness of what it called Israel ' s "" illegal siege on "" the territory . But Israeli commandos raided one of the ships , the Mavi Marmara , because it violated the Israeli imposed blockade on the Palestinian territory . Eight Turks and an American citizen of Turkish descent were killed in the raid . Israel said at the time that its troops fired only after they were attacked with knives and other objects after boarding the ship . The Mavi Marmara raid damaged relations between Turkey and Israel , two close allies of the United States that had previously enjoyed military , economic and intelligence sharing ties . Last year , U . S . President Barack Obama helped broker a telephone apology for the raid from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Turkish counterpart . Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the militant group Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory . It was designed to stop the smuggling of arms into the territory , the Israeli government said . But activists say Israel ' s embargo of goods into Gaza from land and sea punishes civilians in the tiny and densely populated strip of land along the Mediterranean coast . Bensouda started examining the case last year at the urging of the Comoros , an island nation off Africa ' s eastern coast . Though the flotilla departed from Cyprus , the Mavi Marmara was registered in the Comoros . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3724034,4035,"Claims firms that try to make money at the public ' s expense will now face fines that could hit millions of pounds . Ministers announced the penalties yesterday as part of a new regime of rules to crack down on ' unscrupulous ' claims management companies . Firms found to have broken the rules will be fined up to one fifth of their annual turnover . For the biggest firms , this could run to millions of pounds . Claims firms that try to make money at the public ' s expense will now face fines that could hit millions of pounds . Ministers announced the penalties yesterday as part of a new regime of rules to crack down on ' unscrupulous ' claims management companies Claims companies offer to help people get compensation for situations such as injury or mis sold payment protection insurance ( ) . They pass people ' s details on to legal firms , and then charge customers to act as a middle man . Breaches of the rules include sending out misleading marketing information and wasting time and money by making ' spurious ' or ' unsubstantiated ' claims . Claims companies offer to help people get compensation for situations such as injury or mis sold payment protection insurance ( ) Any company that tries to block an investigation by the Claims Management Regulator ( ) , which will impose the fines until the legal ombudsman takes over regulation next month , will also face fines . Rogue private parking firms are at the centre of a surge in complaints about unfair and extortionate penalty notices . Complaints to Citizens Advice are up 41 per cent in a year , while the number of people seeking advice via the charity ' s website has tripled to 155 , 000 . analysed over 700 calls made to its consumer service in July and September this year and found the average private parking charge was 83 . The parking cowboys , who operate everywhere from hospitals to supermarkets , are aided in the multi million pound rip off by a sweetheart deal with the . The has made almost 25million in five years by selling personal details of millions of motorists to the firms . Justice minister Lord Faulks said : ' People should not have to have their time wasted by the unscrupulous practices of some claims firms out to make themselves a profit at others ' expense . We are making sure they will have to pay the price themselves if they engage in this kind of behaviour . ' The growth of claims management firms has coincided with a surge in bogus ' cash for crash ' claims , which cost insurance firms more than 2billion a year and add more than 90 to the average car insurance premium , according to industry experts . A report by MPs this year found firms offer incentives such as free iPads and shopping vouchers to encourage those involved in road accidents to pursue compensation . In the first three months of this year , the issued 126 warnings to firms , and cancelled two companies ' licences to practise . Kevin Rousell , head of the , said the new penalties will tackle some firms ' bad behaviour that ' causes serious inconvenience to the public ' , adding : ' Reducing malpractice will also help to improve the reputation of those firms who do adhere to the rules and provide a good service to consumers . ' In October , the Government announced that the threshold of what is considered a spam call or text would be lowered dramatically . Watchdog the Information Commissioner ' s Office previously had to prove a firm had caused ' substantial harm ' before it could act , but under new plans they only need to prove ' annoyance , inconvenience or anxiety ' . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3734036,4037,"A highly-anticipated declassified intelligence report, aimed to prove that Russia supported Donald Trump, has turned out to be a huge embarrassment. The annex that contained factual material that was thought to provide evidence of influencing the American public was compiled in December 2012, right after the reelection of Barack Obama.The report focuses on television shows and interviews that took place four years before Trump was elected, and well before he was even a politician. In Annex A of the report, intelligence agencies claim that Kremlin s Seeks To Influence Politics, Fuel Discontent in US. Buried at the bottom of that page is a note stating, This annex was originally published on 11 December 2012 by the Open Source Center, now the Open Source Enterprise. The report notes that two shows, Breaking the Set and Truthseeker, focused on criticism of US. The problem is, both of these shows were off air before the 2016 election season began.The report goes on to detail programming in 2012 about voting booth irregularities, which, again, would have been during Obama s campaign. Despite being an old report, the topic became largely relevant once again during the Democratic primaries when voters found themselves purged from voting rolls, and hundreds of thousands of ballots went uncounted.Perhaps most shocking of all, the dastardly network dared to host third party debates, as they were not allowed participation in the main debates. In an effort to highlight the alleged lack of democracy in the United States, broadcast, hosted, and advertised third party candidate debates and ran reporting supportive of the political agenda of these candidates. The hosts asserted that the two-party system does not represent the views of at least one-third of the population and is a sham. Apparently, the intelligence communities do not agree that some of the people they serve may not fit perfectly into the two neat and tidy political boxes of Republicans and Democrats. The report states that the network aired a documentary on Occupy Wall Street, an obviously left-wing movement, in 2012. Again, this was the year Obama was elected, so perhaps the Russians actually won the presidency. They presented evidence that Russian media often reports on infringements of civil liberties, police brutality, and drone use. While these issues are all popular topics of discussion in left-leaning media, s reporting in 2012 was clearly part of a long-running plot to elect Trump, right?If the report is true and the Almighty was swinging votes in 2012, the only beneficiary of the coverage was the now-outgoing president of the United States, who won a landslide victory over Republican Mitt Romney. Four years ago Trump was not thought of as a politician and it remains a mystery how s 2012 coverage could propel him. A mystery, that even a classified version of the report would have a hard time explaining. Sputnik news ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past3744045,4046,"The University of California is offering to pay 30 , 000 to each of 21 protesters who were pepper sprayed by a campus policeman last year , according to a proposed out of court lawsuit settlement . If approved by a federal court , the deal could end the suit by demonstrators at an Occupy Movement encampment who were protesting tuition hikes and university privatization . Plaintiffs said police violated their civil rights and a school report called the spraying "" objectively unreasonable . "" The campus police officer who pepper sprayed the protesters was no longer working at the school as of late July . The school declined to say whether the officer , Lt . John Pike , quit or was let go . Video footage of Pike spraying student demonstrators with the irritant at close range went viral , provoking widespread criticism of school authorities and making him a target of Internet ridicule . Under the pending agreement , which was announced Wednesday , the University of California would also pay 250 , 000 to plaintiffs ' attorneys . It also would set aside a 100 , 000 fund to pay as much as 20 , 000 to each individual who joins the class action suit and can prove he was pepper sprayed or arrested during the protest . The money would come from the school system ' s general liability risk program , a self insured fund , the president ' s office said . Opinion : Occupy fizzled , but made 99 a force During the November 2011 protest , about a dozen demonstrators were seated on a path with their arms interlocked as police moved in to clear out members of the Occupy movement who were camped in the area . Officers forcibly removed the demonstrators after they had been sprayed . Davis had declared the protest unlawful . In addition to tuition increases and privatization , the demonstrators were protesting treatment of demonstrators at another campus the University of California at Berkeley , according to the proposed settlement . The plaintiffs alleged their civil rights were violated by being subjected to unlawful arrest and excessive force , the settlement papers said . Opinion : My arrest at Occupy Wall Street U . C . Davis placed Pike , a second officer and Campus Police Chief Annette Spicuzza on administrative leave after the incident . In addition to calling the spraying an "" objectionably unreasonable "" use of force , a report on the incident accused Pike of misusing his weapon . The bright red pepper spray canister the officer brandished before spraying was a higher pressure type and "" not an authorized weapon "" under campus police guidelines , the report said . The canister was designed to be used at a distance of at least 6 feet and "" Lt . Pike did not use it correctly , "" the report found . The report also blamed members of the U . C . Davis leadership , citing "" systemic and repeated failures "" among campus administrators that "" put officers in the unfortunate situation in which they found themselves . "" Citizens United new movie ' Occupy Unmasked ' President Bossie on Breitbart ' s last project ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3754060,4061,"Wall Street was slammed again on Tuesday , with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 160 points , or 0 . 9 percent , and falling below critical support at its 200 day moving average . Energy stocks were hit especially hard after oil prices fell to seven year lows . The Energy Select ( ) touched lows not seen since late September and is down nearly 17 percent from its early November high . Investors are reacting to Friday ' s decision by oil ministers , waging a price war with U . S . shale producers , to keep production at 30 million barrels per day , a quota that ' s been in place since 2011 . In early trading , West Texas Intermediate fell to touch 36 . 60 a barrel , a level not seen since early 2009 . The weakness in energy stocks looks set to continue until cuts production . Officials from Indonesia warned that an emergency meeting would need to be held if oil prices fell below 30 a barrel . Until then , a change in strategy is unlikely . Although ' s official ceiling is around 30 million barrels per day , Oil Market Intelligence reports that cartel members produced at a near record pace of 38 . 8 million bpd in October at the same time non producers pumped a record 57 . 2 million bpd . Poorer countries are being forced to pump more oil , despite lower prices , to try to help minimize the overall hit to revenues . With manufacturing activity slowing globally and in the U . S . , the world is simply awash in too much oil . It ' s simple supply and demand . And with prices so low , global oil revenue is collapsing , down 56 percent from last year ' s peak , according to Yardeni Research . That will continue to weigh on the earnings of energy companies like Chevron ( ) , in October reported a 37 percent year over year drop in revenue . Over the horizon , Capital Economics believes oil prices should recovery in 2016 , regardless of what does , as lower prices continue to weigh on investment in new energy production . The research firm also assumes global oil demand bounces back as economic growth around the world accelerates and the pumped up dollar weakens . When , and if , that happens , low energy prices will keep weighing on stocks via the impact on energy sector earnings . Already , according to FactSet , fourth quarter S P 500 earnings are expected to decline 4 . 3 percent over last year in what is set to be the third consecutive quarter of declining profits . That hasn ' t happened since 2009 . Energy sector profits are expected to decline 65 percent over last year . In September , the projected decline in fourth quarter earnings was only 0 . 6 percent . No wonder investors are in a selling mood . ? 2015 Interactive Inc . . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3764087,4088,"Sebastian Coe gives up role with Nike amid scrutiny 2015 11 26T14 : 51 : 36Z 2015 11 26T17 : 45 : 30Z Sebastian Coe gives up role with Nike amid scrutinyThe Associated Press The Associated Press In this Nov . 13 , 2015 file photo , a photographer pictures the logo at the ( International Amateur Athletic Federation ) headquarters in Monaco . A step by step anti doping roadmap that Russia will have to follow to be allowed back into international competition is to be discussed Thursday by track and field ' s governing body . The meeting in Monaco of the council could throw up difficult questions for its president , Sebastian Coe . ( Photo Lionel Cironneau , File ) ( ) ? Although new to his job , Sebastian Coe has already learned that some battles are simply not worth fighting when you ' re trying to lead a major sport out of crisis . The head of track and field ' s governing body announced Thursday that he has given up his role as a special adviser to Nike Inc . That relationship was longstanding , dating back to his years as a star middle distance runner , and it was lucrative , reportedly worth 100 , 000 pounds ( 150 , 000 ) to him each year . But that link has become a millstone around Coe ' s neck since he was elected president of the International Association of Athletics Federations in August , because it left the former Olympic champion open to critics ' accusations that he might put the interests of the sportswear giant before those of his sport . Coe said Thursday that he still believes it is possible to be both a Nike ambassador and lead the without it being a conflict of interest . But he said he was giving up the Nike position because discussion about that role is distracting from his No . 1 mission : saving track and field from a crisis of confidence sparked by revelations of widespread doping in Russia , and alleged corruption at the very top of the under Coe ' s predecessor , Lamine Diack . "" It is clear that perception and reality have become horribly mangled , "" he said . "" The current noise level about this ambassadorial role is not good for the and it is not good for Nike . "" "" Frankly , "" he added , "" it is a distraction to the 18 hour days that I and our teams are working to steady the ship . "" Coe ' s decision , which he said was taken in recent weeks , shows both a willingness to compromise and that he recognizes that the has bigger fish to fry at the moment than have to face questions about its president ' s outside business dealings and whether they could cloud his judgement . Russia , a track and field power , is currently suspended from international competition , possibly including next year ' s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , for allowing systematic , widespread doping . French prosecutors are investigating allegations that Diack , his sons and others at the were involved in corruption and money laundering and an alleged blackmail scheme that squeezed bribes from athletes in return for promises to hide their positive doping tests . "" I have stepped down from my ambassadorial role with Nike , which dates back 38 years , "" he announced at a news conference in Monaco , having first informed the ' s ruling council of his decision . "" I felt that I needed to be able to focus unflinchingly on the challenges ahead . "" Coe is still chairman of sports ' marketing agency that works in 19 countries . But he said the company , again to ward off any potential conflict of interest questions , has agreed not to work for the as long as he leads it . His decision to take a financial hit immediately posed the follow up question of whether the should start paying its presidents , so they don ' t have to get money from elsewhere . Frankie Fredericks , an council member , said the athletes commission he heads would want the president to be paid , because athletes want professional leadership and "" the best services they can get . "" Football ' s governing body , , pays its president , but refuses to say how much . The head of the International Olympic Committee is a paid position , too . In other business , the council discussed the doping crisis in Russia and gave a green light to setting up a new integrity unit . It will take the lead in combatting not just doping in track and field but also other forms of cheating , including fixing results and athletes lying about their age . Earlier Thursday , Coe got a boost when Russia vowed to work "" very actively "" with the to eradicate the doping culture that led to its blanket ban from international competition . The decision by Russia ' s athletics federation not to contest the ban and its additional promise to work "" very hard "" to tackle doping represented a modest victory for Coe and suggests that his push to sanction Russia is producing early results . To be reinstated , Russia will now have to clear numerous hurdles , not only sanctioning athletes and others who doped or were complicit in cheating and cover ups but also carrying out a series of reforms . It will have to satisfy an inspection commission that it has ticked all the boxes required to be allowed back into the fold . The council meeting discussed those steps in general terms but more work is needed , in consultation with the World Anti Doping Agency , to finalize exactly what they will be . In a letter to the , the general secretary of the Russian athletics federation , Mikhail Butov , said : "" We are working very hard now in Russia to change a lot . "" "" We will cooperate with ( the ) nominated commission very actively , "" Butov said . "" I hope for a positive result after ( a ) certain time and ( a ) full come back to the family . "" Copyright 2015 The Associated Press . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3774089,4090,"Ex military intel chief : Washington ' s strategy against narrow one dimensional General Michael T . Flynn Former chief of military intelligence The civilized world is losing the war against terrorism . Jihadist attacks now take place in the midst of nations , strikes coming unexpectedly . Intelligence forces may be doing their best , but this is a fight in which every mistake , every missed extremist costs human lives . Nations can t seem to work out a coalition to combat Islamic State or put an end to the financing of jihadists and some of America s allies play a double game . Is there a way out ? Will the world come to its senses and extinguish extremism ? In this special anniversary edition of Sophie Co we talk to the former chief of military intelligence , General Michael T . Flynn . : I m gonna jump right in , because I know you ve seen the war inside out , you know how the military politics of America s allies works , so still , until this day , we re kind mind boggled , what s on everyone s mind is why did Turkey shot down Russian plane , what s your take on that ? : First of all , thank you so much for inviting me and having me here . So , first of all , why did that happen ? That happened because we have failed to understand the dynamics that are occurring in the middle east and the international relationships that we ve had over many many years have not gotten to a point where we are strong enough as an international body to face this very very determined threat that we re facing . I think that we have to understand , there are going to be more of these instances , and I think that the leaders of these nations that are in this so called international coalition have to understand how we re going to deal with this type of extremists because we don t want these incidents that are going to happen , we do not want them to be the cause of something greater that we re already facing . : But , okay , if we don t these incidents to happen , maybe we should deconstruct this particular one little more and try to understand the real reasons behind . What was behind Turkey s motives to shoot Russia s plane and why would you want to just spoil a perfectly nice friendly relationship with your neighboring country ? : I just think that to focus on this issue is I think it s important , because the action caused a second , third , fourth order effect , that I don t think that the Turks clearly understood . I ve said this and I believe that Turkey needs to do more against the threat of the movement of foreign fighters in and out across their borders , some of the black market oil that s going across their borders . I also think that there needs to be greater cooperation by this international community along these borders , the sovereign borders that do exist , still exist , but are definitely challenged . : You ve started a conversation by saying that unfortunately , unless we take care of this , we re going to see more and more incidents like that so when something like that happens , right , Turkey shoots down Russian plane , what are we ought to do ? I mean , does Turkey expect us just to sit back and not retaliate ? I mean , no one wants escalation , but what are we ought to do ? Are we not to react ? What does Turkey expect ? : I don t know what Turkey expects , I don t know what Russia expects . I know what the contributing nations of the world expect , is that those who are contributing to the greater good of stability , security , prosperity , we have to figure out how to deal with this problem , and I m not one to look back , because I can give you all the history going back many many centuries , if you want , but we have created some of these problems , and I got that . Now we have to figure out how to move forward and in order for us to not move to a greater level of conflict between the great nations of the world , we have to come to grips of how do we work together , how do we take interests , interests that are converging . So we have a whole set of converging interests that we are seeing right now , and unless we understand it , we re going to make mistakes , we re going to make tactical mistakes that are going to lead to strategic consequences . : From what I understand , we all want down , right , that is our biggest interest , this is a common threat we re facing , we re in a generational long fight against fundamental Islam , so Turkish links to and to the oil trade with the terror group have been known , and have been a concern way before this whole thing happened with Russia . So , my question is , could we really expect Turkey who is somewhat of an ally to fight against when it profits from it ? : Yeah , I think there s a lot of people profiting from . I think , number one , we have to collectively , together , we have to clearly define the enemy that we re facing . We have to clearly define our enemy . This is a cancerous form inside of the Islamic religion and people tend to use the phrase radical Islamists , and I think that that s a good definition . I ve heard one word in Arabic , fa hish which means beyond despicable and I think that it s even a better word that we see , this other word that s used Daesh this is an enemy that emanated from this region , Middle East , and it is now geographically dispersed , geographically dispersed here in Russia , it s geographically dispersed in Europe , certainly in the U . S . we have seen all these various attacks just recently , Russia had its own issues in 2002 , in Moscow at the theater , in 2004 in North Ossetia , where the same ideology killed children . I mean , this attack in California recently , it was against social services organisation , I mean , it s just unbelievable . : The President Obama seems to think that he s containing . : Yeah , I know he said that and I disagree with that . I definitely disagree with that . I disagree with the context of how we have said our strategy is working or not working . I do believe that the U . S . must step up into a greater leadership role . One of the big issues , Sophie , and I think that this is important for this audience , that a year ago , before Russia decided , before President Putin decided to take the step that he took into Syria , that the situation was fundamentally different , there was potential there with some of us who are really pushing our Administration to do more , not just militarily , but change the entire economic system that exists in the Middle East and I can talk to that , if you d like . But when , suddenly , Russia shows up , so the stadium , the football stadium , if you will , of the Middle East , Russia put themselves on the field , and that fundamentally changed the dynamics of this very geostrategic game that we re in right now . It s not a game , this is very real . Tactically , what you have to remember is that this is an enemy that doesn t have jets and drones and missiles and all these ships , this is an enemy that gets attacked by bombs from the sky drones or jets , artillery and how do they counter attack ? They show up in downtown Paris , they show up in downtown Moscow , they show up in some place called San Bernardino that s how they counter attack . So , when we think about warfare , and we think about the battlefield , this is not just toe to toe in a place called Raqqa or in a place called Mosul or in Fallujah in Iraq and Syria . This is a global contest and the way this enemy has decided to retaliate , is they are retaliating by instilling fear this is a terror force , this is not a thug force , this is not a cult , this is not a criminal organisation . This is a terrorist organisation , based on a very radical form of Islamism . : But , General , okay , the problem is that some may think they re smarter than all of us together , because for some reason we can t get anti front up and running . Lately , this incident with Russian plane being shot down , really hampered the efforts , because Russia and France obviously want a grand coalition of coalitions , but America is saying no , just join the coalition that we re leading is anyone going to budge ? I mean , are we going to just come together and fight it ? : Let s get real . There s a phrase that I love , it s Truth fears no questions . And , one of the things that I think we have to do is we have to be just brutally , brutally honest with ourselves , about This sort of political correctness of how we are calling a religion out , calling a large segment of society out I mean , the Arab community , Muslim world , the leaders in the Muslim world , the leading Imams and leading clerics in Muslim world must call this enemy out the way that they know . . . : They have . I don t think it s working . : They have not in the way that they need to . So , that s a part of it , Sophie . The other part of it is that we have to look at each other , we look at the U . S . , we look at Europe , we look at Russian Federation , and we examine this math problem that we re facing , and this math problem that we re facing is a demographic shift in the world that s happening . And when you begin to look at where that demographic shift is going to occur it s in places like North Africa , it s in places like Central Asia , it s in places like the Middle East , it s in places like South Asia and South East Asia . So , we have to begin to understand that this is not an East West world , folks , that s actually more of a North South world , and we have to decide U . S . , Europe , Russia and other , other countries , countries in South America , maybe and even China and India , how do we want the world to be over the course of the next 10 years , 25 years , 50 years . I mean , this is not about and don t believe for a second that we re going to defeat the Islamic State in 2 years . This has been described as a Hundred Year War . I can t see that far , I can t think that far , but I can certainly think much further than the next 4 years and a presidential election in the U . S . : I ve got to ask you , because I know you know about this much more than I do : I want specifics . I know that America is , right now , backing Turkey after they shot down the plane , and they ' re saying Oh , it s okay , the oil trade with and Turkey is insignificant . I know that America is backing Qatar , I know America is backing one of the biggest Salafist nations in the world , and may I add , one of the most backward regimes in the world Saudi Arabia that is arming extremist rebels in Syria . I know that America is actually financing the Kurds , which is a good thing , in Syria , but how come the same Kurds are being bombed by America s biggest ally Turkey ? I mean , unless we sort these things out or get some answers on why this is happening , how can we all fight together ? : That s a great question . For those who are paying very close attention , Sophie , in 30 seconds , just describe the incredible complexity of this environment that we are in . What we have to do is to step back ! We re going to have to step back from this thing , instead of diving in with tactical capabilities and trying to think that we re going to solve this by killing more people . Sadly , for all the people that want peace peace is not the normal state , if you look at world history , and that doesn ' t mean I believe in warfare , I just know that in order to you know , the best defence to have is a function of being able to demonstrate that , and I think that we re going to have to demonstrate more of our military capabilities for a period , but what we really have to do is to step back and say , Okay , how do we want this region to be ? because it s not just two countries , it s not just Syria and Iraq . It s not just Lebanon and Jordan and the Saudis it s much greater than that . It stretches all the way over to West Africa , it stretches over . we know the now exists , they have a component in India , they have a component in Burma , they have a component in Afghanistan , and we have already seen ? threats inside of the Russian Federation , we have seen direct and very active threats inside of Europe and we just had one in the U . S . So , it s an idea that came from afar , this ideology came from afar , but know it is actually being home grown . So , we are going to have to step back . : I m talking about double standards , while we re fighting , okay , and double standard meaning , you know , how can you fight if you re backing people who are arming them . Double standard meaning ignoring your warning , when you were back in office in 2012 about the rise of , and , maybe , even , you know , think that it s a willful decision to ignore your warnings about rise of . Is this not double standards ? : I don t think it s double standards , I think it s not smart . : Because , as I ve said very publicly , it s a narrative Our political system at the time , it did not fit a narrative for the election , for the national election . I have said , let s be very honest with ourselves here , particularly in the U . S ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3784093,4094,"U . S . backed Syrian rebel group says assault on Islamic State imminent Reuters China ? Entertainment ? Islam ? markets ? Russia ? A Syrian rebel group which is part of a new U . S . backed alliance that also includes the Kurdish militia announced on Thursday plans for an imminent offensive against Islamic State militants in Raqqa province , the jihadists ' stronghold in Syria . U . S . Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said earlier this week the U . S . led coalition would support local forces as they put pressure on Islamic State in Raqqa and in neighbouring Iraq . Washington has announced a shake up of its support to the rebels battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar al Assad , ending a programme to train fighters outside Syria and instead providing weapons to groups under U . S . vetted commanders . It has already dropped ammunition to rebels in the north , but has not specified which groups the aid was bound for . The Raqqa Revolutionaries Front , which made the announcement in an online video statement , is one of several rebel groups that recently formed the alliance . The group said earlier this month U . S . weapons were on their way . "" We will soon announce zero hour for the beginning of the battle of liberation from oppression and persecution , "" leader Abu Issa said in the video , which was posted on Youtube by an activist group called Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently . "" It will be an historic battle , for Raqqa first and Syria second , "" Abu Issa said , appealing to the local population . "" Today we declare Raqqa province in its entirety a military zone . For this reason its people must not go near areas where there are Daesh elements "" for their own safety , he said , using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State . He did not mention U . S . military aid , nor the name of the wider alliance formed earlier this month , the Democratic Forces of Syria . The alliance includes the Kurdish militia and a number of Syrian Arab rebel groups such as the Raqqa Revolutionaries Front , which consists mainly of Arab tribal insurgents drawn from the area . The Arab groups in the new alliance are operating under the name "" The Syrian Arab Coalition "" . Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday the U . S . military would intensify air strikes and might carry out more ground attacks against Islamic State . He said the United States was now supporting Syrian Arab forces already inside the country fighting rather than trying to train completely new moderate Syrian fighters outside the country , an effort that cost millions of dollars and produced few trained troops . ( Reporting by John Davison and Naline Malla Editing by Gareth Jones ) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto feed . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present3794098,4099,"San Francisco Arranging to have pizzas delivered to a stranger ' s door is a classic prank . On the Web , it ' s charity . Ashley Qualls found that out recently when she posted an offer on the link sharing website called Reddit . The Santa Clarita , California , native was feeling especially charitable one day and asked the site ' s audience of 18 . 8 million visitors how she could donate to people in need . "" Someone had commented saying , ' Hey , you should take this over to Random Acts of Pizza , ' "" Qualls said . Surfing to that section , she found people posting their pleas for free pizza . Members are encouraged to place orders for requests they feel especially moved by . One person said on Thursday that he went out of town and left his wallet at home , and another said he lost his credit card and is sick of eating tortillas . But the true spirit of Random Acts of Pizza , the creators and some members say , involves donating to people who couldn ' t otherwise feed themselves and yet are Web savvy enough to panhandle online . "" It ' s about helping someone out while they ' re down at the moment , "" Qualls said . She has sent 10 pizzas so far that were delivered to hungry strangers . Qualls has been active in other charity work , including online donation programs , but Random Acts of Pizza provides "" instant gratification , "" she said . Pizza recipients generally give thanks and sometimes snap a picture of the empty pizza box after the order is placed , in 30 minutes or less . The section ' s popularity has tipped . It received 226 , 000 visitors in a recent week . Other charitable efforts on Reddit have taken off . SnackExchange , Food Pantry and Closet Swap all encourage giving to the poor . Still , the 10 person team that develops Reddit , which itself has grown significantly in the last few months , were surprised to see the program take off . Earlier this month , they pooled their cash and spent 120 on pizzas for the Homeless Youth Alliance in San Francisco . "" We never would have said , ' Oh , Reddit would be a great platform to give pizza to strangers , ' "" said Erik Martin , Reddit ' s new general manager . Donors receive the person ' s home address through a private message and can quickly place an order using the many websites designed for food delivery . "" A big factor is just how easy it is , "" said Daniel Rogers , a lawyer from Texas who started the section . Rogers , along with John Mitchell , a former computer technician in Idaho , are attempting to get Random Acts of Pizza on the radar of a major national pizza chain . Domino ' s Pizza and Little Caesars Pizza have expressed vague interest , Mitchell said . Separately , Reddit , which is owned by publisher Conde Nast , has reached out to the big restaurants . "" We ' ve heard of the program , but have had no direct contact with Reddit , "" Domino ' s spokesman Tim McIntyre wrote in an e mail . Random Acts of Pizza sent a request to CashStar , which powers the system that many retailers use for ordering gift cards and which many Random Acts of Pizza donors use to gift meals , asking the site to accept credit cards from outside the United States , Mitchell said . But the process is slow moving . CashStar David Stone said through a spokeswoman that he had never heard of the group . The co creators of the pizza giving program have wives and children , and they each lost their jobs during the worst of the economic downturns . Since connecting online ( they ' ve never met ) and improving their fiscal situations , Rogers and Mitchell decided to organize a charitable group online . But why cheese , sauce and dough ? "" It was the one food during that time period ( of hardships ) that I didn ' t have a lot of , that I love , "" Rogers said . "" It wasn ' t just about pizza . It ' s about just getting that kind of comfort food and that kind of hope . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3804108,4109,"Cam Newton inspired the Carolina Panthers to victory over Green Bay Packers Getty Images It s Thanksgiving and that means that the is in full ? swing to celebrate the holiday . While fans get stuck in to their festive feast of turkey , there will be three games to enjoy on . Up first is the Philadelphia Eagles travelling ? to Detroit . The Lions are coming fresh off Sunday s narrow win against the Raiders , while the Eagles suffered a 45 17 hammering against Tampa . Potentially the highlight of the week is the clash between ? Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys . The Cowboys see the return of Tony Romo after a prolonged injury , and Dallas are undefeated with the quarterback in the starting line up . Carolina , meanwhile , remain undefeated and are looking go 11 0 . Make the pastry lid for the wildfowl pie by mixing the flour , suet and a pinch of salt in a bowl with a knife Gradually stir the water into the flour mix , eventually using one hand to pat together into a ball It might seem a little dry , but wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more Roll the chilled pastry on a floured surface to 4mm to 5mm thick and to suit the size and shape of your cooking dish Trim so that there is a neat 2cm to 3cm overhang Venison salami and two types of heritage beetroot Ed serving his pumpkin , gingernut , maple and pecan cheesecake Rounding off the holiday fixtures will be ? the Green Bay Packers hosting the Chicago Bears . Green Bay has ridden its dip in form while Chicago remains as inconsistent as it does every year Jay Cutler remains under centre . Packers will be strong favourites at Lambeau Field . Where can I watch the Thanksgiving games ? Eagles Lions 12 : 30pm 5 : 30pm Fox ( ) Sky Sports 1 ( ) Panthers Cowboys 4 : 30pm 9 : 30pm Sky Sports 1 Bears Packers 8 : 30pm 1 : 30am ( Friday Nov 27 ) Sky Sports 1 ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present3814119,4120,""" Let me tell you a little about me . "" "" Farouk1986 "" introduced himself to a Muslim online community with these words in February 2005 . "" My name is Umar but you can call me Farouk , "" the poster continues , detailing biographical information that appears to match the life of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab , the 23 year old Nigerian man accused of attempting to detonate an explosive on an international flight into Detroit , Michigan , on Christmas Day . The failed terror plot put airports on high alert and refocused American attention on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , which claimed responsibility for the attempted attack . Internet postings for Farouk1986 apparently a combination of his name and birth year reveal a young man who fought feelings of loneliness and struggled with balancing his life as a Muslim with the temptations of the secular world around him . He wrote about his desire to attend university , possibly in the United States , and his thoughts on love and marriage . Officials have not confirmed that Internet postings by Farouk1986 were made by AbdulMutallab , but the many detailed biographical points made by the poster match what has been reported about AbdulMutallab ' s life . "" I will describe myself as very ambitious and determined , especially in the deen , "" Farouk1986 wrote in February 2005 , referring to the Islamic way of life . The poster writes about being in boarding school , with possibilities of attending Stanford University or the University of California Berkeley . Eventually , AbdulMutallab studied mechanical engineering at University College London . Besides being ambitious , Farouk1986 also described himself as lonely . "" First of all , I have no friend s , "" he wrote in another online post with informal , imperfect grammar . "" Not because I do not socialise ( sic ) , etc but because either people do not want to get too close to me as they go partying and stuff while I don ' t . or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things . "" i have no one to speak too , no one to consult , no one to support me and i feel depressed and lonely . i do not know what to do . "" Somewhere along the way , AbdulMutallab turned toward Islamic extremism . An official said AbdulMutallab was included in the U . S . government ' s Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment , or , after his father warned the U . S . Embassy in Nigeria of his son ' s hard line beliefs and possible ties to militant Islamists . But his name was not pulled from that database and included on lists barring him from U . S . bound aircraft . Part of the explosive device that failed to take down last week ' s flight from Amsterdam , Netherlands , was sewn into AbdulMutallab ' s underwear , authorities said . A preliminary analysis found the device contained pentaerythritol tetranitrate , an explosive also known as . All 300 passengers and crew onboard the Christmas Day flight have been interviewed by authorities , the source said , adding that he expected no one else to be held or charged in connection with the incident . Farouk1986 ' s online posts show that as early as 2005 , he had a serious view of his religion . One of his struggles , the poster wrote , was that the "" loneliness leads me to other problems . "" Farouk1986 said after fasting , "" I felt a shield that prevented evil thoughts coming into my head . I felt closer to Allah . "" Being lonely awakened sexual desires that he struggled to control , he said , sometimes "" leading to minor sinful activities like not lowering the gaze . "" His religion instructed him to fast to avoid such temptation , but it didn ' t seem to be working , Farouk1986 said . In another online post soon afterward , though , he took his comment back . ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3824138,4139,"Andrew Sadek ' s body turned up last June along the banks of the Red River , which winds between Minnesota and North Dakota , with a gunshot wound to the head . The 20 year old college student had been cooperating with narcotics task force , as a confidential informant , but had severed contact with agents shortly before his death . With the gun that killed her son still missing , Sadek ' s mother believes that force knows more than it is sharing about the events surrounding his death . More questions : Andrew Sadek , 20 , turned up dead months after walking away from a role as confidential informant for a narcotics task force , who his mother , Tammy , believes pressured him ' There are more students in danger , ' Tammy Sadek told after a report was released this week . ' is alive and well , doing what they please . ' She had petitioned the North Dakota Attorney General for an independent review of , which she has accused of bullying her son into the risky position of being a confidential informant . According to the five page report , in April 2013 Sadek sold two small quantities of marijuana that together totaled 80 to a informant on the North Dakota State College of Science campus , where Sadek attended classes . In November of that year , agents searched Sadek ' s dorm room and found a plastic grinder with marijuana residue that Sadek confessed belonged to him . During an interview at a police station in Wahpeton , the report states , Sadek was told about the charges he was facing and agreed to become a confidential informant in order that the charges be dropped or eliminated . Between November 2013 and January 2014 , he bought marijuana on three separate occasions under the direction of a agent . After the third buy , Sadek stopped communicating with agents , who tried to push him to make more narcotics purchases , the report says . Early in May , Sadek was reported missing . In June his body was fished out of the Red River near Breckenridge , Minnesota . The review , ordered by ' s Executive Board and conducted by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation , outlined four minor recommendations . This included requiring briefings before informants carried out controlled buys and requested an official supervisor be appointed to the task force . It also recommended assigning a North Dakota agent to . Unsolved : Though investigators have not found the weapon or made arrests in Sadek ' s death , his mother Tammy believes he would not have killed himself Good student : His mother said that there are more students like her son that are being put at risk by The review found no wrongdoing in the task force ' s conduct and did not give details about the investigation into Sadek ' s death . The student was last seen leaving Nordgaard Hall at 2 a . m . on May 2 wearing a red and black sweatshirt . When he turned up dead in June , he was in a jacket that his mother didn ' t recognize . His wallet has yet to be recovered , Twin Cities reports . The weapon that killed him has also not been found , and though the family says it ' s missing a . 22 caliber pistol , his mother believes his circumstances point to suicide . ' There was no suicidal tendencies , ' she said back in October . ' There was no note . There was no depression . And his grades were excellent . ' On campus : Colleges have faced scrutiny for allowing police to use students as confidential informants , while Sadek ' s mother has questioned whether officers pressured her son ' Somebody knows something . They need to have the strength and courage to come forward and speak up . ' The use of confidential informants to conduct buys for law enforcement on college campuses has drawn scrutiny recently . Earlier this month , UMass Amherst Chancellor announced the end of a controversial UMass police program that worked to turn students arrested for narcotics into informants . In 2013 , Eric Sinacori , a 20 year old UMass junior who had become an informant after being caught selling Molly and to an undercover officer , overdosed on heroine in his off campus apartment . In spite of finding a hypodermic needle during a search , officers did not arrest Sinacori or inform his parents , something that his mother , Francesca , believed had allowed his addiction to fester . ' If you find a needle on my kid , you have to assume it ' s heroin . And if it ' s heroin , you have to say something , ' she told the Boston Globe . ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3834151,4152,"China let its yuan currency slip on Thursday , sending regional currencies and stock markets globally tumbling . The offshore yuan fell to its lowest since trading started in 2010 . China ' s stock markets were suspended less than half an hour after opening on Thursday after sharp falls triggered a new circuit breaking mechanism for a second time since its introduction this week . "" Negative sentiment is hurting demand expectations , growth is easing in China and there is a spillover from the inventory build in ( U . S . ) gasoline stocks from yesterday and this is reflected in prices , "" said Hans van Cleef , senior energy economist at Amro in Amsterdam . Brent fell more than 5 percent to a low of 32 . 16 before paring some of its losses . It stood down 3 . 4 percent at 33 . 07 at 1230 ( 6 : 30 a . m . Central ) . U . S . crude futures hit a low of 32 . 10 , their lowest since late 2003 , before bouncing slightly to 32 . 72 . Prices trimmed early losses , with violence in the Middle East and north Africa offering a measure of support for the market . A military training center in the Libyan town of Zliten was hit by a truck bomb on Thursday , causing dozens of casualties , witnesses said , while dozens of air strikes hit the Yemeni capital Sanaa . However , oil ' s rapid fall has made a prediction that Goldman Sachs made last year that crude could fall as low as 20 per barrel seem less outlandish than it then seemed . On Wednesday , U . S . government data showed a 10 . 6 million barrel surge in gasoline supplies , the biggest weekly build since 1993 . Analysts said further builds in global inventories are possible , putting more pressure on prices . "" All looks set for yet higher oil inventories on top of already record high levels , "" said Bjarne Schieldrop , chief commodities analyst at in Oslo . "" European crude and product inventories are close to full with Asian inventories moving closer to capacity during Q1 2016 , with global residual surplus most likely having to be stored in the U . S . , resulting in a potentially rapidly rising U . S . oil inventories . "" Technical analysts also said there was little to stop the price tumbling further . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3844156,4157,"Renee Somerfield , the genetically blessed Australian Model starring in a controversial new weight loss advert , has responded to the backlash against the campaign . The yellow Protein World ad , currently plastered all over billboards around the London Underground , features a bikini clad Renee next to text reading ' ? ' The sight of the 24 year old ' s toned figure towering above train platforms has caused a stir among some feminists and body image campaigners , with a change . org petition started , general social media outrage and defacing of the posters by bloggers , angry at the perceived insinuation that only women who look like Renee are ready to go to the beach . Renee Somerfield , the genetically blessed Australian Model starring in a controversial new weight loss advert , has responded to the backlash against the campaign The sight of the 24 year old ' s curves towering above train platforms caused a stir among some feminists and body image campaigners Online fitness store Protein World , who claim that the image is entirely unPhotoshopped , have been actively engaging in the furore on social media , strongly defending their campaign with some biting responses to aggrieved Tweeters . ' We are a nation of sympathisers for fatties , ' a spokesperson for Protein World tweeted to one user after she signed the change . org petition calling for the removal of the advert . ' Why make your insecurities our problem ? ' One critic of the ad has inspired her own hashtag growupharriet as the company responded to her request about whether she , as a normal woman , was allowed on the beach with a collage of fitness magazine covers and the cheeky hashtag . And now the blonde at the centre of the summer body storm has responded to the ' contradictory ' drama , with a very level headed argument citing the irony of people getting angry about body shaming , whilst body shaming her . The vegan fitness fanatic told Huffington Post : ' I think nearly every ad campaign you have ever seen is open to interpretation . But saying the ad is body shaming by body shaming the image is very contradictory . Two wrongs don ' t make a right . ' The blonde at the centre of the summer body storm has responded to the ' contradictory ' drama with a very level headed argument citing the irony of people getting angry about body shaming , whilst body shaming her Renee , who is a strict vegan , said : ' I am a real person behind the image . I work very hard and live a healthy and active lifestyle which is why Protein World chose me for their campaign . ' Renee , who is a strict vegan , said : ' I am a real person behind the image . I work very hard and live a healthy and active lifestyle which is why Protein World chose me for their campaign . I couldn ' t work every day as a full time model by starving myself , dieting or not looking after my body . Nourish your body , be kind to it and it will love you right back , no matter your size . ' I agree that bodies are ' beach body ready ' . Skinny , curvy , muscular , petite , tall , short , young and old . Confidence is beautiful no matter what size you are . . . . Your reflection doesn ' t define your worth . ' Fans including hundreds of women were been quick to praise the leggy beauty for her response , posting messages of support to her Twitter and Instagram accounts . The cover girl has made a career out of sharing sexy bikini clad selfies with her 430 , 000 Instagram followers , and was featured on the cover of Maxim Australia magazine in a shoot titled ' Australia ' s sexiest social media stars ' in 2014 The cover girl has made a career out of sharing sexy bikini clad selfies with her 430 , 000 Instagram followers , and was featured on the cover of Maxim Australia magazine in a shoot titled ' Australia ' s sexiest social media stars ' in 2014 . She admits to working out four five times per week , including beach running and pilates with weights , and told website Glamour Edition that she has always been on the skinny side : ' My physique is naturally very petite and I am quite tall ( 5 ' 10 ) . Growing up , this felt very awkward but I have grown to love and embrace my body ! Online fitness store Protein World , who claim that the image is entirely unPhotoshopped , have been actively engaging in the furore on social media , strongly defending their campaign with some biting responses to aggrieved Tweeters Renee ' s thousands of social media fans were quick to applaud her mature and empowering response ' I work hard to keep my body looking healthy and fit , which means eating 6 times a day and working out with resistance and weights to make sure I maintain lean muscle I don ' t like looking too skinny ! ' Confidence comes from how you feel . I feel my best and my most confident when I am fit and toned . I love moving , being strong and always full of energy . I think there is definitely a noticeable difference between ' skinny toned ' and ' skinny soft ' you know when a girl works for her body ! ' she added . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3854157,4158,"The rolling hills that surround the city of Erbil in northern Iraq once helped the bustling Kurdish capital earn its reputation as the Switzerland of the Middle East . Beneath the verdant greenery which dominates this ancient landscape , however , lies the source of the region ' s prosperity lots of oil and gas . These bountiful natural resources combined with the relative stability of northern Iraq have helped fuel a nascent luxury property boom in recent years no mean feat in a country that has been pummeled by three wars , brutal dictatorship and recurring sectarian tensions over the last three decades . See also : Where are the world ' s most expensive luxury properties ? "" I don ' t know how to describe it but it is growing and it will still grow , "" explained Dean Michael , chairman of Atconz Group , a Iraqi company behind a series of developments in Erbil ' s luxury property sector . Michael is overseeing the construction of a vast neighborhood of four bedroom villas spread over 8 million square feet of land to the north of the city at an estimated cost of 550 million . A 200 square meter villa in 2010 here sold for 350 per square meter ( 32 per sq ft ) . That same unit in 2013 averaged 1 , 250 per square meter ( 116 per sq ft ) , more than tripling in value over three years . "" I believe that we will be comparable to modern countries and cities in about 10 years time , "" Michael confidently stated . See also : Mumbai ' s new star on the rise These ambitions are backed up by the figures . In the last six years alone , the Kurdish regional government says it has attracted 20 billion worth of foreign direct investment with some 2 , 000 companies either investing or setting up shop there . After three years of oil prices averaging more than 100 a barrel , meanwhile , Iraq ' s fourth largest city is now enjoying a second boom as it welcomes wealthy Syrians , Egyptians and Lebanese fleeing violence and uncertainty in their homelands . Many end up in the Rotana , Erbil ' s first five star hotel . According to general manager , Thomas Touma , the Rotana is where local business deals have been sealed since the hotel opened its doors three years ago . See also : Micro homes could have big potential "" The lobby of the hotel becomes a kitchen where all these business deals are cooked , "" he said . "" Three years ago I remember we had in Erbil around 15 to 19 flights per week . Today there are above 90 . "" But while business is booming for those at the higher end of the income spectrum , not all is green and pleasant in Erbil . Complaints from old traders about being left behind can still be heard within the ancient walls of the old citadel . Compared to the chaos and tragedy of the recent past , however , Erbil is a city on the move and a far cry from the days of Saddam Hussein or the violence elsewhere in Iraq . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3864179,4180,"Washington Confronted with recent polling suggesting rising gas prices may already be damaging President Obama ' s political standing ahead of the summer driving season , the president on Thursday reiterated the case that neither he , nor any other politician , has the power to bring down prices in the short term . "" We are starting to see a lot of politicians talking a lot and not doing much , "" Obama told an enthusiastic crowd at Prince George ' s Community College in Largo , Maryland . "" We ' ve seen this movie before . "" "" Every time prices start to go up , especially in an election year , politicians dust off their three point plan for 2 . 00 , "" the president continued , deviating from prepared remarks the White House had distributed to reporters before the speech . "" I guess this year they decided they were going to make it 2 . 50 . "" That was a direct reference to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich , who has pledged of late that he will dramatically lower gas prices to 2 . 50 a gallon if he is elected president . Fellow presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have also pledged to bring down the cost of gasoline , though not with same rhetorical flourish as Gingrich . "" You know better , "" Obama said Monday . "" There ' s no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices . There ' s no silver bullet . Anybody who tells you otherwise isn ' t really looking for a solution they ' re probably just looking to ride the political wave of the moment . "" It ' s the same argument the president made during a recent speech in Miami and at his presidential news conference last week , trying to counter Republican arguments that the president is sitting idle as prices at the pump soar . On Monday , the president ticked through a series of measures his administration had already taken to wean the country off foreign oil in the long term , including opening new lands to domestic drilling , investing in alternative sources of energy , and raising fuel efficiency standards . Still , both Republicans and the president ' s political advisers recognize such long term arguments bring little solace to Americans who are feeling the pinch of higher gas prices now . Indeed , a series of recent polls suggest the president ' s approval rating has begun a slide into the mid 40s as gas prices tick up . The same polls show the president losing significant support with lower income earners who report feeling the pain of higher gas prices most acutely . An Washington Post poll reported about half of those who make less than 50 , 000 a year consider the higher gas prices a "" serious hardship . "" Of that group , the president ' s approval stood at 44 , down eight points before gas prices began their climb last month . Moreover , a New York Times poll last week found 54 feel the president does have the ability to control gas prices , compared to 36 who say he does not . It is poll results like those that led the president in recent weeks to engage in an education mission of sorts over just what drives the prices of gasoline , hoping he doesn ' t become the target of Americans ' frustration if prices continue their march well over 4 . 00 a gallon . "" Every time there ' s instability in the Middle East , we ' ll feel it at the pump , "" he said . "" As rapidly growing nations like China or India keep adding more cars to the road , the price of gas will rise . That ' s not the future I want for the United States of America . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3874182,4183,"President Barack Obama apologized Thursday to those Americans whose insurance plans are being canceled due to the federal health law he championed even though he said repeatedly they could keep their coverage if they liked . "" I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me , "" he told News in an exclusive interview . "" We ' ve got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this , "" he added . Obama ' s comments come days after he attempted to clarify what he meant when he assured Americans in previous years that they would be able to keep their plans under the Affordable Care Act , a controversy that is prompting legislation in Congress to address it . Obama further alters ' you can keep your plan ' pledge Republicans have hammered Obama over the promise since insurers began discontinuing coverage for some of the 12 million Americans who buy individual policies on the private market that don ' t meet Obamacare requirements for more comprehensive care . moves past troubled Obamacare website Insurance companies appear to be doing this for a variety of reasons some are pulling all their plans from certain states where they have fewer subscribers in order to save money . In many cases , affected policyholders are being squeezed . They either don ' t qualify for subsidies to lower the cost of new premiums or they may have to pay more in the health care exchange marketplace . When Obama says he ' s looking to fix it , he primarily means steps that can be taken administratively , senior administration officials said . Some experts suggest one possible approach would be to ask insurers to delay the cancellation of plans and extend them into the New Year so that people are not left without insurance . That has been done , for example , in the state of California . But House Speaker John Boehner said an Obama apology was in order and said the Republican led House had its own plan in mind . "" What Americans want to hear is that the President is going to keep his promise . That ' s why the House will vote next week to allow anyone with a health care plan they like to keep it , "" Boehner said . "" If the President is sincerely sorry that he misled the American people , the very least he can do is support this bipartisan effort . Otherwise , this apology doesn ' t amount to anything . "" The administration eventually knew that many policies would be changed by the insurance carriers after Obamacare was introduced , and the associated political uproar since its October 1 online rollout has also angered Democrats and fueled Republican efforts to extend related controversies onto the campaign trail . Vulnerable Senate Democrats voice concerns In 2010 , the Health and Human Services Department estimated that 40 to 67 of individual plans would eventually lose their "" grandfathered "" status , which only was conferred if a plan was purchased before the health care law was approved in 2010 . Although Obama said the "" buck stops "" with him on Obamacare problems to date including the rocky rollout of the website he still was resolute that his initiative to provide coverage for the uninsured and better coverage for many others would be better for the country . "" Most of the folks who . . . got these cancellation letters , they ' ll be able to get better care at the same cost or cheaper in these new marketplaces , "" Obama said , also noting that "" we have to make sure "" people do not feel as if they ' ve been betrayed by an effort carried out with their best interests in mind . "" They ' ll have more choice , they ' ll have more competition . They ' re part of a bigger pool . The insurance companies are going to be hungry for their business . So the majority of folks will end up being better off , "" he said . Key elements of the health law prohibit discrimination for pre existing conditions and require new plans cover maternity care , mental health and other areas . The program was developed to put comprehensive care within reach of millions of uninsured Americans . About 95 of legal U . S . residents receive health insurance through private employers or the federal government , the Obama administration says . But more than 48 million Americans don ' t have any coverage . Debunking 4 Obamacare myths : Both sides get it wrong Obama ' s apology comes a week after similar refrains were made by Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding the botched Obamacare online rollout . Five things we learned from Obamacare records : Chief tech officer too busy for congressional testimony Asked if he thinks Americans will be able to trust what he says in the future , Obama said he thinks he ' ll ultimately be "" judged on whether "" Obamacare is better for Americans overall . "" When you try to do something big like make our health care system better . . . there are going to be problems along the way , even if ultimately what you ' re doing is going to make a whole lot of people better off , and I hope that people will look at the end product and they ' re going to be able to look back and say , you know what , we now have protections we didn ' t have before , "" he said . In the interview , Obama reiterated the administration ' s line that he ' s "" confident "" a "" majority of people "" will be able to use the website and apply for insurance by November 30 . But he did not say whether he would push back the March 31 deadline to enroll or the penalty for those who do not purchase insurance . Obamacare depends on younger , healthier Americans to buy into the program and pay premiums to offset costs for covering older people who need more health care . Those without insurance who do not sign up for a plan face a fine . What else could go wrong with Obamacare ? A Gallup poll conducted just over a week ago showed 36 of Americans said they didn ' t think that in the long run the Affordable Care Act would make much of a difference to their family ' s health care situation . Just over a third said the health care law would make matters worse , and one in four said that Obamacare would make things better . Opinion : Here ' s the truth about Obamacare ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3884192,4193,"A young British holidaymaker was killed by a stray bullet at a New Year ' s beach party in a popular Thai tourist destination . City trader Stephen Ashton , 22 , was dancing on the sand when he was caught in crossfire following a fight between two groups of Thai men . Despite frantic efforts by his distraught friends and other revellers , he died soon afterwards at a local hospital . Victim : Stephen Ashton , seen posing for a photograph for his Facebook page , was shot in the torso whilst celebrating New Year ' s Eve in a bar in Thailand Mr Ashton , who is understood to have been on holiday with five friends , had travelled to one of the top locations on young Britons ' gap year wishlist Haad Rin beach on Koh Phangan island . The resort has long been famed for its monthly ' full moon ' parties , as well as its New Year festivities . Hippy travellers have been followed by growing numbers of affluent young Britons fresh out of school or university , although the Foreign Office warns visitors to take care because of problems with roving criminal gangs . Mr Ashton , who lived with his mother Diane in a 1million house in Purley , Surrey , was simply enjoying the festivities at the Zoom beach bar when tragedy struck . According to local reports , 300 tourists were dancing shortly after 4am on New Year ' s Day when two groups of Thai men , each half a dozen strong , began arguing , then fist fighting . Killed : The 22 year old was shot by a stray bullet after two Thai men started a fight in the bar on Koh Phangan Tragic : Stephen Ashton was shot as he danced with friends at the the Zoom Bar on Haad Rin Beach ( file photo ) As one of the groups fled the bar , one man turned back and fired a gun , leading to panic . One bullet struck Mr Ashton in the torso , causing devastating injuries . After first aid by partygoers failed , he was sent to the Ban Don hospital nearby , which has only elementary surgical facilities , and was later pronounced dead . Local police officer Lieutenant Colonel Somsak Noorod said : ' He was shot in the side while he was dancing on the beach . ' Thai police named their suspect as Ekkapan Kaewkla , 26 , and arrested him yesterday afternoon in remote hills in the centre of the island . He is said to have had a home made gun , which was allegedly the weapon used . Investigation : Thai police speak to holidaymakers about the shooting Shock : The beach was packed full of people celebrating New Year ' s Eve when the incident happened Killed : Mr Ashton was at a New Year party on one of Thailand ' s most famous islands He was reported to have admitted being in the fight , but denied firing the fatal shot . Colonel Kittakarn Kramothong , head of the island ' s police station , said : ' Stephen was not involved in the fight . The gun used was home made . ' Mr Ashton had been staying at the Pink Bungalow complex nearby with his friends . Just a fortnight ago he had posted on Facebook a photograph of himself and two companions in a Thai bar . His father John died suddenly aged around 50 about a year ago . A childhood friend last night told how he had given up work to nurse his father , who suffered a terminal illness . Zak Gorman , 22 , said : ' All I can say is Stephen was a top bloke . ' He was a barrister ' s clerk and then started work in the City trading derivatives , but he quit his job to look after his father . ' He had returned to work last year . Mrs Ashton , 48 , was on her own New Year holiday abroad and was last night understood to be on her way to formally identify her son ' s body in Thailand . Other relatives at the family home yesterday were too upset to discuss their loss . A former neighbour , who did not want to be named , said : ' It is so tragic . It is just Diane and her daughter Emily left now . ' Last night a Foreign Office spokesman said : ' We are aware of the death of a British national in Thailand . We are providing consular assistance to the family . ' Gun crime : A tourist haven and regional base for multinational companies , Thailand has the highest number of guns in civilian hands in Southeast Asia Haad Rin beach on Koh Phangan island , off the east coast of Thailand , was once a tranquil hippy secret . Over the last three decades , however , it has gained growing fame for its Full Moon parties which can now take place pretty much any time with blaring Western dance music . The hedonistic atmosphere of Haad Rin beach is thought to have inspired the hit film The Beach , starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Tilda Swinton , and the original book of the same name by British author Alex Garland . Revellers at a Full Moon party on Haad Rin beach , the destination thought to have inspired The Beach by Alex Garland Its backpacker hero leaves a resort similar to Haad Rin for a secret island utopia populated by young Western travellers with access to unlimited marijuana . In the real Koh Phangan , there are young tourists experimenting with drugs , but many simply head there for the cheap beer and dance music parties . The Foreign Office has warned of problems at the beach , including sexual assaults , drownings involving swimmers high on drugs and attacks by local gangs . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3894201,4202,"Days after refusing to rule out recommending U . Sweblinkbat troops in Iraq , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made an unexpected trip Saturday to the turbulent Middle Eastern nation to talk with officials there about combating , an official said . Gen . Martin Dempsey traveled to Iraq "" to confer ( with ) Iraqi political and security officials on next phase of the campaign to defeat ( ) , "" according to a tweet from Brett McGurk , a U . S . diplomat focused on as well as Iran and Iraq . Pentagon spokesman Jim Gregory added that Dempsey met with Prime Minister Haider al Abadi , as well as U . S . Ambassador Stuart Jones and U . S . troops and commanders in the country . Iraqi : U . S . led campaign welcome if ' they do it right ' "" The primary purpose of his visit is to get a firsthand look at the situation in Iraq , receive briefings , and get better sense of how the campaign is progressing , "" said Gregory . During the meeting between Dempsey and al Abadi , the two discussed what to do about , America ' s support for Iraq ' s armed forces , as well as progress made by Iraqi forces , according to a statement from the Prime Minister ' s office . The troops ' victories are part of a strategic plan for liberating all Iraqi territory , and it will be achieved , al Abadi said . After his Baghdad stop , Dempsey moved north to Irbil , the capital of Iraq ' s Kurdish region and home to U . S . military advisers and consular personnel . The Joint Chiefs chairman met there with Massoud Barzani , the President of the semi autonomous region , according to Gregory . Until recently , the Kurdish region had been the most stable in Iraq and a cooperative ally of the United States . But it came under an onslaught earlier this year from , one that so far , at least it has been able to withstand . Dempsey ' s entire trip , which wasn ' t announced beforehand , is the first since the U . S . military earlier this year launched Operation Inherent Resolve . That ' s what Washington is calling its military campaign against , which consists largely of U . S . led airstrikes against the terrorist group as well as support for the Iraqi military . Christopher Harmer , an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War , said Saturday that it ' s very important for U . S . military leaders such as Dempsey to get away from Washington and see for themselves how this fight is going . "" I think what General Dempsey is doing here is sending a message both to the U . S . troops that he understands what ' s happening , that he wants to get firsthand knowledge of what ' s happening , "" Harmer said . "" And ( he is ) also sending a message to our allies , the Iraqi government , that he ' s taking this seriously and that we ' re committed to an ultimate victory on their behalf . "" Dempsey has been one of President Barack Obama administration ' s leading voices on the situation in Iraq , where which calls itself the Islamic State has taken over wide swaths of territory , reportedly terrorizing citizens in the process . Obama has made going after a top priority in recent months , including expanding coalition airstrikes against the Islamist extremist group into neighboring Syria . Yet he has insisted that American combat troops won ' t play a role in Syria or in Iraq , though military advisers have recently been sent to Iraq . Yet in testimony Thursday to the House Armed Services Committee , Dempsey said he would not rule out asking the President to send U . S . ground troops into Iraq . He told the committee that he could envision scenarios in which a U . S . ground contingent would be necessary there , particularly if the coalition moves to retake Mosul or the western border with Syria . "" I ' m not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U . S . forces , "" cautioned Dempsey , "" but we ' re certainly considering it . "" General leaves door open for U . S . ground troops ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3904223,4224,"In a revolutionary breakthrough with the potential to forever alter the way humans defecate , Palo Alto based Internet company Ascent Technologies announced Monday the successful development of the first ever "" e toilet . "" "" It ' s incredibly exciting , "" said Ascent Jeff Scoscia , considered by members of the digerati to be the father of the cyberdump . "" The e toilet will revolutionize on line waste elimination through the democratization of access to high speed electronic bathrooms . "" "" Of course , rudimentary pee commerce has been around almost as long as the Internet itself , "" Scoscia said , "" but our new e toilet will bring the Internet into the next millennium with real time point , click and shit capability . "" Scoscia noted that "" Number 2 . 0 , "" as Silicon Valley insiders have dubbed it , will be cross platform compatible and fully 2K Flushes compliant . In addition , he said , it will feature significantly wider , more comfortable bandwidth to accommodate even the most massive user download . Though e toilet prototypes have existed for years , the Ascent model ' s flexibility and ease of use make it the first on line shitting system that users are expected to embrace on a mass scale . "" No more frustrating lock up problems and even the most novice cybershitter can easily mount the e toilet on his or her desktop , "" said Wired associate editor Graham Roehner , whose 25 page special report on the future of cyberdefecation will appear in the magazine ' s November issue . "" Just log on , log out , and log off . It ' s that simple . "" "" In the near future , "" he added , "" everyone will shit on line . "" According to Roehner , other features of the e toilet include real time urine streaming , the capacity to add Plug Ins , and six months free membership in the popular on line lavatory community eBidet . In addition , it has full multitasking capability , enabling cybershitters to read on line versions of magazines and newspapers while on the e toilet . The Advent e toilet also has a decisive edge over previous models in the area of on line security . "" It used to be that just any netizen could interrupt you while you were downloading on an e toilet , "" said Fast Company technology reporter Warren Dishman . "" But thanks to this new e toilet ' s advanced 64 bit encraption algorithm , there is a greatly reduced chance of barge in . users who are used to interruption from the dreaded Instant Message won ' t have to worry about the conflict any longer . And up to 24 network users can use a single e toilet without fear of catching a virus , no matter who has used it before them . "" As proud as e toilet designers are of the "" line after line of fat code "" they laid down while beta testing their new platform , they said they are even prouder of the breakthrough design of its user interface . "" Early e toilets forced users to keep a lot of windows open , so e dumpers lacked the kind of privacy you want while doing your business , "" said designer Peter Cheng , a self described "" whiz kid "" who has put hundreds of gigaflops through the new e toilet without once encountering the dreaded , bomb emblazoned "" Shit Failed "" message . "" As a result of all the open windows , many users , feeling uncomfortable and nervous , would ' back up , ' often leading to painful problems , corrupted cache , and the embarrassment of having to wipe and reformat the entire root directory after a botched download . "" According to Scoscia , the Ascent e toilet ' s innovative "" Unplug Play "" desktop tiling is cleaner , more customizable and 80 percent less likely to collect "" cookies "" than those of other e toilets . "" For three years an eternity in this field the story has been , ' Same shit , different data , ' "" Scoscia said . "" Well , no more . We ' ve seen the last of computer users sitting at their terminals broken hearted , having paid 99 , but couldn ' t start it . "" "" With the new Advent e toilet , cutting edge cyberdump technology has finally arrived and is within reach for all Americans , "" said Scoscia , smiling . "" The question is : Do you want to go today ? "" ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present3914230,4231,"What people are saying about the Lassen near the Spratly Islands . Testing China with warship : Opinionline What people are saying about the Lassen near the Spratly Islands . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1N6iLLZ A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address . A link has been posted to your Facebook feed . To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs What people are saying about the Lassen near the Spratly Islands . Jerry S . Tundag , The ( Philippine ) Freeman : The United States finally made good an earlier promise to test the territorial claim of China over the whole of the South China Sea by sending the Lassen , a guided missile destroyer , to within 12 nautical miles of one of the man made islands that China has been building . . . . This naturally riled China . But beyond saying it repeatedly warned the U . S . warship and followed it for the duration of the sail through , China did nothing to provoke a real confrontation . So , did the United States win Round 1 in its faceoff with China in the South China Sea ? Not necessarily . The sail through did not really mean anything over and above the battle of words . The Wall Street Journal , editorial : Beijing s strategy in the South China Sea is to bully its neighbors and achieve regional hegemony through coercive means short of war . Turning peaceful naval patrols into diplomatic hot potatoes is exactly the sort of change Beijing seeks . . . . Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said . . . China will absolutely not permit any country to infringe on China s territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands . . . . Such threats are all the more reason for the U . S . to defend international naval norms , and to make this the beginning of a persistent challenge to China s false claims . ( Former ) Philippines president Fidel Ramos said the Spratly Islands would be a litmus test of whether China as a great power intends to play by international rules , or make its own . Beijing has shown that it scorns those rules . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present3924259,4260,"The Israeli military ' s firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during the Gaza offensive "" was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes , "" Human Rights Watch ( ) said in a report on Wednesday . Human Rights Watch says Israel used white phosphorus shells over populated areas in Gaza . "" In Gaza , the Israeli military didn ' t just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops , "" said Fred Abrahams , a senior emergencies researcher . "" It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas , even when its troops weren ' t in the area and safer smoke shells were available . As a result , civilians needlessly suffered and died . "" Entitled "" Rain of Fire : Israel ' s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza , "" the 71 page report provides "" witness accounts "" and "" presents ballistics evidence , photographs , and satellite imagery , as well as documents from the Israeli military and government . "" is an independent international organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights . The group urged Israel and the United States to investigate the attacks . Israel should prosecute those who carried them out and the U . S . government , which supplied Israel , should look into the issue . said white phosphorous was a chemical substance dispersed in artillery shells , bombs and rockets , used primarily to obscure military operations . "" ( While ) it is not considered a chemical weapon and is not banned per se , it ignites and burns on contact with oxygen and creates a smokescreen at night or during the day to mask the visual movement of troops . "" It also interferes with infra red optics and weapon tracking systems , thus protecting military forces from guided weapons such as anti tank missiles . When comes into contact with people or objects , though , it creates an intense and persistent burn . It can also be used as a weapon against military targets , "" the group said . In response , the Israeli military said "" smoke shells are not an incendiary weapon "" and defended its actions . The Israel Defense Forces said it was close to completing its probe into "" the use of ammunition containing elements of phosphorous . "" "" ( The invesitgation ) is dealing with the use of ammunition containing elements of phosphorous , including , among others , the 155mm smoke shells which were referred to in the report . This type of ammunition disperses in the atmosphere and creates an effective smoke screen . It is used by many Western armies . "" It is already possible to conclude that the ' s use of smoke shells was in accordance with international law . These shells were used for specific operational needs only and in accord with international humanitarian law . The claim that smoke shells were used indiscriminately , or to threaten the civilian population , is baseless , "" the said . It said "" that weapons intended for screening are not classed as incendiary weapons . "" But Abrahams said past investigations into allegations of wrongdoing suggest their inquiry would be neither thorough nor impartial . "" That ' s why an international investigation is required into serious laws of war violations by all parties . "" For the needless civilian deaths caused by white phosphorus , senior commanders should be held to account , "" Abrahams said . The report said white phosphorus munitions weren ' t illegal when deployed properly in open areas , but it determined that the repeatedly used them "" unlawfully over populated neighborhoods , killing and wounding civilians and damaging civilian structures , including a school , a market , a humanitarian aid warehouse and a hospital . "" "" First , the repeated use of air burst white phosphorus in populated areas until the last days of the operation reveals a pattern or policy of conduct rather than incidental or accidental usage . Second , the was well aware of the effects of white phosphorus and the dangers it poses to civilians . Third , the failed to use safer available alternatives for smokescreens , "" the report said . A medical report prepared during the recent hostilities by the Israeli Health Ministry said that white phosphorus "" can cause serious injury and death when it comes into contact with the skin , is inhaled or is swallowed . "" The report said that the could have used a non lethal smoke shells produced by an Israeli company if it wanted to provide a "" smokescreen "" for its troops . Israel launched the offensive in late December to take on militants from Hamas , who had been shelling southern Israeli communities for months from Gaza . The offensive , called Operation Cast Lead , was launched December 27 and ended January 17 with a cease fire . Of the 1 , 453 people estimated killed in the conflict , 1 , 440 were Palestinian , including 431 children and 114 women , a U . N . report recently said . The 13 Israelis killed included three civilians and six soldiers killed by Hamas , and four soldiers killed by friendly fire , it said . also said it found no evidence that the Hamas militants Israel was targeting in Gaza were using human shields "" in the vicinity at the time of the attacks . "" Israel has said Hamas militants used civilians as human shields and fought from civilian locations , points out . "" In some areas Palestinian fighters appear to have been present , but this does not justify the indiscriminate use of white phosphorus in a populated area . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past3934262,4263,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House wants to sell half of the nation’s emergency oil stockpile and open the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to drilling as part of plans to balance the budget over the next 10 years, documents by the administration showed. The White House budget, which will be delivered to Congress on Tuesday, is meant as a proposal and may not take effect in its current form. But it reveals the administration’s policy hopes, which include ramping up American energy output. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest, holds about 688 million barrels of crude oil in heavily guarded underground caverns in Louisiana and Texas. Congress created it in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo caused fears of long-term motor fuel price spikes that would harm the U.S. economy. The Trump budget proposes to start selling oil in fiscal year 2018, which begins on Oct. 1, with sales that would generate $500 million, according to the documents. The sales from the reserve would gradually rise over the following years, peaking at nearly $3.9 billion in 2027, and totaling nearly $16.6 billion from 2018 to 2027. The announcement surprised oil markets, and pulled down U.S. crude prices for immediate delivery to just over $50 per barrel during Asian trading hours. [O/R] Yet the bigger effect, if implemented, would be more long-term as it is planned to last a decade. The Brent forward curve <0#LCO:> shows prices rising toward $55.60 per barrel by April 2018, but then declining toward $53.75 per barrel by late 2018. The White House budget plan, released just after Trump left Saudi Arabia, the defacto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is seen as undermining OPEC-led plans to tighten global markets by cutting production, and points toward a future of ongoing ample supplies. The Trump budget would also seek to raise $1.8 billion over the coming decade by leasing oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, the largest protected wilderness in the United States, believed to hold rich reserves of crude. Increased drilling in Alaska would add to rising U.S. oil production which, largely thanks to shale, has jumped over 10 percent since mid-2016 to 9.3 million barrels per day. U.S. politicians have been debating whether to open the reserve in northeastern Alaska to drilling since the 1970s, with opponents citing the risk of spills and the contribution to global climate change. Trump has already moved to expand U.S. offshore drilling, including in parts of the Arctic, as part of his broader effort to support the oil and gas industries. He has also moved to trim the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including by proposing a more than 30 percent cut to its funding. Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters on Monday that the overall budget proposal was part of an effort to help the U.S. economy grow at a rate of 3 percent a year. “It drives our tax reform policy, our regulatory policy, trade, energy ... everything is keyed toward getting us back to 3 percent,” he said. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the energy-related budget proposals. Trump’s budget would also restart a nuclear waste fund that would bring in more than $3 billion by 2027. The Obama administration stopped charging nuclear energy utilities the fee in 2014 after it stopped the licensing process for Nevada’s Yucca Mountain - a waste dump that cost the government billions of dollars but never opened. The Trump administration proposed reviving Yucca in details of the budget released in March. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3944275,4276,"No difference between Shah Rukh and Hafiz Saeed : Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday compared Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan with Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed after the actor said there was growing intolerance in India . The hardline leader said in Gorakhpur that both Shah Rukh Khan and Saeed the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack speak the same language . "" There is no difference in the language Shah Rukh Khan and Saeed speak , "" said Adityanath , who heads the Gorakhpur mutt in eastern Uttar Pradesh and is known for his radical views on issues related to Hinduism . Adityanath said if Hindus stopped seeing Shah Rukh Khan ' s movies , "" he will be on the streets like an ordinary Muslim "" . The ' s comment came a day after a leader , Kailash Vijayvargiya , called Shah Rukh as the actor is widely known and who turned 50 on Monday a "" deshdrohi "" ( traitor ) . Vijayvargiya said on Wednesday that his comment had been "" misconstrued "" . Another Hindutva proponent , Sadhvi Prachi , dubbed the actor a "" Pakistani agent "" . Shah Rukh Khan had said earlier that there "" is intolerance ( in India ) , there is extreme intolerance . . . there is growing intolerance "" . Adityanath said "" so called writers and artistes "" had taken an anti India stand by returning their national awards over alleged growing intolerance , and that Shah Rukh Khan had now added his voice to this group . He said while he was all for a free debate on issues , no one had a right to hurt India ' s international image . Those who did deserved to be boycotted , the saffron robed said . When he was told that Hafiz Saeed had invited Indians to come to Pakistan if they found intolerance in India difficult to cope with , Adityanath said : "" They can go ( to Pakistan ) . We also want them to go . "" Adityanath has been representing Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha for the since 1998 . Also head of the Hindu Yuva Vahini group , he has sparked many controversies with his hardline comments . In June this year , he declared that those who oppose yoga can leave India . Adityanath ' s comments drew criticism from both the Shiv Sena and veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher . Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said : "" Shah Rukh must not be targeted for being a Muslim . He has the same rights as we do . "" Kher , a known supporter , tweeted : "" Some members of the really need to control their tongue and stop talking rubbish about Shah Rukh . He is a national icon and we are proud of him . "" But and popular Bhojpuri singer actor Manoj Tiwari said Shah Rukh Khan had always been close to the Congress and had made his statement amid the ongoing Bihar assembly elections . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present3954300,4301,"Central African Republic steps up security ahead of pope visit Reuters author ? Christianity ? Crime ? Europe ? Islam ? Politics ? Turkey ? French and U . N . armoured vehicles and tanks jostled with ramshackle yellow taxis on the congested streets of Central African Republic ' s capital on Saturday as security was beefed up a day before the arrival of Pope Francis . The pope ' s visit to the former French colony , racked since 2013 by a conflict that has descended into inter religious bloodshed , has been welcomed by both the majority Christian community and the Muslim minority . Interim President Catherine Samba Panza said on Saturday that the event could mark a turning point in the fighting , which has pitted neighbours against each other . "" Central Africans know that the pope is a messenger of peace , and they hope that the message he is going to deliver to them will trigger a national awakening and awareness so that Central Africans learn to live together once again , "" she said . However , in the days before his scheduled arrival his exact itinerary has been in doubt and there has been speculation that security concerns might force the final leg of the pope ' s first African tour to be called off altogether . Following months of relative calm , clashes have again flared around Bangui ' s PK5 , an enclave of Muslims , leaving at least 100 people dead since late September , according to Human Rights Watch . Pope Francis , who arrives in Bangui on Sunday from Uganda , is scheduled to visit a mosque the following day in PK5 , which has been under a blockade by Christian militias for the last two months . French officials warned the Vatican earlier this month that the trip to Central African Republic could put the pope as well as hundreds of thousands of believers at risk . Church officials , however , have given assurances that the visit will go ahead . "" I asked myself , before God , is it true what the French said that they didn ' t have the capacity to secure the pope ' s visit , "" said Arlette Tanga , a volunteer who cares for those wounded in the inter religious conflict . "" But I had faith in God and it worked . "" Central African Republic ' s U . N . peacekeeping mission , , is heading up a massive push to limit the risks in the run down riverside city ahead of the visit . has received extra soldiers and will deploy between 3 , 000 and 4 , 000 troops . New surveillance drones and observation balloons capable of quickly pinpointing trouble spots anywhere in Bangui hover in the skies above the city . The Central African government is contributing some 500 police and gendarmes . And France ' s 900 soldiers in the country are also on alert . In addition to Bangui ' s residents , thousands of Catholics are expected to brave militia and rebel checkpoints and travel there from other parts of Central African Republic to catch a glimpse of the pope . Others will cross the Ubangi River in small boats from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo , raising concerns over the capacity to control the massive crowds expected to turn out . Government spokesman Dominique Said Panguindji , however , said the authorities were doing everything necessary to keep order , including training and deploying thousands of boy and girl scouts to cordon off the pope ' s route through Bangui . "" Between the government and the Christian community , I think a combined effort will allow us to ensure the security of the Holy Father during this visit . We won ' t be overwhelmed , "" he said . ( Reporting by Joe Bavier Editing by Richard Balmforth ) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto feed . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past3964336,4337,"American tobacco heiress Doris Duke fell in love with Islamic art and culture during her honeymoon through the Middle East and Asia in 1935 . So much so that she commissioned a bedroom and bathroom inspired by the Taj Mahal , the mausoleum in India built by a 17th century emperor for his favorite wife . The marble and mirror lined private living quarters will be opened to the public for the first time this weekend in Hawaii after years of extensive repairs and restoration . Duke , who died in 1993 , never explained what prompted her to build a house with architectural elements of Syria and India in the oceanfront home she built in Honolulu or to collect items such as 13th century Persian tiles . Open house : The private living quarters of the Honolulu , Hawaiian mansion owned by the late American tobacco heiress Doris Duke will be open for the first time to the public this weekend Good taste : Duke nicknamed the oceanfront estate Shangri La and it had it decorated with architectural style elements borrowed from Syria and India Deborah Pope , executive director of the home that ' s been functioning as a museum of Islamic art since 2002 , said Duke was drawn to cultures different from the elite East Coast society of her youth . She also loved things of beauty . ' I think she ' s an aesthete , ' Pope said , sitting on a red settee in Duke ' s bedroom . The bedroom is located at the end of an open air passageway extending from the main courtyard of the home that Duke called Shangri La . A perforated marble door , or jali , made by artisans in India opens to a tiled room . Light pours from more jali doors facing the ocean and garden . The highlight , however , might be the bathroom lined with marble that ' s been inlaid with precious stones in the shape of tulips , anemone and other flowers . A different world : Deborah Pope , executive director of the home that ' s been functioning as a museum of Islamic art since 2002 , said Duke was drawn to cultures different from the elite East Coast society of her youth . Vacation : Duke first fell in love with Islamic art and culture during honeymoon through Middle East and Asia in 1935 The details : She commissioned a bedroom and bathroom at her Hawaii house to look like the Taj Mahal the Indian masoleum built by a 17th century emperor for his favorite wife Whiteout : The bedroom is located at the end of an open air passageway extending from the main courtyard of the home Breezy : A perforated marble door , or jali , made by artisans in India opens to a tiled room . Light pours from more jali doors facing the ocean and garden Ornate : The highlight , however , might be the bathroom lined with marble that ' s been inlaid with precious stones in the shape of tulips , anemone and other flowers Intricate : The rest of the 14 , 000 square foot house , including the grand foyer and living room , have been open to the public and scholars for more than a decade Most of the rest of the 14 , 000 square foot house , including the grand foyer and living room , have been open to the public and scholars for more than a decade . But the bedroom and bathroom called the Mughal Suite after the period when Islamic emperors ruled what is today India , Pakistan , Afghanistan and Bangladesh was closed while the roof was repaired . Sugata Ray , a University of California , Berkeley professor , said the bath is important for scholars studying an early 20th century revival in Mughal arts and craft techniques . The 18th century earrings and necklaces on display in the suite are unique because few of Duke ' s contemporaries bought and preserved such things . ' It gives a sense of the diversity of Islamic art , ' said Ray , who specializes in the study of South Asia and Islamic art . ' It ' s not just about masterworks but about everyday objects of the Mughal elite : jewelry , textiles and things that were really not fashionable in the 1930s as a collector ' s item . ' Estate : The bedroom and bathroom called the Mughal Suite after the period when Islamic emperors ruled what is today India , Pakistan , Afghanistan and Bangladesh was closed while the roof was repaired Grand plans : Duke initially envisioned it as a section of her mother in law ' s estate in Palm Beach , Florida , but decided to build her own place in Hawaii after stopping on the island on the way home Generous : Duke died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles in 1993 . She established the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art in her will and stipulated that her home be open to the public and scholars . Ray noted Duke later began buying masterpieces such as a 13th century Persian tile piece called a mihrab as she began to see her home as a center for the study of Islamic art . Duke commissioned the Mughal Suite while in India during her 10 month honeymoon . She initially envisioned it as a section of her mother in law ' s estate in Palm Beach , Florida , but decided to build her own place in Hawaii after stopping on the island on the way home . Pope said she wanted the room to capture the moment when Duke , as a 22 year old , has a profound experience in India while traveling outside the U . S . and Europe for the first time . The Shangri La team of curators and conservationists consulted 1930s photographs to restore the rooms to what they looked like when the home was first built . ' I thought there was something valid in showing what makes this young woman fall in love with the Islamic world at such an early age and undertake a project of this scale , ' Pope said . Duke died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles . She established the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art in her will and stipulated that her home be open to the public and scholars . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past3974339,4340,"? After self scouting his team over the bye week , Eagles ? head coach Chip Kelly came away feeling good about his quarterback situation . "" We feel very comfortable about our quarterback situation , ' ' Kelly said before the team returned to practice on Tuesday . ? Sam Bradford , the Eagles ' quarterback , has been erratic as best through his first seven games of the season . Under Kelly , Bradford has completed 62 percent of his passes for 1 , 766 yards with nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 76 . 4 . The quarterback has also suffered from , by an unofficial count , 27 dropped passes ? in those seven games . "" Too many drops , ' ' Kelly said . "" I think we ' re last in the league in drops , or first in the league depending on how you look at it . It really affected our third downs efficiency . We have to do a better job of catching the football . We ' ve had balls hit us in the hands and not catch them . ' ' Kelly put most of the blame on the receivers for the problems in the passing game , absolving Bradford . "" I think Sam ' s done a nice job . ' ' Kelly said . Asked if he could go further , Kelly quipped : Some other notes from Kelly ' s Tuesday press conference as he gets ready to face the Cowboys , Sunday . Kelly on the improvement of the running game : "" We ' re blocking better . We didn ' t block well at the beginning of the season . We ' re blocking better now . It ' s technique . It ' s fundamentals . ' ' Kelly on Cowboys ' quarterback Matt Cassel : "" The one thing that stands out about ( Cassel ) is his ability to run , he had 40 yards this past Sunday game . He ' s an accurate passer , and he can make things happen with his feet . They don ' t have any designed runs , he ' s not like Cam ( Carolina ' s Newton ) . But if you ' re in man coverage and your back is to him , he ' ll pull it down and run . ' ' Kelly on Cowboys ' pass rusher Greg Hardy : "" He has three sacks , an interception , forced a fumble , he ' s been very impactful in the three games since he ' s been back . You have to know where he is they line him up in multiple spots . ' ' ? Mark Eckel may be reached at ? mjeck04 verizon . net . Follow him on Twitter ? MarkEckel08 . ? Find ? NJweblink Eagles on Facebook . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past3984340,4341,"Reuters) - The United States will apply ‘extreme vetting’ to up to 1,250 asylum seekers it has agreed to resettle as part of a deal with Australia, a spokesman for President Trump said in the United States on Tuesday. Washington agreed on a deal late last year to resettle asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, held in Australia’s processing centers on remote Pacific islands in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Under the deal, Australia would in return resettle refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Providing details of the plan for the first time, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the deal covered many of the refugees held in the two offshore processing centers, although they must satisfy recently tightened immigration policies. “The deal specifically deals with 1,250 people that are mostly in Papua New Guinea being held,” Spicer told reporters in Washington. “Part of the deal is that they have to be vetted in the same manner that we’re doing now. There will be extreme vetting applied to all of them,” he said. Trump’s executive order last week suspended the U.S. refugee program and restricted entry to the United States from majority-Muslim countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, casting doubt over the deal with Australia. Despite the restrictions, Trump assured Australia on Sunday the United States would honor its agreement to resettle the asylum seekers. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dismissed speculation in domestic media that Trump had not yet committed fully to the deal. “The Trump administration has committed to progress with the arrangements to honor the deal,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. “That was the assurance the president gave me when we spoke on the weekend,” he said. Australia’s hardline immigration policy is a contentious issue that has drawn international condemnation from the United Nations and other rights groups, but which remains popular at home and has bipartisan political support. Some 1,161 men, women and children remain in indefinite detention in Manus Island and Nauru as of Nov. 30, the most recent data from Australia’s Department of Immigration shows. Another 1,000 or so people are in detention in Australia, some of them asylum seekers transported from Manus Island and Nauru for medical treatment. It was not clear how many of these would be eligible under the deal with the United States. U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials have begun assessing the asylum seekers, although there is no timeline for resettlement. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past3994352,4353,"A man arrested in Grover Beach on Sunday on suspicion of impersonating a police officer was later held in jail as a female, according to local reports. [Ken Kennon was apprehended by law enforcement after reports that he had pulled over a driver on Friday evening in his Toyota Prius, using the emergency lights system used by police vehicles. The driver became suspicious after being pulled over by Kennon on the 800 block of N. Oak Park Boulevard, and then followed him to a nearby parking lot where he confronted Kennon and took down his details, before filing a report to the police. Kennon was later arrested by police on Sunday evening and was marked by police as a male, given this was the gender provided on his driving license. “The drivers license said male,” Grover Beach Sgt. Celis Rabena told Cal Coast News. “We did not check and we did not ask. Sometimes, that is a personal question. ” He was then processed into San Luis Obispo County Jail as a male, being charged on separate counts of providing false personal information as well as attempting to impersonate a police officer. However, Kennon then informed jail staff that he was a female, and was consequently placed in a private cell. Cal Coastal News reports that jail staff initially told them that Kennon was a male, before then stating he would have to “check with a supervisor. ” Bail has been set at $20, 000. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com",true,news,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4004358,4359,"Hit rap trio Migos have been arrested on the first leg of their U . S . tour after police discovered drugs and guns inside their van during a college gig . Rappers Quavious Marshall , 24 , Kirschnick Ball , 20 , and Kiari Cephus , 23 , were escorted off the Georgia Southern University campus mid performance on Saturday night and taken into custody . According to News , all of the band members have been denied bond meaning they might not be able to fulfill their upcoming tour dates . Migos were next due to perform at the Ksu Convocation Center in Georgia before traveling on to a number of other states including Wisconsin , Ohio , Michigan , Pennsylvania and New York . From left to right : Hip hop rappers Quavious Marshall , 24 , Kirschnick Ball , 20 , and Kiari Cephus , 23 , have been arrested on the first leg of their U . S . tour after drugs and guns were found in their van Authorities said that they suspected the music stars were in possession of drugs when ' a very potent smell ' of marijuana was detected coming from their two tour buses . When Migos left to perform at Georgia Southern University ' s Hanner Fieldhouse arena over the weekend , investigators seized the opportunity to conduct a search . Multiple guns , marijuana and another undisclosed drug were discovered inside the vehicles , officials said . They added that the discoveries ' were intensely concerning ' as they had been brought to a university sponsored event where over a thousand students were congregated . In the spotlight : According to News , all of the band members have been denied bond meaning they might not fulfill their upcoming tour dates Bad habits ? Migos pose with friends for a group photo , posted to social media The three band members best known for their 2013 single Versace and their 2014 track Fight Night were arrested after leaving the stage . They reportedly face charges of drug possession possession of firearms in a school safety zone and possession of firearms during the commission of a crime . It wasn ' t known early Monday if they had attorneys . Phone calls and emails to the group ' s management team by the Associated Press were not immediately returned . About a dozen other suspects all occupants of the two vans were also taken into custody following the concert . Information about them and the charges they face were not immediately available . The arrests took place during the school ' s annual spring concert . Migos which formed as a group in 2009 had contracted with Georgia Southern to perform at the event , the sheriff ' s office said . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4014361,4362,"Jarryd Hayne : Where to now for waived San Francisco 49er ? Jarryd Hayne pictured during happier times of his experience . It ' s rather ironic that the eight words that Jarryd Hayne ? tweeted after being waived by the San Francisco ? 49ers ' roster effectively sends the former Parramatta Eels fullback to a place where everything and nothing ? can happen : the waiver wire . For those who play fantasy football the waiver wire is not a foreign concept . For those new to the , essentially when a player is waived ( like Hayne was on Saturday ) with less than four years of action , all other ? ? teams have 24 hours to place a claim on the player . Blessed for another test . Thanks for the love . Wish my guys all the best against the Rams . if nothing happens Ill be back on Tuesday ? ? The order is the interesting thing . ? For the first three weeks of the season , waiver priority is based on draft order . After that it is based on standings . It is a system that gives the team with the worst ? record the first ? chance to pick up a ? player that is waived . It ' s why Detroit Lions , who ? have the equal worst record this season with just one win and six losses , shape ? as Hayne ' s ? most likely landing spot ? if ? he leaves ? the City by the Bay . According to sources , the 49ers are hoping the other 31 teams all pass on ? Hayne ? and they can sign him to their practice squad . Practice squad players train with the team but don ' t play games and don ' t get paid as much , but it ' s a situation the 49ers would use to continue to teach ? Hayne ? the . But after ? Hayne ' s incredible performances for the 49ers in the pre season , ? rival teams are likely to take a gamble on the 27 year old undrafted ? rookie . 1 . Detroit : The favourites ? to land Hayne this time last year , ? the Lions were willing to give the rugby league convert a spot on their 90 man roster , only the 49ers put up a financial guarantee in excess of 100 , 000 ? to ensure Hayne ? would call San Francisco home . 2 . Seattle : Similar to Detroit , in they were keen on the rugby league star and Hayne ? even had a ? personal tour of the football powerhouse ? in Washington State last year . They have ? to hope Hayne is bypassed by 13 other teams to get him . 3 . Baltimore : ? The team that jointly owns the ' s worst record and is on the hunt for new talent . At 2 5 the question is why are the 49ers waiving a player that half the city is wearing No . ? 38 in a year where they clearly won ' t win the Super Bowl ? In this case , ? the cut throat world of ? it appears prompted the 49ers ? to promote running back Kendall Gaskins ? to the active roster from the team ' s practice squad for more immediate results . Gaskin has had a far more traditional route to the and ? finished his career second all time in total rushing touchdowns ( 38 ) for the ? University of Richmond . ? The move came after ? the 49ers ' top ? running back Carlos Hyde was ruled out on Friday with a foot stress fracture . As the reaches the halfway point , the newcomers to the sport can probably guess that wins are the only form of currency making Hayne ' s ? three punt return fumbles and running back pass protection errors in the first six regular season games not viable to make the 53 man squad . One thing you can rule out is Hayne returning to the any time soon . ? As he has stated numerous times he is ? in it for the long haul . ? Hayne himself ? tweeted , "" Blessed for another test "" suggesting it ' s ? a hurdle , rather than a wall to his dream . If Hayne ? is looking for inspiration , he can look to star ? Jeremy Lin , who ? was waived by not one , but ? two ? separate teams in the 2012 ? off season before creating Hayne ? Plane type hysteria , leading the New York Knicks ? to five straight wins that sparked ? Linsanity across the . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4024364,4365,"In an epic demonstration of showing the that the Democrat Party if full of manure, someone took it upon themselves to dump a truckload of manure in front of the headquarters of the Warren County Democratic Party headquarters in Ohio. The Washington Post reports : For those who think this election season can't get crappier, we bring you to Warren County, Ohio, where a large truckload of manure was dumped in front of Warren County Democratic Party headquarters in Lebanon, about 35 miles northeast of Cincinnati. A sheriff's deputy was the first to notice the pile and alerted office leaders of it about 8 a.m. Saturday, local party officials told The Washington Post. Amanda Kelley with tweeted the following picture. Meanwhile today at Warren County Democratic Headquarters someone dumped a pile of manure #wlwt #Election2016 pic.twitter.com/1rYcOzGZjS — Amanda Kelley (@AmandaWLWT) October 29, 2016 David Pepper commented: When they dump manure, we go high! One of our best performing offices, generating strong D early vote. Lesson: keep organizing while they bs pic.twitter.com/0pbrUEPG1O — David Pepper (@DavidPepper) October 29, 2016 In 2012, something very similar occurred. A pile of manure was dumped almost in front of the headquarters in identical fashion. ""At the time, we did not have a camera system, because it kind of caught us by surprise,"" Bethe Goldenfield, chairwoman of the Warren County Democratic Party, said of the 2012 dump. ""We didn't think something like that would happen."" This time, the act was caught on surveillance video that the Warren County Sheriff's Office is now reviewing, Goldenfield said. She did not want to elaborate on what the cameras captured because it was an open investigation, but she noted that it involved a dump truck. ""And I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that it was the same person [as in 2012], but of course that crossed my mind,"" Goldenfield said. ""We just need to have a little more specifics, and then hopefully we'll bring the perpetrators to be accountable."" It appears to me this is something akin to the Boston Tea Party, only in this case whoever dumped the manure probably paid for it to make a political statement, one that we already know to be true and both the crimes of Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro Sobarkah and Hillary Clinton have demonstrated. That statement is that the Democrat Party is the party and cannot be trusted. shares",fake,news,test,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past4034365,4366,"Gold can be converted from dead money to an economic force . To leave gold lying as dead money is behaviour not in sync with the modern times , Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi said on his monthly radio show , Mann ki Baat As a celebration of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi , Diwali is intrinsically linked with wealth and investment , which the deity is associated with . Accordingly , the festival period is considered an auspicious time to put some money away for the future , traditionally in gold and precious metals , but more recently in real estate and stocks . But would you be making the right decision ? Here is the outlook on three traditional investment options . Traditionally considered a safe haven , gold has recently been seeing something of a bear run , and is now moving in line with the Federal Reserve s stance on interest rates . As of late October , gold rallied 5 . 2 per cent over September , following weak jobs data and expectations of low interest rates . However , the metal dropped to five year lows in July and has yet to recover . According to the World Gold Council , demand for jewellery has dropped in China , as the economy slows , in India , where extreme weather and currency weakness have dented purchasing power , and in the Middle East , on account of lower oil prices and an increase in . In fact , demand is only up in the , which saw a 2 per cent year over year increase thanks to lower prices . The outlook is muted and even pessimistic . Slowing growth in emerging markets can t help demand interest rates are a constant threat , Adam Laird , an investment manager at Hargreaves Lansdown , told Reuters . However , for those already holding gold , the bright spot is the Indian government s launch of a gold monetisation scheme , expected just in time for Diwali . As per the plan , consumers holding at least 30g of gold whose purity is above 995 can deposit it with banks in return for interest . Gold can be converted from dead money to an economic force . To leave gold lying as dead money is behaviour not in sync with the modern times , Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi said on his monthly radio show , Mann ki Baat . Real estate is a favoured investment vehicle around Diwali , and while the Indian market sector may just about be beginning to show signs of a revival , Dubai is attracting buyers . According to Dubai government , Indians were the most prolific foreign investors in the first half of 2015 , with 3 , 017 transactions worth more than 2 billion Dh7 . 3 billion , Sunil Jaiswal , President of Sumansa Exhibitions , told . Jaiswal s company is the organiser of the property show in India and the . According to the data , Indians top the foreign property investment chart , a position they have consistently maintained for years , Jaiswal said , adding that ? the lower property rates in Dubai compared to certain cities in India was favourable for investors . In India , the improving economy following last year s general election has seen the real estate sector warm up to the possibility of a new investment cycle , says Anuj Puri , Chairman and Country Head of India . On the other hand , barring the , the global economy continues to remain vulnerable to uncertainties , and this makes India s position more lucrative . The ruling government s action in addressing concerns of stakeholders through reforms ( in the Land Acquisition Act , the Real Estate Regulatory bill , relaxation of rules , etc . ) is helping sentiments in the realty space , he says . India s stock market traditionally remains open for about an hour on Diwali day for investor trading , so the New Year may begin on an auspicious note . Overall , though , equities may be a sound investment option . The current global environment of modest growth , accompanied by falling commodity prices and benign liquidity are favourable for India as an investment destination , particularly in relative terms , Morgan analysts Bharat Iyer , Bijay Kumar and Adrian Mowat said in a recent India equity strategy report . Our base case remains for Indian equities to deliver returns of about 10 12 per cent through to the end of the fiscal year driven mainly by earnings growth forecast . Others are chiming in agreement . Global credit ratings agency Moody s last month ( ) reaffirmed the country s credit ratings at Baa3 , pointing out that it is less exposed to external economic shocks thanks to resilient growth and policy reforms . Following three central bank rate cuts this year , the expects India s to grow at 7 . 3 7 . 5 per cent , the fastest rate in the world , over the next 24 months . This also made India the world s top destination for foreign investment in the first half of this year , with inflows of 30 . 8 billion , according to E Y . New IPOs have been lined up , with a nearly fivefold rise in share offerings so far this year to 1 billion , the best in three years . Coffee Day Enterprises , the nation s largest caf chain , was oversubscribed 1 . 8 times over last month , with similar performance expected for InterGlobe Aviation , owners of IndiGo airlines and fragrance maker Kelkar and Co . The probability of the market returns being better in the Hindu year Samvat 2072 than the previous year are high , given the subdued level of investor interest at present , Saravana Kumar , , Nomura , said in an interview with the Economic Times newspaper . Having said that , we advise investors to keep their long term asset allocation in mind . Now with economic data turning encouraging , investors should participate in India s growth through well diversified equity investing . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4044367,4368,"On the day Manchester United revealed they continue to explore ways of filling empty European dates with lucrative overseas friendlies , centre forward Robin van Persie claimed it won ' t be long before the club are back in their favourite competition . United ' s commercial director Richard Arnold said on Monday that manager Louis van Gaal was happy for the club to look at ways of making up for lost Champions League revenue this winter by playing friendly exhibition games . Van Persie said : ' Our aim this year is to be in the top four . We have a great manager , great staff , great fans . Robin van Persie has set his sights on a return to the Champions League next season Robin van Persi ( left ) and Ander Herrera celebrate against West Ham on Saturday Robin van Persie ( far right ) was talking at the launch of Abengoa on Monday ' Everything is in place to be up there competing with the very best teams . I think we can do it and we will . ' After a battling 2 1 victory over West Ham on Saturday , Van Persie is convinced that Van Gaal ' s theories are beginning to work . ' Only me and Daley Blind knew how he works , ' said the Dutch striker . ' He ' s trying to get his philosophy into a lot of new players . It ' s very demanding in a good way as you have to be focused every single day of the sessions or the meeting . ' He wants players to get involved in the meetings too . That ' s a bit of the Dutch thing , everybody gets involved in the project . Van Persie ( right ) shares a laugh with David de Gea ( left ) and United managing director Richard Arnold United manager Louis van Gaal ( left ) and assistant Ryan Giggs watch United ' s warm up ahead of the match against West Ham on Saturday Van Gaal ( right ) speaks with Van Persie during a Netherlands training session in Brazil in July ' Some training sessions are incredible and we are showing that in games as well . ' We had a setback against Leicester ( they lost 5 3 ) but to win in circumstances like the weekend sends a message and shows that even in these difficult games we can win . ' Now we have to extend that and make at least the top four . ' Van Persie was speaking at the launch of Abengoa , Manchester United ' s first global sustainable technology partner . Like our Manchester United Facebook page here . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4054371,4372,"Maybe thoughts and prayers aren t the remedy following a shooting, after all. At the First United Methodist Church in East Tennessee, about 20 senior citizens gathered around for a holiday meal. After the meal, the group of elderly churchgoers decided to discuss gun safety. There has, after all, been a spate of mass shootings recently as many as 317 so far this year. They got the idea for the conversation reportedly after a nearby county s sheriff s department held similar seminars at its local churches, according to Tellico Plains Police Chief Russ Parks. Well, I ve got my gun on me, an 81-year-old member of the church in Tellico Plains said, according to Parks, The Washington Post reports. The man then pulled out his holster in which he had a .38-caliber Ruger handgun. He promptly removed the magazine for everyone to see, then cleared the chamber and showed the gun to his fellow parishioners.The churchgoers discussed how to safely bring guns to church, then spoke of the deaths with recent mass shootings, like, for example, the recent Texas massacre in which a gunman shot 26 people dead as they sat in church.The 81-year-old man put the magazine back into the gun and put the gun back in the holster, Parks explained, but then later, while parishioners were cleaning up, one church member who had missed the demonstration asked the man to see the firearm and that s when everything turned chaotic inside the church.The 81-year-old accidentally pulled the trigger without realizing the gun was loaded, then a bullet fired across the palm of the man s hand and toward his 80-year-old wife, who was sitting in a wheelchair next to him, entering her lower left abdomen, then it went out of the right side of her abdomen, into her right forearm and out the backside of her forearm. Following that, the bullet then ricocheted off the wall and landed under his wife s wheelchair, Parks said.That prompted panic in the church because some of the folks thought an active gunman was on the premises. They had their backs to it, Parks said. Somebody hollers, He s been shot! She s been shot! Call 911! Due to a lot of panic during the calls to 911, the dispatcher assumed someone had entered the church and was shooting, so several schools were put on lockdown.The injured husband and wife were flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where they are listed critical condition.We re waiting for the to say, If only the wife had a gun, she could have protected herself. Image: Ken Wilcox via Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0.",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past4064402,4403,"Philippines Amid the tropical heat of a Philippine prison , convicted murderers , rapists and drug dealers on Saturday paid tribute to Michael Jackson with a reprise of their YouTube dance hit , "" Thriller . "" Inmates at the prison in Cebu perform their tribute to Michael Jackson Saturday . A rendition of Jackson ' s 1980s smash hit by prisoners at the Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the central Philippines garnered more than 24 million views since 2007 , when prison supervisor Byron Garcia first uploaded it to the video sharing Web site . The prison has since posted other dance videos , including performances to Van Halen ' s "" Jump , "" Queen ' s "" Radio Ga Ga , "" and Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder ' s "" Together in Electric Dreams . "" Jackson , known as the "" King of Pop , "" died Thursday in Los Angeles , less than two weeks shy of the first in a series of comeback concerts in London , England . When he heard the news , Garcia , himself a fan of the 50 year old pop icon , organized a free tribute performance by inmates for local people in the prison courtyard . Dancing was introduced at the prison in 2007 , as a means of rehabilitating prisoners at a facility once notorious for its gang problem . Watch the prisoners dance Every able bodied prisoner must dance . If they refuse , they lose privileges , mostly conjugal visits . According to Garcia , the dancing occupies up to five hours a day . However he rejected claims he ' s abusing the prisoners ' rights by forcing them to dance so many hours a day . He said it gives them a renewed sense of worth and confidence , breaking them of their violent ways . He is convinced his prison is a model for prison authorities everywhere , an example of how to crack the plague of violent prison gangs . "" It brought back their self esteem . We have happy inmates now we don ' t want to go back to the old jail where we had mad , sad inmates , "" he said . In searing temperatures , 1 , 400 men in bright orange tracksuits performed the 15 minute "" Thriller "" routine perfectly . They rehearsed for 10 hours the previous day , finally stopping at 3 a . m . to rest ahead of the show . The superbly choreographed moves , energy and obvious enthusiasm of the prisoners had the audience swelled by journalists from around the world captivated the audience . Several inmates even invited people from the crowd to dance with them . "" I never thought I would ever find myself dancing with a prisoner , "" one excited local said . A local journalist even described the performance as Asia ' s best way of paying tribute to Jackson . Garcia , who says the prison has witnessed no violence in three years , paid tribute to the performers . "" I ' m so proud of them , "" he said . "" They got the dance exactly right . "" Although it was "" probably wishful thinking , "" he added that he had actually wanted Michael Jackson to come to Cebu to dance and play the role himself . "" Now it ' s not going to happen , "" he said mournfully . Convicted robber Mavin Cabido , 23 , said : "" I feel so sad as we idolize him really . The moonwalk is my favorite I like that . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past4074411,4412,"? Dallas running back Darren McFadden is questionable for Sunday s game against Miami with a groin injury , and inexperienced backups could lead to some shuffling behind him . McFadden was a limited participant in practice for the second straight day Friday after he wasn t listed on the first injury report of the week Wednesday . Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on his radio show that the team was being cautious with McFadden , whose career as the fourth overall pick by Oakland in 2008 was derailed by a litany of injuries . He signed with Dallas a day after reigning rushing champion DeMarco Murray left for Philadelphia in free agency . We didn t want to push anything , give it as much rest time , Jones said . No need to win it out here these next couple of days . After the Cowboys released Christine Michael this week , the only backups were undrafted rookies Rod Smith and Trey Williams , with their two combined carries this season . Smith had both those carries with Seattle before the Seahawks waived him and the Cowboys picked him up . Dallas signed Williams off Washington s practice squad . Because of that inexperience , the Cowboys ( 2 7 ) might be forced to activate Robert Turbin against the Dolphins ( 4 5 ) even though the fourth year player has only been with the team since Wednesday . Dallas added him about a week after he was released by Cleveland . He has made a great impression , offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said Thursday . This guy is a veteran . He s played . Coach Jason Garrett said Turbin went to meetings and practice immediately after arriving and stayed late Wednesday studying the offense . He has 988 career yards without a touchdown . Turbin played all 16 games the past three seasons with Seattle . Line one is to get him ready to play as quickly as we can , and having said that the other two guys have to take advantage of their opportunity to show that they should be a part of this thing this weekend , Garrett said . It s a good , competitive environment . McFadden took over as the lead back with the team s first 100 yard rushing game of the season in a Week 7 loss against the New York Giants . After that , the Cowboys waived Joseph Randle , the starter for the first six games . They also lost Lance Dunbar to a season ending knee injury . He has averaged 24 carries and 91 yards in four games since taking over the lead role when Randle was injured against the Giants . McFadden has 494 yards and two touchdowns for the season . I feel so strong that McFadden has really got not only comfortable , but he s got comfortable with the offensive line and the nuances of their skills , Jones said . I m really comfortable there , much more so than when we started the season with the way he s playing football . ( ? Copyright 2015 The Associated Press . All Rights Reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed . ) ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4084430,4431,"Rumors that the hack was tied to Russia have been swirling for several days, but now, this is no longer just a mere suspicion. Researchers with ThreatConnect, who specialize in cyber security, have traced the hacker back to a Russian internet server.According to the Arlington, Va. based ThreatConnect, Guccifer 2.0, the Hacker who has described himself/herself as Romanian, has been linked to a Russian internet server and a digital address that has been associated with various Russian online scams. Guccifer 2.0 is not thought to be a sophisticated hacker. Researchers with ThreatCOnnect believe it is more likely that this is propaganda by a group of people working with the Russian government in an effort to take attention off Moscow as the actual force behind the hack. Now, after further investigation, we can confirm that Guccifer 2.0 is using the Russia-based Elite service to communicate and leak documents directly with the media. We reached this conclusion by analyzing the infrastructure associated with an email exchange with Guccifer 2.0 shared with ThreatConnect by Vocativ s Senior Privacy and Security reporter Kevin Collier. This discovery strengthens our ongoing assessment that Guccifer 2.0 is a Russian propaganda effort and not an independent actor. The experts with ThreatConnect are the first to trace the self-proclaimed hacker back to Russia.Rich Barger, ThreatConnect s chief intelligence officer, reiterated his believe that the party responsible was not a sophisticated hacker when speaking with The Daily Beast. These are bureaucrats, not sophisticated hackers, he insisted. Barger backed up his assessment up with the following:Republican nominee Donald Trump has had an ongoing bromance with Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Many have said they believe that the hack and subsequent email dump were an attempt by Putin to help out his billionaire buddy s bid for the presidency.Featured image via Lintao Zhang/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past4094434,4435,"Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Monday said he opposes a proposed natural gas pipeline between Pennsylvania and New York and called on New York officials to reject the project. “The possibility of methane leaks from the proposed Constitution Pipeline would be catastrophic to our air and our climate — and if this pipeline were approved, eminent domain would be used to seize land from farmers and homeowners,” he said in a statement. U.S. pipeline company Williams has delayed the start up of the pipeline to the second half of 2017 from the fourth quarter of 2016. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4104452,4453,"On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said the Republican Party would “be rewarded” for tackling health care. Host Chris Wallace said, “House Republicans are right now facing angry voters at town halls this weekend. On Friday, ‘The Cook Political Report,’ which you know well, the kind of unofficial bible assessing House races, shifted its assessment of 20 seats now held by Republicans in the direction of Democrats. I’m not saying they’re going to win them, but that they are more likely for Democrats to win. You could lose your House majority over this. ” Priebus said, “Yeah, these are the same people that said Donald Trump wasn’t going to run and he ran, he couldn’t win the general, he won the general, he couldn’t get health care repeal and replace through the House, he got it through the House. Look, the fact of the matter is there are sometimes in life you have to do what’s right, not what’s politically expedient. We believe this is going to be a better product, and by the time people see the premiums are lower, it’s a better service, more options, more choices, they’re going to reward the Republicans that stood up and said we are not going to see the Obamacare system, which is failing and collapsing continue any longer. We’re going to do something better, and We’re going to do our job as legislators to get this thing done. I think that the Republican Party will be rewarded. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN, ",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4114470,4471,"A bullet used in 15 rifles that is popular with hunters and sports shooters is set to be banned , according to new plans from the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives this month . The 5 . 56mm green tip bullets will be re classified as armor piercing ammunition , meaning they can break through bulletproof vests , effectively prohibiting them from being sold or manufactured for civilian use . However citizens in possession of the bullets will not face criminal prosecution because they are widely available . The Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives plans to ban the 5 . 56mm green tip bullet ( pictured ) from being sold or manufactured for general public use because of its armor piercing capabilities The sale of armor piercing bullets to the general public was banned under the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1986 , according to the Idaho State Journal . The 5 . 56mm bullets were originally exempt under the law because they were not used in handguns which the 1986 act specifically targets . But , according to the , there has been a recent surge in 15 style pistols that are capable of firing the bullet . Unlike the standard 5 . 56mm caliber ammo , the green tip has a steel penetrator that increases penetration when the bullet hits something . In the proposal , released earlier this month , the stated the green tip bullet , when loaded into specific cartridges , can be used in a handgun . The legislation has not yet been brought into effect . Thirty House of Representatives members have signed a letter created by Virginia Republican Rep . Bob Goodlatte demanding the explain the ' surprise bullet ban , ' according to the Washington Examiner . ' Millions upon millions of M855 rounds have been sold and used in the , yet has not even alleged much less offered evidence that even one such round has ever been fired from the handgun at a police officer , ' his letter said . An executive director at the said the Obama administration was attempting to ban the 15 through ammunition regulation after failing to do so through ' the legislative process ' An executive director said the Obama administration was attempting to ban the 15 through ammunition regulation after failing to do so through ' the legislative process ' . The 15 was banned under the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 , which expired in 2004 . A number of policymakers have tried to reinstate the ban but have been unsuccessful . President Obama most recently proposed a renewal of the ban following the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown , Connecticut , but it failed in the Senate by 20 votes in 2013 . In December ten families affected by the Sandy Hook shootings sued Bushmaster , the manufacturer of the 15 that was used by Adam Lanza to gun down 20 children and six adults . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4124481,4482,"Istanbul Crowds of mourners gathered Sunday to bury a young man in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir after clashes the previous day between Kurdish protesters and Turkish security forces turned deadly . The violence unsettled a peace process between the Turkish government and Kurdish rebels , who have been waging a guerrilla war in the predominantly Kurdish southeast for 30 years . The Diyarbakir governor ' s office put the blame for the unrest squarely on what it described as "" attackers , "" according to a statement released online Saturday . "" As a result of an armed attack on security forces ensuring security on the Diyarbakir Bingol road , two attackers were injured . One attacker was airlifted to Dicle University by military helicopter but lost his life despite all efforts , "" the governor ' s office said . But Sebahat Tuncel , a parliament member from the pro Kurdish Peoples ' Democratic Party , blamed the deaths on the Turkish government . "" A week ago I was there and what the people there were telling me is ' We don ' t believe they ( the government ) are earnest about the peace process . People who are honest about the peace process would not be building more outposts , ' "" said Tuncel , speaking by phone from the funeral of Ramazan Baran . Baran , 24 , died in Saturday ' s clashes . For more than a year , the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan , the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers ' Party , or . The Turkish state , as well as the United States and the European Union , have long designated the a terrorist organization . The negotiations brought a relative lull to violence that has claimed the lives of more than 30 , 000 people in southeastern Turkey over the last three decades . The Kurds are Turkey ' s largest ethnic minority . They were long the target of discriminatory policies , which banned the use of the Kurdish language and even Kurdish names . Since his party was first elected to power in 2002 , Erdogan has implemented a number of reforms , including creating a Kurdish language state channel , removing the ban on the Kurdish letters "" q , "" "" x "" and "" w , "" and allowing Kurdish language education in some private schools . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4134489,4490,"To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Armour : Jerry Jones ' enabling and excuses just as bad as Greg Hardy ' s behavior Nancy Armour , Sports 3 : 32 p . m . October 26 , 2015 Today Sports ' Tom Pelissero breaks down how Greg Hardy ' s most recent antics are an issue in Dallas . Sports Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ' behavior is as bad as Greg Hardy ' s . As appalling as Greg Hardy s behavior is , Jerry Jones isn t any better . It might be worse , actually , because it is Jones endless excuses and enabling that allow criminals like Hardy to continue acting as if the bounds of good behavior don t apply to them . Hardy will never see how wrong his actions are so long as Jones downplays them at every turn . Choke your then girlfriend , threaten to kill her and toss her on a bed covered in guns ? Not only will Jones not condemn Hardy , he ll give him a fat , 11 million contract . ( All the better to replenish Hardy s depleted bank account after buying the silence of his ex girlfriend to make that annoying court case go away . ) Show up your teammates , shove at least one of them and go after one of your coaches in a juvenile tantrum that humiliates your team on national as Hardy did in Sunday night s 27 20 to the New York Giants ? Matt Cassel can ' t stop Cowboys ' slide against Giants Why , that s just passion , Jones said , the kind any owner would love to see from a leader . That s the kind of thing that inspires a football team , "" ? Jones said afterward , appearing to be utterly serious . He ' s just getting guys ready to play , in my view . I don ' t have any issue with him being involved in motivating or pushing in any part of the football team because he plays and walks the walk . "" Of course Jones doesn t have any issues with Hardy . Hardy has played all of two games this season and is already tied for the team lead with three sacks . So long as Hardy is anchoring a Dallas defense that s the only thing keeping the Cowboys from being a five alarm dumpster fire , Jones will absolve him of pretty much anything . And , in the process , make a mockery of the . The Harrisons : Colts ' Anthony Castonzo calls self ' ( expletive ) terrible ' That Hardy picked Sunday to remind everyone of his hair trigger and violent temper is pathetically ironic . The Giants , you see , had chosen the game to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month . In addition to unveiling a new public service announcement featuring its players and management , the Giants had actress and domestic violence activist Mariska Hargitay do the coin flip before the game . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4144490,4491,"PRAGUE/ (Reuters) - Police and spy chiefs from China to the Middle East, a Ukrainian oligarch and a former president of Panama are among the people a coalition of human rights groups wants targeted for sanctions under an expanded U.S. law aimed at curbing rights abuses and corruption worldwide. The coalition, in documents to be made public on Wednesday, submitted 15 cases to the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury, urging them to investigate using the law, called the Global Magnitsky Act. The law, which then-President Barack Obama signed in December 2016, expands the scope of 2012 legislation that froze the assets of Russian officials and banned them from traveling to the United States because of their links to the 2009 death in prison of a whistleblower, Sergey Magnitsky. The cases we have elected to highlight come from every region of the world, and involve horrific stories of torture, enforced disappearance, murder, sexual assault, extortion and bribery, the coalition of 23 groups said in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The groups said their information came from first-hand accounts of victims and their attorneys, investigative journalism and reports by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). (here) Police chiefs, public prosecutors and heads of security services in Bahrain, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Central Asian countries where prisoners were tortured, executed or died in custody are on the list compiled by the groups, which are coordinated by Washington-based Human Rights First. Among them are Chinese Deputy Minister of Public Security Fu Zhenghua and Beijing s Municipal Public Security Bureau deputy head Tao Jing. The groups accuse the two officials of bearing command responsibility for actions of forces under their control in the torture and 2014 death of human rights activist Cao Shunli. Cao s lawyer has said she was denied medical treatment until she was seriously ill, which the Chinese government denies. Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch indicted by a U.S. court in 2013 on bribery and other charges, is on the list. He denies wrongdoing and is fighting extradition from Austria. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Firtash, in a statement said the allegations were false and that any sanctions cannot be justified, adding: The constant repetition of false accusations on the Internet doesn t make them true. Another target is former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli, who is jailed in Florida facing extradition to Panama on charges he conducted illegal surveillance and stole state funds while in office. Martinelli has repeatedly denied the charges. President Donald Trump, a Republican who did not stress global human rights as a foreign policy priority during his presidential campaign or early months in office, told Congress in April that he was committed to robust and thorough implementation of the Magnitsky law. His administration has yet to impose sanctions or travel bans under it, but an official said the process of identifying potential targets is both internal and external. We have received nominations from multiple sources including the United States Congress and NGOs. Evidence permitting, our objective is to leverage the global reach of this authority and pursue geographically diverse tranches of targets on an ongoing basis, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Acting on the recommendations could pose risks for Trump if targeted governments retaliated. Washington needs Beijing s help in pressuring North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear tests, for example. The original Magnitsky legislation strained relations between Moscow and Washington. Magnitsky, a tax accountant and lawyer, was arrested in 2008 shortly after accusing Russian officials of involvement in fraud, and died in prison nearly a year later while awaiting trial. William Browder, whose Russian hedge fund employed Magnitsky as a lawyer, spearheaded an international campaign to push through the original Magnitsky Act, which now covers 44 Russians. He said travel bans and asset freezes are effective. It creates a very devastating consequence because people who thought they could act with absolute impunity no longer have that comfort, Browder said. The human rights coalition also hopes that pressure from politicians such as Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, the authors of the original legislation and the update, will spur the Trump administration into action. McCain, in a statement to Reuters, said the role of NGOs is crucial, and envisioned under the new law. I will continue working to ensure the administration enforces the law and utilizes this powerful tool to advance freedom and justice around the world, he said. Rob Berschinski, a former Obama administration official who led the efforts at Human Rights First, said, Our process is designed to assist the government, but also to remove any excuse around whether it has the ability to levy sanctions. Now the question is simply one of political will. The Global Magnitsky Act requires the Trump administration to report to Congress by Dec. 10 on sanctions it has imposed under the law. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4154491,4492,""" I ' m not gonna make it easy on them because I think this is terrible for the country , "" Rand Paul said . Getty Rand Paul is vowing to filibuster the bipartisan deal to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling . Unfortunately for him , Mitch McConnell just made that impossible . Paul said he would filibuster starting Thursday afternoon after speaking to students at University of Colorado Boulder before the debate . "" I ' m not gonna make it easy on them because I think this is terrible for the country , "" Paul said at a press conference after the meeting . But on Wednesday , Senate Majority Mitch McConnell set in motion votes for later this week or early next week to pass the budget agreement . The deal is loathed by conservatives , including Paul and his Senate rivals for the nomination , Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz . Paul , Cruz and Rubio all missed budget briefings in Washington this week , declining the opportunity to give McConnell input while they campaigned and prepared for Wednesday s debate . In Colorado , Paul argued that he was right in the middle of , I think , the biggest news story right now in our country , the budget deal . Republicans have made with this president a rotten to the core deal , Paul said . I ' m going to filibuster , as soon as I get done with this presidential debate thing . I ' m going back to Washington and I will commence filibustering it starting tomorrow afternoon . "" Live Blog : Follow the debate as it unfolds But if Paul really wanted to filibuster the bipartisan deal to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling , he needed to be in Washington to halt McConnell from greasing the procedural skids . It would have been very difficult , physically , for Paul to speak continuously through the weekend to edge the country toward a Nov . 3 default . But after McConnell s action on Wednesday , it ' s impossible . Alternatively , Paul could marshal 41 votes against the measure to stop it , an incredibly unlikely outcome given bipartisan support for the package . Sergio Gor , a spokesman for Paul , said that McConnell is taking action to end debate because of Paul ' s objections . "" Senate leadership has filed cloture . The reason that is happening is because Senator Rand Paul is already objecting and forcing them to , "" Gor said . Paul raised his filibuster plans immediately in Wednesday ' s night ' s debate . Paul can complain about the deal and may even be able to receive consent to speak for an extended period . But it won ' t have the tangible effect he caused in the spring , when he forced a two day lapse of anti terrorism laws over privacy concerns after he objected to McConnell s attempts to fast track a revival of the law . If he wants to , McConnell can seek to limit Paul s time to fume against the budget agreement , as he did to Sen . Cruz ( R Texas ) last month . But since McConnell has endorsed Paul , he may treat his Kentucky colleague more gently than Cruz , who has made his war with McConnell a theme in the presidential campaign . Paul couldn t say exactly how his filibuster would play out . Asked if it would be a "" Rand Paul filibuster "" or a regular filibuster , Paul responded : "" We ' ll see . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4164498,4499,"Malmo is a shopper ' s heaven . Most stores are within walking distance of the city center , and unlike in neighboring Copenhagen , where shops are usually shut all day on Sunday , most department stores and shopping centers are open seven days a week . Select from modern and classic designs at the shop at the Form Design Center . Stock up on souvenirs at the stores around Lilla Torg . Hokeriet , an old fashioned general store , sells a variety of collectibles and interesting gifts while hand painted Swedish wooden clogs are a specialty of Toffelmakaren . Venture into the picturesque Gamla Vaster neighborhood and you ' ll find chic boutiques like Issue ( Stora Nygatan 25a ) which stocks designer labels like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Rag Bone . Fashion mavens will also want to check out the eclectic label Robert Blad ( Norra Grangesbergsgatan 4 ) , which is known for making well cut clothes in good fabrics . Kit of Elsinore ( Rodergatan 2 ) in the trendy Western Harbor neighborhood is another spot to hit for of the moment style . If you want the convenience of a big shopping center , you can find just about anything at Hansa ( Malmborgsgatan 6 ) and Triangeln ( Sodra Forstadsgatan 41 ) , which are both centrally located . If you have a weakness for shoes , check out the feminine footwear at Scardia , which recently moved from its flagship store in Master Johannsgatan to Hansa . Scandinavia is synonymous with good design and you don ' t have to go far in Malmo to find examples to take home . A variety of contemporary and classic designs are on sale in the shop at the Form Design Center in Hedmanska Garden . Also check out Formagruppen ( Engelbrektsgatan 8 ) and Olsson Gerthel ( Engelbrektsgatan 9 ) , which are both located nearby . Looking to spruce up your home ? David Design ( Skeppsbron 3 ) specializes in sophisticated interior design . Design Torget ( Sodra Vallgatan 3 ) is the perfect place to find a gift for that someone who ' s impossible to buy for . The shop showcases independent designers and sells everything from unique kitchen utensils to quirky toys for kids . New items are added to its shelves every week . Take a break from your shopping extravaganza at Saluhallen , the covered market on Lilla Torg that is a tourist attraction it is own right . Stalls sell everything from sushi and kebabs to baked potatoes and bagels . If you ' re into buying green , Drottningtorget is the place for you . Here you ' ll find Morot Annat , which sells everything from organically produced textiles to produce . Nearby Uma Bazaar ( Ostra Forstadsg 13 ) stocks a wide range of fair trade clothing produced by a women ' s collective in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Malmo City Guide : Where to stay What to see Where to be seen Where to eat Where to shop Do you agree with our Malmo picks ? Share your comments and suggestions in the SoundOff below . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4174514,4515,"Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Cory Booker ( ) commented on Hillary Clinton saying in her commencement speech at Wellesley College that President Donald Trump’s presidency would end in impeachment for obstruction of justice. Booker praised Clinton’s speech, but said he is not pushing for Trump’s impeachment just yet. “I just wanted to tell you, I’m not going to rush to impeachment,” Booker stated. “I think we need to deal with this in a very sobered way. This can’t be a relitigation of an election that is now past. This has to be about an objective assessment about the facts that are going on right now. ” ( Mediaite) Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4184515,4516,"Reuters) - Pope Francis strongly defended immigrants at his Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday, comparing them to Mary and Joseph finding no place to stay in Bethlehem and saying faith demands that foreigners be welcomed. Francis, celebrating his fifth Christmas as leader of the world s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, led a solemn Mass for about 10,000 people in St. Peter s Basilica while many others followed the service from the square outside. Security was stepped up, with participants checked as they approached St. Peter s Square even before going through metal detectors to enter the basilica. The square had been cleared out hours earlier so security procedures could be put in place. The Gospel reading at the Mass in Christendom s largest church recounted the Biblical story of how Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered for a census ordered by Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary. We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away, but driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones, Francis said. Even the shepherds who the Bible says were the first to see the child Jesus were forced to live on the edges of society and considered dirty, smelly foreigners, he said. Everything about them generated mistrust. They were men and women to be kept at a distance, to be feared. Wearing white vestments in the flower-bedecked church, Francis called for a new social imagination ... in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth. The 81-year-old pope, who was born of Italian immigrant stock in Argentina, has made defense of migrants a major plank of his papacy, often putting him at odds with politicians. Austria s new chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, has aligned himself with central European neighbors like Hungary and the Czech Republic in opposing German-backed proposals to distribute asylum seekers around member states. In elections in Germany in September, the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made significant gains, with electors punishing Chancellor Angela Merkel for her open-door policy and pushing migration policy to the top of the agenda in talks to form a coalition government. Italy s anti-immigrant Northern League, whose leader Matteo Salvini often gives fiery speeches against migrants, is expected to make gains in national elections next year. A law that would give citizenship to children born in Italy to migrant parents is stalled in parliament. In his homily, Francis said, Our document of citizenship comes from God, making respect of migrants an integral part of Christianity. This is the joy that we tonight are called to share, to celebrate and to proclaim. The joy with which God, in his infinite mercy, has embraced us pagans, sinners and foreigners, and demands that we do the same, Francis said. Francis also condemned human traffickers who make money off desperate migrants as the Herods of today with blood on their hands, a reference to the Biblical story of the king who ordered the killing of all newborn male children near Bethlehem because he feared Jesus would one day displace him. More than 14,000 people have died trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe in the past four years. On Christmas Day, Francis will deliver his twice-yearly Urbi et Orbi (To the City and to the World) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter s Basilica. (In fourth paragraph, this story corrects to say Mary and Joseph, not Mary and Jesus.) ",true,dataset,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4194516,4517,"Countries , investors pledge billions for clean energy tech Published : 20 : 43 , 29 November 2015 Updated : 20 : 43 , 29 November 2015 Government and business leaders are banking on clean energy technology to fight global warming , kicking off this week s high stakes climate change negotiations by pledging billions of dollars to research and develop a technical fix to the planet s climate woes . Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates , President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande will launch a joint initiative on Monday after a diplomatic push in recent weeks ahead of the Paris climate conference . A key goal is to bring down the cost of cleaner energy . At least 19 governments and 28 leading world investors , including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg , billionaires George Soros and Saudi Prince Alaweed bin Talal , and Jack Ma of China s Alibaba , have signed on so far . It s quite a big deal , said Jennifer Morgan , global climate director for the World Resources Institute . It brings a new kind of burst of energy into the conference right at the beginning on something very important . The U . N . climate summit formally opened Sunday afternoon with a minute of silence for the victims of this month s Paris attacks and vows not to let terrorism derail efforts to slow or stop climate change . A few kilometers ( miles ) away in Paris , police trying to secure the nation against new violence sprayed tear gas on protesters who defied a ban on demonstrations and lobbed projectiles . A big sticking point at the climate talks will be money how much rich countries should invest help poor countries cope with climate change , how much should be invested in renewable energy , and how much traditional oil and gas producers stand to lose if countries agree to forever reduce emissions . The new initiative is twofold : a public private project called Mission Innovation , led by governments , and the Gates led investor group called the Breakthrough Energy Initiative . The governments pledge to double their spending on low or no carbon energy over the next five years , according to Brian Deese , senior adviser to Obama on climate and energy issues . They include leading energy producers and consumers , such as the U . S . China , India , Brazil , Saudi Arabia , Australia , Canada , France and Norway . They currently invest about 10 billion a year total , about half of which comes from the U . S . , Deese told reporters in Washington . Gates committed 1 billion of his money and was the intellectual architect behind the effort to get investors involved , U . S . Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said . The business leaders are making their pledges conditional on governments also pledging more money , said a former U . S . government official who is familiar with the plan . President Barack Obama , who arrived in Paris late Sunday night , wrote on his Facebook page that we ' ll work to mobilize support to help the most vulnerable countries expand clean energy and adapt to the effects of climate change we can no longer avoid . The money would focus on research and development of technologies such as energy storage , which could make better use of clean power from wind and solar regardless of the vagaries of weather . It will also look at farming and transport . But a multinational research effort combining the investments of governments , corporations and private individuals could create intellectual property problems . It also remains to be seen how much of this money will involve repackaging old promises , and whether the future funding will be approved in U . S . or other budgets . "" The Obama administration recognizes that this is a fundamental competitive advantage for the United States , a former U . S . official said , but getting such funds approved by a Republican controlled Congress could be difficult . U . S . Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has traveled to several countries to seek support for the plan . A major driver of the acceleration to work together is climate change , he told reporters in Washington . Storing electricity is especially crucial for wind and solar power , which can be intermittent because of the weather . Improving batteries is key , and there have been breakthroughs both in technology and production announced this year , including by space and electric car tycoon Elon Musk , whose Gigafactory has begun producing large batteries for home power storage to make solar and wind power more viable . Only our governments have the mandate to protect the public interest as well as the resources and mechanisms to do this , says a statement released early Monday in Paris by the private investors in the Breakthrough Energy Coalition . However , current governmental funding levels for clean energy are simply insufficient to meet the challenges before us . The conference center where delegates from more than 190 nations will be meeting for two weeks began to bustle Sunday as lower level negotiators arrived , and U . N . climate chief Christiana Figueres expressed optimism about the outcome . World leaders were expected to arrive on Monday to discuss commitments to reducing ever rising carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels . Armed security was noticeable nearly everywhere at the Le Bourget center , and 200 to 300 people violated a national ban on protests under the state of emergency France declared when extremists killed 130 people in Paris . Obama visited the site of the worst massacre soon after arriving . About 100 protesters found to have projectiles or other suspicious objects were detained after some demonstrations turned violent , said the Paris police chief , Michel Cadot . Thousands of other people joined peaceful demonstrations in other European capitals on Sunday . Angela Charlton in Paris and Stacey Anderson in Washington contributed to this report . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4204523,4524,"An assistant manager at a Northern California Burger King found a backpack loaded with about 100 , 000 in a booth , but so far no one has come forward to claim it . Assistant manager Sahista Bakawla told she spotted the blue backpack left in the San Jose eatery early Wednesday . She said when it was still there by about 3pm that afternoon she called the owner of the store . The owner took the bag out back and opened it , hoping to find identification or a phone number . Unassuming : About 100 , 000 was left unattended in this blue backpack ( left ) for hours on Wednesday in the booth of a Burger King in San Jose before being grabbed by assistant manager Sahista Bakawla ( right ) Whopper : Inside the bag was about 100 , 000 , mostly in large notes , plus a small quantity of marijuana Birthday boy : Owner of the Burger King , Altaf Chaus , said he opened the bag on his birthday and joked that he thought it were a gift Instead , he found a whopping amount of 100 bills . ' I said , ' ' Wow ! Today ' s my birthday , this is my birthday gift ' ' , ' the owner , Altaf Chaus , told . However Chaus was only joking . ' I ' ve been in this country 26 years and I worked two jobs for 15 years before I bought this Burger King , ' he said . ' So I ' m a very hard working man . ' I don ' t want that money , maybe it belongs to somebody . ' Scene : The bag was found in Burger King on North Bascom Avenue in San Jose on Wednesday Cops : Police are now trying to find the owner of the backpack and its contents Officers came to the restaurant and opened the bag , which also contained some candy , a small amount of marijuana and a bank deposit slip . Police are now working with the bank to find the bag ' s owner . At least one customer was very happy to see how the store dealt with the situation . ' I would have done the same thing but to know that someone else did it , really makes me feel good , ' said Mary Teixeira . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4214526,4527,"Kennedy Space Center , Florida The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday , completing its 25th and final mission the next to last mission for ' s 30 year old space shuttle program . "" Welcome home , Endeavour , "" Mission Control in Houston said . The spacecraft touched down at 2 : 34 a . m . at the end of a nearly 16 day mission to the International Space station . "" It ' s sad to see her land for the last time , but she really has a great legacy , "" said shuttle commander Mark Kelly after Endeavour rolled to a stop in the darkness of a warm Florida morning The youngest of the shuttles retires after 25 space flights . During 299 days in space , Endeavour orbited the earth 4 , 671 times and logged almost 122 . 9 million miles , said . It first went into service in 1993 . Endeavour unlocked from the International Space Station late Sunday after spending more than 11 days linked to the orbiting laboratory , where the astronauts installed a cosmic ray detector . The 2 billion , 15 , 000 pound machine is already at work "" gathering information that could improve our understanding of the universe , "" Kelly said . "" The retirement of Endeavour and the shuttle fleet will not end the human need to explore , "" Kelly said in comments from space that were posted on ' s website . "" It is and always will be part of who we are . The United States will build other spaceships better than those of today . Even if they are years in the future , they will nevertheless increase our knowledge of the world , generate an enormous benefit to the economy and inspire our children . "" On July 8 , space shuttle Atlantis is to make ' s final shuttle flight . Thousands of people turned out Tuesday night at Kennedy Space Center to watch it make the three mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad . "" Look how majestic it looks rolling out to the launch pad , "" said astronaut Sandy Magnus to reporters . "" Look at that and see what we can do when we put our minds to it . "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4224537,4538,"Don t worry the liberal elite always know what s best for the little people.Goldman Sachs Chairman and Special Representative for Migration Peter Sutherland said yesterday that Britain should take in more migrants in order to avoid creating an environment of xenophobia and racism .Shocking footage filmed in the French port town of Calais shows desperate migrants attempting to break into delivery trucks heading to the United Kingdom in another illustration of how the country s generous welfare system acts as a beacon for illegal aliens.The clip shows huge gangs of migrants roaming around on a highway attempting to attack vehicles.Police or immigration authorities are nowhere to be seen as migrants rip open the back door of a truck before attempting to pull down its contents to make their way inside, while others try to pull off an underside panel.A tour guide on the bus from where the footage is being filmed tells passengers, Don t panic guys, we have locked all of the doors. Try not to panic guys. Passengers are heard gasping in shock, with one commenting, This is what we ve seen on TV. The migrants are keen to reach the because they can exploit the country s generous welfare system and obtain a much higher standard of living than in France, where they are forced to reside in a makeshift tent village in Calais known as the jungle .Around 2,500 migrants live in the tent village, with most of them coming from Sudan, Eritrea, Libya and Syria.The situation is so dire that a leading haulage group warned earlier this month that freight carriers could suspend supplies going through Calais altogether, causing food shortages and massive price hikes.Donald Armour, International Affairs Manager at the Freight Transport Association, told the Daily Express that the supply chain is in danger of collapsing as a result of drivers refusing to go through Calais.Last month, Maru International haulage company announced that they were boycotting Calais over fears that somebody will be killed by migrants attempting to enter the UK.Via: Info Wars ",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present4234542,4543,"Half of Britons have experienced feelings of depression , a new study shows Half of us say we have felt the despair of depression twice as many as official statistics suggest . A survey by a leading charity found that almost one in two Britons report having experienced feelings of depression . The usual estimate given is one in four . The poll , by the Depression Alliance , asked thousands of adults whether they had ever experienced depression , and 45 per cent said yes . Almost nine out of ten of these also said they had suffered loneliness as a result of depression , with many struggling to find others to talk to about the condition . The survey comes amid a major push by the Government to put mental wellbeing on the map . Officials have warned that some sufferers of mental illness have the same life expectancy as people living in the 1950s . Many patients with mental health problems die early because of other physical conditions that are not managed well enough , including heart disease and cancer . Patients with schizophrenia will , on average , die 14 . 6 years earlier than the general population , while those with bipolar disorder generally die 10 . 1 years earlier . Yet some of the 40 , 000 deaths among people with serious mental illness each year could be cut if they received the same healthcare checks as the general population , according to England . Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said yesterday : ' We are still not doing enough to address the often serious physical health problems of those with mental health difficulties . For example , on average the life expectancy of men with severe mental illness is 20 years less than the rest of the population . For women it ' s 15 years . ' However , the Depression Alliance said many people are still failing to acknowledge their depression , leading to its impact being seriously under estimated . Its survey of 2 , 000 adults , carried out by pollsters Research , found just over a third of men ( 37 per cent ) and half of women ( 53 per cent ) said they had been affected by depression at some stage . But it seems men may be less likely to get help . Separate figures show nearly two thirds of patients seeking treatment for depression are women , with almost 475 , 000 women referred for counselling or behavioural therapy last year , compared to only 274 , 000 men . Nick Clegg pictured today delivering a speech on mental health . He said not enough was being done about tackling the illness Figures released last week also showed that women under 50 , and especially those in their 20s , are most likely to seek help using so called ' talking treatments ' . The charity ' s survey found that seven in ten men who reported suffering from depression found talking to someone close about things was helpful in maintaining their recovery , compared with almost eight in ten women . But 86 per cent of those who had been depressed said they were often lonely and unable to share their experiences with others . Emer O ' Neill , the charity ' s chief executive , said : ' This survey clearly demonstrates that to maintain recovery from depression people need to have access to other people with the condition . The loneliness and isolation that come with depression can have a devastating impact on people from all walks of life . ' This can be a particular problem for men who often do not have the same social support networks that women have . ' Former footballer Stan Collymore , who has helped the charity raise funds for its website and support community Friends in Need , said : ' Depression is a very isolating illness . You can be around friends , you can be around family , and if they don ' t understand exactly what you ' re going through it can actually exacerbate issues and matters and make them worse . ' Mental illness costs the economy more than 105billion every year , with depression and anxiety alone costing 16 . 4billion through treatment and lost earnings . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4244548,4549,"A Texas appeals court on Thursday overturned a judge ' s ruling that had voided the marriage of a transgender widow whose firefighter husband died battling a blaze . The 13th Texas Court of Appeals sent the case of Nikki Araguz back to the lower court , saying ' there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding Araguz ' s sex and whether the marriage was a same sex marriage . ' In 2011 , state District Judge Randy Clapp in Wharton County ruled that the marriage between Nikki Araguz and her husband Thomas Araguz was ' void as a matter of law . ' Victory : An appeals court has overturned a decision that voided Nikki Araguz ' s marriage to her first husband Thomas Delgado because she was born male Thomas Araguz ' s mother and his first wife Heather Delgado had challenged the marriage ' s validity , arguing the fallen firefighter ' s estate should go to his two sons because Nikki Araguz was born a man and Texas does not recognize same sex marriage . Attorneys for Delgado called the appeals court an ' activist court ' relying on ' junk science ' after the ruling . Nikki Araguz , 38 , had argued in court she had done everything medically and legally possible to show she is female and was legally married under Texas law and that she ' s entitled to widow ' s benefits . ' It ' s never been about the money for me . ' Nicki said as she celebrated the court ruling with supporters Thursday night . ' If I would have stayed quiet , the only narrative anyone would have heard was that I was a trickin ' tranny who lied to my husband . ' Honest and loving : Nikki Araguz says her first husband was fully aware of transgender journey Marriage : Nikki Araguz pictured with her first husband on their wedding day in 2008 At a press conference Friday , attorney for Delgado Ted Burwell demurred . ' Whenever someone says it ' s not about the money , you know what it ' s about , ' he said . The battle is over 635 , 000 in death benefits that the widow of a firefighter is entitled to . However , there is potentially millions more at stake . A lawsuit alleging a faulty light was responsible for the 2010 blaze which killed Thomas Araguz could result in millions in damages . Kent Rutter , Nikki Araguz ' s attorney , said his client was very pleased by Thursday ' s ruling . ' This decision recognizes that transgender Texans have the right to marry the person that they love , ' he said . Araguz has remarried since her first husband ' s death . Second time around : Araguz has since remarried , to William Loyd Attorneys for Simona Longoria , Thomas Araguz ' s mother , and Delgado , his ex wife , did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment . Longoria and her family have said Thomas Araguz learned of his wife ' s gender history just before his death and had planned to end the marriage . But Nikki Araguz , who remarried in 2013 , has insisted Thomas Araguz fully supported her through the surgical process to become a woman . She underwent surgery two months after they were married in 2008 . Thomas Araguz died July 2010 while fighting a fire at an egg farm near Wharton , located 60 miles southwest of Houston . He was 30 . In its 26 page ruling , the three judge panel of the Corpus Christi based appeals court wrote that Clapp erred by essentially saying in his ruling that Nikki Araguz was a man at the time of her husband ' s death . Equal love : William Loyd ( left ) escorts fiancee Nikki Araguz and daughter Charlotte Loyd , nine , from Nueces County Courthouse Thursday , September 18 , 2013 after Araguz ' s first hearing . The couple married outside the court minutes later Marriage equality : Attorneys against Nikki Araguz described the appeals court as an ' activist court ' relying on ' junk science ' ' I fully expect the other side to fight back as hate mongers often do , ' said Nikki Araguz said Thursday . Burwell said that hate was not an issue in the case . ' To construe that anyone is hate mongering is Nikki is just grandstanding , ' said Burwell . Attorneys for Longoria and Delgado had argued Nikki Araguz was born with male sex organs and had such organs at the time of her marriage , making it invalid . Widow : Araguz stands to collect 635 , 000 in benefits and possibly millions more for the death of her firefighter husband The appeals court said more expert testimony on this issue is needed as the only such testimony presented was an affidavit by one of Nikki Araguz ' s doctors , who wrote that she was medically and psychologically female as a result of her compliance with the standards of care adopted by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health . The three judge panel also wrote that changes made in 2009 to the Texas Family Code that allowed transgendered people to use proof of their sex change to get a marriage license legislatively overruled a previous court decision that had been used as legal precedent in such cases . In that 1999 case , a San Antonio woman ' s wrongful death claim brought on behalf of her husband was thrown out , with a court ruling that although the woman had undergone a sex change operation , she was actually a man , based on her original birth certificate . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4254554,4555,"During a Friday “Real Time” conversation with Sen. Ben Sasse ( ) host Bill Maher joked that he is not a “house n**ga” when the senator suggested he come work in the fields of Nebraska. Partial transcript as follows: MAHER: Halloween used to be a kid thing. SASSE: It’s not anymore? MAHER: Not out here. Adults dress up for Halloween. They don’t do that in Nebraska? SASSE: It’s frowned upon. Yeah, we don’t do that quite as much. MAHER: I’ve got to get to Nebraska more. SASSE: You’re welcome. We’d love to have you work in the fields for us. MAHER: Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house nigga [applause]. It’s a joke! Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4264560,4561,"A company boss whose firm who has represented the Dalai Lama launched a Willy Wonka style audition to give his business away so he could stay home to look at his children . Simon Cohen , 35 , said that when his wife , Kate , became pregnant with their second child , he wanted to leave his job to be with his wife and children . It meant he was left with the difficult decision of what to do with the company he founded 11 years ago , Global Tolerance . Simon Cohen , 35 , pictured with his wife , Kate , and daughter Seren , has given away his business He feared that selling it or merging it with another firm could ' disregard ' the ' vision and values ' of the business . And so he held a rigorous two month process to find a successor to take over the 1m company that has clients including the Dalai Lama , Princes Charles and the United Nations . He will hand over 95 per cent of the company , with 10 , 000 , and 11 years ' worth of business contacts . After a thorough five stage process , he chose Noa Gafni , a World Economic Forum employee and Rosie Warin , a director from Forster Communications . After a rigorous five stage process , Rosie Warin ( left ) and Noa Gafni ( right ) were chosen to head the company Simon Cohen has handed over 95 per cent of the company , with 10 , 000 , and 11 years ' worth of business contacts to Rosie Warin ( left ) and Noa Gafni ( right ) Mr Cohen , who moved to Cornwall from Brighton six months ago , told the MailOnline : ' I am delighted with the decision that has been made . It has been a surreal and scary process and it has been a bit weird . ' But Rosie and Noa have really reinforced my confidence and commitment that the right decision has been made . They have got that sparkle in their eyes and the determination to make it work and move the business forward for the next decade and beyond . ' Through Global Tolerance , I ' ve been able to work with people like the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu . I ' ve had a great ride , but it ' s time to pass on the baton . ' Mr Cohen , who has a 15 month old daughter called Seren and whose wife is due to give birth in November , said he was looking forward to being a ' stay at home Dad ' but was also eager to visit South America . Simon Cohen left his job to spend more time with his family . His wife , Kate , is due to give birth in November ' I am just looking forward to being a Dad that is present every day . At some point I would love to go to South America , that would be brilliant , especially the carnival in Rio . But there is still lots to do in the as well . ' Mr Cohen , who married Kate in August 2011 , will do communications consultancy work one day a week to pay the bills . He will also keep five per cent of the company ' s shares . He decided to give his business away because he said the vast majority of mergers and acquisitions fail . He said : ' It ' s amazing to me how many companies express certain values , but when it comes to exit , those values are left at the door . In a world of discerning customers , this is a disaster for brand and customer loyalty and the long term value of the company . ' For entrepreneurs who believe in their company ' s mission , seeing those values live on is worth more than any amount of cash . ' To land the job , the two successful applicants had to go through a rigorous process . The first stage asked for a tweet about leadership and the second stage asked for an online application form . This was followed by a Skype interview , where Mr Cohen interviewed 25 separate applicants for 15 minutes each . For the fourth stage , he brought in advisers to help him whittle down the remaining candidates , before a final stage where applicants had to set out their business plan on a boat on the River Thames . Mr Cohen said it was important the process was thorough as he wanted it to serve as a model for others to follow . ' I wanted to make sure it was a serious search as I care passionately about it . I also want other businesses to take it seriously and so it can be a model for others who want to make sure their companies keep their values . ' Mr Cohen has worked with clients such as the Dalai Lama and Prince Charles during his 11 year period as the head of firm , Global Tolerance ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past4274571,4572,"Around 2 . 6 million years ago , the first stone tools began appearing in the archaeological record . But now researchers have found that our early ancestors may have had the ability to use stone tools around half a million years earlier . Far from being the fumbling creatures we believed , a look at fossils of Australopithecus africanus reveals the species had human like hands capable of ' squeeze ' gripping . Top row from left to right is the thumb of a chimpanzee , a thumb fossil hominins Australopithecus africanus and two speices of early humans . The bottom row shows 3D renderings from the scans of the same specimens , showing a cross section of thetrabecular structure inside Dr Matthew Skinner and Dr Tracy Kivell from Kent University analysed on the internal spongy structure of bone called trabeculae . This remodels quickly during a lifetime and can reflect the behaviour of individuals , as well as how they use their hands . The researchers compared scans of Australopithecus africanus and modern ape hand bones with scans of hand bones from modern species . This included a 90 , 000 year old Homo sapiens , two roughly 60 , 000 year old Neandertals , Romans and Egyptian Nubians who lived between about 1 , 500 and 2 , 000 years ago . Researchers have found that our early ancestors may have had the ability to use stone tools more than half a million years earlier . Pictured is an example of a human precision grip , grasping an Australopithecus africanus thumb fossil which is thought to be two to three million years old Far from being the fumbling creatures , a look at fossils of Australopithecus africanus reveals the species had human like hands capable of ' squeeze ' gripping . Pictured is a pattern of trabecular bone distribution the spongy part of the hand in Australopithecus africanus ( left ) , Neanderthals ( centre ) and Homo sapiens ( right ) Australopithecus africanus was one of the longest lived early human species . So far , paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals in Eastern Africa . Pictured is an artist ' s impression They found humans and Neanderthals had hands capable of holding items between the thumb and fingertips . The researchers found that Australopithecus africanus had human like hands that were capable of precision grips . This would have helped them squeeze small objects , such a stone tools . These early members of the human family tree also had an opposable thumb . These hand features may have evolved from earlier human ancestors that hadlong fingers and short thumbs , which climbing trees . The researchers said it is possible the patterns in the bone were created by handling stone flakes and cutting meat . It is equally plausible that they could be using it to access various vegetable materials like potatoes , yams , they said . The Australopithecus africanus fossils , excavated at South Africa ' s Swartkrans Cave , had concentrations of spongy bone at the base of the thumb and in the knuckles of the third and fifth fingers similar to homo sapiens . Meanwhile , chimpanzees , gorillas , orangutans and gibbons show a different pattern of spongy bone distribution in their hands , caused by tree climbing . This means that even if Australopithecus africanus had not been considered as toolmakers before , they were at least prepared to handle stone tools with a precision grip . The researchers said it is possible the patterns in the bone were created by handling stone flakes and cutting meat . It is equally plausible that they could be using it to access various vegetable materials like potatoes , yams , they said . Their findings cast doubt on the long standing assumption that Homo habilis was the first hominin toolmaker . It follows research that emerged last week he first conversation between our ancestors was about and likely took place between 2 . 5 to 1 . 8 million years ago . This study found stone tool making drove the evolution of language among our human ancestors in the African savannah . Researchers found clear differences between humans , who have the ability for precision gripping between thumb and fingers , and chimpanzees , who are unable to do this . Fossils analysis revealed Australopithecus africanus ( second left ) , also had a human like trabecular bone pattern Australopithecus africanus had ape like face proportions , including a flat nose , a strongly projecting lower jaw Fossil bones of Australopithecus africanus were previously excavated at South Africa ' s Swartkrans Cave It suggests communication among our earliest ancestors may have been more complex than previously thought , and that tool making helped drive evolution . Australopithecus africanus was one of the longest lived early human species . So far , paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals in Eastern Africa . The species survived for more than 900 , 000 years , which is over four times as humans . Previous studies into Australopithecus africanus has found that they had a mixture of primitive features and of more advanced features typical of later human species . Their children grew rapidly after birth and reached adulthood earlier than modern humans . They had ape like face proportions , including a flat nose , a strongly projecting lower jaw . They are believed to have had small brains , which were a third of the size of a human brain . Marks ( shown in the green boxes ) suggest the use of the bone fragment for carved sharpening the cutting edges of stone tools Neanderthals have a reputation for being lumbering , cavemen with low IQs , but a new discovery suggests they may have been more intelligent than we think . A 60 , 000 year old multi purpose bone tool unearthed in France suggests Neanderthals understood how to use bones to make useful devices . This skill was previously attributed to our species , Homo sapiens , and casts a new light on evolution 250 , 000 to 28 , 000 years ago . ' This is the first time a multi purpose bone tool from this period has been discovered , ' said Luc Doyon from the University of Montreal . ' It was long thought that before Homo sapiens , other species did not have the cognitive ability to produce this type of artefact . ' This discovery reduces the presumed gap between the two species and prevents us from saying that one was technically superior to the other . ' The tool was uncovered during annual digs at the Grotte du Bison at Arcy sur Cure in Burgundy , France . Extremely well preserved , the tool comes from the left femur of an adult reindeer and its age is estimated between 55 , 000 and 60 , 000 years old . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4284576,4577,"The stars may finally be aligning for a comprehensive immigration overhaul . Whatever the reasons and there are many it ' s about time . During my two terms as governor of a border state , there were times when I was hopeful for a breakthrough . But political fear mongering often ruled the day as immigrants and drugs illegally crossed into the United States and weapons flowed to the south . With every border flare up , the American public and their elected leaders put immigration on the back burner . I am encouraged by the news that a bipartisan group of senators has crafted a plan and is working on building consensus toward a political way forward . The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is also taking an active role and showing leadership on this issue . My hope is that we end up with a truly comprehensive solution that does not tear families apart . Opinion : Worker visas are the key to immigration reform A comprehensive plan should create a path to earned citizenship , enforceable border security , a realistic guest worker plan , accountability for employers that hire illegal immigrants and passage of the Act . We have a window of opportunity now that didn ' t exist before because immigration is at a low point , and addressing the issue makes more sense politically . Our struggle to recover from the financial crisis doesn ' t just mean fewer jobs for Americans the lack of work has also deterred many would be immigrants , especially those who come to America to find construction and manufacturing jobs . The U . S . Census Bureau estimates that we have nearly 1 million fewer illegal immigrants living in America than we did in 2007 . Census officials say the economy is the primary reason for the decline . The aging population and the growing middle class in Mexico may also be factors that explain the new trend . While nobody is celebrating the poor economy and the lack of jobs , the reality that illegal immigration isn ' t seen as a "" crisis "" at the moment , gives us the opportunity to have a reasoned debate , without the unnecessary rhetoric , and finally enact a comprehensive immigration plan . With a stable and reasonable immigration system in place , I believe we ' ll have more opportunities for bilateral economic growth and trade between the United States and Mexico . That will mean more jobs on both sides of the border . Politically , the results of the recent election strongly suggest this is the moment for reform . First , President Barack Obama is following through on his promise to make an immigration overhaul a priority , using the good will he earned with the Hispanic constituencies , and will announce his proposals Tuesday . Second , many Republicans in Congress realize that they need a new political strategy if they have any hope of bouncing back from the devastating losses they are experiencing with Hispanic voters . iReport : Under deportation , above fear Hispanics of all ethnic backgrounds are embracing Democratic candidates and their message of inclusiveness and opportunity for all . Opposition to immigration overhaul , including the demonization of foreign born families that look to America for opportunity , is hurting Republicans at the polls . Third , the Supreme Court ruled emphatically that immigration is the responsibility of the federal government , not the states . While I am certainly sympathetic as a former governor with the issues that states must deal with as a result of illegal immigration , the onus is on Congress to pass an immigration plan . Unless we come to grips with all aspects of the immigration issue , we are going to end up with the same impractical , expensive and ineffective solutions we have had for years . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bill Richardson . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4294580,4581,"Paul Scholes has labelled Louis van Gaal a ' mad genius ' as the Manchester United manager prepares for his first Barclays Premier League game against Swanseaon Saturday . Scholes says the Dutch coach is prone to ' going off his head ' when his team fail to follow orders during training sessions or matches . The former United midfielder , also criticised his former club for failing to bid for Toni Kroos , signed by Real Madrid for 20million , or former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas . Scroll down to watch Paul Scholes say Schweinsteiger asked for his shirt Criticism : Man United legend Paul Scholes believes the club should have signed a world class midfielder Instant respect : Louis van Gaal is a mad genius and is prone to ' going off his head ' , according to Scholes ' From what I ' ve seen ( Van Gaal ) looks a bit mad . He ' s a bit like a mad genius , a bit crazy . He ' s obviously very good at his job from where he ' s been . I ' ve not seen him work but I have seen clips on the telly and one moment he ' s hugging someone for doing a great pass and the next , if something ' s not right , he ' s going off his head . He ' s brought a bit of fear , which is no bad thing . ' I played for 20 years for Sir Alex Ferguson and he could be a scary man . Fear can bring performances from you . There ' s no doubt these players need to perform this year . If they don ' t , I don ' t think they ' ll be there for very long . ' Players will know where they stand , which is what you want . You knew where you stood with Sir Alex from what you ' d done on the Saturday . If you ' d done well , he ' d pat you on the back . If you hadn ' t , you probably wouldn ' t be playing the next week . ' United finished seventh in the Premier League last season and fired manager David Moyes in April after they lost to Everton . Presence : Scholes compared Van Gaal to former boss Sir Alex Ferguson and said both are ' scary ' managers Now Scholes believes Champions League qualification will be seen as a success in Van Gaal ' s first season , insisting they have no chance of winning the title . ' Success will be the Champions League , ' he said . ' It ' s between City and Chelsea ( for the title ) . The next two places are between United , Liverpool and Arsenal . ' There are a lot of players in that ( United ) team who have won leagues before . They are capable of getting close . We ' ll have to see how good the manager is , and if he can bring a couple more players in , although he might think he has enough as it is . Chelsea and Man City have got stronger squads but in the end , squads don ' t matter it ' s what you do on the field . ' In May , hopefully United will be proving people like me wrong . ' In the hotseat : Scholes believes Champions League qualification will be seen as a success during Van Gaal ' s first season in charge Januzaj new no11 , van Gaal chasing Rojo Scholes was puzzled by United ' s failure to bid for world class players such as Kroos , Bastian Schweinsteiger or former Arsenal midfielder Fabregas . ' A Fabregas , a Toni Kroos or a Schweinsteiger could add real quality to the team , but that ' s up to the manager , ' Scholes added . He also claimed confidence was at an all time low at United when he was brought in with Ryan Giggs for the final four games of last season after Moyes ' dismissal . Sport ' s new pundit has dismissed Arsenal ' s title chances , despite their 3 0 victory over champions Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend . ' ( Alexis ) Sanchez is a good signing but is that the type of player they need ? ' he said . ' They needed a top centre half and a strong midfield player . If they had that , they could challenge . ' World class : Scholes believes Real Madrid signing Toni Kroos and Chelsea new boy Cesc Fabregas were the only top level midfielders available this summer Not needed ? Scholes admites Alexis Sanchez is a good signing but believes Arsenal need a top centre back Manchester United v Swansea City is one of 38 Barclays Premier League matches exclusively live on Sport this season along with top games from the Cup , Europa League and live action from more top flight football leagues than any other provider . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past4304582,4583,"Is obesity a disability or a self inflicted condition triggered by a lack of willpower and overeating ? And should people who are overweight be protected by the same discrimination laws that were put in place to shield those who are wheel chair bound , people with learning difficulties , hearing and visual impairments or those with autism spectrum disorders ? A landmark test case being brought before judges at the European Court of Justice today has sparked a vigorous debate on the issue . The result of it may mean British companies will have to treat obese workers as ' disabled ' , making allowances for their size by providing larger seats and parking spaces closer to the office . A landmark test case is being brought before judges at the European Court of Justice today by Karsten Kaltoft , pictured , which could result in obesity being classed as a disability for employers in the Mr Kaltoft was sacked by his local authority in Denmark for being unable to perform his duties as a childminder because of his 25 stone size Karsten Kaltoft is taking action after he was sacked by his local authority in Denmark for being unable to perform his duties as a childminder , due to his size . The council , Billund Kommune , claimed the 25 stone childminder was so fat that he required help from a colleague to tie up children ' s shoelaces . If successful in redefining obesity as a disability , Mr Kaltoft ' s lawyers could force widespread changes in the way bosses deal with staff . Currently in the the law is clear , the Equality Act 2010 refrained from classing obesity as a disability . Instead the Government definition is that a person is ' disabled under the Equality Act 2010 , if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ' substantial ' and ' long term ' negative effect on a person ' s ability to do normal daily activities . ' However for many people living with a disability , they self define themselves as such , basing their disability more on the barriers society puts in the way of them leading the life they wish . For someone bound to a wheelchair steps to a cinema or restaurant , can provide a barrier and as a result a person is likely to class themselves as disabled . Debating the issue on today ' s Good Morning Britain , writer and broadcaster Carole Malone and journalist Ursula Hirschkorn , explored both sides of the issue . Ms Hirschkorn said : ' I am not sure it ( obesity ) should be treated as a disabilty . ' But what he is trying to say is if you are going to have anti discrimination laws , they need to be universal . ' Should it distinguish between what employees you are going to protect and those you are not going to protect ? Journalist Ursula Hirschkorn ( left ) and broadcaster and writer Carole Malone ( right ) debated this issue on today ' s Good Morning Britain ' It is not about saying if I am fat I am disabled , rather it is about if I can ' t do my job because I am fat , I deserve the same protection as someone who can ' t do their job because they are disabled , or pregnant . ' But journalist and writer Ms Malone argued obesity is not a disability , rather a self inflicted condition brought on by people who cannot resist the urge to eat . When asked whether people should be protected by anti discrimination laws because they are obese , she said : ' Not in the case of people who self inflict their disability . ' In the case of this Danish guy , he was 25st . All he needed to do was eat less doughnuts and less Danish pastries and he would have been able to bend down and tie the children ' s shoe laces . Ms Malone argued in ' 95 per cent of cases ' obesity is self inflicted ' by people lacking discipline and self control ' ' But because he didn ' t , he couldn ' t . And clearly is literally not fit enough to look after those kids . ' If you can ' t bend down to tie your shoe lace you can ' t help them if they fall down , you can ' t react quickly enough if something happens . ' That man was clearly not suited to that job . ' Challenging Ms Malone ' s suggestion that ' obesity is self inflicted in 95 per cent of cases ' , Ms Hirschkorn branded the statement ' unfair ' . She said : ' At the end of the day if you are completely drunk and take a dive into a shallow swimming pool and end up disabled , that is self inflicted . ' I am not saying that person should not be protected but equally you don ' t know why people become fat , the vast majority of people become fat because they have psychological issues or health problems . ' Ms Malone responded : ' That is simply not true . We are both , I would say , a bit overweight ( to which Ms Hirschkorn agreed ) . There is no disability , no psychological problem , I am overweight . ' The majority of people who are overweight have psychological problems , no they don ' t . The majority of people who are overweight have no discipline and no self control . ' She added : ' The Equality Act 2010 ruled that obesity is not a disability . ' What is going to happen if this court ruling happens , it is going to punish people who are overweight because employers will not employ fat people , or people they think might get fat . ' Why should you get special treatment if you have abused your body knowingly that is what a lot of obese people do . ' People generally get fat , in 95 per cent of cases , because they eat too much . ' Disability charity Scope asked users and supporters for their views on the debate , via Twitter and Facebook , yesterday . The overwhelming response from members of the public was that obesity should not be classed as a disability . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4314603,4604,7 hours ago 0 warns the American public of a Mainstream media messaging campaign. GoFundMe Alternative Media Television! Leave a Reply Login with your Social Your email address will not be published. Name,fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present4324630,4631,"The biggest near term unintended consequence of the Obama Democrats ' decision to destroy the Senate filibuster will be the repeal of Obamacare . Under the old Senate rules , a minority could use the filibuster to block undesired change . It required 60 votes to run over a determined minority . Even if the Republicans have a good outcome in 2014 and 2016 , there is a pretty good chance they will not win the 15 seats ( one third of their current total membership ) that would have been required to make major changes under the old Senate rules . Winning even 14 seats in the next two elections would have left them one short of a filibuster proof majority ( and that assumes all the Republicans would agree on repeal ) . Now , with one clever move , the Obama Democrats have lowered the bar from 60 votes to 51 . The odds of gaining six seats from the current 45 are dramatically better than trying to pick up 15 seats . For my entire career in the House , including when I was speaker , we were told again and again of the things we couldn ' t pass because they wouldn ' t get through a Senate filibuster . Now that inhibition is gone . The Democrats will try to say they have only eliminated the filibuster for certain cases involving presidential appointees , not legislation . But what they have really eliminated is a longstanding principle of the Senate . With a simple majority , Republicans could soon push through dramatic changes like the replacement of Obamacare because a liberal minority would have no tools to stop it . In 2016 , every Republican candidate for House , Senate , and president will be asked if he or she is committed to replacing Obamacare in the first 100 days . Virtually all of them will pledge to do so . The opportunity for a breakout from the entire obsolete bureaucratic structure is now enormous . This makes the 2014 and 2016 elections among the highest stakes of any in recent memory . When Obamacare disappears with a simple majority vote in the Senate , thank President Obama and Senator Reid for the new Senate rules which made it possible . It all started this week . It will end around March 1 , 2017 . The die has been cast . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Newt Gingrich . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4334631,4632,"A disgraced Nigerian doctor who killed a British man by injecting him with a massive dose of painkillers is now suing a German author because he mentioned the incident in his book . Daniel Ubani killed David Gray after giving him ten times the correct amount of diamorphine at his home in Cambridgeshire while he was working a locum . He is already trying to sue the victim ' s son for branding him a killer despite a coroner ruling the death was manslaughter . Now he wants judges at Cologne State Court to rule against author Dr Udo Ulfkotte , claiming that no mention should be made again of the incident or that he is Nigerian by birth . Legal action : Nigerian doctor Daniel Ubani ( left ) is suing German author Dr Udo Ulfkotte ( right ) for mentioning the fact that he killed a British patient by injecting him with ten times the correct dose of painkillers Dr Ulfkotte , 50 , who currently has a book at number three in the bestselling chart in Germany called ' Bought Journalism ' , is aghast at the lawsuit which he promises to fight ' tooth and nail . ' He said : ' If I was Dr Ubani , I would be ashamed to be involved in this after what he did . ' At first , my publisher and I laughed when we got his lawyer ' s letter , but he is deadly serious . ' He thinks no mention should ever be made again of his mistake which caused a man to die . ' Ubani ' s latest attempt to silence anyone who mentions the incident comes at a time when he is still involved in litigation against Dr Rory Gray , son of the man he killed , who also lives in Germany . Ubani , who lives in the west German industrial town of Witten , went to the in 2008 as a locum because he wanted extra money . He was working for an out of hours medical service when he gave 70 year old Mr Gray a fatal injection in Cambridgeshire . Ubani confused the amount of painkiller he should give renal patient Mr Gray and injected him with ten times the dosage of diamorphine he should have done . Mr Gray died within minutes at his home in Manea , Cambridgeshire , on 16 February 2008 . Dr Ubani is seeking tens of thousands of pounds in compensation from Dr Ulfkotte over a passage in his 2011 book called ' Nightmare Migration ' ( above ) which mentions the incident in which he killed David Gray in 2008 Coroner William Morris later ruled his death ' gross negligence and manslaughter ' and issued 11 recommendations to the Department of Health for the improvement of out of hours services . An arrest warrant was issued in the for Ubani to be extradited to stand trial . But he cut a dubious deal with German prosecutors that allowed him to receive a fine by post together with a nine month suspended jail sentence for causing death by negligence . His ability to work in Germany was never questioned despite the fact he was struck off by the General Medical Council ( ) in Britain . He refused to attend the inquest into his victim and the medical hearings which barred him from ever working in Britain again . The German Doctors Chamber , the equivalent of the in the , wanted Ubani struck off . But they are powerless to force him to go while he still retains the support of the local authority which licenses him . David Gray ' s sons Dr Stuart Gray , who lives in Kidderminster , Worcestershire , and his brother Rory , who works as a European Space Agency scientist in Darmstadt , have been campaigning to get Ubani struck off in Germany . Rory Gray is still battling demands from Ubani for compensation after he branded him a killer and a charlatan at a plastic surgery conference he was speaking at five years ago . Now Dr Ulfkotte , 50 , finds himself enmeshed in litigation , with Ubani seeking tens of thousands of pounds in compensation . It stems from a passage in a book written by him called ' Nightmare Migration ' in 2011 about the effects of immigration on societies in Europe . ' Part of this , a very small part , was articles taken from the and from British newspapers about the Ubani case , ' said Dr Ulfkotte . ' It mentioned what he did and the death of Dr Gray . It was not racist and never intended to be . ' It wasn ' t until just recently that myself and my publisher received from Ubani ' s lawyers his complaint that the book violates his human rights and that no mention should be made of his name or this incident , or indeed his race , the fact that he is barred from ever working as a doctor in the again or the fact that he had ever worked there . ' It is crazy . It was a very small chapter and it was all true . I do not know how he can carry on like this considering what he did to Mr Gray . ' The hearing against him and his publisher is scheduled for May 20 . He said : ' I am confident that common sense will prevail but you never know what will happen in a courtroom . ' Even if he loses , I am sure he will appeal all the way to the European Court of Justice . He thinks he is a supreme medical man who should never be challenged . ' Dr Ubani has not responded to calls requesting comment . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4344635,4636,""" I don ' t consider criminal background checks to be gun control . "" Republican U . S . Sen . Pat Toomey made this profound statement earlier this week while announcing a bipartisan Senate agreement to expand background checks to almost all gun purchasers . Toomey is absolutely correct . Background checks are not about gun control , they ' re about human safety . Having checks will make it more difficult for criminals and the insane to obtain guns . Yet , despite polls showing that over 90 of Americans support universal background checks , it took a "" breakthrough "" deal to get this proposal simply to a vote by the U . S . Senate . What ' s worse , there ' s no guarantee this legislation will pass the Republican controlled House . The second big issue is the death of Great Britain ' s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . Is the fawning over her justified or did her failings outweigh her accomplishments ? And third , is the new song by country singer Brad Paisley and rapper Cool J , titled , "" The Accidental Racist , "" racially insensitive , or in today ' s hypersensitive climate is it simply impossible to discuss race without causing an outcry ? To listen to this episode of "" The Big Three , "" click on the Soundcloud audio player on this page . Or you can find us on iTunes . Here ' s a brief summary of this week ' s episode : 1 . Gun safety laws John Avlon discussed the cowardice of the Republican senators who threatened a filibuster to prevent a vote on the proposed universal background check law , a point he also raised in his most recent column . Margaret Hoover a reasonable voice on the right ( almost an oxymoron ) agreed that Republican senators like Ted Cruz could cause the entire to appear as extremists if they prevented a vote on this proposal via filibuster . I made the case that we need to stop calling these measures "" gun control "" laws and instead label them as "" human safety "" laws because the focus is on saving lives , not grabbing guns . I also raised the point : Is the second amendment out of date ? It was enacted when we had 13 states , a population of 4 million and muskets . Should we consider revising or repealing the second amendment to bring it up to date with today ' s world so that owning guns is a privilege rather than a right ? 2 . Death of Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hoover , a big Thatcher fan , shared the thrill of meeting the former prime minister years ago . I refused to speak ill of the recently deceased Thatcher . So instead , I read excerpts from a recent op ed penned by British comedian Russell Brand ( we all know comedians tend to write the best opinion pieces ) . Brand was highly critical of Thatcher ' s reign . John and Margaret both defended Thatcher from Brand ' s allegations that she was an uncaring person who favored the wealthy at the expense of the working class . 3 . ' The Accidental Racist ' Paisley and Cool J recorded a song in the hopes of easing racial tension and fostering more understanding . Instead , their song was met by almost universal criticism . Some said the lyrics are culturally insensitive , others said it ' s just bad . All three of us agreed that some of the lyrics were ridiculous , such as Cool J ' s line : "" If you don ' t judge my gold chains I ' ll forget the iron chains . "" Was really saying that if a White man doesn ' t judge his choice of flashy jewelry , then Black Americans should forget slavery ? But the bigger point we discussed is that it ' s almost impossible to talk about race in America without being attacked by people on both the far left and far right . I also tell a joke about "" White people "" that I had performed last month on a show that generated an avalanche of angry tweets and e mails . Just shows , we ' ve gone a long way to go . We hope you will give a listen to this episode of "" The Big Three "" and let us know what you think about the issues we discussed . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4354648,4649,"AMATRICE, Italy — The chaos came in the middle of the night. People were screaming and dying in the darkness across Amatrice, a summer getaway in central Italy famous as the birthplace of a pasta dish made with tomatoes and pork cheeks. It was 3:36 a. m. when the 6. 2 magnitude earthquake hit, followed by a succession of strong aftershocks — including one nearly as strong an hour later — that flattened houses and buried residents in the rubble. Amatrice was the worst hit by the quake, which also damaged surrounding towns. As of Thursday morning, the deaths totaled 241, officials said. “Half the town no longer exists,” Mayor Sergio Pirozzi of Amatrice told reporters on Wednesday morning. He might have been too optimistic. By midday Amatrice, a quiet mountain town about 100 miles northeast of Rome, felt more like a ghost town. Ambulances raced along windy roads clogged with traffic and rubble as rescue teams searched for survivors. Using picks, shovels and hands, they scrabbled through the dust and debris of crumbled homes. They brought in dogs to sniff for the dead and injured beneath collapsed concrete and stone. A soft white dust was still swirling about the rubble piled in Amatrice. Stunned survivors — some with cheeks, others still wearing pajamas — wandered through the streets, unsure what to do. A father, holding a small child, pushed a wobbly stroller piled with plastic bags of clothing over a rocky path. A young girl sobbed into her mobile phone. “It’s all gone, the bar, the house, everything,” she said. The initial quake was comparable in intensity to one in 2009 in the central Abruzzo region that killed more than 300 people. The quake and aftershocks were felt as far away as Bologna, Rome and Naples. Camps were set up to house hundreds of homeless, and the authorities were also trying to account for an unknown number of tourists. “The number of missing people is undefined at the moment,” Immacolata Postiglione, the head of the emergency unit at Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, said at a news conference in Rome. With a permanent population of about 2, 000, Amatrice is a place where people know one another. Many had ties to Rome in one way or another, working there in the winter, running restaurants, bars and hotels, as food has always been part of the town’s culture. “If you closed the restaurants in Rome run by Amatriciani, you’d close half the restaurants,” said Maria Prassede Perilli, a resident who had been visiting her sister in Rome when the quake struck. Ms. Perilli said she had rushed back after her husband, Giacomo, called in the middle of the night in a frightened voice, telling her, “There’s been a terrible earthquake, you can’t even imagine. ” Her husband survived, she said, but his sisters and niece did not. The couple’s house was crushed. “It’s flat, like a book,” she said. For many residents who worked in Rome, August was the traditional month of rest and relaxation, enjoying Amatrice’s mild climate and fresh air after months of Roman smog. “You had dinners in the piazza, long tables with lots of people, someone would bring out a guitar to sing,” Ms. Perilli said. “It’s the mountain, it’s a good place to be. ” It was especially wrenching for her to bump into shocked friends and acquaintances. “They can’t find Alessandra, they can’t find Alessandra,” one woman who approached said of her niece, buried under the rubble along with her mother. Ms. Perilli commiserated. “I don’t want to listen to anything any more. It’s all: ‘Did you hear that he died, did you know that that entire family was buried wife, husband, child.’ I just can’t take it,” she said, eyes tearing. “I feel as though I am in a dream, and I’m hoping that one moment I’ll wake up. ” Nearby, diggers were lifting rubble into trucks. “Will they ever be able to rebuild this?” Ms. Perilli said. “It seems like the end of an era. ” Rescue teams representing a spectrum of police and armed forces, local civil protection agencies from around the country, as well as medical staff members worked through the day searching for survivors, but more often finding the dead. “This is positive as soon as the earthquake struck, people came from all over to help,” said Riza Sinani, a nurse from the nearby town of Rieti. “That doesn’t happen in every country, this outpouring of humanity and good will. ” Several people in Amatrice said the town had been full of tourists who came for the coming weekend’s annual Sagra dell’Amatriciana festival, which celebrates Amatrice’s native pasta sauce, using cured pork cheek known as guanciale, and grated pecorino cheese. The festival has been canceled. As sympathy and offers of support poured in from around the world, Pope Francis led pilgrims at St. Peter’s Square in praying for the victims, clutching a rosary in his right hand, and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi went to Rieti. Mr. Renzi praised rescue workers and volunteers and vowed to rebuild — a promise particularly important for Italians still furious about the long delays in reconstruction after the 2009 quake. The area’s most significant monument, the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, was unharmed, as were monuments in the city of Perugia. “We were saved by a miracle,” said Stefania Proietti, the mayor of Assisi, where in 1997 a devastating earthquake caused casualties and extensive damage to the city, destroying frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue in the basilica. For those in Amatrice, the immediate focus was on essentials: who was alive, and who was dead, or missing. Among those awaiting information was Laura Besanzoni, who stood behind a ribbon that cordoned off the main street, the Corso Umberto. A few palazzos still stood along the street, but piles of rubble lined both sides, offering glimpses of bright blue sky. “It’s like being in one of those countries at war,” Ms. Besanzoni said, looking at the devastation. Her family’s palazzo was left standing, she said, but she had no news of an aunt and two cousins. “We don’t know if they are dead or alive,” she said. Makeshift human corridors were created to bring people out. Some were alive, others were not. As one body was passed, wrapped in a plastic cover, one woman wailed: “That looks like Manuela’s hand!” A convent on the edge of town was virtually destroyed by the quake, the top two floors crushing the bottom. A young nun managed to escape, but said she feared that three nuns and four retirees had been buried. A high school teacher from Rome who vacations here every August said her home on the central Corso Umberto had been severely damaged but had not collapsed. The teacher, who identified herself only by her first name, Ilde, said the quake had struck with a loud bang. The buildings across the street from her and next door were destroyed. “Only the town tower was standing,” she said, describing scenes of panic, her neighbors screaming for help in the dark. “It was Dante’s ‘Inferno,’ it was apocalyptic, I don’t know,” she said. When rescuers came to escort her from her home, she said, she walked on rubble at least 10 to 13 feet high. In one square, families waited for news while diggers began tackling a pile of bricks and stones that had once been a home. One man had lost his father. Another, an uncle. “I can’t think of how many may still be in the rubble,” said one woman whose house withstood the quake while the neighboring ones did not. Amatrice is in an area prone to earthquakes, she said, “but we’ve never felt anything as violent as this. ” In the nearby Marche region, the village of Arquata del Tronto and the hamlet of Pescara del Tronto, also suffered major destruction. “When I arrived at the break of day, I saw a destroyed village, screams, death,” Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole of Ascoli Piceno, who visited Pescara del Tronto, told Vatican Radio. “I went to bless the bodies of two children buried under the rubble. ”",true,news,test,Football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past4364651,4652,"Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Thursday he hoped to have a wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico finished within two years, according to an interview with Fox News. “The wall will be built where it’s needed first, and then it will be filled in. That’s the way I look at it,” Kelly said in the interview. “I really hope to have it done within the next two years.” He added he thought funding from Congress for the massive project would come “relatively quickly.” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4374672,4673,"A rigorous green certification system is recognizing the next phase of eco design , which its founders describe as "" the world ' s greenest buildings . "" Founded by Jason F . McLennan in 2006 through the Cascadia Green Building Council , the Living Building Challenge ( ) is a green ratings system for design and construction that judges a building based on its actual performance , not just its projected performance at the design stage . To date , it has recognized six buildings for their green credentials . Only three have been successful in meeting all its stringent requirements and consequently fully certified as "" living . "" "" These are the world ' s greenest buildings , "" says McLennan . "" It is a huge leap forward from conventional green construction . These buildings will never get an energy or water bill again . "" Projects must be in operation for a minimum of 12 months before they become eligible to participate in the challenge and they can only achieve "" living "" status after fulfilling requirements in the categories of site , water , energy , health , materials , equity and beauty . "" It takes about 14 16 months to go through the certification process and we are a rigorous process so there are not that many buildings fully certified , "" says McLennan . Read more : The greenest buildings of 2011 He adds : "" The ones that are ( certified ) are game changers because they become more than a building . They create a whole community of changed people around them . "" The International Living Future Institute , a non profit that was created to take over running the since its inception , hopes its guidelines will change current green construction philosophy and become as powerful as eco building ratings system Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design , or as it is better known . But unlike , does not certify new buildings based on measurements of their actual performance . McLennan says : "" You ' d be surprised no green standards actually go and check if the project is fulfilling what they had planned to do . We knew in reality buildings typically don ' t perform the way they are intended so we wanted to rectify this and base our challenge on reality . "" The was created to encourage the creation of living buildings , sites and communities globally as well as educate people about the importance of going green . The non profit has been working closely with projects and regulatory bodies to aid experimental green design construction . Read more : Solar powered ' supertrees ' breathe life into Singapore ' s urban oasis It has already been recognized as a credible contender in green building standards by winning global design competition The Buckminster Fuller Challenge earlier this month . In the official statement , the jurors said the "" Living Building Challenge successfully shows how humans and their built environment can be harmoniously , benignly integrated within ecosystems . "" Above all , its rigorous standards and daringly innovative , revolutionary approach to building are already having a considerable impact on the thinking of designers and architects around the world , influencing all levels of design and technological approaches , radically pushing forward the field . "" Read more : ' Vertical farm ' blossoms at meatpacking plant McLennan seems somewhat surprised by the rapid recognition and success the has had internationally . He says : "" Without any international marketing budget , we ' ve launched something bigger than ourselves . We have become a meme in a way an idea that develops its own legs and begins to travel . "" Initially starting with projects in the United States and Canada , the green performance based ratings system now has registered projects in Australia , France , Lebanon , Mexico , and New Zealand , amongst others , and interest from like minded groups in Colombia , Ireland and Romania . "" We hope to be training certifiers in those countries , "" says McLennan . "" In Australia , we have three projects that are underway . We are in discussions with many leading thinkers about ideas working to create the Australian institute . "" They would be the governing body for the Living Building project tied into a global network of ambassadors , collaboratives and institutes around the world for the transformation of society . . . It ' s about changing the world and building a network of people . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4384678,4679,"Los Angeles The Los Angeles Police Department can have access to personal tape recordings between Charles Manson follower Charles D . "" Tex "" Watson and his late attorney that investigators believe might hold clues to unsolved killings , a federal judge in Texas ruled Tuesday . U . S . District Court Judge Richard Schell ruled that Watson waived his right to attorney client privilege in 1976 by allowing his attorney to sell the tapes for 49 , 000 to the man who co authored Watson ' s memoir . investigators want the decades old recordings between Watson and his attorneys because they believe the tapes could shed light on unsolved killings involving the "" family , "" as Manson ' s followers were called , according to court documents . "" It is our understanding that there is a 30 day window for appeal , and we will wait for that to time to transpire before we send our detectives to Texas . "" The news of the judge ' s ruling came the same day that California Department of Corrections authorities said they arrested a Mason follower , accusing him of attempting to smuggle a cell phone to Manson at Corcoran State Prison . For more than four decades , authorities have speculated the Manson family was responsible for the rampage that left pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others dead , including Leno and Rosemary LaBianca . Manson has claimed more people were killed , though he has repeatedly made fantastic claims that later turn out to be false . Gov . Brown nixes release of former Manson follower Watson has long maintained there is nothing for authorities to gain with the recordings . Watson , Manson and three others Susan Atkins , Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten were convicted of murder in the killings . The gruesome murders were chronicled in the best seller "" Helter Skelter . "" In the court ruling , the judge notes "" Watson expresses concern that the contents of the recordings may be hurtful to the families of his victims in the Tate LaBianca murders . "" Judge gives tapes to in ' Manson family ' investigation The tapes are about eight hours of recordings between Watson and his attorney from 1969 , Bill Boyd of McKinney , Texas , according to court papers . Boyd died in 2009 . According to court documents , Watson waived his attorney client privilege to the tapes in 1976 , and his attorney received partial payment for his legal fees when he gave a copy of the tapes to Chaplain Raymond G . Hoekstra , who subsequently co authored the book , "" Will You Die for Me : The Man Who Killed for Charles Manson Tells His Own Story . "" In court filings , Watson requested "" that the Tapes not be turned over to the , because they are not a creditor to my late attorney Bill Boyd , God rest his soul "" and "" because repercussions of the motion have not been fully considered by all parties concerned . Added Watson in court documents : "" . . . this case is high notoriety , with much media attention . For this reason , special consideration should be made with who takes possession of The Tapes , so they will not be misused for purposes unintended by the court and that could be hurtful to the families of the victims . "" Charles Manson denied parole again Watson , 66 , was convicted of seven counts of first degree murder and has been denied parole 16 times . He will be considered again in 2016 , according to the California Department of Corrections . 2011 : Tex Watson denied parole 2008 : The results of dig at Manson ranch site ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4394735,4736,"Expects 400 Billion Bid for His Baby , D . C . Vice President Al Gore has put the Internet up for sale on auction site eBay , explaining that while he will miss his creation , he needs money to duel Republican presidential contender George W . Bush in the stretch run to November . "" It ' s been fun , and I ' m very proud of having invented it , but I think the Internet will do just fine without me at the helm every day , "" said Gore , who has set the minimum bid at 1 , but hopes to make 400 billion on the sale . The auction will last for 10 days . Bush wasted no time in criticizing the auction , insisting Gore did not create the entire Internet , as the vice president has previously claimed . "" It is the height of hubris , very high up , very tall , for my opposition to claim dibs on the Internet , "" said Bush , speaking off microphone to running mate Dick Cheney . "" I ' ll tell you right now , he should not be claiming as his part the Texas part . I have been an integrated supporter of the high Texas industry in tech , so that part , that Texas Tech part , of the Internet , that ' s really mine , and , I think , Texas A M too . "" Bush aides , meanwhile , questioned the sale on "" influence "" grounds , arguing that whoever buys the Internet from Gore will be making what is in essence a massive campaign contribution , and will therefore exert undue control over the vice president . "" Mr Gore and his bureacRATS in the DemocRATic Party will be beholden to whichever rich plutocRAT or plutocRATS bids the most , "" said Bush spokesman Neil Henley , who insisted his rather peculiar inflection was the result of a sinus infection and that nothing should be read into it . "" We believe the sale by A RATher questionable thing for the Vice PresiRAT to do . "" In response , a Gore spokeswoman insisted the Democratic campaign has placed safeguards into the auction to fight accusations of influence . "" The Vice President has personally prayed to Joe Lieberman to watch over the morality of this sale , "" said press aide Andrea Gartner . ",satire,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present4404751,4752,"He might have been best known for his acting career , but Robin Williams , who has died aged 63 , was a cycling fanatic who counted among his friends Lance Armstrong and five time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx . When he was once asked how many bikes he owned , Williams quipped "" too many to count "" and he was an avid follower of the professional cycling scene . British based Team Sky , which has dominated the sport in recent years with Tour de France winners Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome , was quick to pay tribute on its official Twitter feed . "" RIPRobinWilliams . Thanks for the laughs , we were honoured to have your support . Our thoughts go to family friends , "" it read . Williams ' interest in the sport appeared to be inspired by Armstrong , who was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins after admitting to using performance enhancing drugs in 2012 . The Hollywood funnyman took part in the Ride for the Roses charity event in Texas , which was organized by Armstrong ' s foundation and Williams was a regular supporter on the Tour de France . During a rest day of the 2002 Tour , Williams even rode out with Armstrong and his U . S . Postal team , proudly donning the squad ' s kit . Through his appearances at cycling ' s most famous race , Williams also got to know Belgium legend Merckx , who dominated the sport in the 1970s with a string of victories in all of the major tours and one day classics . "" I am shocked at Robin Williams ' death , "" Merckx was quoted on a Belgian radio station Tuesday . "" He had a great sense of humor and he was a cycling fanatic . He was above all a big friend of Lance Armstrong , but he knew me and what I had won . "" If you are a cycling fanatic then you ' ve heard of Merckx . I ' ve cycled with him a few times over in America , "" the 69 year old added . Armstrong took to Twitter to pay his tribute : "" Robin . I will always remember you as one hell of a friend . I love you and will miss you terribly , "" he tweeted . Complete coverage on Robin Williams ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past4414758,4759,"MotoGP championship leader Casey Stoner claimed his 10th pole position of 2011 on Saturday to boost his bid for a ninth victory this season at the Japan Grand Prix . After 14 of 18 meetings , the Australian holds a 44 point lead over world champion Jorge Lorenzo , who will start Sunday ' s race second on the grid for Yamaha at Motegi . He broke Lorenzo ' s 2008 lap record with a time of one minute 45 . 267 seconds to earn his first pole at the circuit , where he won last year ' s race . Stoner ' s teammate Andrea Dovizioso qualified third ahead of another Honda rider , Dani Pedrosa , while American Ben Spies claimed fifth for Yamaha . Honda ' s Marco Simoncelli completed the third row for Honda , while fellow Italian and seven time world champion Valentino Rossi was seventh for Ducati . Hiroshi Aoyama , in 11th , was the highest placed Japanese rider for what will be an emotional day . Motorcycling ' s top names had initially refused to travel to Motegi due to health fears after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged during March ' s earthquake and tsunami . They backed down after MotoGP officials refused to cancel the race , but Stoner arrived late to reduce any exposure to radiation and Lorenzo told reporters that he had been washing with bottled water despite experts insisting the Motegi area is safe from any fallout . But the riders have helped raise 140 , 000 for the "" We are for Japan "" campaign , with Aoyama to present the check to local officials before the race . "" Everything has gone very well so far this weekend . We ' ve been fastest in all but one session , so it ' s been fantastic , "" 2007 world champion Stoner told the MotoGP website . "" We ' ll have to watch the weather as this will affect the set up . There ' s also a chance of rain , so it could get complicated . Jorge has been riding fantastic , as has Dovi and Dani , but there is no doubt that the Honda suits this track . "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past4424787,4788,"Friends have told local media that she was active on Facebook dating groups , but investigators have yet to say , publicly at least , if that was how they met . The Roanoke Times reported she was a keen user of the groups , with her last message being less than 24 hours before she left home . In a statement , Blacksburg police would only say they knew each other . But not how . Based on the evidence collected to date , investigators have determined that Eisenhauer and Nicole were acquainted prior to her disappearance . Eisenhauer used this relationship to his advantage to abduct the 13 year old and then kill her , the statement read . Keepers then allegedly helped him dispose of Nicole s body . Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson gave further hints when he told reporters police had to take apart the life of Nicole in the search for answers . I m not going to go into all the specific pieces of it , but when the pieces did come together , Mr Eisenhauer was identified . reported tips and leads about the case were found on social media . Her mother Tammy Weeks told the Washington Post Nicole had met Eisenhauer online weeks ago , but didn t have anymore details . Virginia Tech student David Eisenhauer . Picture : Blacksburg Police Department via APSource : Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers , who was arrested in connection with the death of Nicole Madison Lovell . Picture : Blacksburg Police Department via APSource : Blacksburg police Lieutenant Mike Albert , right , listens as Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson speak during a news conference . Picture : Matt Gentry The Roanoke Times via APSource : ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4434799,4800,"Manchester United have confirmed that former first team fitness coach Tony Strudwick has moved to a role working predominantly with the club ' s younger players . Sportsmail revealed on Saturday that Strudwick ' s job in charge of first team fitness work and planning had been taken by manager Louis van Gaal ' s trusted aide Jos van Dijk . This switch was made at the start of the season . Now United have confirmed the move , revealing that Strudwick ' s new title is head of athletic development . Manchester United fitness coach Tony Strudwick is no longer working with Louis van Gaal ' s first team stars United said : ' At the start of this season Tony took on the role of head of athletic development . ' Tony is now overseeing the athletic development of all players , working with Louis van Gaal for the first team right through to Paul McGuinness in the Academy . ' Introducing this new role and using Tony ' s invaluable experience in sports science , which spans over 20 years , shows the club ' s commitment on placing greater emphasis on developing players for long term success . ' Strudwick will become Head of Athletic Development at the club , working with the club ' s youth players Jos van Dijk ( left ) worked with Louis van Gaal for the Netherlands and has taken over first team fitness duties As reported here on Saturday , Strudwick ' s work with the first team is now restricted to some warm up drills before training at Carrington and some strength work . He no longer has responsibilities on match day or takes charge of planning fitness programmes for first team stars , the role he had enjoyed at the club since arriving from Blackburn in 2007 . Strudwick said : ' I am thoroughly enjoying this new role . With increased importance on developing players for the future , the athletic component becomes critical in their advancement and to have the chance to work with the younger players , who are in the early stages of their career , as well as the first team , will give a continuity of progression which is critical to their future success . ' Like our Manchester United Facebook page . Strudwick , pictured on the far left , travelled to Brazil to work with the England national team United got back to winning ways at the weekend with a 2 1 win over West Ham at Old Trafford We fought to the end Van Gaal ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4444803,4804,"When Navy snipers rescued an American cargo ship captain last month from Somali pirates , it sounded like something from a movie . This shooting game by Games2Winweblink lets players try to rescue a ship captain from Somali pirates . But in today ' s instant gratification culture , there ' s no need to wait for Hollywood to re enact that dramatic high seas story . Video game developers are already on the case . Online gaming site Games2Win launched "" Saving Captain Phillips , "" a simple , two dimensional shooting game , within nine days of the actual rescue . Not to be outdone , Kuma Games followed soon afterwards with "" Somali Showdown : Pirates on the High Seas , "" a multiplayer action game that puts players in the middle of a pirate attack on a cargo ship and even lets them become one of the pirates . These are just several of many online and cell phone games based on recent news events . "" Hero on the Hudson , "" a primitive Flash game , lets people pretend they ' re pilot Chesley Sullenberger and navigate a plummeting airliner to a safe water landing . A successful attempt brings applause , while a botched landing results in a sinking plane , accompanied by ominous gurgling sounds . "" Baseball Juiced , "" launched last month with a social message and already played 1 . 4 million times online , forces batters to pick between using steroids or working out in a gym . In "" Swinefighter , "" gamers seek to save the world from the spread of swine flu . And "" Trillion Dollar Bailout "" lets players try to boost the economy by awarding government cash to shady corporate fat cats or struggling homeowners ( well , duh ) . Such topical , and satirical , games speak to our need for a light hearted break from serious news , said DigitalTrendsweblink publisher Scott Steinberg . "" So many events in the news are devastating , "" he said . "" These games are a fun escape . They ' re good for a laugh , and nobody gets hurt unlike in the real world . "" The idea to publish games based on news events was inspired in part by the success of viral videos such as JibJab ' s "" This Land , "" an animated online parody that became an instant sensation during the 2004 presidential election season , said David Williams , who heads up the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group . "" It went around the world like wildfire , "" said Williams , whose group runs Addicting Games , a teen gaming site that he said had 11 . 7 million unique users last month . The success of "" This Land "" signaled that people who got a kick from watching a topical video spoof online might just as easily spend a few minutes playing a similar game . Some early examples included "" Cheney ' s Fury , "" inspired by the former U . S . vice president ' s 2006 hunting mishap , and the "" Zidane Head Butt Game , "" which invited players to relive the startling 2006 World Cup moment in which French soccer player Zinedine Zidane went after an Italian player head first . As several global leaders have discovered , almost any embarrassing episode can be turned into a video game . Last December ' s incident at a Baghdad news conference , at which an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at then U . S . President George W . Bush , inspired several games . Out of the United Kingdom came one hastily published version , "" Sock and Awe , "" which encouraged players to throw shoes at Bush . As of this week , sockandaweweblink reports that more than 94 million virtual size 10 shoes have walloped the former leader of the free world . And as if viral videos of his dozing off at a Group of Seven news conference in February weren ' t embarrassing enough , former Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa soon had a game to remind him of his slumber blunder . Translated by a spokesman for the Japanese developer LiveWare Inc . as "" Doze off while answering question ! , "" the Flash game for mobile phones challenges players to keep the minister awake long enough to answer reporters . Gamers win points by having Nakagawa answer journalists ' questions on time , but the game ends if the minister falls asleep while being asked a question . More recently , Cellufun , a New York based company that fosters mobile communities , launched "" Made Off , "" a game that invites online players to outscam businessman Bernard Madoff , who pleaded guilty to defrauding thousands of investors . "" Think you ' ve got what it takes to build a better Ponzi scheme than Bernie ? "" the site asks . "" Always wanted to rob , cheat and steal from innocent investors ? Well now ' s your chance ! . . . Play as a slimy Fund Manager , a savvy investor , or both . "" Some reality based games hit too close to home , however . Late last month , publisher Konami killed one controversial game before it was even released . "" Six Days in Fallujah "" was billed as a documentary like experience in which players could feel like they were part of the 2004 U . S . campaign against insurgents in the Iraqi city . A few ambitious game developers such as NewsGamingweblink publish challenging , event inspired online simulations . "" September 12 "" lets players explore the U . S . response to the Sept . 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks , while "" Madrid "" takes a similar approach to the March 11 , 2004 , attacks in Spain . "" Traditionally , videogames have focused on fantasy rather than reality , but we believe that they can be a great tool for better understanding our world , "" explains the site . "" We prefer games that encourage critical thinking , even if the player disagrees with our games ' ideas . "" But most news related games are simple Flash games that are churned out quickly to capitalize on current events . While amusing at first , they lack the complexity to hold gamers ' attention for long , experts say . "" They ' re not very sophisticated . They ' re pretty much like home brew . . . made by two or three people in their basement for a laugh , "" said DigitalTrends ' Steinberg . "" They ' re flashes in the pan . They can rack up millions of plays , but three years from now , will anybody still be trying to get the high score on ' Swinefighter ? ' "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present4454808,4809,"A family recently moved out of a Utah home where a woman mysteriously disappeared six years ago , claiming the house is haunted . The home in West Valley City has been the backdrop of one of Utah ' s most notorious missing persons cases . Susan Powell lived in the home with her husband Josh and their two young sons when she disappeared without a trace in December 2009 . Her husband Josh later moved out of the home , and committed suicide in February 2012 , killing their two young sons as well in a house fire . A family that briefly stayed in this Utah home claims it is haunted . This is the same home where Susan Powell went missing in 2009 , in a high profile case Powell is pictured above with her two young sons . The boys were later killed by their father in a tragic murder suicide three years after their mother ' s disappearance Joanna Aeosana moved into the house a few months ago with her family , and says she was not informed about the home ' s history . She has since moved out But mother Joanna Aeosana wasn ' t familiar with the story when she agreed to lease the home from American Homes 4 Rent two months ago . It was only when a neighbor informed her about the home ' s eerie history that she couldn ' t stand to stay there anymore . Aeosana and her family experienced several surreal situations while they were in the house , including the garage opening and closing on its own . ' I hear people crying when I ' m showering , ' she told 2News . Susan Powell ' s husband Josh Powell ( pictured ) was the only person of interest in his wife ' s appearance . he later committed suicide by starting a house fire in Washington State Above , the remnants of the home where Powell committed murder suicide , trapping his two young sons in the blaze She says she also saw her 1 year old son talking to an empty swing in the front yard , saying : ' Go away , leave me alone ' . Aeosana and her family recently moved out and now they are fighting with the rental company to let them off their lease , and help them find a new place to live . Real estate companies aren ' t required to disclose details like these to potential renters , but Aeosana believes she should have been informed . ' I believe they should of , they should have told me , ' she said . ' I just don ' t want to be in there . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4464813,4814,"There has been "" no official confirmation or positive identification "" that Bill Henningsgaard and his son were on board , but there is no reason to believe that it was not the two of them , his brother , Blair Henningsgaard , said . Also feared dead in the crash were two children ages 1 and 13 in one house , East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr . said . The other house was unoccupied . National Transportation Safety Board investigators cannot confirm the number of people killed , saying there are reports of four to six people dead . Connecticut Gov . Dannel Malloy said there could be as many as five people killed in the crash , including up to three people on the plane . But Blair Henningsgaard said only his brother and his nephew were believed to be on the plane . Two bodies were seen inside the home but haven ' t been recovered because the home is unstable , East Haven Fire Chief Douglas Jackson said at a press conference Friday afternoon . Fire consumed both houses , preventing firefighters from searching for victims , Jackson said , and the basement in the home holding at least two victims was filled with water . Maturo said the children were in one house with their mother when the plane struck shortly before 11 : 30 a . m . The mother escaped , he said . "" It ' s . . . total devastation in the back of the home , "" Maturo said . The multi engine Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B , registered to Bill Henningsgaard , took off from New Jersey ' s Teterboro Airport on Friday morning and crashed while approaching the Tweed New Haven Airport around 11 : 25 a . m . , the Federal Aviation Administration said . The plane missed its initial approach , which isn ' t uncommon , said Tweed airport manager Lori Hoffman Soares . But investigator Robert Gretz told reporters it was possible the plane was on its first approach . The neighborhood is about a half mile from the airport . One resident said the accident wasn ' t surprising . The mayor said the airport ' s close proximity to residents isn ' t unusual . "" It ' s always a concern , but it ' s something that happens in every airport , "" Maturo said . Neither the pilot ' s identity nor information about how many people were in the plane was immediately available . The fuselage entered one of the homes , Malloy said . The right wing of the airplane could be seen in the smoldering wreckage of one house , and the left wing was in another house . Video from affiliate showed smoke rising from a heavily damaged house in East Haven , and what appeared to be the tail of a plane nearby . investigators will examine whether the weather played a role in the crash . It was raining at the time of the crash . Bill Henningsgaard worked for Microsoft for 14 years , beginning in 1988 . He served as vice president of sales for the western United States , Australia and New Zealand . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4474831,4832,"Reuters) - The European Union sounded an alarm on Saturday about moves in the U.S. Congress to step up U.S. sanctions on Russia, urging Washington to keep coordinating with its G7 partners and warning of unintended consequences. In a statement by a spokeswoman after Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress reached a deal that could see new legislation pass, the European Commission warned of possibly “wide and indiscriminate” “unintended consequences”, notably on the EU’s efforts to diversify energy sources away from Russia. Germany has already warned of possible retaliation if the United States moves to sanction German firms involved with building a new Baltic pipeline for Russian gas. diplomats are concerned that a German-U.S. row over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built by Russia’s state-owned Gazprom could complicate efforts in Brussels to forge an consensus on negotiating with Russia over the project. “We highly value the unity that is prevailing among international partners in our approach towards Russia’s action in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions. This unity is the guarantee of the efficiency and credibility of our measures,” the Commission said in its statement. “We understand that the Russia/Iran sanctions bill is driven primarily by domestic considerations,” it went on, referring to a bill passed in the U.S. Senate last month and to which lawmakers said on Saturday they had unblocked further obstacles. “As we have said repeatedly, it is important that any possible new measures are coordinated between international partners to maintain unity among partners on the sanctions that has been underpinning the efforts for full implementation of the Minsk Agreements,” the Commission said, referring to an accord struck with Moscow to try to end the conflicts in Ukraine. “We are concerned the measures discussed in the U.S. Congress could have unintended consequences, not only when it comes to Transatlantic/G7 unity, but also on economic and energy security interests. This impact could be potentially wide and indiscriminate, including when it comes to energy sources diversification efforts. “Sanctions are at their most effective when they are coordinated. Currently our sanctions regimes are coordinated. As a result their impact on the ground is increased and through coordination we are able to avoid surprises, manage potential impact on our own economic operators and address collectively efforts to circumvent such measures. Unilateral measures would undermine this,” the Commission said. “We therefore call on the U.S. Congress/authorities to engage with the partners, including the EU, to ensure coordination and to avoid any unintended consequences of the measures discussed.” ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4484837,4838,"Atlanta Nearly 700 patients and 100 employees at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta have been exposed to tuberculosis after coming in contact with a hospital employee carrying the disease , a hospital spokesman said Thursday . The Georgia Department of Community Health and the hospital have identified 680 patients who were exposed to tuberculosis between November and February , said hospital spokesman Lance Skelly . Patients will begin getting tested for tuberculosis next week , Skelly said . To date , no patients or employees have reported symptoms of tuberculosis , he said . The hospital and the department began notifying people about the exposure this month , after an Emory employee was diagnosed in April with the infectious disease , he said . The employee did not know he had tuberculosis when he came in contact with employees and patients , the hospital said . The hospital took extra precautions by contacting patients who were in the hospital for 90 days before the day the employee is known to have developed the disease , Skelly said . "" That is a major reason the numbers are so much higher . "" All hospital employees are screened for the disease and must receive screenings each year , it added . A hospital statement did not say whether the employee had been screened . About 11 million people in the United States are infected with latent tuberculosis , which is symptom free and is not contagious . Of those , 5 to 10 percent go on to develop active tuberculosis , which can be spread to others through the air , such as through coughing or sneezing . It can be fatal if not properly treated . Symptoms of tuberculosis include chest pain , a bad cough ( possibly with blood ) , weakness and a fever . While tuberculosis usually impacts the lungs , the kidneys , brain and spine may also be affected . Both the number and rate of tuberculosis cases has been on the decline since 1993 , according to the Atlanta based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The number of reported deaths nationwide dropped from 644 in 2006 to 544 in 2007 , the most recent year for which such data is available , the said . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4494853,4854,"Topics : Donald Trump , Ben Carson , Stephen Colbert , late show with stephen colbert , mythbusters , Elections News , Entertainment News , News , Politics News Donald Trump is freaking out now that he s lost his lead to Ben Carson in the polls , Stephen Colbert said on Friday night s Late Show . According to a new McClatchy Marist poll , Trump has dropped one percent below Carson , or as Colbert calls the statistic one Santorum . Perhaps voters are leaning Carson because , as Colbert puts it we shouldn t elect someone who shouts crazy things . Maybe we should elect a man who whispers crazy things . So , Trump is hitting back , even reminding voters that South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham is still in the race . Tough guys don t talk like tough guys a lot of the time the tough guys are the weak ones . Trump told the audience about Graham s recent comments on how he s a tough guy . I m tougher than all of them , believe me . Colbert helped translate that from Trump to human by saying , Tough guys don t talk tough unless they re talkin tough about other tough guys ? because they talk tough . Which is how you know they re not tough . If you don t like it , tough ! He then said that The Donald took a big Trump on Ben Carson for his bizarre biographic story . Trump made fun of Carson mocking the story and closing with , give me a break . Trump then went on to do what Colbert called a crime scene reenactment . Flexing his belt up and down finally Trump concluded by asking the audience , anybody want to try it on me ? Colbert laughed while pulling out a giant butcher knife , struggling it away from himself and soothing his eager right hand . Cause , here s the thing , he began . I hate to say this , but Donald Trump actually has a good point . Would a belt buckle really break a knife the way Ben Carson says it did ? Or would it provide no protection like Trump claims ? Colbert then hilariously asks the Mythbusters for help in testing if Carson s claim is correct . Check out the video below : ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present4504862,4863,"Australia David Ferrer can be a real buzzkill . Last week , he sent Lleyton Hewitt into retirement , and Monday , he ended any hopes of an American man winning a Grand Slam title for the 49th straight major with a 6 4 , 6 4 , 7 5 win against No . 10 John Isner in the fourth round of the Australian Open . The 6 foot 10 Isner , who stands more than a foot taller than his eighth seeded opponent , had won all 54 of his service games heading into the match . But in the third game of this encounter , he already found himself down a break to Ferrer . A single break in the second and third sets was all the Spaniard needed in the 2 hour , 4 minute affair . The last time an American man won a major was in 2003 , when Andre Agassi took the Australian Open and Andy Roddick captured the Open . Ferrer won 40 percent of the points off Isner ' s serves , a massive number against a player who finished this event with 119 aces , 45 more than anyone else through four rounds . John Isner of the United States reacts after losing the first set against David Ferrer of Spain . ? At 33 , Ferrer reached his 17th career major quarterfinal , but this is the first time he has made the final eight in Australia without dropping a single set . "" Every year I try to improve my game and myself , "" Ferrer said . "" I think that I didn ' t have important injuries in my career . My fitness for now , it ' s good . And I am still enjoying playing tennis . "" Isner ' s mantra all tournament long has been keeppoundig , a tribute to his beloved Carolina Panthers , who on Sunday night advanced to the Super Bowl . But it was Ferrer who out pounded the American all day long . Afterward , Isner , who has now dropped eight straight matches against top 10 players in Grand Slam play , reflected on his day . "" Yeah , it was very frustrating , "" Isner said . "" I thought he played well . I mean , I expected him to play well . A guy like that is not going to play a poor match in the round of 16 of a Slam . I just needed to play better than I did . I ' m never going to beat him if I don ' t play very well . It ' s as simple as that . "" Ferrer is widely regarded as the best current player without a Grand Slam title to his name . He has performed best at Roland Garros , notably reaching the final in 2013 , but there ' s something about the conditions in Melbourne this season . Through 12 sets , Ferrer has dropped only 42 games ( 3 . 5 per set ) , which is the best of the remaining eight players a good sign heading into his next match against world No . 2 Andy Murray , who beat Aussie Bernard Tomic 6 4 , 6 4 , 7 6 ( 4 ) about an hour after Ferrer walked off the court . "" He improve his game , I think so , "" Ferrer said of Murray . "" He ' s playing more aggressive . He improve his forehand . So I need to have a good day , play aggressive . Well , if is possible , will be a long match . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past4514870,4871,"Sounds simple when you put it like that . To accomplish the feat , the Atlantic Coast Conference champions will have to knock off an Alabama team that has won 11 straight games since a 43 37 loss against on September 19 . The No . 1 versus No . 2 matchup is the fourth time in the last seven seasons that the Crimson Tide has made an appearance in the national championship game . Defense is the key when it comes to winning championships and this defense is exceptional . Raised in Alabama . Alabama was all he knew growing up . The ten years directly before Saban was hired were particularly frustrating . On Monday , a caller who bemoaned this mythical disrespect triggered two more calls wondering what that Tide fan could possibly be thinking Tuesday s cry for help solicited a call from a Clemson fan saying his Tigers get no respect . Saban s first year was not much to get excited about . Clemson s offensive line will have to find ways to get to the second level and get hands on those backers if the running game is going to have any chance of succeeding . We are going to take a look at the Crimson Tide and what they try to do , as well as some players and playmakers for you to keep an eye on Monday night . Swinney later worked for Stallings as an assistant coach . We ve always been a question mark around here , Tigers center Jay Guillermo said . McElroy said the true turning point for the program was Alabama s 30 27 victory against Colorado in the Independence Bowl to end 07 . But by late afternoon we d be watching a game . : Wide receiver Bralon Addison will skip his final year of eligibility to declare for the National Football League draft . It means a lot to be in the position we re in . Clemson moved the ball well against Oklahoma , but that success had to come a little easier thanks to defensive tackle Charles Walker ( concussion ) getting ruled out before the game and Jordan Evans going down with an injury during the contest . It was under Ford for more than 11 seasons ( 1978 1989 ) that Clemson began to flourish . It was also just a few months after my Roy died suddenly of a heart attack in October of 1982 . We re sitting there thinking to ourselves , if that s a top 10 team in the country , well then what are we ? Clemson safety Travis Blanks piled on Scott s take , noting the Tigers were underdogs in other big games , including Notre Dame , Florida State and Oklahoma in the semifinals . Clemson by 14 , Hopkins said via . I was the one first in my family to get a college degree , and to be able to get it from the University of Alabama was a dream come true for me and for my family , and not only to go down there and really as an 18 year old kid , I left when I was 31 . In nine and a half seasons under Bobby Bowden s son , the Tigers had become so synonymous with inconsistency the term Clemsoning was coined to describe a disappointing and unexpected loss . If Clemson wins , the 3 , 000 T shirts the company is ordering will be sent back to the vendor and Shoe Station will be out the cost of printing and materials . Clemson is known for their up tempo , no huddle offense which has been highlighted by great quarterback play over the past five years . Since taking over in Tuscaloosa in 2007 , he has won three national titles . I ve spent the entire year screaming that Clemson is good , but it s not Alabama . They ve been betting the Under hard , which makes sense because that ( opening ) total was too high , Scott Kaminsky , sportsbook director at TheGreekweblink , tells Covers . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present4524872,4873,"— Some of Donald J. Trump’s most prominent cabinet nominees — with their millions in assets and complex business arrangements — are moving unusually slowly through the government’s arduous financial disclosure examinations, threatening the quick start promised for the new administration and raising Democratic concerns that their confirmations could customary ethical safeguards. On Thursday, the ranking Democrats on all 16 Senate committees released a joint statement saying they would block confirmation votes until each nominee of Mr. Trump had cleared an F. B. I. background check, completed a financial disclosure statement and ethics agreement approved by the federal Office of Government Ethics, and “satisfied reasonable requests for additional information. ” Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, that panel’s ranking Democrat, engaged in a public spat over Mr. Cardin’s request for three years of tax returns from Exxon Mobil’s chief executive, Rex Tillerson, who has been picked to be the next secretary of state. “As is precedent for nominees considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee has not asked Mr. Tillerson to provide copies of his tax returns,” Mr. Corker said. And Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent letters to the top ethics officials at 17 government agencies, asking if they had been in touch with officials of the Trump transition, whether they had received financial disclosure statements, and whether any Trump pick “refused to provide any information that you believe is necessary to conduct a conflicts analysis as required by law. ” “Given the large and complex financial holdings and boundless, serious potential for conflicts of interest,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in an email, “these nominees need to turn over all relevant financial and background information so that senators can thoroughly review their record before going forward with any hearings. ” Several of Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks would be among the wealthiest public servants in modern history. That alone presents a significant challenge to Senate Republicans, who hope to begin confirmation hearings in a few weeks. Mr. Trump’s selection process — begun, unlike that of most predecessors, after his election rather than before — may have added to the challenge of moving quickly now. “They need to step on the gas and get it done,” said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics counsel to President George W. Bush. “They need to tell the Senate what they are going to do with their assets. ” Cabinet nominees undergo rigorous background checks by the F. B. I. and the Office of Government Ethics, as well as a complicated process involving the agencies they are nominated to run. This is to ensure that nominees have no financial conflicts of interest or outstanding tax matters that could later expose them to criminal prosecution. For nominees with extensive financial holdings, preparation for confirmation hearings can take weeks or even months, as was the case with Penny Pritzker, a billionaire who is President Obama’s commerce secretary. Previous new administrations have taken longer to name cabinet picks than Mr. Trump has done, in part because they were doing their own vetting that the Trump transition has largely forgone. Three people who have discussed Mr. Trump’s nominees with officials involved in the screening, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations of a highly secretive government agency, were told of the slow pace, which has alarmed Senate Democrats. Mr. McConnell has said he hopes to move ahead on several of Mr. Trump’s nominees “on Day 1. ” Emails to Mr. Trump’s transition team were not returned. Many of Mr. Trump’s nominees come with a complex web of financial interests and investments. They include Mr. Tillerson Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner picked to head the Treasury the billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr. chosen as commerce secretary and Betsy DeVos, the ’s choice to run the Department of Education. Lawmakers have already raised questions about Mr. Tillerson’s seeming reluctance to turn over his personal financial information. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has tentatively set Jan. 11 for the start of Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation hearing. In keeping with longstanding committee precedent, it has not asked Mr. Tillerson to provide his tax returns, Senator Corker said. “By all accounts, Mr. Tillerson is currently ahead of schedule in providing information to the committee,” he added. “He already has submitted a completed nominee questionnaire and will soon submit an extensive financial disclosure. ” But Mr. Cardin voiced the fears of some Democrats that Mr. Tillerson and other nominees — and Republican committee chairmen — may take their cues from Mr. Trump’s unusual decision not to release his own tax returns. “I think it is an important part of vetting this candidate because he has never made public disclosures of this type, as he has worked at Exxon Mobil for his entire career and has never been in public service,” Mr. Cardin wrote on Thursday in a letter to committee Democrats. “Mr. Tillerson was actively engaged with many foreign governments that could become relevant if confirmed as secretary of state. The Senate has a responsibility to review all relevant documents during the confirmation process. ” Republicans say the concern is misplaced. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which will hold the hearing for Mr. Mnuchin, has previously said that Mr. Trump’s nominees “will undergo the same bipartisan vetting process as the nominees from previous administrations. ” This includes scrutiny by the Office of Government Ethics, and his committee’s requirement for three years of a nominee’s most recent federal tax returns. A spokeswoman for Mr. Hatch said on Wednesday that the committee would not schedule a hearing before completion of the bipartisan vetting process. Selections made during a transition are more complicated than those of a sitting president because a nomination cannot be officially made until the new president is sworn in. Candidates typically start to put together their prospective cabinet during the campaign the former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, conducted an extensive vetting process during his failed 2012 White House run. When an incoming president has chosen a nominee, the transition office works immediately to get forms in order for the ethics office and the F. B. I. The F. B. I. does its own significant vetting, which has been the downfall of some nominees, frequently over tax issues or payments to domestic workers. Often this review is done long before the nomination arrives on Capitol Hill. Federal ethics law requires that financial disclosure forms be submitted no later than five days after a formal nomination, or before a nominee’s hearing, whichever is earlier. Generally, if nominees have any financial entanglements that could create real or potential conflicts of interest, they work with an ethics compliance employee to come up with a plan to address those conflicts. In many cases, though not all, a nominee resolves conflicts through divestiture, the use of a blind trust or a formal recusal from certain matters. This practice protects the public interest, but also the nominee. Cabinet members later found to be acting in their own financial interest in their official capacity can be prosecuted. “If you have substantial assets, they want some sort of assets agreement,” Mr. Painter said. “That can take a few weeks, especially with billionaires. ” Democrats insist the process cannot be disregarded. “When you occupy this country’s highest positions of power, you manage trillions of dollars, enforce more than two centuries of law, control the world’s most powerful military and make decisions that are literally matters of life and death,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee. “That’s why nominees need a thorough vetting process, not a rubber stamp. ”",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4534898,4899,"Let ' s just imagine what would happen if by some dumb luck or alien invasion the Philadelphia 76ers actually succeed . In this scenario , the 76ers ' horrible commitment to losing to get future high draft picks ( and treating the people they do have as disposable assets instead of human beings ) works out somehow , and an even worse stage arrives . Gone would be a functional . Instead , we ' d have scads of clubs intentionally being noncompetitive , refusing to pay for established professionals and making a farce of the league . And people would copy them , rest assured , because that ' s what happens if anyone succeeds with something ? whether it ' s the Spurs resting their players to the dismay of the league office or taking the shine off the second round with the draft and stash usage of international leagues . As it stands now , though , the Sixers are just hurting themselves and only their small slice of integrity of the league . Could be a lot worse , I guess . Then again , if the 76ers somehow succeeded and we saw full out tanking commitments being made by numerous franchises , maybe the Board of Governors would be moved to eliminate the current draft system . Now that would be a worthwhile silver lining ! Coach Brett Brown has a roster comprised of one player , Carl Landry , with more than three years of experience . If the only way we can get rid of the draft lottery that rewards losers is for the Sixers to push it to the nth degree and prove the system is flawed , so be it . The truth is the is different from other sports leagues because of how tempting it is to tank and turn a five man unit around with just one or two blue chip draftees . Alas , counting on Philadelphia to succeed in any form ? even if all its distressed investments were to turn into jackpots ? is impossible to fathom . That ' s because the 76ers are building such a culture of losing that it ' s not something they ' re going to shake anytime or any way soon . After starting 0 17 last season , they are 0 18 entering a home date with the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night . A loss to the 2 14 Lakers would give Philadelphia the worst start in history , a dubious honor to be sure , but one the Sixers have a backward reason to pursue . Via conditional trade , the 76ers get the Lakers ' first round pick as long as the Lakers win enough to stay out of the top three in the draft lottery . No matter the motivation , in the macro sense , the Sixers aren ' t trying anyway . ( In the micro sense , they sort of try harder than anyone in the league because so many of their players don ' t actually deserve to be in the and are desperate to show they can contribute in the league . ) General manager Sam Hinkie has overseen a Sixers team that has won a total of 37 games since the start of the 2013 14 season . The lack of effort is more noticeable this season because the Eastern Conference has stabilized a bit , and elsewhere , other young , bad teams , such as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets , are giving more organized efforts now . That ' s the logical course of action : to grow your talent even with small steps and teach it what winning takes . Coming along quite nicely on that learning curve are the Utah Jazz . The Jazz nearly ended the defending champion Golden State Warriors ' record undefeated start in Game 19 on Monday night . Even though the Jazz suffered an injury setback with top draftee Dante Exum and had to ship out another top pick in ill fitting Enes Kanter for future draft possibilities , Utah has been building steadily . ? ? Jazz coach Quin Snyder said before the 106 103 loss to the Warriors : "" We ' re not there yet . But every time we get to compete , we get to learn . "" That ' s exactly what the 76ers aren ' t comprehending as they wait for the quick fix and don ' t try to compete . Golden State ' s Stephen Curry saw it similarly , saying of the young Jazz : "" They ' ve been together for a couple of years . Now that they ' ve been together , they know how they want to play . "" Snyder is actually coaching his guys to get better . Brown ' s pieces don ' t fit anyway : Nerlens Noel ' s limitations are glaring when he tries to face up to the basket while Jahlil Okafor is doing his post up thing down low ? and who knows about Joel Embiid , who might fit because of his mid range game but is spending a second season sidelined by a foot injury . ? Joel Embiid has yet to play a game for the Sixers more than a year after being drafted third overall . The hope was that the Duke polished Okafor would add some legitimacy to the 76ers , but lately all he seems to have added is a string of incidents ? from reported street fights with hecklers to speeding to using a fake ? more befitting a frustrated kid than a maturing professional . ? Of course he ' s frustrated . That ' s what the 76ers ' system breeds . Okafor is not a bad guy , but he has gone from the national title game in the nearly big leagues of Durham , North Carolina , to a Philadelphia Division school that ' s only fielding a basketball team for the potential revenue . He ' s just a victim of the 76ers ' cruel experiment that is unfair to him and even more so to Philadelphia basketball fans . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4544915,4916,"JERUSALEM/ (Reuters) - Five projectiles from Syria set off air raid sirens in Israeli towns on Saturday, prompting the Israeli military to say it would step up its response to stray fire from the Syrian war that has repeatedly spilled over the border. The projectiles crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the military said it targeted three Syrian artillery guns in response. No damage or injuries were reported in Israel. The Syrian military said it came under attack in Quneitra province, which sits near the Golan Heights territory that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War. The Israeli enemy assaulted one of our military positions this morning, which led to material damages, it said. During Syria s more than six-year-old conflict, Israel has returned fire across the border, including stray shells from fighting among Syrian combatants. The Israeli military statement suggested it may start escalating such retaliations. Whether errant fire or not, any future occurrences will force the Israel Defense Forces to intensify its response, it said. Israel holds the Syrian regime responsible and won t tolerate any attempt to breach Israeli sovereignty, it added. Syria s foreign ministry warned of the grave consequences of such repeated aggressive acts which it called a flagrant violation in a letter to the United Nations, state media said. The Syrian military said it held Israel responsible. Israel has also carried out targeted air strikes in Syria during the war, alarmed by the expanding influence of Iran, the Syrian government s ally. The Israeli air force says it has struck arms convoys of the Syrian military and Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah nearly 100 times in recent years. Iran s military chief warned Israel against breaching Syria s airspace and territory on a visit to Damascus this week. The general signed an agreement with his Syrian counterpart to further boost military cooperation, Iranian state news agency said on Saturday. Rebel factions fighting the Damascus government in the multi-sided war hold swathes of Quneitra, while the army and allied militias control another part of the province. Both warring Syrian sides accused each other of prompting the Israeli attack on Saturday. The army said militants in nearby territory fired mortar rounds into the Golan Heights. A rebel official in Quneitra said pro-government fighters had been shelling insurgent-held parts of the province, when some of the shells fell on the Golan Heights. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4554965,4966,"A British holidaymaker had to be forcibly removed from a Manchester bound plane in Egypt after he allegedly threatened to kill other passengers . The plane was minutes away from take off at the airport in the Red Sea city of Hurghada when an unruly passenger began causing problems near the back of the plane , a witness said . Flight TCX2515 was taxiing to the runway at the time , but was forced to return to its stand , where the man was removed by an armed officer . A witness said the unruly passenger was removed by an armed officer , causing a delay for travellers Tony Penner , a passenger on the plane , told the Manchester Evening News that the disruptive man punched a bus door and uttered threats as travellers were being driven to the plane on Friday night . Mr Penner , 53 , said : ' He was with his partner who was also unsteady . He started shouting "" I ' ll kill anybody who gets near me on the plane "" . ' It was a shocking thing to hear . We felt threatened . Then he started punching the bus door . He wasn ' t a happy chap . ' The man boarded the plane despite the drama on the bus , and he left passengers feeling nervous after causing more problems on board . The drama unfolded after passengers spent time in the Red Sea tourist resort of Hurghada , Egypt The captain announced that the plane would return to its stand , and passengers applauded when the man who had a large build and tattoos was removed , said Mr Penner . He told the Manchester Evening News : ' As soon as the steps went down an officer with a pistol came on board . ' He and the pilot chucked the guy off . He was complaining that everyone was picking on him . ' Passengers were delayed for 40 minutes before the plane departed for Manchester without the man on board . A Thomas Cook Airlines spokesperson told MailOnline Travel : ' We have a zero tolerance policy towards any behaviour on board affecting the safety and welfare of our crew and customers . ' We ' d like to thank those on board for the patience during the short delay to their flight home . ' It was unclear whether the man was detained or charged with a crime , and the airline would not reveal whether the man has been banned from its flights . Thomas Cook referred media to Egyptian authorities and the Foreign Commonwealth Office . MailOnline Travel has contacted the for comment . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4564967,4968,"Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Pooley combined for an English one two in a gripping women ' s road race on Sunday when Glasgow threw the worst of its weather at the men ' s race , an event so drenched it became semi aquatic and utterly extraordinary . Just 12 of 140 men finished their 168km ( 105 mile ) course . For more than two thirds of it , the field was headed by the Isle of Man ' s Peter Kennaugh . His gutsy ( or borderline insane , delete as applicable ) breakaway with 160km of the race remaining was always likely to be sunk . Indeed it was , drowned even , but Kennaugh was one of the dozen good men and true to cross the finish line . Scroll down to watch Lizzie Armitstead win gold with Emma Pooley claiming silver Champion : Lizzie Armitstead won Commonwealth gold for England in the Women ' s Road Race Golden smile : Armitstead celebrates winning her gold medal on the podium in Glasgow Instead , seven days after riding down the Champs Elysees in Paris bathed in sunshine at the conclusion of the Tour de France , Wales ' s Geraint Thomas triumphed . Not that he concluded simply . The 28 year old suffered a puncture with just 6km left that brought him to a halt . For the first few moments of that delay it seemed feasible New Zealand ' s Jack Bauer or England ' s Scott Thwaites might catch him . That pair and Thomas had reeled in Kennaugh ' s one man breakaway with 49km left , then the Welshman made his own break from the other two on the final lap of 12 around the city . But Thomas had enough time to change his wheel before being caught and powered away in spray that characterised the entirety of his 4hr 13min 5sec ride . Bauer and Thwaites summoned energy from somewhere to sprint against each other down the home straight , Bauer crossing millimetres ahead for silver in the same time of 4hr 14min 26sec as Thwaites , who took bronze . In a race as epically sodden as yesterday ' s it is worth name checking all those who finished . England ' s Russell Downing was fourth , ahead of Mark Renshaw of Australia , a nation that had won this event for four straight Games and never missed the podium before Sunday . Thomas ' s Welsh team mate Luke Rowe was sixth , then Kiwi Gregory Henderson and Kennaugh , supported throughout by injured Manx team mate Mark Cavendish , looking demented at times as he yelled encouragement from a car window . At long last : Armitstead finished silver in Delhi four years ago as well as in the 2012 London Olympics Dan Craven ( Namibia ) and Scott Davies ( Wales ) were ninth and 10th ahead of Scotland ' s David Millar in his swansong ride of a long , turbulent and ultimately inspirational career . Ewan Caleb of Australia was 12th and that was it . ' That was such a grim day , ' said Thomas . ' I felt terrible at the start . I was thinking of just stopping I felt that bad . Everyone else seemed to come down to my level then . I was surprised how easily I went away ( on the final lap ) . When I had the puncture I thought "" What have I got to do ? "" But fortunately I had a decent enough gap to stay in front . ' Third placed Thwaites said : ' Geraint was just so strong . You could tell he had so much more energy left in the tank . ' This was the first Welsh male road cycling gold ever , and the second Welsh road gold after Nicole Cooke ' s road race win in Manchester in 2002 . Tears of joy : Emma Pooley won silver for England in what was her final race in the sport Swansong : Pooley finished 25 seconds behind Armitstead and is retiring to compete in endurance triathlons The women ' s race took in seven laps of the 14km course , and Pooley played a critical support role as her England team leader Armitstead triumphed . Armitstead , 25 , from Otley in Yorkshire , had spoken before the race about wanting to put a succession of big race silvers behind her , including in the Commonwealth Games four years ago and at London 2012 . ' I feel like I deserve this , ' said Armitstead . ' I ' ve trained so hard . I ' m always on the podium , I don ' t win that many races . It ' s just a confidence thing . ' Once you ' ve got a big title you can call yourself a champion finally . ' I want to say a massive thank you to Emma . Cycling is a beautiful sport and a team sport , which often gets overlooked . So I ' m pleased Emma got a silver medal as well . ' Survival of the fittest : Armistead came out on top of the 98 kilometres event in just over 2 hours and 38 minutes Glasgow see out ' outstanding ' Commonwealth Games ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4574974,4975,"Saturday night , and it was light entertainment time , with the World Cup version of It ' s A Knockout . This time around , it was the ' s chance to introduce the boys from Brazil as the opening act after had the honours on the opening day . Back then , Auntie had Thierry Henry as one of her main strikers . But he has now lost his place alongside Gary Lineker . With a philosophical gallic shrug which basically said ' I have no idea why the season is starting up again during the World Cup ? ' he said adieu last week , and went back to training for his club in New York . Off the bench has come Alan Hansen . Enjoying the kind of finale to a career most of us could only dream of . Three weeks by Copacabana beach being slightly more memorable than some warm wine and nibbles in the office , I ' d venture to suggest . Scroll down to watch Hilarious Colombian commentator ' s reaction to Rodriguez goal Cast : Alan Hansen joined Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer on the panel for the start of the last 16 Back to the day job : Henry left the team to head back to America to resume the season For the occasion , he went with a rather sombre black shirt . But this was the only dark note in a quite riveting two hours or so of telly . Even if the last Englishman on the field of play in Brazil very nearly became the big story . The camera seems to really love Howard Webb . Or perhaps it ' s the other way around ? Either way , his already melodramatic performance suddenly took centre stage when he disallowed Hulk ' s second half goal . Now , if this were domestic coverage of the game , the following few minutes would have forensically picked the moment apart . While also giving us relentless up close and personal looks at Webb and his partner in crime with the flag , Mike Mullarkey . But just as Guy Mowbray was telling us us on commentary that Brazilian ' heads are turning to monitors ' on the bench to see the damning images , so the world was being shown a substitution rather than the moment of the match . Which can often be par for the course with this kind of international event telly coverage . Because when the pictures are being used by an abundance of broadcasters , the safest option is to provide more neutral pictures , tempered with plenty of surrounding colour . Spectacle over specifics . Nevertheless , this sense of occasion can actually also make a moment really special . Such as with the epic penalty shoot out . This was truly marvelous sport on the telly . Firstly , because the scatter gun images captured so much tension and emotion . And secondly because the stuck with those shots , and had the studio provide fabulous voice overed insight ( ' I was next in Moscow ' , shuddered Rio Ferdinand at the thought . ' And my legs had gone ' ) into the intensity and pressure of the situation on the players . Formidable , memorable stuff . Centre of attention : Howard Webb disallows Hulk ' s goal , which would have put Brazil 2 1 ahead Later that evening on , it was the part two of the evening ' s entertainment . And clearly Adrian Chiles and the boys had got all their clothes back from the dry cleaners . Because there they were at the top of the show , by the beach , giving the casual wear a run out . Ian Wright the only man adding a touch of decorum to the whole sorry shorts ' n ' sandals affair by sporting a splendid panama hat . While at half time , they were back in the studio , but now dressed like they were all set to hit happy hour as soon as the game finished . Although if the final whistle blew and we came back to them all in pyjamas , I also wouldn ' t have been surprised . Somewhere in the middle of all this , of course , Columbia had seen off Uruguay with very little effort . And delivered the goal of the tournament so far , in the process . But with that goal came something of a conundrum over at . All based around the scorer of the goal , Rodriguez . Soaking up the sun : began their presentation of Colombia against Uruguay on the beach Change : returned to their studio at half time during Colombia ' s win over Uruguay Stars of the show : Colombia lit up the Maracana as they beat Uruguay to move into the quarter final In the build up to the game , Wrighty went in hard on the pronouncing of his first name , spelt simply James . Hah mez , said Ian with a real flourish . Which seemed to meet with the approval of both Lee Dixon and Martin O ' Neill alongside him . However , on commentary , Clive Tyldesley was having none of it . Indeed , when Rodriguez rattled in his wonder volley , he even added a fee extra ' a ' s ' to the very familiar pronouncing of James . Adrian then added fuel to the fire at half time . After Ian said of the goal he could ' watch it all day ' , Adrian suggested he also thought Rodriguez ' calls himself Ham Mez ' . Then added that perhaps after that goal , all the other James ' s out there might want to follow suit ? In which case , I ' d just like to say to Hah Mez May , Hah Mez Blunt and perhaps even Bond , Hah Mez Bond great stuff so far , isn ' t it ? Even if Clive still thinks you are still all plain old James ' . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4584977,4978,"Marc Champion , ( c ) 2016 , Bloomberg View ( c ) 2016 , Bloomberg View It isn ' t often that a judge in one country accuses the president of another a superpower , no less of participating in murder . On Thursday , however , the chairman of a lengthy U . K . inquiry into the 2006 poisoning of a former Russian intelligence operative , Alexander Litvinenko , did just that . The words that Sir Robert Owen used to conclude his report are so extraordinary they ' re worth quoting : "" Taking full account of all the evidence and analysis available to me , I find that the operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr Patrushev and also by President Putin . "" Owen was referring , of course , to Russian President Vladimir Putin , as well as to Nikolai Patrushev , then head of the Federal Security Service ( ) and now secretary of the Russian security council . The judge also said he was "" sure "" Litvinenko was killed by the radioactive polonium 210 isotope found in his body , and that this was administered by two ex colleagues he met for tea in London ' s ritzy Mayfair district . Litvinenko ' s murder is one of the most publicly investigated in history , so much of what ' s in the report isn ' t new . But to have a recently retired British High Court judge say he is "" sure "" ( for which read "" beyond a reasonable doubt "" ) about the guilt of Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun is a sobering moment for Britain and should be just as serious for Russia . Since the murder , Putin has personally honored Lugovoi , who has been turned into a national hero and senior member of the Russian parliament . Just as widely accepted outside Russia is the finding that the two men were working on the orders of the . But to say the hit was "" probably "" ordered by Putin takes quite a leap . It ' s a finding that Owen based on testimony from witnesses he acknowledges to have been biased , and from the historian Robert Service , about the way in which Russia ' s hierarchy works . There are two things to say on this . The first is that Owen seems to have been more willing than he should to believe everything told him by Litvinenko ' s shady circle of ex friends . He relies in part on their accounts to establish the Kremlin ' s motive for murder . These include a book about a series of 1999 apartment bombings around Russia that triggered the second Chechen War and helped propel Putin to the presidency . Litvinenko and his friends maintain these weren ' t carried out by Chechen terrorists , as generally believed , but by the . Much remains unexplained about those bombings , but the case has hardly been proved to a level that could be used in any court of law . Even so , Owen says : "" On the evidence I heard , the book was more than a political tract it was the product of careful research . Professor Service ' s view was that the two men had ' credibly investigated ' the issue and , although their contentions about it had not been ' proved 100 percent , ' he considered they were more likely than not to be accurate . He said that : ' the Felshtinsky and Litvinenko book piled up the evidence pointing a very damaging finger at the and its involvement in those explosions . ' "" The second thing to say is that most people outside Russia will , like the judge , conclude in their gut that Putin approved Litvinenko ' s assassination . It has come to fit their expectations of what Russia and its leader do . Already , Russia has dismissed the findings as politically motivated and warned of "" serious consequences "" to its relations with the U . K . Yet the only way Putin will persuade the rest of the world to accept his word over Owen ' s is to send Lugovoi and Kovtun to face trial in the U . K . Nothing else will do and nothing is less likely to happen . Equally , although U . K . Home Secretary Theresa May told parliament on Thursday that Russia would face a tough response , it won ' t . May at first resisted holding an independent inquiry , precisely because it would highlight the U . K . ' s inability to punish Russia for committing murder in the streets of London . Putin shouldn ' t be too smug , though . The story of the last years has been one of his steady descent from a leader welcomed and even feted around the world , to one whose hand is shaken only reluctantly . The belief is that he is a man who orders assassinations in supposedly friendly nations , sends troops to invadesupposedly fraternal neighbors and denies everything when those troops shoot down a passenger airliner . These concerns probably won ' t hurt Putin domestically . Yet they are forcing him ever further into the defensive crouch of an ordinary dictator , one who may be popular for now but will never be able to afford the risk of genuine elections because of the retribution he might face on losing office . It is a sad story considering the possibilities Putin had and for a while seemed to grasp when he came to power 16 years ago . Marc Champion writes editorials on international affairs for Bloomberg View . For more columns from Bloomberg View , visit http : www . bloombergweblink view ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4594979,4980,"Arturo Vidal has been fined 78 , 400 by Juventus and is set to face further disciplinary action for having a night out ahead of their clash against Roma on Sunday . The Chile international who saw a move to Manchester United scuppered by his troublesome knee injury was dropped to the bench for Juve ' s 3 2 win over Roma . Vidal only recently returned from another injury and Juventus are annoyed that ahead of such an important clash against rivals Roma , that the midfielder was out until the early hours of Friday morning . Scroll down to watch Juve and Roma set for battle Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal ( right ) , pictured with Chile team mates Carlos Carmona ( left ) and Gary Medel ( centre ) , has been fined by his club for going on a night out Medel was dropped to the bench for Juve ' s crucial 3 2 win against Serie A title rivals Roma at the weekend Defender Leonardo Bonucci ( right ) sealed his side ' s victory with this strike late on at the Juventus Stadium Photographs of the 27 year old in a Turin bar emerged in the Italian media and Juve have fined the midfielder 100 , 000 . Juventus Giuseppe Marotta said : ' Vidal is the typical South American player . The history of football is full of these types of stories . Former Juventus player and Argentina international Omar Sivori was one of them , so was ex Inter Milan and Argentina star Antonio Angelillo and many others . ' South Americans are like that . They live certain situations in their own way , they have a way to celebrate and to enjoy themselves . ' We just have to keep him at bay and control him . From a football standpoint , we cannot say anything . A fine of 100 , 000 ? Perhaps it ' s not enough . ' Vidal and his team mates celebrate Bonucci ' s stunning late winner against Roma in Turin Vidal tussles with Atletico Madrid ' s Mario Mandzukic during a Champions League clash at the Vicente Calderon Juve and Roma set for battle ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4604980,4981,"A Florida A M University drum major who died after enduring a school hazing ritual aboard a bus decided to go through with the rite in order to earn respect , band members said in court documents released Wednesday . "" It ' s like a respect thing , "" said defendant Jonathan Boyce , who noted that Robert Champion "" was wanting to do it all season . "" Champion , 26 , died last year because of "" hemorrhagic shock due to soft tissue hemorrhage , due to blunt force trauma , "" the Orange County medical examiner said . More than 2 , 000 pages of police interviews with witnesses and defendants who were aboard the bus on the day of Champion ' s death paint a picture of a darkened bus where three band members , including Champion , were hazed . Multiple witnesses say that Champion was forced to walk , shirtless , from the front of the bus to the back while being beaten with drum sticks , bass drum mallets , punches and kicks . Champion is thought to have died after taking part in a rite of passage called "" Crossing Bus C , "" in which students "" walk from the front of the bus to the back of the bus backward while the bus is full of other band members . "" Florida A M band fraternity charter revoked after hazing investigation "" You get beaten until you get to the back , "" one band member said on the condition of anonymity . But Champion ' s parents said Wednesday that their son had advocated against hazing . "" It doesn ' t sound like my son at all , "" Pam Champion told reporters at a news conference in Atlanta . "" He was a stickler for the rules . "" Boyce and other defendants are only trying to "" save themselves , "" she said , by claiming that Champion wanted to participate in the ritual . "" It certainly wasn ' t ( just ) hazing , "" she added , describing the incident as a "" brutal assault . "" As for the future of ' s Marching 100 , Pam Champion said , "" Until you clean house , you can ' t . . . consider putting that band back on the field . "" After the incident , Boyce said he asked Champion if he was alright . Initially , he said "" yeah I ' m , "" according to Boyce . But later , he said Champion began panicking . "" He was having trouble breathing , "" noted Boyce , who carried the drum major shortly before he lost consciousness . "" He couldn ' t see , but his eyes were like wide open . "" Band member Harold Finley , who has been charged in connection with Champion ' s death , and Evan Calhoun , then a second year percussion student who has not been charged , noted that the hazing ritual wasn ' t obligatory . "" If you want to be there , you ' re there if you ' re not , you ' re not , "" Calhoun said in the deposition . "" Nobody forces you . "" Band member Kerian Cox , who was a percussion section leader , told investigators that the more intense hazing can come when a student is identified for senior level positions . "" I guess they know I was going to be like a ( band ) leader in the future , "" Cox said , recalling his own earlier experience with the ritual . But he noted that the band ' s trombone section had been "" cut in half "" due to suspensions for alleged hazing prior to the November incident . On the day that Champion died , drum major Keon Hollis told investigators , he had endured the same ritual . "" I did it for the same reasons everybody else do it , "" he said . "" Get the respect . "" Hollis who went before Champion said they had to fight their way through a fury of punches and slaps , while other band members swung with sticks and straps . "" ( Robert ) really didn ' t want to do it , but he was kind of like , I ' m just going to do it , "" said Hollis . "" You know , I told him , I said , if you don ' t want to do it , don ' t do it . "" Hollis said Champion seemed fine immediately after the ritual . "" He was fine . . . . He asked me , he ' s like , ' man , I need something to drink . ' And I had a bottle of water and I gave it to him , "" Hollis said in an audio interview with investigators released Wednesday . Soon afterward , Champion began having trouble breathing , according to witnesses and police reports . "" He was sitting on the bus at the steps . . . . He said he can ' t breathe , so I checked him , "" said band member Darryl Cearnel , who is not charged in the case . "" He wasn ' t saying anything . He wasn ' t responsive or anything . They was calling his name and ( he ) wasn ' t saying anything . "" Cearnel told investigators that he performed until paramedics arrived . The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy ruled the death a homicide . The autopsy found "" extensive contusions of ( Champion ' s ) chest , arms , shoulder and back , "" as well as "" evidence of crushing of areas of subcutaneous fat , "" the fatty tissue directly under the skin . He did not have any bone fractures or injuries to his internal organs . There was also no any evidence of "" natural disease except for a slightly enlarged heart , "" nor did toxicology tests reveal signs of drugs or alcohol . Four students were expelled from the school , and another 30 were dismissed from the band soon after Champion ' s death . Florida files charges in death of drum major , hazing of 2 others A law enforcement investigation resulted in charges being brought against 13 people . Eleven individuals each face one count of third degree felony hazing resulting in death . Each one also is accused of two counts of first degree misdemeanor hazing . State law provides a prison term of up to six years for those facing the more serious charges . Two people each face a single count of misdemeanor first degree hazing . Sentences in such cases typically call for up to a year in jail . Champion ' s death brought renewed public scrutiny to hazing , a practice that some say has gone on for years . Other band members had come forward previously with allegations of hazing and some had been hospitalized for injuries allegedly suffered in the practice . said it has taken steps to eradicate the problem , and after Champion died the university ' s board of trustees approved an anti hazing plan that includes an independent panel of experts to investigate hazing allegations . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4614988,4989,"Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it was identifying new areas where it could work with allies to put pressure on Iran in support of President Donald Trump’s new strategy, which promises a far more confrontational approach to Tehran. Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it. He also promised to address Iran more broadly, including its support for extremist groups in the Middle East. Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Defense Department spokesman, told Reuters the Pentagon was assessing the positioning of its forces as well as planning but offered few details. “We are identifying new areas where we will work with allies to put pressure on the Iranian regime, neutralize its destabilizing influences, and constrain its aggressive power projection, particularly its support for terrorist groups and militants,” he said. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said his first goal would to talk with U.S. allies in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere to gain a shared understanding of Iran’s actions. “Certainly we intend to dissuade them from shipping arms into places like Yemen and explosives into Bahrain and the other things they do with their surrogates, like Lebanese Hezbollah,” Mattis said. The U.S. military has long been a strident critic of Iran, accusing it directly and indirectly of trying to undermine the United States and its allies, including in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The tensions escalated in recent months in Syria, where American pilots shot down two Iranian-made drones this summer. Still, a more aggressive approach to Iran could trigger a backlash from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and forces that it backs. That includes in Iraq, where U.S. troops are fighting Islamic State and trying to keep their distance from Shi’ite militia aligned with Iran. “U.S. forces in Iraq are quite exposed, and coalition forces are quite exposed to the risk of attack if Iranian elements so choose,” said Jennifer Cafarella, lead intelligence planner at the Institute for the Study of War, a think-tank in Washington. The U.S. military is analyzing an explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, that killed an American soldier in Iraq this month. The reappearance of the device, which Iran-backed Shi’ite militia routinely used to target American troops in Iraq before their withdrawal in 2011, has startled U.S. officials. Director Mike Pompeo noted the device was detonated in an area controlled by a militia backed by Tehran. “We do not have evidence of a direct link to Iran, but we are closely examining this tragic incident,” Pompeo said on Wednesday. Cafarella said the killing of the U.S. soldier may have been a warning from Iran. “I think it is possible that the Iranians have been attempting to signal their commitment to retaliate against the U.S. strategy,” she said. Mattis said the United States was watching for any new provocations from Iran. Asked whether he thought Tehran might retaliate, he said: “It would be ill advised for them to attack us.” Reuters has previously reported that options to increase pressure on Iran include more aggressive U.S. interceptions of Iranian arms shipments, such as those to Houthi rebels in Yemen, It could also direct U.S. naval forces to react more forcefully when harassed by armed speed boats. The Pentagon on Friday detailed a series of major concern about Iran, including its ballistic missile development and cyber attacks against the United States and U.S. allies. The Pentagon promised to review U.S. security cooperation activities with allies in the region, something that could lead to alterations in U.S. arms sales and military exercises. It also signaled a willingness to re-examine the positioning of the roughly 70,000 American troops the Pentagon says are stationed in the Middle East. Still, Mattis said: “Right now we are not changing our posture.” ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4624999,5000,"Friends are horrified that we have tuned in to see Empire . Yet , we are not shocked by our morbid interest , though we seem to be odd bedfellows yet again on the search for something new and intriguing on the boring series route . This show reminded us of the early days of Dallas , to be honest . It has family intrigue , big money , business machinations , and a few delicious villains . Terrence Howard is some kind of Jay Z hip hopping power broker in the black music industry . He also is King Lear with three sons ( not daughters ) who must prove their worthiness to be his successor . And , the sons are from oldest to youngest : a button down business man with no sense of rhythm , a gay disaffected middle child , and a spoiled Justin Bieber type youngest son . Enter the jailbird mother , Cookie , played with insouciance by Taraji Henson , late of Person of Interest . She is perhaps the only person able to go head to head with her sociopathic ex husband , played by the ageless Terrence Howard . Since opening episodes are always filled with silly flashbacks and too much exposition , this one introduced the characters in their two dimensional outfits and moved along briskly down the runway to shame . Along the way , the script is littered with old friendships ended with a bullet , a mysterious disease on the outskirts of series cancellation , and sexual licentiousness as the daily bread of the black music industry . Apparently , the music score will be a big seller with a segment of the audience . As for us , we will be back for more . And they said we wouldn ' t like it . ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present4635011,5012,"The Trump campaign is definitely a racist one, because the guy at the helm of the whole thing, Donald Trump, is a flaming racist. After all, as we all know, Donald Trump s first entrance into mainstream American politics was his very public leading of a charge to prove that President Obama was not born in this country. That issue keeps coming up now, during this campaign, because Trump s surrogates have been all over the television airwaves insisting that he is no longer a birther. However, when Trump himself was asked by the Washington Post whether or not he actually believes that the President is an American, he refused to answer, just giving the standard answer that he no longer discusses the issue.Well, seeing that things were about to get ugly surrounding this, Trump s campaign issued a gross, racist statement full of self-congratulations and outright lies, as if Trump s questioning of the president s birth was in any way a service to the country or in any way appropriate. The statement begins by refusing to admit any wrong doing on the part of Trump and his fellow birthers, and instead suggesting that Trump s racist show me your papers campaign was somehow the right thing to do: In 2011, Mr. Trump was finally able to bring this ugly incident to its conclusion by successfully compelling President Obama to release his birth certificate. Mr. Trump did a great service to the President and the country by bringing closure to the issue that Hillary Clinton and her team first raised. Then, Trump spokesman Jason Miller, the despicable goon behind this travesty of a statement, closes the whole thing off by acting like the public questioning of the origins of the first black American president is some kind of golf course deal Trump closed: Inarguably, Donald J. Trump is a closer. Having successfully obtained President Obama s birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States. No, you guys aren t getting off this easy, Miller. The only acceptable response here is to have your candidate say, MOUTH, that he knows that he was wrong, that he is sorry, and that President Obama is an American and a legitimate president. Nothing less will do. Further, you will have to retract this deplorable statement, and admit that everything you have said here is awful, that it was Hillary Clinton s campaign who started or led the birther movement, and that it was Donald Trump himself who gave it legs.I won t hold my breath on any of that, though. After all, Hillary was right: You folks really are a basket of deplorables and you just got even deplorable with this statement.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past4645023,5024,"In her Saturday “Opening Statement” on Fox News Channel’s “Justice,” Jeanine Pirro reacted to former Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Pirro said Comey is “addicted to drama and center stage,” adding that his downfall was his “hubris. ” “[O]ne thing never leaked [was] that Donald Trump was never under investigation,” Pirro stated. “Why refuse to say the president is not under investigation? You say because maybe one day he will be? That’s your response? Maybe one day Martians will take a seat on the United States Supreme Court. Could it be, Jim that being a team player is not in your DNA, that only center stage will do for you? And you’re pretty damn wily when asked if an agent has a duty to report a crime. ” She went on to say, “Jim, you are a political operative, you always have been. One that’s addicted to drama and center stage. But, like the main character in all Greek tragedies, your downfall is a consequence of a tragic fall, a major weakness your hubris. ” Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4655029,5030,"Rebecca MacKinnon : We ' re losing control of our digital privacy The erosion of privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment , written to protect us against unreasonable search and seizure , began in earnest under President George W . Bush . The Patriot Act , passed overwhelmingly but hastily after 9 11 , allows the to obtain telecommunication , financial , and credit records without a court order . Moreover , the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ' s 2008 amendment act grants U . Sweblinkpanies immunity from being sued by their customers when they comply even with blatantly illegal government surveillance requests . As a presidential candidate in 2008 , Barack Obama pledged to reform the Patriot Act and rescind the Amendments Act , but as president he reversed his position . The Obama administration has fought bipartisan efforts in Congress to bring the change he once championed . The result is the "" new normal "" : surveillance , often of questionable legality and sometimes clear illegality , against which Americans have little effective recourse , on the rare occasions that we even know that violations are taking place . Read more . . . Rebecca MacKinnon is a Bernard L . Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation , co founder of the international bloggers ' network Global Voices Online , and a founding board member of the Global Network Initiative . She is the author of "" Consent of the Networked : The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom . "" Douglas Rushkoff : ' s phone snooping a different kind of creepy I ' m finding it hard to get too worked up over the revelation that the National Security Agency has been authorized by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect all our call data from Verizon . Hasn ' t everyone already assumed this ? Everything we do in the digital realm from surfing the Web to sending an e mail to conducting a credit card transaction to , yes , making a phone call creates a data trail . And if that trail exists , chances are someone is using it or will be soon enough . Read more . . . Bruce Schneier : The Internet is a surveillance state All of us being watched , all the time , and that data being stored forever . This is what a surveillance state looks like , and it ' s efficient beyond the wildest dreams of George Orwell . Sure , we can take measures to prevent this . We can limit what we search on Google from our iPhones , and instead use computer web browsers that allow us to delete cookies . We can use an alias on Facebook . We can turn our cell phones off and spend cash . But increasingly , none of it matters . There are simply too many ways to be tracked . The Internet , e mail , cell phones , web browsers , social networking sites , search engines : these have become necessities , and it ' s fanciful to expect people to simply refuse to use them just because they don ' t like the spying , especially since the full extent of such spying is deliberately hidden from us and there are few alternatives being marketed by companies that don ' t spy . This isn ' t something the free market can fix . We consumers have no choice in the matter . All the major companies that provide us with Internet services are interested in tracking us . Read more . . . Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author of "" Liars and Outliers : Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive . "" Neil M . Richards : Surveillance state no answer to terror Terror attacks , plane crashes , even school shootings stick in our head out of all proportion to the danger they pose to us as individual citizens precisely because they are extraordinary . But remember the big picture . How many people do you know who have been the victims of terrorism ? On the other hand , how many people do you know who have suffered from cancer , or obesity , or gun violence ? If we ' re interested in safety , public health and gun control are much more important issues than terrorism . They , not surveillance , should be our safety priority . We should honor the victims . We should praise the Bostonians , police and private citizens , who helped find the culprits . But we should also rest secure that our system of government is working . We should reject , like Edward Davis did , any call to move further towards a police state . Read more . . . Neil Richards is a professor of law at Washington University . He tweets about privacy at neilmrichards and is the author of the recent Harvard Law Review article , "" The Dangers of Surveillance . "" Michael Hayden : Obama administration overreached on leak probes Intelligence agencies often act on the edges of executive prerogative and move forward based on a narrow base of lawfulness and limited congressional notification "" and these are often sufficient to underpin a one off covert action . But democracies don ' t get to do anything repeatedly over a long period ( like drone strikes and targeted killings ) without political support "" and political support is the end point of a process that begins with informed debate . Informed debate depends on information , the kind that most journalists seek . We cannot make public the nation ' s legitimate secrets , but Americans need a broad outline of what is being done on their behalf . Ironically , the public dialogue generated by a free press may be one of the best guarantors that the Republic will , in the future , be able to act boldly ( and occasionally secretly ) in its own defense . Read more . . . Gen . Michael V . Hayden , who was appointed by President George W . Bush as director in 2006 and served until February 2009 , is a principal with the Chertoff Group , a security consulting firm . He serves on the boards of several defense firms and is a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University . Rand Paul : Don ' t let drones invade our privacy When assuming office , every government official must take an oath to abide by and uphold our Constitution . Since 2010 , I have made that my mission in Congress . Unfortunately , the Obama administration is not upholding nor abiding by the Constitution in fact , this administration is going to great lengths to continually violate it . Its most recent transgression involves the use of domestic drones . These small drones are to be used as a crime fighting tool for law enforcement officials . But is unwarranted and constant surveillance by an aerial eye of Big Government the answer ? Read more . . . Rand Paul , a Republican , is a U . S . senator from Kentucky . Frida Ghitis : Google knows too much about you If Americans or people anywhere decided to take up Google ' s offer to check out its new policy , they would discover something so troubling , so frightening , really , that it would override the national tendency to leave companies alone to make money how they see fit . At least in the case of companies such as Google and now Facebook which know more about us than even our closest friends . Read more . . . David Frum : Privacy was good while it lasted To be a politician today is to live in some ways like a citizen of North Korea . A politician must assume that he or she is under 24 hour audio visual surveillance . Any objectionable remark , any untoward joke , any awkward facial expression may be recorded and broadcast . Professional and personal ruin can strike at any moment . If George Allen ' s "" macaca "" moment didn ' t drive home the point , Scott Prouty ' s 47 video certainly should . But it ' s not only politicians who live under perpetual surveillance . We all do ! Read more . . . Amitai Etzioni : Despite Facebook , privacy is far from dead If you read closely the various alarmist articles about the death of privacy , you soon will note that many deal either with public spaces or with hypotheticals . They claim that police could abuse these tools , might use them to ill effect and so on . The American Civil Liberties Union , for example , criticized the use of drones by law enforcement by arguing that such use "" could eventually eliminate the privacy Americans have traditionally enjoyed in their movements and activities . "" Facebook has been caught in the same crossfire between strong privacy advocates and the social benefits it generates for hundred of millions who use it to communicate with their families and friends , close and not so close . It improved its privacy settings , though it still takes a considerable amount of effort to set them at the specific level one prefers . However , if Facebook users choose to ignore the risk to their privacy when they log in to this domain , which is known for its openness , their complaints must be taken with a grain of salt . Read more . . . Amitai Etzioni is professor of international relations and director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at George Washington University . He is the author of "" The Limits of Privacy . "" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past4665032,5033,"All good things must come to an end . Or in the case of ' s hit series , "" True Blood , "" all bad things must meet the true death . After seven dark and twisted seasons of the drama , based on Charlaine Harris ' "" Southern Vampire Mysteries , "" fans of the show referred to as "" Trubies "" must say their final goodbyes to Sookie ( Anna Paquin ) , Bill ( Stephen Moyer ) , Eric ( Alexander Skarsg rd ) and the rest of the supernatural creatures of Bon Temps this Sunday . While some fans have argued the show ' s quality has declined over the years , it doesn ' t mean people have stopped watching . Here are the storylines we ' re absolutely dying to have wrapped up in the final episode : Will there be a true cure to Hep V ? Hepatitis V , a disease that infects both humans and vampires and is lethal to the latter , has been the main plot point of season seven . At first , the disease caused bloodsuckers to lose their minds and eat humans at an alarming rate . Midway through the season it began to transform and just weakened the vampires until eventually they withered away . Yes , Sarah Newlin ' s blood contains the cure to Hep V , but only a select few actually know this and Mr Gus of the Yakonomo Corporation ( Will Yun Lee ) wants to keep it that way . Instead of releasing the real cure to the world , he has teamed up with Eric and Pam ( Kristin Bauer van Straten ) to synthesize a partial antidote . That way , infected vampires will need to take the medicine regularly without ever being fully cured . Smart business move , but no doubt morally corrupt . Newlin ( Anna Camp ) has spent the last few episodes held captive , but will she finally escape in the series finale ? Or will Eric and Pam turn on Gus and release the cure to the world ? Could this maker progeny duo actually make an ethical decision that doesn ' t also benefit them financially ? Only time will tell . But as tensions rise between Gus and Eric , fans can definitely expect a showdown . Especially now that Sookie is in Gus ' crosshairs . And everyone knows when it comes to Sookie , Eric does not mess around . Will our favorite non vampires find happiness ? Characters such as Sam ( Sam Trammell ) , Lafayette ( Nelsan Ellis ) and Arlene ( Carrie Preston ) may not have a thirst for blood , but they certainly find themselves in consistent danger . So who makes it out ( emotionally ) alive ? Things are looking pretty good for resident shape shifter Sam Merlotte . He hasn ' t been at the forefront of the action much this year , spending most of his time ignoring his mayoral duties in lieu of protecting his pregnant girlfriend , Nicole ( Jurnee Smollett Bell ) . He even agreed to her demand that they move to raise their unborn child in a safe place . Sam ' s gotten the short end of the stick throughout the series , so here ' s hoping he finally gets that happy ending he deserves . Lafayette has also suffered a lot of loss , but , like Sam , life is starting to turn around . Everyone ' s favorite cross dressing fry cook might have even found love with Jessica ' s boyfriend , James ( Nathan Parsons ) . Lafayette is a fan favorite and the writers will most likely allow him to ride off into the sunset with this dreamy guitarist . Then there ' s Arlene . The fiery , redheaded waitress , now owner of Bellefleur ' s Bar and Grill , has suffered the loss of two men in her life : former fianc Rene , who turned out to be a psychopathic murderer and was killed by Sookie and war veteran Terry Bellefleur , who made her happy but was then killed by a hit man . Tough break . But through it all Arlene has been a survivor , always coming out on top . And it looks like she may find love once again this time with ancient vampire Keith ( Riley Smith ) , who is absolutely smitten with her . But who wouldn ' t be ? Will Jason actually be able to keep his pants on ? For seven seasons , Jason ( Ryan Kwanten ) has been in trouble dozens of times , all because he is unable to control himself when it comes to members of the opposite sex including Amy ( Lizzy Caplan ) , Sarah Newlin , Crystal ( Lindsay Pulsipher ) , Jessica ( Deborah Ann Woll ) and Violet ( Karolina Wydra ) . The relationships ' ends have often been messy physically so . But now that Jessica and Hoyt ( Jim Parrack ) have finally rekindled their romance ( rejoice ! ) , this is the perfect time for Jason to re evaluate his life choices . While most fans may cry at the thought of a celibate Jason Stackhouse , it may be for the greater good of Bon Temps that he keep his pants on for at least a little while . Of course , no one says he has to keep his shirt on for the finale . This is "" True Blood , "" after all . Who will meet the true death ? Current "" True Blood "" show runner Brian Buckner , who replaced original creator Alan Ball , promised there would be game changing deaths in the final season , and he wasn ' t kidding . Within the first minute of the opening episode , Tara Thornton ( Rutina Wesley ) was staked and killed by a Hep V infected vampire . The death happened off screen , too talk about a cold exit . A few episodes later , Sookie ' s werewolf boyfriend , Alcide ( Joe Manganiello ) , got the ax as well . He died while protecting Sookie , a common theme in the series . But ever since those deaths it has been unusually tame . Which prompts the question , who will bite it in the series finale ? The obvious choice going in would be Bill Compton . Infected with the Hep V virus ( at an alarming rate due to Sookie ' s faerie blood ) , he refused to drink from Sarah Newlin and cure himself , stating that he had accepted his fate to die . He claims he is making this decision in an attempt to save Sookie from his own "" darkness . "" Kind of seems like an anti climactic way for his character to go out , though . Early predictions from fans had Eric Northman as a main contender to die and it seemed likely with him contracting the Hep V virus early in the final season . But now that he ' s sampled from the fountain of Sarah Newlin , he is officially cured . Could this be a ploy to fool viewers into thinking he is safe ? It seems rather fitting for his character to go out in a blaze of glory . And what about Sookie Stackhouse ? Yes , she is the show ' s main character , but crazier things have happened . Besides , some would argue she is partially responsible for all of the terrible things to befall the town of Bon Temps , so maybe a death would be satisfying to some fans . Besides , no one has put themselves in more dangerous situations in the seven season run than Sookie . That girl cannot keep herself out of trouble . Who will Sookie choose ? "" True Blood "" began with a love story , and the question still lingers : Who will our heroine , Sookie Stackhouse , end up with ? First there was Bill Compton , Sookie ' s primary love interest . They broke up occasionally , but Sookie always found her way back to him . ( Possibly because actors Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are married in real life . ) Then there was Eric Northman . Fangirls everywhere squealed when they got together . But while their chemistry was magnetic , they spent more time against one another than actually coupled . There was also Warlow ( Robert Kazinsky ) , because who wouldn ' t fall in love with a faerie vampire who is responsible for murdering your parents and hunting you over the years ? And then the doomed relationship with Alcide , the gorgeous werewolf who never stood a chance . Based on this season , it appears Sookie will end up with Bill . They have spent the majority of the year rekindling their original romance . Sookie has made it very clear that all she wants is for Bill to live . But the idea of Bill still being alive at the end of this season is looking less and less likely . That would leave Eric , which would certainly please the fans . But if it only happens by default after Bill dies , does that cheapen their relationship ? Here ' s a thought maybe Sookie should end up alone . It ' s almost unheard of in a vampire love story , but something that might need to happen for fans to finally respect her . Each season she has put herself in danger over her inability to stay away from particular men . Maybe she will finally make the right choice , pack up her bags , and leave Bon Temps for good . It would be a bold move and sure to anger many fans , but hey at least it would be a surprise . Goodbyes suck , but hopefully this one won ' t . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4675045,5046,"Peter Moores has warned England ' s under achieving one day cricketers that no one ' s place is safe after the series defeat by India and he is considering making key changes just five months before the World Cup . The crushing 3 1 loss , alleviated slightly by a much improved performance at Headingley on Friday , means England will shuffle their pack ahead of the series in Sri Lanka in November in another attempt to find a winning one day formula . It remains highly unlikely England will replace Alastair Cook at this stage , even though Moores refused to guarantee that a captain who has spent most of the summer defending his position will lead the side in Australia and New Zealand . Cuts : Peter Moores is ready to wield the axe and rid England of its under performing players Yet while Cook probably stays , others who may not make the cut include Ian Bell , Harry Gurney , Gary Ballance and perhaps even Eoin Morgan , who is under pressure when he leads the Twenty20 side against India at Edgbaston today . England will consider bringing back Ravi Bopara and James Taylor , while Reece Topley has emerged as a left arm alternative to Gurney and Samit Patel , persona non grata under the Andy Flower regime , has support for a return . It is hardly ideal to still be in a state of flux so close to the most important competition in limited overs cricket but England know changes have to be made even though they displayed a glimpse of their potential in Leeds . Danger : Ian Bell , Gary Ballance and Eoin Morgan are all in danger of being dropped from the England squad Moores , who told his squad of his expectations after Friday ' s win , is adamant there is nothing wrong with a game plan that has been derided as outdated by high profile critics such as Graeme Swann and Michael Vaughan but it is the execution of those plans that needs improving . Bopara was unlucky to be left out of the India series but it has become clear that his omission was far from terminal and he will be given the chance to prove that he can bat in the top six and become England ' s sixth rather than fifth bowler . It remains a mystery why Taylor , who scored 114 for Notts in the One Day Cup semi final yesterday , has not had many more opportunities in all formats but , like Bopara , he may be handed a chance to show what he can do both today in Birmingham and in the seven match 50 over series in Sri Lanka . Gurney looks too one dimensional to have a long term future in international cricket and , with Moores wanting a left arm seamer , a late chance could come for Topley ahead of Chris Wood as long as he is fully fit . World Cup : England need to make major changes if they are to stand any chance at the World Cup Perhaps the biggest issue facing England is the woeful form of their key one day batsman Morgan , who is in desperate need of a big score today to ease concerns about his form . It is becoming clear that , when England do decide the time is right to replace Cook as captain , Joe Root is the favourite to take over in all forms of the game , probably usurping Morgan as captain elect in one day as well as Test cricket . The selectors will consider their options over the next two weeks before naming a squad for Sri Lanka that , barring the injured Stuart Broad , will go on to the World Cup . ' It ' s been extremely disappointing , ' said Morgan of a barren run that goes back to his brilliant century against Australia in Brisbane in January . ' I ' ve worked incredibly hard this year but I ' ve been light on runs . Series : England 3 1 defeat to India in their one day series highlighted the need for change ' I ' ve been finding different ways to get out . I ' ve gone through periods like this and I ' ve always come back so I ' m confident I will this time . ' It will be fascinating to see how the big hitting Jason Roy performs today but he remains a big outsider for a World Cup place , not least because England are conscious of the massive gap between international and county cricket . It is naive to expect a batsman who can whack the ball in the domestic game to instantly produce the goods at the highest level against two new white balls in international one day cricket . The difficulties in stepping up have been highlighted by Alex Hales , who was quickly worked out by India ' s bowlers in the one day series and has to counter tactics which have stifled his natural desire to stay leg side of the ball and hit through the off side . Despite Hales ' s success in international Twenty20 cricket , his example will make England wary of promoting too many county form horses for the World Cup even though they are open to late change . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4685061,5062,"Reuters) - Kosovo s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj was removed from an international arrest warrant issued by Serbia, lifting an obstacle to him travelling outside the country, the justice minister said on Friday. Early this year Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovar guerilla leader who in September took over as prime minister, was arrested in France on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia. He was released after a French court rejected Belgrade s extradition request. Despite many attempts by Pristina, Belgrade refused to remove his name from the Interpol red notice. Today I was informed that Interpol has removed 18 people from Kosovo that are wanted by Serbia and this list includes also the prime minister, Abelard Tahiri, Kosovo s Justice Minister told Reuters. After today s decision all these individuals are free to travel outside the country without any problem. Haradinaj and others are wanted by Serbia for allegedly committing war crimes. Serbia has charged Haradinaj with murdering Serbs in the late 1990s war. The 1998-99 conflict ended after bombed the now-defunct Yugoslavia, then comprising Serbia and Montenegro, for 78 days to force a withdrawal of its troops from Kosovo and end a counter-insurgency campaign against ethnic Albanians. Haradinaj, who has twice been tried and acquitted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague, denies any wrongdoing. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Serbia refused to recognize its former breakaway province. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4695080,5081,"Garry Monk believes referees should be banned for poor performances following two controversial decisions from Anthony Taylor during Swansea ' s 1 1 draw with on Thursday . The Swansea boss was incensed after goalkeeper Rob Green handled outside the box but was not dismissed before Taylor sent off Wayne Routledge for kicking out at Karl Henry . He said : ' I am losing a bit of faith and so are my players when we continuously have decisions like this . Scroll down for Garry Monk : Officials should suffer if they make bad decisions Garry Monk was incensed as he felt the two key decisions went against his side in the draw with Referee Anthony Taylor failed to send off goalkeeper Robert Green for handball outside of his area Green was not sent off as went on to claim a point against Swansea in the Premier League ' I just hope Wayne ' s card gets rescinded . He goes from nearly having a leg broken to being sent off . He ( Routledge ) nudges him ( Henry ) away . No justice whatsoever . ' With the other one ( Green ' s handball ) it is a half metre outside the box . ' Asked if officials should serve a suspension for game changing errors , Monk added : ' I lose a player and I have to suffer so officials should suffer as well . ' Wayne Routledge was later sent off for kicking out at Karl Henry while the player was on the floor Routledge gives Henry a kick as he is on the floor which the Swansea player will later get sent off for Taylor shows Routledge a red card for his dig after failing to punish Green against the winger earlier Monk consoles his winger as he walks down the tunnel after being shown the red card on Thursday Leicester manager Nigel Pearson called for the introduction of video technology after his side fell victim to two terrible penalty decisions in a 2 2 draw at Liverpool . He said : ' The officials are there to do a job and we could make it much easier if technology was utilised . It takes a couple of seconds . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past4705096,5097,"Reuters) - Russia’s next ambassador to Washington will be Anatoly Antonov, a former defense official who is subject to European sanctions over his role in the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced on Monday. Antonov takes over from Sergei Kislyak, whose contacts with members of President Donald Trump’s campaign team made him a central figure in the row over Russian influence over the U.S. presidential election. The incoming ambassador, 62, is a diplomat by training and is currently a deputy foreign minister. Between 2011 and 2016, he served as deputy defense minister, a period which coincided with Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. The European Union added him two years ago to its list of officials who are subject to Ukraine-related sanctions, citing his involvement in supporting the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine. Since becoming deputy foreign minister last year, Antonov has acted as a liaison between the foreign ministry and the military. The armed forces have growing influence over foreign policy, especially since Moscow launched its military operation in Syria. A person who has dealt with Antonov said that he was a tough, military-style man. The name of outgoing ambassador Kislyak has emerged in relation to several of Trump’s associates as a special counsel and congressional panels investigate Russian meddling and possible ties with the Trump campaign. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in March from matters connected to an investigation by the following his admission he had talked to the Russian envoy. Michael Flynn, a former White House national security adviser, was forced to resign in February after it became known he had failed to disclose the content of conversations he had with Kislyak and had misled the vice president about their meetings. Jared Kushner, a White House advisor and Trump’s son-in-law, met Kislyak on two occasions in 2016, the White House has disclosed. Kushner also had phone calls with Kislyak between April and November 2016, Reuters reported. Moscow has denied any interference, and Trump has said his campaign did not collude with Russia. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4715104,5105,"in: Faith , Society , News America is never going to be great again until we deal with the wickedness in our own hearts. In recent days I have listened to so many national leaders tell us that Donald Trump is going to win the election and that this will usher in a new golden age of blessing and prosperity for America. Supposedly this is going to happen even though we continue to slaughter babies on an industrial scale, sexually-transmitted diseases are spreading at the fastest pace in decades, the percentage of births out of wedlock is more than 10 times higher than in 1940, and approximately two out of every three Christian men watch pornography on a regular basis. Even though there aren’t any signs of widespread national repentance, we are supposedly going to be showered with wealth, favor, protection and good times for as far as the eye can see. You can believe this if you want, but it doesn’t have any basis in reality. The truth is that we live in a nation where just about every type of evil that you can possibly imagine is spreading like wildfire. Just look at the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. According to the CDC, there are 20 million new cases of sexually-transmitted disease in the United States every year. And last year, cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis grew at a very alarming pace … Cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States have reached new highs, including an increase in syphilis not seen since the mid-1990s, federal health officials said in a report this week. There were 1.5 million chlamydia cases in 2015 — the last year that numbers were available — a 6 percent increase from the year before, and about 400,000 infections of gonorrhea, or a 13 percent rise , according to a report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . But syphilis cases increased to levels unseen since the mid-1990s. There were nearly 24,000 cases of primary and secondary syphilis cases last year, a 19 percent hike compared with 2014. We are a nation that has fully embraced the “free love” philosophy of the 1960s. We have sex with whoever we want, whenever we want, and we don’t seem to care about the consequences. As a result, the nuclear family is rapidly being destroyed. Back in 1940, 3.8 percent of all babies were born to women that were not married. Today, that number is over 40 percent . 2008 (the year Barack Obama was elected) was the very first year in our history when 40 percent of all babies were born to unmarried mothers, and we have now stayed at that level for eight straight years . If we want to make America great again, we can start by not sleeping with people that we are not married to. But of course an increasing number of Americans (especially our young people) are discarding traditional notions of love, marriage and sexuality completely. At one time we were told that the choice was between “gay” and “straight”, but now many people have decided that they want absolutely no limits. Miley Cyrus is among those that are now identifying themselves as “pansexuals”. The following comes from a recent article by Jennifer LeClaire … “My mom is like an ’80s rock chick—big blonde hair. … She loves being a girl,” Cyrus said. “I never felt that way. I know some girls that love getting their nails done. I … hated it … I don’t wax my eyebrows. I never related to loving being a girl. And then, being a boy didn’t sound fun to me. I think the alphabet could continue forever. But there’s a ‘P’ that should happen, for ‘pansexual.’” According to Google , a “pansexual” is “not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.” Millions of young girls look up to Miley Cyrus as a role model. We knew that this sort of thing was coming in the last days, but it is still hard to grasp how far America has fallen. And if you try to speak out against this wave of evil, you might just lose everything. For instance, the bakery in Oregon that didn’t want to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple has been forced to close their doors permanently … The Oregon bakery that made news after it refused to make a cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding has closed after legal battles left the business financial devastated, according to a Christian news site. Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes By Melissa, have shut down their bakery, according to the store’s Facebook page. ‘We have closed Sweet Cakes. We appreciate everyone’s continued prayer and support,’ the post said. We live in a nation where the culture has been fundamentally transformed. According to a newly released Pew Research Center survey , an all-time high 57 percent of all Americans believe that marijuana should be legalized and only 37 percent are against it. With that kind of a margin, it is only a matter of time before marijuana is legalized all over the country. We also live in a nation that is absolutely addicted to watching other people have sex. And most Christian men cannot even speak out about this epidemic because they are doing it themselves. According to Charisma News , one survey found that an astounding 68 percent of all Christian men admit that they watch pornography on a regular basis. But even if we turned away from all of the other behaviors that I have just mentioned, there would still be no hope for our nation as long as we continue to murder babies on an industrial scale. Did you see the final debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? During that debate, Clinton made it exceedingly clear that she is in favor of abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. The Democratic platform openly calls for taxpayer funding of abortion and a complete repeal of the Hyde Amendment, and Bill and Hillary Clinton have made abortion one of the central pillars of their very long political careers. Their hands are absolutely drenched with the blood of dead children, and the American people are about to reward her by making her the next president of the United States . So no, I don’t buy it when people try to tell me that America is on the verge of a new era of greatness. The truth is that we are a cesspool of wickedness and filth, and unless we repent we are going to reap a very bitter harvest from what we have sown for so many years. Submit your review",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past4725107,5108,"Calling it the most ambitious project of its kind ever undertaken , officials from Dubai ' s Department of Economic Development announced Tuesday the emirate ' s plans to construct the world ' s largest human rights violation . Set to begin later this month , the project , dubbed Saqr Ganzeer , or "" Chained Falcon , "" will reportedly take as long as 10 years to complete and make use of more than 250 , 000 foreign workers from the Indian subcontinent and other parts of Asia . It is expected to easily surpass all previous record holders , towering over every other abuse of rights in the wealthy Middle Eastern city . "" With this bold new endeavor , we will create the biggest deprivation of basic human dignity the world has ever seen , "" said deputy director Jamal Al Falasi , who according to reports was selected to oversee the project after successfully managing several of Dubai ' s smaller violations of individuals ' freedoms . "" None of the others will even come close . Once completed , it will be recognized everywhere as a symbol of Dubai and everything our city stands for . "" "" It really is humbling to be part of an undertaking this historic in scope . "" Emirati sources expressed confidence that before it is even finished , Saqr Ganzeer will generate a "" huge splash in the international community , easily overshadowing human rights offenses in countries like Sudan , North Korea , Syria , China , and the Democratic Republic of Congo , which they said will look miniscule in comparison . International observers agreed that as soon as the project is underway , Dubai ' s claim to the title of world ' s greatest human rights infringement will likely be measured and officially certified by several independent organizations . Bangladeshi laborer Tajuddin Rahman , one of tens of thousands who was lured to the emirate for the monumental exploitation of fundamental liberties , told reporters that while he knows it won ' t be easy toiling for countless hours on the project , he hopes his family back home will be proud of his sacrifice . "" It really is humbling to be part of an undertaking this historic in scope , "" said Rahman , who explained he ' s eager to begin working on the project , as he needs to start funneling all his wages to his labor contractor for the next several years to pay back the cost of funding his travel to the . "" It will take many years to complete , so I realize I might not be around long enough to see it finished . "" "" I only hope that when this is done , people will take notice , "" he added . ",satire,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past4735111,5112,"A Florida man was hospitalized after he crashed his remote controlled plane this morning . The unidentified man was flying the radio controlled jet as part of the Florida Jets Air Show in Lakeland in Polk County . It crashed into Paradise Field near the runway at Linder Regional Airport . The remote controlled jet that crashed on Friday in Lakeland , Florida , is ' similar to one of these in size ' The jet crashed into Paradise Field at Linder Regional Airport during the Florida Jets Air Show this morning Fog stopped the man from going to Tampa General Hospital so he was was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital The man suffered non life threatening injuries , but was severely burned during the crash , according to 10 News . When the aerial enthusiast ' s three foot , 20 , 000 plane crashed near him , some of its fuel sprayed out and caused the burns . Polk Fire Rescue originally wanted to fly the injured man to Tampa General Hospital , but there was too much fog for the medical chopper to navigate . The man was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital instead . Although the accident was originally reported as an actual plane crash , that notion was dispelled . The Florida Jets Air Show is not a competition , but more of a ' fly In , or Jet Together ' , according to its Facebook page from last year . The page reads : ' Florida Jets is one of the most exciting R C Aviation events on the planet . ' features the ultimate technology in airframe construction and power plant , and has the highest level of pilot proficiency of any radio control model aviation discipline . ' The Florida Jets Air Show is not a competition , but more of a ' fly In , or Jet Together ' , according to Facebook There were some initial reports that a plane had crashed , but Sgt Gross quickly cleared up the confusion Although this mishap might seem out of the ordinary , it is more common than you might think . Remote controlled planes crash frequently enough that there is a webpage about it . The No . 1 cause of remote control plane crashes is pilot error , according to R C Airplane World . According to the site : ' Either the pilot is flying beyond his or her abilities , or flying a plane that ' s too advanced or simply unsuitable for his her level of experience . ' Or perhaps they make a genuine mistake because of , say , disorientation even experienced rc pilots make the wrong stick movements sometimes ! ' Equipment failure is another reason . In fact pilot error is commonly disguised as equipment failure ! ' Flying surface or control surface failure can also be the guilty culprit in bringing down our planes , especially if the builder did a less than satisfactory job on the hinges ! ' Prevention is better than cure , but sadly it takes a crash to figure out what went wrong and hopefully prevent it happening again in the future . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4745122,5123,"Facing a tough reelection against Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, vulnerable Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois announced today that he is un-endorsing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In a Tweet, Kirk said his military experience helped lead him to make the decision:Given my military experience, Donald Trump does not have the temperament to command our military or our nuclear arsenal. Mark Kirk (@MarkKirk) June 7, 2016Then, in a statement, Kirk told reporters: As the presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled. While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump s latest statements, in context to past attacks on Hispanics, women, and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party. And like that, Kirk became the first Republican to un-endorse Donald Trump. Benn Sasse and Lindsey Graham, Republican Senators from Nebraska and South Carolina, have pledged not to support Trump either, and Trump s former rivals, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are still on the fence.Other Republican Senators, such as Kelly Ayotte, Bob Corker, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Jeff Flake, have all expressed condemnation for Trump s comments about the judge presiding over the University case, but have pledged continued support.Kirk s announcement, coincidentally, comes just one day after his challenger, Duckworth, said Kirk s refusal silence equals betrayal to the people.Watch Kirk explain to reporters his un-endorsement: IN: @SenatorKirk talks exclusively to @nbcnews @HallieJackson RE: him not supporting Trump: pic.twitter.com/OsxSmkwDt0 Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) June 7, 2016Featured image via Gabriella Demczuk",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past4755124,5125,"Grisly : Police said Chimboza was chewing flesh at the crime scene A businessman in Africa has admitted to a savage act of cannibalism ripping a man ' s heart out and eating it ' to show he was not gay ' , while the victim was still alive . Andrew Chimboza , 35 , told Cape Town police in a statement that he killed Mbuyiselo Manona , 62 , in self defence at the home of a client in the township of Gugulethu after being insulted . Prosecutor Quawnita Geyer read out the statement during a bail hearing at the Athlone Magistrate ' s Court in Cape Town on Wednesday . He said : ' In your warning statement you say . . . "" I sit upon him and stabbed him on the chest , tore out his heart and took a knife and then sliced his heart and then I ate his heart . "" "" ' The reason for me to eat the unknown guy ' s heart was to show him that I am not a moffie gay and after I finished eating the heart , I realised he was dead . "" ' Investigating officer Constable Mphumelelo Yengwa attended the autopsy and reported its horrifying conclusion . According to The Citizen he said : ' It was conducted by Dr Allie . Dr Allie told me that the heart is not present in the deceased ' s body and therefore , when the heart was taken out , he could see that the deceased was still alive . ' Yengwa told the hearing that the officer who arrested Chimboza at the scene found him chewing raw flesh and that Manona ' s neck had been ' half eaten ' . He added that his chest had a gaping hole in the left side . However , Chimboza , originally from Zimbabwe , is now disputing the veracity of his statement , arguing that it was fabricated after he was assaulted by the police , according to Sowetanliveweblink . Chimboza , who runs a window tinting business , claims that while he did stab Manona to death , he can ' t remember taking out the heart and eating it . The brutal attack took place on the evening of June 10 . Counter argument : Chimboza , who runs a window tinting business , now claims that while he did stab Manona to death , he can ' t remember taking out the heart and eating it Chimboza confirmed to the hearing that Manona had called him certain names , that they then fought and that he had stabbed him to death . He said : ' The way I was continuously stabbing , that must have ripped his heart out . Because I was in a shocked state . ' Geyer retorted : ' All the witnesses that were there confirm you killed the deceased , you cut out his heart and ate it . They say there was flesh in your teeth and dry blood on your mouth . ' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4765131,5132,"U2 ' s Bono calls Paris attack ' first direct hit on music ' Sunday , 15 November 2015 9 : 58am Place : Paris Agency : Irish rock band U2 ' s frontman Bono called Paris attack , that killed over 120 people , a first direct hit on music as many young concert goers and fans were targeted . Irish rock band U2 ' s frontman Bono called Paris attack , that killed over 120 people , a first direct hit on music as many young concert goers and fans were targeted . The band , whose concert was supposed to take place Saturday night , was called off after series of attacks in the French capital and Bono said the whole incident is very disturbing , reported Variety . "" Our first thoughts at this point are with the Eagles of Death Metal fans . If you think about it , the majority of victims last night are music fans . This is the first direct hit on music that we ' ve had in this so called War on Terror , or whatever it ' s called . It ' s very upsetting . These are our people . This could be me at a show , you at a show , in that venue . It ' s a very recognisable situation for you and for me and the coldblooded aspect of this slaughter is deeply disturbing and that ' s what I can ' t get out of my head , "" Bono , 55 , said . He also clarified that the decision to cancel the concert was made by the concerned authorities and not the band . "" We didn ' t call it off . It was cancelled , honest , and I understand perfectly why . . . It ' s up to the French authorities and the city to decide when we can go back , "" he said . Following the attacks , the band released a statement yesterday . "" We are devastated at the loss of life at the Eagles of Death Metal concert and our thoughts and prayers are with the band and their fans . And we hope and pray that all of our fans in Paris are safe , "" the statement read . During the attack Bono was rehearsing nearby at the Accor Hotels Arena where the group was set to perform on Saturday and Sunday . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past4775135,5136,"Passengers in cars and taxis are being exposed to air pollution up to 15 times greater than cyclists and pedestrians on busy city streets , a new study has found . Travelling inside a vehicle could be much worse than cycling by the kerb or walking on the pavement because emissions are highest in the centre of the carriageway , where vehicles suck in dirty air from those in front , scientists say . Their shocking findings were revealed following an experiment by a group of five MPs who sit on the Government ' s cross party Environmental Audit Committee ( ) . People in cars and taxis are being exposed to far more air pollution than those cycling and on foot Each was provided with a gadget to measure airborne pollution levels , as well as a tracker device , by scientists from King ' s College London , who analysed where pollution was at its highest during their travels across London and in their constituencies over a week in July . By far the highest levels of tiny particles of ' black carbon ' or deadly soot breathed in by the MPs was during taxi journeys in cities . On average each inhaled around 50 million particles per breath while inside a cab in London , around seven times more than the six to seven million particles per breath inhaled while walking around Whitehall or Oxford Street , and 15 times greater than levels recorded outside their eventual destination City Hall where , on leaving the cab , levels fell to three million particles per breath . London Mayor Boris Johnson ( right ) is expected to announce a new initiative to combat pollution next week in the wake of Joan Walley ( left ) and the rest of the ' s findings The findings are worrying because persistent inhalation of air pollution and traffic emissions have been linked to lower life expectancy and serious illnesses , including heart disease and cancer , as well as low birth weights and stunted lung development in children . Ben Barratt , a lecturer and air quality scientist at King ' s College , said that air pollutants , such as black carbon , nitrogen dioxide and the toxic leftovers of inefficiently burnt fuel , were highest in the middle of a carriageway and in the first two to three feet above the road , dropping off nearer to the kerb and pavement . ' Travelling in vehicles gave the greatest average exposure , ' Dr Barratt said . Five MPs carried out the Environmental Audit Committee study in London taxis ' When you are in a vehicle , nose to tail with those in front , you are right in the middle of the source of the pollution . ' Vehicles close together suck in each other ' s emissions . ' The air intakes are in the engine compartment close to road level , so they pick up the fumes emitted by the vehicle in front of them . Open windows are another route . ' Dr Barratt said often dirty air became trapped in cars and taxis , whereas cyclists and pedestrians had a constant ' flow of air ' breezing in from all directions around them . The MPs who took part in the research were chairwoman of the Joan Walley , fellow Labour MPs Alan Whitehead and Mike Kane , and Conservatives Caroline Nokes and Matthew Offord . They are investigating why diesel engines , which are now recognised as some of the worst pollutants , were mistakenly promoted by officials as environmentally friendly . On Wednesday , London Mayor Boris Johnson will appear before the to explain why the capital persistently breaches standards on pollution levels . Mr Johnson is expected to announce an new initiative Breathe Better Together where commuters will be asked to work from home or use bikes , trains and buses instead of cars and taxis when air pollution levels are highest . However , it is not just in London where pollution is a problem . Mrs Walley ' s monitor saw her inhale more than 80 million particles per breath during a car journey in her Stoke on Trent North constituency , while Mr Kane was exposed to 20 million particles per breath during a cab ride in Manchester . Dense smog hangs over London , obscuring buildings like The Shard earlier this year Mrs Walley said : ' Our monitoring equipment showed that people in vehicles were far more exposed to air pollution than they would be walking . ' Car makers test exhaust emissions but this raises a question about whether they should also be considering air quality inside vehicles . ' Research suggests that up to 29 , 000 premature deaths are caused each year in Britain by pollution 10 times the number of people killed in road accidents . Those who live in big cities have a lower life expectancy , studies have found , because of poor air quality . London has by far the worst air pollution problem in the country in 2010 , 3 , 389 people died and 41 , 404 years of life were lost as a result of air pollution in the capital , according to Public Health England . The biggest concern is the tiny bits of carbon around 30 times smaller than a human hair which are so small they can get into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream , passing through major organs , such as the heart and brain . They can have immediate effects on people with existing health conditions , triggering asthma attacks , heart attacks and strokes . But , worryingly , pollution can also cause diseases in healthy individuals , such as heart disease , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( ) and even cancer . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4785156,5157,"Treasury, Bank of England and Brexit forecasts proved wrong Published: October 29, 2016 Source: Express Treasury, Bank of England and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are among the self-appointed anti-Brexit so-called economics experts who keep getting their forecasts WRONG. The were among the institutions that forecast an economic disaster if Britain voted to Brexit Establishment institutions, as well as global investment banks, issued united and terrifying warnings of economic disaster if Britain opted out of the European Union (EU), in an effort to sway the public into voting to Remain. Yet figures released yesterday showed booming Britain's economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the three months after the vote, providing the crowning piece of unarguable evidence that the vote to leave did not negatively impact the UK. The Treasury, under the leadership of George Osborne, had predicted Britain would fall into immediate recession after a Brexit vote, with coming in at -0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2016. But yesterday the Treasury admitted the claim had been based on which turned out to be wholly ill-informed. Despite the rank amateurism and inaccuracy of almost all forecasts since Brexit a negative report on Britain’s economic competence – and since Brexit they have almost been negative – risks serious harm to the welfare of the nation. The said Brexit could reduce the economy by as much as 9.5 per cent, and added that Britain could expect ""sizeable"" long-term losses in income. Head of the Christine Lagarde had the audacity to say she could not see positive to come from leaving the and an exit could have ""particularly severe"" consequences. Ms Lagarde added that interest rates could also rise sharply in the event of leaving Europe, which would negatively impact on households with high debts.",fake,news,test,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past4795166,5167,"We can spend the next few years beating ourselves up and debating the proposition that George W . Bush saved Iraq and Barack Obama lost it . Or we can get real and try to sort out what we can do now to protect U . S . interests in a region that ' s melting down . Iraq was never the U . S . ' s to win . That point along with lowered expectations and focused goals must be the basis of any new approach to the region . And here are three reasons . 1 . Demography : There are two factors that nations even functional ones ( and Iraq is not ) can ' t alter : What they are their demography and where they are their geography . Iraq has been dealt an unhappy hand in both departments . There is , to be sure , a sense of Iraq national identity . But at the same time the end of Saddam Hussein ' s cruel rule for which the U . S . is responsible opened up a Pandora ' s box of sectarian tensions and expectations for which the U . S . is partly responsible that have never been adequately addressed . In essence , the U . S . overturned a brutal minority Sunni rule and enabled Shia majority rule . The ins became the outs , and the outs the ins . And guess what ? Despite several successful elections , 25 billion from the U . S . to train and equip the Iraqi military , and another trillion in support of the Nuri al Maliki government , Iraq never equitably distributed political and economic power . Sunnis became disenfranchised , angry and vulnerable to jihadi persuasions Shia sought to get even , get ahead and maintain a privileged position and Kurds sought to protect their own interests and effectively create a separate governing authority . Iraq these days isn ' t so much a nation as it is a collection of battling sectarian groups , each seeking advantage at the expense of the Iraqi state . 2 . Geography : Iraq ' s neighbors , particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia , do not share America ' s vision of an equitably balanced and independent polity . Each of them has its own vision . Iraq has become a pawn in a regional competition between Sunnis and Shia and Arabs and Persians . Iran wants a weak , stable Iraq not aligned with the West , under Shia influence . The Saudis want al Maliki out and are happy that the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria may provide that opportunity , even as they fear the jihadists . They want Sunnis empowered and Iran disempowered . Turkey has made its peace with the Iraqi Kurds and hopes to get them to moderate the radical tendencies of those in Syria , but really has no answer to the contagion . Jordan is vulnerable to too , but can ' t exercise much influence in Iraq . And that leaves Syria . The regime of Bashar al Assad is aligned with both Iran and al Maliki , and likely under Tehran ' s encouragement has begun to use military force against along the Syria Iraq border . All this regional maneuvering reflects the reality that the neighbors ' interests will continue to trump America ' s by virtue of their proximity , their influence in Iraq , and the reality that Iraq is more vital to them than it is to us . 3 . Syria : Iraq can ' t be stabilized without dealing with Syria . And to date , the U . S . by default the only power that remotely has the capacity to alter the course of the civil war there has been unable and unwilling to do that . The threat may prompt a review of the Obama administration ' s Syria policy , but we should be under no illusions that Washington is ready to jump in with a comprehensive political , economic , and military strategy to end the conflict . Indeed , the United States will be faced with some tough choices . It may find itself in the odd position of ramping up support for the more moderate Sunni rebels in Syria but also striking . That means we will be trying to weaken al Assad on one hand , but indirectly strengthening him on the other by attacking a common enemy . Under no circumstances should the Obama administration commit to trying to put two broken nations back together again . Bottom line is that the real challenge is , which is likely to remain ensconced in parts of Syria and Iraq . What should Obama do ? First let ' s be clear about what he shouldn ' t do . The United States needs to abandon any illusions that it can transform or find an easy way out of the situation . It is stuck in a region that it can ' t fix or leave . There isn ' t a single problem in this region that has a comprehensive or definitive solution . Instead , the U . S . should accept the reality that it will be dealing with outcomes , not happy endings , there . Iraq may never be a unified polity , but it need not necessarily be a failed one . The question is , can we shape these outcomes to our advantage ? Bush 43 tried to do too much Obama too little . Is there a balance ? The U . S . needs at least three different but related approaches : 1 . Coordinate with regional partners . Sure , in the case of Iran , it ' s like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop . But the U . S . can ' t begin to deal with on its own . Iran is the key external power in Iraq . And Turkey , Jordan and Saudi Arabia have a stake in stopping ' s advances . The U . S . may have to accept the reality that the evil al Assad is a hedge against , even though his policies helped to facilitate its rise . 2 . Think diplomacy first , then military force . You need the first to make the second effective . That coordination must try to produce a more acceptable political arrangement in Baghdad , with or without al Maliki . Without the Iraqi government regaining Sunni support , will continue to roll . And this means some new and more inclusive political arrangement in Baghdad to share power . Forget democracy and making Iraq whole . To bring Sunnis around and check , we may have to not only concede influence to Iran but also to some pretty bad Sunnis , including former Saddam supporters and insurgents . 3 . The U . S . will need to do what it can to buck up the Iraqi military . This could easily lead to sending additional advisers , but under no circumstances should it involve the use of combat forces . We may well have to use airstrikes and drones against . And this is tricky , because it risks feeding jihadi sentiment . That ' s why a new political arrangement is mandatory . But even without it , the United States must face the reality that with money , passports , and a base of operations will emerge as a threat to our friends in the region , to Europe and ultimately to us . We shouldn ' t run scared . ' s own ideology will produce a counterreaction among Iraqis who will oppose its harsh , unforgiving ideology . Indeed as the International Crisis Group points out , is its own worst enemy . The region is littered with the remains of failed jihadi efforts , including al Qaeda central . In 2013 , there were 17 , 800 global fatalities as a result of terrorist attacks . Only 16 of those were Americans . Terror is not a strategic threat to the homeland right now . But it may well require a coordinated counterterror effort with our regional and international partners to prevent it from becoming one . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4805168,5169,"Mufti Mohammad Sayeed played significant role in bringing Jammu and Kashmir closer to mainstream politics : Jitendra Singh Mufti Mohammad Sayeed played significant role in bringing Jammu and Kashmir closer to mainstream politics : Jitendra Singh Date published : ? Thursday , 7 January 2016 12 : 22pm Place : New Delhi Agency : 79 year old Sayeed passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( ) on Thursday morning . Minister of State in Prime Minister ' s Office ( ) Jitendra Singh on Thursday condoled the death of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed , saying the veteran leader had played a significant role in bringing the state ' s politics closer to the mainstream politics of India . "" Mufti ji was the last surviving veterans in present time from the first generation of post independence and statesman . It is definitely a big loss . The biggest attribute of his personality was that he had the capacity to rise above the party lines and regardless of different party affiliation and ideology , he used to take everyone along "" . "" He played a significant role in bringing J K politics closer to the mainstream politics of India , "" said Singh . "" We had a leader who had the capacity to rise above the party lines and also to carry people across the party lines and that is why even in the coalition he had the capacity to agree to disagree on certain contentious issues and yet agree to move ahead for the larger interest of the common masses and the common man , "" he added . Prime Minister Narendra Modi ? also condoled the death of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed , saying his demise leaves a huge void in the nation and that the leader who provided a healing touch would be missed . 79 year old Sayeed passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( ) on Thursday morning due to multiple organ failure . He was admitted a private ward in on December 24 after he complained of fever and chest pain . He had previously served as Chief Minister from 2002 to 2005 . He was also the Home Minister of India from December 1989 to November 1990 . Sayeed had founded the Jammu and Kashmir People ' s Democratic Party in 1999 . ? ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4815174,5175,"England Videos of the chaos and horrified reactions after the July 7 , 2005 , London transit bombings were shown to jurors Thursday in the trial of three men charged with conspiracy in the case . Smoke and dust fill the platform area at Liverpool Street Station on July 7 , 2005 , after a bomb exploded . One of the videos shows the explosion of a train seconds after it leaves the Liverpool Street Station heading for Aldgate East . As dust and smoke fill the tunnel , people on the platform rush away , and police head toward the blast . Another shows bystanders running and ducking for cover after one of the bombers detonated his rucksack on the No . 30 bus . Riders on a nearby bus jump from their seats . Four bombs were detonated on underground trains at Liverpool Street , Russell Square and Edgware Road , and on a double decker bus at Tavistock Square . Fifty two people and the four bombers were killed , and at least 900 people were injured . Watch commuters flee as the bombs explode Links to the edited videos were posted on the Web site of London ' s Metropolitan Police , and were played in Kingston Crown Court where Mohammed Shakil , 31 , Waheed Ali , 24 , and Sadeer Saleem , 27 , are accused of aiding the bombers A series of videos show three of the bombers Siddique Khan , Shehzad Tanweer and Jermaine Lindsay practicing their moves in various locations on June 28 , 2005 . The fourth bomber was Hasib Hussain . One video shows Tanweer and Khan meeting Lindsay outside Luton Station , where the three linger near the ticket counter and one of them stands in line . Security cameras also captured images of the three men at other blast locations . Two weeks after the July bombings , an attempted second wave of bombings struck other trains and a bus , but the devices failed to explode properly . More than a dozen people were arrested afterward . Metropolitan Police said some clips were not released , to protect the identities of members of the public . E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4825195,5196,"One of the men killed in Monday ' s coal mine explosion in West Virginia knew of the danger but didn ' t let it bother him , his family said Tuesday . The blast at the Massey Energy Co . mine in Montcoal , West Virginia , killed at least 25 miners four others are unaccounted for , officials say . The cause of the explosion had not been determined as rescuers worked Tuesday to bore ventilation holes into the Upper Big Branch Mine . "" He loved the Lord , and in church the other day , he thanked the Lord for saving his soul , and he thanked him for watching over him in the mines for over 30 years , and he said , ' If he takes me tomorrow , I ' ve had a good life , ' "" she said . iReport : Are you there ? Share photos , video Her brother kept his affairs in order because of the constant risk of death , she said . Still , the accident shocked the family . "" It ' s scary . It ' s just really , really scary , "" Willingham ' s granddaughter Tiffany Ellis said . "" My stepdad also does this , and this is just a wake up call to me . I ' ve seen it happen before , but I never imagined I ' d be here today , telling my story about it . "" She said her grandfather stepped in to help raise her after her father walked out on the family years ago . "" I didn ' t have a dad my grandfather filled them shoes for me , "" she said . "" He spoiled me . Anything I wanted , his little girl got it . "" He taught me everything , from learning how to tie my shoes to driving , to learning the game about boys . He was always there to listen to my problems , whenever I had them . "" The families of the victims are not limited to bloodlines , according to Willingham ' s relatives and other local residents . "" It ' s a good community tight , "" his daughter Michelle McKinney said . "" We look after each other . We support each other . "" "" If you ' re from here , you ' re part of a coal mining family , "" Grace Lafferty of Harper told the Charleston Gazette newspaper . "" You know a lot of people who work here . It takes your breath away , your heart drops and you have that empty feeling . "" "" Coal mining gets in your blood , "" Willingham ' s brother in law Bobby said . "" The camaraderie is like a sports team . There ' s no love like the love among workers in coal mines . "" After hearing news that miners may be trapped , former miner Randy Cox told the Register Herald newspaper in Beckley , "" I just got down on my knees and started praying that they were . "" Cox , of Arnett , West Virginia , mined coal for 18 years and now is disabled , the newspaper reported . "" I never was in a situation like that , but I have seen roof falls , "" Cox said . "" I ' m praying for them , and I hope this turns out . May God be with them . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4835196,5197,"Liverpool have never conceded a goal to Real Madrid in three previous meetings but can they possibly extend that sequence to a fourth game ? It is a question Brendan Rodgers will be asking himself over and over again in the countdown to kick off at Anfield , as not many people will give them a chance of preventing Madrid ' s all stars going on a rampage for 90 minutes . All numbers and logic point to Carlo Ancelotti ' s men picking off Liverpool at will . Real arrive on Merseyside on the back of seven consecutive victories , amassing 32 goals in the process . In four of those games , they have scored five times and plundered eight against Deportivo La Coruna on September 20 . Scroll down to watch Real Madrid announce their squad . . . minus Gareth Bale Mario Balotelli ( right ) had another game to forget as Liverpool beat 3 2 at Loftus Road on Sunday Raheem Sterling ( right ) impressed for the Reds and could start as a central striker against Real Madrid Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers must formulate a plan to stop Cristiano Ronaldo and Co at Anfield Sportsmail ' s Dominic King picks his Liverpool So how will Liverpool , who have looked so frail as a defensive unit and conceded cheaply regularly during this erratic campaign , keep them out ? If Rodgers has learnt anything from his side ' s Champions League adventure so far , it is that mistakes are ruthlessly punished . Rodgers is a coach who likes his teams to play with flair and imagination but , on Wednesday , he will know the first thing that Liverpool have to be is difficult to beat : they need to play with intensity , relentless energy to take Madrid out of their comfort zone . No passengers can be permitted . This , then , would be Sportmail ' s line up : ( 4 2 3 1 ) Simon Mignolet Glen Johnson , Dejan Lovren , Martin Skrtel , Alberto Moreno Steven Gerrard , Joe Allen Jordan Henderson , Philippe Coutinho , Adam Lallana Raheem Sterling . The big call would be taking Mario Balotelli out of the starting line up but he has not shown any glimpse of having blistering pace during his time at Liverpool so far . He won ' t hang on the shoulders of Sergio Ramos and company or set the tone like Luis Suarez did . Sterling , meanwhile , has often given the impression that he could be a devastating striker . Playing him in that role would also give Rodgers the option of dropping him back to help shore up the midfield if Real began to dominate possession . Captain Steven Gerrard will anchor Liverpool ' s midfield but the Reds must play with plenty of energy Sterling ( left ) will bring more pace to Liverpool ' s attack than the out of form Balotelli Liverpool have won all three previous meetings with Real Madrid . Liverpool 4 0 Real Madrid ( March 10 , 2009 , Champions League ) Real Madrid 0 1 Liverpool ( February 25 , 2009 , Champions League ) Liverpool 1 0 Real Madrid ( May 27 , 1981 , European Cup final ) Midfield will be the crucial area , as if Toni Kroos and Luka Modric get on the ball , they will begin supplying the ammunition to James Rodriguez , Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema . By packing the engine room , with runners and workers , Liverpool have a better chance of disrupting Real . Liverpool are never better than when they when push their opponents back and press them high up the pitch . Henderson , Gerrard , Coutinho , Allen and Lallana are all capable of executing that game plan but those five also give Rodgers flexibility , allowing him to switch formations when necessary . Liverpool will need to stop Cristiano Ronaldo continuing his incredible run of form in front of goal Gareth Bale ( left ) will miss the game through injury but Toni Kroos has the potential to be a key player Luka Modric , in action for Real against Levante , will attempt to pull the strings in Real Madrid ' s midfield More than anything , though , Liverpool need to do the basics right . It might seem an obvious thing to say but they have been vulnerable this season to balls lofted into the area think of the goals they gifted to West Ham and Queens Park Rangers . Should Liverpool be as generous to Madrid as they have been to others so far , their Champions League ambitions will be in grave danger . It is why Rodgers must find the perfect formula to keep the reigning champions at bay . Real ready for tough week Ancelotti ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4845204,5205,"Johannesburg , South Africa An elite South African police squad has arrested 19 suspected Congolese rebels in a remote corner of northern South Africa , an official said , in a raid that may have headed off a coup attempt . "" The grouping ' s objective was to receive specialized military related training to overthrow the current government , under the leadership of President Joseph Kabila , "" Makhosini Nkosi , a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority , said in a statement Tuesday . Read more : Why the world is ignoring Congo war The alleged coup plotters were tracked to a remote area of Limpopo province , suggesting long term surveillance by South African law enforcement . The National Prosecuting Authority said that no South Africans have been linked to the suspects but that further arrests were possible . Congolese government officials were quick to blame M23 , a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ' s North Kivu province . The group embarrassed the Congolese government by briefly seizing the key eastern city of Goma late last year , before withdrawing to positions outside the city . "" We know very well that these men have links to M23 , "" said Lambert Mende , a government spokesman . Why eastern Congo is ' rape capital of the world ' "" They were planning terrorist attacks in South Africa targeting Congolese officials and in . Their ultimate aim was to overthrow the regime , "" said Mende , citing internal discussions with South African counterparts . But the National Prosecuting Authority said that no links have been established between the 19 men arrested Tuesday and the M23 group . M23 rebel commanders , who are engaged in sporadic peace talks with the Congolese government , were not immediately available for comment . Mende said the arrested men also had links to former Congolese strongman Mobutu Sese Seko , who ruled the country , then known as Zaire , for more than three decades . The arrested men will appear in court in Pretoria , South Africa , on Thursday accused of contravening anti mercenary laws . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4855205,5206,"Along with Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli , she towered high for decades as one of the pillars of French fashion . Now iconic designer Jeanne Lanvin , who died in 1946 , will be honoured in a new exhibition opening this week at the Paris City Fashion museum at the Palais Galliera . The show will be inaugurated by Paris ' Mayor Anne Hidalgo and celebrates Lanvin being the oldest fashion house still operating in France , now under the creative direction of Alber Elbaz . Dresses by Jeanne Lanvin featured in the new exhibition opening this week at the Paris City Fashion museum at the Palais Galliera reveal her love of vibrant colours Lanvin opened her bridal department in 1909 and her gowns became popular with prestigious customers who favoured her designs , pictured , using ivory silk chiffon embroidered with pearls and gold metallic threads Lanvin , pictured in Paris in 1938 , used travel diaries , swatches of ethnic fabrics and a vast library of art books to feed her curiosity and inspire her to create different patterns and designs It ' s a rich legacy has spanned the 19th , 20th and 21st centuries and the new exhibition charts the rise of the company founded by Lanvin after she opened her first store in 1889 . The designer was born in Paris in 1867 and after training to be a dressmaker , she then became a milliner with dreams of opening her own fashion house . After she made her dream a reality , she was a pioneering working mother as she established her business whilst caring for daughter , Marguerite . The displays in the new exhibition , which will run till 23 August , reveal her love of colour and the Asian influences seen in her embroidery and decorative work . ' My Fair Lady ' from 1939 features a large bias cut ribbon that stands out against the white fabric of the dress An absinthe green silk satin dress from the twenties , embroidered with glass beads and Swarovski crystals There are more than one hundred pieces in the exhibition that reveals how Lanvin ' s rich legacy has spanned the 19th , 20th and 21st centuries It will feature more than a hundred exhibits from the collections of the Palais Galliera and the Lanvin Heritage , revealing how Lanvin could lend her creative talent to children ' s clothes , bridal wear and accessories . In 1927 , she celebrated her daughter Marguerite ' s thirtieth birthday with the creation of the legendary perfume Arp ge . The famous logo designed by Paul Iribe , depicting the couturi re with Marguerite , is displayed on the round bottle created by Armand Rateau . The same logo is still featured on Lanvin creations to this day . Lanvin used travel diaries , swatches of ethnic fabrics and a vast library of art books to feed her curiosity and inspire her to create fabrics , patterns and exclusive colours with her favourite shade a blue that become known as Lanvin blue . A attendee admires the My Fair Lady gown that was inspired by French 18th century style dresses By the thirties , Lanvin was championing high waisted dresses with belts like this one for a smart , tailored but still feminine look Her styles helped set the trends across the decades from ample skirts in the early 20th century to Art Deco designs in the twenties . Nadja Swarovski , member of the Swarovski executive board who are supporting the exhibition , said : ' We are honoured to partner with the Palais Galliera in supporting the first retrospective dedicated to Jeanne Lanvin , one of the greatest figures of Parisian haute couture . ' Swarovski was founded in 1895 , just six years after Mme Lanvin established her house , and she used crystals to adorn the luxuriously embellished evening gowns which became her trademark . ' This inspiring exhibition pays tribute to the skill , inventiveness and creativity of a great artist who captured and expressed the spirit of her time , and celebrates over 125 years of extraordinary fashion heritage which continues to thrive under Alber Elbaz . ' Lanvin had a taste for black and white designs with geometrical effects a trend which dominated the thirties The exhibition will be open until 23 August and Lanvin ' s current creative director Alber Elbaz hopes people will come away saying "" I love Jeanne Lanvin "" Elbaz himself commented : ' For this exhibition , we began to look at the clothes , the dresses , the inside of the dresses , and the feelings that we picked up from them . The whole question was to work out how to display them . ' For many years I ' ve worked on the windows of our boutiques , and I love doing it . But doing an exhibition in a museum is a different kind of undertaking , because it involves a different vocabulary . ' Never having done an exhibition , I wanted to learn all I could from Olivier Saillard and his team . We had two options : either to be historical and do a very academic retrospective with a succession of dates or to follow our feelings , to love and admire the clothes , touch the visitors ' heart through the sheer beauty of these garments , and finish the exhibition kind of up on a cloud . ' I think we have managed to create an exhibition around the dream of fashion . What I am hoping for is to hear the visitors say "" I love Jeanne Lanvin "" . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4865210,5211,"The Kansas City Chiefs rolled into the divisional round of the playoffs as the hottest team in the . They ' re limping out as a team that was merely close to being a contender . Kansas City ended the regular season with 10 consecutive wins and just blew out the Houston Texans 30 0 on Wild Card Weekend . Against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots , however , the Chiefs simply weren ' t good enough . Kansas City certainly made the game competitive . Despite lacking an array of playmaking offensive weapons , Alex Smith and Co . managed to overcome a 21 6 deficit and pull within a touchdown late . Unfortunately , some awful clock management by head coach Andy Reid derailed the Chiefs ' comeback chances . The issues first started in the opening half , when the Chiefs were forced to burn two early timeouts in order to get the offense properly set . In fact , Reid used the first two timeouts on Kansas City ' s opening drive ? a drive that yielded a mere field goal . This created problems at the end of the first half , when the Chiefs had the ball inside Patriots territory at the two minute warning . Kansas City moved from the New England 46 to the New England 11 in just three plays , but it was forced to take its final timeout there with 40 seconds remaining . A scramble by Smith , a spiked ball and a couple of incomplete passes forced the Chiefs to settle for another field goal attempt just before the half . Had the Chiefs even had one more timeout , they might have been able to settle the offense and get a better chance of reaching the end zone . ? Instead of potentially heading into the break down just 14 10 , the Chiefs went in down 14 6 . Clock management was an even bigger issue late in the second half , when the Chiefs got the football with 6 : 29 remaining and facing a two touchdown deficit . ? It took nearly four minutes to move the ball near the goal line , but the Chiefs reached a goal to go opportunity from the 1 yard line with three minutes remaining . Now , it ' s hard to truly criticize the Chiefs for taking a while to get to this point . A banged up Jeremy Maclin was out of the game , and the Patriots were doing an excellent job of limiting star tight end Travis Kelce , who finished with ? just 23 receiving yards . "" We went hurry up offense , "" Reid said of the drive , per Media ' s Conor Orr . "" We do that normally when we ' re down by two scores . Time was of the essence . We got down to the one yard line and we end up going backwards . "" What happened at the 1 yard line was inexcusable . The Chiefs reached the New England 1 yard line on a 19 yard pass from Smith to Albert Wilson . Wilson didn ' t get out of bounds or into the end zone , and the Chiefs ran just one play between Wilson ' s reception and the two minute warning . That play was a one yard loss on a run by Charcandrick West . Reid could have called a timeout ( the Chiefs had all three this time ) , called for a spike or even a pass to the end zone to squeeze more plays in before the two minute clock stoppage . He didn ' t , and by the time West finally did find the end zone , there was just 1 : 13 remaining . Even though the Chiefs ? still ? had all three timeouts , they essentially had no choice but to go for the onside kick after the score . That failed , New England earned a first down , and time ran out . Even if Kansas City had forced a three and out , they likely would have faced terrible field position after a New England punt . Had they scored on the opposite side of the two minute warning , kicker Cairo Santos could have attempted a traditional kickoff and the Chiefs could have at least been playing for decent field position . Had the Chiefs scored a touchdown in the first half , they might have even been playing to find field goal range . The way things unfolded , Kansas City was almost dead in the water when it scored for the last time . The end result was a 27 20 loss and the death of an impressive winning streak . Now , to be fair , the Chiefs were facing an uphill battle throughout the second half . Yet the culprit for the disappointing finish is definitely Andy Reid . "" Andy Reid and clock management go together as well as Peyton Manning and cold weather games , "" Chris Chase of ? Today wrote during the regular season . He isn ' t wrong . This isn ' t the first time Reid ' s clock management has cost his team , and it probably won ' t be the last . ? The most famous example is easily his mismanagement in Super Bowl , as Jim Trotter of ESPNweblink was quick to point out : The lack of urgency and poor clock management reminds me of another time an Andy Reid coached team played the Patriots . At the end of that game , Reid ' s Philadelphia Eagles wasted nearly four minutes while cutting their deficit from 10 to three points , not leaving enough time to mount a comeback . A more recent example can be found earlier this season against the Denver Broncos . ? At the end of that Week 2 matchup , Reid ' s Chiefs were at home in a tied ballgame with just 36 seconds remaining and one timeout . Instead of kneeling to go to overtime or attempting a safe , quick pass that might result in reaching field goal range , Reid called for a run that was destined to go nowhere from the beginning . This was the end result : ! ! Broncos Win Chiefs lose on a fumble at end of game ! ! ! CSGazetteSports weblink : t . co skWBxX7Pqo Obviously , Saturday ' s gaffe proved more costly than the Broncos miscue because Kansas City had an opportunity to extend its winning streak and appear in the title game . It wasn ' t as costly as the mismanagement that cost Reid ' s Eagles a realistic shot at a Lombardi Trophy , but just try telling that to Chiefs fans right about now . Their team went on one heck of a run and deserve the most sincere of congratulations . It ' s just a shame that Reid ' s boneheadedness caused it to come to such a flat end . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4875245,5246,"Filed Under : Donald Trump , Iowa Caucuses , Ted Cruz , 31 : Republican presidential candidate Sen . Ted Cruz ( R ) greets Iowa voters before speaking at the Iowa State Fairgrounds January 31 , 2016 in Des Moines , Iowa . The U . S . presidential election kicks off tomorrow with voters taking part in the Iowa Caucus . , Iowa ( ) ? Ted Cruz sealed a victory in the Republican Iowa caucuses Monday , winning on the strength of his relentless campaigning and support from his party s most conservative wing . The victory in the first Republican primary contest ensures that Cruz will be a force in the presidential race for weeks to come ? if not longer . The first term Texas senator now heads to New Hampshire as an undisputed favorite of the furthest right voters , a position of strength for drawing in evangelical voters and others who prioritize an abrupt break with President Barack Obama s policies . Perhaps most importantly , Cruz s win denied Donald Trump a huge opportunity to gain momentum heading into New Hampshire . Trump parlayed his fame as a billionaire real estate mogul and reality television star into large rallies and national poll numbers that before Monday night had established him as the Republican front runner . But Trump , who campaigned on the concept of being a winner , failed to come in first . He was battling for position with Florida Sen . Marco Rubio , who has worked for a strong enough showing to help cement his status as the favorite of mainstream Republican voters who worry that Cruz and Trump are too caustic to win the November general election . The Texas senator visited all 99 of Iowa s counties ? and convinced voters that he would deliver on promises to end Obamacare and use extensive aerial bombing campaigns to stop Islamic State militants in the Middle East . Cruz backer Shane VanderHart , 43 , of Pleasant Hill , Iowa , said he believes Cruz will actually repeal the health insurance program introduced by Obama in 2010 , a longtime pledge by Republican candidates . When he says he s going to repeal it , I believe him because he s followed through on his campaign promises in the Senate , VanderHart said . Michael Napuunoa , 25 , an electrician from Des Moines , said he liked Cruz s promise to strengthen the military and fight terrorism . He may not be as aggressive as Trump , Napuuona said . But I don t want a hothead . I want a man who s going to get the job done and not kill everyone in the process . The Iowa results have already narrowed an unusually crowded Republican field , with a number of candidates struggling to achieve the turnout needed to continue . Former Arkansas Gov . Mike Huckabee ended his campaign Monday night . caucus goers were overwhelmingly motivated by their frustration with the government . Nine out of 10 Republican voters said they re angry or dissatisfied with Washington . Among conservative caucus goers , the entrance poll showed Cruz was the top choice . Trump fared best with moderates . Caucus goers who said they were somewhat conservative were split between Rubio and Trump . Monday s contest provided hard evidence that Trump could not easily turn the legion of fans drawn to his adversarial populism into voters . The scope of the billionaire s organization in Iowa was a mystery , though Trump himself had intensified his campaign schedule during the final sprint . Meanwhile , former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush , New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie and Ohio Gov . John Kasich barely register in recent Iowa polls . The governors are banking instead on strong showings in New Hampshire s Feb . 9 primary to jumpstart their White House bids . ( ? Copyright 2016 The Associated Press . All Rights Reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed . ) ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4885262,5263,"A defector from North Korea is cautioning against underestimating Kim Jong Un when it comes to nuclear weapons and he says President Donald Trump may be key to stopping him.Song Byeok escaped from the North in 2002 and currently resides in South Korea. In a new interview, he told The Independent the threat of nuclear war is real as long as Kim Jong-un is in power. I think Kim Jong Un could wage nuclear war if his power is threatened and that is why he needs to be removed as soon as possible, he said.The 48-year-old defector used to create propaganda art for the regime, now he creates protest work. AoLThese pictures show the inside of Pyongyang s 360ft deep metro system that will double up as a nuclear bunker if war breaks out between North Korea and the US.Images show commuters using the world s deepest underground train system which includes two lines with a combined length of 18 miles beneath North Korea s capital.Construction work on the Pyongyang Metro started in 1968 and was inaugurated in 1973 by Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of current dictator Kim Jong-un.Watch this fascinating look into North Korea by photographer Andrew McLeod: And while it is usually busy with commuters, the depth of the subway system means citizens could also use it as a shelter should tensions between North Korea and America boil over into full-scale war.The trains are old carriages from Germany which were bought up by North Korea in 1999 as they were heading for the scrap heap. Pyongyang now claims the trains were built in North Korea, but despite attempts to conceal their origin, some old graffiti tags can be seen on the carriages.French photographer Eric Lafforgue captured these images during a trip to the hermit state and said there were only 17 stations on two lines.He said the fare was the equivalent of half a cent You have to validate your ticket at one of these automatic machines. But they did not work the day I visited. Instead, a train attendant checked was checking the tickets by hand.For entire story: Daily Mail ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past4895267,5268,"Talks with Pak : That Sharif , Army and are on same page is worth nothing , India needs more by Bikram Vohra ? Jan 9 , 2016 16 : 42 India Pakistan relations ? InMyOpinion ? ? Jaish e Mohammad ? Narendra Modi ? Nawaz Sharif ? Pathankot attacks ? Uh oh , there they go again , just as one feared . Pakistan has opted to employ verbal band aids and ointment to sandpaper India ? ? ? s abrasions after Pathankot . ? ? That ? ? ? s all it is and nothing more when we read headlines like Pakistan prime minister , Army chief and head have all condemned the attack . It is too much to expect New Delhi to find grand virtue in the fact that the three of them are on the same page . Condemnation cuts no ice , it is a cheap commodity and you can buy it by the bushel in the political firmament . And this togetherness is of no direct concern to India and , in itself , utterly pointless . Prime Minister Narendra Modi is received by his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif upon his arrival in Lahore . Twitter MEAIndia This was going to be the sticky part when we gave the ultimatum demanding action . ? ? Even that possibly orchestrated ? ? ? flame and fury ? ? ? from the JeM ? ? ? s Maulana Masood Azhar indicting the Sharif government for ? ? ? bowing ? ? ? to India could well be theatrics on order . Where is Nawaz Sharif bowing to India ? There has to be something more tangible than just agreement that terrorism is a very bad thing . The next step , if one estimates the direction that Islamabad is taking , is to suggest a meeting of the two national security advisors ( NSAs ) so that the issue can be discussed and a combined operation mooted . That is a nice way of bringing the currently frozen agenda back to life and yet , giving nothing away . Now , if this collective will is the first of several steps we should keep the door open just a tad , not much , just a chink to see if some light falls in . Can Nawaz Sharif say ' sorry ' ? It is a simple word but without it there is not even a starting point . Without it being on record India gets no starting point . There is also a concern , and it is not an idle one , that Pakistan ? ? ? s machine will try to move the blame onto India . It is your cop who was corrupt . It is your people who aided the terrorists . It is your forces that were inept . You guard against it . We can conduct our own investigation and shore up the weak spots but let it not put us on the back foot . The evidence is stark . There can be no surrender on the demand that Pakistan ? ? ? s authorities make an admission . . And we have to be very clear that without that acknowledgement mere announcements of intent do not have the traction for India to revert to cordiality . There has to be more , much more . Modi should wait till Monday and then exercise his options and not pander . What Pakistan would want is to create the illusion that it is ready to talk and be accommodating but it is India who is being petulant and sulky and not coming to the negotiating trouble . Seen in isolation , the fact that Nawaz Sharif ? ? ? s government , the army and the are on the same page is of no value to India . If this is the only offer , New Delhi must throw away the book and write its own script . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past4905289,5290,"Emmanuel Adebayor launched an extraordinary attack on Tottenham supporters this week and claimed the players are no longer made to feel welcome at White Hart Lane . The striker , who took an extra minute to come on as a substitute in the 2 1 defeat by Stoke because he decided to change his boots when he was waiting to get on , insists the atmosphere is negative . We asked Dan Kilpatrick , editor of The Tottenham Way , for his views on Adebayor ' s comments . Emmanuel Adebayor is the worst possible Tottenham player to criticise Spurs fans . But that ' s not to say the striker doesn ' t have a point . Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor launched a scathing attack on the Spurs supporters this week Adebayor said players would rather be away from home after fans opted to boo during the defeat to Stoke The attacked may have a point about the Tottenham support but it ' s not what supporters want to hear Even when he was scoring under Harry Redknapp and saluting under Tim Sherwood , fans could never fully embrace Adebayor . He scored against Spurs too often for Arsenal and is , unfairly in my opinion , viewed as more of a mercenary than other players in the Tottenham squad . There ' s also a feeling again unfair and perpetuated by pundits that a player earning so much cash should always be performing better . With one or two exceptions , the entire squad has been abysmal under Mauricio Pochettino but Ade is often singled out , slammed for his ' lazy ' , ' feckless ' displays ahead of other more popular players , who are just as deserving of criticism . It ' s therefore no surprise Ade ' s claim that the squad is afraid to play at home because of the negative atmosphere has ruffled some feathers . Tottenham have been abysmal under new boss Mauricio Pochettino and were embarrassed by Stoke Stoke frontman Jon Walters scored the Potters ' second as they clinched all three points in north London Adebayor tried his luck with a late header against Stoke but it wasn ' t to be for the Tottenham striker Fans have rightly pointed out that Ade has been rubbish away from home this season , where Spurs arguably have the best fans in the country . Supporters will not take kindly to criticism from a player who is clearly not performing to the best of his ability but , rightly or wrongly , Adebayor was named vice captain by Pochettino and it ' s now his responsibility to speak on behalf of the squad . If his comments had come from Younes Kaboul ' s other deputy , Hugo Lloris , or even from one of the young , homegrown players , the reaction would have been different . Central defender Younes Kaboul leads out his Tottenham team at White Hart Lane ahead of Hugo Lloris And even some of Adebayor ' s critics will have read his remarks and nodded in resigned agreement . There is consensus among Spurs fans that the atmosphere at the Lane is on the decline , which is why the wonderful 1882 movement and others are growing in importance . Fortunately , I didn ' t attend the Stoke match but by all accounts the Lane began as edgy and turned outright poisonous after Stoke ' s opener . Watching on , there was an obvious absence of Tottenham players showing for the ball and ' afraid ' would be an appropriate way to describe the shambolic performance . Whether this is primarily a result of Pochettino ' s instructions or the atmosphere is unclear , but negatively from the terraces can hardly have helped the players . The Tottenham Hotspur players jump in unison during the warm up , but were beaten by the Potters The Tottenham supporters ( pictured observing a minute ' s silence ) turned up in their droves to watch the defeat Fans will point out that they have a right to boo Adebayor and Co when they don ' t appear to be giving their all . But Adebayor ' s introduction on Sunday was , disgustingly , booed before he had a chance to kick a ball . Paying fans have the right to express dissatisfaction in this way but it ' s a bit like the right to freedom of expression we have it , but we shouldn ' t use it to be a total fool . White Hart Lane remains a fabulous old fashioned football ground and when it ' s rocking , there is nowhere better , for me , in the entire country . The current negativity is undoubtedly a chicken and egg situation and if the players show more , the fans will respond . But that ' s not to say Spurs fans are entirely blameless for the club ' s current struggles . Adebayor has made a good point . We just don ' t want to hear it from him . You can follow ' The Tottenham Way ' on Twitter , here . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4915300,5301,"retail giant Amazon is among the seven online food retailers that will soon start accepting food stamps, as part of a pilot program instituted by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). [The program, set to launch this summer, will test online ordering and payment methods. The USDA, which oversees the $74 billion food stamp program, also known as or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, says it plans to expand the online program nationwide and eventually add more retailers. Participating retailers include Safeway, ShopRite, Hart’s Local Grocers, and Dash’s Market, and will serve food stamps recipients in seven states: Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Iowa, and Oregon. However, Amazon is by far the largest online food distributor participating in the federal government’s new program. “Amazon is excited to participate in the online purchasing pilot,” the Seattle, company said in a press release. “We are committed to making food accessible through online grocery shopping, offering all customers the lowest prices possible. ” For years, government watchdog groups have demanded tighter regulations as food stamp fraud remains a common and costly problem. The USDA, seemingly aware of the risks for fraud, says “online payment presents technical and security challenges that will need to be examined and fully addressed before it is offered nationwide. ” News of the USDA’s pilot program comes as a new report reveals Americans used food stamps to buy more than $600 million worth of “sweetened beverages,” and bought hundreds of millions more of junk food and sugary snacks. Overall, $1. 3 billion in food stamps were spent on “sweetened drinks, desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar,” which accounted for about 20 cents of every dollar spent on food items purchased by 26. 5 million households in 2011, according to a recently released report from the USDA. What’s more, the USDA’s plan to allow tens of millions of food stamps recipients to purchase products from Amazon is the latest example of profiting from poverty. Big banks like J. P. Morgan have made millions providing electronic benefits transaction (EBT) services for state governments and their respective food stamps programs. “Since 2004, 18 of 24 states who contract with J. P. Morgan to provide welfare benefits have contracted to pay $560, 492, 596. 02,” an investigation by the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) found. Christopher Paton, the company’s former managing director of treasury services, told Bloomberg News in 2011: This business is a very important business to Morgan. It’s an important business in terms of its size and scale. We also regard it as very important in the sense that we are delivering a very useful social function. We are a key part of this benefit delivery mechanism. Right now volumes have gone through the roof in the past couple of years or so … The good news from Morgan’s perspective is the infrastructure that we built has been able to cope with that increase in volume. Walmart, which wasn’t selected to participate in the pilot program, hopes to be added to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service online purchasing program in the future. “We look forward to working with as they continue to explore this opportunity,” the company said, reports. “We’ve expanded our highly popular online grocery service from five markets to more than 100 markets over the past 18 months in both large and small communities across the country. ” Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson",fake,news,test,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present4925305,5306,"Sky News unveiled a data poll suggesting that Britain is “more racist and less happy” than a year ago, with the supposedly worsening mood framed as a direct consequence of the country voting to leave the European Union (EU) last June. [The findings were reported by Sky News by the broadcaster’s Head of Data, Harry Carr, who previously managed the political polling for Ipsos MORI, a polling organisation which suffered a severe blow to its credibility after putting the probability of Britain voting to Remain in the at 74 per cent. Carr writes that 57 per cent of respondents believe the is more racist than it was 12 months ago, immediately after an allusion to Home Office statistics which claim allegations of crimes motivated by racial or religious hatred are up by 41 per cent. This increase in allegations is likely to have been driven by government policy, which is geared towards positively encouraging an increase in hate crime reporting. The Home Office launched a hate crime action plan in July 2016 in which the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, made it clear the government has been pushing “measures to increase the reporting of hate incidents and crimes”. Past measures have included a scheme launched by the British Transport Police which allows people to register hate crime allegations via text, which logged 32, 500 incidents in its first three years of operation, and the online True Vision portal, which logged 4, 300 hate allegations in . Assistant Chief Constable of the Essex police force, Maurice Mason, admitted some of these reported incidents reported even include “members of the public complaining about Nigel Farage, or whatever … If the person feels it’s a hate crime it will get recorded as a hate crime”. Mason’s comments underline that there is virtually no requirement for evidence of a crime to be presented before a hate incident is logged. The College of Policing’s Hate Crime Operational Guidance manual states that, “For recording purposes, the perception of the victim, or any other person, is the defining factor in determining whether an incident is a hate incident”. The guidance goes on to make it clear that “the victim does not have to justify or provide evidence of their belief, and police officers or staff should not directly challenge this perception. Evidence of the hostility is not required for an incident or crime to be recorded as a hate crime or hate incident. ” The police will take action against false reporting, as when a Muslim woman was fined for lying about being attacked in Birmingham last year, but the guidance is clear that challenging people to substantiate hate crime allegations is generally discouraged. This has not stopped broadcasters and mainstream media outlets such as Sky News from reporting that hate crime has “soared” prominently and repeatedly, which is likely the key factor in the public allegedly perceiving an increase in racism. Another driver for any increase in hate crime, not explored in the Sky News report, is the accelerating pace of mass immigration, with migrants in poorly integrated minority communities harbouring racist attitudes towards the majority population themselves. Police Scotland conceded that white Britons were the most likely victims of racist attacks towards the end of 2015, a widely unreported phenomenon. Sir Peter Fahy, former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, has been reported as saying that it is “a fact that it [is] harder to get the media interested where murder victims [are] young white men. ” Broadcasters have come under strong criticism for their failure to report such crimes in the past, with the acknowledging it “underplayed” the murder of Kriss Donald by a Pakistani gang in Scotland’s first ever race hate killing. Biased, negative media coverage following the Brexit vote, such as that uncovered at the by researchers at News Watch, will also have played a part in any increasing apprehensions about the future. Sky Data did not believe that voters would back Brexit if they thought it would damage the economy before the referendum, which would seem to contradict its new report suggesting most members of the public believe it will. Sky’s previous survey also indicated that “Brits do not think the will be less respected on the world stage if it leaves the EU” that Britain gets “a raw deal” from the compared to France and Germany, and that immigration “undermines British culture and values”.",true,news,test,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4935310,5311,"Three grey men in grey T shirts delivered a grey document on Thursday aimed at redefining the England football team as something a little less bulldog and a little more greyhound . Billed as ' England : Evolving . Developing . Winning ' , it is the product of 12 months of hiring and firing and restructuring behind the scenes by Dan Ashworth , the ' s director of elite development and will involve giving the players memory chip wristbands which they can access back at their clubs so they can remember the work they have done with their country . Ashworth has kept his profile low since replacing Sir Trevor Brooking in this role , busily putting things in place and this was his coming out party , formalising the power shift behind the scenes . Dan Ashworth ( right ) , the ' s director of elite development , pictured with England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate revealed the ' England ' blueprint on Thursday He presented the document with U21 manager Gareth Southgate and head of player and coach development Matt Crocker , recruited from Southampton , where the prolific Academy is under the authority of Les Reed , former technical director of the , who once worked with Howard Wilkinson to produce a document very like this one . Ashworth has busily created a new blueprint aimed at redefining the England national team The irony must have been lost somewhere between Wembley and St George ' s Park , where Ashworth will extend his vision to 1 , 500 coaches from the ' s Licensed Coaches ' Club who will gather , over the weekend . It is simply a collection of commonsense ideas committed to print after thorough research , including studies into how other nations do things six in Europe and three in South America . It may help coaches at all levels to have a point of reference about what the international teams are striving for , and it may help players of different ages to have a memory stick on a wristband which reminds them of what playing for England is about , should they chose to plug it into their laptop or tablet . But , in truth , this is another largely underwhelming document trying to be all things to as many people as possible , without causing offence . Ashworth ' s team want England want to break from the traditional blood and sweat , but not forget about it . They want to work with the clubs , but want more players to be released by clubs to boost experience on an international stage . If they want the ' golden thread ' to run through the youth ranks to the senior team , the release of players by the clubs is the key . We will see how Southgate gets on when he selects a squad for the U21 Euros next year . It is hoped the ideas may help coaches at all levels have a point of reference about what the international team is striving for To increase the number of times a player samples international football , Ashworth has introduced U15 , U18 and U20 age groups . At some expense , the U20s have a full programme of fixtures , but will not play a competitively until 2017 at the earliest , since they have not qualified for next year ' s World Cup in New Zealand . They want players to be comfortable with the ball and without it . They want them to be tactically aware and flexible and technically adept . They want them to ' intelligently dominate possession ' . They want pride and passion and they want high standards of behaviour . Who doesn ' t ? The will provide a clear coaching plan focusing on eight positions on the field and phases of play and the best care and support . They took a teacher with the squad to the U17 Euros in Malta , this year to help four players taking GCSEs . Chelsea ' s Dominic Solanke even stayed in Malta to sit an exam on the day his team mates travelled home . Chelsea ' s Dominic Solanke stayed in Malta to sit an exam during a trip with the England Under 17 squad The principles are admirable . Most of it has been heard before in different guises . England boasted they were the best prepared team at the World Cup in Brazil . They were also among the first to leave for home . Ultimately , what England need to win a World Cup is more and better players . Ashworth admits 90 per cent of player development in England is done by the clubs , which leaves him addressing the final 10 per cent , which adapts them for international football . The Premier League is two years into their Elite Player Performance Plan , their own pathway to more and better home grown footballers . They all claim to consult closely , but do they , really ? Clouding the issue further is the commission launched by chairman Greg Dyke with a view to creating an England team capable of winning the World Cup in 2022 , by recommending feeder clubs . And a Code of Conduct , introduced by Dyke ' s predecessor David Bernstein , to improve behaviour . Blueprints we have aplenty . And now we have another . Or is it grey ? ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present4945315,5316,"Celtic have turned up the heat ahead of a potentially fraught League Cup final by slamming the ' s decision to let Dundee United midfielder Calum Butcher play in Sunday ' s Hampden showpiece . The Englishman escaped a red card after referee Craig Thomson sent off team mate Paul Paton instead in an apparent case of mistaken identity during a stormy Scottish Cup quarter final . That decision will be the subject of an appeal tribunal on Wednesday , when Celtic will also challenge the red administered to defender Virgil van Dijk following his clash with Butcher last Sunday . Celtic have slammed the ' s decision to let Dundee United ' s Calum Butcher play in the League Cup final Celtic will challenge the red shown to defender Virgil van Dijk following his clash with Butcher last Sunday United ' s Nadir Ciftci already banned from the Hampden showpiece faces a further two match suspension for violent conduct after kicking out at Parkhead skipper Scott Brown . But Celtic are furious that Butcher will be free to play in the final , even if Paton is found to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice . A club statement read : ' It seems completely illogical and fundamentally unfair that , in an incident where mistaken identity has been claimed , the Dundee United player now identified as being involved appears to have no case to answer and would be available to play in the League Cup Final and the Scottish Cup replay between the teams while Celtic ' s player ( van Dijk ) may potentially miss both of those matches . ' Celtic and Virgil van Dijk maintain their position that no red card offence was committed by Virgil . Virgil will appear at Hampden to put his case on Thursday and we will fully support him in this appeal . ' United refused to comment publicly on Tuesday night , but are privately furious at some of Celtic ' s comments . Brown , meanwhile , has escaped retrospective punishment for his tackle on Ciftci . The United striker lashed out in retaliation at the Scotland midfielder before van Dijk and United ' s Paton were controversially dismissed by Thomson on the advice of assistant Graham Chambers . Celtic ' s Scott Brown accused Dundee United forward Nadir Ciftci of ' blatantly ' kicking him in the head There will be no action against Tannadice winger Aiden Connolly , however , despite claims by Celtic the youngster dived to win a penalty in the Scottish Cup stalemate . Expressing relief that Brown has been cleared to play on Sunday , team mate Stefan Johansen said the had reached the right decision in that regard . ' I saw the tackle from Broony , ' said the Norwegian . ' It was just a tackle and everything else was just a lot of players around it . ' He would have been a big loss but I didn ' t think that was going to happen . He is the captain and means a lot to the team . We could see how important he is to the team when he was out at the start of the season . He ' s a great player and a fantastic captain . He gives it out but he takes it back . That is part of his game . It ' s not only him in this league who makes hard tackles . ' The failure to penalise Brown ' s challenge was blamed by United boss Jackie McNamara for sparking the incident which saw Ciftci lash out with his boot . Offered a fast track two match ban by the compliance officer , Ciftci has until 3pm today to respond to the complaint . If he declines , a Fast Track Tribunal will convene tomorrow . Failure to win his appeal would see the striker miss the Scottish Cup replay with Celtic and the subsequent Premiership clash between the sides . Despite rising tensions , Johansen believes the League Cup final will not go the same way as the Scottish Cup tie which was the first of what will now be four games between the teams in a short period . ' It was a weird game , with three red cards and two penalties , ' he said . ' It affects the game , of course , but I think it will be different this time . I don ' t think what happened on Sunday will affect the final . It ' s a new game and a trophy is at stake for the winners . ' I am just focusing on ourselves . If we go out and play the way we can then we have a great chance . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past4955322,5323,"Defending Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has been forced out of this year ' s race due to an ongoing knee condition , the Briton ' s Sky Pro Cycling team announced on Friday . Wiggins , the first British rider to win cycling ' s most prestigious event , withdrew from the Giro d ' Italia with a chest infection on May 18 and he was scheduled to rest and train as well as receive treatment on his knee . But the seven time Olympic medalist , who has also withdrawn from the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de Suisse , has now ran out of time to adequately prepare for the Tour de France , which begins on the island of Corsica on June 29 . "" It ' s a huge disappointment not to make the Tour . I desperately wanted be there , for the team and for all the fans along the way but it ' s not going to happen , "" the 33 year old told Sky Pro Cycling ' s official website . "" I can ' t train the way I need to train and I ' m not going to be ready . Once you accept that , it ' s almost a relief not having to worry about the injury and the race against time . "" I ' ve been through this before , when I broke my collarbone , so I know how it works . I ' ll get this sorted , set new goals for this season and focus on those . "" Team principal Dave Brailsford expressed disappointment at the news , although it had already been confirmed Wiggins would play second fiddle to compatriot Chris Froome at this year ' s Tour . "" With illness , injury and treatment Brad has gone past the point where he can be ready for the Tour , "" said Brailsford , who is also performance director of British Cycling . "" It ' s a big loss but , given these circumstances , we won ' t consider him for selection . "" He hasn ' t been able to train hard since the Giro and now he needs further rest . Whilst we all know these things happen in sport , it doesn ' t take away from the fact that this is a huge disappointment for everyone in the team and above all for Brad . ' "" It ' s incredibly sad to have the reigning champion at Team Sky but not lining up at the Tour . But he ' s a champion , a formidable athlete and will come back winning as he has before . "" Team doctor Richard Freeman said Wiggins had completely recovered from his chest infection , but his knee was worse than first thought . "" "" The chest infection that caused his withdrawal from the Giro has responded to treatment and rest . It has completely cleared up , "" explained Freeman . "" However , further medical investigations on the knee injury that we were managing at the Giro showed the condition was more significant than we thought . "" It has needed intensive treatment and , whilst it will be fully resolved , Bradley now needs to rest completely for five days before a gradual , return to full training over a period of two to three weeks . "" Wiggins was set to play a supporting role to Sky ' s lead rider Froome at this year ' s Tour . Kenyan born Froome finished second in last year ' s race and is one of the favorites to take the yellow jersey in 2013 . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4965327,5328,"The first commercial supply mission by Orbital Sciences Corp . ' s unmanned Cygnus spacecraft has docked at the International Space Station , said Sunday . Crew members on the will open the hatch Monday and unload 2 , 780 pounds of supplies and experiments , the news release said . With the mission , Orbital officially joins SpaceX as a resupply carrier to the space station . Orbital successfully tested a spacecraft with a smaller payload in mid September . "" From the men and women involved in the design , integration and test , to those who launched the Antares ( rocket ) and operated the Cygnus , our whole team has performed at a very high level for our customer , and I am very proud of their extraordinary efforts , "" said David W . Thompson , president and chief executive officer of Orbital , in a written statement from the company . The experiments sent up to the six crew members include one that will study how different fuel samples burn in microgravity , which could help designers select future spacecraft materials . The ship took off from ' s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia on Thursday aboard an Antares rocket . A previous attempt at launch was scrubbed in December because the crew needed time to conduct spacewalks for repairs . It took two hours Sunday morning for the crew to grab the spaceship and attach it to the . The Cygnus craft will be berthed for 37 days before being loaded with trash and sent back to Earth , Orbital said . It will burn up during re entry over the Pacific Ocean , officials said . Orbital has a 1 . 9 billion contract with to make eight flights to the space station under the space agency ' s commercial supply program . hired Orbital and SpaceX to start making cargo runs to the space station after retiring its fleet of space shuttles and turning much of its focus toward exploring deep into the solar system . SpaceX has so far made two of its 12 scheduled flights to the under a 1 . 6 billion contract . According to ' s 2014 launch calendar , its next flight is due to launch on February 22 from Cape Canaveral in Florida . Orbital ' s next mission is scheduled for May 1 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4975345,5346,"California Jay Leno says immediacy is key to his new show , and he should have plenty of it for his prime time premiere Monday , when Kanye West is a musical guest . Kanye West , center , with girlfriend Amber Rose and actor Tracy Morgan at the 2009 VMAs . The rapper created a fan and artist uprising Sunday night when he jumped onstage at ' s Video Music Awards to hijack singer Taylor Swift ' s acceptance speech . Leno could reprise his 1995 ratings grabbing moment when he asked actor Hugh Grant , "" What were you thinking ? "" Grant had been arrested two weeks earlier for public lewd conduct with a Hollywood hooker . West placed a written apology on his Web site "" I ' m sooooo sorry "" but "" The Jay Leno Show "" could be the place and time for a more personal and public mea culpa . Watch the details on West ' s appearance Leno ' s publicist confirmed Monday that West was still booked for the show , which tapes just three hours before it airs in the eastern United States at 10 p . m . West was booked by Leno weeks ago to perform with two other hip hop superstars : Rihanna and Jay Z . Some drama may center around how West and Jay Z get along onstage . Jay Z ' s wife , singer Beyonce Knowles , was perhaps the most embarrassed by his outburst . Swift , a 19 year old country pop singer , was in the midst of her acceptance speech for the Best Female Video award when West rushed onstage and took her microphone . He then let loose an outburst on behalf of Beyonce , who was one of several artists who lost out to Swift . Although Beyonce appeared stunned as she watched from the front row , she gracefully recovered near the end of the show , when she was onstage to accept an award of her own . "" I remember being 17 years old , up for my first award with Destiny ' s Child , and it was one of the most exciting moments of my life , "" she said , referring to the girl group with which she had her start . "" So I would like for Taylor to come out and have her moment . "" West ' s online apology appeared soon after . "" I ' m sooooo sorry to Taylor Swift and her fans and her mom , "" the message said in all caps . "" I spoke to her mother right after and she said the same thing my mother would ' ve said . She is very talented ! . . . I ' m in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment ! "" said the West Swift incident was not planned , a point it had to stress after a walkout by singer Eminem at last year ' s event turned out to be staged . Staged or not , apologies from celebrities behaving badly have been good for Leno ' s ratings . When Grant told Leno "" I did a bad thing , "" it gave Leno ' s "" Tonight Show "" a viewership bump that has been credited with solidifying his lead over rival David Letterman in the late night ratings war . This is just the kind of "" immediacy "" Leno was talking about in a call with reporters last week . "" The idea here is that we ' ll tape a new , fresh show every single day , talking about the events that happened that day that night , "" Leno said . West , Rihanna and Jay Z will debut Leno ' s new approach to musical guests . They will be limited to one song , and most nights they ' ll share the stage with other stars . "" What we ' re trying to do is put together acts that you don ' t normally see together or don ' t normally perform together , "" Leno said . Jerry Seinfeld will also appear on Leno ' s premiere Monday . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past4985348,5349,"Judge Deals Blow To Bill Cosby In Criminal Case The first criminal charge against Cosby can now move forward . 02 03 2016 06 : 21 pm Updated 5 hours ago A judge on Wednesday , Feb . 3 , 2016 ruled against Bill Cosby ' s plea to have criminal charges against him thrown out . ? A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday rejected entertainer Bill Cosby ' s request ? to dismiss the only criminal charge against him and said comments the entertainer once made about an alleged sexual attack can be used by the prosecution in court . The ruling by Judge Steven O ' Neill in the Philadelphia suburb of Montgomery County was a stinging defeat for Cosby ' s defense to the aggravated indecent assault charge . The case may now go forward , with the next step a preliminary hearing to determine if the prosecution has enough evidence for a trial . ? Cosby , 78 , was arrested in December on charges he ? drugged and molested then Temple University women ' s basketball assistant Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004 . It s the ? only criminal case to result from claims by roughly 50 women who ve said they were sexually violated in some form by Cosby in alleged incidents going back to the 1960s . A previous district attorney said there wasn ' t enough evidence to prosecute him then . But newly elected Montgomery County Kevin Steele followed through on a campaign promise to reexamine Constand s accusation . The hearing over Cosby ' s contested sworn deposition began on Tuesday with seven hours of testimony . Cosby ' s attorneys argued Steele relied on evidence that shouldn t be admitted in a criminal case , namely , depositions from 2005 and 2006 he gave as part of a civil lawsuit Constand filed against him . Under questioning then , Cosby admitted giving pills to Constand to "" take some of the stress away "" before he lifted her bra and slid a hand into her pants . The depositions conflict with statements Cosby made to authorities when they initially looked into Constand ' s accusation . Constand and Cosby later reached a settlement out of court . Portions of the depositions became public in July , when a judge unsealed documents from Constand s lawsuit against Cosby . Cosby ' s deposition shouldn ' t be used , the defense said , because Cosby only agreed to testify in the lawsuit after then District Attorney Bruce Castor said he wouldn ' t prosecute the entertainer . Castor testified on Tuesday as a defense witness . Castor said he believed that Cosby inappropriately touched Constand , but doubted a jury would convict him . He also testified that he hoped his decision not to press charges against Cosby would encourage him to answer questions in Constand s lawsuit . An attorney for Cosby testified that he only let Cosby answer questions in the deposition because of oral assurances from Castor that there would be no criminal case . Those conversations don t amount to an enforceable agreement because they weren t written down and approved by a judge , Steele argued . Judge O ' Neill sounded skeptical as well , questioning Castor about why the agreement wasn ' t put in writing , Philadelphia reported . ? ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past4995356,5357,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s proposals to slash federal aid to the poor, the sick and people living in rural areas reflect conservatives’ demands for a smaller federal government but target many of the very people who voted for him last November. In his first detailed budget submission to Congress on Tuesday, Trump requested major reductions to programs that help poor families afford groceries and poor and disabled people get healthcare. Job training for unemployed coal miners would be threatened and drug treatment programs would face cuts at a time when heroin and prescription pill addictions are tearing at rural America. Subsidies for commercial air travel in rural areas would be cut by more than half. The White House said many of the proposed cuts were aimed at ineffective programs and that the savings were needed to help balance the budget in 10 years and finance increased spending for defense and other programs. Some Republicans in Congress cheered Trump’s budget. Representative Mark Meadows, who heads the House of Representatives’ hard-right Freedom Caucus, called it “a great step forward” for conservatives, adding: “It’s all about economic growth.” But many other Republican lawmakers, seeing a budget they think will be tough to sell back home, greeted it warily. “These cuts that are being proposed are draconian. They’re not mere savings. They’re really deep, deep cuts,” said Republican Representative Hal Rogers, whose eastern Kentucky district relies heavily on federal aid. Trump trounced Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election in Kentucky, 63 percent to 33 percent, winning every region except the urban Louisville and Lexington areas. Rogers, a 36-year congressman, said the Republican president remained popular in his district, but added: “We have not yet had a chance to see how (voters) will react to his budget proposals.” It is unclear if the Republican-controlled House and Senate will be able to pass a budget blueprint for the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1. Democratic votes would also likely be needed to pass the fiscal 2018 spending bills needed to carry out budget priorities. But the proposed reductions could trigger a backlash for Republicans, complicating efforts to keep control of the U.S. Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. Trump’s own base of political support also could be undermined. Republican Representative Tom Cole, who represents an Oklahoma district that the Almanac of American Politics described as “countrified,” predicted “Congress would look at some of those things differently” from the Trump administration’s budget. Cole oversees spending on health and social welfare programs as chairman of a House Appropriations panel and has a medical research facility important to his district that relies on federal funding. “The National Institutes of Health is not likely to be cut. I think (Centers for Disease Control) is not likely to be cut. I think that is ill-advised personally,” Cole told reporters. Atop Rogers’ list of worries is Trump’s proposed elimination of the $146 million Appalachian Regional Commission that has helped bring projects such as job training to unemployed coal miners, a broadband technology center to Kentucky and high-tech medical equipment to impoverished regions. The food stamp program, which helps low-income and disabled people buy groceries, would be reduced by $200 billion over 10 years. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, bedrock Republican states that Trump won have long food-stamp rolls: 3.8 million people in Texas, 682,077 in Vice President Mike Pence’s home state of Indiana, 815,000 in Alabama and 1.6 million in Georgia, for example. Trump got broad support in last November’s election in counties with high numbers of white voters who receive food stamps. He was victorious in 991 of the 1,093 counties studied by the U.S. Census Bureau where the percentage of white households receiving food stamps exceeds the national average. Overall, according to a Reuters analysis, states would see federal aid shrink under the proposals by 3 percent in the next fiscal year, with cuts falling more heavily on states that voted for Clinton. States that voted for Trump would see federal aid decline by 1.2 percent, while those that supported Clinton would collectively see a drop of 4.8 percent. Liberal California would be hit hardest, with a 9.8 percent drop. Kentucky, a conservative state that signed on to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, would also be hit hard, with assistance dropping by 9.7 percent. Some Republican lawmakers welcomed the budget cuts. “I think we’re way over in the number of people who have been able to qualify for food stamps,” said John Carter, who represents a central Texas district. Trump’s proposed budget cuts would help pay for a 10 percent buildup in defense spending for next year, and help finance a wall on the southwest border that Trump previously had promised would be paid for by Mexico, something the Mexican government has adamantly said it will not do. The Medicaid healthcare plan for the poor is slated for about an $800 billion cut, reversing the expansion that former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, brought to Republican states like West Virginia, Arkansas and Kentucky with large populations of poor people. “Most of the (budget) cuts will focus on programs for low- income folks and public investments,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which pushes for long-term fixes to Washington’s debt problems. Levi Russell, spokesman for Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group backed by billionaire Charles Koch, applauded Trump’s call to balance the budget within 10 years, cut taxes and roll back regulations - moves he said would stimulate job growth. “It sends all of the right signals for the first time in nearly a decade - a budget that actually is focused on the best interests of the American taxpayer rather than what’s popular in Washington,” he said. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past5005367,5368,"A mine exploded Monday on a road in southern Somalia , killing four people three members of the medical humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres and a journalist . Ongoing violence in Somalia has devastated the capital Mogadishu . The incident occurred Monday along a road in Kismayo , the group said . Victor Okumu , 51 , a Kenyan doctor Damien Lehalle , 27 , a French logistician and a Somali driver named Billan were the workers who were killed . Another member of the team was slightly wounded , the group said in a posting on its Web site . "" The exact circumstances of this fatal incident are not yet clear , "" the posting said . Also killed was journalist Hassan Kafi Hared , 36 . The remote controlled mine erupted as he was walking to a news conference in Siyad Village in northern Kismayu , said the National Union of Somali Journalists ( ) . He was working for the government run Somali National News Agency and a Somali Web site called gedonetweblink . He is survived by a wife and three children . "" This is a targeted attack and we declare that this brutal killing on the journalist and the aid workers is an attack on the society itself , "" said Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman , in a news release . "" We demand that transitional government and the authorities in Kismayu to identify the culprits of this crime and bring them to justice "" he said . The medical humanitarian organization said it was evacuating remaining international members of it staff from Kismayu . Hared is the second journalist to be killed this year , according to the Committee to Protect Journalists . The first , 38 year old Norwegian reporter Carsten Thomassen , died Jan . 15 in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul . In a written statement , a representative of U . N . Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said he condemned the killings and "" demands a thorough investigation by the authorities . "" E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5015382,5383,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 | 9 every Wednesday. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Randy J of 21Wire, Jay Dyer from Jays Analysis, Branko Malic of Kali Tribune fame and Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East. Tonight the Boiler Gang is in celebration mode as we ve hit our one year broadcast anniversary, accolades will be given, classic clips will be played and new analysis will be found on Brussels, Syria, Palmyra We re going over media fakery with Jay Dyer an the crew, be it in Brussels, Paris, Boston or San Bernardino. If you want to participate, bring something interesting to throw into the boiler Join us in the chat room. A ZONE! ENJOY! LINKS:",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present5025384,5385,"yet another statue of a military hero is reportedly under fire. This figure astride a horse was vandalized with the spray-painted words Tear It Down .Who was this historical figure? General Lee? Stonewall Jackson? Nathan Bedford Forrest?No, this was a figure who hails from the north.Of France:The phrase Tear it Down was hastily sprayed in black paint across the base of the golden Joan of Arc statue on Decatur Street in the French Quarter sometime earlier this week. It has since been removed, with only the vaguest traces of the paint remaining. The Tear it Down tag would seem to relate to the debate surrounding the city s ongoing removal of four Confederate monuments. But the statue of Joan of Arc, a 15th-century military leader, martyr and Catholic saint, hasn t been mentioned in the controversy to this point.Amy Kirk Duvoisin, the founder of the annual Joan of Arc parade that ceremonially pauses at the statue on the first day of Carnival season, says she s confused by the vandalism. Surely, people realize she s not related to American history, she said referring to the French icon.Nah, I wouldn t be so sure. THIS!According to plaques accompanying the statue, the sculpture of Joan of Arc, who is also known as the Maid of Orleans, was a gift of the people of France to the citizens of New Orleans in 1972.On May 1 in Paris, the controversial former right-wing Nationalist Front Party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, known for his restrictive views on French immigration, led a rally at a duplicate golden statue of Joan of Arc in Paris.The Monumental Task Committee, an organization that describes itself as being devoted to preserving, restoring and protecting monuments, is soliciting for donations through its website to restore the Joan of Arc statue.Read more: ",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past5035398,5399,"At least they re consistent and crooked to the core just like their candidate Hillary Clinton will be crowned the Democratic presidential candidate in Philadelphia next week at event costing estimated $60 million Democrats have a $15 million credit line with the city in case their fundraising falls short Independent journalist is fighting for names of the donors to be made public before convention begins But host committee tells court hearing that donations should be kept secretThe host committee for the Democratic National Convention wants to keep its donor list under wraps until after the convention even though a state open records agency has ordered its release.A Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee lawyer told a judge Thursday the release of fundraising records could harm the organization s last-minute efforts to seek donations and negotiate vendor contracts.The host committee set out to raise about $60 million from private sources, but secured a $15 million line of credit from the city as a safety net. The committee must therefore file financial updates with the city.Read entire story: Daily Mail",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present5045409,5410,"Three teenagers and a 4 year old were among the eight deaths in a Virginia shooting , state police said Wednesday . Christopher Speight , 39 , is being held without bond at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg , Virginia , after being charged with a single count of first degree murder , police said , adding that further charges are pending . Speight surrendered peacefully early Wednesday morning after an overnight manhunt left him hiding in the woods surrounded by a several square mile perimeter set up by authorities , Appomattox County Sheriff O . Wilson Staples said . Speight was wearing a bulletproof vest but had no weapons when he surrendered , Staples said . State police identified the victims of Tuesday ' s shooting as Ronald I . Scruggs , 16 Emily A . Quarles , 15 Karen Quarles , 43 Jonathan L . Quarles , 43 Dwayne S . Sipe , 38 Lauralee Sipe , 38 Joshua Sipe , 4 and Morgan L . Dobyns , 15 . All were from Appomattox except Scruggs , who was from Dillwyn , about 25 miles away . Police did not say how the victims were related nor did they describe a motive for the shootings . Earlier , they said that Speight lived at the Appomattox home where seven of the eight were found , that he co owns it and adjoining land and that he was acquainted with all the victims . Police were alerted to the incident Tuesday after noon when a person was discovered badly wounded in the middle of Route 703 . That person later died at a hospital . When police arrived at the scene they heard gunshots , authorities said . Authorities established a perimeter around the area , including dogs and helicopters . One of the helicopters was hit at least four times by bullets but "" was able to make an emergency landing in a field near the scene , "" state police said . A search turned up the remaining seven bodies in and around the home , which is about 75 miles southwest of Richmond , Virginia ' s capital . On Wednesday , a search of the home turned up explosive devices , Molinar said . He said authorities were safely detonating the devices but he did not describe them . ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5055412,5413,"Downing Street has had some cunning residents over the years , but perhaps none quite as slippery as this cheeky fox , who scampered through this morning . The creature caused quite a stir when it became trapped in the famous street ahead of a planned appearance by Prime Minister David Cameron . The Tory leader was due to leave his official home ahead of Prime Minister ' s Questions in the House of Commons at midday today . But instead of seeing the country ' s leader , photographers , armed police and awaiting aides watched as the fox appeared and ran around the fenced off road looking for an exit . Police and political aides were given a surprise this morning when a fox trotted down Downing Street The bold animal ran around in front of waiting photographers shortly before David Cameron made his way to Prime Minister ' s Questions at the House of Commons The animal is one of hundreds of urban foxes living in the capital , which some say are becoming increasingly bold in their hunt for food . The creatures are now often seen during the daytime , even in the busiest parts of the city , with reports of them going into people ' s homes . This fox seemed uninterested in entering the corridors of power however , and soon disappeared into a neighbouring street . Last month , it was reported that George Osborne ' s cat , Freya , had been banished from his 11 Downing Street residence because it did not get on with the Chancellor ' s dog , Lola . In 2011 , the sight of the Prime Minister ' s cat , Larry , became well known in Downing Street after it was brought in to deal with a rat problem . The pet , which has its own spoof Twitter account , was later retired amid claims he wasn ' t catching enough vermin . A police officer guarding the Prime Minister ' s central London home watched as the fox strolled past A visitor to Downing Street is confronted by the creature , which became trapped in the gated off road for a few minutes late this morning After scampering around the famous street for several minutes , the animal disappeared into the capital ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5065431,5432,"I am a student of history so I tend to actually be familiar with many of these episodes that have been mentioned. I am the first one to acknowledge that America s application to concern around human rights has not always been consistent. And, I m certainly mindful that there are dark chapters in our own history in which we have not always observed the principles and ideals upon which the country was founded. Just a few weeks ago I was in Selma, Alabama celebrating the 50th anniversary of a march across a bridge that resulted in horrific violence and the reason I was there and the reason it was a celebration is because it was a triumph of human spirit in which ordinary people without resort to violence were able to overcome systematic segregation. There voices were heard and our country changed. America never makes a claim about being perfect, we do make a claim about being open to change. ",fake,dataset,test,Other sport,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past5075449,5450,"Op-Ed by Paul A. Philips Ever wondered how Big Pharma has managed to tightly control so many aspects of conventional medicine’s healthcare system, even to the point of imposing limitations on our... ",fake,news,test,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present5085470,5471,"Chinese police are hunting a violent teacher who beat four terrified children with a textbook in his office . The pupils , the eldest of whom is just seven , were rushed to hospital after being found cowering and covered in blood by another member of staff at the school in Ankang in Shaanxi province . The art teacher , Lei Mingxing , beat one child so badly he fractured his skull . Four pupils all aged under seven were found crying and covered in blood after being beaten by the cruel art teacher at their school in Ankanh , Shaanxi Province One of the children was beaten so horrifically the teacher fractured his skull . The school ' s head teacher described the event as ' totally shocking ' Head teacher Wang Qin said : ' I walked past his office and heard crying . ' As I went in I saw the pupils on the floor , very distressed and covered in blood . ' ' We ' ve no idea what ' s behind this . He has always been a very good teacher . We are a very small school , only 22 pupils , so this is totally shocking . ' He has been a good teacher for many years and has never shown any sign of violence before . ' We are very concerned for the children and will be talking to all of them to see what was behind this . ' One of the little boys who was injured in the horrendous attack . All four children were immediately rushed to hospital after being found by another teacher The teacher responsible is thought to be hiding in woodlands outside the city . He had worked at the school for ' many years ' before launching his violent attack The children are among only 22 who attend the school . The teacher ' s office ( right ) was covered in blood following the attack Investigators believe Mingxing fled on his moped and is now hiding in woodlands outside the city . Police chief Deng Mingshan said : ' We have found tyre tracks , footprints and empty wine bottles . ' We have surrounded the woods . ' We have spoken to the pupils and they say they have no idea why he did it . He just called them into his office and began attacking them . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past5095488,5489,"Obama authorizes Special Ops Forces to deploy to Syria President Obama has authorized sending dozens of Special Operations Forces to Syria to help advise local ground troops and coalition efforts in the fight against the Islamic State , officials said Friday . ? The decision comes after administration officials earlier this week said they were looking at moving U . S . troops closer to the front lines in the anti fight , as part of a broader effort to recharge the struggling campaign . ? The deployment marks the first time U . S . troops will be working openly on the ground in Syria . A senior administration official called it a "" small "" deployment , involving "" fewer than 50 "" Special Ops Forces to northern Syria . ? Several other steps were also announced Friday , including a new potential deployment to Iraq . ? According to the official , the administration is working with the Iraqi government to set up a "" Special Operations Force ( ) task force to further enhance our ability to target leaders and networks . "" The official also says the U . S . will be sending additional aircraft , including F 15 fighters and A 10s , to the Incirlik air base in Turkey . ? Fox News is told that congressional leaders have been notified of the plans . ? Obama ' s new tactic in Syria : A response to Russia ? White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged at Friday ' s press briefing the changes might not be a game changer and stressed that a diplomatic solution is ultimately needed . ? "" This military component of that strategy is an important part , "" he said , while urging a "" political transition "" in Syria . He called this an "" intensification "" of the president ' s already announced strategy , while stressing that U . S . forces still don ' t have a "" combat mission "" in Syria . ? Defense Secretary Ash Carter hinted at the deployment earlier this week , saying the U . S . was retooling its strategy in Iraq and Syria and would conduct unilateral ground raids if needed to target Islamic State militants . The U . S . has done special operations raids in Syria , and it participated in a ground operation to rescue hostages last week in northern Iraq that resulted in the first U . Sweblinkbat death in that country since 2011 . ? Reuters first reported that the administration was sending forces to Syria to serve as advisers . ? Some lawmakers have been urging the Obama administration for months to get more engaged with the anti campaign , particularly as Russia launches airstrikes which many U . S . officials say are targeting Syrian opposition members . ? Rep . Mac Thornberry , R Texas , chairman of the House Armed Service Committee , on Friday said a "" more serious effort against in Syria is long overdue . "" ? He said in a statement : "" Absent a larger coherent strategy , however , these steps may prove to be too little too late . I do not see a strategy for success , rather it seems the Administration is trying to avoid a disaster while the President runs out the clock . "" ? The changes come after a U . S . train and equip program to help Syrian rebels was effectively ended . ? Top military officials testified earlier this week that their goal remains to "" defeat "" in the end . ? "" No one is satisfied with our progress to date , "" Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen . Joseph Dunford , Jr . , testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday . ? At the same hearing , Carter described a changing approach to the fight against , focusing largely on Raqqa , the Islamic State declared capital in Syria , and Ramadi , the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq . ? Carter said the U . S . would intensify the air campaign against the Islamic State with additional U . S . and coalition aircraft and heavier airstrikes . ? The U . S . led effort "" will include more strikes against high value targets as our intelligence improves , and also its oil enterprise , which is a critical pillar of ' s financial infrastructure , "" he said . ? Fox News ' Kevin Corke and Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past5105503,5504,"All India Press Trust of India Updated : November 06 , 2015 01 : 57 Narendra Modi begins a three day visit to the next Thursday . London : ? India and the are set to sign a "" package of deliverables "" during Prime Minister Narendra Modi ' s first visit to London that will also see discussions over cooperation in sectors like nuclear energy and defence . Describing the India relationship as "" mature "" , Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond sought to move away from any comparisons being drawn with the multi million pound nuclear deal announced during the recent state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping . "" There will be a package of deliverables announced while the Prime Minister is here next week . I suspect that because our relationship is in a sense more mature than some other relationships we have there , it may be that there are rather a lot of medium sized projects rather than one big iconic project , "" he said . "" Different countries do things in different ways . As the Indian economy has a very large and important private sector , many of the deals will be commercial and private sector deals rather than government to government deals , "" he added . The senior minister in the Cabinet narrowed down defence and civil nuclear as an area of focus during the visit and also confirmed that the Make in India aspect of the Hawk trainers will be on the cards . "" Prime Minister Modi ' s policy approach of seeking to open India up very much facilitates some of the things we would like to do , "" Mr Hammond said . "" We see scope for example for a much greater government to government relationship in defence equipment , playing into the Make in India programme , where we have significant British defence contractors and British defence that can be played into that agenda for developing the Indian defence industry to the benefit of both countries . . . Hawk trainers will be one of the subjects within the defence package we will want to talk about , "" Mr Hammond added . He admitted that discussions over civil nuclear had "" run into problems "" due to the ' s own system , which has now been cleared up to ensure for a more "" constructive "" civil nuclear relationship . "" We know that there is a significant role that the can play in India ' s civil nuclear programme and we are pulling out all the stops to make sure we can codify a collaboration that will allow us to work together in the future . . . we will simply remove the bureaucratic obstacles on both sides and make sure we can see a step change in the way the relationship works , "" he said . Modi begins a three day visit to the next Thursday . Story First Published : November 06 , 2015 01 : 57 ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present5115505,5506,"Continuing our occasional series on the hotels favoured by the rich and famous , Anne Murray takes a peek at the Abama resort in Tenerife where Penelope Cruz tops up her tan . Star quality : Penelope Cruz , Javier Bardem , Bill Clinton , Stephen Hawking Vital statistics : A Moorish palace of excellence in Tenerife , set high on the cliffs , the terracotta walls of the Abama shore up the Canary island ' s most luxurious hotels . Surrounded by extravagant tropical gardens , you ' ll find nearly 500 suites and rooms amid its shady courtyards . Pristine position : The Abama resort sits in a secluded spot on the west coast of reliably sunny Tenerife Its cliff top setting means that you ' ll be whisked down to the beach by a cable car , but if you want to stay put there are nine swimming pools , including an infinity pool at the cliff ' s edge that looks out across to the island of La Gomera . The Abama ' s unabashed luxury continues with two Michelin starred restaurants . comes under the supervision of Martin Berasategui , with classic Spanish cuisine . Kabuki serves Japanese in a sleek red and black interior . Eight others include Le Mirador , which specialises in seafood and has views of the ocean . During school holidays , the bankers of Europe descend en masse with their young children . If you want to escape beautifully dressed eurotots , head to the Tagor villas . The most exclusive ( and expensive ) of all the Abama ' s rooms are reserved for over 18s only , with complimentary drinks and snacks . Another refuge for adults is the Abama ' s 72 par golf course . Considered to be one of Spain ' s finest , it brings golf minded celebrities including Bill Clinton to the resort . Recharging her batteries : Penelope Cruz stayed at Abama in July with film star husband Javier Bardem Other sports facilities include seven tennis courts one with seating for 600 people . Location report : Tucked away on the west coast , near Playa de San Juan resort , which is a 15 minute walk away along the cliff . The rest of the island requires a hire car . Key attraction : Privacy and the sort of luxury you would normally only find in mainland Europe or the Maldives . Reliable short haul winter sun with Ritz Carlton finesse ( Asprey products in the bathrooms ) . The hotel ' s extensive grounds are meticulously kept , and the beach has imported sand because the local stuff was considered to be a bit dark and gritty for the hotel . In the news : Cruz and husband Bardem were at the Abama in July . Good enough for the rest of us ? Technically , the Abama ' s beach is public but access is almost impossible without going via the hotel . Deliberately isolated , this is a resort that would prefer you to stay close , but your pockets will have to be deep a Coca Cola is 5 . Luxury Travel ( www . itcluxurytravel . co . uk , 01244 355 550 ) offers seven nights at the Ritz Carlton , Abama ( www . ritzcarltonweblink abama ) including flights , transfers and B B accommodation from 1 , 025 per person . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5125521,5522,"Injury Report : Hall Good To Go , Dalton Unknown For Bengals ? Steelers ? Slugfest Filed Under : A . J . McCarron , Andy Dalton , Cincinnati Bengals , injury report , Leon Hall , Playoffs , Ryan Hewitt , 20 : Andy Dalton 14 of the Cincinnati Bengals sits on the bench during their game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi ' s Stadium on December 20 , 2015 in Santa Clara , California . ( Photo by Ezra Shaw Getty Images ) Unlike most of their counterparts who were busy making coaching changes this week , the teams that have made it to the post season party cannot get involved with making excuses , especially excuses that involve the injury report . Quite frankly , no one cares how many players you have on the injured reserve list , it is all about advancing to the next game . There are no moral victories , just the quest for The Lombardi Trophy . With that in mind , no one will see an asterisk next to the outcome of the Steelers ? Bengals playoff match up that states , starting quarterback injured . Thankfully , other than the broken thumb sustained by Andy Dalton in mid December , there do not appear to be any major setbacks for the Bengals this week . ? One area that has been addressed for the Bengals heading into the Wild Card game on Saturday is defensive tackle Brandon Thompson , who had already been declared out of the contest with a knee injury . The Bengals reported on Thursday ? that Thompson was placed on the injured reserve list , and they signed DeShawn Williams from the practice squad to active roster to replace Thompson . As for Dalton , he did not practice again on Thursday , further dousing the conspiracy theorists thoughts that coach Marvin Lewis was sending out a smoke screen earlier this week about Dalton . A . J . McCarron will be the starter at quarterback against the Steelers , and he will have a full amount of preparation for whatever the Steel Curtain throws at him . ? ? According to the Centre Daily Times , Dalton had a wrap on his right hand Thursday and was held out of practice again . He was hoping to be active as a backup for the playoff game , but the Bengals backed him off his workouts after only one day this week , an indication he s not even close to being ready . Keith Wenning , who was promoted from the practice squad Dec . 16 , is McCarron s backup . Tight end Ryan Hewitt is still nursing a knee injury that kept him out of last week s season finale against the Baltimore Ravens , and he was unable to practice on Wednesday and Thursday . Rookie Tyler Kroft ( Rutgers ) played in all sixteen games for the Bengals this season with six starts , and he got the start last week in place of Hewitt against the Ravens . Leon Hall shows up on the injury report with a back issue that has plagued him all season , but he also apparently had a concussion at some point . But Hall never showed up in the concussion protocol after the Ravens game , and he has practiced fully this week . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5135547,5548,"Paul F . Crouch , co founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network , died Saturday at age 79 , according to his website and the network ' s Facebook page . "" We are grateful for the life of this amazing servant of God . Please pray for the Crouch family during this time , "" said the announcement . No further details on the televangelist ' s death were immediately available . On November 5 , said Crouch fell ill and was hospitalized in Texas in late October . He returned to California for treatment of "" his heart and related health issues , "" a network spokesman said . Crouch received a pacemaker in 2012 . , based in Orange County , California , bills itself as the most watched faith channel in the United States . Kenneth Thomas , a commenter on the Facebook page , said of Crouch : "" He was a great blessing to the body of Christ and to the world ! "" Crouch , a native of St . Joseph , Missouri , began his broadcasting career in the 1950s , working at commercial stations . The pastor worked for the Assemblies of God in Burbank , California , during the early 1960s , operating its and film production . In 1973 , he and his wife , Jan , founded , according to his website biography . Among the programs they hosted is "" Praise the Lord , "" known for its ornate sets and diverse programming . The network has a substantial international following Crouch appeared on the show from Madrid , Spain , in October . A network tribute posted Saturday afternoon said Crouch was a "" television visionary "" committed to spreading the gospel . has 84 satellite channels and thousands of television and cable affiliates around the world , according to the website . "" In a world filled with wars , disasters , plagues , and political turmoil helps viewers understand major world events , "" it says . Crouch served on the board of The Holy Land Experience , a biblical museum and experience in Orlando , Florida . People we ' ve lost in 2013 ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5145551,5552,"Share on Twitter Chloe Lattanzi, actress and daughter of Grammy-winning singer and Hollywood actress, Olivia Newton-John, is talking openly about the body image struggles she had as a teenager—and the things she did to combat her poor self-image. Image Credit: Screenshot/ YouTube Appearing on Wednesday's episode of “The Doctors,” Lattanzi revealed that she had implants and plastic surgery when she was younger because she suffered from body dysmorphia . Body dysmorphia is a disorder which makes people obsess over parts of their body. People with the disorder imagine their bodies to be severely flawed, to the point that it makes it difficult for them to function normally. Lattanzi spoke about her particular experience with the disorder as a teenager, and the anorexia, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression that accompanied it: “I went through this sort of chubby phase [as a kid]- I ate to comfort myself. I would see comments in magazines about how I was chubby. So around 16 I started to restrict food, exercise more.” Image Credit: Chris Weeks/Getty Images Over one summer in particular, Lattanzi lost a lot of weight, but her new thinness brought with it problems, too. She said she turned to plastic surgery and implants: “When I was in the height of my body dysmorphia, I had a whole bunch of fillers. I’ve had that all removed from my face because I like the way I look naturally.” Recently, Lattanzi saw some photographs of herself as a teenager and doesn't understand why she thought her appearance was so defective. Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images She says she's never shown the pictures to anyone before, but that they're a valuable tool for providing context to the mental illness from which she was suffering. Now, having recovered from body dysmorphia and anorexia, the 30-year-old says she regrets making so many changes to her appearance: “I look back at myself and I as a teenager and I’m like, 'What a beautiful young woman.' What was I thinking? Why was I so insecure?” Image Credit: Screenshot/ YouTube Lattanzi feels that social media's focus on appearance is a major culprit when it comes to young women struggling with negative self-image: “I think so many young girls are going through body dysmorphia — we’re constantly told how we’re supposed to look via Instagram and filters. There’s constant pressure for us to look perfect.” Now, Lattanzi says she's “stable and in a loving relationship,” but she's still plagued by some anxiety. She says the memory of her illness is a wound that may never completely heal. Image Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images Body dysmorphia affects about 1.7% to 2.4% of the general population—or one in 50 people. It is often accompanied by eating disorders, depression, and anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Surprisingly, according to some studies, cases of body dysmorphia are more often found in men than women.",fake,news,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past5155555,5556,"An X ray shows a bullet lodged in a baby ' s head . The image would be chilling enough without knowing the child was still in its mother ' s womb when it became the target of snipers hiding in the shadows in northern Syria . The mother survived . Her baby didn ' t . And it ' s not the only one . Volunteer doctor David Nott , a British surgeon who ' s worked in several Syrian hospitals with the charity Syria Relief , says snipers are playing a "" targeting game , "" and heavily pregnant women are on the hit list . "" Most of the children removed were seven , eight , nine months gestation , which meant it was fairly obvious to anybody that these women were pregnant . "" Young children are also being targeted , Nott said . Polio cases suspected in Syria Nott said 90 of surgeries he performed on any given day were for sniper wounds . On some days , the wounds were suspiciously similar . "" After a while we noticed that there were certain trends going on , "" Nott said . "" We had some days , say , 10 or 15 gunshot wounds of which eight or nine of them were targeted in one particular area . So for example , one day , we received say 15 , 16 gunshot wounds and of that eight to nine were targeted in the left groin only . "" Then the following day they were targeted in the right groin only . So it seemed to me like there was some of thing going on a game going on between the snipers . "" Knott said other local doctors he worked with told him they ' d heard snipers were receiving little presents like packets of cigarettes for people they ' d shot during the day . Foreign Secretary Hague : No role for Bashar al Assad in future Syria Desperate dash for supplies They risk their lives because food and provisions are on the rebel side . But their homes and families are on the regime side . Desperate , they make a dash for supplies . Not everyone makes it through . It is a scene reminiscent of another conflict : Bosnia . Its capital , Sarajevo , was literally under siege from snipers of the Bosnian Serb Army for more than four years . But during that war in the early 1990s , the United Nations operated humanitarian corridors to ensure that , despite the fighting , aid still got through . Nott also volunteered in Bosnia and described his relief back then at seeing extra supplies trucked in . "" It was wonderful to see the lorries coming in with written on them . And when you saw one of them , you knew that that they were filled with food , provisions and medical aid for the besieged town . "" He says Syria desperately needs the same . "" Now is the time to develop a humanitarian corridor to allow health and aid workers to go in , and not feel threatened on the way in and not feel threatened on the way out , "" he said . "" I felt very scared going in and coming out and this isn ' t right . "" In northern Syria , rebels use satire as a weapon ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5165558,5559,"More than one dozen attendees of a drapery and window coverings trade show at the local Comfort Inn and Convention Center last weekend reported seeing ghostly manifestations of dental hygienists from conventions long forgotten . "" Wispy , milky shapes streaking past the veggie platters on the buffet tables , a faint odor of mouthwash , the sound of saliva suction machines coming from seemingly empty rooms very spooky stuff , "" said Rich Vitanza , a Chicago based salesman for Hunter Douglas Window Fashions , on Monday . "" It was enough to chill you to the bone , or at least make you floss regularly . "" Similar reports have been commonplace at the Spokane Comfort Inn , which began hosting an annual dental hygienists convention in the 1970s . The first instances of supernatural dental hygiene related activity , including the unexplained disappearances of sugary sweets from reception desks and room service breakfasts , began in the early 1980s . "" Once a week , like clockwork , a guest comes to the concierge desk and says that when he awoke , a new toothbrush was sitting on the edge of the bathroom sink , covered in a fresh coat of toothpaste , "" said desk manager Greg Meacham , who claimed he received phantom dental sealants on two occasions . "" Last month , the words ' Have your teeth cleaned every six months by a licensed oral health professional ' were projected onto the screen in the main ballroom during a luncheon . Thing is , the projector wasn ' t even plugged in at the time . "" Over the years , guests have seen flickering lights in the hotel ' s stairway exposing what appeared to be X rays of bicuspids , and paper spit cups arranged in elaborate geometrical patterns in the elevators . A few even reported being awoken in the middle of the night by the icy cold touch of a gloved hand on their gums . "" I was cleaning my face , just about to reach over for my towel , when I heard a voice complaining about the Waterpik being no substitute for brushing , "" said Charlotte , resident Linda Matthie , who was a guest at the Comfort Inn during the Christmas holiday . "" Out of the corner of my eye , I saw a woman in a pastel outfit , but when I turned to look at her , she was gone . "" "" Yes , Evelyn ' s practically an old friend of ours now , "" said desk manager Meacham , referring to one of the most well known ghosts . "" The legend goes that she died of an aneurysm while attending a convention here . She ' s known to roam the halls , her yearning for proper oral hygiene forever unsated . "" Meacham said he advises all visitors to expect chillingly banal conversations about the weather and children ' s soccer games to echo through the halls , though he reassures guests that the eerie smooth jazz music that often terrifies visitors originates from the hotel ' s public address system . Paranormal investigator Richard Schmidt said that the hardworking , serious minded hygienists haunting the convention center are merely yearning for the camaraderie and educational opportunities they so treasured in their earthly lives . "" Dental hygiene meant everything to them , "" Schmidt said . "" Their spirits linger here to learn about advances in tooth whitening technology for all eternity and to remember good times . "" Recent plastics trade show attendee Jonathan Storff said that a stay at the Comfort Inn need not be a frightening experience . "" Oh , I don ' t pay much attention to all the fuss , "" Storff said . "" My stay here was pretty uneventful , anyway , but my toothache is gone , my breath tastes minty fresh , and my smile has never been brighter . "" ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past5175567,5568,"In the past five weeks, you’ve seen America inaugurate a president, march for women’s rights, protest an immigration order and debate a Supreme Court nominee. Even if you’ve only occasionally peeked at the news, the shock of so many updates may have left you reeling. This is the moment for a vacation, especially one where the focus isn’t on screens. But it sounds easier than it is. “Being so technologically connected all the time, as many of us are, is overwhelming, and a break is a way to show yourself some love,” said Miriam Geiser, a travel consultant with Travels Worldwide in Chicago who has planned getaways for clients and has taken several herself. “A vacation is about slowing down and nurturing yourself so you feel truly mentally and physically rested at the end,” she said. Here is advice on how to take such a trip. D. I. Y. a Digital Detox You don’t have to camp on a remote island to shed your devices. Leave your laptop and iPad at home, and lock your cellphone in your hotel room safe, using it only for emergencies. Sometimes, just the idea of cutting the cord can lead to anxiety, and the first few hours of such a trip can feel stressful, but Ms. Geiser said that many of her clients who have taken digital detox trips report feeling liberated and peaceful by the second day of their vacation. Suggested destinations: Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Calif. and any national park within driving distance. Painting Away the Pressure You don’t have to be Picasso, but a vacation incorporating art can inspire creativity in your everyday life, according to Susan Sparks, a travel adviser at Points of Interest Travel in Aspen, Colo. “Art is a way to express yourself and go beyond your usual spectrum, and that can be very reviving,” she said. Many resorts and spas around the world offer art classes, ranging from a few hours to several days, in painting, sculpture and collage. Suggested destinations: Vik Retreats in Uruguay Ojai Valley Inn Spa in Ojai, Calif. and Sundance Mountain Resort in Sundance, Utah. Immerse Yourself in Nature There’s nothing more relaxing, according to Ms. Geiser, than being surrounded by nature. Hearing the sound of crashing waves or chirping birds and insects, taking in a beautiful vista on a pristine lake, smelling the flowers of a tropical garden or feeling the warmth of the sunshine on your skin stimulate the senses in a positive way and take you away from the hubbub of your daily life. Spend your days on a trip, going on hikes, bike rides and walks, or consider kayaking, fishing, horseback riding or snowshoeing. Suggested destinations: Lake Kora in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York the Resort at Paws Up in Greenough, Mont. Jade Mountain Resort in St. Lucia Minaret Station on South Island in New Zealand. Savoring Rather Than Food — cooking and eating it — can actually be a destressor, Ms. Sparks said. “Cooking, even if you only do it for a few hours, shuts off your brain, and at the end, you have a meal that you put your heart and soul into,” she said. Weeklong cooking holidays abound around the world. Suggested destinations: Mamma Agata, a cooking school on the Amalfi Coast of Italy and Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland. Many hotels also offer and cooking classes. The Wellness Retreat Route The singular focus of these means that they do often work. Some retreats are meant to be a lifestyle overhaul with medical professionals who complete a comprehensive diagnostic analysis and provide a customized road map to improve your health. Other programs are more focused on detoxes or cleanses, and others still are spiritual in nature, offering daily yoga or meditation. No matter the approach, you’ll return refreshed. Suggested destinations: The Ranch at Live Oak in Malibu, Calif. Golden Door in Escondido, Calif. Como Shambala in Bali Chablé Resort Spa in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.",true,news,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5185570,5571,"John Minchillo ? Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump , left , and Fox News Channel host and moderator Megyn Kelly during the first Republican presidential debate at the Quicken Loans Arena , in Cleveland , August 5 , 2015 . The long discredited meme was posted by a fan Donald Trump reposted a fake picture Thursday of News anchor Megyn Kelly during a morning Twitter rant against the network . The post shows an altered image of Kelly posing with billionaire Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal and a woman in traditional Islamic garb that is supposedly his sister . The caption on the photo claims the Saudi billionaire is a co owner of News and ends with the command to ! ? Donald J . Trump ( realDonaldTrump ) January 28 , 2016 Googling the image brings up several reports that the picture and the caption are false . Fact checking website Politifact notes that though Al Waleed and News founder Rupert Murdoch have a healthy business relationship , the Saudi only owns 7 of the company . And Snopes debunked the actual photo in August , proving that it was an altered version of a press photo of Kelly ? alone . This isn t the first time Trump has reposted incendiary material on Twitter . In fact , earlier Thursday he retweeted a user calling Kelly a bimbo . The Republican frontrunner told last year that he should not be held responsible for the content of his retweets . There s a big difference between a tweet and a retweet , Trump said . It s for other people . Let them find out if it s correct or not . Framing the post is the on going feud between Trump and News . Things came to a head when Trump announced Tuesday that he would be skipping Thursday s Republican debate hosted by . Trump first took issue with the host after the first Republican debate , when she quizzed him about his attitude towards women . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5195574,5575,"But cries for federal authorities to take a closer look at the potential hazards have been mushrooming after many athletes who played extensively on synthetic fields were diagnosed with cancer . The controversy picked up steam after Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy refused to answer a reporter s question as to whether the synthetic turf was safe for children . No study links crumb rubber to cancer , but a study by Yale University found crumb rubber pieces contain 96 different chemicals , and 20 percent of the toxic chemicals present were carcinogens . And that is spreading fear through parents who say the tiny rubber crumbs get everywhere in player s uniforms , hair and cleats . And every time a player slams onto the turf , a black cloud of tire pellets shoot into the air and the granules get into their cuts and scrapes , and into their mouths . The Synthetic Turf Council argues on its website there is no evidence to support claims that synthetic turf is unsafe . But an in depth study free from special interests is needed to ensure athletes and children are not playing now to pay later . When the head of refuses to go on record and validate a product s safety to the American people , that should make everyone sit up and take notice . We certainly did and so should the federal government . We re now in the last year of Barack Obama s presidency . For many in the country , that s something to celebrate . His legacy is already hotly debated , and the November election will have an impact on how much of that legacy is carried forward . But Obama supporters and Obama detractors should all support the continuation of one small , oft overlooked innovation that the current president brought to life : the United States Digital Service . This service sprang out of what is arguably one of Obama s biggest failures : the bungled launch of the healthcare . gov website . The site was meant to be a portal for Americans to sign up for health insurance through the exchanges but it was riddled with problems , and Obama ended up calling in a rescue team to fix the site . The rescue team included many of the best and brightest from the United States technology sector , who put their lives on hold and dedicated thousands of hours to working with officials and contractors to get the health insurance site back on track . When that task was completed , several members of the team realized they d done something positive for their country . They connected others in technology who were willing to take time out to make government and , by extension , people s lives better . They d also lowered costs the healthcare . gov effort helped replace a 200 million login system that cost 70 million per year to operate with one that cost 4 million to build and less than 4 million per year to operate . The team wondered if they could do the same by applying their technology skills to other areas of government . The White House was listening , and in mid 2014 , the service was started . What has happened since ? The has recruited bright people to apply the lessons of the technology sector throughout government . A sub unit was started , called 18F , that works as a consultancy within the government . It partners with other agencies on specific tasks like improving the customer service portal for the Veterans Administration , reforming the Freedom of Information Act process , and creating a College Scorecard that makes data on college costs and outcomes easily accessible . In the process , they overhaul the partner agency s approach and upgrade their skills . They also leave behind a change in philosophy . What have they found ? That many of the bureaucrats that are called out by politicians and critics actually want to do better , but are simply trapped by the inertia of the government and limited by the existing technology . They ve found that many of the tech world s best and brightest are highly motivated by the opportunity to help out , and to help the people in need who are served by the government . They ve also found that there is incredible potential to improve the efficiency and quality of government services and they re doing it . There are several examples in Vermont where state government has attempted a similar effort to improve its own processes . None have focused so exclusively on technology , or leveraged outside resources , to make the effort a forward looking part of the state s . There were Tiger Teams under Gov . Jim Douglas , and more recently , several groups in the Agency of Natural Resources went through a process called Six Sigma , which is a set of processes used by industries to examine and improve existing processes and habits . But there s more that could be done , and it could have a very real and immediate impact on the lives of Vermonters and on the state budget . As Mikey Dickerson , a founding member of the agency and part of the healthcare . gov team , said , a key element is to make it possible for people who had been part of the problem in the past to change . You have to give them permission to come along and get on the bandwagon . If they get convinced there won t be any place for them in the new world , then ( they will ) dig in and resist what you re doing . You have to be willing to make friends with people you might not have otherwise thought . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past5205595,5596,This is the Baltimore State s Attorney Marilyn Mosby s husband At the 2:37 mark he says he told the police to back off . His wife is prosecuting the cops in the Freddie Gray case. The accused cops have asked the judge for a change of venue great idea! ,fake,dataset,test,Other sport,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present5215610,5611,"Reuters) - Former U.S. Republican presidential nominee will endorse Marco Rubio in the race for the party’s presidential nomination, Huffington Post reported on Sunday. The endorsement came on the heels of Rubio’s second-place finish in Saturday night’s primary in South Carolina, where he edged out rival Ted Cruz for the No. 2 slot, the website reported, citing unidentified Republican sources. Romney will join a list of so-called establishment endorsements to back the first-term U.S. senator from Florida, including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who endorsed Rubio days before the state’s primary. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Doina Chiacu) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.",true,dataset,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5225627,5628,"The wife of imprisoned U . S . State Department contractor Alan Gross traveled to Cuba Tuesday as part of her ongoing effort to free her husband . Last week , Gross ' mother died after a long fight with cancer , Gross ' attorney , Scott Gilbert , said . The Cuban government refused Gross ' request to travel to the United States to say goodbye to Evelyn Gross before she died . Gross had promised that after seeing his mother he would return to his prison cell at a military hospital in Havana . "" We would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to his relatives , "" Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Josefina Vidal said in a statement . "" It is necessary to clarify that neither the Cuban penitentiary system nor the U . S . penitentiary system provide the possibility for inmates to travel abroad , no matter the reason . "" Gross , 65 , is serving a 15 year sentence for bringing satellite communications equipment to Cuba as part of his work as a subcontractor for the U . S . Agency for International Development . He was convicted in March 2011 . U . S . officials said Gross was merely trying to help Cubans bypass the island ' s stringent restrictions on Internet access and have said his imprisonment is one of the major obstacles to improved relations with Cuba . In April , Gross embarked on a hunger strike to protest his continued imprisonment . He later said he was suspending his hunger strike after his mother pleaded with him to begin eating again . Since his arrest , Gross has suffered a slew of health problems , his attorney said , and lost more than 100 pounds . Cuban officials have said they want to negotiate Gross ' case with representatives of the United States in conjunction with the fates of three Cuban intelligence operatives serving lengthy sentences in U . S . prisons . But U . S . officials have called that effort blackmail and said the cases are separate matters because Gross was not working as a spy in Cuba . The diplomatic impasse is taking its toll on Gross , Gilbert said . "" The White House has yet to engage on this issue we need the president to make this a priority . Without that , Alan will die in Cuba , "" Gilbert said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5235633,5634,"— From a young age, Brent Thompson pushed the bounds of life so hard that he almost always found a way to get hurt. There was that time as a youngster when he nearly broke his neck playing in a hammock. Or when he wrecked his brother’s Mustang after begging him for the keys. Or the time he broke his arm during motorcycle training for the Police Department. It was his fearlessness and desire to serve his country that led Mr. Thompson to join the Marines and, after returning from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, to become a police officer, his longtime pastor, Rick Lamb, said Wednesday. So it came as no surprise to people close to Mr. Thompson, 43, that when gunfire started ringing out during a protest here last Thursday, he was one of the officers running toward the shooting. This time, however, Mr. Thompson suffered the ultimate injury. He and four other officers were killed when a black Army veteran upset over killings by the police across the country opened fire, targeting white officers, the authorities said. The grim process of moving forward from one of America’s deadliest mass shootings of police officers began on Wednesday when Mr. Thompson, who worked for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police, and Sr. Cpl. Lorne Ahrens of the Dallas Police Department were given their final during funerals that were by turns emotional and quippy. A private service was held Wednesday for another Dallas officer, Sgt. Michael J. Smith, and a public memorial is planned on Thursday. Services for the fourth victim, Officer Michael Krol, will be Friday, and the funeral for the fifth victim, Officer Patrick Zamarripa, will be Saturday. Even as mourners, including hundreds of officers who came here from across the country, took tentative steps forward, they acknowledged the cathartic backdrop against which Wednesday’s services took place: in a country rived by a debate over race and policing, upended by vast protests and nationwide soul searching. “Though I’m heartbroken and hurt, I’m going to put on my badge and my uniform and return to the street along with all of my brothers and sisters in blue,” Mr. Thompson’s wife, Emily, who is also a police officer, said with a shaky but steely voice. “To the coward that tried to break me and my brothers and sisters, know your hate made us stronger. ” The couple had married about two weeks before the shooting. Only about 12 hours before Mr. Thompson was shot, his wife had filed their marriage license with government authorities, Mr. Lamb said. About 8:15 that night, the couple spoke on the phone. “My shift’s over in 45 minutes, and then I’ll be home,” Mr. Thompson told his wife, according to Mr. Lamb. “He told her he loved her, and that’s the last time that he ever spoke to her. ” Mr. Thompson leaves behind six children from a previous marriage. He was a music enthusiast who occasionally played guitar and would send his children songs with his cellphone to see if they could recognize the tune. The funeral reflected the nuances of the conversation on race and policing that has enveloped the country. The service was held in the Potter’s House, the West Dallas megachurch where T. D. Jakes is the pastor. A noticeably diverse cast of officers filled the seats. Among them was Emily Thompson’s patrol partner, a black man, who stood next to her as she read her words of remembrance about her husband. As Brenda Lee, who is black and works for the Transit Police, sang “I Can Only Imagine,” her voice resonated with a gospel flair. Several people stood, some raising their arms in worship, when she hit the long notes. And among the final speakers was the chief of the Transit Police, James D. Spiller, who is black. It was a diverse showing in remembrance of a white man from a small town 55 miles south of Dallas. “Brent respected and loved all people, regardless of what color they were, where they came from,” Mr. Lamb said. But the reality was that Wednesday’s services were taking place beneath a cloud of national racial tension, and about 30 miles away from Mr. Thompson’s funeral, F. B. I. agents in camouflage and tactical gear were providing security outside Mr. Ahrens’s service in Plano. Friends and colleagues of Mr. Ahrens, 48, recalled his seemingly quixotic journey from his native Los Angeles to Dallas. He drove here with nothing but his dog and a few possessions stuffed into his Toyota. He slept on the floor of his apartment early in his police training because he had no bed. When a woman named Katrina first approached him, he was too shy to speak. She later became his wife, and they went on to have two children. “Your dad was doing what he was supposed to do,” the Rev. Rick Owen, senior pastor of Mr. Ahrens’s church, Pathway Church in Burleson, Tex. told the fallen officer’s daughter and son during the service. The Dallas mayor and police chief sat in attendance as Mr. Ahrens was remembered as a lover of guns and heavy metal music who did not know his own strength. He once bent a police car door on accident during training. “When you were on the radio screaming for help, you could count on Lorne to be the first to be there,” Sr. Cpl. Debbie Taylor said. The funerals drew officers from places as as South Carolina and Indiana. “At times like this, we feel like we stand alone,” said Rick Keys, a lieutenant with the North Charleston, S. C. Police Department, who drove 15 hours with three of his colleagues to attend Mr. Thompson’s funeral. “It means a lot to the families to see the officers come from so far. ” Robert Parker, the assistant chief of police in Watauga, a city about 30 miles west of Dallas, said he hoped that this could be an opportunity for police departments and the communities they serve to come together. “We have a long way to go before we get where we need to be,” he said after Mr. Thompson’s funeral. “One of the things that I’ve talked to my wife about, and many others, is everybody on all sides of this, whether it’s Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, everyone needs to sit back and gain all the truth and the facts of each case before they pass judgment. If we do that and then we have an open dialogue and sit down and look at each other’s points of view, maybe we can go through this without further violence. ” After Mr. Thompson’s funeral, hundreds of officers lined up outside, saluting his coffin as an honor guard fired off a gun salute. The department then did what is known as a last call. A radio dispatcher, over a loudspeaker, called for Mr. Thompson, by his name and badge number, three times. When he did not answer, she said a final goodbye. “We will miss you, Brent,” she said. “You will never be forgotten. ”",true,news,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5245649,5650,"In a significant discovery that sheds new light on the region ' s history , archaeologists excavating a site on Capitol Hill reportedly unearthed evidence this week suggesting that humans once passed laws there . The team of researchers from the University of Maryland confirmed that it collected a wealth of writing implements and ancient documents , which appeared to indicate that , in earlier ages , approximately 500 humans assembled at a centralized location and worked as a group , with the apparent goal of creating a system of rules designed to govern behavior . "" Our finding that early inhabitants used to work toward the common objective of improving society through formal , cooperative efforts completely changes what we knew about the Washington D . C . region , "" said lead archaeologist Peter Douglas , who expressed admiration for the sophisticated , self sufficient civilization that once flourished along the banks of the Potomac River . "" In fact , based on the sheer number of artifacts that we ' ve unearthed , it appears this practice of law crafting may have been their primary livelihood . "" "" Apparently , these individuals engaged in this unusual behavior every day for years and years it was just a normal , routine part of their lives , "" added Douglas . "" It ' s remarkable to think that , for generations , thousands of laws were passed right where we ' re standing . "" Archaeologists reportedly recovered more than 2 , 000 artifacts from the scene , including reams of yellowed parchment that bear such enigmatic phrases as "" annual budget , "" "" joint resolution , "" and "" Civil Rights Act . "" Harvard University ' s Vance Yeager , a paleolinguistics expert who examined the documents and attempted to reconstruct the past ways of life in Washington , told reporters that the evidence points to an extraordinary yet apparently common ritual in which early leaders who held opposing viewpoints engaged in a standardized routine of communicating , offering mutual concessions , and then moving together on an idea called an "" agreement "" that occupied some sort of middle ground between their two initial visions . "" It ' s truly impressive when you stop and actually imagine that there once existed an entire culture devoted to doing little else aside from passing laws , "" said Yeager , adding that the early regional inhabitants evidently employed their unconventional customs in an effort to improve nearly all aspects of their civilization , from reforming their organizational structures , to upgrading their facilities , to living comfortably within their means . "" What ' s even more striking is that this peculiar activity went on uninterrupted for years without their complex system ever halting or ceasing to function . It ' s nothing short of astonishing . "" Despite what appear to have been generations of prolific law creation in Washington D . C . , researchers said that the complete lack of any relics from more recent years confirmed that the practice seems to have died out suddenly and without any explanation . "" Our team has carefully cataloged and studied all of the artifacts that were excavated , but we are still unable to explain why the social structure fell out of favor and disappeared from the area , "" archaeologist Jennifer Bloch said . "" Perhaps the tragic decline of this once common human activity was the result of a major conflict , a radical generational shift , general malaise , or a conquering band that invaded the region and displaced the practitioners of this curious and remarkable lawmaking culture . "" "" All we can say for certain is that this ancient practice appears to have been lost to the ages , "" Bloch added . ",satire,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past5255665,5666,"Mental health professionals will now be allowed to openly diagnose Donald Trump.For the first time since 1973, a rule that prevents mental health professionals from publicly giving their expert opinion on the mental health of a public figure will no longer be enforced by the American Psychoanalytical Association.The rule was put in place after Barry Goldwater sued Fact Magazine for publishing a poll in which a majority of psychiatrists declared him mentally unfit to be president. Goldwater would go on to lose the presidential election of 1964.But ever since Trump declared his candidacy and began saying and doing insane things in public, many psychiatrists have openly defied the rule in order to inform Americans on his mental state.Fox News pundit Charles Krauthammer, who is also a board-certified psychiatrist, wrote a brutal diagnose of Trump s mental health last August. Trump s hypersensitivity and unedited, untempered Pavlovian responses are, shall we say, unusual in both ferocity and predictability. This is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism where the world outside himself has value indeed exists only insofar as it sustains and inflates him. In addition, Dr. Drew Pinsky also expressed concerns about Trump s mental health. The question, though, is, are some of the reckless qualities that everyone is getting so disturbed about on the campaign going to be translated into office should he get elected? That s a pretty hard thing to predict. I don t know if this is just somebody playing politics, or is this somebody who really can t contain their impulses? When I hear people that are impulsive with their speech, I worry about hypomania and bipolar types of conditions. At the time, psychiatrists were warned to avoid diagnosing Trump without personally examining him first. But that has all changed.Six months into Trump s presidency, the American Psychoanalytical Association has given permission to their 3,500 members to do just that.And you can bet Trump s head is going to explode.Former president Dr. Prudence Gourguechon explained the decision to News. We don t want to prohibit our members from using their knowledge responsibly since Trump s behavior is so different from anything we ve seen before, Dr. Gouguechon said.Indeed, Americans need this knowledge now more than ever before as Trump continues to lash out at anyone who criticizes him and is even starting to throw members of his own administration under the bus. His emotions and behavior are so unpredictable that it is understandable that people would worry, especially considering that Trump has access to nuclear weapons.It s time for Americans and Congress to demand Trump undergo a mental health exam by a board-certified psychiatrist. Furthermore, it s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and declare Trump unfit to serve. This insanity has gone on long enough. America cannot continue to be led by an unstable narcissist. It s time to make America sane again.Featured image via Ralph Freso/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past5265689,5690,"Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday said it not currently considering a value-added tax and a carbon tax as part of a planned tax code overhaul as it searches for ways to fund a major tax cut. The Washington Post had reported the White House was considering the and carbon tax reforms Tuesday, citing an unidentified administration official and a person briefed on the matter. “The president’s team is hearing input from experts on all sides of the tax reform debate as we formulate what will ultimately be the president’s plan to enact the first significant tax reform since 1986. As of now, neither a carbon tax nor a are under consideration,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters. The administration is looking for funding for ways to pay for President Donald Trump’s promised cuts in middle class and corporate taxes. This is the second time the administration has played down the chances of a carbon tax. On Feb. 8, officials met with a group of Republicans who called for a $40 per ton tax on carbon emissions to fend off global climate change. Many Republicans have opposed a carbon tax arguing it would cut jobs and hike energy costs. The Washington Post said the new options reflect the challenges presented by a possible border adjustment tax that Republicans have been considering. A House panel has been working on a plan since mid-2016 that would cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, end taxing foreign profits for U.S.-based multinationals and cut other tax rates for businesses and investors. The plan has divided businesses, prompting import-dependent industries to warn of higher prices for consumer goods from clothing and electronics to gasoline. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5275716,5717,"Judges have approved British supermodel Naomi Campbell ' s request to postpone her testimony at the "" blood diamonds "" war crimes trial for a former Liberian president , court officials said Monday . Campbell was scheduled to appear July 29 at the trial in The Hague , Netherlands , but will now appear on August 5 instead . Campbell did not want to be involved in the trial but was subpoenaed on July 1 to appear at the tribunal for Charles Taylor , who faces war crimes charges over a brutal conflict in Sierra Leone that was fueled by rough diamonds , also known as blood diamonds or conflict diamonds . Witnesses have said Taylor gave Campbell a diamond . Prosecutors had rested their case against Taylor in February 2009 . They asked to reopen it specifically to call Campbell , as well as actress Mia Farrow and a witness named Carole Taylor , court papers show . Prosecutors said they learned in June 2009 that Taylor had given the supermodel a diamond in South Africa in 1997 . Farrow confirmed it , they said . When arguing to reopen the case , prosecutors said Campbell ' s testimony would prove that the former president "" used rough diamonds for personal enrichment and arms purchases , "" according to papers filed with the U . N . backed court . Taylor , 62 , was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003 . The war crimes charges against him stem from the widespread murder , rape and mutilation that occurred during the bloody civil war in Sierra Leone . It was fought largely by teenagers who were forced to kill , given addictive drugs to provoke violent behavior , and often instructed to rape and plunder . Taylor is charged with five counts of crimes against humanity , including murder , sexual slavery and violence , and enslavement . He also faces five counts of war crimes , including acts of terrorism and torture , and one count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law . He has pleaded not guilty to the charges . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5285726,5727,"Union workers for San Francisco ' s transit system ended their four day strike and returned to work Friday , even though contract negotiations aren ' t over . Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Rick Rice said things were running smoothly since service resumed at 3 p . m . ( 6 p . m . ) . "" We pretty much have a normal number of cars on the track at this point , "" he said . After negotiations between and the unions ended late Thursday , workers returned at 12 : 01 a . m . Friday and worked through the night and morning to have trains running by 3 p . m . , he said . "" People are glad to be going back to work , and I know the riders are thrilled to be able to have the trains running , "" said Josie Mooney , a spokeswoman for Local 1021 of the Service Employees International Union , one of the two largest union representing the striking workers . The two sides had three days of negotiations over new contracts , wrangling over the issues of pay and benefits , before deciding Thursday night to allow another 30 days to reach a deal and resume service in the meantime . The talks will pick up again next week . About 400 , 000 people use the service daily . With no trains running , ran limited charter bus service to accommodate commuters . riders said Friday they were relieved the service was back on line . Commuter Eric Westland told the station he got chills when he learned the trains would be running again . "" The newspaper this morning said it was still on strike , and when I saw the thing in the bus booth that said trains ( would be ) running at 3 , I got goosebumps , "" he said . Unions asked for a 21 pay increase . initially offered to increase salaries by 4 over four years , but later proposed an 8 increase that was on top of a 1 increase scheduled to go into effect at the start of the week . Mooney said part of the problem was that contract negotiations began much later than normal . That didn ' t allow the two sides a lot of time to reach a deal before the union contract expired June 30 . The extension agreed to Thursday expires at midnight on August 4 , she said . "" We hope that we will be able to use the next 30 days to come to a fair and equitable contract for the workers , "" Mooney said . "" Yesterday was spent primarily on extending the ( union ) contract in order that we have more time to deal with what are extremely complicated issues . "" is the nation ' s fifth largest train system in the United States , with 44 stations in 26 cities that make up the Bay Area , according to the transit authority . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5295741,5742,"Lawrence O Donnell had a really bad night on August 29, 2017. We draw that conclusion based on the clip below showing behind the scenes footage of a furious O Donnell absolutely going bananas in what appear to be breaks in his show.The video, which lasts a full eight minutes, is a collection of clips from one evening given O Donnell s consistent outfit and show the anchor fuming about earpiece malfunctions, blasting off obscenities and screaming at his staff. We were able to link it back to the August 29 show.After introducing a clip about President Donald Trump, O Donnell pauses, and during what one can presume was the clip going on air, a sudden flush of anger creeps onto his face. What s going on, why am I losing this, why don t I have sound, he starts, voice rising. Who s asking for a Labor Day rundown in my ear? God dammit, he mutters, shaking his head, before bursting into a brief spasm of fury and slamming his fists on the desk.In the next clip, O Donnell finishes up a segment, and declares: There s insanity in the control room tonight. He then begins to visibly shake with anger, but manages to hold his tongue, and continues reading from the prompter. You have insanity in my earpiece, O Donnell then seethes through tightly drawn lips. Fuckin. The pattern continues in subsequent clips, with O Donnell continuing to complain angrily about someone talking into his earpiece.And then. HAMMERING! O Donnell cries suddenly, in response to a knocking sound running faintly in the background.He then stands up and launches into a shouted tirade past the camera. THERE. S A HAMMER? IT? S HAMMER? FLOOR. HAMMERING. HAMMERING. I IT, GOING. GRIFFIN, I T CALL. HAMMERING. ON. Phil Griffin is the president of MSNBC. Fucking out of control shit, O Donnell adds.In the next and final wild piece, O Donnell complains about the editing of a clip, wringing a piece of paper into a tight roll and throwing it to the ground. Jesus Christ, he then says as he adds a pen to the things he chooses to slam on his desk. Crazy fucking sound coming in my ear, this fucking stupid hammering. It just fucking sucks, O Donnell laments, staring down at his desk. It fucking sucks to be out here with this out of control shit. If the anchor needs a sympathetic ear, his best bet may be an unlikely friend: former anchor titan Bill O Reilly, who boasts the most infamous on-camera meltdown in cable news history.",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past5305742,5743,"Rand Paul drops out of White House race Sen . Rand Paul responds to a question ? in Des Moines . Last Updated Feb 3 , 2016 10 : 51 Kentucky Sen . Rand Paul is dropping out of the 2016 presidential race , according to a campaign statement released early Wednesday . presidential candidate Sen . Rand Paul believes Ted Cruz s presidential eligibility must be decided in the Supreme Court . The Senator says the . . . "" It ' s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House . Today , I will end where I began , ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty , "" Paul said in a statement . "" Although , today I will suspend my campaign for President , the fight is far from over . I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term . "" Paul is the latest candidate to announce his withdrawal from the race after results from Iowa ' s caucuses filtered in Monday . On the Republican side , former Arkansas Gov . Mike Huckabee dropped out Monday night , just two hours after the caucuses began . And on the Democratic side , former Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley suspended his campaign as well . On Monday , Paul finished in fifth place in the Iowa caucuses with just 5 percent of the vote , earning him just one delegate from the state . He trailed Texas Sen . Ted Cruz , Donald Trump , Florida Sen . Marco Rubio , and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson . In New Hampshire the nation ' s first primary and the next nominating contest in the Republican race to the White House Paul was polling at just three percent , according to News ' battleground tracker survey released last month . The Kentucky Republican based his 2016 campaign on libertarian ideals , with criminal justice reform and protections against government surveillance serving as corner stones of his presidential platform . His father Ron Paul , a former Texas congressman and another staunch libertarian , is credited with helping to spread the tea party movement . The elder Paul also ran as a Republican presidential candidate in 2012 , finishing third in the Iowa caucuses before dropping out of the race in May of that year . The Kentucky senator "" will not be endorsing anyone at this time , "" a Paul spokesperson told News . Rand Paul intends to continue with his U . S . Senate campaign in Kentucky . News ' Sopan Deb contributed to this report . ? 2016 Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past5315753,5754,"After watching Bill Belichick ' s performance as Captain Renault in Casablanca , a man who is shocked by gambling in a casino , Tom Brady came to his press conference in full Humphrey Bogart mode . Like Rick , Tom may tell the Gestapo media , "" I stick my neck out for no one . "" Brady may have hangers on who will deflate footballs , but Tom never mingles with the customers . After all , Gillette Stadium is Tom ' s Place , and Brady knows a bit more about the usual suspects . If Brady has the hidden letters of transit about the lost air in the footballs , he has asked Julian to play it again at the Super Bowl . When Giselle walked into Gillette , Tom delivered his famous line : "" Of all the football joints in all the world , she has to walk into mine . "" No one has accused Giselle of deflating those balls . Tom repeats his favorite phrase , "" Play it , Julian . Play it . "" And then laughs it off , "" Here ' s looking at you , fans . "" At his press conference we fully expected Brady to note , "" I ' m no good at being noble , fans . It doesn ' t take much to see that the problems of deflated footballs don ' t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy game of football . Someday the fans will understand that . "" If you watch the Super Bowl , we know already what the end of the game will be like when Bill Belichick and Tom Brady walk off the field together . Like Rick and Captain Renault , they will muse about where to go next . When Belichick notes that wherever he goes to coach , he wants Tom with him , there will be a spark big enough to inflate a dozen footballs . Then , they will realize , "" This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship . "" Exeunt Bill and Tom into the media fog . ",satire,text,test,American football,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past5325759,5760,"Mexico City A clandestine mass grave found near Mexico City may hold the answer to what befell 12 youths who were kidnapped from a bar in the capital back in May . Federal investigators swarmed a ranch east of Mexico City on Thursday , where they confirmed that at least seven bodies had been found , and that two arrests were made near the location . The apparent kidnapping of the 12 youths from an after hours club called Heavens shocked residents of Mexico City , who for the most part have been spared from the violence seen in other areas . The lawyer , Ricardo Martinez , said his source told him there were 13 bodies found at the ranch , possibly in two mass graves , one that held the remains of the males , and the other , the females . Mexico City ' s attorney general on Thursday said there was one grave so far that was being investigated . Martinez said that a suspect in the disappearance of the youths led authorities to the ranch . Families of missing haunted by mystery Mexico City Attorney General Rodolfo Rios said investigators were taking samples to identify the remains , which could take several days . The site where the bodies are found is the town of Tlalmanalco , in the state of Mexico , about 30 miles east of Mexico City , the state run Notimex news agency reported . Local , state and federal police were all at the scene . A gang was involved in the mass disappearance , officials have said . The May 26 incident at the after hours bar jolted the capital city , given it took place in daylight on a Sunday morning . Video footage shows a gang of about 17 people arriving in eight vehicles at the fashionable Zona Rosa district , according to authorities . The owner of the bar , a co owner and two bar employees have been arrested in the case . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past5335778,5779,"The three 19 year olds are accused of posting messages on the Yik Yak app threatening to shoot up colleges . Students stage protests at the University of Missouri this week Three 19 year old men have been charged with threatening to shoot people at college campuses in Missouri during race protests . Hunter M Parker , of Lake St Louis , who is alleged to have made threats against students at the University of Missouri , was denied bond on Thursday . Court documents said he had expressed a "" deep interest "" in a recent shooting massacre at an Oregon school . Tyler Bradenberg , of St Louis , and Connor Stottlemyre a student at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville were both charged on Thursday . Hunter M Park ( L ) and Connor Stottlemyre have been charged The threats were all made on social media , including the messaging app Yik Yak , in the last three days , according to police . Park appeared in Boone County Circuit Court on Thursday , days after two of the University of Missouri ' s senior admininstrators resigned following protests over the handling of racial incidents on the main Columbia campus . Police said threats allegedly made by Park had circulated on social media , with one post tagged "" Columbia "" on Tuesday which read : "" I ' m going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see . "" Stottlemyre was charged on Thursday ? with making terrorist threats . According to a criminal complaint , he allegedly posted a threat on Yik Yak on Wednesday which read : "" I ' m gonna shoot any black ppl tomorrow so be ready . "" A second message read : "" I love evil , I can ' t wait for Northwest to make the news tomorrow . "" No bond has been set for Stottlemyre , who is set to appear in court next week . Bradenberg , a former Missouri S T student , was also charged with making a terrorist threat after allegedly posting on Yik Yak on Wednesday : "" I ' m gonna shoot up this school . "" A statement from S T said the message was posted from St Louis , but technology had been used to make it appear as if it was coming from the college . The protests have raised tensions on university campuses , triggering marches and walkouts on Thursday . Protests have taken place at Yale University , Ithaca College in New York , Smith College in Massachusetts and Claremont ? McKenna College in California . Messages were also posted online on Thursday threatening to murder students at the historically black college Howard University , in Washington . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past5345808,5809,"On Friday afternoon of last week , a joint statement from the Federal Trade Commission ( ) that oversees consumer protection , and the Federal Communications Commission ( ) , the official regulatory body for radio , television , cable and the internet , was released with a final ruling as to what officially constitutes a "" celebrity in the American cultural landscape . After three open hearings and four months of ( sometimes caustic ) public feedback , and officials came to a unanimous decision on how the government will allow broadcasters to interpret , promote and utilize the term "" celebrity in "" any activity expressly intended to be presented to the American public with cultural , artistic or financial considerations primary to their intended use . "" Studies conducted by an independent monitoring group ( specializing in television advertising ) concluded its report in early 2013 . Using the results of these studies , commissioners opened the discussion with the public with a variety of local hearings throughout the country . Reaction was almost universally critical of the marketing arms of content providers for misleading the public into viewing programming "" deemed less than accurate "" when considering the credentials of its "" all star or "" celebrity casting . Examples of public commentary offered criticisms such as these : "" I was watching Celebrity Wife Swap ' a few weeks back , and they mentioned one of the celebrities was man named Coolio . My husband asked who that was , and I couldn ' t tell him . I couldn ' t think of a single thing he had done that made him a celebrity . We ' re pretty up to date with what ' s going on , but when I found out that Coolio did a whole series of shows in which he was simply a celebrity , "" ' I felt like I was being lied to . "" "" The gossip show ' likes to show stuff about celebrities getting fat or having plastic surgery so they don ' t look old . I know who Melanie Griffith is . I ' m down with Michael Douglas . When they reported that Linda Hogan was stepping out on the town , "" ' I had no friggin ' idea who she was . None ! Never heard about her , never seen her before . "" "" I enjoy old time star autograph shows . I went to one in Louisville recently and I was shocked at who they were trying to pass off as a celebrity ' there . And you had to pay 25 to get in the room . Sure , I was glad to see Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees , and Maureen McCormack from The Brady Bunch . "" ' And I love me some Marla Gibbs from The Jeffersons . "" ' But who are the Gannish Twins ' or The Amazing Mini Marlowe Family ' or Pikey Sherm ' ? After reading literally thousands of complaints , commissioners came up with these basic rules for defining a "" celebrity : Commissioners went so far as to identify twenty eight specific "" celebrities and "" non celebrities ( with explanations ) to clarify their definition . Six examples from that 28 : Jane Goodall : Officially designated "" Messenger of Peace . Common ( n e Lonnie Rashid Lynn ) : Oscar winning composer . Maya Lin : Designer of Vietnam War Memorial Todd Palin : Husband of former governor . Tila Tequila : Self defines as "" television personality . Coolio : Who knows ? ? ? Offending practitioners should be reported to the or effective June 1 , 2015 . ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past5355810,5811,"weblink is a screen shot of the letter in a tweet from News with a copy of the entire letter (harder to view):#BREAKING: @FloridaGOP & @BlaiseIngoglia alleging ""violations"" by Broward Co. Election Office w/ ballot-by-mail counting. Letter attached: pic.twitter.com/Muu483fIfl Heather Lacy (@Heather_Lacy1) November 2, 2016",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present5365821,5822,"Oklahoma ' s in , but here ' s how rest of playoff field will shake out The ending of Saturday night s Notre Dame Stanford game could not have been more dramatic . But the Cardinal s last second victory coupled with Oklahoma s rout of Oklahoma State could produce a fairly anticlimactic College Football Playoff field . Clemson tweets Deshaun Watson ' s Heisman resume to voters With just a handful of Championship Saturday games left to play , the race could ? not be more clean . Current No . 3 Oklahoma , now officially an 11 1 Big 12 champion , is in . The only question left is whether the Sooners play their semifinal game in Dallas or Miami . The winner of next week s Big Ten championship game between No . 4 Iowa ( 12 0 ) and No . 5 Michigan State ( 11 1 ) is in . There s half your field . No . 2 Alabama ( 11 1 ) is in if it wins next week s championship game against offensive horror show Florida ( 10 2 ) . ? Unless Derrick Henry misses the bus to Atlanta , the Tide are in . And if No . 1 Clemson ( 12 0 ) beats No . 14 North Carolina ( 11 1 ) at the title game in Charlotte ? there s your field . The latter , of course , is hardly a given . So those of you who perennially root for chaos , or want an eight team playoff yesterday ? better root for the Tar Heels . Because the committee s given no indication it would lift Larry Fedora s team into the final four . In our panel ' s eyes , these four teams are playoff material right now . Check out our full top 10 here . All of this would have been far more controversial if not for 10 2 Stanford s 45 yard field goal with no time remaining to dash No . 6 Notre Dame s last remaining playoff hopes . Had the 11 1 Irish prevailed , we d be having a much different conversation today . Notre Dame fans would be endlessly reminding us that Oklahoma lost to 4 7 Texas . Sooners fans would be endlessly reminding us that their team just beat three straight top 20 foes . We d go round and round up until Tuesday night s show , and then whoever the committee ranked lower ( most likely Notre Dame ) would just up its lobbying that much more . As it is , Oklahoma is already the first team to punch its ticket . So much for the Big 12 needing a championship game . But what happens if North Carolina wins this week ? Even more intriguing , what if the Tar Heels ? completely dismissed to this point ? come out and blow the No . 1 team off the field ? It would not be as simple as takes Clemson s place . Not with that loss to 3 9 South Carolina , those two opponents on the schedule and zero Top 25 wins to date . Suddenly No . 8 Ohio State ( 11 1 ) , who most of us penned obits for just a week ago , jumps back into the equation . Ditto No . 9 Stanford if it beats in the Pac 12 championship game . There s plenty to be interested in next Saturday . In the meantime , Tuesday s rankings show will be the least suspenseful to date . Stewart Mandel is a senior college sports columnist for FOXSportsweblink . He covered college football and basketball for 15 years at Sports Illustrated . You can follow him on Twitter ? slmandel ? and ? Facebook . Send emails and Mailbag questions to ? Stewart . Mandel foxweblink . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5375845,5846,"Reuters) - Catalonia s regional government is not planning to hold a snap election following a disputed independence referendum, the region s foreign affairs chief said. Elections are not on the table now, Raul Romeva told a new conference in Brussels on Wednesday. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5385852,5853,"The mother of a three year old boy who was killed when a runaway two tonne trailer mounted the pavement and crushed him to death is being targeted by online trolls who blame her for the incident . Donna Hussey , 32 , has also been branded a ' bad mum ' by trolls on Facebook over the death of her son Freddie who was killed when a huge portable cabin came loose from a passing Land Rover . Mrs Hussey , who had just dropped her eight year old son Archie to school , was helpless as the runaway trailer mounted the pavement and crushed young Freddie against a wall in Bedminster , Bristol . Donna Hussey , 32 ( right ) , has been targeted on Facebook and branded a ' bad mum ' by trolls who blame her for the death of her son Freddie ( left ) who was killed when a runaway trailer crushed him against a wall A passing lorry driver tried to resuscitate Freddie and paramedics arrived within minutes , but he died shortly afterwards at Bristol Children ' s Hospital . Police investigators found the trailer had not been correctly attached to the Land Rover but driver Tony Davies avoided prison after admitting causing death by careless driving . His sentence infuriated Mrs Hussey and Freddie ' s father Scott , 37 , who blasted his punishment of a six month driving ban and 200 hours of community service as a ' joke ' . Mrs Hussey said her torment has now been worsened further by hateful Facebook trolls who have bombarded her with messages calling her a ' bad mum ' since the tragedy in January last year . The insurance worker said : ' Something that has been difficult was the reports that Freddie was behind me ( when it happened ) and that was not true . ' I ' ve had lots of hurtful comments and people Facebooking me , sending abusive messages that I was a bad mum . ' I see little kids a few steps in front or behind their parents every day . ' I have to live with what happened . ' I loved that little boy and I love Archie so much . Those kids were my world and I just never would have put them in harm ' s way . ' I just want people , before they start making nasty comments , to really think about how they are with their children and how they feel it is right to judge . ' It has been very hurtful and we have already gone through hell . ' Freddie ( left ) died after being hit by a trailer which cameoff a Land Rover driven by Tony Davies ( pictured outside court last week , right ) . Davies , 38 , was spared jail after admitting causing death by careless driving A trailer used as a workmen ' s cabin came off Davies ' Land Rover and crushed Freddie to death against a wall This is the trailer coupling which failed , allowing the trailer cabin to detach from the Land Rover in Bristol Bristol Crown Court heard last week how the tow hitch between the Land Rover and the trailer was not secure because the position of its handbrake prevented it from being locked down . Prosecutor Anna Vigars said Freddie had been walking behind his mother , playing in the puddles and laughing and joking when the accident happened . They had just dropped off his brother at Parson Street Primary School when the portable cabin detached , travelling around 10 or 12 car lengths before mounting the pavement and crushing the toddler against a wall and telegraph pole . The trailer is used on building sites as an area for workers to relax and contained a kitchen area with a table and basic facilities , as well as a toilet . Davies , 38 , was spared jail after admitting causing death by careless driving but Freddie ' s family slammed the ' lenient ' sentence and have started a petition to get mandatory safety checks for towing equipment . When Judge Geoffrey Mercer handed Davies his sentence , Mr Hussey branded him a ' f joke ' and called Davies a ' f t ' . Mrs Hussey agreed , calling the sentence ' disgusting , no justice at all ' before shouting at Davies : ' I hope you rot in hell . You are scum . He was a beautiful little boy . ' Mr Hussey revealed how he has suffered panic attacks since the tragedy and lost his driving job because he cannot get behind the wheel . Freddie ' s parents Scott and Donna Hussey denounced the sentence of a six month driving ban and 200 hours of community service given to Davies as a ' f joke ' . They have set up a petition calling for tougher rules Mrs Hussey ( pictured left with her husband Scott ) said she has received ' lots of hurtful messages ' over the death of Freddie ( right ) who was killed in by the runaway trailer in Bedminster , Bristol in January last year He said : ' If the law can change then that would be great it is not all for nothing , but we also want to get the sentence changed . ' We feel we have been wronged by the justice system . ' We thought we would get justice but we are back at day one again . It is hard and it feels the past 14 months have been for nothing . ' His wife added : ' Since the sentencing we feel we are back at day one again , we don ' t want to get out of bed and carry on . ' We feel like we lost our little boy for nothing . ' He was giggling at me and then out of nowhere the trailer came , it all happened so fast . I couldn ' t get to him in time and these moments will live with me forever . ' I saw things no one should ever see . I know we did nothing wrong but still go over what ifs . ' In a moving statement , she earlier described the impact on her family of Freddie ' s death , and said : ' We have all suffered with nightmares and flashbacks and we have had to put Archie to bed most nights crying as he is missing his little brother , his best friend and playmate and cannot comprehend how or why this has happened . ' Archie doesn ' t want to watch cartoons on Saturday morning any more , as this is something he used to do with Freddie . ' It is devastating as a parent when you have already lost one child and your other one talks about killing himself so he can be with his brother . He is only eight years old . What can you do or say ? ' Archie and I have started therapy . I get flashbacks of the incident and events before and after every day . I have woken up at night screaming as I relive what happened in my dreams and it is terrifying . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5395855,5856,"Rochelle , This last Wednesday , a student at a local interracial high school decided to tell a joke , not just any joke , this joke ' s punchline was literary a punch towards the African American community . "" I never meant to cause such a problem , I swear ! "" David Foster claimed as he was haled into a police car early Wednesday morning at Wilcox County High School ? located in Rochelle , Georgia . School had been let out for the day due to the emotional ruckus . Apparently the problem started at around 11 : 00 am when Foster was in Junior Honors English . The students had been reading and had been analyzing the works of Mark Twain ' s Huckleberry Finn . Foster was trying to pass a piece of paper with the horrid joke written on it to another student near to him when he dropped it on the floor . That ' s when Yolanda Perkins screamed in agony and fainted . "" At first no one had any idea what was happening , the teacher rushed out to call an ambulance for Yolanda and I rushed to her side since she sat really close to me . I whispered in her ear "" What is wrong ? "" and she pointed to a crumbled up letter on the ground so I picked it up and read it as well . "" Katie Johnston , another student in the class admitted : "" I decided to read it out loud since everyone kept going crazy yelling "" What does it say ? Read it Katie ! "" I opened the note and it contained this joke : Why does Beyonce always sing to the left , to the left ? Because Blacks have no rights . ' Everyone in the room went dead silent and then the African American students in the class started yelling racial slurs at the white students and the white students returned their harsh words , then all of the sudden people were leaving the classroom , and like an epidemic the joke had spread all around the school . ' ' During this time David ( Foster ) took out his genitals from his pants and started urinating on all the African American students and he kept saying "" What you N s gonna do about it , I can do whatever I want ! "" It was scary , I am pretty sure I got some urine on me myself ! Everyone was rioting so I just ran out of there ! "" Johnston is almost brought to tears as she tells us her memories of this horrible act . "" You were either fighting , or laughing , and if you were laughing , it was not for long , the people who laughed got beat up the worst . "" Dale Herman said as he himself was being put into an ambulance . The school is closed this week and opens up again on Monday . Foster is being charged with indecent exposure and will spend two months in Juvenile Hall . Moral : Some jokes aren ' t funny . ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past5405918,5919,"Studies Examine Racial Bias in Pollution, Devaluation of Black Communities Brian Flood, UIC, November 3, 2016 Present-day racial biases may contribute to the pollution and devaluation of lower- and middle-class black communities, according to new research led by a social psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The investigation was based on several studies demonstrating that physical spaces, such as houses or neighborhoods, are targets of racial stereotyping, discrimination, and implicit racial bias. The researchers found study participants applied negative stereotypes, such as “impoverished,” “crime-ridden,” or “dirty,” in their perceptions of physical spaces associated with black Americans. “These space-focused stereotypes can make people feel less connected to a space, assume it has low-quality characteristics, monetarily devalue it, and dampen its protection from environmental harms,” said Courtney Bonam, assistant professor of psychology and the study’s lead author. “Some of the findings show that space-focused stereotypes figuratively pollute the way observers imagine a target area and their judgment about an existing structure in it, while other work demonstrates how this presumed figurative pollution leads observers to consider literally polluting black space.” {snip} One study asked a national sample of over 400 white U.S. citizens to read a proposal to build a potentially hazardous chemical plant near a residential neighborhood. Half of the participants were told the nearby neighborhood is mostly black, while the other half was told that the area is mostly white. Even though all participants read the same proposal, they were less likely to report opposition to building the chemical plant when the nearby neighborhood was mostly black. “They assumed it was an industrial area when it was black, which led them to devalue and subsequently pollute the land there,” Bonam said. “Additionally, these findings held when participants were told that the neighborhood had middle-class property values; and when accounting both for participants’ perceptions of the neighborhood’s class level, and their negative attitudes toward black people in general.” In another study, a national sample of more than 200 white U.S. citizens were given pictures of the same middle-class, suburban house. Half of the people were told the house was in a predominately black neighborhood, while the other segment was informed that it was in a mostly white neighborhood. Those who thought the house was in a black neighborhood estimated its value at $20,000 less than the other group, and were less likely to say they would live in or buy the house. {snip}",fake,news,test,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present5415920,5921,"It s no secret that conservatives and Republicans (not all) despise President Obama simply because he is black. After years of insisting he s an Arab, from Kenya, a Muslim, or anything else you can name, it s telling that some Americans hold him to a completely different standard simply because he s black.Now take Hillary Clinton, who is on the cusp of making history as the first female President of the United States, just as Barack Obama did as the first African American president. For years, Clinton has been in the public eye as a governor s wife, a First Lady, a senator, a Secretary of State, and now a presidential candidate. But like their hate for President Obama simply because he is black, there are those on the right who hate her simply because she is a woman. Like the dog whistle politics that follow President Obama, conservatives have unleashed their own dog whistle on Clinton and they are even louder.Whether it be the sound of her voice, her boisterous laugh, her vagina politics or making an honest woman of herself, Hillary Clinton has been besmirched by the right based not on her policies, but by her gender.Don t believe it? The commentary speaks for itself: Throughout her career, the attacks have become worse. But yet here she is, making history (yet again), not brought down by the good old boys club.This is why Hillary Clinton is the epitome of what it takes to be president: no matter what is thrown her way, she stands tall, and never relents. Unlike another presidential candidate, Clinton also doesn t take it personally, instead focusing on the real issues.Th sexist attacks will continue should Clinton win the presidency, and it may hamper some of her legislative hopes in a Congress that is still disproportionately Republican male. But like President Obama, Clinton will make us proud (should she stick to her campaign promises).Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past5425935,5936,"Reuters) - The wife and mother of detained Taiwanese rights activist Lee Ming-che were due to arrive in China on Sunday to attend his subversion trial on Monday, Taiwan s Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement, calling for Lee s safe return home. Lee, a community college teacher and pro-democracy and human rights activist, went missing during a March visit to China. Authorities later confirmed he had been detained, straining already-tense ties between the mainland and the self-ruling island. Authorities at the Intermediate People s Court of Yueyang city, in the central province of Hunan, said Monday s trial on suspicion of subversion of state power would be an open hearing. Chinese courts have video-streamed or live-blogged increasing numbers of proceedings in recent years as part of a push towards judicial transparency However, rights activists say that in sensitive cases, holding open hearings is a tool for authorities to demonstrate state power and that usually the defendant has agreed to an outcome. On Saturday, Lee s wife, Lee Ching-yu, asked during a news conference that supporters forgive her husband if he says something in court which disappoints them, as he might be required to give testimony against his own free will. On Sunday she declined to comment to a large media contingent as she checked into her flight at Taipei Songshan Airport, where she was to fly to Changsha, in Hunan province, via Shanghai. Taiwan s Mainland Affairs Council said it would do everything in its power to facilitate Lee s safe return. Our government s approach to this case has been predicated on preserving our country s dignity while ensuring Lee Ming-che s safety, it said. Lee s case has strained relations between Taipei and Beijing, which have been particularly tense since President Tsai Ing-wen, leader of Taiwan s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, took office last year. Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province and it has never renounced the use of force to bring it back under mainland control. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5435956,5957,"While Texas Senator Ted Cruz s outright victory in Iowa puts him in the driving site now for his party s nomination for the White House , it also produced a clear leader among more moderate Republicans , with the emergence of Marco Rubio . Many in the United States believe that Cruz vastly over performed expectations by claiming 29 pc of Iowa voters , and say it reinforces what the Republicans have long feared ? that the Establishment need not apply . Former Florida governor Jeb Bush , New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Ohio governor John Kasich , three of the leading establishment choices for the party , took a combined seven pc of the vote . Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio Credit : Dave Kaup Even Mike Huckabee , who won the Iowa caucus in 2008 , failed to make a dent . In fact , following last night s results , the former governor of Arkansas officially dropped out of the race . Cruz s first place finish in Iowa is noteworthy because not a single Senate colleague endorsed his campaign . Even the Republican governor of Iowa condemned the Texas senator and called on Iowans to vote for anybody but Cruz . ? Added fuel to the fire , Tea Party favourite Sarah Palin piled on the pressure by endorsing Trump . The reverse is true for Trump , who was revealed to have smaller base than expected . Trump had all of the momentum going into Monday night he dominated the press coverage , spent more than any candidate on huge rallies , and was even surging in the final polls . Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders acknowledging the crowd as he arrives for his caucus night rally in Iowa Credit : Patrick Semansky But when voters were asked , only 24 pc answered Trump . Still Cruz will find himself on shakier ground as the race shifts to New Hampshire , where Trump has a sizable lead in the polls and where the dark horse of the night Marco Rubio will fare even better . While the Florida senator was a clear third to Trump and Cruz , he got much closer to victory than anyone expected basically tying for second with 23 pc of the vote . For all of Cruz s and Trump s success , the results underscored the threat posed by Rubio , a candidate seen by many as far more moderate than his nomination rivals . His strong showing in Iowa shows that he compete against Cruz and trump for the conservative based , and while still appealing to moderates . On the Democratic side , the Iowa caucuses threw out every poll . Coming in with every possible advantage , Hillary Clinton has found herself deadlocked against a Democratic socialist who , until , no one would have thought stood a chance once voters were asked for their say . Vermont senator Bernie Sanders came close to an improbable upset ? a virtual tie , he called the result , which saw less than one pc separate between himself and the former Secretary of State . Still , given the shape of the Democratic electorate , the Vermont senator will need to start doing a lot more than just "" virtually tying "" in order to actually win the party s nomination . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5445965,5966,"Jessica Davis (right) and Susan Oliver (left) (pictured above) are the widows of two Northern California sheriff s deputies who were shot to death in 2014 by a convicted felon who had twice been deported to Mexico.Luis Enrique Monroy Bracamontes tried to plead guilty to the murders of Sacramento County Sheriff s Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer County Sheriff s Deputy Michael Davis Jr. but was ordered to stand trial in October.Jamiel Shaw Sr., the father of a Los Angeles teen who was killed by a gang member who was in the country illegally, will also attend and sit with First Lady Melania Trump. Shaw s son, a standout football player, was shot by Pedro Espinoza as he walked home. Espinoza was sentenced to death in 2012.Shaw strongly supported Trump during the election, speaking during the Republican National Convention and appearing with Trump at a rally in Costa Mesa. CONVENTION:The other guests invited by the president to the speech are Maureen McCarthy Scalia, the widow of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; Megan Crowley, a young woman who was expected to die within a few years of being born; and Kenisha Merriweather, a low-income African-American woman who struggled in school before attending private school on scholarship and becoming the first person in her family to graduate high school and college. Times ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past5456013,6014,"Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday it would be easier to ensure public trust if Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from investigations into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. “I just think for any investigation going forward you want to make sure everybody trusts the investigation,” McCarthy told MSNBC. Asked if that meant Sessions should recuse himself from the investigation, McCarthy said: “I think it would be easier from that standpoint, yes.” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5466015,6016,"Gateway Denies Amnesty Exists Dell Says Just Trying to Help Round Rock , Texas Dell Computer today said it supports extending the amnesty period for anyone possessing a Gateway computer , arguing Gateway owners should be given "" at least "" two more weeks to hand over their equipment to police without fear of arrest and conviction . An outraged Gateway Ted Waitt , however , denied an amnesty program exists , and accused its rival of fabricating the story to scare people into dropping Gateway and buying Dell products . In response , Dell Michael Dell called Gateway ' s allegation "" truly worrisome . "" "" If Gateway is correct and there is no amnesty program , that would mean the police can arrest anyone using Gateway products right now , "" said Dell . "" Honestly , they should be warning their customers about this . "" But Waitt insisted that is not what he meant . "" There is no amnesty program because it is not illegal to own a Gateway computer , so there is no reason to have an amnesty , "" he said . "" Why on Earth would it be illegal to own a Gateway ? "" Dell said he wondered about that too . "" I ' m not a lawyer , so it would be improper for me to comment on the specific reasons why thousands of Gateway owners have been imprisoned and had their houses and families taken from them . I just heard it ' s been happening . "" "" That is absolutely ludicrous ! "" said an enraged Waitt . "" I totally agree , "" said Dell . "" That ' s why we believe the amnesty should be extended , so that this doesn ' t keep happening . I mean , I know Gateway is having revenue problems , but you ' d think they ' d at least want to keep their customers out of prison . "" "" Some things are just more important than profits , "" Dell added . "" At least that ' s how we see it . "" A spokesman for San Diego based Gateway later said the company would file a complaint with the California attorney general ' s office , accusing its rival of unscrupulous business practices . Dell , however , said no filing is necessary . "" Look , we ' re out there supporting a fellow computer maker in its hour of need , but if Gateway doesn ' t want our help , then we ' ll stay out of it , "" said Dell . "" We ' re going to be busy helping with their exploding ThinkPads anyway . "" ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5476017,6018,"Tony Pulis was locked in a crisis meeting with Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish on Thursday night in a row over the club ' s transfer policy . Pulis , who kept Palace in the Barclays Premier League last season after taking over when they had just four points , threatened to quit . Although the Palace chief took training as usual on Thursday as he prepared for Saturday ' s opening fixture with Arsenal , Parish called him into a meeting at a central London location . Scroll down to see two of Pulis ' s targets Sigurdsson and Michu at their new clubs Crisis talks : Pulis and Parish face the media at the manager ' s unveiling back in November Plenty to shout about : Tony Pulis is unhappy with the transfer policy at Crystal Palace Talking tactics : Tony Pulis gives Marouane Chamakh some direction during the friendly against Augsburg The pair ' s relationship has deteriorated again over the summer over a difference of opinion in the type of players they want to recruit at Selhurst Park . Pulis took over at Palace last season when the club had just four points , but they staged a remarkable recovery in the second phase of the season to finish 11th . The former Stoke manager wanted to be backed heavily in the summer transfer window , but Parish has a cautious approach because of the finance involved . Palace have twice gone into administration under different owners because of a catastrophic transfer policy under former chairman Mark Goldberg and , more recently , under Simon Jordan . Missed out : Steven Caulker ( left ) was wanted by Palace but joined London rivals Moving back : Gylfi Sigurdsson ( left ) left Tottenham to resign for old club Swansea Parish , who is one of four Palace fans who own a 25 per cent share each in the club , does not want to overstretch the budget . Pulis is convinced he needs new players , but he has become increasingly frustrated over the summer by the failure to land any of his main targets . He believed he had put together deals for Steven Caulker , Michu and Gylfi Sigurdsson when the season came to an end . Instead Caulker signed for , Michu joined Rafa Benitez at Napoli and Sigurdsson returned to Swansea from Tottenham . Pulis wants total control of the club ' s recruitment policy , but Parish is reluctant to let the manager be in sole charge of player trading . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5486019,6020,"Arsenal transfer news : Edinson Cavani talks , Ben Chilwell deal , Kieran Gibbs considering ? exit Sean Kearns for Metro . co . uk Monday 1 Feb 2016 8 : 42 am Arsene Wenger s expecting a busy final day in the transfer market ( Picture : Getty ) Arsene Wenger promised Arsenal fans a busy January transfer window ? and the Frenchman s kept to his word . The 65 year old moved uncharacteristically quickly to bring Mohamed Elneny to the Emirates at the beginning of the window and deals for Nigerian youngsters Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze are thought to be close to completion . However , with the Gunners in for a fighting chance of winning the title , Wenger wants to solidify the Gunners challenge with a late signing or two . With that in mind , here s the latest transfer news from the Emirates : Wenger was desperate to sign the Uruguayan last summer but it appears the forward is the more willing for the move to happen this time around . The former Napoli man is unhappy with being shunned out wide under Laurent Blanc and he instructed his representatives to open talks with the Gunners this week . The striker is also believed to have been offered to rivals Manchester United but it s thought he d prefer a move to London . Cavani s representatives have held talks with Arsenal ( Picture : Getty ) Arsenal working hard on Ben Chilwell deal ? report Wenger s shown consistently over the years that he has an eye for spotting the best young talent and he thinks he s uncovered another gem in Leicester City s Chilwell . The young defender has made a name for himself under the Foxes and Wenger s received glowing scouting reports on the 18 year old . Arsenal ideally wanted to wait until the summer to move for the teenager but Chelsea s interest has accelerated the Gunners move and they want it done today . Nacho Monreal has been in sensational form this season and it s come at a cost to England star Gibbs . The 26 year old is second choice behind the Spaniard and he s desperate for first team football as he enters his peak years . Gibbs would rather not leave the Emirates but he s now considering his future with strong interest from a number of Premier League clubs . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past5496040,6041,"Like many of his counterparts across the world , Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to stand with France in the wake of the deadly attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo . While most people in India were equally disgusted by the events in Paris , others felt it was preventable . Opposition National Congress Party lawmaker Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote an opinion piece claiming the magazine was "" virtually inviting a reaction week after week . "" Kiran Bedi , a politician and former senior police officer , tweeted : "" France Terror Shoot Out sends a message : why deliberately provoke or poke ? Be respectful and civil . Don ' t hurt people ' s sensitivities ! "" But in a post on its Facebook page , the country ' s Aam Aadmi Party , or the "" Common Man ' s Party "" that just swept state elections in Delhi in an unprecedented victory , pointed to an issue much closer to home . "" A lot of you have expressed shock at the attack on satirists Charlie Hebdo and have shared some of their cartoons as well . But did you know that doing so can get you jailed here in India ? "" The use of controversial cartoons had reignited a furious debate about freedom of expression in the world ' s most populous democracy . Take the case of Ambikesh Mahapatra . In 2012 , the chemistry professor was arrested for circulating by email a cartoon that poked fun at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee . The cartoon , which was a parody of a scene in a popular Indian movie , went viral on social media . He was charged with a range of offenses including defamation , insulting a woman and sending offensive messages from a computer . Mahapatra called the charges a misuse of the law "" in the name of surveillance , to curb democratic rights , freedom of speech and human rights of common people . "" Cyber law in India stipulates that alleged offenders could face up to three years in jail for posting material that is "" grossly offensive , "" has "" menacing character , "" or perhaps even more ambiguously causes "" annoyance or inconvenience . "" Delhi went one step further in its digital crackdown in 2011 . The so called "" intermediary guidelines "" implicated web platforms themselves . The rules now require Internet companies to take down any content seen as "" disparaging , "" "" blasphemous , "" or "" defamatory "" within 36 hours of a user submitting a formal request for removal . Google says that in the last half of 2013 , it removed 540 items from its pages in compliance with orders issued by Indian courts , government agencies , and law enforcement . It ' s a similar story with Facebook . The social networking site took down nearly 5 , 000 pieces of content reported by the Indian government in the first half of 2014 . Meanwhile , MouthShutweblink an Indian equivalent of Yelp , which allows online users to write reviews of products and services has taken its case to the country ' s Supreme Court to protect what it says are the rights of Indian citizens and consumers enshrined by the Indian constitution . A number of companies had objected to negative feedback and applied to have comments removed under the guise of "" harmful speech "" in current legislation . The question marks over India ' s Internet freedom come at a time when Modi is planning to splash out 17 billion to build a fiber optic "" broadband highway "" that will cover the entire country . If the prime minister ' s ambitious plan bears fruit , more than a billion Indians will be surfing the web for the first time within three years . But a rapid rise in access to the web potentially exposes millions of ordinary Indians to a new threat . "" Schemes like this will bring the bulk of Indian communications online and therefore , open to interception , unless we regulate this before we start . Unless we have proper laws , "" said constitutional lawyer Bhairav Acharya . Ultimately India is an important case study in how developing markets deal with regulating an increasingly connected society . "" A lot of people don ' t see the relationship between free speech and privacy , "" explained Acharya . "" But when you survey communications and intercept private communications . . . this has a chilling effect on free speech . "" In 2013 , the Indian government rolled out the Central Monitoring System , a mass surveillance system capable of intercepting all phone and Internet based communications . Human Rights Watch warned of its potential to threaten civilian rights , given the Indian government ' s "" reckless and irresponsible use of the sedition and Internet laws . "" As of the time of writing , India ' s Telecom Minister had not responded to multiple requests for comment on this issue . Later this year , an Internet surveillance mechanism called an acronym for network traffic analysis is expected to go live . Its exact functions haven ' t yet been spelled out by the government , but Acharya pointed to its possible use as a tool for untargeted , dragnet surveillance . The Defense Research and Development Organization reportedly the architect of has refused to comment on the project . Where privacy rules dovetail with Modi ' s digital aspirations is especially troubling . "" If you have Digital India and hand in hand in effect , what this scheme will become is a large , massive surveillance project , "" warned Acharya . It ' s not all necessarily bad news for India ' s future Internet users . In the latest Freedom on the Net report , of all 65 countries surveyed , India showed the biggest improvement worldwide where Internet freedom was concerned . Relaxed restrictions on access and content plus a drop in the number of arrests for social media posts pushed India up in the rankings . Behind the gains the country was not , as regularly , calling into action its existing Internet controls . So , it wasn ' t that policy was being reformed it ' s that these controversial provisions were being called upon with less frequency than in past years . A more lenient approach was reinforced only last week when Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta India ' s third most senior law officer said posts made "" on any Internet medium which were not grossly offensive would not be treated as a criminal act . "" In effect , that could mean dramatically reduced restrictions over what can be freely said in posts made on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter . But ultimately , the government is bound only by its written submissions , so it remains to be seen whether these verbal concessions will find their place in ink in the Indian penal code . For now , this spate of embroiled cyber legislation is under deliberation in the country ' s highest court . Cyber security expert , Vijay Mukhi , will be among those looking to see where the anvil falls on digital freedoms . For him , the answer is simple : "" Let society or the legal system decide what must be seen on the Internet , not the state or the police . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5506041,6042,"It seems everyone except perhaps the die hard fan agrees that the most important event scheduled for next week is the first presidential debate . I say "" scheduled "" because you never know what the news cycle will kick in . Snickers might have a new chocolate bar . Or something . The pundits and politicians and the news media and the late night comedians are salivating over the debate . Maybe the football fans should be jealous , because the debate is being "" played "" like a game who will win , and by how much , rather than as a serious exchange of ideas or contrast of visions . Yes , the debates are important , but the political and economic conditions of the times are probably more important . Some debates have helped decide elections others have just clarified the electoral winds . Usually , the challenger has the advantage . He ( and perhaps someday she ) can go on the offensive . Being on the same stage with the president , who also has to defend his record , results in an automatic elevation of stature regardless of who ' s taller . Overall , an incumbent president has more to lose . Still , whether a debate alone can win or lose an election is itself open to debate . Every debate produces a gaffe and a few lines for the late night comedians . Whether that ' s enough to change the momentum of a campaign isn ' t so clear . Most experts agree that the very first televised debate , that between John F . Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 , did change the momentum and direction of that election . Opinion : How can President Obama win the first debate ? Nixon certainly learned his lesson , refusing to debate in 1968 or 1972 . In the second presidential debate of 1976 , Max Frankel of The New York Times asked President Gerald Ford about the Soviet influence in Eastern Europe . Ford said , "" There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe , and there never will be under a Ford administration . "" Astounded , Frankel gave Ford a chance to modify his response , but Ford elaborated , saying , "" I don ' t believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union . "" Or the Yugoslavians or Romanians , he added two countries whose rebellions the Soviet Union had crushed . That was a jaw dropper , and Carter said the debates gave him credibility . But just two years earlier Nixon resigned in disgrace and the country remained torn by the Vietnam legacy . So perhaps Ford ' s odd declaration only highlighted an inherent political weakness . In 1980 , Ronald Reagan , thanks to several decades of acting experience , looked presidential , selling himself to the American people as he had earlier sold them 20 Mule Team Borax . When Carter said Reagan would cut Medicare , Reagan , who ' d been complaining that Carter had been misrepresenting him , quipped , "" There you go again . "" And he ended with the now famous , "" Are you better off than you were four years ago ? "" But Carter didn ' t help his cause when he ended by saying he ' d asked his teenage daughter , Amy , to tell him the biggest issue of the day ( the answer concerned nuclear weapons ) . And inflation was at 13 . 5 , the country was in an energy crisis and the Iran hostage situation made Carter look weak . In 1984 , Reagan ' s zinger about own age "" I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign . I am not going to exploit , for political purposes , my opponent ' s youth and inexperience "" cost Walter Mondale the election , according to Mondale . But with the economy turning around and Reagan ' s popular "" cowboy "" stance against the Soviet Union apparently restoring American prestige abroad , the president already had a commanding lead in the polls before the debate . In 1988 , we had Michael Dukakis ' convoluted , wooden response to a hypothetical question about whether he would impose the death penalty if someone raped and murdered his wife . But Dukakis was done in by Reagan ' s legacy , his own ineptness and a "" dirty tricks "" campaign worthy of Nixon ( see Willie Horton ) . In 1992 , viewers thought if anybody won the debates , it was third party candidate Ross Perot , but President George H . W . Bush looked detached at times when he looked at his watch . Clinton was more personable . Opinion : Fox ' s laughable case for Romney By 1996 , the incumbent Clinton had a commanding lead over the 73 year old war veteran Bob Dole , who looked tired . Youthful vigor won . Given the disputed results of the 2000 cycle , it ' s hard to say what impact the debates had . But I will never forget the expectations game . Karl Rove , then George W . Bush ' s chief strategist , pronounced that Al Gore was the "" world ' s most pre eminent debater . "" Expectations were exceedingly high for us . Gore was prepared , but perhaps too prepared . He was anxious , and the split screen didn ' t do us any favors . We lost the debate on body language and sighing , not substance . Nixon ' s revenge , I guess . In 2004 , Bush was a wartime president . While the challenger , Sen . John Kerry , got under his skin in the first debate , Bush still managed to keep his cool under intense rhetorical fire . In 2008 , revulsion against Bush ' s economic and foreign policies , the Great Recession and the candidacy of Sarah Palin overshadowed the debates between John McCain and Barack Obama . So a good debate performance or a poor one can make a difference , but conditions in the country and how voters perceive the candidates probably matter more . The debates this year will certainly have their moments . But both candidates are already so well known , the memorable lines will probably reinforce , rather than change , voters ' perceptions . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5516071,6072,"Donald Trump Just Destroyed the Mainstream Media and Establishment . Again . Wayne Allyn Root is a bestselling author . His latest book is : The Power of ! Dubbed by the media as the Capitalist Evangelist , Wayne is a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee , international business speaker , serial entrepreneur and conservative media personality ? appearing on over 5 , 000 interviews in the past five years . Wayne s web site : ROOTforAmericaweblink . He is so much smarter than the mainstream media and the establishment . He is playing at another level ? like Michael Jordan did years ago , or LeBron James does today . Every time the media , the establishment , or Donald s critics and opponents for president think he s destroyed himself with outrageous and offensive comments , his ratings go up , and they wind up with egg on their face . Republican presidential candidate , businessman Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus , Ohio , Monday , Nov . 23 , 2015 . ( Photo Paul Vernon ) Trump just shocked and outraged the media , critics and the establishment by recommending a ban on all Muslims entering the U . S . But I m betting Trump goes up in the polls . Anyone want to bet ? Trump s move was brilliant ? again . His critics are going to have egg on their face ? again . They just don t understand the game he s playing ? he s a man playing chess . They are little boys playing checkers . This is an exact repeat of what happened this past summer when Trump supposedly called all Mexicans rapists and murderers . Except he didn t say that . What he said was the border is wide open bad people are coming in Mexico is not sending us their best and some of them are rapists and murderers . He never said all of them are criminals . As a matter of fact Trump praised legal immigrants from Mexico . He didn t say it very artfully . He was certainly harsh . But it s clear his intent was not to say all Mexicans are rapists and murderers . Trump s intent was clear as a bell to millions of Americans ? who agreed that Trump was pointing out a legitimate problem . Only days later a young woman lost her life at the hands of a five time deported illegal alien from Mexico . Trump soared in the polls . The thing is Trump s comments were harsh but true . There is a crime wave in this country being committed by illegal aliens . Illegal aliens acccount for over 30 percent of murders in several states . Our prisons are filled with foreign nationals ? almost 70 percent of them are from Mexico . Many bad people ? including potential terrorists ? could be coming across that border . But even the peaceful nice illegal aliens pouring across are on welfare , food stamps , Medicaid and other forms of government entitlement checks at a far higher rate than native born Americans . Illegal immigration is leading to the bankruptcy of America . Back then Trump s supposedly offensive and outrageous comments were all over the news . The mainstream media said , Poor Trump , his political career is over before it began . Well don t look now , but it s happening all over again . Donald Trump speaks to the crowd at a Pearl Harbor Day Rally at the U . S . S . Yorktown , December 7 , 2015 . ( Getty Images Sean Rayford ) The media is misquoting Trump just like last time and misunderstanding that what he said is going to be popular with millions of Americans ? again . The more they condemn him the more they talk about him the more they ll spread his message without the need to spend a dime on advertising . Once again , Trump sucks all the oxygen out of the room . They average American voter has heard of John Kasich . Carly Fiorina has disappeared . Jeb Bush is history ? he can t get to 10 percent in polls anymore . But Donald Trump is on everyone s lips . Love him or hate him , you can t stop talking about him . Trump just became the No . 1 topic at every dinner table in America ? again . And the media has misunderstood or misrepresented his comments ? again . If Trump said he wanted to ban all Muslims from America permanently , I d disagree strongly . If he said he would not allow Muslim Americans back in this country , I d disagree strongly . If he said that we would deport Muslims out of America , I d disagree strongly . But that s not what he said . Trump merely proposed a temporary ban until we can get our act together . That s perfectly reasonable . That s worth a national debate . Trump believes the U . S . government is incompetent . I agree . He doesn t trust the government s ability to keep us safe from terrorism . I agree . Because of that Trump believes we need to take a time out . We need to pause , breathe deep and analyze whether our government can determine who the bad guys are . This is a ban on Muslim foreigners only , until our government can get it s act together and insure we re all safe . I agree . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5526073,6074,"Even if President Trump’s fails over the long run to create jobs or prevent companies from moving offshore, there’s a good chance that it will appear, at first, to be a success. But this is a dangerous illusion, the result of companies responding strategically to the new president’s threats. And it could lead to more bad policy if voters or policy makers draw the wrong conclusions. That’s why it’s important to understand precisely how these new policies are likely to shape the numbers over the next few years. Some simple economics can help. Mr. Trump has taken to Twitter to name and shame manufacturing firms planning to relocate some of their production lines overseas. His attacks on Carrier, on Toyota, on General Motors have made their chief executives squirm and, in some cases, have produced what appear to be results. Carrier, for instance, has promised to keep some of the jobs it had planned to send offshore in the United States. Other companies have recycled old announcements of their domestic expansion plans. At first glance, pressuring a handful of companies seems unlikely to have much impact in an economy as large as that of the United States. Imagine that you are a chief executive of a company that has not been a Trump target there are so many companies in the country that the risk of yours being denounced by the president is tiny. At least that’s what the math shows. But the psychological reality is very different. Research has shown that people often overreact to insignificant risks, especially when the risks are so vivid. Just as it is almost certain that you won’t get eaten by a shark this summer, it is a near certainty that the vast majority of companies won’t end up in Mr. Trump’s cross hairs. Yet the fears persist, and people take greater precautionary measures than the actual threat warrants. Moreover, Mr. Trump is targeting the asset that corporate bosses tend to protect most jealously: their personal reputation. Which makes them edgy. So far, the evidence bears this out. There are plenty of anecdotes suggesting that Mr. Trump has executives running scared. Some are hiring communications and crisis managers. Few have been willing to announce the sort of plant closings that might put them in the harsh glare of the president’s spotlight. But this doesn’t mean that Mr. Trump’s tweets have saved jobs. At least not in a lasting sense. To see why not, put yourself in the shoes of a C. E. O. You’re not just deciding whether to send production offshore you also need to decide when to act. This gives you a relatively cheap way to avoid the president’s ire: Mothball your blueprints for the new overseas factory, but don’t burn them. When the political threat passes — and, eventually, it will — just dust them off and move. If enough companies follow this script over the next couple of years, the number of factory jobs in the United States should stabilize, or even rise. Mr. Trump’s eventual successor may well inherit a manufacturing sector that is superficially stronger, though it will hide an underlying weakness: thousands of C. E. O.s ready to move production offshore. As soon as Mr. Trump leaves the stage, several years worth of demand for offshoring may erupt, and as these plans are followed and factory jobs return to more normal levels, expect a sharp drop in manufacturing employment. Now imagine what all this will look like to a future policy wonk. Manufacturing jobs seemed to be scarce before Mr. Trump’s tenure, improved while he was at the helm, and then shrank sharply as soon as he left office. It might seem as though his angry tweets actually caused manufacturing to thrive. But it would be a mistake to infer that businesses really perform better when threatened. Rather, the fluctuating jobs numbers reflect the ease with which cuts can be delayed, not prevented. Sure, a delay is, in itself, good news for factory workers who keep their jobs a little longer, but it doesn’t address their problems. Indeed, many economists, both Democrat and Republican, fear that Mr. Trump’s policy of naming and shaming will hurt the manufacturing sector in the long run. After all, the point of the exercise is to allocate workers and machines based on presidential diktat, not market forces. He is pushing corporate leaders to please the White House, rather than their customers and shareholders. The cost of hiring crisis managers to deal with Mr. Trump raises the cost of doing business just as surely as a tax hike would. By making it more expensive to leave the market, he also creates a disincentive for foreign companies thinking of building plants in the United States. The difficulty with trying to use the bully pulpit to create a lasting change in corporate behavior is that words — even a president’s — don’t much alter a company’s bottom line. Corporate decisions are driven by the balance of costs and benefits, and the benefits of offshoring are typically large and enduring. Still, for short periods, even relatively minor incentive shifts can cause large reactions when what is involved is merely a delay, not fundamental change. For example, imagine two people who love Cancún and have decided to vacation there if the cost of a flight rises by $100, they will go anyway, because the cost isn’t enough to deter them. But if the airfare rises by $100 on Sunday, the day they had planned to go, but was to remain at the original price on Monday, the travelers may well decide to wait a day. So fewer people may fly to Mexico on the weekend, when it’s more expensive, yet there will be no impact on travel. Temporary policies often look as though they have disproportionately large effects, but they aren’t meaningful. That is the odd truth here: Mr. Trump’s approach may appear to have had a big effect precisely because it’s not viewed as a permanent solution. In fact, the more temporary his industrial policy is thought to be, the more likely it is that chief executives will delay job cuts until the climate changes. Perhaps corporate bosses are currently pliant because they expect that this storm will pass. But bad economics can be good politics. We may see some spectacular effects, even if Mr. Trump undermines the competitiveness of America’s factories. The political upside will be obvious in the monthly employment numbers, while the economic downside will be difficult to disentangle from the trend of declining factory jobs. Yet we shouldn’t be deluded. C. E. O.s will ultimately move jobs abroad if that’s what it takes to churn out profits.",true,news,test,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5536085,6086,"After being fired from the Trump campaign, Trump s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is still spreading hate on behalf of his former boss. This time, when asked about why Trump had virtually no African-Americans at a rally where he was talking about African-Americans, Lewandowski answered that it would be too dangerous to have African-Americans in the crowd. As a campaign manager, wouldn t you want your candidate saying some of these things directly to the people he s supposedly addressing? Anderson Cooper asked. You know what s amazing to me, is no one remembers Donald Trump went to go have a rally in Chicago at the university, responded Lewandoski. And do you remember what happened? It was so chaotic, and it was so out of control, Secret Service and the Chicago Police Department told him you could not get in and out of that facility safely, and that rally was canceled. And you showed the footage many times of the individuals who attended that rally. Donald Trump had that rally booked, Lewandowski said. That is a black community. He went to the heart of Chicago to go and give a speech to the University of Chicago in a campus, which is predominantly African-American, to make that argument. And you know what happened? The campus was overrun, and it was not a safe environment, he said.Source: The HillThe rally Lewandowski was speaking of occurred in Chicago in March or rather, it didn t occur in Chicago in March because it was shut down over protests. The largely African-American protesters objected to the violence that has been occurring at Trump rallies, but I guess it s okay if white people are violent.Here s the video:Trump, who has a zero percent approval rating with African-Americans, is trying to appear less racist. Lewandowski isn t helping, but to be fair, neither is Trump. His African-American outreach has been nothing but empty, insulting attempts at pandering. It was Trump, not Lewandowski, who appeared on Bill O Reilly to say that he d give Chicago police carte blanche to do whatever it takes to stop black crime.Perhaps Trump should focus on the crimes that are taking place right under his nose, whether that be the violence at his rallies or the alleged crimes taking place right in his offices.Featured image via video screen capture. ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past5546096,6097,"Eagles head coach Andy Reid addressed his recent family turmoil in a press conference today , responding to allegations that he had neglected his paternal duties in order to focus on football with the simple statement "" Red Right 32 Trap . "" "" This is a crisis we can all get through together , "" said Reid , whose two oldest sons were recently sentenced to nearly two years in jail for multiple drug related offenses and who was chastised by the sentencing judge for not providing a structured , healthy home environment for his children . "" But only by making defenses fear our running game again . Donovan McNabb has had his problems , but I take full responsibility for that . I should have been paying more attention to Brian Westbrook ' s need for the ball . "" "" Red right 32 trap is not the answer to all our problems , "" Reid added . "" But it ' s a step in the right direction . One day at a time . "" Reid became the focus of controversy recently when his sons Britt , 22 , and Garrett , 24 , were found to be addicted to and even dealing prescription and illegal drugs , prompting Montgomery County court judge Steven O ' Neill to liken the coach ' s home to "" a drug emporium "" and even say the Reids were "" a family in crisis . "" "" The last few days have been an eye opener for us all around , "" Reid said . "" To lose to the Cowboys by 21 just shows how deep the problems go . And I can ' t tell you how much worse it is when a disaster like this happens to you at home . Obviously , it ' s time to reevaluate our approach , starting with our running game . "" "" Don ' t worry , though , I read the papers , "" Reid added . "" I ' ll be taking a long hard look at the defense as well . I ' ll be doing my best to address all our problems , not just the ground game . "" Although Eagles owner Jeff Lurie has repeatedly said he will stand by his coach , stating that he would use any of the Eagles ' considerable legal and therapeutic resources to help the Reid family through the through the current crisis , Reid has responded by saying that he will handle his predicament in his own fashion . "" I truly appreciate the support I ' ve received from Eagles team officials , but this is really something I have to handle on my own , "" Reid said . "" I believe the old saying that a football team is like a family , and in any family , you solve your problems yourself through hard work and honesty . Right now , I can ' t ignore the real problem : The Eagles family is 3 5 , we ' re going through a crisis where it ' s becoming hard to trust each other , and while I might not want to admit it , people are unhappy and communications have begun to break down . "" "" It ' s going to take all my energy to make this right , "" a visibly moved Reid said , brushing at his eyes . "" I certainly didn ' t do anybody any favors when I took that five week leave of absence in the offseason . But this football team has my full attention from now until I get us into the playoffs . "" Reactions to Reid ' s statements met with mixed reactions in the press , particularly from those Philadelphia area journalists most familiar with the ongoing story of Britt and Garrett Reid . "" It ' s unconscionable for a coach to prioritize his team over his family to this degree , especially in the supposedly family oriented National Football League , "" said A . J . Daulerio of the Philadelphia Daily Examiner . "" Andy Reid needs to be a father to his sons right now , not fiddling with running trap and misdirection plays with that patchwork Eagles offensive line , which is frankly just asking for trouble . If anything , he should fix the defensive secondary first Sean Considine couldn ' t cover my grandma . "" ",satire,text,test,American football,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past5556098,6099,"A team of system administrators , web developers , and health care professionals reported this week that Craigslist , the free online network of classified advertisements , has contracted the anogenital disease commonly known as . The shocking diagnosis , made after an hour long examination of Craigslist ' s main server , marks the first time an Internet site has ever contracted a sexually transmitted virus . "" No doubt about it , that ' s definitely , "" said Dr Howard Morrison , a general practitioner who was brought in Tuesday to administer a series of tests on the popular website . "" Looks like it ' s already attacked the central mainframe and several routers . Pretty severe strain of it , too . One of the worst I ' ve ever seen . "" "" Knowing what I do about Craigslist , though , I can ' t say that I ' m surprised , "" Morrison added while scanning through lines of infected code . "" It was only a matter of time before something like this happened . "" While tests were unable to determine how Craigslist contracted human papillomavirus , the site ' s casual relationships with more than 40 million users nationwide is likely to blame . Internal records revealed that Craigslist routinely allowed complete strangers to sign up on its site , the vast majority of them sexually perverse , morally depraved , and lacking even rudimentary hygiene skills . "" We tried to ignore the signs , but every day more and more of those weird wart looking things started showing up on our home page , "" said a Craigslist developer who wished to remain anonymous . "" I honestly didn ' t think it was possible , but the cotton swabs confirmed it . Craigslist has . "" Founder Craig Newmark said he suspected that the sexually transmitted disease was contracted from the "" Casual Encounters "" section of the website , a popular service used by people looking to engage in consequence free intercourse . Newmark did not rule out other potential sources of infection , however , including the many thousands of listings for "" female help around the house , "" amateur modeling work , and free used mattresses . "" It could ' ve been anyone , really , "" said Newmark , who estimated that between 90 and 95 percent of the site ' s users are carriers . "" Especially that landlord who offers rent reduced apartments for certain ' unspecified services , ' or that guy pimpdadder84 from Chicago , who ' s always posting want ads for previously owned underwear . "" "" Considering the kind of stuff that goes on in here , I ' m relieved was all we caught , "" Newmark added . Since the diagnosis , Craigslist administrators have suspended all traffic to the website and started regular treatment for the virus . System analysts have been instructed to apply anti inflammatory cream to affected hubs , file servers , and other problem areas , as well as wash Craigslist ' s main Ethernet connections in podofilox topical solution three times daily . Doctors have also recommended the website contact any past partners or clients and ask that they too get checked out for . "" How could we have been so stupid ? "" embarrassed Craigslist site officer Michael Sturges said . "" I knew it wasn ' t exactly safe , and that we shouldn ' t be allowing just anyone from anywhere to join . But I wanted for the site to be , you know , popular . "" Added Sturges , "" I can ' t believe we let those creeps get into our database . "" Though worrisome for all involved , this week ' s diagnosis has reportedly taught the online network a number of valuable lessons . System administrators claimed that if and when the website finally returns , it would do so with a number of new policies . Future users will be required to disclose their real names when registering with Craigslist , in addition to providing a brief summary of their past sexual history , taking a standard blood test , agreeing to a month long trial period during which both site and user can better get to know each other , and entering a valid e mail address . Approximately 300 new firewalls will also be installed . "" You can never be too careful in this day and age , "" Craigslist security and network technician Sheila Wilder said . "" Just look at MySpace . That poor site ' s been knocked up three times in the last year alone . "" ",satire,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,negative,past5566100,6101,"Senior Iraqi officials claim they had warned coalition countries of imminent assaults . Posted : 11 15 2015 01 : 37 Edited : 11 16 2015 11 : 15 ( ) ? Senior Iraqi intelligence officials warned coalition countries of imminent assaults by the Islamic State group just one day before last week ' s deadly attacks in Paris killed 129 people , The Associated Press has learned . Iraqi intelligence sent a dispatch saying the group ' s leader , Abu Bakr al Baghdadi , had ordered an attack on coalition countries fighting against them in Iraq and Syria , as well as on Iran and Russia , "" through bombings or assassinations or hostage taking in the coming days . "" The dispatch said the Iraqis had no specific details on when or where the attack would take place , and a senior French security official told the that French intelligence gets this kind of communication "" all the time "" and "" every day . "" However , six senior Iraqi officials corroborated the information in the dispatch , a copy of which was obtained by the , and four of these intelligence officials said they also warned France specifically of a potential attack . Two officials told the that France was warned beforehand of details that French authorities have yet to make public . Among them : that the Paris attacks appear to have been planned in Raqqa , Syria ? the Islamic State ' s de facto capital ? where the attackers were trained specifically for this operation and with the intention of sending them to France . The officials also said a sleeper cell in France then met with the attackers after their training and helped them to execute the plan . There were 24 people involved in the operation , they said : 19 attackers and five others in charge of logistics and planning . The officials all spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly . The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Saturday for the gun and bomb attacks on a stadium , a concert hall and Paris cafes that also wounded 350 people , 99 of them seriously . Seven of the attackers blew themselves up . Police have been searching intensively for accomplices . Iraq ' s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari , also told journalists in Vienna on Sunday that Iraqi intelligence agencies had obtained information that some countries would be targeted , including France , the United States and Iran , and had shared the intelligence with those countries . Officials in the French presidential palace would not comment , and U . S . officials didn ' t immediately comment when contacted by The . Every night , the head of French counterintelligence goes to bed asking ' why not today ? ' the French security official said . The Iraqi government has been sharing intelligence with various coalition nations since they launched their airstrike campaign against the Islamic State group last year . In September , the Iraqi government also announced that it was part of an intelligence sharing quartet with Russia , Iran and Syria for the purposes of undermining the militant group ' s ability to make further battlefield gains . A third of Iraq and Syria are now part of the self styled caliphate declared by the Islamic State group last year . U . S . led coalitions in Iraq and Syria are providing aerial support to allied ground forces in both countries , and they are arming and training Iraqi forces . The U . S . said it is also sending as many as 50 special forces to northern Syria . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5576106,6107,"Even though alleged president Donald Trump s executive order banning seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. has caused widespread panic, he told Fox News host Bill O Reilly on Sunday that the move was going smoothly. Trump s fake news facts failed to mention that his poorly worded order sent the world into chaos.When O Reilly asked the man-baby how the travel ban worked out following the executive order, Trump said, I think it was very smooth. You had 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers and all we did was vet those people very, very carefully. Actually, that s not true and we re sure you re shocked. 60,000 visas were revoked following his Muslim ban.Press Secretary Sean Spicer also echoed Trump s claims previously that only 109 people were affected by his travel ban on the seven Muslim countries even though that claim was disproved.Facts matter:While estimates suggest that around 375 travelers who were in transit were stranded or detained, thousands of refugees were put into limbo when Trump scuttled the U.S. refugee program.During the jaw-dropping interview in which even a Fox News host challenged him, Trump insisted multiple times that the executive order was implemented in a smooth fashion and only 109 people were affected.In that same interview, Trump was asked by the Fox News host why he respects Vladimir Putin. O Reilly said, He s a killer and the host was not lying. Still yet, Trump said, There are a lot of killers. You think our country s so innocent? Watch:President Trump Bannon also said he s against sanctuary cities.From there, Trump went into the same dangerous territory his team keeps venturing into. He wants to prove he won the popular vote, but he s doing so without proof. O Reilly told him he needs data to back him up his claim that 3 million people voted for in the 2016 U.S. presidential election illegally, Trump insisted that Mike Pence will set up a commission to investigate the widespread voter fraud which has already been debunked.Image via screen capture. ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past5586108,6109,"The Mayor of Calais has demanded that hundreds of migrants in a squalid camp are moved to a comfortable new tented area . Natacha Bouchart has previously warned that migrants in the town are ' prepared to die ' to reach Britain and its generous benefits . But there are fears the new campsite close to the port where many try and board lorries heading for Kent will cause more problems for drivers and British border staff . Madame Bouchart called for a camp known as Jungle 2 to be closed so inhabitants can be moved to more comfortable and hygienic conditions . At least 900 migrants live at the rubbish infested site , trying to reach the . It is feared the new site , which will be close to the Jules Ferry camp , which opened last month , will encourage even more people into the area Last night a senior British politician said the move was an example of French authorities ' ' failure ' to deal with the problem and accused them of offering only a ' sticking plaster ' solution . The tented site will have washing facilities and be close to the Jules Ferry camp , dubbed ' Sangatte 2 ' , which opened last month . That 12 acre centre has beds , showers , toilets , a laundry service and medical facilities for about 2 , 500 migrants . The new ' Bouchart ' camp will see ' guests ' eat meals prepared by a Michelin chef at Jules Ferry . Labour ' s immigration spokesman David Hanson , who last year spoke of seeing ' tents on roundabouts ' and ' bedspreads in bus shelters ' in Calais , said migrants should be stopped from entering France . He added : ' It is important the French authorities take action to identify who it is who comes to Calais and then determine whether or not they have a legitimate claim for asylum or refugee status or whether they are illegal immigrants This problem won ' t go away till France takes this responsibility seriously and whatever they are doing in providing accommodation is a sticking plaster for a clear French failure . ' The mayor ' s plan will see bound migrants moved to the new camp on council owned land . From next month women and children will be given priority for overnight accommodation at Jules Ferry while men will sleep in tents at the adjacent site . Lorry drivers crossing into Britain already have to check their vehicles for stow aways , a desperate migrants try to enter the country illegally The decision to shut Jungle 2 comes after violent disturbances in August when large numbers began arriving from Eritrea and Ethiopia . Six months ago a judge approved the removal of hundreds of migrants from the camp , which is on privately owned land . But police failed to close it or move its inhabitants . Huge piles of rat infested rubbish have since accumulated and migrants hacked down trees for fuel . They also broke into a gymnasium where dozens of families now live . Announcing the plans earlier this week , Madam Bouchart said : ' The aim is to evacuate the company ' s land and to protect the migrants . ' But the move is likely to cause more problems for lorry drivers who have to check their vehicles for migrants trying to get to Britain . The mayor ' s solution will also anger border staff trying to stem the tide of migrants arriving via Calais . Calais residents fear a new camp will encourage a further 1 , 400 people sleeping rough to head for the site and make a huge ' tent city ' within weeks . It is unclear how much the new camp will cost but Jules Ferry is expected to cost 6million a year to run with half of that bill paid from an grant partly funded by British taxpayers . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past5596125,6126,"Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia s Sochi on November 13, followed by a visit to Kuwait the following day, his office said on Monday. The visit to Sochi comes amid reports of potential sticking points in Turkey s planned purchase of a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, and Turkish objections to the attendance of Syrian Kurdish groups to a Russian-sponsored Syrian peace congress scheduled for Nov. 18. Last week, the two countries took a step toward the solution of an import crisis as Russia lifted restrictions on import of Turkish tomatoes. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5606134,6135,"Parents honor terminally ill 5 year old ' s request to die at home Julianna Snow is only 5 years old , but she has been living with a severe neuromuscular disease all her life . Now , her family has made the difficult decision to honor their daughter ' s wish to no longer seek medical treatment if her condition continues to worsen . Julianna has a condition known as Charcot Marie Tooth disease , which is an inherited disorder that affects peripheral nerves in the body ( outside the brain and spinal cord ) . causes foot deformity , loss of muscle in the legs and makes movement , balance , swallowing and breathing difficult for those who suffer from it . Julianna currently uses a breathing mask because of the severity of her condition . See also : 7 year old with cancer has an inspiring duet with his favorite singer Back in May , Julianna ' s mother , Michelle Moon , who is a neurologist , posted about her daughter ' s condition in a blog on The Mighty . In her post , she wrote about Julianna ' s struggles , including several respiratory failures , losing the ability to walk and having to enroll in hospice . A photo posted by Michelle Moon ( julianna . yuri ) on Moon recounted the difficult conversation she had with Julianna , where her daughter told her that she did not want to continue treatment . Moon wrote in the blog : : J : I hate . I hate the hospital . M : Right . So if you get sick again , you want to stay home . But you know that probably means you will go to heaven , right ? M : And it probably means that you will go to heaven by yourself , and Mommy will join you later . M : That s right . You will not be alone . According to , Moon and her husband , Julianna ' s father , Steve Snow , were going to take Julianna to the hospital again for more treatments , but have decided to honor their daughter ' s wish to "" go to heaven . "" "" She made it clear that she doesn ' t want to go through the hospital again . So we had to let go of that plan because it was selfish , "" Moon told . A photo posted by Michelle Moon ( julianna . yuri ) on Not everyone agrees with Moon and Snow ' s decision . While many commended and understood Julianna ' s attitude , some commenters on Moon ' s post on The Mighty accused Moon of asking "" leading "" questions . bioethicist Art Caplan told , "" I think there ' s zero chance a 4 year old can understand the concept of death . That kind of thinking doesn ' t really develop until around age 9 or 10 . "" Julianna ' s parents and her doctors disagree . Unfortunately for a girl with Julianna ' s condition , her quality of life deteriorates as time goes by . "" It makes a lot of sense to listen to her . I have the utmost faith in her mother and father . . . For her , there is no light at the end of the tunnel , "" Dr Danny Hsia , Julianna ' s pulmonologist , told . At the moment , Julianna ' s condition remains stable . While she continues her care , her mother and father update people on her condition on Instagram and on Moon ' s personal blog , which she created in hopes of helping other families grappling with an ill child . Mashable has reached out to Michelle Moon and Steve Snow and will update this post if they respond . A photo posted by Michelle Moon ( julianna . yuri ) on ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5616149,6150,"Siwa , Egypt The journey to the Siwa Oasis isn ' t enjoyable . Hours are spent in a car covering hundreds of kilometers of flat , barren desert . If you ' re not careful , you can easily fall prey to boredom and passenger ' s fatigue . The first signs of the approaching oasis are red and white buttes rising from the sand that break the monotony of the landscape . Entering Siwa is like Dorothy opening her door to Oz . Two large saltwater lakes fed by fresh water springs dominate the oasis , surrounded by a forest of date and fruit trees . In photos : Siwa Oasis Three barren hills home to the Oracle of Siwa , the Mountain of the Dead and the old town loom above the sea of green foliage . Donkey carts seem to outnumber cars on the road in this sleepy part of Egypt . The only place to stay and truly experience everything the oasis has to offer is at one of the eco lodges . Getting over the initial impact of living without electricity will be uncomfortable , at first . At Siwa Oasis , you ' ll need to break the addiction of Internet , cellphones , and television . But eventually a primitive human instinct kicks in , and a new level of relaxation takes hold . Watch : Egypt wants tourists back We stayed at the Adrere Amellal Ecolodge , which sits on the far west end of the oasis straddling Siwa Lake and the Sahara Desert . Don ' t be fooled into thinking that just because there isn ' t any power you ' ll have to slum it . The rooms are built in the traditional Siwa fashion , but with all the amenities of a five star hotel , including hot water . Step outside your room and prepare for an adventure . With only three full days I was limited in what I could explore . But I especially enjoyed taking a dip in the pool fed by a natural spring . Then , I floated on the lake that , to my surprise , is just like the Dead Sea . Sturdy horses take travelers into the Sahara to watch the sun rise above the oasis and later that day , sink behind large dunes of the Great Sand Sea . Speaking of sand : If you ' re interested in sandboarding , make sure to check the boards first . The sandboard I used had an exposed screw on the bottom , which acted like an anchor going down the slopes . Our desert guide , Abdullah Baghi , was extremely knowledgeable and friendly . While out exploring the fossils , we discovered what Baghi believes are fragments of a meteor . We couldn ' t be sure , seeing neither of us are meteor experts or geologists . You can enjoy a Siwa sand bath if you ' re brave enough to make the journey in the middle of summer . The average temperature is 38 degrees Celsius ( or 100 degrees Fahrenheit ) . If you take the plunge , you are buried up to your neck in scorching sand , which allegedly helps with rheumatism , high cholesterol , and other ailments . For 10 to 15 minutes the moisture is pulled out of your body , after which they dig you up . Apparently the stench remaining in the pit once someone leaves is pungent . If you ' re looking for a bit of adventure without a guide , bicycles are available to rent so you can discover the back roads of the enormous oasis . While out discovering its nooks and crannies , you might want to stop off at Cleopatra ' s Spring . Rumor has it , the Egyptian queen visited and swam there but historians dispute this claim . Back at the hotel , the amazing staff is ready to serve . The meals alone are an event . Every multi course meal is presented at a different location on the lodge ' s grounds . Dinner is under a ceiling of shining stars and illuminated by candlelight . After spending five years in Egypt and dining in most of Cairo ' s restaurants , I can say , without a shadow of a doubt , they serve the best food in the country . If you ' re lucky , the owner of the lodge , Dr Mounir Neamatalla , will join you for dinner . He ' s a truly enlightened man with incredible knowledge of not only Siwa , but of Egypt as a whole , and makes for great conversation . Later in the evening , lanterns illuminate the pathways around the grounds , some of which lead to a roaring fire . In my opinion , sitting by the fire with a good drink is the best way to relax and rejuvenate after a long day . Part of what makes this oasis so magical is the difficulty in traveling there . Only dedicated , serious travelers make the journey not your run of the mill beach bum . If you decide to hop in a car or bus and travel the grueling hours , I can guarantee you will not be disappointed . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5626153,6154,"Daniel Sturridge was 23 years old when the proverbial penny dropped and , in turn , balls started landing in the back of the net . It took a big money transfer to new surroundings to trigger his devastating improvement . Similarly , Danny Welbeck is 23 years old and has just completed a 16million move from Manchester United to Arsenal . On Monday night he scored both goals for England in a 2 0 victory in Switzerland . Scroll down to watch England players stepped up Hodgson Easy does it : Danny Welbeck netted both goals in England ' s 2 0 win over Switzerland Neat finish : Welbeck flourished playing through the middle rather than on the wing Mobbed : Welbeck is congratulated by team mates after scoring his second goal of the night for England Sometimes footballers need a change , something different to think about , a new environment to spark an upturn in fortune . It worked for Sturridge , now 25 . He has 36 goals from 52 outings since swapping Chelsea for Liverpool . So is Welbeck ready to enjoy a goals glut of his own in North London ? His , of course , would suggest not 37 from 178 during the course of his club career equates to one every five games or so . Team player : Welbeck often sacrificed himself for the good of the team at Manchester United Club class : Welbeck completed his move from United to Arsenal on transfer deadline day But goalscorers need to be treated as such , deployed in a central domain with chances carved for their benefit . Welbeck , at Old Trafford , spent more time on the wing than he did in the penalty box , something which irked the player himself . Ironically , it was an injury to Sturridge which presented him with his chance in Basle . He responded with a brace , the first poached from six yards and the second a cool finish from 12 . You don ' t score those sorts of goals from the touchline . You can like our Arsenal Facebook page here Stepping up : Daniel Sturridge has become a key player for England since his move to Liverpool Career changing move : Sturridge benefited from his move from Chelsea ( left ) to Liverpool ( right ) At Arsenal he will be used as a centre forward . Chances will be fashioned . Welbeck will have no excuse . This weekend the Gunners face Manchester City , what better setting for the new boy to prove his worth ? For ultimately all strikers are judged on the goals they return . Forget Welbeck the team player , the player who sacrificed himself manning a flank for United . It is time for Welbeck to demonstrate a selfish streak , to make himself a certain starter for club and country . Just the beginning : Welbeck can use his move to Arsenal to kick on and flourish for club and country His progress will be monitored with trepidation from the North West . For Welbeck was one of their own , an academy graduate whose potential will now be realised at a top flight rival . Manchester City the club who nurtured Sturridge know the feeling . Don ' t forget that Welbeck is still only 23 . His double on Monday took his Three Lions tally to 10 . At the same age , Gary Lineker had one cap and no goals . Sturridge , similarly , has only flourished in the past 18 months . For Welbeck , Arsenal and England , then , this is only the beginning . England players stepped up Hodgson ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past5636157,6158,"— Even the special relationship is subject to limits, it seems. With a Republican administration under Donald J. Trump only weeks away, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain scolded Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday night for his speech criticizing Israel — a public jab that would have been highly unlikely any other time during the Obama administration. In a statement that echoed Mr. Trump’s fierce criticism of the Obama administration, Mrs. May chided Mr. Kerry for, among other things, describing the Israeli government as the “most in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements. ” Mrs. May does “not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally,” a spokesman for the prime minister said, using the department’s customary anonymity. Mr. Kerry’s speech was praised by other European nations, including France and Germany. So the British slap — especially after Mrs. May’s government voted last week for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction — was something of a shock to Washington. “We are surprised by the U. K. Prime Minister’s office statement,” the State Department said in a statement, noting that Mr. Kerry’s remarks “were in line with the U. K.’s own longstanding policy and its vote at the United Nations. ” But Mrs. May, who leads a Conservative government, has been trying, with mixed success, to make inroads with the incoming Trump administration. A strong political and trading relationship with the United States has become even more important for Britain after its vote this year to leave the European Union. Ian Black, a visiting senior fellow at the Middle East Center of the London School of Economics, wrote on Twitter that Mrs. May’s remarks were an “alarming early sign of ‘Trump effect’ on fawning Brits desperate to stay ‘special’ in Brexit era. ” So far, there have been some notable hiccups. The British government was vocally unhappy that the first British politician to meet with Mr. Trump after his election victory was not Mrs. May. Instead, it was one of her rivals, Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U. K. Independence Party. The visit was even memorialized in a photograph of Mr. Farage and Mr. Trump standing in front of gilded doors at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Mr. Trump suggested publicly that Mrs. May appoint Mr. Farage as Britain’s ambassador to the United States, a suggestion Mrs. May firmly rejected. Britain’s relations with the Obama administration have not always been smooth, either, with major disagreements over Syria policy and military spending. But the countries are close, especially when it comes to and the sharing of intelligence. Mrs. May’s criticism of Mr. Kerry represented an extraordinary public rebuke, even if President Obama is about to exit the scene. But it also offered her a chance to establish common ground with the new American administration. Mr. Trump, a firm defender of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, has publicly disparaged the Obama administration for abstaining — rather than using its veto — last week in the Security Council vote on Israeli settlements. The was also critical of Mr. Kerry’s speech, which defended the solution for the conflict, and called for an end to Israeli settlement activity that, he said, undermines that possibility. The British government has been working with Trump aides on an early visit to the White House by Mrs. May, to show the continuing strength of ties. Kim Darroch, the British ambassador in Washington, has said that Mrs. May and Mr. Trump want to “build on the legacy of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. ” In an election night diplomatic message about the Trump victory, leaked to The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Darroch discussed how the inexperienced Mr. Trump might be malleable to British advice and guidance. “The is above all an outsider and unknown quantity, whose campaign pronouncements may reveal his instincts, but will surely evolve and, particularly, be open to outside influence if pitched right,” Mr. Darroch wrote. “Having, we believe, built better relationships with his team than have the rest of Washington diplomatic corps, we should be well placed to do this,” he continued. But Mr. Trump’s initial discussions with foreign leaders have been haphazard. His first conversation with Mrs. May came after a string of other phone calls, when traditionally it has been the British prime minister who has the first call with an elected president. In an opinion piece in The Guardian newspaper, Azriel Bermant, a lecturer in international relations at Tel Aviv University, suggested that, by criticizing Mr. Kerry and currying favor with both Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu, Mrs. May may be hoping to, as Mr. Darroch suggested, persuade Mr. Trump to act more moderately in the Middle East and support the solution that Mr. Kerry was defending. “May might have calculated that retaining influence with the Netanyahu government requires her to distance herself from the Obama administration which is not flavor of the month in Jerusalem,” Mr. Bermant wrote. “Britain remains one of Israel’s strongest allies in Europe and May wants to keep it that way. ” The issue Mrs. May took with Mr. Kerry’s remarks was not about the legality of the Israeli settlements. The British government voted in favor of the Security Council resolution because, like other European members of the Council, Britain has long considered settlements beyond the 1967 armistice lines to be illegal. “But we are also clear that the settlements are far from the only problem in this conflict,” Mrs. May’s spokesman said. “In particular, the people of Israel deserve to live free from the threat of terrorism, with which they have had to cope for too long. ” In fact, while Mr. Kerry concentrated on the settlement issue, he also spoke of the need for Israelis to live with security, and he criticized Palestinians as not doing enough to combat terrorism. But with Mr. Trump elected, Britain is moving on.",true,news,test,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5646174,6175,"Dr Ellie Goodmedicine , an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at New York City Hospital , stunned the department ' s residency program by admitting a patient to the hospitalist service while the residents were attending a noon conference lecture . "" No attending physician has admitted a patient without substantial resident support and assistance for the last three years since we moved to the electronic medical record system and established a new admitting protocol , explains Chief Resident Dr Handholder . "" The process is actually very complicated and it can take years of practice to successfully maneuver a patient into a hospitalist ' s care . "" Prior to this incident it was assumed that attending physicians were incapable of admitting their own patients to the hospital , presumably because the mental effort required to juggle unrelated admitting protocols proved to be greater than the satisfaction of completing the admitting process in a timely fashion . "" I think the attending physicians are happier with the concept of a patient boarding in the while they wait for the resident to complete a 35 centimeter laceration repair than they are just going through the admission process because it ' s so unbelievably painful , explains intern Dr Ivy Leaguer . "" In fact , I can ' t hardly pull of an admission on my own yet without asking for help . "" Dr Goodmedicine was observed to complete a disposition note on the electronic medical record with a grin on her face , enter final diagnoses compatible with 10 billing phrasing as her grin became a slightly contemptuous smirk , completed the outpatient medication reconciliation process with a deft snap of the mouse and without a glance at the long list of medications randomly compiled by the triage nurse , contacted the patient ' s primary care physician and two specialty consultation services to ascertain the correct admitting service without shedding a tear , placed the admission order in the computer while updating the patient ' s recorded weight , confirming their gender and noting their code wishes , status and isolation requirements , and then signed the patient out to the appropriate hospitalist , placing the handoff note in the electronic medical record with a masterful flourish . She then collapsed into the only nice swivel chair that hadn ' t been taken by the department ' s clerks and sighed a deep and contented breath of relief and self congratulatory amazement . Following this event , Dr Goodmedicine was then noted to treat herself to a cappuccino , which she enjoyed at the nurses ' station in observance of the new Joint Commission Recommendations recommending the full and unobstructed caffeination of health care providers . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past5656181,6182,"Research could ‘potentially serve as a curative approach for patients with HIV’, scientist says Scientists have managed to remove of the virus from living tissue for the first time in a breakthrough that could lead to an outright cure. At the moment, treating the disease involves the use of drugs that suppress levels of the virus so the body’s immune system can cope. Now researchers in the have revealed they used gene-editing technology to remove of the commonest HIV-1 strain from several organs of infected mice and rats. In April, the same team reported that they had successfully eliminated the virus from human cells in the laboratory, but a paper in the journal Nature Gene Editing revealed they had managed to do the same thing in live animals for the first time. The researchers’ team leader, Professor Kamel Khalili, of Temple University, said: “In a proof-of-concept study, we show[ed] that our gene-editing technology can be effectively delivered to many organs of two small animal models and excise large fragments of viral from the host cell genome.” The current antiretroviral drugs for are not able to eliminate HIV-1 from the infected cells. And if treatment is interrupted, the virus can start replicating quickly, putting patients of risk of getting full-blow AIDS. This is because it is able to persist in immune system T-cells and other places where it is not actually active and is unaffected by the current treatments. The researchers used a specially adapted virus to deliver the gene-editing system into the cells. “The ability of the rAAV delivery system to enter many organs containing the HIV-1 genome and edit the viral is an important indication that this strategy can also overcome viral reactivation from latently infected cells and potentially serve as a curative approach for patients with HIV,” Professor Khalili said. In a statement, Temple University said the implications of the new study were “far-reaching”. “The gene-editing platform by itself may be able to eradicate HIV-1 from patients, but it is also highly flexible and potentially could be used in combination with existing antiretroviral drugs to further suppress viral RNA. It also could be adapted to target mutated strains of HIV-1,” it added. Professor Khalili said a clinical trial could happen within the next few years, but he first planned to carry out a similar study involving a larger group of animals. Breaking ",fake,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present5666204,6205,"The says it has opened a criminal investigation of the Veterans Affairs Department , which is grappling with a scandal over long waiting lists to provide care and allegations that paperwork was faked to make delays appear shorter . Director James Comey told a House hearing on Wednesday the bureau ' s Phoenix office has joined an ongoing review by the inspector general . The move at least partly satisfies requests from key members of Congress from both parties who have pressed for a full probe by the Justice Department as the scandal accelerated in recent weeks and led to the resignation of Secretary Eric Shinseki in May . Officials have said the inspector general is sharing findings with federal prosecutors , and the Justice Department could launch a full blown criminal probe if any of the information meets the standard for doing so . At Wednesday ' s hearing , Comey would not say whether the investigation would be expanded beyond the initial allegations at the Phoenix medical facility , but said the was "" working with the and will follow this wherever the facts take us . "" IGs are the internal watchdogs of federal agencies and usually conduct administrative audits for fraud or other abuse . Sometimes those reviews result in federal prosecution . Typically , the Justice Department waits for reviews by inspectors general to be completed before deciding whether to jump in . In this case , a Justice Department spokesman said , "" At the department ' s direction , the has instructed agents in its Phoenix office to conduct an investigation into the allegations related to the . Federal prosecutors will be working with these investigators to determine whether there is a basis for criminal charges . "" Widespread problems at the ' s health care facilities have persisted for years but questions intensified over the past several months amid fresh media and congressional scrutiny . An internal Veterans Affairs audit released Monday found that tens of thousands of newly returning veterans wait at least 90 days for medical care , while even more who signed up in the system over the past 10 years never got an immediate appointment they requested . The has acknowledged 23 deaths nationwide due to delayed care . Despite efforts to address some issues in recent years , including reductions in backlogs for benefits and the number of homeless veterans , the long waits have continued for newly enrolled veterans to get initial appointments for care . Reasons for the chronic problems include the increasing number of veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , and a bonus system that rewarded managers for meeting goals regarding access to treatment . Lawmakers for weeks have flocked to cameras and issued statements to urge the Justice Department to start its own investigation . But there ' s recent precedent for the department to be wary of the political pressure . The department quickly announced its probe into the after reports of alleged targeting of conservative political groups . The investigation continues , but so far investigators haven ' t found proof of a chargeable crime , according to people briefed on the case . As a result , the department is under fire from Republican lawmakers for not bringing charges . Separately , the House has unanimously approved legislation to permit veterans experiencing long wait times for medical appointments to seek care at non facilities at the government ' s expense . A similar measure has been proposed in the Senate , which could act later this week . Vets could get care outside under bill passed by House Audit : More than 120 , 000 veterans waiting or never got care ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5676214,6215,"Paris called a suicide counseling hotline early Wednesday , which lead to a counselor calling 911 to the Jackson home in Calabasas , California , those sources said . "" Being a sensitive 15 year old is difficult no matter who you are , "" attorney Perry Sanders said Wednesday morning . "" It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you . Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention . Please respect her privacy and the family ' s privacy . "" Paris Jackson : Superstar ' s daughter builds own identity in spotlight Other Jackson sources stopped short of calling the incident a suicide attempt , although one suggested it might be "" a cry for help "" from the teenager . Paris posted messages to her million plus Twitter followers late Tuesday evening : "" i wonder why tears are salty ? "" "" yesterday , all my troubles seemed so far away "" now it looks as though they ' re here to stay "" The Los Angeles County Sheriff ' s Department said its deputies "" responded to a medical situation "" at an address that matches the Jacksons ' Calabasas home at 1 : 27 a . m . Wednesday . A patient was taken to a hospital , it said . Paris , along with her grandmother , Katherine Jackson , and her brothers , Prince and Blanket , are suing Live for liability in Michael Jackson ' s 2009 drug overdose death . Paris and Prince are listed as witness in the Los Angeles trial and have been expected to testify in the wrongful death trial later this month . Jackson trial lawyer Kevin Boyle spoke to reporters outside of court Wednesday afternoon , saying Paris can decide if she will testify during their part of the case , but Live has subpoenaed her , calling her a key witness . "" The Jackson family and the Jackson lawyers are putting no pressure on Paris regarding this case at all , "" Boyle said . "" It is who is putting this case at Paris ' back door . "" Paris and Prince were questioned separately over two days by lawyers just before the trial began in April . "" A grilling of a child regarding the loss of her father is going to create a lot of pressure , "" Boyle said . "" Paris Jackson was asked intimate details about her father and her father ' s death it was a very intense situation . "" Live lawyer Marvin Putnam denied his team was tough on Paris Jackson in her deposition . "" I don ' t think anybody in the world could call it a grilling . "" He declined to say he would not call her as a witness if she does not testify during the Jacksons ' case . "" We have to know what they ' re putting on as a case before we decide what our defense will be , "" Putnam said . "" I have no idea who we ' re going to call . "" Paris made millions cry four years ago when she spoke up at the end of the public memorial service for her father . "" Ever since I was born , daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine , "" she said , fighting back tears as relatives consoled her . "" And I just want to say that I love him so much , "" she said as she burst into tears and sought refuge in the embrace of family members . Paris questioned about dad ' s death in lawsuit Paris was recently reunited with her mother , who bowed out of her life when she was an infant . She has been spending time with Debbie Rowe on her horse farm . Rowe issued a statement through her lawyer Wednesday morning : "" We appreciate everyone ' s thoughts for Paris at this time and their respect for the family ' s privacy . "" ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5686215,6216,"You probably have to go back to that unforgettable back nine meltdown at the Masters in 2011 to find the last time Rory McIlroy had a 30 minute collapse to rival the one he suffered at the World Tour Championship on Saturday . One minute he was making birdies for fun to be tied for the lead with defending champion Henrik Stenson . This brilliant European Tour season looked for all the world like it would get the Sunday showdown between the pair it deserved . Then came that half hour of madness , as almost unbelievably the world number one followed one double bogey with another . In 30 minutes he had gone from co leader to outside the top ten . Seeing him get one double bogey his first in 220 holes at the Earth Course was shocking enough but two in a row was positively jaw dropping . Scroll down to watch World Tour Championship day 3 highlights Rory McIlroy plays his tee shot on the fourth hole during 2014 World Tour Championship in Dubai McIlroy tees off at the ninth hole during the final round of the Tour at the Jumeirah Golf Estates McIlroy and his caddie Fitzgerald ( left ) make their way across a footbridge to the 17th green At the 12th , he three putted and then short sided himself badly with a wild tee shot at the 13th . Trust McIlroy to bounce back from those four dropped shots at the 12th and 13th with a birdie at the 14th and another at the 18th . But those costly lapses have left him with an awful lot to do if he is to end this amazing campaign with one more victory . The 25 year old had to settle for a 70 and , on another day of low scoring , that ' s left him four shots adrift of the co leaders , Stenson and Rafa Cabrera Bello . McIlroy made up seven strokes to win the Championship at Wentworth in May and spark his remarkable summer . But it will be some feat to make up such a sizable deficit against an opponent as formidable as the Swede on a course that suits him to a tee . Henrik Stenson plays his second shot of the ninth hole from the bunker on day three Stenson recovered from his troubles in the bunker to lead the course at the end of the third round ' I ' m obviously a bit frustrated at the minute about those double bogeys but at least the late birdies mean I ' m not out of it , ' said McIlroy . ' The idea on Sunday will be to play aggressively and go at the pins and try to post a low score . ' As for Stenson , he said : ' At the end of the year we always look at trophies and it would mean an awful lot to me to defend this title for my first win this season . ' The one thing that will give McIlroy encouragement is there are only three players ahead of him . Stenson and Cabrera Bello are three shots ahead of Justin Rose on eleven under and then comes McIlroy on ten under , alongside three other players in Frenchman Victor Dubuisson , Dane Thorbjorn Olesen and rising English rookie Tyrrell Hatton . Stenson hits a shot on the 18th hole against the glorious backdrop of the Dubai course England ' s Tyrrell Hatton reacts following a missed putt on the 18th green Stenson will start as clear favourite given he ' s ranked number four in the world and loves this Earth course . But Spaniard Cabrera Bello deserves high credit for a stunning comeback from an opening round of 73 that appeared to rule out any chance of winning . How he has responded , following a 64 on Friday with a 65 on Saturday . Similarly , Rose has bounced back from being four over par after 10 holes on Thursday to give himself an opportunity to clinch his third victory of the year . Dubuisson was third in this event last season and again showed his liking for the course with a 67 . Scotland ' s Richie Ramsay plays a shot on the 17th hole And how about Hatton ? The 23 year old Englishman appears to have been pipped for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year prize by exciting American Brooks Koepka , who won the Turkish Airlines Open last week . But that could all change if he can piece together the best round of his career on Sunday . ' I think I would have to win the event to win the rookie race as well but who knows what might happen if I can hole a few putts on the back nine , ' said Hatton . ' It ' s still a bit weird for me seeing my name next to the likes of Rory and Henrik , so I ' ll have to make sure I keep my emotions in check . ' Scot Marc Warren and Danny Willett from England will start the final round five in arrears after rounds of 65 and 71 respectively . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5696229,6230,"Aviation investigators appear increasingly certain it was a bomb that brought down the airbus A321 last Saturday week , killing 224 people . British authorities are taking seriously the claims by local Islamic State militants that they were responsible for the crash . Islamic State ' s Egyptian affiliate ? known as Sinai Province , or Wilayat Sinai ? issued an audio message last week claiming responsibility for the crash and pledging to reveal in its own time how it did so . It said it had shot the airbus down in response to Russian air strikes that killed hundreds of Muslims in Syria . Associate Professor Rodger Shanahan from the Australian National Institute and the Lowy Institute in Sydney , believes the Sinai based group would have been acting on instructions from Islamic State in Syria , and would not have launched such an attack on its own . "" With Russia intervening in Syria they Russia had obviously become a target , "" he said . "" Wilayat Sinai have been targeting Egyptian security forces , Egyptian judicial figures , the Egyptian government . "" They haven ' t been focused on foreign entities . . there is no reason for them necessarily to target a Russian plane . "" Wilayat Sinai is considered the most powerful and dangerous of several Islamist groups that have sprung up in the Sinai region in recent years . Associate Professor Shanahan said the ousting of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and the rise of an autocratic military regime in Egypt has seen extremist groups expand in recent years , especially in the Sinai where impoverished Bedouins and other marginalised groups have morphed into more extremist groups , bound by a common disaffection with the government . Wilayat Sinai has for several years waged a successful and sophisticated campaign against Egyptian government forces ? carrying out political assassinations and even shooting down a military helicopter with a surface to air missile sourced from Libya . in particular has shown a desire . . . to try and dominate the media cycle . And there ' s no better way to dominate the media cycle and get back at Russia than to bring down an airliner . Last year Wilayat Sinai pledged allegiance to Islamic State ' s leadership in Syria . Associate Professor Shanahan believes the move was strategic as much as ideological , because it would have given the Sinai based group access to finance , manpower and other resources for its own fight . "" This notion of branding and being part of something bigger sometimes helps your recruiting so . . . you ' re not just going to attract Egyptian volunteers . You may well attract fighters from other areas to support your cause , "" he said . Associate Professor Shanahan said if Islamic State affiliated militants did bring down the Russian plane , it was most likely on the instructions of leaders in Syria . "" You ' d think they ' d be given operational direction to do that , with Russia intervening in Syria , "" he said . "" in particular has shown a desire . . . to try and dominate the media cycle . And there ' s no better way to dominate the media cycle and get back at Russia than to bring down an airliner . "" Local support needed to get bomb on board : Shanahan ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5706237,6238,"Although recently enjoying a true hero ' s departure the epoch making truth of her amazing split personalitied adventures can now finally be revealed to an awestruck world . Was A Bit Of A ' Special ' Child Her exact birth date is lost in the mists of time and secretly born to the goddess Hippolyta on the mysterious Isle of Sheppey , Margaret Hilda Roberts showed prodigious talent for leadership , economics and crime solving from an early age . Thirty Years of Thrill Thirsty Thatch ! This week , the people of Earth celebrate the 30th anniversary of the rise to power of this amazing matriarch who latterly and more famously was to become known as Margaret Thatcher : Iron Lady . Double Lifed Dame Though unknown at the time , throughout the 11 years she held power , Mrs Thatcher lead a double life of fighting crime and international vigilantism . Frequently teaming up with other duel identitied leaders of the day , such as the U . S . A ' s ' Ray Gun ' , Iron Lady helped bring to heel such international villains as the three early 80 ' s holders of the title ' Ivan The Terrible ' , and that fiendishly fiendish fiend of faith ' The Pope ' . Cornholed Some Chump With A Comb Over Not without her detractors and criticism throughout her double existenced tenure , the Iron Lady ' s darkest hours must have come when she slam dunked the oily South American smarmster : ' General Belgrano ' , shortly before facing off against and humiliating the follically challenged ' Miner Man ' . Felt Skanked by The Yank However , the Iron Lady was to go on a few seasons more , yet seemed to loose some measure of conviction after the transatlantic truth seeker ' Ray Gun ' finally hung up his cloak . Not So Fond Of Bush Although enjoying what must rank as one of her greatest successes , ' The Calamitous Case of the Collapsing Wall ' , with Ray Gun ' s replacement , ' Wonder Bush ' , the Iron Lady finally slipped off the old red , white and blue for the last time shortly thereafter . As these are early days and the amazing news of The Iron Lady ' s true identity has only just been revealed to us all , I do hope to shortly be able to share with you more of , what are sure to be amazing tales of munificent Prime Ministerial mayhem ! Rula Nation 2009 ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past5716239,6240,"November 10, 2016 Long-term Effects of the Presidential Election The reverberations from Donald Trump’s election as the 45th president of the United States are being felt around the world. A number of Hollywood’s celebrities are saying they will move out of the country. Many political pundits are decrying the overthrow of the international order that globalists have worked so hard to build since World War II. On the other hand, one politician from Israel is saying that Trump’s election heralds the coming of the Messiah. One thing is certain. The election of Mr. Trump to lead the world’s greatest nation will definitely change things dramatically. What will the long-term effects of America’s election actually be? We’ll talk about on today’s edition of End of the Age. Join the Conversation",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past5726253,6254,"Cruz wins Republican caucuses in Iowa as candidates look to New Hampshire Posted : Feb 02 , 2016 1 : 11 Last Updated : Feb 02 , 2016 8 : 34 Former president Bill Clinton , left , and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton acknowledge supporters during a caucus night rally at Drake University in Des Moines . ( Patrick Semansky Associated Press ) The former secretary of state , senator from New York and first lady edged past the Vermont senator in a race the Iowa Democratic Party called the closest in its caucus history . The Iowa Democratic Party said Tuesday that it would not do any recount of the close results , and a spokesman for the Sanders campaign said it does not intend to challenge the results of the caucuses . Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders poses for photos during a caucus night rally on Monday , Feb . 1 , 2016 , in Des Moines , Iowa . ( Evan Vucci Associated Press ) Democrats form groups at caucus sites , publicly declaring their support for a candidate . The final numbers are awarded proportionately , based on statewide and congressional district voting , determining Iowa ' s 44 delegates to the national convention . Clinton ? had been expected to cruise to victory in Iowa and beyond . But Sanders has appealed to the Democrats ' liberal base , especially the young , who are concerned about growing income inequality and the shrinking of the middle class . Although Clinton said she was "" breathing a big sigh of relief , "" and her campaign said it had won an outright victory , the neck and neck contest was a blow , evoking the setback she faced in 2008 after her upset loss to then senator ? Obama . Given the closeness of the Democratic caucuses , the did not declare a winner . Eight years ago , Clinton ' s victory in New Hampshire breathed fresh life into her campaign . But New Hampshire is also familiar territory for Sanders , who represents neighbouring Vermont in the Senate and is well known among the state ' s voters . Sanders ' sizable lead over Clinton in New Hampshire polls has held steady or increased in recent weeks . Clinton had a big advantage with voters 65 and over , according to polling data , with Sanders able to boast of an even wider disparity ? ? at over 80 per cent support ? ? from voters 30 and under . Clinton ' s victory in Iowa means she will collect 23 delegates and Sanders will win 21 . With her advantage in superdelegates ? the party officials who can support the candidate of their choice ? Clinton now has a total of 385 delegates . Sanders has 29 . It takes 2 , 382 delegates to win the Democratic nomination for president . ? Meanwhile , Republicans and Democrats descended on the tiny New England state of New Hampshire , which votes next Tuesday . On the Republican Iowa caucuses , Texas Senator ? Ted Cruz , a fiery conservative loathed by his own party ' s leaders , swept to victory on Monday , overcoming billionaire Donald Trump and a stronger than expected showing by Florida Senator ? Marco Rubio . On the Republican Iowa caucuses , Texas Senator Ted Cruz , a fiery conservative loathed by his own party ' s leaders , swept to victory on Monday . ( Charlie Neibergall Associated Press ) The outcome in the country ' s first nominating contest drew a line under voter dissatisfaction , especially among Republicans , with the way government in Washington operates , with anger over growing income inequality and fears of global turmoil and terrorism . Cruz ' s victory in Monday ' s caucuses , which drew a record turnout , was a blow to Trump , the real estate mogul who has roiled the Republican field for months with controversial statements about women and minorities . But Trump still holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire and national polls . New Hampshire has historically favoured more moderate candidates than Iowa , and more than 40 per cent of the state ' s electorate are not registered in any political party . Cruz on Tuesday suggested he was focused on New Hampshire but also on South Carolina , which votes 11 days later . Trump came in second slightly ahead of Rubio , whose stronger than expected finish could help cement his status as the favourite of mainstream Republican voters who worry that Cruz and Trump are too caustic to win the November general election . Trump vowed to keep up his fight , telling cheering supporters that "" we will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up . "" Some of the establishment Republican candidates have been focusing more on New Hampshire than Iowa , including former Florida governor ? Jeb Bush , Ohio Gov . John Kasich and New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie . The caucuses marked the end of at least two candidates ' White House hopes . Former Maryland governor ? Martin O ' Malley ended his longshot bid for the Democratic nomination , and former Arkansas governor ? Mike Huckabee dropped out of the Republican race . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5736265,6266,"Barack Obama , wiping tears , makes new push to tighten gun rules : Love visual aspect of news ? Enjoy this exclusive slideshows treat ! : Wiping back tears as he remembered children who died in a mass shooting , President Barack Obama on Tuesday described new steps he is taking to tighten gun rules and urged Americans to vote for candidates willing to do more to prevent gun violence . As Obama delivered a powerful address in the White House , surrounded by family members of people killed in shootings , his voice rose to a yell as he said the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms needed to be balanced by the right to worship , gather peacefully and live their lives . Obama has often said his toughest time in office was grappling with the December 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown , Connecticut . "" Every time I think about those kids , it gets me mad , "" Obama said , tears rolling down his cheek . "" That changed me , that day , "" he said , after being introduced by Mark Barden , whose 7 year old son was killed in the shooting . "" My hope earnestly has been that it would change the country . "" After that tragedy , the Democratic president failed to persuade Congress to toughen U . S . gun laws . He has blamed lawmakers for being in the thrall of the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby group . The stocks of gunmakers Smith Wesson Holding Corp and Sturm Ruger Co Inc have climbed since the announcement . On Tuesday , Smith Wesson jumped 12 percent to 26 . 10 a share and Sturm Ruger was up nearly 7 percent at 65 . 62 . Obama acknowledged that laws won ' t change during his remaining year in office , but said he will continue to raise the issue in the time he has left . The U . S . Constitution ' s 2nd Amendment gives Americans the right to have arms , a right that is fiercely defended . Obama laid out executive action he is taking to require more gun sellers to get licenses and more gun buyers to undergo background checks . Under the changes , the U . S . Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives ( ) is issuing guidelines intended to narrow exceptions to a system that requires sellers to check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether buyers have criminal records , are charged with crimes or have mental health conditions that would bar them from owning a gun . The proposal is "" ripe for abuse "" by the government , said Chris Cox , an official with the National Rifle Association in a statement , adding that the powerful gun lobby group will continue to fight to protect Americans ' constitutional rights . Legal challenges to the changes , which are contained in guidance from the , are expected . The crucial question in any direct legal challenge will be whether the guidance creates new obligations , or merely clarifies existing law . The more the Obama administration acts as though the guidance has created a new legal requirement , the more legal trouble it might invite , said Lisa Heinzerling , administrative law professor at Georgetown University . Republican leaders were quick to denounce Obama ' s gun changes , with most Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential race promising to reverse his actions if they win the White House . Reince Priebus , the head of the Republican National Committee , called the changes "" executive overreach "" that "" is all about burnishing the president ' s legacy and boosting Democrat enthusiasm in a presidential election year . "" Republicans who control Congress made it clear that they oppose the changes , although some downplayed their significance . "" Ultimately , this executive ' guidance ' is only a weak gesture a shell of what the president actually wants , "" said Kevin McCarthy , leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives . Stay on top of business news with The Economic Times App . Download it Now ! ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5746270,6271,"Largest producer to discuss all issues at Dec . 4 meeting Iran letter urges group to cut output in line with target Saudi Arabia will discuss all issues at the meeting on Friday and listen to concerns of other members , said the nation s Oil Minister Ali al Naimi . We have a meeting on Friday , we will discuss all these issues , al Naimi told reporters Tuesday . We will listen and then decide . Naimi spoke as he arrived in Vienna for a meeting that is widely expected to ratify the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decision a year ago to defend market share rather than support prices . Some members including Iran and Venezuela continue to push for the group to reverse course and curb production . Oil prices just completed the biggest monthly decline since July as , which pumps about 40 percent of the world s supply , showed few signs of trimming production . Crude has fallen almost 40 percent the past year as a record surplus persisted while global producers When asked if Saudi Arabia will stick to its strategy of defending its markets against competing supplies , al Naimi said : Who said we are keeping market share strategy ? Did I ever say ? Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh sent a letter to calling for a cut in excess output , Mehr news agency reported Tuesday . The group should reduce current production of 31 . 3 million barrels a day to come back in line with its target of 30 million , Zanganeh said . Curbs on Iranian oil sales to Europe and Asia will be lifted once the country dismantles atomic equipment in line with the terms of a deal struck with world powers in July . That could happen around the end of the first quarter , Societe Generale estimates . Iran can expand output by 500 , 000 barrels a day from about 2 . 8 million currently within a week of restrictions being removed , and by 1 million barrels a day within six months , according to state run National Iranian Oil Co . regardless of the impact on prices , Zanganeh said last month . Iran s expansion will amplify the market share strategy spearheaded by Saudi Arabia , according to banks including Societe Generale and Paribas . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5756281,6282,"The Protestants entered Saturday ' s final regular season week against the Catholics ranked No . 1 in the Western Division for the first time since 1979 , and with the help of closer David Trimble , walked away with a 8 4 win . The Catholics , who are no longer a perennial title contender , entered the final week unranked and without playoff hopes for the first time in five years . Buddhism and Traditional Chinese continued a see saw battle for dominancy in the Asian Division , the Buddhists , aided by a flawless performance by the Dalal Lama , who pitched a perfect game , defeated the T . C . 2 0 . The Buddhists have extended their divisional lead to 5 games , with a 4 home game series in Tibet commencing Monday . In other news , United Islam , still reeling from the loss of Hamas designated hitter Abdel Aziz Rantisi against Judaism last April , hammered a heated 8 7 victory over Hinduism , the final game of a 4 0 sweep this week . Pakistani Islamic 1st baseman Choudhary Shujahat Hussain scored 3 runs on 5 at bats with 5 ' s , helped in handing Hindu starter Rao K . Sudarshan his first 4 straight game series loss since 2002 . Western Division W L Pct Home Road Protestant 75 53 . 586 43 21 32 32 Catholic 59 70 . 457 17 36 30 23 40 Pentecostal 49 80 . 380 27 29 50 20 30 Jehovas W . 11 121 . 083 82 11 0 0 121 Middle Eastern Division W L Pct Home Road United Islam 85 44 . 689 42 23 43 21 Hinduism 61 67 . 477 18 33 30 28 37 Judaism 41 89 . 315 37 20 45 21 44 Sikism 11 41 Asian Division W L Pct Home Road Buddhism 75 54 . 581 39 25 36 29 Chinese trad 71 60 . 542 5 38 29 33 31 Confucinism 55 74 . 426 20 31 35 24 39 Shinto 40 90 . 311 35 20 45 21 44 Independent Division W L Pct Home Road Unitarianism 66 63 . 512 33 33 33 30 Scientology 61 67 . 477 4 33 30 28 37 Rastafarianism 60 68 . 469 5 32 31 28 37 Neo Paganism 55 72 . 433 10 30 34 25 38 Games Today : Catholics vs . Protestants , 1 : 00 P . M . B . Lennon ( 9 4 ) vs . D . Trimble ( 9 1 ) Judaism vs . U . Islam 1 : 00 P . M . A . Sharon ( 4 8 ) vs . S . Hussein ( 7 2 ) : : pstpd : : 4 : 00 P . M . ( car bombing ) Unitarianism vs . Rastafarianism 4 : 00 P . M . W . Sinkford ( 8 8 ) vs . B . Marley ( 1 12 ) Scientology vs . Confucinism 4 : 00 P . M . L . R . Hubbard ( 3 7 ) vs X . Cheng ( 8 0 ) Shinto vs . Neo Paganism cancelled , rain ",satire,text,test,Football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5766296,6297,"It is sometimes necessary for men wanting to attract the opposite sex to come out of their shell . Yet it seems that by often choosing the bolder males , women may be missing out on the best possible mate . Researchers have found that the shyest males actually have the most to offer a potential lover at least in the world of hermit crabs . Hermit crabs , like the ones above , borrow the shells from other creatures to keep them safe and new research has shown that those crabs that stay in their shells more often tend to be a better mate for female crabs Professor Mark Briffa , a marine animal behaviour researcher at Plymouth University , and his colleagues have found that the most timid crabs tend to more high quality sperm making them a better option for females looking for a mate . This , they say , is because the crabs that spend more time hiding from the world inside their shells , also have invested the most resources in becoming reproductively fit . Males of a species of hairy chested crab , which has been given a nickname David Hasselhoff , spend their lives largely separate from the females , according to new research . In a study looking at the private life of the deep sea crab known as the ' Hoff ' have found that the males and females spend separate lives at volcanic vents 1 . 5 miles deep near Antarctica . This , according to the British research , is because of the conflicting demands of feeding and raising young among the sexes . In 2010 , a British expedition revealed a ' lost world ' of deep sea animals including the crab named after the Baywatch star thriving on the ocean floor near Antarctica . Using a deep diving remotely operated vehicle ( ) to examine the distribution , size and sex of these crabs at the vents , Dr Leigh Marsh and colleagues from the University of Southampton have now pieced together their private lives . The researchers found that large male Hoff crabs live highest on the mineral spires of the deep sea vents , closest to the hot fluids that jet from them . Smaller males tend to mingle with the females at the base of the mineral spires . It is an unusual approach in the animal kingdom , where the boldest , bravest and strongest usually win the right to mate . Indeed , in many species males have to prove their physical fitness with bold and dramatic displays like in peacocks and birds of paradise and even mortal combat in some cases . Writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , Professor Briffa and his colleagues said : ' It appears that in hermit crabs , high quality individuals that have invested heavily in reproduction , by making large spermatophores , are the most risk averse . ' Although we did not measure metabolic rate , a key process for the pace of life syndrome , this result seems counter to the idea that the most productive individuals should also be the boldest . ' The researchers examined the ' personality ' of 100 hermit crabs collected from Mount Batten and Hannafore Point in Plymouth . They did this by testing the ' startle response ' of each crab by removing it from its tank , inverting the crab for five seconds , which caused it to withdraw into its shell , and then returning it back into the tank upright . The boldest crabs would then poke their heads back out of their shells far faster than the more timid crabs . On average most crabs emerged within 16 seconds . The researchers then measured the levels of a protein called haemocyanin , which is responsible for carrying oxygen around the crabs bodies . They found crabs that stayed in their shells longer after being startled tended to have higher levels of this protein . Hermit crabs , like the one pictured above , hide in their shells when startled , but it also helps them become better mates This is because when inside their shell , the crabs are unable to access the oxygen rich sea water around them and so higher levels of this protein helps use the oxygen already in their bodies more efficiently . Next the researchers examined the crustacean ' s gonads and measured the size of the tube shaped bundles of sperm there , called spermatophores . Again they found in the timid crabs , those that were slower to reemerge from their shells after being frightened , had larger spermatophores and so more high quality sperm stored . As they grow , hermit crabs like the one above , ' upgrade ' their shells by seeking out larger ones as finding the right home can offer them protection from danger but also give them a way of growing better stores of sperm Professor Briffa and his colleagues said that hiding in the shell when threatened may allow the crabs to conserve their energy for building up greater sperm reserves . It also reduces the risk of losing a shell in a fight with another crab , something that can increase the amount of stress a crab is exposed to . They said that in hermit crabs less reproductively fit individuals may develop boldness to help them compete with the shier more fertile crabs . They said : ' Low quality males may emerge more quickly in an attempt to maximize their chance of mating , or because they need to return more quickly to foraging , or through a combination of these causes . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5776310,6311,"The Philippine Supreme Court postponed the introduction of a controversial law that aims to provide government funded contraception and sex education classes in the mainly Catholic country . The Southeast Asian nation ' s top court issued an order on Tuesday delaying the implementation of the law for 120 days while it waits to hear arguments from several petitions against the new measures , the official Philippines News Agency ( ) reported . Lawmakers approved the legislation , named the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act , in December after years of campaigning by public health and women ' s rights activists . President Benigno Aquino signed it into law the same month , with his office saying it had closed a divisive chapter in the nation ' s history . But the Supreme Court decision has reopened the contentious topic , raising the hopes of leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philippines who oppose the measures . "" For me it ' s a good sign , a victory "" for those who are against the law , said Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon , according to . He said he believed that Pope Francis , who was officially inaugurated on Tuesday , would be happy to hear of the delay . Despite widespread support for the new measures in the Philippines , the Catholic Church lobbied against the legislation , saying it would undermine marriage and morality . More than 80 of the Philippines ' 96 million citizens are Catholic . One of the petitions submitted to the court against the law argues that "" the State cannot , as a general principle , routinely invade the privacy of married couples in the exercise of their most intimate rights and duties to their respective spouses , "" according to . But supporters of the legislation , like Sen . Miriam Defensor Santiago , say it is necessary to help people in the Philippines "" escape the vicious cycle of poverty by giving them options on how to manage their sexual lives , plan their families and control their procreative activities . "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5786328,6329,"A cure for marijuana abuse could be on the horizon thanks to a new finding . Researchers found that increasing the levels of a naturally occurring acid in the brain could stop addicts who are trying to give up from relapsing . The scientists discovered that kynurenic acid reduces the kick monkeys and rats get from the active ingredient in marijuana . Researchers found that increasing the levels of a kynurenic acid which occurs naturally in the brain could stop addicts who are trying to give up marijuana from relapsing The researchers , at the University of Maryland , in the U . S . , explained that drug abuse is controlled by dopamine and that kynurenic acid influences dopamine , LiveScience reports . The acid is effective because it blocks the receptors that cause the positive feelings inspired by dopamine . activates dopamine neurones in the brain which causes cells to release dopamine . Kynurenic acid which can be produced from bananas and turkey is thought to cause fewer side effects than other treatments that have been considered because it occurs naturally in the brain . To test the effectiveness of the treatment , Robert Schwarcz and his colleagues gave rats and monkeys a drug that increased their levels of the acid while the creatures self administered . They found the animals were less interested in the when they were being given the treatment . The researchers also tried taking the animals off the and then increased their acid levels while giving them a small amount of . Cure for cannabis abuse ? The researchers explained that drug abuse is controlled by dopamine and that kynurenic acid is effective because it blocks the receptors that cause the positive feelings inspired by dopamine They found that increasing the levels of the acid stopped the rats and monkeys reverting to their previous pattern of drug use . ' We found that you can reduce dopamine levels and the animals behave differently they don ' t have relapse , and don ' t abuse marijuana , ' Dr Schwarcz told LiveScience . The findings have not yet been tested in people and it is not known whether the treatment would act on other parts of the brain as well . ' A medication that would safely and effectively assist in the treat ment of marijuana dependence would be an important step forward in dealing with cannabis use disorders , ' he added , writing in the journal Nature Neuroscience . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5796338,6339,"Jimmy Fallon Donates 10 , 000 To Flint , Asks 10 Friends To Match Him Other celebrities have also given to the beleaguered city . Fallon is making waves in a good way ! Jimmy Fallon has a heart as pure as , well , water purifying pills . As tensions continue to boil over the Flint water crisis , in which lead was found in the Michigan city s drinking supply , Fallon has decided to put his money where his mouth is . On Sunday , the host of "" The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon "" took to Twitter to announce that he ' s donating 10 , 000 to Community Foundation Greater Flint , a charity that supports the community in Flint . And he wants others to do the same : Happy Sunday ! ! I ' m donating 10 , 000 to weblink : t . co JqAiRlCWrS . How about 10 friends match me ? WaterForFlint Happy Sunday ! ! I m donating 10 , 000 to . org . How about 10 friends match me ? WaterForFlint , Fallon tweeted to his 34 . 6 million followers . Fallon is not the only star that is using his celebrity to help the situation in Flint that President Barack Obama has called "" inexplicable and inexcusable . "" On Jan . 16 , Cher donated nearly 200 , 000 bottles to Flint , while Sean Diddy Combs and Mark Wahlberg are donating 1 million bottles , which are supposed to reach the city by Wednesday . ? Pearl Jam announced last week that the band will donate 300 , 000 to the United Way of Genesee County s Flint Water Fund . The problem with Flint s drinking water occurred several months ago when the Michigan city switched its water system from the Flint River and failed to use corrosion controls . The result is traces of lead in the drinking supply , which is a huge public health risk . According to ? the World Health Organization ? even low lead exposures in childhood can cause lifelong problems such as intellectual disabilities , lower IQs and serious medical conditions like anemia and kidney dysfunction . In his State of the State address last week , Gov . Rick Snyder said he let residents down , but that shouldn t dissuade people from trying to bring Flint back up . There are many ways to help Flint , you can read more here . To make a donation , head to The United Way of Genesee County s website . Parents and pediatricians have long known that reading has huge benefits for young children , but in 2015 , science offered the first hard proof ? that it actually changes kids ' brains , as well as insights into how , exactly , it all goes down . Using MRIs , investigators looked into the brains of 3 to 5 year olds and found concrete visual evidence that reading to preschoolers ? activates the parts of their ? brains that help with mental imagery and understanding narrative both of which are essential for the development of language and literacy . Read on ! 75 percent of parents face car seats the wrong way . The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents keep toddlers in rear facing car seats until they either turn 2 or reach the maximum height and weight for their rear facing seat . But researchers found that most parents turn their child ' s car seat around to a front facing position earlier than is recommended , and a quarter of parents turn them around before their children ' s first birthday . Children with pet dogs are less likely to have anxiety issues . Parents may not have needed a study to tell them that dogs can do good things for children ' s mental health , but they got one in 2015 nonetheless . An investigation published in the fall ? found that children who live in homes with dogs are less likely to meet clinical thresholds for anxiety and related disorders than children in dog free homes . ? "" Pet dogs could reduce childhood anxiety , particularly social and separation anxiety , by various mechanisms , "" the study authors wrote . Yes , it ' s kind of a downer . And yes , it might seem pretty darn obvious . But a study published in 2015 got a lot of attention for showing the extent to which pizza contributes to American kids ' intake of salt , calories and saturated fat . ? On any given day , about 20 percent of children and teens eat pizza , the researchers found and on those days , children generally tend to eat more salt , calories and saturated fat overall . Parents should really try and limit their kids ' overall pizza intake , the researchers urged , or at least make it healthier when it is on the menu , by adding veggie toppings , for example . rates are up especially in girls . Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , or , has long been thought of as largely a boy ' s issue . But a new analysis of national data ? released in December found that not only is the overall prevalence of diagnoses up in the United States ( by 43 percent among school age children , according to their parents ) , there has also been a surprising jump in diagnoses among girls . Between the study period of 2003 and 2011 , diagnoses increased by 55 percent among girls . Why ? That ' s the big next question , researchers say and they don ' t have an answer yet . It could be that doctors have simply begun to recognize that girls have symptoms other than "" classic "" signs , like impulsivity and an inability to focus . It also may well be that over diagnosis is at play . For now , the study makes it clear that continues to be common and that parents , teachers and doctors shouldn ' t overlook it as a potential issue among certain subgroups of children who may have been missed in the past . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5806355,6356,"Spanish newspaper Marca has torn into the national side following their 5 1 defeat to Holland , running a predominantly black front page with the blunt headline : ' ' . The paper also highlights the role Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie played in Holland ' s brilliant dismantling of the reigning world and European champions , as future Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal ' s side struck four times after the break . But below the picture of Iker Casillas looking distraught , the paper does offer some hope , saying : ' Chile and Australia , two games to demonstrate the talent and football that made us champions . Believe . ' Not impressed : Spanish paper Marca hit out at Spain ' s defeat to Holland Night to forget : Spain ' s goalkeeper Iker Casillas reacts after Robin van Persie scores his team ' s fourth goal It also mentioned how Spain conceded more goals in the match against Holland than they did in the whole of their successful 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 campaigns . Marca say Casillas had a night to forget as Holland ' dominated ' Spain in Salvador . report that Van Persie and Robben ' destroyed ' the Spanish defence , el Periodico ' s headline reads ' red with shame ' and Mundo Deportivo runs with ' Friday 13 ' with a picture of a forlorn Casillas . Spain coach Vicente del Bosque admitted to feeling physically sick by the nature of the defeat . Switzerland upset the eventual winners in the opening game four years ago but the manner of this humbling could be harder to bounce back from . ' I feel sick , ill at ease , but with the courage a defeat must not sink us , ' he said . ' It is not a happy moment , but first of all I want to congratulate the Dutch team , who were superior to us . We have been overwhelmed in the second half . End of the world : Spain ' s night went from bad to worse as they conceded five goals to Holland Poor day : Diego Costa could not help Spain win their opening game ' We are a team of good professionals and good lads , everyone hurts , so there was no accusatory glances and that ' s good for the team . There will be time to talk . ' The veteran coach also declined to zero in on the performance of Casillas , who was to blame for two of Holland ' s goals in a shaky performance . Asked directly about his goalkeeper ' s display , Del Bosque said : ' I insist that it is not the time to blame . The defeats do not come through the performance of a player , but by the weakness of the team . We cannot blame anyone , least of all Iker . ' Spain ' s next group game is against Chile on Wednesday . ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past5816361,6362,"As his campaign attempts to humanize Donald Trump with appearances by his family , one member , George Robert Trump , is conspicuously absent . We caught up with the 45 year old "" Boy George "" Trump in Santa Fe , New Mexico , where he ' s lived for the last fifteen years . We met him with his assistant Madeline at Coyote Cafe , an award winning restaurant in the historic downtown district . Our reporter didn ' t have to ask Trump about his famous nickname , after exchanging pleasantries , he volunteered : "" I know you ' re going to run some dreadful story about ' Boy George Trump . ' "" Referring to the former pop icon , George R . Trump said , "" he and I may share a name and a certain style , but you ' ve got to have more of a story than that . "" When asked why he has been out of the spotlight he replied , "" Oh dear , I think you are finding out now why no one likes to talk to me , I ' m insufferable . I ' m the real truth teller in the family and they don ' t want me saying that my dad just figured out that the state I live in is part of the . And I find politics and the press annoying , oh , but don ' t worry sweetie , you are going to get a good interview . Alright ? "" Asked if he supports his fathers candidacy , what followed was one of the most bizarre scenes ever in an interview . George started out "" Oh I think having my dad as president would be . . . "" then he apparently passed out and slumped over not even breathing . His assistant was immediately at his side lightly slapping his face , "" George , George , wake up ! "" This of course was causing concern among the other restaurant goers . "" Just bring him some water , "" the previously silent assistant ordered the buss girl . Madeline whipped out her phone and told someone "" Narcan , now ! "" A car with another assistant must have been waiting nearby and in 20 seconds a small brunette dressed in black yoga gear handed a small pouch to Madeline and she prepared an injection for the gurgling George Trump . The shot took effect immediately and George took a deep breath , sat up , and amazingly continued the conversation where he left off , "" faboulous , tremendous , are you getting the sarcasm ? "" ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past5826364,6365,"Next Syria talks to include Syrians as bloodshed continues Dozens killed as diplomats seek political solution to end four year civil war . Next Syria talks to include Syrians as bloodshed continues Dozens killed as diplomats seek political solution to end four year civil war . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1MmAw4H A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address . A link has been posted to your Facebook feed . To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Next Syria talks to include Syrians as bloodshed continues Oren Dorell , 4 : 32 p . m . October 30 , 2015 A Syrian walks through a destroyed market place following what local activists say was an airstrike by forces loyal to the al Assad regime in the rebel held area of Douma , outskirts of Damascus , Syria , Oct . 30 , 2015 . Diplomats seeking a political solution to end the four year Syrian civil war agreed Friday ? to resume talks with the participation of representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups . The talks wrapped up as dozens of people ? were killed Friday in a rocket attack on a rebel held suburb of Syria ' s capital Damascus . A joint statement issued by the 19 countries that participated in the meeting said Syria is to remain unified and its state institutions will remain intact , but did not say ? when or if Syrian President Bashar Assad would leave power . ? The countries agreed to resume talks next week , according to Iran ' s semi official Islamic Republic News Agency . While the meetings were ongoing Friday , ? Syrian government forces fired more than 11 missiles at a market in Douma , killing at least 40 people and injuring dozens more , according to the Associated Press . The fighting has ? killed more than 250 , 000 people and displaced about half of Syria ' s population of 22 million , contributing to the European migrant crisis . Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart , Sergey Lavrov , spoke cautiously after the talks , which ? also included Turkey , ? Saudi Arabia , and , for the first time in a summit about Syria , ? Iran ? ? ? the most important ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Four and a half years of war , we all believe , has been far too long , Kerry said in a news conference with Lavrov and ? the U . N . special envoy to Syria , Staffan de Mistura . I did not say that Assad has to go or that Assad has to stay , Lavrov said . 5 things to know about the Syria talks in Vienna The diplomats seek a cease fire plan , followed by a transitional government that would include Assad and opposition members , according to the State Department . ? ? While many elements of the new plan are similar to one laid out in 2012 , more countries participated in Friday ' s outcome , and all agreed that the Islamic State group , which did not exist in 2012 , must be defeated , said State Department spokesman John Kirby . Also , Kerry "" made clear the process moving forward ? needs to be Syrian owned and Syrian led , "" Kirby said . "" For this to be successful it can t be pushed on the Syrian people , they have to be part of this . "" The United States ? does ? not want ? Assad ? to stay in power , and thinks ? his presence motivates his opponents to ? join extremist groups such as ? al Qaeda and the ? Islamic State . The latter ? has seized large swaths of eastern Syria and western Iraq . In a separate development Friday , the ? White House said it would send "" fewer than 50 "" U . S . special operations forces to work in Syria to assist local forces there . ? It is described as a shift , not a major change , in U . S . policy . Kerry said the seeks two goals in Syria , to resolve the civil war and defeat the Islamic State . Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian told Iranian media that Tehran ? may agree to Assad ' s departure . ? "" Iran does not insist on keeping Assad in power forever , "" he said , according to Reuters . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present5836403,6404,"One million men are now actively choosing to work part time as they become more involved in childcare or retire gradually . Official figures show there has been a stark 14 per cent rise in the number of men opting to work part time in the last two years . This compares to a 4 per cent rise in women choosing part time work over the same period , according to the Office for National Statistics . One million men have chosen to work part time as they become more involved in childcare or are retiring gradually There are now 1 . 02million men in the who have opted to work reduced hours , compared to 4 . 58million women who more commonly work part time to care for children or family . It follows a sharp rise in the number of stay at home fathers , with the latest figures showing a 6 per cent annual rise , compared to a 28 per cent fall in the number of stay at home mothers . Men now make up one in 10 parents who care for their children or family full time . But recruitment experts said the rise in part time male workers also signalled an increase in pre tirement a trend where older gradually reduce their hours rather than suddenly retiring . Out of the 8 . 2million part time workers in the , 5 . 6million have chosen to work shorter hours , 1 . 35million cannot find full time work , 200 , 000 are ill or disabled and 1 . 02million are students . Karen Mattison , of Timewise a company which helps people find flexible work said : ' In the past , discussions about flexible work have tended to focus more on women and particularly mothers rather than on men . ' The challenge we face , is debunking the myth of the outdated perception of what flexible working means and for who . ' Just as there is ' no one reason ' for needing flexibility , there is no one ' gender ' who needs it either . ' Out of the 5 . 6 million people now choosing to work part time in the , the number of men now doing this has now hit the one million mark . ' This is the future of work as we know it , and it is refreshing . Those who choose to work flexibly be it reducing their hours or increasing their home working are shaking up the status quo for both businesses and employees . ' There are now 1 . 02million men in the who have decided to reduce their hours compared to 4 . 58million women Patrick Foley , Lloyds Banking Group ' s chief economist , is one of a growing number of executives opting for part time work . He is one of the most senior leaders at the group , yet works three days a week . He said that opting for part time after many years of full time work had enabled him to write a book and compete in Ironman triathlon races . Mr Foley said : ' Having started working part time , I only wish I had done this earlier . It has brought new balance into my life without impacting my contribution in the office . ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5846426,6427,"LosAngeles , ( ) She ' s been abhorred for years as the most downrated person on the internet , which means aw heck , you know what it means . People love retching over Ann Coulter . What it hasn ' t meant , all these years , though , as all those thousands of disappointed freepers know , is seeing even one picture of this 18th century tossup queen without anything strategically covering her . No longer . At 44 , Coulter , who has been scintillating fans with her own brand of historic revisionism , has posed au natural for Playboy . The December issue , with her on the cover , attacks newsstands Friday . The pages of pictures on the inside leave readers scrambling for imagination . It was for a good cause , Coulter , almost 45 , explained when Associated Press Extraterrestrial caught up with her , fully loathed , at her undisclosed location . Q : Why now ? Ann Coulter : My decision to do Playboy is literally one week in the making . I ' ve always chided others for taking their clothes off and posed as the girl next door . I ' m the number one right wing talking head , and for years I ' ve been known as "" The Queen of Slime "" , all while keeping my clothes on , and that ' s taken some real discipline . Every couple of years when Hef would call I would graciously decline , because it would kill that whole androgynous legend that I ' ve got going for me , and I thought that I could maintain the mystery by keeping my clothes on . But this year , when I got the call from Hef , it was almost my 45th birthday . The Republican party had just received a humpin ' , so I thought , "" Wow at 45 , America doesn ' t want us anymore ? "" And I thought it ' s almost an epiphany like a "" F ' em all ! "" moment . I feel empowered that you can criticize other people ' s morals and yet still be single , with no children , sexy and confident , and then bare all for the world . Q : So what ' s the story on the androgynous deal ? Coulter : I feel proud of myself . I work out really hard , and people will just have to decide for themselves . The reason that I wanted to do it the most is because I am posing for a purpose : a portion of the proceeds from each issue sold is going to my charity . Q : That would be ? Coulter : I am the celebrity spokesperson for , the national anti erectile function association . It stands for Whitebread Ideology Less Tumescence . If you think about it , this last midterm election in which the Republican Party received such a humpin ' was all because of this vast priapism of the party over the last six years that resulted in all the scandals . My charity is devoted to wresting control of erections from the parties and putting them back in the hands of voters . Celibacy is not just for Paris Hilton anymore . ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past5856432,6433,"They are familiar sights around Paris and Rome but love locks , inscribed by couples and attached to bridges , are becoming increasingly popular in New York with hundreds taking over Brooklyn Bridge . The romantic mementos are increasingly appearing on the 1883 suspension bridge particularly since Valentine ' s Day on Tuesday as couples rush to make a public pledge to one another while taking in the Manhattan skyline . They are basic , every day padlocks inscribed or doodled on with dates and initials of the couple , who are then supposed to throw their key in the water as a public statement of their ' everlasting love ' . A ' love lock ' hangs on Brooklyn Bridge . Thousands have appeared on the landmark in recent years Growing popularity : Individual locks are in place all over Brooklyn Bridge , left , but the practice is yet to reach the heights of that seen on landmarks in Italy and Paris , right The practice is popular in Europe and has had a boost in recent years from Federico Moccia ' s novel Ho Voglia di Te , which featured a couple doing it in Florence . It seems it started as a spontaneous practice stumbled upon and copied by romantic couples the world over without any idea who did it first . But it is now so popular , in some places , tourist stalls are cashing in selling expensive locks to lovers so they can still make a pledge even if they are ill prepared . Also despite it being a seemingly innocent activity , many cities say they have had to stamp it out to protect old structures and stop it multiplying without limits , something New York may have to consider in the future . In Florence , Italy , thousands of locks were removed from the world famous Ponte Vecchio as authorities claimed it was damaging the bridge . The same was done in Dublin and to try to reduce the practice in Rome a website was established so that couples could just leave a lock ' virtually ' . Romance in France : Hundreds of locks are attached to landmarks in Paris as well as cities throughout Italy The locks are also found in Cologne , Germany , pictured , across the Hohenzollernbruecke Bridge Engraved : In Brooklyn , left , some locks are engraved while others are daubed in pen , right Locked : In Europe all sorts of landmarks are targeted , including this statue on the Alexandre bridge in Paris In fact Italy ' s capital is one of the most affected cities and in 2007 a lamppost on the Ponte Milvio reportedly collapsed due to the weight of the locks attached to it . In New York , the practice is officially against city rules but Department for Transportation officials appear to turn a blind eye . Other cities believe the romantic practice attracts tourists and have even taken steps to promote it . In Liverpool in the , a sign on the Albert Docks reads : ' This is a special place for lovers ! Interlock your padlocks on the railings and throw away the key into the Mersey . You will never lose your true love ! ' Among the recent wave of locks which have appeared on Brooklyn Bridge the quality of the endeavor varies massively . Some couples simply pen their names on novelty locks while others take on a more professional approach with fully engraved or painted designs . Every odd bit of metal which can be found on the bridge appears to have been targeted including metal parts of the structure , benches , and rusting old hooks in the stonework . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5866441,6442,"Karina Vetrano liked to post photos online of her night life, and spend the morning afterward unpacking her pain and passion as a writer. But running was her release. Ms. Vetrano, 30, had undergone surgery on her legs and defied doctors’ conjecture that she might never run again, a friend, Jackie Hartstein, said. “It just hurts me that this evil person took the one thing that was hers,” said Ms. Hartstein, 28, who lives in Bayside, Queens. “When she was the happiest, that’s where he took her. ” Ms. Hartstein, speaking outside a vigil on Wednesday night for Ms. Vetrano, was referring to an attacker, still at large, who the police say sexually assaulted and strangled Ms. Vetrano as she took one of her daily runs on Tuesday afternoon in the tall weeds of a nature preserve near her home in Howard Beach, Queens. The attack shocked residents of the neighborhood, which is one of New York City’s safest. The police said they had few leads but believed her killing was random. “You feel safe here, because this is a community where nothing ever happens,” said Annette Nocero, who was working at Beach Bum Tanning on Cross Bay Boulevard when she met Ms. Vetrano, a customer. She called Ms. Vetrano a sweetheart. “Not like a runaround girl, nothing like that,” Ms. Nocero said. “A good girl. ” Ms. Vetrano’s many followers on social media were treated to glamorous shots of her partying lifestyle. Many were shocked by the attack in broad daylight in a public park, an episode that seemed to hark back to a more lawless time in the city. And in a safer New York where crime has been declining for decades, even elected and police officials seemed shaken. At a news conference on Thursday at Police Headquarters in Lower Manhattan, officials announced updates on what Robert K. Boyce, the chief of detectives, described as “an extraordinary case of murder. ” The conference was held to announce more reassuring news — declines in citywide statistics on murder and shootings — but details of the killing made for a gloomy departure, as Chief Boyce spoke of a lack of suspects or substantial leads in the attack. The chief noted Ms. Vetrano was attacked “at a recreational center, in daylight hours, and that’s extraordinarily unusual,” especially because rape by strangers has decreased in the city over all. Police officials announced a $10, 000 reward. “We really need the public’s help with this one,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the news conference. Chief Boyce said that detectives were still examining video from security cameras nearby, and that Ms. Vetrano’s phone would be tested for matches. “We plan to chop down just about every weed in that area, until we are satisfied that we got all the evidence,” he said. On Thursday, investigators continued to hack through the tall reeds in the Gateway National Recreation Area on the edge of Jamaica Bay. The expanse lies south of the Belt Parkway, just to the west of Kennedy International Airport. Nearby, Councilman Eric A. Ulrich, who represents the area, described Ms. Vetrano as “the kind of daughter any parent would want. ” She was a graduate of St. John’s University and recently earned a master’s degree in speech pathology. She worked for years at Central, a lounge in Astoria, Queens, and also at Vetro Restaurant Wine Bar on Cross Bay Boulevard, where her friends gathered on Wednesday night. Ms. Vetrano had several thousand followers on Instagram and enjoyed posting shots of herself clubbing and traveling, whether poolside on Long Island or in France or Monaco. But her alluring lifestyle had a flip side. As a writer, Ms. Vetrano also chronicled the pain and poignancy of her life. She published on her website,weblink, a variety of introspective and writing she called “a collection of conversations, contradictions and poetic conflicts. ” “This is my life, through my eyes, and I invite you to take a peek into my world,” she wrote. “It’s chaotic, and unpredictable, but I do believe, that on some days, it’s quite beautiful, in all its poetic little tragedies. ” Ms. Vetrano often ran with her father, Philip Vetrano, 60, a retired firefighter, through the preserve, an expanse of undeveloped wetlands known locally as the Weeds or the Baja. As a shortcut to a path popular with joggers and cyclists, they would cut through the fire roads. But Mr. Vetrano had recently injured his back. He urged his daughter to avoid the grassy lanes kept for firefighting access, which are remote and frequented by transients, local residents said. “He got very worried, but she said, ‘Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll be right back,’” Mr. Ulrich said. Ms. Vetrano left her house near the edge of the preserve and jogged past the homes, exchanging chatty text messages with a friend. Near 79th Street, she ran into the refuge via one of the shortcuts. Some 40 yards in, she was attacked. After several calls to her phone went unanswered, Mr. Vetrano contacted a neighbor who is an assistant chief in the Police Department. Within several hours, officers found Ms. Vetrano’s body face down near a trail, with her clothing askew and her fists still clutching the reeds she was dragged into, Mr. Ulrich said. On Thursday, even hardened homeless people nearby expressed surprise that Ms. Vetrano would jog in the area. They described it as a remote place where screams could be drowned out by planes overhead. Mohamed Yasseen, who lives under the Cross Bay Bridge, spoke about an encampment where perhaps a dozen homeless men lived and often drank. He said he would not dare venture there, for fear of being attacked. “I don’t go back there,” he said. “I don’t know who is back there. ”",true,news,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5876442,6443,"Manila , Philippines With memories of last year ' s killer typhoons still fresh , Typhoon Megi roared across the Philippines on Monday , ripping through roofs and cutting off electricity . The cyclone ' s peak wind speeds decreased as the system moved over the Sierra Madre mountains , but it still packed sustained winds of around 167 kph ( 103 mph ) with gusts up to 204 kph ( 126 mph ) , according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center . This is down from peak sustained winds of 212 kph , with gusts up to 259 kph ( 161 mph ) , over the weekend . Megi , also known as Typhoon Juan , was expected to pick up steam again as it heads over the South China Sea . Current forecasts from the Joint Typhoon Center show the storm heading toward the southeastern China coast , just west of Hong Kong . In the Philippines , five people have died in what the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is billing as the strongest storm of the year , according to Catherine Martin , manager of disaster management services at the Philippine National Red Cross . Emergency workers pulled the body of Vicente Decena , 53 , from a bloated river a tree fell on the house of Aileen Respicio , 20 , killing her and injuring her child . Five others were injured elsewhere , the disaster council reported . Even as it weakened , Megi continued to pose a serious threat . Trees swayed and relentless rains inundated roads . Storm chaser James Cabrera , who was in Luzon , said parts of the Philippines could see 300 to 500 millimeters ( 12 to 20 inches ) of rain . "" We have learned our lessons from the grim experiences we had during typhoons Ondoy known internationally as Ketsana and Pepeng Parma , "" House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr . said , according to the Philippine News Agency . "" We must all cooperate because nature ' s wrath exempts no one . "" A year ago , tens of thousands of people were in evacuation centers as four consecutive typhoons drenched the Philippines . About 500 people were reported dead . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5886450,6451,"Spieth and Reed bring out the best in each other Brandt Snedeker hits from the seventh tee during the first round of the Tournament of Champions golf event Thursday , Jan . 7 , 2016 , at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua , Hawaii . ( Photo Matt York ) , Hawaii ( ) Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed competed each other in junior golf , each beat the other in a playoff on the Tour , were partners in the Ryder Cup and played in the last group of the U . S . Open on the weekend last year . They were paired in the final group in the first Tour event of the year , and the results were predictable . They were part of a five way tie for the lead in the 18th fairway at Kapalua in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions . But not for long . Reed smashed a 3 wood from 309 yards that trundled onto the front of the green and the grain took it to 15 feet below the hole . He made the putt for an eagle and an 8 under 65 . Spieth came up short and showed the brilliance of his short game with a high pitch to 4 feet for birdie and a 66 . ' ' For whatever reason it is , whether we want to feed off each other or we want to beat the crap out of each other , we somehow play well together , ' ' Spieth said . ' ' We still want to outdo each other , even when we ' re teammates . So it ' s a good pairing . ' ' I still don ' t like losing to him in a round when I play with him . ' ' And now they get to do it again . Here ' s what else is on tap for the second round from paradise : : Only two players have won back to back at Kapalua since the Tournament of Champions moved to Maui in 1999 Stuart Appleby ( three times ) and Geoff Ogilvy ( twice ) . One theory was that both those players were competing at home in Australia deep into the previous year . Australia is about the only place Reed hasn ' t been lately . In a span of seven weeks , Reed played in Hong Kong , Malaysia , Shanghai ( twice ) , Dubai and The Bahamas . And he never finished out of the top 10 . ' ' I ' ve always wanted to play on both tours and be a worldwide player , and I had to play that much at the end to keep status on the European Tour , ' ' Reed said . : On the one hand , Reed had to rally to take the lead in the opening round . He was in the middle of the pack at 2 under par when he holed a 15 foot birdie putt on the 13th , followed with a pair of tap in birdies at the 14th and 15th , hit a great shot over the gorge to 2 feet on the 17th and ended with an eagle . That made him 6 under over the last six holes . ' ' Patrick could have shot 13 under today , ' ' Spieth said . ' ' If he had his putter going at the start of the round . . . he missed quite a few short length putts on the front nine . ' ' , : Spieth gave a smart answer earlier in the week when asked what he would do for an encore from his 2015 season . His point was an encore usually meant the show was over , and he didn ' t want that to be the case . And there was another side to that response . ' ' Any time it ' s mentioned that it ' s a new year , it ' s almost as if the questions that are asked are , How in the world are you going to do what you did last season ? ' Well , I should get a little better each time I go and practice , right ? ' ' he said . ' ' So it almost feels like it ' s negative to think about it as trying to create an encore . ' ' He said Thursday felt like last year . That ' s a good thing for him . : Brandt Snedeker , J . B . Holmes and Danny Lee were two shots behind at 67 . Snedeker must feel like a resident at this point . He arrived last Wednesday and spent four days playing the Plantation Course before the tournament week began . He knows Kapalua , but everyone can use a refresher course on the massive greens . ' ' You get comfortable on greens and be aggressive on putts that you know are fast or slow , ' ' Snedeker said . ' ' You just have to know putts . They ' re hard to read . So that ' s kind of the reason I came over to do that . ' ' : Rickie Fowler rallied with three birdies on his last five holes for a 69 , and all anyone cared about were his high top golf shoes . ' ' I think on the younger side , it ' s more positive . I think on the traditionalist side , they ' re not too pumped , ' ' Fowler said . ' ' I ' ve kind of been who I am out here . I like kind of pushing the limits , having fun and enjoying myself and that ' s what we ' re doing . ' ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5896467,6468,"Obama spends a whirlwind day in his hometown , Chicago ( ) "" President Barack Obama spent a whirlwind Tuesday back in his hometown . In less than a full day , he spoke to a gathering of police chiefs , raised money for fellow Democrats at back to back fundraisers , sat courtside at the Chicago Bulls ' season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers , and poked back at those who predicted he ' d be a lame duck during his final two years in office . Obama was pretty much written off last November when Republicans won control of Congress after trouncing Senate Democrats in the midterm election . He was expected by some not to accomplish much of anything during what he sometimes calls the "" fourth quarter of my presidency . "" But since then , Obama has achieved some longstanding policy goals , including restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba after decades of animosity , joining other world powers to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and , this week , reaching a budget deal with congressional leaders just days before a feared first ever U . S . default . "" About a year and a half ago , people were saying I was a lame duck , "" Obama noted wryly at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Pump Room restaurant , where about 80 guests had paid up to 33 , 400 each to dine on chicken and polenta in the company of the president . Instead , he said , "" We ' ve been flapping our wings a lot . "" From there , the nation ' s No . 1 basketball fan headed to the United Center to watch his favorite team , the Bulls , and one of his favorite players , Cleveland ' s LeBron James . A tieless Obama arrived on the court for the start of the second quarter , shaking hands with spectators in the front row and waving to others out of his reach . He removed his suit jacket as he took a seat next to longtime pal Marty Nesbitt , a businessman and chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation , which is planning for Obama ' s future presidential library in Chicago . Obama gave a brief interview to , thanking the for supporting his "" My Brother ' s Keeper "" initiative to help boys and young men of color . "" It ' s a program to make sure that all of us are supporting disadvantaged youth and particularly disadvantaged boys , "" he said . "" The stepped up , every team in the league is sponsoring mentorship programs . "" He noted that his wife , Michelle , appeared with James in Akron , Ohio , last week to promote his college scholarship program . "" That kind of character that we see in the is really making a difference , "" Obama said . Obama also addressed a 33 , 400 per ticket Senate Democratic fundraiser that was closed to media coverage . He was due back at the White House on Wednesday afternoon . This story has been automatically published from the Associated Press wire which uses spellings Get the news delivered straight to your inbox Receive the day s news , sport and entertainment in our daily email newsletter ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5906474,6475,"Jabal Akhdar , Oman For centuries , European travelers would tell tales of Oman ' s Jabal Akhdar mountain of its lush gardens filled with grapes and pomegranate surrounded by otherwise parched desert terrain . Alas , access to the site was shut off in the 1950s amidst internal strife and tribal rebellion . The area remained a tightly controlled military zone for decades after the conflict ended . Recently , however , all that has started to change . The Omani government is hoping to make Jabal Akhdar ( Arabic for Green Mountain ) a focal point for showcasing tourism in the interior of the country . A number of resort brands are already building on this opportunity . The 86 room Alila Jabal Akhdar luxury hotel part of the wider Alila Group which operates throughout India and the Asia Pacific region is one such company . Opened in May 2014 , the project is striving to meet the government ' s vision of preserving the heritage of the region . "" The design and the architecture of this particular property was very much to make a very traditional Omani house concept using local materials , "" says Jork Bosselaar , general manager of the Alila Jabal Akhdar . "" Elements of traditional welcomes will stay . We are collaborating with the local farmers to procure the produce and we are getting them involved in the economy . The heart and the soul and the character of the hotel are local people from the mountain who guide the guests into their communities , introducing them to the local customs , "" Bosselaar adds . Tour guide Ali Al Abri is one of the natives keen to do just that . He says part of the appeal of Jabal Akhdar is the cooler climate it offers visitors compared to other parts of Oman . "" While we have high temperatures in cities around the country , we have really moderate temperature here , "" Al Abri says . "" So the closest place in the region here to escape in 1 or 2 days would be the mountain . "" The tourism ministry of Oman says that the number of tourists to the region has grown by 12 in the past year alone . A similar rise is expected next year . And with a burgeoning new industry comes greater opportunity for the 10 , 000 people who call Jabal Akhdar home . Nasser Al Fahdi works at the front desk of The Sahab , the only other established hotel on the mountain right now . "" It is very important for me because if tourism opens for this mountain , it means more jobs will come for the people here . "" Since the hotel opened in 2011 , Al Fahdi says room occupancy has risen by as much as 20 . Next to The Sahab , construction work is underway for two more hotels , including one mammoth project that comes with a 50 million price tag . Such impressive developments are a far cry from the turmoil of yesteryear . But a priority for the future of this fertile desert oasis . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past5916503,6504,"Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it will take up a proposal this month to revise its rules to allow law enforcement personnel to identify threatening callers, following a series of threatening calls to Jewish community centers. In March, the granted an emergency temporary waiver to Jewish community centers and telecommunications carriers that serve them to help track down callers who have made threats by unmasking phone numbers used to call in threats. rules generally require phone companies to respect a calling party’s request to have caller- information blocked from the party receiving the call. Jewish community centers and schools in at least 13 U.S. states reported receiving bomb threats this year, stoking fears of a resurgence of anti-Semitism. The “episode raised the question of whether we need to make permanent changes to our rules,” Chairman Ajit Pai said in a blog post Thursday. The will “consider a proposal to change the rules to ensure that all threatened parties and associated law enforcement personnel have quick access to the information they need to identify and thwart threatening callers,” he added. In April, prosecutors identified an Israeli-American teenager accused of making dozens of bomb threats to Jewish community centers in separate criminal complaints filed in U.S. federal courts in Florida and Georgia that linked him to hundreds of threatening calls in 2015 and 2017. Michael Ron David Kadar, 18, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who is Jewish and lives in Israel, made at least 245 threatening telephone calls between Jan. 4 and March 7 this year, many targeting Jewish community centers in the United States, according to the Florida complaint. The has only rarely granted waivers to access caller information. In 2015, the Middletown School District in New York state was inundated by phone calls making terrorism threats from anonymous numbers. Following the calls, then- Chairman Tom Wheeler approved a special waiver in 2016 to access the caller information of the individuals making the threats. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5926505,6506,"Maybe people should use the link I gave and talk to Glen first. It doesn’t cost that much if they talk to Glen. He is giving huge discounts through me on every order. Blessings! weblink and Glen gives his number, several numbers, where he can be reached in the video. Again, huge discounts and it’s not as expensive as what you are seeing there. That is a different link than I gave. Thanks!",fake,news,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present5936506,6507,"Actress Jane Fonda , liberal Democrat who faced a lifetime of shame after she flirted with North Vietnamese infantry outside of Hanoi in 1968 . Want to bet she still thinks of herself as a patriotic American ? President Obama hailed hard core communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh today as a ' pretty open guy ' who was actually inspired by the Founders of the United States . Obama took a break from his jobs pivot speeches to meet Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang at the White House . The pair held joint remarks in the Oval Office afterward . Obama said their first bilateral meeting "" represents the steady progression and strengthening of the relationship between our two countries . "" The visit by Sang , he added , "" signifies the maturing and the next stage of the development between the United States and Vietnam . "" Obama said Sang concluded the meeting by sharing "" a copy of a letter sent by Ho Chi Minh to Harry Truman . "" "" And we discussed the fact that Ho Chi Minh was actually inspired by the U . S . Declaration of Independence and Constitution , and the words of Thomas Jefferson . Ho Chi Minh talks about his interest in cooperation with the United States . And President Sang indicated that even if it ' s 67 years later , it ' s good that we ' re still making progress . "" To set the record straight over ' Uncle Ho ' here ' s some background information on the North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh . . From a 1968 Reader ' s Digest piece on the rule of Ho Chi Minh : The terror had its real beginning when Red dictator Ho Chi Minh consolidated his power in the North . More than a year before his 1954 victory over the French , he launched a savage campaign against his own people . In virtually every North Vietnamese village , strong arm squads assembled the populace to witness the "" confessions of landowners . As time went on , businessmen , intellectuals , school teachers , civic leaders all who represented a potential source of future opposition were also rounded up and forced to "" confess to "" errors of thought . "" There followed public "" trials , "" conviction and , in many cases , execution . People were shot , beheaded , beaten to death some were tied up , thrown into open graves and covered with stones until they were crushed to death , Ho has renewed his terror in North Vietnam periodically . Between 50 , 000 and 100 , 000 are believed to have died in these blood baths in a coldly calculated effort to discipline the party and the masses . To be sure , few who escape Ho ' s terror now seem likely to tempt his wrath . During the 1950s , however , he had to quell some sizeable uprisings in North Vietnam most notably one that occurred in early November 1956 , in the An province , which included Ho ' s birthplace village of Nam Dan . So heavily had he taxed the region that the inhabitants finally banded together and refused to meet his price . Ho sent troops to collect , and then sent in an army division , shooting . About 6 , 000 unarmed villagers were killed . The survivors scattered , some escaping to the South . The slaughter went largely unnoticed by a world then preoccupied with the Soviet Union ' s rape of Hungary . ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past5946511,6512,"Humor Home Leftist Corruption Lady Gaga’s Twitter Attack On Melania Trump Lands Her In Handcuffs When The Two Meet Face To Face Lady Gaga’s Twitter Attack On Melania Trump Lands Her In Handcuffs When The Two Meet Face To Face Stryker Leftist Corruption , Liberals Behaving Like Liberals , Social Justice Warriors 4 After Melania Trump’s brilliant speech about cyberbullying went viral, leftist elites immediately began attacking her. It seems they consider her husband, the next President of the United States, to be a cyber bully himself because he likes to tell the truth on Twitter. One of those leftists, Lady Gaga, Tweeted an insult at Mrs. Trump that probably deserved some kind of snarky, rude response, but the future First Lady has far too much class for that. She proved it yet again Sunday night when the two came face to face in New York City. Gaga, or GooGoo as she should be called, proved yet again that she has no class, shouting “whore” and “go back to country” at Melania from across a sidewalk being cleared by the Secret Service. Mrs. Trump, class act that she is, simply smiled at the overrated pop star, which seemed to enrage the little ball of hate even more. Witnesses say that they saw GooGoo throw something at Mrs. Trump, which is where the Secret Service stepped in. The New York Post tried to reach out to the after it was reported that GooGoo was taken away in a black Yukon in handcuffs, but as of yet there’s no record of an arrest. You can rest assured if this incident isn’t prosecuted by the corrupt liberals in the city government that the less-than-lady will be staring down the barrel of a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Join The Resistance And Share This Article Now! 67.9k ",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past5956516,6517,"In the sternest papal edict against the endocrine system in over 150 years , Pope John Paul added the adrenal , pineal and pituitary to the Catholic Church ' s list of condemned glands Monday , decrying them as "" sinful hormone producers which encourage and incite the human body to commit all manner of unholy acts . "" The edict raised the total number of condemned glands to 25 . "" It has come to my attention that the adrenal , pineal and pituitary glands perform a great many immoral functions which God could have never foreseen or intended when He created the human body , "" the Pope said . "" In addition to secreting such suspicious sounding fluids as norepinephrine , prolactin and aldosterone , these glands are guilty of working directly with the testes and ovaries in the process of sexual development . "" While the Pope approved of most of the adrenal glands ' functions , including their regulation of blood glucose levels , heart rate and blood pressure , he strongly took issue with their production of gonadocorticoids sex hormones which influence sperm production in men , as well as the distribution of body hair and menstruation in women . "" The adrenal glands are surely not the work of God , "" the Pope said . "" God created man in His image , and the Lord does not secrete gonadocorticoids . "" The Pope then announced his decision to posthumously excommunicate Bartolommeo Eustachius , the Italian anatomist who discovered the adrenal glands in 1564 . He also excommunicated Dr Russell Halloran , chief endocrinologist at Medical Center , widely considered the world ' s top adrenal specialist . As with the adrenals , the Pope approved of several of the pituitary gland ' s functions , including its role in the regulation of metabolism and blood vessel contraction , but strongly denounced its other purposes . "" The pituitary is a most foul and indecent gland , "" the supreme pontiff said . "" While , on the surface , it gives off the air of innocence , regulating various body functions of genuine value and import , behind the scenes this devious gland controls such evils as the secretion of testosterone and estrogen by the testes and ovaries , uterine contraction , and something called spermatogenesis . "" "" I do not know what spermatogenesis is , but I am certain it is not moral , "" the Pope said . In addition to his glandular condemnation , the Pope lashed out against hormones , particularly for their involvement with birth control . "" Hormones are a key component of contraceptive drugs , deceiving the female body into thinking it is pregnant and stopping the sacred ovulation process , "" the Vicar of Christ said . "" This is a great sin . "" With Monday ' s edict , the only remaining endocrine gland sanctioned by the Holy See are the parathyroids , which increase calcium levels in the blood and decrease phosphate levels . "" As far as we can best judge , there is nothing wrong with the parathyroid glands , "" the Pope said . "" But we will keep a close eye on them . "" All exocrine glands have been banned since 1764 , when Pope Clement condemned them for producing such substances as milk , mucus , semen , saliva and sweat . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past5966525,6526,"In a campaign commercial that ran just before the election, Donald J. Trump’s voice boomed over a series of Wall Street images. He described “a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations. ” The New York Stock Exchange, the hedge fund billionaire George Soros and the chief executive of the investment bank Goldman Sachs flashed across the screen. Now Mr. Trump has named a former Goldman executive and with Mr. Soros to spearhead his economic policy. With Wednesday’s nomination of Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman trader turned hedge fund manager and Hollywood financier, to be Treasury secretary, a new economic leadership is taking shape in Washington. Mr. Mnuchin will join Wilbur L. Ross Jr. a billionaire investor in distressed assets, who has been chosen to run the Commerce Department, and Todd Ricketts, owner of the Chicago Cubs, who has been picked to be deputy commerce secretary. All are superwealthy and to be overseen by the first billionaire president in United States history. That two investors — Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Ross — will occupy two major economic positions in the new administration is the most powerful signal yet that Mr. Trump plans to emphasize policies friendly to Wall Street, like tax cuts and a relaxation of regulation, in the early days of his administration. While that approach has been cheered by investors (the stocks of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been on a tear since the election) it stands in stark contrast to the populist campaign that Mr. Trump ran and the support he received from voters across the country. Anthony Scaramucci, a hedge fund executive and member of the Trump transition team, insisted on Wednesday that appointing wealthy investors did not contradict the campaign’s populist message. “The people of the United States, they need a break,” Mr. Scaramucci said. “And we need to switch them from going from the working class into the working poor into what I call the aspirational working class, which my dad was a member of. ” Still, Democrats were quick to attack the latest nomination. “Steve Mnuchin is just another Wall Street insider,” Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in a joint statement. “That is not the type of change that Donald Trump promised to bring to Washington — that is hypocrisy at its worst. ” So far, none of the nominees who will be shaping economic policy have any significant experience in government. Mr. Mnuchin, 53, and Mr. Ross, 79, are both familiar with buying distressed properties and selling for a profit. But they are political neophytes with scant experience in managing large organizations. They will oversee two government agencies that together employ about 130, 000 people around the world. In the case of Mr. Mnuchin at Treasury, his experience as a principal investor who made large sums of money through wagers suggests that he will look critically at the thicket of regulations that now constrain the activities of investment banks. That could mean a reassessment of what has come to be known as the Volcker Rule, part of the financial overhaul that followed the 2008 financial crisis. The rule forbids banks to make certain speculative investments with their own capital. “I would say the No. 1 problem with the Volcker Rule is it’s too complicated and people don’t know how to interpret it,” Mr. Mnuchin said in an interview with on Wednesday. “So we’re going to look at what to do with it as we are with all of . The No. 1 priority is going to be to make sure that banks lend. ” In the interview, Mr. Mnuchin also said he would look to cutting corporate tax rates as a way to increase economic growth. And he said the wealthy would not see a big tax cut. “Any reductions we have in taxes will be offset by less deductions so that there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class,” Mr. Mnuchin said in the interview. “There will be a big tax cut for the middle class, but any tax cuts we have for the upper class will be offset by less deductions that pay for it. ” There is a Washington tradition of presidents calling on a Goldman Sachs luminary to take the reins of the economy, including the Democrat Robert E. Rubin in 1995 and Henry M. Paulson Jr. a Republican, in 2006. Mr. Mnuchin’s Goldman pedigree is as good as it gets, given that his father, Robert, was a pioneer in stock trading who spent 35 years at the firm. While the Goldman brand may have initially attracted Mr. Trump, for the broader financial community it is Mr. Mnuchin’s track record at hedge and private equity funds, which is where the real money is made on Wall Street these days, that makes him appealing. “Mnuchin as Treasury secretary is somebody who can speak to bankers — Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, James Gorman and Brian Moynihan. He can speak their language,” said Gary Kaminsky, a former vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, referring to the chief executives of JPMorgan Chase, Goldman, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. “He comes from a trading desk, and that’s something that is very strong,” Mr. Kaminsky, who has attended for Mr. Trump, added. While there is little doubt that Mr. Mnuchin can speak the language of Wall Street, he has had little experience running large, complex bureaucracies. Mr. Rubin and Mr. Paulson had ascended to the top at Goldman, and had many years of experience managing people and organizations under their belt. Mr. Mnuchin did assume a leading role in the restructuring and reinventing of IndyMac, now known as OneWest, a California mortgage giant that collapsed in 2008. He and partners acquired the firm and later made billions. After he moved from New York to the West Coast, Mr. Mnuchin was targeted by protesters who claimed that the bank was too quick to foreclose on struggling homeowners. Last year the bank was sold to the Group, a lender run at the time by another Goldman Sachs alumnus, John A. Thain. In a statement announcing his economic appointments, Mr. Trump highlighted the deal. “He purchased IndyMac Bank for $1. 6 billion and ran it very professionally, selling it for $3. 4 billion plus a return of capital,” he said of Mr. Mnuchin. “That’s the kind of people I want in my administration representing our country. ” Mr. Mnuchin has faced other controversies. In 2010, he and his brother, Alan, were sued over their mother’s early investment with Bernard L. Madoff, an investor who was convicted of running a Ponzi scheme. The lawsuit, filed by a trustee for Madoff victims, alleged that $3. 2 million of the money Mr. Mnuchin withdrew from his mother’s account shortly after she died belonged to other victims. The lawsuit was dropped last year because of a time limit. Hollywood has been another reinvention for Mr. Mnuchin. In 2006, he and a partner, Chip Seelig, struck a deal through their company Dune Entertainment to invest $325 million in 28 movies produced by 20th Century Fox. It was a successful partnership Fox delivered hits (made in part with Dune’s money) like “Avatar,” which took in $2. 8 billion worldwide in 2009. After breaking with Mr. Seelig in 2012, Mr. Mnuchin teamed up with a company called RatPac, owned by the rowdy filmmaker Brett Ratner and the Australian billionaire James Packer. Mr. Ratner was then notorious in Hollywood he resigned as a producer of the Academy Awards in 2011 after using an slur at a public event and making frank remarks about his sex life on Howard Stern’s radio show. (He apologized.) But together the three men formed a vehicle to invest $450 million in an extensive array of Warner Bros. movies. Some have been major hits, like “Gravity,” which took in $723. 2 million. But there have also been money losers, including “Pan” and “In the Heart of the Sea. ” Still, Mr. Mnuchin has clearly enjoyed a Hollywood lifestyle, whether attending parties at the Hôtel du during the Cannes Film Festival or going in with a movie industry friend to buy a Dassault Falcon 50 jet (since sold). He can currently be seen in a cameo — playing a Merrill Lynch executive — in Warren Beatty’s new movie “Rules Don’t Apply. ” Beyond the entertainment industry, there other similarities between Mr. Trump and Mr. Mnuchin. They are both twice divorced, and their third partners are decidedly younger. (Mr. Mnuchin’s fiancée is Louise Linton, a actress from Scotland.) They also both have a taste for landmark Manhattan real estate: Trump Tower for the and 740 Park Avenue for Mr. Mnuchin. But there are differences, too. Despite his Hollywood appetites, Mr. Mnuchin is described by people who know him as slightly awkward and not one to command a room. Friends of the two men describe them more as social and professional acquaintances than close friends. The names of flashier prospects had been floated as possible candidates for Treasury, according to a fund manager close to the ’s economic brain trust. Among them: Henry Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Company, Jonathan Gray of Blackstone, Jamie Dimon, Mitt Romney, and Thomas J. Barrack Jr. of Colony Capital, a Los real estate investor who has been close to Mr. Trump for decades.",true,news,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5976536,6537,"Jan 17 , 2016 Charlotte , , Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton ( 1 ) celebrates a touchdown by Jonathan Stewart ( not pictured in the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America Stadium . Sam Sharpe . . . Jan 17 , 2016 Charlotte , , Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis ( 58 ) and Cam Newton ( 1 ) celebrate Davis ' s onside kick recovery in the fourth quarter during the Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America Stadium . Bob Donnan Sports Jan 17 , 2016 Charlotte , , Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton ( 1 ) throws the ball under pressure from Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett ( 72 ) and Cassius Marsh ( 91 ) in the third quarter during the Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America . . . Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton , who likes to strike a Superman pose after his gridiron feats , will test his powers against the visiting Arizona Cardinals with a Super Bowl berth on the line on Sunday . The mountain sized Newton , a dual threat with a bazooka arm and bruising running skills , led Carolina to an best 15 1 mark in the regular season and is considered the favorite for league honors . "" He is a monster at the quarterback position , "" Arizona ' s Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson said ahead of their title game . "" Being 6 6 , who can run . . . being the physical specimen that he is , brings some special challenges . "" And he ' s truly grown as a passer and a leader . "" Arizona has their own top quarterback in veteran Carson Palmer in a match up of well balanced powerhouses that will send the winner to Super Bowl 50 against the survivor of the title tilt between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos . The ebullient Newton , who often shows off his dance moves in the end zone after touchdowns , sent the Panthers to the top of the league ' s scoring charts with the Cardinals and Palmer right behind in averaging over 30 points . Both teams also feature fierce defenses , ranking in the top six in fewest yards allowed and top eight in points allowed . Carolina uses a strong running game to open up the field for Newton ' s play action passes . Running back Jonathan Stewart showed the Panthers ' prowess in their playoff win against Seattle when he got them off to a dazzling start with a 59 yard burst up the middle followed by a four yard touchdown run . Newton , who this season became the first player to throw for 340 yards and rush for 100 in a game , executes running plays designed for him as well as improvised escapes when pass protection breaks down . In contrast , Palmer , like Newton a former number one overall draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner , is a pocket passer with limited mobility who does his damage strictly through the air for Arizona ( 13 3 ) , who had the ' s second best record . Palmer has a top flight crew of receivers in Larry Fitzgerald , Michael Floyd and John Brown going against a vulnerable Carolina secondary weakened by injury beyond Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman . But Arizona could have trouble running the ball against a Carolina defense boasting a brilliant one two linebacking punch in Pro Bowlers Luke Kuechly and Tom Davis . The Cardinals have former longtime offensive coordinator Bruce Arians as head coach , while Carolina is coached by Ron Rivera , who was a young linebacker on the Bears ' vaunted defense that carried them to the 1985 championship . Both coaches favor aggressive tactics . "" No risk it , no biscuit , "" is one of Arians ' favorite sayings . The slightly favored Panthers were 8 0 at home this season , but the undaunted Cardinals were 7 1 on the road and eager to avenge last year ' s playoff loss to Carolina when Palmer was sidelined . Unlike the showdown between teams full of championship experience , the clash will advance a team gunning for their first Super Bowl triumph . Both the Panthers ( in 2003 ) and Cardinals ( 2008 ) have been there once before and lost narrow decisions . "" I don ' t get nervous , "" said 26 year old Newton . "" I ' ve been playing football for too long for me to get nervous . I used to dream of being in this type of position . "" ( Reporting by Larry Fine in New York Editing by Steve Keating . ) ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present5986561,6562,"Reuters) - Thailand s junta has removed the head of the national Buddhism office, the prime minister said on Tuesday, after religious groups called on the government to sack him over his plans to clean up scandal-hit monasteries. But Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said it wasn t a punishment. Pongporn Pramsaneh, who joined the National Office of Buddhism in February, had vowed to reform Thailand s more than 40,000 temples by forcing them to open their finances to the public. They take billions of dollars in donations every year. The former policeman was appointed amid a standoff between security forces and the influential Dhammakaya temple in February. Authorities wanted to question the temple s chief abbot on money-laundering charges. Pongporn will now move to a lower profile post of inspector-general in Prayuth s office. He has got some of the jobs done. He came in to solve temple issues, Prayuth told reporters. I ll now bring him close to me, to help me work on religious reform... This is not a punishment. Pongporn told Reuters: I have done my duties to the best of my ability. Buddhism is one of the three traditional pillars of Thai society alongside the nation and monarchy. It has largely eluded the junta s control as it has stamped its authority on other aspects of Thai life since a 2014 coup. The National Office of Buddhism is responsible for state administration of the religion followed by 90 percent of Thailand s 67 million people, but religious affairs are handled by a Sangha Supreme Council of elderly monks. Despite high-profile temple scandals over murder, drugs and sex as well as improper financial dealings, Pongporn s call for change had jarred on some monks. A group called the Thailand Buddhists Federation submitted a petition to the prime minister s office this month, calling for Pongporn to be removed to prevent further damage to monks . He painted monks as villains in Thai people s eyes, the group s secretary-general, Korn Meedee, said in a statement on Facebook. In July, another Buddhist group had called for Pongporn s removal, saying he had damaged the Buddhist institution. Phra Buddha Issara, a firebrand monk who called for reform of Buddhism, said the junta gave in to pressure too easily given government promises to fight corruption. Are they still serious about tackling corruption or are they only moving against certain people and groups? he said, adding that when it came to monks: No one can touch them. Reuters reported exclusively in March that the junta was drafting a law which would significantly weaken the Sangha Council. The draft is expected to be brought to parliament this year. Thai security forces besieged the Dhammakaya Temple in February to try to catch its former abbot, wanted for questioning on money laundering. But police failed to catch him and he is still on the run. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past5996566,6567,"Trump to Merkel on Obama s wiretapping at least we have something in common weblink pic.twitter.com/5BztA5Kx52 WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 17, 2017",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present6006567,6568,"Editor ' s note : What ' s the best advice your father ever gave you ? Please share in the comments section below . ( RealSimpleweblink ) My father taught me the importance of making my bed every morning . When I was six years old , he showed me how to complete the task Marine Corps style and would inspect my work on a daily basis . Today my bed is one of the only things in my life that is consistently neat and orderly . ( Sigh . ) Mary Usen , Buffalo , New York Real Simple : 14 Father ' s Day cards How important it is to have fun . My dad was never boring : He often stood on his head to impress his three kids . And he made even mundane errands exciting . For example , he once coaxed us to imagine a trip to the fishmonger ' s ( with its live octopus on display ) as a Jules Verne adventure . My dad taught me that life is better when you have a good time and bring others along for the ride . Monique Citron Stampleman , Larchmont , New York Many mornings when my dad dropped me off at school , he would repeat the adage "" Don ' t take any wooden nickels . "" He meant it to mean : Don ' t settle for less than you ' re worth . I ' ve relied on this advice countless times over the years . It has motivated me to end harmful relationships and has kept me from underestimating my abilities at work . Thanks to my father , I don ' t let self doubt keep me from achieving my goals . Hilary Heindl , Salem , Massachusetts While I was growing up in the late 1950s and early 60s , my dad made sure I knew that I could do anything a man could do . He showed me how to use power tools , climb on the roof to install a radio antenna , and lift a trailer onto a hitch . He also loved to see me dressed up for dances and even bought me my first lipstick . He wanted me to recognize that I could be feminine and self sufficient . Winifred Norwood , Ellsworth , Maine Real Simple : Father ' s Day gift ideas When I first entered the working world , my dad told me that it ' s as important to remember the assistant ' s name as the boss ' s . It ' s good manners , but it ' s also smart business : After all , if you ever need something , you won ' t get to the boss unless you ' re on good terms with the person who handles her schedule . Having worked as an assistant myself , I know firsthand that he was right . I would make a point to go out of my way to help people who treated me kindly . Carolyn Juris , Astoria , New York My father says , "" If you want something done , ask a busy person to do it . "" And he should know : He ' s an incredibly industrious doctor who manages to get to know his patients well , play ball with his grandchildren , and pursue countless hobbies . In my own life , I ' ve discovered that I am more productive when I have more going on . Kim Prywes Bloomberg , Chicago , Illinois Real Simple : 10 things my father was right about Before I got married , my father advised me to avoid complaining about my husband to my friends . If you don ' t hash out problems with your spouse , he said , you might start harboring resentment toward him or cause your friends to view him negatively . Because of this sound guidance , my marriage is thriving . Lara Carr Winton , Pinson , Alabama You don ' t have to answer the phone just because it rings . My dad always felt that if he was with a family member or a friend , that person took precedence over whoever might be calling . He taught me to focus on the people I ' m with , regardless of the situation . After all , they deserve my full attention . Jessica Barr Gabriel , Okotoks , Alberta Real Simple : 7 gifts for dad The best advice my father ever gave was passed down from his dad : Never try to solve problems at night , because they always seem worse than they do in the morning . Though I sometimes lack the self control to follow this sage suggestion , I ' ve learned over the years that it ' s true . Darkness can make even the smallest obstacle seem insurmountable . Laura Sinrod , New York , New York Everything especially when it comes to gardening . Thanks to my dad ' s smarts , I know that I should check the average date for the last frost in my region before I start spring planting . I only hope that one day my backyard will be as enviable as his . Kristin Monaco , Washington , D . C . Real Simple : Grill like a pro To avoid the blues , my dad said , you should always have something to look forward to . Now when I ' m in a bad mood , I find myself thinking about that "" something "" a sunny vacation spot , a trip to a caf , or even a good night hug from my boys . Amy Canby , Englewood , Colorado Real Simple : 20 books for dads Share your dad ' s best advice in the comment area below . Get a issue of Real Simple ! Copyright 2010 Time Inc . All rights reserved . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present6016570,6571,"Open Line 223 Deciding America’s Future The present presidential election boils down to a decision concerning America’s future. Will we continue down the path to global governance or will we reverse our direction and see the restoration of American sovereignty? Will we return to the Judeo-Christian values upon which this nation was built or will we merge America into a New Secular Order? Some people have expressed that only a miracle can reverse the damage that has been done to the American dream and to return us to the right path. Millions are praying that God will grant to us just such a miracle. Could God send a miracle at this critical time? Eleven days from now, we will all find out. It’s open line today on End of the Age.",fake,news,test,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present6026585,6586,"0 Okay, So I’m just gonna go on ahead and say that the Trumps are an incredible family. Donald is a strong figurehead, his sons are composed, and Ivanka will be the first woman president. Melania just shook the nation with a new, incredible speech (that Michelle Obama cannot claim!) ***Now a new Trump has risen. Earlier today, Melania shook the nation with a new, incredible speech (that Michelle Obama cannot claim!) She took the stage in Berwyn, and began with a simple smile. Then, Melania opened up and told a story. A story of a little girl growing up in the Soviet Union and dreaming of someday being an American. She told how that little girl made it here. She worked hard and got citizenship. And now, that same little girl is about to become our next 1st lady. She is that little girl. “When I was 10-years-old we learned that a man named Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States of America. President Reagan’s “morning in America” was not just something in the United States, it began to feel like morning around the world, even in my small country. It was a true inspiration to me.” I think Melania Trump is a true inspiration to American immigrants. She is proof that hard work and dedication can pave the way to success in this country. If you agree and wanna help share this amazing speech out, all you gotta do is send it to all your best Facebook friends who love Trump. We can do this together! ",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past6036617,6618,"— President Obama said Wednesday that he planned to leave 8, 400 American troops in Afghanistan until the end of his term, further slowing the drawdown in a war that Mr. Obama pledged to end on his watch but now seems likely to grind on indefinitely. Acknowledging that the Taliban had retaken territory and were terrorizing the population, Mr. Obama said he was again adjusting his plan to withdraw American forces. The announcement will leave his successor with a substantial military commitment in the country, though far less than the nearly 40, 000 troops deployed there when he took office. “The security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious,” Mr. Obama said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. “Even as they improve, Afghan security forces are still not as strong as they need to be. ” Those troops, he said, had not been able to quell a string of attacks and suicide bombings, including in the capital, Kabul. The United States has close to 10, 000 soldiers in Afghanistan, where they train and equip Afghan forces, and carry out counterterrorism operations. When he last tinkered with the drawdown schedule, Mr. Obama said he hoped to reduce that number to 5, 500 by early 2017. Now, more than 8, 000 troops will remain, and it will be up to Mr. Obama’s successor to order any further reductions. The president recently loosened the rules of engagement for American troops to give them the ability to fight the Taliban directly, and more flexibility to carry out airstrikes or wage ground combat. Mr. Obama cast his decision as a vote of confidence in Afghanistan’s government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, as well as in the support of members and other partners, who have contributed 6, 000 troops. But it also underscores the fact that American hopes of building an Afghan force capable of securing the entire country had fallen short. “We have to deal with the realities of the world as it is,” said Mr. Obama, who was flanked by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. “It is going to continue to take time to build up military capacity that we sometimes take for granted. Given the enormous challenges they face, the Afghan people will need the partnership of the world, led by the United States, for many years to come. ” Mr. Obama announced the decision a day before leaving for a summit meeting in Warsaw. Administration officials said the timing was intended to clarify American intentions and demonstrate that the United States was committed to Afghanistan. The president made the decision, which was very closely held, after a lengthy internal debate, and based on a recommendation from the American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. Keeping 8, 400 troops in the field, a senior administration official said, would allow American forces there to advise Afghan commanders “at the and level out in the field” over a sustained period, something that would not have been possible at lower troop levels. The number represents a slight decline from the 9, 800 troops currently deployed. “It’s an important and timely shift,” said Daniel F. Feldman, who was Mr. Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. “I welcome it as a demonstration, not only of the administration’s flexibility in best advancing our national security interests in Afghanistan, but of the commitment we’ve said we’ve had to Afghanistan, but which was being questioned there. ” Mr. Feldman was among more than a dozen former military commanders and diplomats who had urged Mr. Obama last month in a letter not to cut troop levels. Two prominent Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, added their voices to that call. “If we go to 5, 500, this place will fall apart quickly, quicker than Iraq,” said Mr. Graham, who joined Mr. McCain on a July 4 visit to Afghanistan. “If we keep 9, 800, there is a decent chance we can succeed. ” But Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and a critic of the war, said, “We are engaged in what appears to be an endless war, with no strategy about how to end the conflict and disengage our troops. ” Besides fragile security, the decision reflected American worries that Al Qaeda was regrouping in Afghanistan, and that the Islamic State had established a foothold there. Mr. Obama repeated his vow that he would not allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorists. There have been other signs that the United States is preparing for a counterterrorism campaign. In May, a missile fired from an American drone killed Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the head of the Taliban, as he was traveling in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province. The decision to strike him on Pakistani soil, and then to announce it publicly, suggested a new, more aggressive approach by the United States. “We can’t forget what’s at stake in Afghanistan,” Mr. Obama said. “This is where Al Qaeda is trying to regroup. This is where continues to try to expand is presence,” he said, using the administration’s preferred acronym for the Islamic State. The Afghan government had lobbied privately to keep the troops, American officials said. “We were expecting a decision based on the ground realities, and we welcome President Obama’s decision,” said Haroon Chakhansuri, a spokesman for Mr. Ghani. The government has struggled with security as American soldiers have left, steadily losing territory to Taliban insurgents. They briefly captured Kunduz last year, the first time they had seized a major urban center since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. Insurgents claiming affiliation with the Islamic State have also contested districts in eastern Afghanistan, and have remained a persistent threat despite major military operations against them. Despite the assassination of Mullah Mansour, the Taliban have retained their ability to carry out attacks in cities, most recently killing at least 33 people, almost all of them police cadets, in a bombing in Kabul. The deployment, Mr. Obama noted, was a far cry from the 100, 000 combat troops once there. But he acknowledged the frustration people might feel at the inability of the United States to draw this war to a close. “When we first sent our forces into Afghanistan 14 years ago,” he said, “few Americans imagined we’d be there — in any capacity — this long. ”",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6046618,6619,"A Florida town has banned people let ' s face it , young people from wearing saggy pants . A councilwoman for Ocala pushed for passage of the law , but the town ' s Mayor Kent Guinn may ultimately veto the fashion police . If the law goes into effect , it ' s unclear what measuring tools the Ocala Police Department would use to determine whether citizens ' pants are within the 2 inch legal limit of a theoretical waistline . It ' s even more unclear how they will determine where the waistline actually lies on an individual . More likely than not , the Ocala will use the time honored legal standard of "" I know it when I see it "" to eyeball the location of waistlines relative to pants lines . The not too subtle message is : Pull up your pants , because "" 2 inches "" really just means "" too annoying . "" Why do I suggest it singles out young people ? I ' m not ascribing any evil motive to law enforcement . Rather , as a society , we won ' t expect the police to ticket a plumber crouched over at work , accidentally revealing his tighty whiteys . We ' ll expect them to target teens who show underwear as a fashion statement . So , the underlying legal question arises : Can the government even outlaw saggy pants in the first place ? It ' s true that the First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with our speech which is the right to receive and disseminate ideas and information . It ' s also true that speech need not be spoken or written . The First Amendment also protects "" expressive conduct . "" The problem is that expressive conduct is hard to identify . Clothing can certainly be expressive . In 1971 , the Supreme Court overturned one man ' s conviction for wearing a jacket that said "" F k the Draft "" but that ' s not really expressive conduct , because the written words constituted speech . Expressive conduct conveys an idea without words . Wearing a black armband to school to protest a war is an example of expressive conduct , and the Supreme Court has said doing so is protected speech . Indeed , even offensive clothing , like Nazi uniforms , has been deemed expressive conduct , and the reviled Klansman robe has garnered First Amendment protections . Clothing can be communicative , but courts require an identifiable , specific message to apply First Amendment protection . Saggy pants proponents would have to show that ( 1 ) displaying your underwear conveys an identifiable message ( 2 ) that the rest of us on the street can understand as an identifiable message . Well , doesn ' t having one ' s pants on the ground convey ideas about comfort , personal style , and individuality ? Certainly , but those are not specific enough "" messages "" for the courts . When you think about it , all clothing conveys those ideas . In the ' 80s , many of us were conveying strong ideas about acid wash jeans and shoulder pads , and in the ' 90s , our collective message was apparently flannel and work boots . But that ' s just style or lack thereof and it ' s not enough of a message to be protected speech . During the 2013 trial of George Zimmerman , many took to wearing hooded sweatshirts to show support for Trayvon Martin , who was killed by Zimmerman while wearing a hoodie . Wearing hoodies satisfies the first prong of having a particularized message , but probably fails the second . Hoodies are so popular that a court might conclude the message of solidarity is indistinguishable on the street from , say , someone wearing a hoodie to the gym . In that sense , hoodies would fail the second test , because they are not understood as speech by others . The results feel confusing : A court would likely conclude that the clothing of a Klansman or a neo Nazi conveys a particularized message an unpopular , divisive , angry message . That would entitle it to constitutional protection . But saggy pants ? The message is too amorphous , so it cannot be protected speech . And if it ' s not protected speech , the First Amendment will not prevent towns from outlawing those droopy drawers . Few of us like looking at people ' s skivvies when their jeans hang off them on the subway , but how offensive is it , really ? Our culture ' s mores about clothing are fundamentally illogical . We attempt to outlaw this display of the top half of someone ' s boxers , but have no laws for that old guy at the pool usually the same guy glistening with suntan oil who prances around in nothing but a Speedo all summer . What ' s with that guy , anyway ? The point is that culturally , we accept nearly complete nudity in one context , but try to regulate mostly clothed conduct in another . There really is no logic to our ideas about clothing . That helps to explain horrible fashion choices from decade to decade , but does little to logically justify clothing regulations . As much as we feel free to express ourselves with apparel , we likely have less freedom of expression than we imagined . And at least in one town in Florida , no matter how trendy your gear may be , it looks like it ' s time to pull up the pants . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6056622,6623,"Asia Pacific shares fall sharply in wake of Paris attacks and Japanese recession Global security concerns saw the euro hit a six month low and stocks were sold off around the region as Japan entered a quintuple dip recession The Japanese economy contracted in the third quarter , marking an official recession . Photograph : Shuji Kajiyama Stock markets in Asia Pacific have fallen sharply in the wake of the Paris terror attacks and downbeat economic data . Leading the losers was the Nikkei index in Japan which tumbled nearly 1 . 3 as official figures showed that the country s economy had entered recession for the fifth time in seven years . Related : Japan ' s ' quintuple dip ' recession delivers a fresh blow to Abenomics The widely tracked volatility index or fear gauge was at its highest level since 2 October and bourses in Australia , South Korea and Hong Kong all saw substantial falls of more than 1 in early trading . In Europe , futures trade pointed to sharp falls in the main markets with the FTSE100 predicted to be down 40 points or around 0 . 6 at the open and the Dax in Germany down 1 . The French financial markets were due to open as usual on Monday , with extra security measures taken for staff , stock and derivatives , the Euronext exchange said . The CAC40 French bourse was set to open 2 lower on Monday . With concerns about how European leaders would respond to the Paris attacks , the euro was sold heavily in Asian trading and fell to a six month low of 1 . 071 . Global security concerns were better news for some commodities , however , as Brent crude oil was up 1 at 44 . 92 a barrel after shedding 1 on Friday . crude was up about 0 . 54 at 40 . 96 a barrel . Gold added about 0 . 5 to stand at 1 , 091 . 96 an ounce . Risk aversion is on the rise and we are seeing broad based U . S . dollar strength across the board and this may continue until the year end as recent economic data has also disappointed , said Mitul Kotecha , head of Asian and rates strategy at Barclays in Singpore . The Japanese economy contracted by a worse than expected 0 . 8 on an annualised basis in the third quarter . That followed a revised 0 . 7 contraction in the previous quarter , fulfilling the technical definition of a recession which is two back to back quarterly contractions . It is the fifth time Japan has entered recession since 2008 , a so called quintuple dip . However , the prospect of more monetary stimulus in Japan on the back of the poor growth figures served to boost traders and the indices climbed back towards positive territory in the afternoon . The headline was weak , but the market is shifting to expectations for more measures , said Mitsushige Akino , chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Asset Management . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6066626,6627,"This burger is so hot that it comes to your table on fire . . . and you have to sign a waiver before attempting to eat it . Made from a slab of beef infused with ghost and cayenne peppers , and pure chili extract , with relish of habaneros and jalapenos , and serrano peppers , the entire thing is then smothered in Hellfire Sauce and a splash of grain alcohol . The sizzling Hellfire Burger is the creation of Loren Gingrich , owner of Xtreme Smokehouse and Grill in Washington , Iowa . fire Burger contains six types of chilli and is set alight before being served to diners at Xtreme Smokehouse and Grill in Washington , Iowa A brave punter downs protective gloves and eyewear before attempting the spicy meal It ' s so hot that Mr Gingrich has asked the Guinness Book of Records to create a new category for it . Reportedly clocking in around 1 , 000 , 000 Scoville units ( about half the burn of pepper spray ) , customers have to be over 18 to order the meal . The burger arrives at the table with protective gloves , eyeswear and a waiver , which mentions the possible loss of life . ' We actually have a ghost burger , ' said Mr Gingrich said to kcrgweblink . ' We wanted to do something that was hotter . A relish made from habaneros and jalapenos , and serrano peppers is spread generously ( left ) before the burger is smothered in spicy condiment Hellfire Sauce ( right ) The relish is Mr Gingrich ' s own recipe and contains three types of chillies habaneros and jalapenos , and serrano peppers . A single jalapeno pepper rates between 2 , 500 and 5 , 000 on the Scoville unit . Another three types of chillies are then added to the burger ghost peppers , cayenne peppers and pure chilli extract , all of which are infused in the meat . The burger is then assembled before being generously doused with a ring of hot condiment , Hellfire Sauce . The final touch is a splash of grain alcohol before the entire snack is set on fire before being served to diners . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6076629,6630,"Liverpool are close to sealing the first big money move of the English close season after agreeing a fee for Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson . The 20 year old already has an England cap to his name , playing for Fabio Capello ' s side in a friendly against France in November last year . Henderson is regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the English game and is going to cost the Anfield club a reported fee of 32 million , according to the Press Association , with French striker David Ngog going the other way . It shows that Liverpool ' s American owners , Fenway Sports Group who also own Major League baseball team the Boston Red Sox are prepared to spend big in the transfer market to try and haul Liverpool back into the English top four . Who will be football ' s top transfer targets ? The club missed out on Champions League football in 2010 11 , finishing sixth in the table , and even failed to secure a Europa League place for next season despite an upturn in fortunes after former player Kenny Dalglish returned as manager . A statement on the club ' s web site read : "" Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson . "" The 20 year old will today discuss personal terms and undergo a medical on Merseyside after a fee was agreed between the two clubs . "" Sunderland also confirmed the news on their web site , a spokesman saying : "" A fee has been agreed with Liverpool for Jordan Henderson and he travels to Anfield with the club ' s blessing . "" Henderson came through the ranks at Sunderland and made his debut for the club in the Premier League back in 2008 . He is due to join up with England ' s Under 21 squad Wednesday ahead of the European Championships . Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn , a former player at the club , said : "" Jordan is a credit to himself , his family and Sunderland ' s Academy and everyone here wishes him the very best for the future , "" he said . "" I am pleased that we got the deal to a level that we felt was right for our club . "" Meanwhile , Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has welcomed news that the club have been linked with Blackburn Rovers defender Phil Jones . The 19 year old is also part of England ' s Under 21 European Championships squad and made his debut for Rovers in the English League Cup in 2009 . Rooney said on his Twitter site : "" Phil Jones is a good young English player . One of the toughest defenders I played against last season . Can play midfield too . "" He later added : "" I don ' t know if Phil Jones is signing for us , just saying he is a good player that ' s all . I haven ' t got a clue if he is signing or not . "" In Germany , Bayern Munich have confirmed the signing of Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on a five year contract . "" I ' m very happy in Germany , I ' m the national team goalkeeper , and Bayern Munich is the best club in Germany . That ' s why I wanted to join Bayern , "" Neuer told the club ' s web site . "" I know exactly what I want . I ' m looking forward to the next five years , and I don ' t know if it ' ll just be the five years . I ' m sure it could be more . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6086633,6634,"A fraudster nicknamed ' Fizzy ' because of his love of champagne has been jailed for eight years for conning vulnerable pensioners out of their life savings . Frank Onyeachonam ran the end of global lottery scam that was orchestrated from his native Nigeria for seven years to fund his lavish millionaire ' s lifestyle . It involved hundreds of perpetrators in several countries , detectives say . In the , 38 year old Onyeachonam conned pensioners out of sums from 2 , 000 to 600 , 000 , deliberately targeting his victims because they were potentially vulnerable to his tactics . Fraudster Frank Onyeachonam who has been jailed for eight years after he conned vulnerable pensioners out of their life savings with a bogus lottery scam to fund his millionaire ' s lifestyle Ill gotten gains : Onyeachonam , of Canning Town , east London , had so much cash he once spelled his name out in it and posted a picture of it on Facebook ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6096637,6638,"Protesters Converge on Oregon Town After Arrests , Killing The town of Burns , Oregon , was calm Sunday after dozens of people converged there Saturday night to protest the killing of a militant who had been part of the nearly month long occupation of a federal wildlife refuge . A car with anti government protesters prepare for a rolling vehicle protest by self proclaimed patriots Saturday in Burns , Oregon . Matt Mills McKnight Getty Images One came armed with a sign telling the , which has led the response to the occupation , to "" go home , "" affiliate of Bend reported . Another said : "" Entering Nazi Germany . "" Both U . S . and Confederate flags were seen attached to protesters ' vehicles , the station reported . The protest came after a "" call to action "" by the Pacific Patriots Network , a group that says it coordinates "" community resources to protect life , liberty , property and the environment . "" The network ' s partners include local chapters of the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters , which have been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as advocates of "" extreme anti government doctrines . "" Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum speaks to reporters Jan . 9 , near Burns , Oregon . Finicum was killed last week as law enforcement moved in to arrest protesters at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge . Rick Bowmer In a statement posted on its website Friday , the network condemned the arrest of one of the protesters who occupied the Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge occupation on Jan . 2 , as well as the killing of Robert "" LaVoy "" Finicum , a rancher from Arizona and the occupiers ' de facto spokesman . Finicum was in one of two vehicles traveling that were pulled over Tuesday about 45 miles from the refuge during what authorities described as a traffic stop . Protest leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy were arrested along with several others Finicum was shot to death . Two days later , the released aerial footage of the killing that the agency says shows that Finicum was reaching for a loaded pistol before he was shot . Some of Finicum ' s supporters have described his death as murder . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6106647,6648,"Kyrgyzstan ' s president signed a bill Friday to close an air base that the U . S . military uses as a route for troops and supplies heading into Afghanistan , the president announced on his Web site . Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan serves as a U . S . supply route for troops and supplies into Afghanistan . The news came as two other central Asian nations Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reportedly agreed to let U . S . cargo pass through their countries on the way to Afghanistan . Such deals , if confirmed , could help fill the void left by the closing of the Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan . The Kyrgyz order became effective on Friday when President Kurmanbek Bakiyev reportedly signed legislation that the parliament in Bishkek backed on Thursday , the Pentagon said . Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry on Friday officially notified the U . S . Embassy in Bishkek that a 180 day withdrawal process is under way . "" We do remain in contact with the government of Kyrgyzstan , "" Yerkin said . "" The Manas Air Base continues to operate under existing agreements , as per the coalition ' s efforts in Afghanistan . "" U . S . Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday the United States will continue to work with Kyrgyzstan on keeping the base open . Watch why Kyrgyzstan wants to close the base "" I continue to believe that this is not a closed issue and that there remains the potential at least to reopen this issue with the Kyrgyz and perhaps reach a new agreement , "" Gates said at a meeting in Krakow , Poland . "" If we are unable to do that on reasonable terms then , as I have suggested , we are developing alternative methods to get resupply and people into Afghanistan . "" The Manas Air Base outside Bishkek is the only U . S . base in Central Asia and is a major resupply hub for the war in Afghanistan . Its closing could deal a significant blow to the U . S . military effort there , especially following President Barack Obama ' s announcement of additional troops to halt a resurgence of the country ' s former Taliban rulers . The United States pays 17 . 4 million a year to use Manas , a major logistical and refueling center that supports troops in Afghanistan , the Pentagon said . About 15 , 000 troops and 500 tons of cargo reportedly move through Manas monthly , it said . The air base currently employs more than 1 , 000 servicemen , 95 percent of whom are Americans , Russia ' s Interfax news agency reported . "" This is an important facility , it has been an important facility , but it ' s not irreplaceable and , if necessary , we will find other options , "" Whitman said . How far is Manas from Afghanistan ? View our map Tajikistan and Uzbekistan , two other Central Asian nations that border Afghanistan , have agreed to allow U . S . cargo to be transported to Afghanistan through their countries , the Russian news agency Interfax reported Friday . The agency said Rear Adm . Mark Harnitchek , U . S . transportation command director for strategy , policy , programs and logistics , held a meeting with Tajik Foreign Minister Kharokhon Zarifi , after which he said he had also secured Uzbekistan ' s consent . If confirmed , success would still depend on how much access the United States would have to those countries for flights and cargo , and even then , it may not totally replace the capacity lost in Kyrgyzstan . The U . S . military leased a base in Uzbekistan after the September 11 , 2001 , attacks on the United States . But after Uzbek troops were accused of killing at least 150 people during a demonstration in 2005 , the autocratic government of President Islam Karimov came under criticism from Washington and severed most of its military ties with the United States . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6116652,6653,"Reuters) - The regional leader of Catalonia said he already feels like the president of a free country after more than two million Catalans voted to leave Spain in a banned referendum last Sunday. I already feel as a president of a free country where millions of people have made an important decision, Carles Puigdemont said in an interview with German newspaper Bild due to be published on Thursday. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present6126654,6655,"A maths graduate has been found guilty of murdering his father before dismembering him and placing his body parts in storage boxes which he used as a television stand . Nathan Robinson used a Stanley knife , a hacksaw and a saw to cut up the body of his father , 48 year old William Spiller , at the flat they shared in Bournemouth , Dorset , in May 2013 . The court was told that the following day , Robinson travelled to Glasgow to visit friends and gave one of them a boxset of the Saw horror films . Brutal : Nathan Robinson ( left ) used a Stanley knife , a hacksaw and a saw to cut up the body of his father , William Spiller ( right ) , at the flat they shared in Bournemouth , Dorset , in May 2013 A jury at Winchester Crown Court took just one and a half hours to find Robinson guilty of the murder of the 48 year old taxi driver . Robinson had denied the charge of murder but admitted manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility . He also took almost 8 , 000 of his father ' s cash after the murder and tried to clean up the scene with newly purchased cleaning products . In the following month , he further covered his tracks by using his father ' s mobile phone , sending text messages to his partner , Glenys Molyneaux , and his friends . When Robinson was arrested on June 18 , a day after Mrs Molyneux reported Mr Spiller missing , he asked police if it was a joke . The trial has heard that Robinson cut up his father ' s body and placed the parts in storage boxes with a television on top . Victim : William Spiller ( right ) was killed by his son Nathan Robinson . Mr Spiller is seen with his partner Glenys Molyneaux , who is not Robinson ' s mother His head was placed in a box and put in a filing cabinet . Robinson tried to clean resulting mess with a specialist steam cleaner he purchased from Homebase , but a neighbour living in the flat below complained of a ' pink liquid ' seeping through the ceiling . Robinson told the court that he had only limited memories of the killing . He claimed that he had been abused as a child by his father and by another man on a separate occasion . He also said his mother , Elaine Robinson , worked as a prostitute and he had found an advertisement which she used to offer her services . The defendant told the court that he had completed a mathematics degree at Aberystwyth University but had failed to complete a masters degree in bio fuels and managing the environment . He explained that he completed the taught part of the second degree but did not finish the dissertation after he became ' distracted ' at finding out about his mother ' s activities . However , Nigel Lickley , prosecuting , said the likely motive for the killing was financial as Robinson owed his father 36 , 000 . He also took almost 8 , 000 of Mr Spiller ' s cash , which he used after the killing to go partying with his friends in Scotland and to take his mother to a vegan weekend in Bristol . Robinson , wearing a grey suit , white shirt and tie , showed no emotion or reaction as the verdict was announced . The judge , Mr Justice Griffith Williams , thanked the jury and said : ' There is only one sentence I can pass , which is life imprisonment , but I have to determine the minimum term he will serve before the parole board will consider his release . ' Following the verdict , Desmond Duffy , Senior Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service in Wessex , said : ' Nathan Robinson savagely killed his father , William Spiller and then went to great lengths to hide his crime . Winchester Crown Court , pictured , heard that Nathan Robinson remembered being abused as a child after he saw a flyer featuring his mother offering sexual services in cars in return for payment ' It was the prosecution case that money may have been a motive for the crime . The 27 year old , who lived with his father , accepted that his financial position was dire at the start of 2013 . ' An I . O . U recovered from the flat which was dated June 2011 said : "" I Nathan Robinson totally accept that I am indebted to my father to the sum of 36 , 000 ( . . . ) "" ' The jury at Winchester Crown Court heard how the 27 year old and his father had a history of disputes . ' On May 16 2013 , they had argument the argument was so loud that it was heard by their downstairs neighbour , who heard the sounds of a struggle and then Mr Spiller asking his son to get him an ambulance . ' Robinson did not call an ambulance . He admitted stabbing his father to death and cutting his body into pieces and storing the body parts in plastic boxes . He also admitted taking his father ' s money before leaving the flat . ' It was the prosecution ' s case that the defendant at the time of the killing did not suffer from any abnormality of mental functioning that would have diminished his responsibility for his actions . ' The jury heard that the way Mr Robinson acted after the killing could only show clarity of mind . ' Not only did he dismember his father ' s body , he paid the month ' s rent on the flat , purchased two Vax cleaners to remove blood stains from the floor and pretended his father was still alive by sending texts to one of his father ' s best friends and to his father ' s partner , Glenys Molyneaux , who became very worried and alerted the police . ' Robinson carried on his life as normal , supported by his father ' s money , by going to Scotland , meeting friends and organising a weekend in Bristol . When the police arrested him he asked them if it was a joke . ' Our thoughts go out to Ms Molyneaux and the rest of Mr Spiller ' s family and friends . ' The case was adjourned for sentencing on a date to be fixed and Robinson was remanded in custody . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6136665,6666,"Reuters) - The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is investigating Paul Manafort for potential money laundering, according to media reports, adding to other federal and state probes targeting President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York launched the probe in conjunction with federal special counsel Robert Mueller, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Tuesday. Bloomberg separately reported that subpoenas had been issued in the case. Representatives for Manafort did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, led by acting U.S. attorney Joon Kim, had no comment. The probe marks the latest investigation of Manafort that comes amid the ongoing larger examination of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and possible collusion by the Trump campaign and associates. Separate investigations into Manafort’s financial transactions have been launched by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, including scrutiny of Manafort’s real estate deals. U.S. investigators examining Manafort’s financial transactions are seeking to push him into cooperating with their probe into the possible collusion, two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation have said. Manafort, who headed the Trump campaign for several months before resigning, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Mueller’s team and congressional investigators are also probing Manafort, whose Virginia apartment was raided by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in July. Russia has denied any meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign and has condemned the investigation as a political witch hunt. Reports of the latest probe come as Trump is poised to appoint dozens of new U.S. attorneys across the United States, including in New York after seeking mass resignations earlier this year. Kim took over as the Manhattan U.S. attorney when Trump fired Preet Bharara as part of the wave of resignations in March. Earlier this month, Politico reported that Trump personally interviewed at least two candidates for the positions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, an unusual move that raised some questions given Trump’s business roots in New York. The Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office is examining Kushner Cos, the company owned by the family of Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner, according to the Journal. The White House and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions have defended Trump’s right to talk with potential nominees, Politico said. The U.S. Senate must approve whomever Trump nominates, a move that could be complicated by the Manafort and other probes. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6146673,6674,"Reuters) - The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a compromise version of an annual defense policy bill on Thursday without controversial provisions such as requiring women to register for the draft or allowing contractors to make religion-based hiring decisions. Ninety-two senators backed the $618.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and seven opposed it. Because it passed the House of Representatives by a similarly large margin last week, the bill now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama to veto or sign into law. A White House spokesman told a briefing he did not yet have a position on the bill to report. The 2016 bill, the last of Obama’s presidency, includes some Republican-backed initiatives with which he has disagreed in the past. It includes a $3.2 billion increase in military spending, when there has been no similar increase in non-defense funding. The bill also bars closures of military bases, although top Pentagon officials say they have too much capacity, and it blocks planned reductions in active-duty troop numbers. And it continues policies that bar transfers of prisoners to U.S. soil from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which Obama had hoped to close. While his administration has shipped most inmates from the controversial prison, the Democrat is not expected to accomplish his goal of shuttering it before he leaves office Jan. 20. Obama’s successor, Republican Donald Trump, wants to keep Guantanamo open, and expand it. The passed both chambers in the Republican-led Congress with margins large enough to overcome a veto, and the compromise legislation features many provisions such as a military pay raise and an expansion of a landmark human rights bill, that are extremely popular in Congress. [L1N1E316A] After months of negotiation, the Senate and House Armed Services committees unveiled a compromise version of the last month that left out the Russell Amendment, a “religious freedom” measure Democrats said would have let federal contractors discriminate against workers on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, overturning Obama’s executive order. Some House Republicans said they hoped to revisit that provision after Trump takes office, when they do not have to worry about a veto threat from a Democratic White House. The bill also excluded a provision that would have required women to register for the military draft, now that Pentagon leaders are moving to allow them into combat. A provision recommending that the U.S. conducts yearly high-level military exchanges with Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province, made it into the final bill. China’s defense ministry said in a statement on its official microblog on Friday that it was “firmly opposed” to the move, which would “inevitably damage U.S. interests”. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6156679,6680,"Print If you look at the numbers, there is no way that Hillary Clinton could possibly win the election without the support of a substantial percentage of evangelical Christian voters. In fact, if evangelical Christians stuck together they could pretty much elect whoever they want as president. According to the Pew Research Center, 35 percent of all adults in the United States identify themselves as “evangelical” or “born again”, and it has been estimated that there are 94 million evangelical Christian adults in this country. If evangelical Christians acted as a single voting block they could determine the outcome of every single presidential election. Unfortunately, that simply is not going to happen. A survey that was recently conducted by LifeWay Research found that only 45 percent of Christian evangelicals plan to vote for Donald Trump and 31 percent of Christian evangelicals plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. That same survey discovered that moral issues are becoming increasingly unimportant to evangelical voters… Overall, the economy is the top concern for Americans regardless of religious affiliation (30%). National security (17%) and personal character (17%) also are significant issues. Supreme Court nominees (10%), immigration (5%), religious freedom (2%), and abortion (1%) are less important . “For churchgoers and those with evangelical beliefs, their pocketbook and personal safety are paramount,” said McConnell. “Moral issues aren’t a priority for many of them.” I don’t know how in the world abortion could come in at only 1 percent. Even if you add “Supreme Court nominees” and abortion together, you still only get a total of 11 percent. This just shows that evangelicals in America have their priorities way out of order. And unfortunately for Donald Trump, he is getting a lot less support from evangelicals than other recent presidential candidates received. According to the New York Times , previous candidates have generally received about 80 percent support from white evangelical voters, but Donald Trump is only getting about 65 to 70 percent support, and his numbers among non-white evangelicals are absolutely dismal. If you are an evangelical Christian and you have reservations about Donald Trump, I can respect that. But there will be other names on the ballot and you do not have to vote for Hillary Clinton. As I have said before, a vote for Hillary Clinton is an act of unmitigated wickedness. Hillary Clinton has made support for abortion one of the central pillars of her long political career. In fact, I don’t know if there is any politician in America that is more associated with abortion than Hillary Clinton. Since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, more than 58 million babies have been murdered in the United States, and Hillary Clinton’s hands are drenched with their blood. If you vote for Hillary Clinton, your hands will be drenched with their blood too. Needless to say, I am absolutely horrified that so many prominent evangelical leaders have come out in support of Hillary Clinton during this election season. For example, a group that represents over 6,000 Latino evangelical churches has just announced that they are endorsing Hillary Clinton … An organization representing more than 6,000 Latino evangelical churches in the U.S. is endorsing Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. In a statement Thursday, the group says Clinton has proven her willingness to engage in difficult conversations, listen to contrasting opinions and engage faith leaders. Meanwhile, 75 evangelical leaders recently signed a petition on Change.org that strongly denounces Donald Trump… We, undersigned evangelicals, simply will not tolerate the racial, religious, and gender bigotry that Donald Trump has consistently and deliberately fueled, no matter how else we choose to vote or not to vote. One of the truly alarming trends that we have been seeing this election season is the number of prominent women in the evangelical movement that are openly rejecting Donald Trump and embracing Hillary Clinton. The following is a short excerpt from a recent Washington Post article that examined this phenomenon… When Jen Hatmaker speaks to stadiums full of Christian women, she regales them with stories about her five children and her garden back in Austin, Tex. — and stays away from politics. But recently she took to Facebook and Instagram to blast Donald J. Trump as a “national disgrace,” and remind her legions of followers that there are other names on the ballot in November. And Christianity Today recently published an editorial from one of the top female evangelical leaders in the entire country in which she publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton. According to Christianity Today, Deborah Fikes is “the former Permanent Representative to the United Nations for World Evangelical Alliance, which represents a constituency of 650 million with alliance offices in 129 countries.” Fikes says that she stepped down from some of her leadership positions so that she could openly advocate for Clinton … My recent resignations from evangelical leadership positions to endorse Hillary Clinton speaks volumes of how important I believe it is that she is elected in November. The toxic tone and atmosphere that surrounds Mr. Trump and is fueled among his supporters has done irreparable damage to not only our country and the future of the but also to the public witness of evangelicals in America who are seen as some of his biggest supporters. There is no question in my mind or spirit that with the overwhelming challenges the next American president will face, Hillary Clinton is the most qualified person who has ever run for the Oval Office . On the issues of our national security, economic stability, seeing that healthcare reform continues to move forward, and tackling domestic challenges of poverty, inequality, and racism, we need her to be the person occupying this office. A lot of these women seem to think that abortion shouldn’t be a major issue in this election, but that is like saying that the Holocaust shouldn’t have been a major issue in Nazi Germany. Look, you don’t have to vote for Donald Trump or anyone else to be a good Christian. But if you cast a vote for Hillary Clinton, you are casting a vote for the most evil, wicked and corrupt politician that this nation has possibly ever seen, and you are publicly endorsing the sinful positions that she is proud to stand for. I know that I have been writing about the election a lot lately , but I feel that it is very important that I do so. Most of the media coverage has focused on Donald Trump , but I feel that this election is far more about Hillary Clinton. The things that her and her husband have done have been well documented, and if the American people willingly choose her they will know exactly what they are doing. Unfortunately, not even Christians are standing united against the Clintons. The political divide in the evangelical Christian world has grown so deep that it has even reached Liberty University. The following comes from the Atlantic … That’s why it was such a big deal when, two weeks ago, a group of Liberty students put out a letter explaining why they’re standing against the Republican presidential nominee. Jerry Falwell Jr., who has run the school since his father died in 2007, announced his support for Donald Trump back in January, and he has since spoken on the candidate’s behalf in interviews and at events. “We are Liberty students who are disappointed with President Falwell’s endorsement and are tired of being associated with one of the worst presidential candidates in American history,” the students wrote. “Donald Trump does not represent our values and we want nothing to do with him.” Thousands of people signed onto the letter, including, the students said, roughly 2,000 students or alumni with liberty.edu email addresses.Dustin Wahl and Alex Forbes, two of the letter’s authors, were featured on and CNN. They said they received supportive emails and tweets from Russell Moore, the head of the political arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Erick Erickson, the conservative radio-show host. And the support for Clinton is particularly strong among young adult evangelicals. When I read the following paragraph on the website of the New York Times , I was absolutely astounded… Kate Shellnutt, 30, the online editor of Christianity Today and editor of the Women section, said she had observed that “the millennial generation has a lot less patience for Trump.” Of the 33 influential millennial evangelicals she profiled for a cover story two years ago, she says she can now find only one, Lila Rose, who is pro-Trump, and even she has been publicly critical of him . Several have been using the hashtag #NeverTrump, Ms. Shellnutt said. The frightening thing is that this election might be the last chance for evangelical Christians to shape the political direction of this nation, because the truth is that demographics are rapidly shifting, and this includes the demographics of the evangelical community … As Robert Jones has expertly documented in his recent book The End of White Christian America , the number of older, conservative, white male evangelicals is shrinking each year. Meanwhile, the number of younger evangelicals of all ethnic backgrounds — whose moral and political views extend far beyond positions on gay marriage and abortion — is on the rise. If you follow my work regularly, then you already know that I have very little hope for the future of America. But if Hillary Clinton is elected, there will be exactly zero hope. If evangelical Christians stood united, they could stop her, but at this point it appears that is not going to happen. Take a look at the future of America: The Beginning of the End and then prepare shares",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present6166714,6715,"Frank Lautenberg grew up in Paterson , New Jersey a tough mill town . Served in World War , where he scampered up improvised rickety poles to string wire to keep the lines of communication open . Went to Columbia on the Bill , then made a fortune as co founder of . He was among the first to see how computers could revolutionize business , and he put the new technology to work processing paychecks . He made millions in business , but never abandoned his liberal roots . His generous support for progressive causes earned him a spot on Nixon ' s infamous Enemies List . In 1982 he defeated Millicent Fenwick the pipe smoking , progressive Republican who was the inspiration for the Doonesbury character Lacey Davenport and became a senator . In 1988 I served as Frank ' s press secretary . Few bosses were tougher . He was running for re election against golden boy Pete Dawkins Heisman Trophy winner at West Point , Rhodes scholar , Vietnam vet , Army general , millionaire banker a man so handsome , he was a model in ads for men ' s shirts . Frank was not as glib as Dawkins , so I told the press , "" Frank may not be a great communicator , but he ' s a great legislator . "" That did not go over well . "" I am paying you to say good things about me , "" he thundered . "" I can get people to criticize me for free ! "" Lautenberg : The last ' swamp dog ' Frank was so cantankerous , so combative , that he often called his 1988 campaign manager , the great James Carville , "" the second opponent . "" But he rose to the occasion , besting Dawkins in a debate and embracing the nickname Dawkins used to dismiss him : "" swamp dog . "" From that day to the last time I saw him , I would always ask Frank how the old swamp dog was doing . He never lost his bite . As a senator , Lautenberg leaves an impressive legacy . The Lautenberg Amendment helped free Soviet Jews and is still used by oppressed people seeking freedom in America . If you enjoy flying smoke free , you can thank Frank . Firefighters who now have a right to know the chemicals they face in a fire can thank Frank . Millions who ride Amtrak or use mass transit can thank Frank . If you believe working people deserve a higher minimum wage , you can thank Frank . All of us who support the U . S . Israel relationship can thank Frank . His brother and sister veterans have lost a friend , and those who support gun safety legislation have lost a powerful ally . Me ? I have lost an example of toughness and tenacity . In an age of blow dried , prefab , Ken doll politicians , Frank was the real deal : a hard bitten , gut punching , proudly liberal swamp dog . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul Begala . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6176740,6741,"A Broncos player says Tom Brady whines to referees when he ' s sacked . Tom Brady might be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time , but some Broncos players say he ' s also a Super crybaby . Defensive lineman Antonio Smith said Monday that Brady is constantly trying to get officials to throw their flags any time he is crunched to the turf . "" I ' ve never seen any quarterback look to the referee right after he gets sacked more than Brady , "" saiddefensive lineman Antonio Smith , who agreed that calling the Patriots signal caller a "" crybaby "" would be an accurate statement when asked by Mile High Sports . "" Every time he gets sacked he looks at the ref like , ' You see him sack me ? Was that supposed to happen ? He did it a little hard . Please throw a 15 yard penalty on him . Get him fined . ' "" Smith said . Oh , baby : The Broncos have cranked up the trash talk ahead of the Championship clash with the Patriots . Brady was sacked 38 times during the 2015 regular season . He was not sacked on Saturday during the Patriots 27 20 divisional round victory over the Chiefs in Foxborough . He s only been sacked more in two other seasons during his 16 year career . Brady was sacked 40 times during the 2013 season and a career high 41 times during the 2001 season , which was his second season in the league and his first as the starter , after he took over when Drew Bledsoe was sidelined by a hit from the Jets Mo Lewis . Smith did add that although the four time Super Bowl champion complains a lot , he isn t fazed by much . He s not going to rattle just because you hit him hard . I ve tried over the years , Smith said . That s what D linemen think : The harder you hit the quarterback , the better it will make it on the secondary . With Brady , he s a great competitor . You know it s coming . He s going to cry about getting hit , but he s going to take the hit and keep going . Broncos defensive end Antonio Smith celebrates a sack . This week , Smith s Broncos teammates ? linebacker Brandon Marshall and cornerback Chris Harris ? took shots at one of Brady s favorite targets : Rob Gronkowski . Marshall , who also agreed Brady is a crybaby , said on Sports ' "" Pro Football Talk Live "" radio show Monday that the New England star tight end regularly "" pushes off . "" "" He gets away with it about 98 percent of the time , "" Marshall said . While Harris Jr . said on "" SportsCenter "" that the best way to take down Gronkowski was to "" hit him low , "" specifically at "" his knees . "" Gronkowski suffered a knee injury during the Patriots ' loss to ? who else ? ? the Broncos . The Broncos and Patriots clash at 3 : 05 p . m . Sunday in the Championship Game . Denver ended New England s bid for an undefeated season in Week 12 when it won at home in overtime , 30 24 , dropping the Patriots to 10 1 . The Broncos sacked Brady three times on that snowy November night in Denver . No team sacked quarterbacks more this season than the Broncos , who had 52 the Patriots were second with 49 . Denver sacked a banged up Ben Roethlisberger three times during Sunday s 23 16 victory . When the Broncos and Patriots squared off in the title game in Denver two years ago , Brady was sacked twice while Peyton Manning did not get sacked . Manning was sacked once Sunday by the Steelers . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6186741,6742,"In a special session held Monday evening, Austin Independent School District trustees voted to adopt a sanctuary policy resolution that strives to “create a safe and caring learning environment so as to foster a culture of trust and respect” for all students “regardless of their immigration status or the status of their parents. ”[The school board’s resolution calls for “schools and classrooms” that are “safe, welcoming and inclusive places, noting “all children are entitled to a public education” based on the 1982 United States Supreme Court ruling, Plyler v. Doe, which protects illegal immigrant minors from discrimination and requires that U. S. public schools educate these students. The document did not mention the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which prohibits schools from turning over student immigration status to federal agents, as Breitbart Texas reported. The resolution states Austin policy bars “any acts of discrimination or harassment, based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expressions, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, and age. ” The district says it embraces equity, diversity, and inclusion, accomplished through named supporting programs like Whole Child, Every Child,” part of the Whole Child approach to “improve each child’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development” “No Place for Hate,” an League (ADL) campaign to combat bigotry and celebrate diversity behavioral health centers and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) which promotes the and competencies often associated with the public education reform movement. After the unanimous vote, trustee Paul Saldaña told reporters he wished Austin acted sooner but crafting a resolution was a step in the right direction. He said: “We still have a lot of work to do to reassure our families that coming to school is safe. ” Earlier Monday, Austin Superintendent Paul Cruz issued a statement: “We are unwavering in our support of students, families, and staff and want to reassure them that the district’s commitments have not changed. ” reported he said: “I fully support our teachers, our principals and our staff members in creating safe learning environments for all of our students. ” Austin ISD’s online “your rights, immigration, and resources” links to the district’s refugee support office, a “hub for refugee and asylee students and their families currently enrolled” or seeking to be enrolled in the district’s schools. They offer family support services like translation and interpretation, school registration assistance, social and emotional support, plus staff and community training. Reportedly, more than 20, 000 Austin students skipped school last Thursday to protest a “Day without Immigrants. ” Breitbart Texas reported the truant protesters rallied against recent U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids where officials arrested violent criminals and people who sexually assault children. Education Austin, the school district’s labor and teacher union affiliated with the two largest teacher unions in the nation, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) plus labor union called on Austin to take a stronger stand on behalf of illegal immigrants. They provided 3, 000 of their teacher union members with flyers for students on their rights when faced with dealing with an agent, according to the Austin . Last week, the state’s largest school district, Houston ISD, adopted a sanctuary policy which reaffirmed support for illegal immigrants impacted by any state and federal travel bans, offered a safe haven for students, families, and employees illegally in the United States. In late December, the El Paso border school district declared sanctuary status. San Antonio inches closer to approving a similar resolution. Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6196745,6746,"Attacker : The couple , from Upper Milford Township in Pennsylvania , want to get away from Oliver Larry Beck but they claim his presence in the neighborhood has made their property impossible to sell The family of a young girl sexually abused by a neighbor two years ago is trying to make her attacker buy their home , in a groundbreaking lawsuit . The couple , from Upper Milford Township in Pennsylvania , want to get away from Oliver Larry Beck but they claim his presence in the neighborhood has made their property impossible to sell . In the first suit of its kind , the unnamed couple are asking a judge to force the 65 year old , his wife and his mother to buy their residence , at a cost of 235 , 000 , and pay for them to move . In addition , the family is going after damages for the child ' s pain and suffering caused by the 2011 molestation . Beck was sentenced to almost two years in jail after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the child . Investigators said he lured the victim into his basement by telling her he wanted to show her a bear ' s head mounted on the wall . After telling the girl to feel the bear , he made her take off her clothes then assaulted her . The child ' s father found out and called police . The family allege Beck assaulted their daughter , who he used to take on drives , play games and give candy and sweets to , multiple times between 2009 and 2011 . After Beck was released from prison , he resumed his old address , but the victim ' s family claim in the lawsuit that they ' re ' under duress ' to move house now he ' s back living in the neighborhood . Legal experts say this is the first time a lawsuit has attempted to force a defendant to buy a home , and many believe a judge wouldn ' t even have the power grant such a request . ' I have never heard of that and the court may say it has no authority to order that , ' University of Virginia Law School professor Douglas Laycock told The Morning Call . ' If the house , in fact , lost value , and if the owners are entitled to recover for that , that value can be awarded in damages without transferring ownership of the house . ' Selling the house to the offender might be a sensible part of a settlement , but it would be odd as a court ordered remedy . ' St . John ' s University associate law professor Anthony Sabino told the newspaper that making Beck buy the home could be deemed unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment , which forbids cruel and unusual punishment . Lawsuit : The parents have filed the lawsuit in Lehigh County Court , pictured child molested by a neighbor have taken an unusual step to get away from the man who abused their daughter But a sexual assault survivor and executive director of the Victim Witness Assistance Program in Harrisburg Jennifer Storm said she thinks the creative request would set a positive precedent . ' I applaud any effort that a victim can take to ensure their well being , ' Storm told the newspaper . ' I think this could be a good case to potentially set precedent . ' In a court brief filed this month , Beck ' s lawyer Robert Magee said the lawsuit ' s demand for the home purchase is ' not appropriate or authorized under a legal or equitable theory , ' according to the Morning Call . He said that the family is still able to use and enjoy their home . Previous cases asking for damages because an undesirable development has made their house difficult to sell have been dismissed , with the Pennsylvania court claiming : ' Any time a property owner engaged in an activity that ostensibly reduced surrounding property values , liability would attach . ' Meanwhile , the lawsuit accuses Beck of sexual assault , negligence and inflicting emotional distress , among other allegations . Beck ' s wife and mother are accused of negligence in the document , with the family claiming they knew or should have known of Beck ' s attraction to children and the risk he posed to their young neighbors . The little girl suffered emotional distress , shame and embarrassment and will need indefinite therapy to deal with the abuse , the suit says . Homeowners selling up are not required to inform potential buyers that a sex offender lives next door , but the family said they would feel obliged to tell the new owners , in case he strikes again . Research shows , having a listed sex offender in the neighborhood drops home prices by between 4 and 12 per cent . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6206753,6754,"Holder should be making his baseless remarks from behind bars but that s another story Retired Attorney General Eric Holder pushed back on statements made last week by Director James Comey in which Comey suggested the so-called Ferguson effect might be responsible for a recent rise in crime in cities around the country.In a gathering with reporters Wednesday, Holder told the Huffington Post, I don t agree with the comments that he s made about, or the connection he s drawn, between the so-called Ferguson effect and this rise in crime. The Ferguson effect is a name given to a recent spike in crime in some, but not all, American cities this year. The idea is that police have taken note of the public mood and decided to hold back on more aggressive policing.Eric Holder told the Huffington Post the factors involved in the crime surge would be difficult to tease out, It s hard for us to understand why crime dropped to historic lows over the last 40 years. I think it s probably equally difficult or even more difficult to explain why crime has gone up in some places, violent crime has gone up in some places, over the past 12 months. But Holder then immediately discounted one possible explanation, saying, But I don t think it s connected to the so-called Ferguson effect. The comments by Eric Holder are part of an ongoing war of words within the Obama administration, which escalated last Friday when Director James Comey seemed to endorse the Ferguson effect as an explanation during an address at the University of Chicago Law School.After ticking off a list of possible explanations for the recent crime surge, Director Comey said, I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind that has blown through law enforcement over the last year. And that wind is surely changing behavior. Nobody says this on the record. Nobody says this in public, Comey told his audience last Friday, adding that it was, the one explanation that, to my mind, explains the calendar and the map. He was referring to both the widespread increase in crime in cities across the country and the timing of that increase this year.Former Eric Holder rejected the idea that police were holding back because of the public mood Wednesday, telling the Huffington Post, I frankly don t think police officers are laying down on the job. Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past6216754,6755,"Reuters) - Former Brazilian senator and environmental minister Marina Silva said on Saturday that she would seek her party s nomination to run for president next year. Silva announced her plans at a meeting of her Sustainability Network Party, or REDE, which would officially nominate her at its national convention in April. The 59-year-old environmentalist, born into a rubber-tapping community in the Amazon rainforest, was minister under former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She has run in the previous two presidential elections but never made it to a second-round vote. Silva said she would seek her party s nomination because Brazilians want a country free of corruption and that she had the ethical bearings to deliver on that. Supporters have praised her as Brazil s most principled politician, which could play a large role in the next election. Since early 2014, Brazilian prosecutors and police have carried out an unprecedented anti-corruption drive that has revealed political graft touching every major party, but not Silva s. Silva has remained committed to fiscal responsibility, inflation targeting and a floating exchange rate, the so-called tripod of economic policies that gave Brazil stability after a period of rampant inflation and erratic growth in the 1990s. In the latest election survey conducted by the respected Datafolha polling institute and published Saturday on the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper s website, Silva ranked third, with 10 percent of respondents saying they would vote for her. But that poll included Lula as a possible candidate. Lula was convicted in a corruption trial in July. If a higher court upholds that conviction before the October election, he could not run. Without Lula, the Datafolha poll had Silva trailing right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro, a federal lawmaker who won 21 percent approval, compared with her 16 percent. Datafolha interviewed 2,765 voters across Brazil on Nov. 29-30. The poll had a two-percentage-point margin of error. In the 2010 election, Silva, then with the Green Party, took a surprising 20 percent of the first-round vote, but it was not enough to push her into a runoff with eventual winner Dilma Rousseff. In 2014, she ran for vice president on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket headed by Eduardo Campos, who died when his campaign plane crashed just two months before the election. Silva took his spot and won 21 percent in the first round, again missing out on a runoff. ",true,dataset,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6226761,6762,"Amy Schumer and her boyfriend ? Ben Hanisch ? are winding down from Sunday ' s Golden Globes with a nice walk on the beach . Hanisch shared a gorgeous photo of the beach at sunset with his comedienne girlfriend walking in front of him . "" There is no place I ' d rather be , "" he captioned the Instagram pic . Awww ! ( Anybody else start singing "" Rather Be "" by ? Jess Glynne and Clean Bandit ? just then ? ) Now that ' s a way to celebrate Schumer ' s awesome appearance at the awards show . Although she and Hanisch have been dating for a little while , the Inside Amy Schumer star waited until the New Year to introduce him to the world , also via Instagram . We ' ve only just become familiar with the Chicago based furniture maker , but it looks like these two are already getting pretty serious . "" We ' re in love and that ' s really exciting , "" Schumer told People ? ( via JustJared ) while walking the red carpet at the 2016 Golden Globes . She also said she ' s incredibly "" proud "" to share her big moments with him , but couldn ' t help but laugh to hear that the public is so surprised by her plus one status . "" I ' ve never been dating anyone that the public ' s really known about , "" she continued . "" But , I like that everyone thinks I ' ve been single my whole life . They ' re like , ' She got her first boyfriend ! ' I ' m like , no , I ' ve dated people over the years . "" Well the two have at least one thing in common ? it was both their first Golden Globes red carpet . Perhaps next year ( if ) when Schumer and Jennifer Lawrence host ? the campaign vying for them began after their joint appearance on stage Sunday ? she ' ll bring him along . Seeing as how happy they are together , we wouldn ' t be surprised if we start seeing them out publicly a lot more often . Seeing as he already took a trip to the White House with his girlfriend and her family , we have to assume she ' ll be keeping him around for quite some time ! ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6236783,6784,"Prosecutors are seeking additional charges against the Cleveland man accused of keeping three women captive in his home for a decade , they told a judge . At a eight minute hearing Wednesday , Ariel Castro , 52 , kept his head down , often closing his eyes and speaking only to answer "" yes "" or "" no "" to the judge ' s questions . Prosecutor Timothy McGinty told Cuyahoga County Judge Michael Russo there is a possibility of more charges . "" We are presenting additional evidence to the grand jury next week and the week after . We expect we are going to request further indictments , "" he said . Castro faces 329 counts , including one count of aggravated murder for allegedly causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy . Castro ' s lawyers have filed a speedy trial motion , which would mean the case would have to be tried by August 4 . However , that deadline could change if Castro ' s attorneys change course and ask for more time to prepare for the case . Russo set the next pretrial hearing for June 26 and told the prosecution and defense that any plea deal would need to be in writing . The defense has said in the past that it would be open to a plea deal if the death penalty was taken off the table . This week , Castro entered a not guilty plea to all charges , including 139 counts of rape and 177 counts of kidnapping Michelle Knight , Amanda Berry and Georgina "" Gina "" DeJesus . Castro fathered a daughter with Berry , according to authorities . Police have alleged Knight was impregnated by Castro five times , but he would punch her in the stomach , resulting in miscarriages and termination of all the pregnancies . Authorities said last week they are conducting tests on evidence to determine if additional victims were inside Castro ' s Cleveland home , and the state attorney general ' s office says the crime lab is reviewing additional evidence in the case . Since the case began , investigators have been looking for evidence of aborted fetuses and evidence of any other girls or women who may have been kidnapped or held captive in the house . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6246791,6792,"An American school founder who young Haitian men once hailed as a savior was sentenced Tuesday to nearly 20 years in prison for sexually abusing them . Douglas Perlitz , 40 , was sentenced in federal court in New Haven , Connecticut , to 19 years and 7 months behind bars for abusing the Haitian men when they were boys under his care , said Bruce Foucart , special agent in charge of the U . S . Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ) Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston . "" We ' re very pleased with the sentence , "" he said . "" He was brought to justice and I hope it sends a strong message to people who are doing that or who are even thinking about doing that . "" Judge Janet Bond Arterton imposed the sentence , which includes 10 years of supervised release . Perlitz arrived in the northern Haitian city of Cap Haitien in 1997 . There , he opened a charitable school called the Project Pierre Toussaint ( ) . He got homeless boys off the streets and gave them shelter , food and education . "" When I met Mr Douglas , he appeared to us like Jesus Christ himself come to rescue us , "" said Francilien Jean Charles , who was only 12 when he was plucked by Perlitz and brought to the school . Over the years , grew into a 10 acre compound with dorms , classrooms and a soccer field . Perlitz frequently flew back to Fairfield , Connecticut , to raise money . According to court documents , from 2002 to 2008 , donors gave more than 2 million to help care for the kids . Perlitz ' s alma mater , Fairfield University , awarded him an honorary degree in 2002 for helping homeless boys in Haiti . But Perlitz was hardly the man he appeared to be . "" I thanked God when I met Douglas , "" said Jean Charles . "" But when things started to turn bad , I realized it would have been better if I never came to . "" Perlitz wore a watch that lit up and at night , he used it to seek out the boys , they said . Fredlin Legrand said he woke up to see Perlitz next to him . Finally , in 2007 , some of the boys approached their teachers and other adults . No one believed what they were hearing . Brian Russell , a donor for the school , said Perlitz was a miracle maker , not a pedophile . "" There was no way that this man could have committed these things that people were accusing him of . It seemed utterly out of the realm of possibility , "" Russell said . "" There was too much goodness . The heart was too big . "" The boys grew desperate . They painted graffiti on the outer walls of the school , most of which has been painted over . But one plea for help still exists : "" Welcome , Haitian National Police . "" The police never came , but journalist Cyrus Sibert noticed the writing on the wall . "" I told the boys , I will go to the end with you , "" Sibert said . "" Are you ready ? "" But even after Sibert aired his interviews with the boys , Haitian authorities and American donors still did not believe the accusations . It was only after an American volunteer at the school relayed accusations of older boys raping younger ones that red flags went up . Russell said the volunteer demanded from the headmaster that something be done immediately . His response was : "" Well , that ' s really hard because Douglas has been doing this for the last 10 years . "" Russell felt broken , betrayed . "" I felt like all the money I had donated , the time that I had given , something that we had worked so hard for was gone . "" In September 2009 , U . S . agents picked up the case and arrested Perlitz . He denied the accusations , but in August , Perlitz pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct . He also admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with eight minors . The defense requested a delay in sentencing , contending Haiti ' s January earthquake , cholera outbreak and election related street violence made it impossible to thoroughly review the prosecution ' s claims against Perlitz . The court denied the request . In addition , the defense maintained that Perlitz himself was a victim of sexual abuse . According to a defense memorandum , while he was at Fairfield University , "" a priest began a relationship with Doug that . . . ultimately took on a dark aspect , both physically and spiritually , that had a significant and long lasting impact on him . "" The prosecution quickly responded , saying : "" Perlitz ' s sexual abuse of minors , abuse which lasted for a decade or more , shows him to be nothing more than a wolf in sheep ' s clothing an American man who traveled to Haiti purporting to care for homeless children when in reality he preyed upon the desperation of these children so that he could sexually abuse them . "" Some of the boys , now young men , were in court Tuesday for the sentencing . They faced the man who abused them for years and spoke about their experience , bringing a sense of reality to the courtroom , said Foucart . They testified about how afraid of Perlitz they were and how he threatened to throw them out of the school and back on the streets if they spoke up . Paul Kendrick , an advocate for victims of abuse familiar with the case , was in court . He said Perlitz apologized to his victims at one point during the proceeding . "" The judge , I thought , gave a very strong sentence and a very strong message , "" said Kendrick . "" American citizens will be held accountable for their actions with minors no matter where they are in the world . "" Watch Anderson Cooper 360 weeknights 10pm . For the latest from AC360 click here . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6256822,6823,"San Diego , California For much of this election season , I saw a lot to admire in Marco Rubio . I liked the independence and courage he showed in going against the Republican Party establishment by challenging Gov . Charlie Crist in the U . S . Senate race in Florida . And when Rubio was viciously and unfairly attacked by presumptuous white liberals for not being authentically Latino , I liked him even more . And now ? Not so much . It ' s all because of how Rubio bungled his reaction to an Arizona law that despite supporters ' assurances that it won ' t lead to racial and ethnic profiling is certain to lead to racial and ethnic profiling . In true Kerryesque fashion , Rubio was against the law before he was in favor of it . As the intelligent , charismatic and well spoken son of Cuban immigrants , Rubio rose through the ranks quickly to become speaker of the Florida Assembly before taking on Crist for the Senate nomination . Rubio had not only vanquished Crist ' s nomination hopes but , in effect , ran him out of the party . The governor is now running for the Senate as an independent , against both Rubio and presumptive Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek . In fact , things were going smoothly for Rubio until Arizonans passed a law intended to deputize state and local police officers to act as surrogate immigration agents . The idea behind 1070 is to round up as many illegal immigrants as possible by requiring that police check the immigration status of people with whom they come in contact if officers have "" reasonable suspicion "" to believe that the person is the country illegally whether police want to or not . Despite the fact that the law is enormously popular with the base , Rubio rightly opposed it as overly broad and flat out dangerous . Just a few weeks ago , he said in a statement : "" States certainly have the right to enact policies to protect their citizens , but Arizona ' s policy shows the difficulty and limitations of states trying to act piecemeal to solve what is a serious federal problem . From what I have read in news reports , I do have concerns about this legislation . While I don ' t believe Arizona ' s policy was based on anything other than trying to get a handle on our broken borders , I think aspects of the law , especially that dealing with ' reasonable suspicion , ' are going to put our law enforcement officers in an incredibly difficult position . It could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally , including many American citizens . Throughout American history and throughout this administration we have seen that when government is given an inch it takes a mile . "" Rubio was right to be concerned . 1070 is such a deeply flawed piece of legislation that it had to be amended a week after it was signed . Supporters say the changes prevent racial and ethnic profiling . Now , police officers can prowl for illegal immigrants only in the course of enforcing some other law or ordinance . In the original version , all that was required was "" lawful contact . "" Another change is that now , the state attorney general or a county attorney cannot investigate complaints based on a person ' s race , color or national origin . The original law allowed for race , color and national origin to be considered as one of several factors and only prohibited law enforcement from focusing "" solely "" on those characteristics . That was good enough for Rubio , who now says he backs the controversial law as amended . Apparently , his concerns about racial profiling have been assuaged . Glad to hear it . Trouble is , now I have concerns about Rubio . He can ' t be that gullible . So he must be in denial . The amendments are totally cosmetic . In the real world of policing , it ' s impossible for law enforcement officers particularly those who lack the specialized training given to Border Patrol agents to make assumptions about one ' s legal status without taking race and ethnicity into account . We can tell them not to think about race and ethnicity , but that only makes them more likely to think about them . Anyone who claims otherwise is dishonest , disingenuous or delusional . Besides , there was an additional change in the law that arguably makes it even more dangerous and more divisive . Now , the requirement that a police officer must determine the immigration status of an individual who they have a "" reasonable suspicion "" is in the country illegally extends to those instances where police respond to something as minor as city ordinance violations . That could include loud parties , barking dogs , cars on blocks , overcrowded apartments , etc . One can easily imagine neighbors turning in one another , and an environment that is already poisoned with resentment and fear becoming more so . Supporters say they changed 1070 . Believe it . They made it worse and more likely to lead to abuse . Anyone who doesn ' t see that must be blind . Of course , ambition has been known to have that effect on people . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6266837,6838,"They ' re known for their love of sleep , so tit ' s not surprising this koala was far from happy when it was rudely awakened with a drenching from a garden sprinkler . The furry creature , which rests for up to 18 hours a day , was fast asleep in a tree when it was soaked by a gardener watering his trees . And as these images show , the koala was more than a little peeved at its unexpected soaking . A wet wake up call : This koala looks far from happy after being woken up from a nap when a gardener drenched it while watering his trees in Adelaide , Australia The images were taken by Matt Wilkinson , 39 , in the garden of his home in Adelaide , Australia . He said : ' There was a particular bad heatwave in Adelaide recently and temperatures reached up to 40C . ' The koalas hang around in a tree in my garden when it is hot , it ' s on the southern side of the house and relatively cool . "" We use the sprinklers and garden hose to wet the house and surrounding trees when it ' s hot to avoid a bush fire but when I watered one of the trees , this koala got a bit of a soaking . ' But while the koala may look far from happy about his soaking , Mr Wilkinson said it would have helped it cool off . He said : ' It was a boiling hot day so I ' m sure it helped the koala cool down . Cooling off : But Matt Wilkinson , 39 , who took the photographs of the animal , said the koala may have appreciated the soaking as it was an unusually hot day ' Koalas usually don ' t need to drink , as they get their moisture requirements from gum leaves but on that day , the koala ' s were licking at the trunk of the tree where the water was trickling down . They were quite thirsty . ' After accidentally drenching the animal , Mr Wilkinson quickly grabbed his camera before heading to the end of his garden to take these pictures . ' I wanted to use my camera to try and get a shot of the koala after wetting it down , so walked down and proceeded to snap away . ' Either the koala was curious , or wanted to thank me , as it climbed out along the tree branch and stayed at the end of it just looking at me . It even stuck its tongue out which helped me get some great photos . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6276842,6843,"Paul Sacco says searching for his daughter feels something like bleeding out . All the hope , heartache and anxiety that go into it leave him feeling diminished . But the Colorado lawyer and amateur guitarist has managed to bottle up some of that energy , spending hundreds of hours creating what is both a tribute to Aubrey Sacco and a monument to his sorrow : a 14 song album he has published to Internet vendors . "" Finding Aubrey "" includes 11 songs written and performed by Sacco at his home studio , as well as the last three songs Aubrey herself recorded at home before the 23 year old disappeared in April 2010 while hiking alone in Nepal . The case is unsolved , and the album for sale on iTunes and other outlets is a fundraiser for an investigation into her disappearance . "" So many people who know us say , ' What is it like ? ' or ' I can ' t imagine what it ' s like to have your daughter go missing , ' "" Paul Sacco said in a phone interview . "" The album tells the whole story : feeling helpless , feeling like you want to celebrate your daughter , feeling like she may never come back and diminishing yourself as you look for her . "" Aubrey disappeared toward the end of a five month post college trip in Asia . The 2009 University of Colorado graduate , who had a double major in psychology and art , went to Sri Lanka to teach yoga to vacationers before traveling to India to study yoga and volunteer to help schoolchildren with music and art . She hoped to do charitable work , perhaps hooking up with a nongovernmental organization abroad , her dad said . But she vanished on the last stop of her trip , in Nepal ' s Langtang National Park , where she hiked for at least two days . She initially was believed to have made it as far as a particular village on the hike ' s second day , but villagers there changed their stories and said they didn ' t see her after all . Investigators don ' t know what happened to her and have yet to find any physical trace of her . Paul Sacco , 59 , and his wife Connie have taken trips to Nepal to press the investigation , working with private investigators , Nepali police and the Nepali army to try to determine what happened . Between his job and his investigation , Sacco found at least three hours a day for more than a year to create the album . Playing all the instruments , supplying all the vocals and recording and mixing the tracks , he grieved through music . He came up with a first version last year before publishing the finished product in April . "" My counselor said that he felt that was extremely healthy for me as an outlet , because that was how ( Aubrey and I ) related to each other , through music and art , "" Sacco said . There are songs of tribute and nostalgia . "" Crayons in the Sun "" recalls Aubrey growing up painting , going to a father daughter dance , wearing a homemade dress to graduation . "" I ' ve written songs since I was 10 years old . I never wrote a song that I was crying onto the paper so much that the pen wouldn ' t write until then , "" Sacco said . The album also shows moments of determination . In "" The Great Divide , "" Sacco sings of moving heaven and Earth for her . "" Your pictures all hang in these empty rooms I know you ' ll be here , soon , "" he sings . In much of the album , though , Sacco works through despair and isolation . "" Now we ' re the car wreck on the road people turn their heads and drive away from here , "" he sings in "" A . "" "" Stare into the Darkness "" speaks in part to the investigation ' s magnitude : "" Stare into the darkness and it ' ll stare right back at you from the other side of the world I think it ' s going to run me through . "" Listeners also get to hear Aubrey , in songs that Sacco asked her to record before she left . They used to play music together , and he knew she was working on a few songs in the months before her trip . "" The night she was packing for Sri Lanka , I asked her , ' Honey , I really want you to record these songs , ' "" Sacco said . "" She said , ' Why ? ' I said , ' Just in case something happens to you . ' "" Aubrey ' s songs were rough recordings , not meant to be final products . But Sacco is grateful to have them and says they "" give you a flavor of where she ' s coming from . "" Sacco believes one of her songs , "" My Heart Knows , "" was an "" accept me for who I am "" sort of song , addressed primarily to a romantic interest but possibly to whoever listens . "" Please let me be me person you ' re afraid to be but don ' t worry , I know where to go I know , because my heart knows , "" Aubrey sings . Sacco , who didn ' t particularly want Aubrey traveling alone , said the song offers a good glimpse at his strong willed daughter . He has sold several hundred copies so far , and that ' s a few hundred dollars more for the family ' s investigation fund . He ' s grateful to have had the chance to explain what he ' s feeling though music . Sacco hoped the disappearance would be solved by the time the album was done . Since he finished it , he hasn ' t been able to write much . The two relatively new half songs he ' s written still are about Aubrey , but he says he doesn ' t have the energy to complete them . "" The biggest thing was to bury myself in my work at the law office ( after the album ) , "" he said . "" That seems to be a good place to hide . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6286853,6854,"Atlanta , Georgia The H1N1 virus , also known as swine flu , may have killed as many as 17 , 000 Americans , according to new estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( ) in Atlanta . Though 2 , 498 confirmed deaths linked to the H1N1 virus had been reported to the as of January 30 , the agency estimates that between 8 , 330 and 17 , 160 people actually have died from H1N1 . The overwhelming majority of the people who died between 6 , 390 and 13 , 170 were 18 to 64 years old , the estimates . Between 880 and 1 , 810 children 17 years old and younger also died from this flu , according to estimates . In comparison , the says that in a regular flu season , about 36 , 000 people in the United States die from seasonal flu , with 90 percent of the deaths usually occurring in people age 65 and older . Since this new flu virus emerged in April 2009 , health officials have recognized that the reported numbers of people who have been hospitalized and died provide only a partial picture of the full outbreak . Underreporting of influenza cases and deaths is common , especially in the early weeks or months of an outbreak . By mid July last year , the World Health Organization ( ) no longer recommended that countries with known H1N1 transmission test everybody who had flulike symptoms , as laboratories were being overwhelmed . Patients were to be diagnosed based on symptoms alone , since nearly all of the circulating flu strains were H1N1 . Only severe cases of flu , which lead to hospitalization or death , were to be tested . The adopted these recommendations for the United States , also . Despite the recommendation that deaths suspected to be from H1N1 be tested , the is aware that many are not , and in many cases H1N1 might not have been suspected . According to the report released Friday , the estimates an average of 57 million people have been infected with H1N1 and an average 257 , 000 cases resulted in hospitalizations . Health officials continue to urge people who haven ' t received a vaccination to do so . "" The real tragedy is that people are still getting sick and we have a vaccine that will help prevent illness , "" Quartarone said . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6296854,6855,"21st Century Wire says There is no greater source of so-called fake news than the corporate mainstream media, particularly those outlets in the US. On a recent show, host Patrick Henningsen talks about Mainstream Media fakery which has taken over Washington DC, exposing the litany of lies and disinformation being cranked-out by Magazine, CNN, News, New York Times and the Washington Post. Listen:[soundcloud url= weblink params= auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true width= 100% height= 450 iframe= true /] . AT: 21st Century Wire FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE & A @21WIRE.TV",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present6306861,6862,"The source of a mysterious maple syrup like smell that has periodically blanketed New York is not a particularly aromatic pancake house but a New Jersey factory involved in the processing of fenugreek seeds , Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday . The source of New York ' s sweet aroma has been identified as the New Jersey food flavoring company Frutarom . The sweet aroma first descended upon Manhattan and northern New Jersey in October 2005 , initially triggering several building evacuations as well as concern the scent was physically harmful . Authorities from the Office of Emergency Management soon concluded it posed no danger to the public . The odor made several return appearances in subsequent years , each time confounding nostrils before vanishing as perplexingly as it arrived . Comparing information about local wind speed , wind direction and air humidity against the locations of citizen complaints about the smell , officials from the city ' s Department of Environmental Protection narrowed down the potential source to four factories in northern New Jersey that produce food additives and fragrances . Watch how the mystery was solved Last week , when several dozen residents of Upper Manhattan called to complain about the smell , the environmental department , having developed a new evidence gathering procedure , gathered air samples from each suspected source in canisters . Tests revealed the pungent perpetrator of that incident was a Hudson County facility owned by Frutarom , a company that develops and manufactures flavors for the food , fragrance and pharmaceutical industries . The specific chemical agents responsible for the scent are esters , compounds "" created by the reaction between an alcohol and an acid "" during the processing of fenugreek seeds , according to Bloomberg . Toasted fenugreek seeds are often used in the production of artificial syrups and in the cuisines of a number of cultures . The mayor said New Jersey officials , who cooperated with New York in the investigation , had concluded that Frutorom had not violated any rules . He said New Yorkers will have to tolerate the syrup smell ' s occasional return , noting that it ' s a relatively benign odor . "" All things considered I can think of a lot of things worse than maple syrup , "" he said . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6316864,6865,"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery , plans to be back on the bench when the Supreme Court resumes oral arguments in 17 days . Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also had surgery for colorectal cancer in September 1999 . Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Friday that the 75 year old justice is expected to be on hand for the next public session February 23 , when the court will hear appeals in two cases . Ginsburg remains hospitalized at New York ' s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center a day after undergoing surgery for the disease . Sources close to Ginsburg say that she continues to do well after surgery and that doctors and family remain cautiously optimistic . Those sources said she was resting comfortably and speaking with her staff about the court ' s upcoming caseload . Watch friends talk about Ginsburg ' s resilience The justice could be released from the hospital next week . A court statement Thursday said she will probably remain in the hospital for seven to 10 days , according to her attending surgeon , Dr Murray Brennan . "" Justice Ginsburg had no symptoms prior to the incidental discovery of the lesion during a routine annual check up in late January at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda , Maryland , "" the court said . The justices are on a month long recess but return for a closed door conference February 20 . There is no word on whether Ginsburg will attend that meeting , among just the nine members of the court , to go over pending appeals . President Obama was hoping to speak with Ginsburg by phone later Friday , said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs . Ginsburg underwent surgery for colorectal cancer in September 1999 . Court sources said she continued to work on pending cases while in her hospital bed and her subsequent recovery . Less than a month later , she appeared in public to give a speech and said , "" I am still mending but have progressed steadily . "" She never missed a day on the bench . The Brooklyn , New York , native has been on the federal bench since 1980 , the past 15 on the high court , where she is the he only female justice . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6326865,6866,"The body of former linebacker Jovan Belcher was exhumed Friday in order to perform tests on his brain , a lawyer for the player ' s family told the Kansas City Star . Attorney Dirk Vandever told the newspaper that Belcher ' s family hopes tests will provide a clue as to why the four year veteran of the Kansas City Chiefs shot his longtime girlfriend to death then killed himself about a year ago . Belcher ' s body was exhumed Friday from a cemetery in Long Island , New York , the paper reported . It was not clear where the body was sent for examination . The family wants to know if chronic traumatic encephalopathy , known as , or something else played a role in the murder suicide , according to the newspaper . is a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma . The only way to diagnose is after death by analyzing brain tissue and finding microscopic clumps of an abnormal protein called tau . Tau has been found in the brains of dozens of former players , including Junior Seau , Dave Duerson , Terry Long and Shane Dronett , who all committed suicide . It was also found in the brain of Mike Webster , who died in 2002 . Suicide latest in a string among former players Omalu said there was a 50 50 chance that the study of the brain would yield results after the body had been buried about a year . He said he had performed two such studies himself . "" The exhumation and analysis has to be performed by a forensic pathologist who has the experience and expertise , otherwise it has the potential of coming to naught , "" he said . Scientists are working to identify some common symptoms of the brain disease in living players . Experts say athletes with often struggle with memory and decision making . Some exhibit mood and behavior problems such as depression and hopelessness , or violent , explosive behavior . A few show no symptoms at all . In 2002 , Webster , a Hall of Fame center for the Pittsburgh Steelers , was the first former player to be diagnosed with . After his retirement , Webster suffered from amnesia , dementia , depression and bone and muscle pain . Mother screams as baby cries in released Belcher 911 tapes Other athletes have demonstrated erratic behavior , such as Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Justin Strzelczyk , 36 , who died in a 2004 high speed chase . Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry died at age 26 after falling from the bed of a moving pickup during a fight with his fiancee . Issues surrounding brain damage , and other potential long term cognitive and emotional consequences of repetitive brain trauma , have become a serious concern for the . The league settled a concussion lawsuit for 765 million in August . At the heart of the lawsuit were plaintiffs ' allegations that the led a deliberate misinformation campaign primarily through its Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee to deny scientific data being presented in the medical community about concussion risks . The deal calls for the to pay for medical exams , concussion related compensation , medical research for retired players and their families , and litigation expenses , according to a court document filed in U . S . District Court in Philadelphia . The agreement involved more than 4 , 500 plaintiffs . Belcher who was 6 foot 2 and weighed 228 pounds played for the Chiefs from 2009 to 2012 , appearing in 59 games . On December 1 , 2012 , the 25 year old linebacker fatally shot his girlfriend , Kassandra Perkins , in the same home with their 3 month old daughter before heading to the team ' s practice facility , thanking his coaches , and turning his gun on himself . In an November article on Bleacher Report , a friend of Belcher ' s said the linebacker played through his physical problems . "" Jovan suffered multiple concussions , "" said Kash Kiefer , a former punter at Maine and one of Belcher ' s closest friends . "" But in football , you don ' t complain . You play . That was Jovan . He played . "" Belcher was from West Babylon , New York . He played for the University of Maine Black Bears , where he started in all 45 games of his four year career . Opinion : Manhood , football and suicide ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6336866,6867,"One potential property owner is a step closer to joining Sydney ' s ' millionaire ' s club ' after the opulent Mediterranean mansion of a former tobacco executive hits the market with an expected price tag of more than 40 million . 87 89 Wolseley Road , Point Piper , looks to challenge the record held for a non waterfront property in the affluent harbourside suburb , drawing both domestic and international attention for it ' s sheer size and panoramic views . The property was last sold in 2004 to Bill Webb and his wife Marijke , who never thought they would leave after falling in love with the house they carefully renovated to reflect it ' s original architecture , and it being sold by Black Diamondz . 87 89 Wolseley Road , Point Piper , has hit the Sydney property market and is expected to fetch more than 40 million The stunning three storey residence is set on 1900 square metres , boasting views which run from Sydney Harbour all the way down to Manly , and is one of the few properties left on the market in the close knit suburb of Point Piper . The trophy house was built in 1954 , commissioned by General Motors dealer Bill Stack , and redesigned in 2004 by architect Michael Suttor . With interiors by Michael love , ' Mandalay ' has been lovingly constructed to highlight the colonnaded terraces and ornate wrought iron balustrades at the heart of the property , reported Domain . The house has reportedly been on and off the market for several years , and co agent Bill Malouf from Hooker Double Bay said that the couple are now ready to downsize after their adult children have found their own homes . The stunning three storey residence is set on 1900 square metres The property was last sold in 2004 to Bill Webb and his wife Marijke , who never thought they would leave after falling in love with the house they carefully renovated to reflect it ' s original architecture The trophy house was built in 1954 , commissioned by General Motors dealer Bill Stack , and redesigned in 2004 by architect Michael Suttor ' Now that there ' s only two people in the house the couple are ready for something smaller , ' said Mr Malouf . ' They told me that they would be leaving the property with reservations I sold it to them a number of years ago and they said they couldn ' t see themselves leaving , ' he said . ' But times change . It ' s such a huge property , just magnificent . ' The 1900 square metre property certainly is generous , with views that run from the Sydney Opera House and Habour down to Manly and Rose Bay a claim that not many properties can make . The European style villa houses six bedrooms , a five car garage , a wine cellar and heated pool . The lower level is almost large enough to be considered a separate apartment , and offers a private gymnasium and sauna , as well as a swimming pool and a study . The large , open plan kitchen boasts a built in butler ' s pantry and additional staff quarters for a maid or nanny The European style villa houses six bedrooms , a five car garage , a wine cellar and heated pool The house has reportedly been on and off the market for several years , and co agent Bill Malouf from Hooker Double Bay said that the couple are now ready to downsize after their adult children have found their own homes The large , open plan kitchen boasts a built in butler ' s pantry and additional staff quarters . The house is also divided into the West and East wing , offering an office , a private balcony and palatial walk in wardrobes . ' The property is pretty unique , and the timing is perfect to have a house like this on the market , especially with the Australian dollar doing so well in Asia , ' said Mr Malouf . The estate agent said that the house had already garnered significant international attention , including interest from the United States and several Asian clients . ' All the major trophy properties in Potts Point have sold , so there ' s no competition for a home like this . There ' s nothing like it in the area , ' he said . The lower level is almost large enough to be considered a separate apartment , and offers a private gymnasium and sauna , as well as a swimming pool and a study The estate agent said that the house had already garnered significant international attention , including interest from the United States and several Asian clients The house boasts views from Sydney Harbour down to Manly , and is one of the few properties left on the market in Point Piper ' I ' m expecting the sale price to be over the 40 million mark , between 45 and 47 million depending on the buying market . ' Point Piper has seen a flurry of sales over the past few months , with another Wolsey Road property selling for a reported 39 million in November to a Chinese billionaire . Xu Jianyin , chairman of the real estate group Evergrande , is listed as China ' s 15th richest man with 7 billion worth of wealth to his name The 56 year old is reported to have paid about 39 million for the Villa del Mare mansion at 63 67 Wolseley Rd . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6346867,6868,"New York Afghan President Hamid Karzai has started talks with representatives of the Taliban , a move that analyst Fareed Zakaria says could bring an end to the nine year long war . Karzai convened a meeting Thursday with the Afghan Peace Council , which was formed to help negotiate with the Taliban . Referring to the militants , Karzai said , "" I call on them once again to use this opportunity and say ' yes ' to this endeavor . I want them to come and bring peace to this land . "" Fareed Zakaria : I think it ' s about time . If you look at any good study of civil wars , what you find is that most of them end in a negotiated settlement . Maybe because Americans have the memory of our civil war in which the North crushes the South , we somehow think that that ' s how civil wars end . But that ' s actually is very unusual . Watch an excerpt from Larry King ' s interview with Hamid Karzai What normally happens is some kind of settlement that is negotiated in which the losers are reintegrated into the political order . Civil wars are unlike normal wars , because the winners and losers are going to have to live with one another . Zakaria : The Taliban , which is mounting this insurgency , is not a foreign element within the body politic . The Taliban is basically the political representative of the conservative elements of the Pashtun community . The Pashtuns are 50 percent of Afghanistan . . . . It is a political force in Afghanistan . Coming to terms with it politically and seeing if there ' s some way it can be reintegrated into the political order makes sense . You ' re not going to kill every member of the Taliban . They ' re not going to be exiled to a foreign land . They ' re going to be there at the end of the day so it ' s better to to have them in the tent . Zakaria : First the very fact that the Taliban are coming to the table in a way they had not been willing to before suggests that they are feeling some pressure . But I also think you can ' t get too hung up with this idea that you have to negotiate from a position of strength . Ideally we would have them totally prostrate on the floor and that would be the time to negotiate . But the reality is that this is a very mixed military campaign . I don ' t know if it ' s going to be dramatically better one year from now or three years from now . See more opinion articles This is a little like somebody who owns a stock , who says , it ' s at six now , I need to sell it , but I ' m going to wait till it goes to eight . Well maybe it will go to eight , maybe it will go to four . You might as well start talking at this point . First of all you learn a lot in the process of negotiations . And secondly , the military campaign could move in many different directions . If the surge starts succeeding even more , that will be reflected in our negotiating posture . Zakaria : It seems as though the Taliban demands are that they want all foreign troops out . They don ' t want to accept the Afghan constitution and they don ' t want to lay down their arms . Now those are obviously their opening demands . Foreign troops aren ' t going to be out , but one could point out that President Obama has said there is going to be a reduction of foreign forces next year . On the Afghan constitution , there is a compromise there where there could be a few amendments to the constitution . But on laying down their arms , that it seems to me you can ' t really compromise , they would have to lay down their arms . Could some elements be integrated into the militia , or the Afghan national army ? Perhaps that ' s what happened in Iraq . Zakaria : Yes , it is the kind of society envisioned by the Afghan constitution . But Afghanistan is a fairly conservative society . While the extreme elements of the Taliban have draconian visions which are obviously not supported by the Afghans the polls bear this out it ' s also true that on issues of women ' s rights and some of the more progressive elements of the Afghan constitution , the Karzai government is in a minority and those rights are not popularly supported . There are clashing visions , but there is probably a reality of Afghanistan which is a lot more progressive and open than the Taliban believe but is still a society that is somewhat conservative , and often tribal , and with very traditional views on something like women ' s rights . The key is creating a situation where these rights are guaranteed but not fetishizing it . For example , one of the things the Afghan constitution has is a requirement for 25 percent representation of women in parliament . We don ' t have such a requirement either in the U . S . Constitution or in the amendments . Many European countries don ' t . Is it conceivable that something like that could be compromised ? Perhaps , and that ' s the kind of thing where we ' d have to be creative in coming up with a solution that moderates and some elements of the Taliban could live with . Zakaria : I think so , and it ' s not really an exit , it ' s a reduction in our forces and in our role . And I think it would be appropriate . We ' ve been there for nine years . It ' s not the only battleground , the only place where al Qaeda operates . There are many more members of al Qaeda in Pakistan than in Afghanistan . You ' re trying to create a political settlement , and a self sustaining political framework in Afghanistan that can survive the departure of American troops . And finally you ' re leaving enough troops in there where you could still prosecute a fairly vigorous counterterrorism operation against those elements of the Taliban or al Qaeda that continue to plot and plan to do violence to civilians , foreigners , westerners . And I do think , if we could get this kind of a settlement , it would be an honorable way for the United States to begin reducing its exposure in Afghanistan . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6356869,6870,"As a mother , you send your children off to their first day of kindergarten with pride , anticipation and excitement . But a part of you can ' t shake those nagging questions : Will they make friends ? Have someone to play with at recess ? Be bullied ? As director of ' s National Center for Bullying Prevention , and the mother of a child with Down syndrome , those questions don ' t just go away with time . And that worry only intensifies . My 14 year old son , David , was born with Down syndrome . Before he turned 3 , he had undergone three open heart surgeries and a tracheotomy , and his breathing required a ventilator . Heading into kindergarten , David was nonverbal , had delayed cognitive abilities and received his nutrition from a feeding tube . There was no doubt about it : My son wasn ' t like his peers . Because of his differences and research showing children tend to single out peers with characteristics like his I feared that David could become a poster child for children expected to be the targets of bullying . We live in a small community , where David has known all of his classmates since kindergarten and will eventually graduate high school with most of them . They have the same classes , eat lunch at the same time and attend field trips together . For all of these reasons , I decided the best way to address my concerns about David would be to become his advocate not only with adults , but with his peers . During his first year of school , I started visiting David ' s classroom to talk with his classmates about Down syndrome . I discovered that most children weren ' t concerned about his cognitive issues they were actually more fascinated with why he didn ' t talk . At this time , I also networked with his teachers , his paraprofessionals and even made sure the lunchroom workers knew me . I hoped the more these people felt comfortable with me , the more information they would share . Now , years later , David has just started the eighth grade . He ' s not bullied , and more than that , he loves school . It ' s the place where his peers give him high fives in the hallway , ask him to sit by them at lunch and best of all genuinely accept him . I have been David ' s advocate , but I can ' t take all , or even most , of the credit for David ' s acclimating so well to school . That credit belongs to his teachers , school staff and classmates , particularly a group of students who received training in sixth grade on how to prevent bullying and speak out on David ' s behalf . We call them his peer advocates , and if they see bullying , they intervene , ask the bully to stop or report the situation to an adult . The concept sounds simple , but because my son can ' t tell me what happens during the day , I depend heavily on these peers to act as his voice . Now , what started as four kids in sixth grade has evolved to a schoolwide project with more than 40 students volunteering to become peer advocates so they can help David and other students who are different . I know all too well that not every parent of a child with a disability has this good fortune . Although I ' ve found that power comes from sharing and being direct , I realize this approach won ' t work in every classroom where bullying exists . But there are always ways that parents , teachers and students can develop strategies and begin to teach young people the importance of inclusion , acceptance and most important respect . The act of bullying hurts not only the children involved , but the entire community . That ' s why Center has organized National Bullying Prevention Month in October , a time for communities nationwide to unite and promote bullying prevention through creative resources designed to engage , educate and inspire . Ignoring the problem is not the answer . Instead , our communities can take steps to raise awareness of bullying and start teaching young people that the end of bullying really does begin with them . Bullying has affected too many for too long . But there is hope . Hope for the teachers who want bullying to end . Hope for the students too afraid to go to school . And hope for the mothers and fathers of children with disabilities that one day , they will drop off their children on the first day of kindergarten without having to worry about whether they will be bullied . Instead , they can expect their children will be included and respected by their peers for everything they are . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julie Hertzog . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6366872,6873,"Plenty of performers have had explosive entrances . Some rise like meteors , soaring to new heights . Others find their moment in the spotlight fleeting . Few have done all of this at once and quite so literally as Gemma Kirby , the 25 year old human cannonball at Circus Xtreme . She hurtles out of a cannon at up to 66 mph and lands up to 104 feet away in an air bag . ' It ' s a very intense sensation . Very few human beings get to feel that sensation , except for fighter jet pilots or an astronaut , ' she said by phone recently . ' It ' s really remarkable to feel it completely untethered to any type of vehicle . ' Daring feat : Gemma Kirby is the human cannonball at Circus Xtreme . The 25 year old , from Minneapolis , Minnesota , flies out of a cannon at up to 66mph and lands 104ft away in an air bag Kirby will be celebrating a special milestone on Saturday : She ' s expected to notch her 500th total flight in Philadelphia a heart thumping moment on Valentine ' s Day . ' I can never do this act half awake or not prepared or warmed up , ' she said . ' Every single time is a risk . Every single time is a bit of a mystery . ' Circus Xtreme is a new traveling show from Ringling Bros . and Barnum Bailey Circus that showcases extreme acts acrobats rappelling from a 15 foot towers , riders , high wire performers , contortionists and Bengal tigers , to name a few . It ' s part of what Nicole Feld , executive vice president of Feld Entertainment , Ringling ' s parent company , hopes will ' tap into that edge of your seat , thrill seeking live entertainment experience . ' Kirby , who during her act experiences a G force of seven , about the same as an astronaut re entering the atmosphere , is one of the circus ' highlights , even though her actual flight lasts only about 2 . 4 seconds . ' Gemma lives and breathes the thrill of being a human cannonball , ' said Feld . ' And there ' s something about her that feels like a fairy tale superhero come to life . ' Extreme goals : Kirby , who has been nicknamed ' The Jet ' , hopes to notch 1 , 000 flights by the time the circus ' s two year tour of the ends Kirby , nicknamed ' The Jet , ' hopes to notch 1 , 000 flights by the time the two year tour ends . After Philadelphia , the circus hits states including New York , New Jersey , Alabama , South Carolina , Virginia , Ohio , Rhode Island , Connecticut , Pennsylvania , Nebraska , Missouri and North Carolina . Born in Minneapolis , Kirby fell in love with performing as a youngster and she danced onstage at age seven . She liked ballet , but began to find it restrictive and not creative enough . At 13 , she attended aerial classes at the youth orientated Circus Juventasin in Saint Paul and was hooked : ' I knew right away I wanted to be in the air . ' From age 17 22 , Kirby was on the flying trapeze with several circuses . Last year , while working toward her bachelor ' s degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota , she was contacted about possibly being shot out of a cannon for Circus Xtreme . She ' s a rare woman in a secretive , exclusive world . ' Everyone in the circus knows the cannon is the most daunting , the most thrilling , the most daring of all the acts , ' she said . ' It ' s just something I never thought in my wildest dream that would be offered to me . ' Kirby and her team are constantly checking the specially designed cannon and calculating the details of her flight , which includes everything from humidity to the arena ' s temperature . The cannon , whose exact workings Kirby won ' t reveal , is calculated for her body , which means she can ' t gain or lose more than a few pounds . She relies on her aerialist background . Privilege : Last year , while working toward her bachelor ' s degree in psychology , Kirby was contacted about being shot out of a cannon for Circus Xtreme . She ' s a rare woman in a secretive , exclusive world ' Being detail oriented and being a creature of habit is really essential in this line of work . Consistency is key and every flight is a little bit different , ' she said . ' Sometimes I ' ll come out of the barrel and I ' ll realize , ' I ' ve got a little more rotation than is ideal ' and I have to decide in a split second how am I going to stop my rotation so I don ' t over rotate . ' Though her time in the air is brief , Kirby loves to see young women ' s stunned faces as she zooms through the air , a missile in a sparkly silver outfit . ' I ' m not saying that little girls should necessarily watch me and want to do exactly what I do , but I hope that some of them can see my performance and say , "" That ' s something I didn ' t realize girls could do , "" ' she said . For me , that ' s the most important thing : empower someone to believe in themselves . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6376888,6889,"The International Committee of the Red Cross has been granted access to a detention facility in Syria for the first time since unrest broke out in the country , the committee ' s president said Monday after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al Assad . President Jakob Kellenberger called the breakthrough "" an important step forward for our humanitarian activities in Syria . "" Kellenberger ' s meeting with al Assad occurred amid mounting reports of bloodshed by Syrian security forces . On Monday , security forces killed six people during an ongoing crackdown in the province of Homs , according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , an opposition group . The group also reported a similar offensive in Idlib province , where security forces entered with seven armored vehicles , nine cars and four buses . Seventy people were arrested in the operation , and dozens of homes were raided , the opposition group said . Syria has been engulfed in public protest for months , and the regime has been accused internationally of a crackdown on peaceful demonstrators . The government has maintained it is targeting armed terrorists . But opposition activists say it is a systematic , sustained slaughter . "" Ensuring that the sick and the wounded have access to medical care will be among the particularly urgent humanitarian challenges to be addressed with the Syrian authorities , "" the Red Cross said in a statement . The committee will initially be allowed to see only people detained by the Ministry of Interior , Kellenberger said , adding , "" We are hopeful that we will soon be able to visit all detainees . "" Also Monday , the Arab League announced that its secretary general , Nabil al Araby , will travel to Damascus on Wednesday . The Arab League last week publicly called for restraint and an end to the violence in Syria . Kellenberger ' s two day visit kicked off Sunday with meetings with Prime Minister Adel Safar and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem . The Syrian government said it briefed Kellenberger on the regime ' s efforts to "" restore stability and security to the country . "" Reports have surfaced of people not being able to access medical care during security operations . The foreign minister "" stressed that the public hospitals in Syria are constantly ready and provide the required medical services for all the citizens , "" the state run Syrian Arab News Agency reported Monday . The news agency added that Muallem "" appreciated the humanitarian activities of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Organization which has played an effective role in providing the humanitarian needs of the citizens during the current crisis . "" Also Monday , Kellenberger discussed with al Assad "" the rules governing the use of force by security forces . . . and the obligation to respect the physical and psychological well being and human dignity of detainees , "" according to the . On Sunday , the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people were killed in Idlib province and three others were killed in the village of Tahtaiya by security forces pursuing wanted activists . The opposition group also said a resident from Suraqib who was detained for 20 days died in detention after being tortured . It also claimed that at least 15 people were wounded in the city of Homs due to heavy gunfire by security forces . Another opposition activist group , the Local Coordination Committees of Syria , said eight were killed in Idlib , four in Hama province , and one each in the provinces of Homs and Damascus . Meanwhile , the Syrian news agency reported that six troops and three civilians were killed near the city of Muhardeh in Hama province . The agency said a "" terrorist group "" ambushed a bus carrying troops and civilians , killing nine and injuring 17 . A security patrol pursued the attackers and killed three of them , wounding a fourth and seizing explosives , guns and medical supplies from their stolen pickup , the news agency said . Syria has made it difficult for foreign journalists to work in the country since the unrest started , restricting their entry . Officials do not usually comment on opposition allegations concerning the killing or wounding of protesters . The United Nations has reported more than 2 , 200 people killed in Syria since February , including more than 350 people since security forces stepped up operations against demonstrators during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan . When Kellenberger visited Syrian officials in June , he reached an understanding that would give the and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent "" enhanced access to areas of unrest , and negotiations would take place concerning visits to detainees . "" He aims to "" review progress made in both these areas , "" the said , including "" an opportunity to discuss the impending start of visits to persons detained by the Ministry of the Interior . "" The agency "" visits detainees in order to assess the conditions in which they are being held and the treatment they receive , "" it said . This week ' s visit comes on the heels of an Amnesty International report detailing the deaths of at least 88 people in detention and describing widespread abuse of prisoners . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6386913,6914,"For a while now, comedian Scott Rogowsky has been traveling on the New York City subway with books that have fake book covers. The titles are hilarious, and the reaction from travelers on the subway are priceless.Now, Rogowsky seems to be bringing his schtick to a new hilarious level. In a new video, he focuses entirely on Donald Trump, his family, Mike Pence, and some of Trump s top surrogates.Some of the titles included are:All the titles have clearly a satirical take on actual things said either by Trump or surrounding events.It s so important now, more than ever, that we are able to keep our sense of humor in the face of what seems to be absolutely horrifying.Kudos to Rogowsky for making such brilliant fun of what otherwise has been horrific to witness.Watch the hilarious video of Rogowsky s subway ride here:Featured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past6396929,6930,"Wladimir Klitschko and actress fiancee Hayden Panettiere became parents for the first time as they welcomed daughter Kaya into the world on Tuesday . The bouncing baby girl weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs , 14 oz . Hayden Panettiere and her fiance Wladimir Klitschko welcomed daughter Kaya into the world Tuesday Wladimir Klitschko ( right ) lands a punch on Kubrat Pulev in an , , and world heavyweight title fight Klitschko is due to fight Tyson Fury next after the Brit beat Dereck Chisora in December Heavyweight world champion boxer Klitschko and the 25 year old actress told People : ' We are over the moon and madly in love ! ' The 38 year old and the Nashville star announced their engagement in October 2013 . Last month , Panettiere looked like she was ready to pop as she spent the weekend in Hawaii with friends and displayed her huge bump while wearing a mismatched two piece Ready to pop ! : Last month , the 25 year old star showed off her blossoming baby bump while in Hawaii In November , Panettiere the former Heroes star told Hello magazine she was excited about having a daughter . She said : ' I ' m thrilled that I am having a girl first because I feel like I know a lot about raising a strong woman . ' Panettiere also discussed how she expected to gain a little weight when she got pregnant , but did not realise how much she would actually put on . The Heroes star admitted that she gained almost 40 pounds during her pregnancy , as she was pictured at a fashion event in New York back in May The blonde beauty said : ' I ' m 5 feet , 2 inches and I started out at 106 pounds and guess how much I weight now ? Around 145 pounds . ' And the worst part is that my feet are still size five and they ' re going , ' ' What ' s going on with all this weight ? ' ' They ' re about to snap from underneath me with the strain . ' For Halloween , Panettiere took to Twitter to post a photo of her showing off her bump in a racy cheetah costume featuring a string bikini . On Halloween , the actress showed off her baby bump in her racy cheetah themed costume Klitschko and Panettiere pictured July 2013 in Germany announced their engagement in October 2013 ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6406934,6935,"A top judge has backed a ruling which told the ex wife of a millionaire racehorse surgeon to ' get a job ' because she has no right to be ' supported for life ' at her former husband ' s expense . Lord Justice Pitchford , sitting in the Royal Courts of Justice in London , has rejected an application by Tracey Susan Wright , 51 , who claimed she should continue to receive maintenance support from her ex husband Ian . Last year , Mr Wright , 59 , who is one of the country ' s top equine surgeons , went to the High Court to try and reduce the 75 , 000 a year in maintenance and school fees he was ordered to pay his ex wife following their divorce in 2008 . Tracey Susan Wright was told to ' get a job ' by a High Court judge who rejected her bid to keep receiving 75 , 000 for maintenance and school fees from former husband Ian Wright , a leading equine surgeon At the time , Judge Lynn Roberts agreed that the payments should come to an end since there was no good reason why Mrs Wright had not taken up any paid work in the six years since the divorce . Mrs Wright , who lives with the couple ' s two children in Newmarket , Suffolk , challenged the ruling , claiming that having to care for their 10 year old daughter ' was an inherent restriction on her ability to develop any kind of earning capacity in the next five years . ' However , Lord Pitchford has now upheld Judge Roberts ' initial ruling and supported the idea that it is ' imperative that she go out to work and support herself . ' The lengthy court battle began when the couple who married in 1997 divorced in 2008 , having separated in 2006 . At the time , a judge ruled that they should sell their 1 . 3million seven bedroom home , set in 16 acres of countryside in Suffolk , and split the proceeds . It meant Mrs Wright a former legal secretary and riding instructor walked away from the divorce with a lump sum which enabled her to buy a 450 , 000 mortgage free house in the heart of Newmarket , Suffolk , plus stabling for her horse and her daughters ' ponies . Mrs Wright claimed that caring for the couple ' s children restricted her ability to earn enough money to support them . The 51 year old is pictured outside the home she shares with her daughters in Suffolk As part of the divorce order , she was also handed 75 , 000 yearly payments , of which 33 , 200 was spousal maintenance for her personal upkeep . She opted to remain a stay at home mother following the split and has so far refused to take up any paid employment . It prompted Mr Wright , who runs a cutting edge equine hospital in Newmarket which carries out life saving surgery on top class horses , to approach the High Court to seek a reduction in the hefty maintenance bills he was paying his former partner . Victory : Mr Wright said it was not fair he was expected to support his wife long into retirement when she refused to work He protested that it was not fair that he was expected to keep supporting his ex wife indefinitely , even after his retirement , while she made ' no effort whatsoever to seek work . ' The court heard that Mr Wright steadfastly made the payments , but was worried that supporting his wife would be unaffordable after he retires at 65 . Ruling in Mr Wright ' s favour , Judge Roberts agreed last year that there was no good reason why Mrs Wright had not taken up work and criticised her for being ' evasive on the subject of her own earning capacity . ' ' The world of work has innumerable possibilities these day . . . vast numbers of women with children just get on with it and Mrs Wright should have done as well , ' the judge said . ' I do not think the children will suffer if Mrs Wright has to work , and indeed a working mother at this stage of their lives may well provide them with a good role model . ' It is possible to find work that fits in with childcare responsibilities . I reject her other reasons relating to responsibilities for animals , or trees , or housekeeping . ' Mrs Wright has made no effort whatsoever to seek work or to update her skills . . . I am satisfied that she has worked on the basis . . . that she would be supported for life . ' It is essential . . . that she starts to work now . ' At the time , the judge ruled that the personal maintenance payments from her ex husband must stop , with a gradual tailing off over a five year period leading up to his retirement . However , Mrs Wright challenged the ruling , claiming that Judge Roberts ' order would cause ' a plummeting in the standard of living ' of the youngest child . The court heard that the couple ' s daughter is a boarding pupil at a public school . Mark Johnston , acting on behalf of Mrs Wright , argued that the assets Mrs Wright received in the split ' wouldn ' t come anywhere near allowing the wife to adjust without undue hardship . . . especially with one child still at home . ' Mr Wright runs a cutting edge equine hospital in Newmarket which carries out life saving surgery on top class horses ( pictured ) . His wife , a former legal secretary , has been a stay at home mother since the divorce Lord Justice Pitchford , sitting in the Royal Courts of Justice in London ( pictured ) , rejected the application by Mrs Wright , which claimed she should continue to receive maintenance support from her ex husband Ian However , Lord Justice Pitchford , sitting in the Court of Appeal , has now rejected her challenge and upheld the original ruling . He said : ' The time had come to recognise that , at the time of his retirement , the husband should not be paying spousal maintenance . ' The wife had done nothing since 2008 to look for work , retrain or to prepare herself for work . ' Judge Roberts did not accept any of the explanations put forward by the wife for her inactivity and ruled that it was important that she obey the order . ' She had harsh words for the wife for her complete failure to confront her obligation to contribute financially . She found the wife exaggerated her income needs . ' There is a general expectation that , once children are in year two , mothers can begin part time work and make a financial contribution . ' Mr Wright had been found to be ' a man of integrity who had done nothing to mislead the court . ' However , the court heard how the judge deemed the wife to be ' an unsatisfactory witness particularly on the subject of her own earning capacity ' . Lord Justice Pitchford said : ' The judge made it very clear that , within a couple of years , she would be expected to contribute financially . ' The question is whether there is a real prospect of establishing that the judge gave inadequate reasons for her decision that the husband should provide no spousal maintenance in his retirement . In my view there is no such prospect ' . He added that ' the order was never intended to provide the wife with an income for life ' and concluded : ' The onus will henceforth be on her . This application is dismissed . ' Mr Wright runs a cutting edge equine hospital in Newmarket where racehorses are treated with expert care ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6416941,6942,"London Greece ' s banking sector is being snubbed by its European peers as the country ' s recession deepens . And even as immediate fears about the country ' s exit from the eurozone fade on the latest austerity deal , the impact on Greece ' s banking sector deeply intertwined with the fate of the country itself will be long lasting . But a leading voice in the sector says the country ' s austerity measures are working , and Greece ' s remaining banks will emerge from the crisis in a stronger position . Read more : Everything you wanted to know about the euro crisis ( but were afraid to ask ) European banks have been offloading Greek subsidiaries as they seek to minimize exposure to the troubled country . Greek banks , knocked by losses imposed as part of the bailouts , are also facing recapitalization demands in return for cash assistance . Eurozone back in recession Piraeus Bank , the country ' s fourth largest bank , last month bought Geniki Bank from French bank Societe Generale . The sale price was 1 million euro , with Societe Generale also committing to expenditure of 444 million euros through an advance to Geniki and a subscription to a Piraeus Bank bond . The deal made a 130 million euro dent in Societe Generale ' s third quarter earnings . Read more : How the euro crisis will affect you French bank Credit Agricole also offloaded its Greek subsidiary , Emporiki , to Alpha Bank at a loss of 1 . 96 billion euros in October , a deal that then contributed to its third quarter loss of 2 . 85 billion euros . Read more : Euro crisis : Should I cancel my vacation ? But Greek banking maintains strong links with its European peers , even as they exit the country , Manos said . "" We will continue to have relationships with other banks , "" he said . He hopes as the macro risks decrease we "" will eventually see banks coming back to invest in Greece . "" However , he added , "" Societe Generale and Credit Agricole are not coming back to Greece anytime soon . "" Read more : The pain in Spain that threatens the eurozone Analysts point to the banks ' exits from Greece as providing both positives and negatives for the country . While the Greek banking sector risks being marooned from its European peers , the exits ease the way for restructurings , they say . According to Daiwa credit analyst Michael Symonds : "" It is surely a negative that foreign lenders don ' t see a future for them in Greece but their exit will enable a faster and more comprehensive overhaul of the sector . "" Read more : The eurozone ' s reluctant leader Elisabeth Afseth , of Investec , agrees . "" It is difficult to have a very positive view on Greek banking consolidation is a positive , foreign flight is not . "" She added : "" Threat of a second sovereign default remains . "" Manos points to government shareholdings as the greater risk for the Greek banking sector . Piraeus Bank lost 6 . 2 billion euros . pre tax , on so called "" , "" or cuts made to the value of Greek government debt . The losses pushed the bank toward state aid , an irony which creates a moral hazard , Manos said . Read more : Finland minister : Bid to stem euro crisis is working "" The more losses the government imposes on banks , the more it is rewarded with greater control in the banks , "" he said . This needs to be understood as the recapitalization process continues , he added . However , Manos does support a drive from the troika made up of the European Central Bank , European Union and International Monetary Fund for significant structural reforms . "" The public sector has to be streamlined , "" Manos said . "" Everything that allows the private sector greater share in the economy needs to be implemented . "" Read more : Euro crisis opens old wounds for Greece , Germany His comments came as Greece continues to wait on a vital financial lifeline of 31 . 5 billion euros from its international lenders that will allow it to pay short term debts and recapitalize its banks . The country has also been given two more years to meet its fiscal targets . Manos remains positive about Greece ' s future in the eurozone . He believes the country will stay within the common currency bloc but adds : "" The economy has to reach a point of stability soon . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past6426960,6961,"Donald Trump postpones Israel trip amid controversy over Muslim ban proposal U . S . Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump on Thursday postponed his trip to Israel amid a controversy over his proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States . U . S . Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump on Thursday postponed his trip to Israel amid a controversy over his proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States . Trump , who has come under heavy criticism at home and abroad over his plan , said on Twitter that he would meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a later date after I become president of the U . S . Trump told Fox News he postponed the trip because he did not want to put pressure on Netanyahu , who faced demands from Israeli politicians to call off the planned Dec . 28 meeting . Netanyahu had rejected Trump s proposal on Muslims but said he would still meet with him . I also did it because I m in the midst of a very powerful campaign that s going very well and it ( the trip ) was not that easy to do , said Trump , a real estate mogul and former reality star who leads opinion polls in the Republican nominating race for the November 2016 election . The decision came just days after Trump provoked an international uproar by calling for Muslims , including would be immigrants , students and tourists , to be blocked from entering the country after last week s shootings in California by two Muslims who authorities said were radicalized . The uproar did not stop the New England Police Benevolent Association , a union that represents 5 , 000 law enforcement officers , from voting to endorse him on Thursday night . Appearing in New Hampshire , the crucial early primary state , Trump thanked the organization , which represents 1 , 000 New Hampshire officers , for their support . White House spokesman Josh Earnest endorsed Trump s decision to postpone the trip to Israel and said most people are relieved that he would not be visiting such a sensitive region . The situation in Israel is particularly volatile , and so I think in this case his decision to reconsider that trip is a good outcome for all those involved , Earnest told reporters . Trump s proposal has been condemned by an array of U . S . and global political leaders and human and civil rights groups , as well as many of Trump s Republican and Democratic rivals for the White House . But so far his proposal does not seem to have affected his standing in the polls . A Reuters Ipsos poll conducted this week , which includes responses from before and after Trump made his proposal on Monday , shows he still holds a commanding lead in the Republican race . The Dec . 6 10 online poll showed Trump was supported by 35 percent of the 556 Republicans surveyed ? roughly the same as in the previous five day period and more than twice the level enjoyed by his nearest rivals , including retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 13 percent , and U . S . Senator Marco Rubio of Florida at 11 percent . Reuters will release an expanded poll on Friday that is driven entirely by responses that came after Trump proposed a ban on Muslims . In Britain , a petition demanding that Trump be banned from visiting the United Kingdom had gained more than 450 , 000 signatures on Thursday and was still growing . Trump responded on Twitter with a broadside at Britain , saying many people in the U . K agree with me . The United Kingdom is trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem , he said . Everybody is wise to what is happening , very sad ! Be honest . Peter Westmacott , the British ambassador to the United States , said in a response that we are very proud of the Muslim community in the United Kingdom and what extremist groups were doing did not have anything to do with Islam . Part of the solution to the recent terrorist attacks is to work with our Muslim communities , not to push them away with divisive or threatening language , he told reporters . A Dubai real estate firm building a 6 billion golf complex with Trump , who has extensive business dealings in the Middle East , stripped the property of his name and image amid the uproar over the comments . The firm , Properties , initially said it would stand by Trump , even as another of the billionaire s Middle East partners , the Lifestyle chain of department stores , halted sales of his Trump Home line of lamps , mirrors and jewelry boxes in protest . A spokesman declined to comment on why Trump s image was removed from a billboard outside the project site . Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar of India , which has more than 170 million Muslims , likened the explosive potential of Trump s comments to a nuclear bomb . In India , we have equal rights for everyone and we don t look toward communities with suspicion , he told a Washington news conference when asked about Trump . Those who are radicalized , it s a different issue we tackle them separately . First Published on December 11 , 2015 9 : 12 am ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6436964,6965,""" We will get out of this ordeal , "" the president said in his first address to the nation since the crisis erupted . He pressed the government to put in place a program to address unemployment . About one in three young people remains without work . "" One cannot speak of dignity without a job , "" he said . "" You can ' t tell people who are hungry . . . to be patient . "" Tunisia ' s prime minister , Habib Essid , cut short a visit to France to preside over an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Saturday . A curfew from 8 p . m . until 5 a . m . was declared because the attacks on public and private property "" represent a danger to the country and its citizens , "" the Interior Ministry said . Weekend sports events were canceled . The unrest began Sunday in the town of Kasserine in central Tunisia where the young man electrocuted himself ? not far from the town of Sidi Bouzid where a vegetable seller set himself afire in 2011 , triggering Tunisia ' s revolution . Tunisia ' s unemployment stands around 15 percent , but is 30 percent among youth and in the Tunisian heartland that has long felt ignored by the powers that be in the capital ? despite government promises of change . On Friday , hundreds of unemployed graduates filed into Kasserine ' s main administrative office demanding jobs . Others screamed from the top of the building before being escorted out by police , and still more held a sit in inside the lobby . "" We want work , nothing less , nothing more , "" said one of the unemployed youths , Rafik Nasri . "" You see all these people are unemployed , the well read , the intellectual , the non intellectual , the peasant or not , they ' re all demanding work . "" The overnight curfew was imposed after the violence in Kasserine , about 300 kilometers ( 185 miles ) southwest of Tunis , began spreading to other towns this week . On Friday , roving groups pillaged a bank and looted stores and a warehouse in the working class neighborhood of Ettadhamen outside the capital . Security forces arrested 16 people . Security forces used tear gas to repel the protesters attacking police stations and other official buildings with stones and Molotov cocktails . A day earlier , a police officer was killed after protesters in the town of Feriana , near Kasserine , flipped over his car , the government said . Tunisia has been under a state of emergency since a suicide bombing in November killed 12 members of the presidential guard in the heart of Tunis ? an attack that capped an unusually violent year for the country . That bombing , along with deadly attacks against the Bardo museum in Tunis and the resort of Sousse , were claimed by the Islamic State group . "" Daesh , which is present in Libya at our borders , finds that the moment is opportune to act in Tunisia , "" the president said , using an Arabic acronym for . On Thursday , Tunisian authorities said they intercepted four cars with armed men coming from Libya and chased them back across the border . On Friday , a Tunisian man was killed in an exchange of fire between Tunisian soldiers guarding a border post and a group of Libyans and Tunisians the Defense Ministry said were smugglers . The unrest bred concern that Tunisia ' s bid to become a full fledged democracy may be at risk . In Paris just before leaving for home , Essid , the prime minister , said the problem was not with democracy , but with the economy . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6446972,6973,"A government inquiry is to be carried out into the impact of migrant children arriving in schools unable to speak English . Education Secretary Nicky Morgan revealed she has ordered officials to start ' mapping the pressures ' on the state schools system . It comes less than six months after she told the head of Ofsted it was not ' helpful ' to warn that schools are struggling to cope with an ' influx ' of migrants . Education Secretary Nicky Morgan revealed she has ordered officials to start ' mapping the pressures ' on the state schools system caused by immigration Immigration has played a low key role in the Tory election campaign to date , after David Cameron spectacularly to meet his pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands . The Tory leader vowed to cut the number below 100 , 000 ' no ifs , no buts ' , but latest figures show the number hit 298 , 000 in the year to September . In an interview today Mrs Morgan admitted it is a ' big issue ' for voters and revealed she has asked the Department for Education to examine the impact on schools . It is expected to look at how migrant children perform in exams and how schools with large immigrant populations cope . Mrs Morgan told the Sunday Telegraph : ' I think there is pressure in the classrooms in terms of teaching how prepared immigrant children are when they start school . Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw last year warned schools had faced an ' influx ' of immigrants ' It would be wrong to say immigration holds results back or affects overall qualifications ultimately . But at the start of primary school , especially , it means that teachers have to tailor their lessons , to spend longer with pupils who have English as a second language . ' We are looking at that in the Department exactly mapping the pressures , what teachers have to do , the resources that takes . I am very keen to know . ' She added that she wanted to ensure that migrant children have caught up with other pupils before the end of the Year 1 , aged six or seven . In October last year , Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw was challenged about the increased worked of teachers caused by a large number of children who could not speak English . Sir Michael said : ' Schools need the resources to deal with that . ' When they ' re faced with an influx of children from other countries , they need the resources and capacity to deal with it , and if those resources aren ' t there , that ' s a big issue for government . That ' s the first thing and we ' ll be producing reports on this fairly soon . ' Net long term migration to the was estimated to be 298 , 000 in the year ending September 2014 , a major rise on the 210 , 000 figure a year earlier But a week later Mrs Morgan questioned Sir Michael ' s language and played down the scale of the problem . ' Obviously Sir Michael Wilshaw has gone round to various schools but no , when I go round schools I see that they have adapted and are doing extremely well with students who do come from abroad . ' I am not sure that sort of language is always helpful but there are challenges and there are parts of the country where we know that there are higher numbers of students who don ' t speak English as a first language . ' Asked whether Sir Michael should have chosen his words more carefully , Mrs Morgan added : ' This whole area of immigration is an area where we need to be very careful about the language that we use . ' It isn ' t that it isn ' t a concern to people because it absolutely is but we also need to think about the language and the tone of the debate that we use . ' We need to tackle the issue in a sensitive way without saying there isn ' t a problem because people are clearly concerned about it . ' Everyone who comes to Britain should know how to speak English , Labour Ed Miliband has warned as he admitted Labour made mistakes on immigration . The Labour leader admitted that in the past his party had been ' too timid ' about making clear that for communities to live together they must use a shared language . But the Tories said there was nothing in Mr Miliband ' s plans to act to reduce the number of people moving to Britain , after net migration hit 298 , 000 in a year . Ed Miliband admitted that in the past his party had been ' too timid ' about making clear that for communities to live together they must use a shared language Mr Miliband pledged a new crackdown on illegal exploitation of migrant workers , promising a Home Office task force to boost prosecutions and fines on bad employers . Speaking in Wirral West a marginal seat held by the Tory Employment Minister Esther McVey the Labour leader said exploitation drives low skilled migration and holds down wages for British workers . His new unit of 100 staff will bring together people from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority and specialist police units , together with additional Home Office enforcement staff . The unit will be empowered to investigate abuse and be challenged to increase prosecutions and fines levelled against employers who break the rules . But he also warned that migrants must learn to speak English , especially in key services like the . Mr Miliband said : ' Our communities are changing fast but we don ' t cope with change by closing our doors to each other and living our lives in separate worlds . Instead we must find a way to live together across communities . ' A Britain where people of all backgrounds , all cultures , all religions , can practise their own faiths but also come together to forge a common identity . ' But we can only build this shared society if we speak the same language . ' He said his own parents had learned to speak English after arriving from Belgium in 1940 . ' It is why I believe in a simple principle : Everyone in Britain should know how to speak English . ' Sometimes , we ' ve been too timid about this but it is something we should expect from everyone who comes here . ' And it is especially important that people who work in public services in public facing roles should be required to speak English . ' He said that ' nowhere is that more true ' than in the health service . ' We all know the crucial contribution that people from overseas play in our . Doctors , paramedics , social workers , nurses . Bringing specialist skills that we need . ' I will never demean or devalue their contribution to our country . ' But it is vital that people who come to fulfil these roles don ' t just have the right medical skills , but can communicate with those for whom they care . ' So in the future all healthcare professionals will be required to speak English to a sufficient standard so they can care effectively for patients . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present6456985,6986,"Bobby Brown spoke for the first time about his daughter Bobbi Kristina in Los Angeles on Saturday night and admitted ' I dunno what I am going through right now , but I am giving it to God and letting him deal with it . ' In an emotional outburst during a concert Bobby appeared close to tears as he referenced his daughter ' s ongoing battle for her life . The former husband of Whitney Houston looked tired and grief stricken at times during his performance , his first public appearance since Bobbi Kristina fell into a coma . Bobby Brown spoke for the first time about daughter Bobbi Kristina in Los Angeles on Saturday night and admitted : ' I dunno what I am going through right now , but I am giving it to God and letting him deal with it ' The one time boy band star shied away from talking in detail about his daughter but instead admitted these were ' rough times . ' However , in an odd moment during his 45 minute set , he took time out to promote his kine of sauces . Bobby performed a set of his old hits for 4 , 000 fans at the Soul Food Festival in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday after months staying by his daughter Bobbi Kristina ' s side . Unresponsive : On January 31 , Bobbi Kristina Brown was found unresponsive in her bathtub . She ' s been in a coma ever since The 46 year old was given the biggest cheer of the night as he took to the stage to play hits like Don ' t Be Cruel and On Our Own . After his drawn out introduction Bobby , looking tired from performing dance moves , choked up as he said : ' I must tell y ' all . This feels really , really really good . ' I want to thank all of y ' all for coming out tonight to support me and my family . ' Rough times are rough times , hard times are hard times I dunno what I am going through right now , but I am giving it to God and letting him deal with it . ' Panting and sounding frustrated : ' There is only one thing I ask of you all tonight and that is enjoy yourselves . ' Smiling he added : ' Don ' t be cruel , come on , ' referring to one of his biggest hits the 80s . After a few other tunes , Bobby needed a break from the stage to rest while his boyband performed a number . Bobby needed a towel to wipe his face and often looked out of breath as he relived dance moves from his glory days . Later he was a little less emotional as fans cheered his performances of hits like Roni and Rock Witcha . Broke his silence : The former boy bander ' s appearance was booked before Bobbi Kristina fell into a coma . It was also Brown ' s first time discussing the matter in public Had a booth : Brown told the crowd , ' Listen I have been doing a lot of things and been working on a lot of projects from Real Husbands Of Hollywood to my own stuff to my new album to my new Edition to Heads Of States and I have been working on my food line actually you all can get some food right there , in my booth ' Looking toward his stand where his Bobby Brown cooking tent was set up at the festival , he told the crowd : ' Listen I have been doing a lot of things and been working on a lot of projects from Real Husbands Of Hollywood to my own stuff , to my new album , to my new Edition to Heads Of States , and I have been working on my food line . Actually you all can get some food right there , in my booth . ' I will over there in a little bit later , if you want to buy some barb e cue sauce , seasonings , chicken and a couple of sausages . I don ' t know what my wife is cooking whatever it , is is good . You have got to get the season ing , because the seasoning is off the chain , I must let you know . ' Bobby then asked a bandmate to talk about another brand , but fired back : ' Mine is much better , low in sodium content , low in salt for us folk if , you understand what I am saying . ' So I made this for us . ' Wiping away sweat from his face , he added : ' I ain ' t done with it yet . I got marinades and all kind of s coming out . ' He then corrected himself : ' Excuse my French baby girl . I didn ' t mean to curse in front of you . And ladies too . ' He then introduced his new R B boy band band ' who can saanng . ' ' You just listen and tell me if you like it . ' Back to work : Brown ' s pregnant wife Alicia Etheredge was also at the food festival , selling Bobby Brown ' s sauce Timing : The singer and barbecue entrepreneur was committed to the event before his daughter was hospitalized . He ' s also slated for a tour of Australia Bobby ' s appearance marks his first time away from Bobbi in months . He had been scheduled to make the appearance before his daughter ' s accident . Bobbi remains hospitalized and in a coma after being found unconscious and face down in a bathtub on January 31 . The Soul Food Festival is among a string of appearances Bobby is contractually obligated to fulfill The singer is also scheduled to leave daughter Bobbi to tour in Australia . Even though he doesn ' t want to go , the promoters are holding the distraught father to his contractual obligation , reports . Bobbi Kristina remains on life support in a long term care center in Atlanta , Georgia , after being treated at the city ' s Emory University Hospital where the ex husband of Whitney Houston visits her regularly . Reportedly Bobby has the final say as to whether the young woman ' s support system is turned off . At the Festival 90s rap act Salt ' N ' Pepa had the crowd on their feet with their performance of Push It . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6466990,6991,"A California couple thought to be missing for a month during a trip to Peru have been located aboard a boat and they didn ' t even know their families had been looking for them . Jamie Neal , 25 , and Garrett Hand , 27 , from California ' s Bay Area , left for Peru in December for a South America bike trip , and had not been in contact with friends and relatives since late January . The couple was found on a boat that was traveling along the Navos River . Found : Jamie Neal ( right ) , 27 , and her boyfriend Garrett Hand , 25 , had been missing since January 26 in Peru , but have now been located on a boat The Peruvian Travel Ministry told that Miss Neal and Mr Hand had no idea they had been reported missing . They had been updating friends and family about their trip on their Facebook page , but those messages stopped on January 25 , Miss Neal ' s sister Jennifer Neal told FoxNewsweblink on Monday . Jennifer Neal added that Mr Hand ' s cellphone had been turned off , sparking fears that the two may have been kidnapped . ' It goes straight to voicemail , ' she told FoxNewsweblink . ' It ' s not like them to be out of touch for this long . ' In love : The couple posted many pictures of their trip on Facebook to being with but haven ' t since January , sparking fears among their families that they were missing Adventure : The young couple ( pictured at left ) went missing in a region which was under threat of kidnappings The lapse in communication caused the U . S . State Department to issue a travel warning to any Americans heading to Peru . The couple disappeared in Peru in an area where a criminal gang were believed to have been plotting to kidnap tourists , authorities said this week . The U . S . State Department issued a poster of the couple from San Francisco who were last seen getting on a bus in the town of Cusco , headed for Lima on January 26 before getting in a cab . The couple are biking enthusiasts who both work in cycle stores in the Bay Area of San Francisco . They had customized their bikes especially for the trip which began in December . They had also traveled to Chile and Argentina before deciding to go to the Amazon instead of Machu Picchu in Peru . Trip of a lifetime : The couple , who both work in cycle shops in the Bay area of California , were last seen in Peru on January 26 Desperate hunt : The U . S . Embassy had helped in the search for the young couple before they were found this week ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6476999,7000,"Arrested : Ryan Tannenholz has been accused of having sex with a cat A man who enjoys dressing up as a dog has been arrested for having sex with a cat in Idaho . Ryan Havens Tannenholz , 28 , is accused of sexually abusing the pet several times over the course of a year . Police arrested the man from Boise , Idaho , on August 1st , on six felony counts of crimes against nature and one misdemeanor count of cruelty to an animal . Tannenholz is said to be a ' furry ' the name given to a member of a community of people who dress as animals . According to Flayrah , a site dedicated to furries , he had a number of animal alter egos including a dog , a wolf , a white husky and a fox . Photos on a social media site posted by Tannenholz appear to show him in character as a creature called Bubblegum . He is currently being held in custody in lieu of a 250 , 000 bond and faces up to five years in prison if convicted . An arrest warrant was issued on July 31 , and he was arrested on August 1 . Police did not specify how the alleged activities came to light . On Tannenholz ' s Bubblegum Husky website , he describes his interest in cats and reveals his own pet cat named Einstein . He writes : ' Have you ever been on the internet and seen one of those cat videos ? Bubblegum Husky sure has and man , I ' ll tell you what , they really get me going ! ' Cats are so furry , soft plush and loving . Plus , only Bubblegum Husky can appreciate how truly great these furry felines truly are . ' In costume : Ryan Tannenholz dressed as his alter ego ' Bubblegum Husky ' ( left ) and his pet cat Einstein ( right ) Bubblegum Husky : Ryan Tannenholz created a website around his love for cats under his alter ego ' s name ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6487009,7010,"Chris Ramsey is now the leading candidate to take the Queens Park Rangers manager ' s job until the end of the season . Senior figures within the Rangers dressing room believe the caretaker boss will be handed the role . The move to install Ramsey is yet to be finalised but the club are moving in that direction . Chris Ramsey is now the leading candidate to take the manager ' s job until the end of the season Ramsey and Kevin Bond took charge for the 2 0 defeat of Sunderland in their previous outing The players have been impressed with the quality of Ramsey ' s training sessions Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday that Ramsey had significant backing from senior players . Chairman Tony Fernandes is due to jet in to London next week and he will be greeted by glowing references from players , who would now like to see Ramsey alongside coach Kevin Bond put in permanent control until at least the end of the season . Players have been thoroughly impressed by Ramsey ' s coaching sessions since he assumed control of first team matters last Tuesday . The quality of his coaching has been compared to that of Steve McClaren who is widely recognised as one of England ' s best coaches . McClaren spent a spell at Loftus Road under Redknapp last season . Whether a team of Ramsey and Bond with Les Ferdinand as director of football is the ' dream ' appointment Fernandes alluded to on Twitter remains to be seen . But Ramsey now looks to have manoeuvred himself into position to become the next manager . midfielder Sandro tackles Shaun Maloney of Chicago Fire during a friendly match on Thursday Former Lyon , West Ham and Marseille midfielder Alou Diarra dribbles away from Adel Taarabt Mauro Zarate dribbles with the ball while being hounded by Chicago Fire players Former France international Diarra tries to block a pass made by Taarabt on Thursday Full back Armand Traore wins a header while being chased by Lovel Palmer Quincy Amarikwa of Chicago Fire rounds the keeper to make it 1 0 to the side Amarikwa celebrates the goal with his team mates on Thursday afternoon Matthew Watson of Chicago Fire tries to tackle Chilean forward Eduardo Vargas ' s Michael Petrasso attempts to evade the challenge of Watson ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6497016,7017,"Baghdad , Iraq ( ) A struggling Iraqi President , Nuri al Maliki , made a special television address tonight to the Iraqi people , appealing for patience with his controversial "" absorption "" strategy in the ongoing occupation by the Americans . The special address , was estimated to have been viewed by well over 300 people nationwide with some viewing the 15 minute speech in its entirety before loss of power . The president appealed for a delay in the shedding of blood of American soldiers until government forces and police could be trained and armed to force the issue of withdrawal of American forces . He urged citizens to comply with relocation and deportation efforts underway to promote a safer and more tolerably segregated Iraq . Maliki mentioned the loss of a brave tribal sheik in Al Anbar province who was just yesterday murdered in a roadside bombing , presumably by Al Qaeda sympathizers . "" He killed many Americans , and he will be sorely missed , "" stated Maliki . Maliki quoted facts and figures from the Department of Defense as well as the Iraqi Ministry indicating that Iraqi casualties were down while American casualties remained the same since the implementation of his "" absorption "" strategy . He stated that the deaths were "" a small price to pay for the eventual liberation of Iraq "" "" I have met with , and you have heard from Muqtada al Sadr "" , stated Maliki , "" and today I will put into place his recommendations for a step down and rotation of forces out of Baghdad . As America steps out , we will step up again . "" Maliki read a letter from the mother and father of a recent Shia car bomber . The parents thanked Maliki for the opportunity to give their sons life for what they described as the honorable goal of the eventual liberation of Iraq . "" Freedom is not Free "" , the parents were quoted as saying . Maliki insisted that the war on terrorizers was ongoing and would likely continue for years after his administration , and that there likely would never be a clear victory . Maliki faces growing discontentment from a population whose recent polling indicates that 80 want America out of Iraq immediately . He has maintained that his controversial absorption strategy is working and just needs more time . ",satire,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,satire,True,no,no,positive,past6507035,7036,"The popular site Twitter crashed again on Wednesday morning . The microblogging site was down for about an hour and a half , with service restored at about 8 a . m . . During the outage , the site ' s users saw an "" extremely high volume of whales , "" the company said in a blog post . When Twitter breaks , a cartoon whale nicknamed a "" fail whale "" pops up on computer screens instead of the functioning site . The fail whale has become an iconic symbol for Twitter , and a way for the company to try to embrace and make light of its shortcomings . "" A sudden failure coupled with problems in switching to a backup system produced a high number of errors for around 90 minutes , "" Twitter wrote in a post to its status blog . "" This made the site largely inaccessible . No data was lost or compromised during this outage . "" Wednesday ' s down time was the first major outage at Twitter since it and other sites were attacked in early August , according to reports . "" Reliability has been an ongoing project for Twitter as the service has scaled up to handle growing traffic , "" Rich Miller wrote on the blog Data Center Knowledge . Mashable ' s Ben Parr wrote that news from Haiti may have contributed . "" What exactly took down the microblogging service , we don ' t know ( some speculate that a wave of tweets due to this morning ' s 6 . 1 earthquake in Haiti could be partly responsible ) , "" he wrote . On Twitter , some users made light of the situation after service was restored . "" BillGates joined the twitterverse , "" one user wrote . "" Rough seas out here , I hope the Fail Whale won ' t eat him : P : D "" Twitter , a Web site where users post 140 character messages to their public followers , was founded in May 2007 . It grew at breakneck pace last year and experienced a number of outages as a result . Some online writers have speculated that the Web site ' s traffic has started to slow or decline in recent weeks . In a Twitter post on January 12 , company Evan Williams wrote that the site continues to grow . "" Across all metrics that matter , yesterday was Twitter ' s highest usage day ever . ( And today will be bigger . ) , "" he wrote . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6517039,7040,"A farmer has claimed he has found the remains of a two Chupacabra creatures also known as blood sucking monsters after stumbling across bizarre looking dead animals in Chile . Goat farmer Javier Prohens was having lunch with friends when terrified farmhand 54 year old Bricio Saldivar alerted them to the bodies of the strange creatures on the outskirts of the small town of Monte Patria in the east central Chilean province Limari . At first the group thought the remains were those of bats but on closer inspection , they became convinced they are from they mythical creatures . The remains found by goat farmer Javier Prohens , who believes they could be the bones of a Chupacabra , a mythical blood sucking creature Mr Prohens , 54 , said : ' He was clearly scared and said he had been up at the old winery and found two strange bodies . ' When we got there we saw them lying among some hay bales in one of the cellars . ' At first we thought they might be bats , but when we looked closer , we realised they had to be something else as the heads were too big for bats . ' And then someone said they looked like Chupacabras . ' Translated into Spanish as ' goat sucker ' Chupacabras are reptile like mythical creatures with leathery and scaly green grey skin with sharp pins and quills running down its back . They are said to be four foot tall and hop like a kangaroo , while living in Central and South American countries . The name comes from the monster ' s habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock , especially goats . Local children crowd around the remains found by the goat farmer . The discovery has worried other farmers in the area who are concerned about the safety of their livestock And now the find has sparked fears among other farmers in the nearby area . Querubin Lebron , 38 , said : ' Our livelihoods are built on goat farming . There are lots of goats here . ' Although it ' s said they only attack animals , who knows it is won ' t attack our children too . ' In April last year , a couple from Texas claimed they had captured a Chupacabra in their back garden . However , after an investigation , it was established that the creature was a raccoon suffering from scabies . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6527042,7043,"Leicester Tigers will play great rivals Northampton Saints away in the Aviva Premiership semi finals next weekend after clinching third place with a bonus point victory over leaders Saracens at Welford Road . The reigning champions claimed a 31 27 victory after coming out on top in a dramatic 21 minute period either side of half time when six tries were scored , Saracens winger Michael Tagicakibau was sin binned and flanker Justin Melck was sent off for what appeared to be eye gouging . Over : Manu Tuilagi ( left ) of Leicester Tigers celebrates his try Reduced : Justin Melck of Saracens is sent off for what appeared to be eye gouging Leicester hit back from 8 3 to take a 10 8 lead just before half time thanks to a penalty try , while further touch downs from Manu Tuilagi , Blaine Scully and Graham Kitchener ensured they took a bonus point . Saracens ' tries came from Ben Spencer ( 2 ) , a penalty try and Jack Wilson , with Spencer ' s second four minutes from time earning his side a losing bonus point . They will play Harlequins , who beat Bath , in the other semi final at home . Both sides were under strength , especially Saracens who rested most of their top 30 players , with a Heineken Cup final and possibly the Premiership final on the horizon . Lock Hayden Smith made his first start since rejoining Saracens , while England under 20 flanker Maro Itoje made his Premiership debut . Out of bounds : Blaine Scully of Leicester Tigers attempts to go over for a try England and Lions flanker Tom Croft made his comeback for Leicester after suffering a knee injury which needed surgery in round one . Leicester won the first half 10 8 but the small advantage came at a cost as the injuries started to mount with Owen Williams , David Mele , prop Boris Stankovich and lock Geoff Parling all picking up knocks . Stankovich lasted less than a minute before he trooped off , to be replaced by Marcos Ayerza , after suffering an injury at a ruck . Things got worse for Leicester a minute later when a lively Saracens team took the lead after some bright play resulted in scrum half Ben Spencer making a break through the front of a ruck . Although he was held short of the line he reached and put the ball down over the line . Former England fly half Charlie Hodgson missed the conversion on an afternoon when the strong wind made it difficult for the kickers , and three minutes later Williams pulled three points back with a penalty from in front of the posts . To the heavens : Manu Tuilagi holds up the ball to the sky after scoring a try Saracens came close to scoring a second in the eighth minute after Hodgson beat Thomas Waldrom on halfway and made a fabulous break . Although the Tigers managed to prevent a try they conceded a penalty , which Hodgson slotted . Williams missed a long range penalty before he , and then Parling , suffered injuries and were replaced by Dan Bowden and Kitchener . The loss of Williams meant Toby Flood moved to fly half , with Bowden taking over at centre , and with two minutes of the half left Bowden made a fine break which almost led to a try after great work by Niall Morris , Ayerza and Steve Mafi . Saracens ' defence , however , held firm and Mele went off , to be replaced by Sam Harrison , after a tackle by Smith near the line . Mele returned for the second half . Leicester , however , marched Saracens back from the resulting scrum and the referee awarded a penalty try , with Flood adding the extras to give the Tigers a 10 8 half time lead . Within four minutes of the restart that lead had become 17 8 and Saracens were reduced to 13 men after winger Tagicakibau was sin binned for a tip tackle on Ayerza and flanker Melck sent off for what appeared to be gouging . Just : Graham Kitchener of Leicester Tigers reaches over for a try A minute after the yellow card , Leicester ' s forwards rumbled towards the line and Flood put Tuilagi over under the posts . Four minutes later Leicester got their third try in nine minutes , Morris making a break before passing inside for fellow wing Scully to score , Flood adding the conversion . Saracens hit back in the 54th minute , the referee awarding them a penalty try after Leicester had collapsed a terrific rolling maul . Ben Spencer converted to make it 24 15 . Four minutes later , Kitchener scored at the other end , Flood converting , and Croft immediately replaced Mafi . Croft had hardly got on the field when Saracens winger Wilson scored his side ' s third try . In 20 frantic minutes both sides had scored six tries and Saracens had been shown a yellow and a red card . With four minutes left Spencer intercepted a pass from Thomas Waldrom and ran 70 yards to score in the right corner before converting , but the Tigers were able to close out the victory . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past6537053,7054,"Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dismissed a Russian proposal to deploy U.N. peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine as an effort to legalize its proxies and freeze the conflict. Relations between Kiev and Moscow have never been worse since Russia annexed Crimea more than three years ago and Russian-backed separatist fighters subsequently took up arms against Ukrainian government forces in the east of the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin this month suggested armed U.N. peacekeepers be deployed to eastern Ukraine to help protect ceasefire monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to help end a conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists, which has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. Poroshenko used his speech at the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly to accuse Moscow of not contributing to international security, but of being its biggest threat. The latest hybrid peacekeeping proposal from Moscow is yet another example of Russia s real ambition to legalize its proxies and freeze the conflict forever, he said. We remain confident that a fully fledged peacekeeping operation is the only viable solution to de-escalate and protect the people of Ukraine. Putin originally said the peacekeepers should be deployed along the line of contact between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists, but later said they could also be deployed in other areas where inspectors work. The peacekeepers mandate should cover the entire occupied area, including the Ukrainian-Russian state border. This is the must. As long as the border is used as the main supply route for manpower and weapons to Donbass there will be no peace in my country, he said. Kiev and Western countries accuse Russia of providing military backing to the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies any direct role in the conflict. Efforts to broker an end to fighting through the so-called Minsk agreements have so far failed. Violence continues with attempted ceasefires repeatedly broken. Western powers fear peace efforts could unravel. The key problem in Donbass is that Ukraine and Russia strive for different things, Poroshenko said. Ukraine wants peace and restoration of its sovereign territory, but Russia wants control of Ukraine and undermines every effort (to get) our sovereign control on Ukraine s border. Ukraine s alternative plan would ban any Russian nationals from taking part in a peacekeeping mission which it wants deployed along the part of its border with Russia which it does not control, an idea Moscow has so far balked at. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6547061,7062,"A mother of three is in a critical condition in hospital after she fell into the path of a van following a row with another woman outside the school gates . Robyn McHale , 28 , was airlifted to hospital after she fell in front of the van outside Forres Primary School in Hoddeson in Hertfordshire . Friends and relatives have claimed that Miss McHale , a former beauty queen , had previously complained she was being bullied outside the school gates . Robyn McHale is in hospital fighting for her life after she fell into the path of a van and suffered head injuries , shortly after being involved in a row with another parent at the gates of Forres Primary School in Hoddesdon Miss McHale suffered head injuries after the accident and was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital on Monday afternoon . Police arrested a 38 year old woman and a 15 year old girl at the scene of the crash but the pair were released without charge last night after officers said they had not committed any crime related to the accident . A family friend of Miss McHale , a former beauty queen , said they were ' shattered ' by the news . They told The Sun : ' She complained that she was being bullied at the school gates and by one woman in particular . When she complained to the school the woman confronted her outside . ' Dean Patient , chief inspector for Broxbourne , said at the time they had been ' aware of a brief exchange between the injured woman and another woman ' . He said : ' This will be an extremely difficult time for the woman ' s family and friends and our thoughts are with them . The former beauty queen fell into the path of a van outside Forres Primary School and suffered head injuries ' An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident was undertaken and this has now been reviewed by detectives from the Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit . ' Following this investigation and review , the two people arrested yesterday , a woman and a teenage girl , will face no further action as there is no evidence to suggest that the two arrested have any criminal liability for what happened . ' The accident took place outside Forres Primary Police said the driver of the van had fully cooperated with inquiries and dispelled rumours that he had failed to stop after the accident . Parents also commented on social media after the incident . Nicole Amber wrote on Facebook : ' Was a fight really worth a child potentially losing a parent ? ' Chloe Chapman posted : ' I can ' t believe what I ' ve herd god bless you and the kids , I really hope you pull through Robyn McHale thinking of you all at this terrible time lots of love . ' Ms McHale was previously Hoddeson ' s carnival queen . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6557070,7071,"Simone Matthews felt a tummy tuck was the ' perfect way ' to mark her 50th birthday With her 50th birthday approaching , Simone Reeves decided that celebrating with a cruise or party wasn ' t going to be enough . Neither was she interested in new clothes or a fancy meal . Instead the grandmother from Kent treated herself to a new stomach . The 4 , 800 operation was , she says , the ultimate 50th birthday treat to herself . Simone , who has three grown up children , is one of a growing number of women said to be marking their milestone birthdays with surgery . And she says the decision to go under the knife just weeks before her 50th was one of the best she has ever made . Explaining her decision she said : ' A tummy tuck was something I had thought about but the time never seemed right . ' Then I was facing a new decade , my circumstances had changed dramatically and it seemed not only the perfect time , but also the perfect way to mark the occasion . ' It was a lot of money to spend on a birthday treat but I felt I deserved it , and because I had divorced and downsized , for the first time in my life I had the money available . ' Now thanks to my operation I have entered my fifties looking and feeling better than ever . ' Entering her forties had been a very different experience for Simone , who found she was increasingly conscious of what she calls her ' jelly belly . ' After giving birth to Ben , now 34 , Candice , 28 , and Nicholas , 27 , by caesarean , she had always been unhappy with the scar . Then aged 41 she underwent a hysterectomy and the additional scarring meant her tummy ' never recovered . ' She explains : ' I was left with an apron of saggy skin that I absolutely hated . I knew no amount of exercise would change it . ' I did my best to hide it in Spanx underwear and always wore shorts over my bikini . I just assumed that at my age it was too late to fix or worth worrying about . ' But that changed when in 2001 Simone separated from her husband Peter after 21 years of marriage . She says : ' Peter was wonderful and had always accepted my body . It was never a problem for him so I tried to not let it be a problem for me . ' But I never expected or imagined that I would be single again at my time in life and couldn ' t even imagine dating again with my stomach as it was . ' Approaching her 50th she decided to take action . She said : ' We ' ve all heard the phrase fabulous at fifty but to be honest I felt anything but . ' So she began researching tummy tucks on line and booked a consultation with Transform : ' I was incredibly nervous but the surgeon put me at ease by explaining in great detail how he would perform the operation . After three children and a hysterectomy Simone ' s stomach was left sagging and throughout her forties the grandmother became more and more conscious of her ' jelly belly ' During her tummy tuck operation surgeons removed 2lb of excess skin leaving it firmer and flatter ' He wasn ' t at all surprised that I was considering surgery as a birthday gift to myself which made me feel better . In March 2012 Simone underwent the procedure allowing 12 weeks recovery time ahead of her big day . During the three hour operation surgeons removed more than 2lb of excess skin from her stomach . She explains : ' When I came round I felt very sore but despite the bandage I could already feel the difference . It just felt so flat . ' It was six weeks before the dressing was removed . ' I was absolutely amazed . There was a thin scar but the apron had gone . I thought my stomach looked wonderful already , ' she says . The 50 year old is delighted with her new look , revealing it to friends and family at her birthday party Over the following weeks she continued to heal and unveiled her new body to family and friends on the evening of her 50th in a figure hugging black dress . She says : ' I would never have been able to wear it before . I felt wonderful and it truly was a fabulous day and I think having the surgery helped me face my fifties with confidence I might never have had . ' Shami Thomas a spokesperson for Transform who arranged her surgery said she had noted a high number of patients having surgery to mark a milestone birthday like Simone . ' For many people surgery is a life long wish and they wait until their 21st , 30th , 40th or 50th birthdays to make it a reality , ' she says : ' On average patients spend 4 , 000 on a procedure , which is a large amount of money so having it done for a birthday can help patients see it as a ' treat ' when they might not usually consider spending money on themselves . ' We see a lot of women having surgery for their 50th birthdays , but most always say they wish they had done it sooner . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6567071,7072,"A donkey is missing her annual nativity show for the first time after being stabbed 12 times by a manic in a night time attack . Cheeky the donkey , who is 22 years old , was due to star in the Christmas show at Greenmeadow Farm in Cwmbran , South Wales , until she was knifed in the night at her farm by a mystery intruder . Police are today hunting the cruel attacker who attacked the 22 year old just days before the nativity show where she would be cheered by children . Cheeky the donkey was due to star in the Christmas show until she was knifed in the night by an intruder Mare Cheeky has been stitched up and will watch the nativity from the wings as she receives treatment for her deep stab wounds . Workers at the community farm in Cwmbran , South Wales , where Cheeky lives are in shock at the senseless violence . Manager Elizabeth Burns said : ' It is abhorrent that someone could do this to an innocent animal especially before the nativity . ' As well as being upset that Cheeky has suffered we are really disturbed . The nativity is going on in Cheeky ' s absence with an unnamed stand in donkey ( pictured ) Cheeky has been stitched up and is receiving treatment for her deep stab wounds ( pictured ) ' Now our focus is on monitoring Cheeky and nursing her back to health . ' It is a shame that we are having to hide Cheeky away while she gets better because her appearance could upset the children who visit the farm at this time of year . ' But the show must go on and all the other animals are performing well without their friend Cheeky . ' Despite sharing a paddock with two other donkeys Cheeky was the only animal injured at Greenmeadow Community Farm . The farm are working closely with Gwent Police who believe the wounds were deliberately inflicted . It has now incorporated regular night patrols and the farm has increased their security . A spokesperson for Gwent Police said : ' We are appealing for information after a donkey was injured . ' The 22 year old donkey , called Cheeky , received 12 puncture wounds to both hind legs , the abdomen and it ' s neck . ' She has received treatment from the vet , is back at the farm and her condition is being monitored . ' Cheeky has always been the star at the annual nativity show but this year has been forced to give it a miss ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6577075,7076,"A ginger tabby cat sneaked inside a shipping container in Egypt before embarking on a mammoth 3 , 000 mile trip to Herefordshire without food and water . The kitten , who has since been named Sinbad , was discovered by puzzled staff at Mediterranean Linens in Moreton on Lugg , Hereford . They heard meows coming from inside the container , which was carrying laundry linen . The was called out to investigate and there they found the exhausted and ravenous eight month old kitten , who had made a bed for himself in one of the boxes . Sinbad the cat survived a 3 , 000 mile and 17 day journey from Egypt to Hereford in a shipping container Sinbad with vet Amy Wheelr ( left ) and inspector Pippa Boyd ( right ) , who was called out by the company to investigate after they heard strange noises coming from the container Laura Quinn , from the , described the case as ' unique ' and said it was incredible Sinbad had survived the 17 day journey . She told MailOnline : ' When we found him , he was really hungry , thirsty and tired but he also looked really friendly and was quite vocal . ' It ' s really unique , we ' ve not had anything like this before . He had travelled quite some way . The linen company were also shocked by what had happened . ' inspector Pippa Boyd , who was called out to the scene , added : ' The company showed me the paperwork . They have to seal the containers and put a tag on there , which they did when the container left . They showed me the paperwork and the tag , and it did all match up . We thought maybe at customs someone might have opened it up , but they didn ' t . ' Once found , Sinbad was taken to the Laurels Veterinary Surgery in Whitecross , Hereford , where he was fed a little at a time . He has now gone into quarantine in Bristol for four months . He will then go to an centre for checks and it is hoped he will then be re homed . This map shows the route taken by Sinbad took , from Alexandria Port in Egypt to Moreton on Lugg , Hereford Sinbad , a ginger tabby , was found in the container where he had made a bed for himself in one of the boxes inspector Pippa Boyd said it was an incredible feat to have survived the 17 days and hard to believe His epic journey began at the Nile Linen group in Alexandria port in Egypt on March 8 . The container got to El Dekheila port on March 9 , Felixstowe in Suffolk on March 24 and then Moreton on Lugg on March 25 . Graham Monteath , 56 , managing director at Mediterranean Linens , said they could not work out what the noise was when the shipping container arrived . He said : ' I have never heard a cat meow like that in my life . I would never have thought that was a cat . ' One of the lads thought it was a baby . I thought it could have been a buzzard trying to get into the warehouse because we do get lots of them around here . ' I just turned round and thought "" good God ' , what is that ? "" Then this cat ' s head popped out of the door . ' We checked the seal and it had not been tampered with . It was very odd . The woman said that she was very surprised how well the cat looked . ' It had scratched open one of the boxes . There was not much of a mess but we did not use any of the linen by that . ' He added : ' I gave him the beef which was for my lunch . He scoffed it . ' So he got some good British food for his first meal on English soil . ' Sinbad , the ginger tabby cat , started his epic journey in Alexandria port in Egypt ( pictured ) on March 8 The container carrying the cat got to El Dekheila port on March 9 , Felixstowe in Suffolk ( pictured ) on March 24 After covering 3 , 000 miles and following his 17 day ordeal without food and water , he arrived at the Mediterranean Linens ( pictured ) in Moreton on Lugg , Hereford The quarantine stay will cost the almost 2 , 000 , so an appeal page has been set up to cover costs . Mediterranean Linens has donated 100 . Donations have also been received from Paragon Laundry Clean Linen Services and Fresh Linen . So far more than 1 , 500 has been raised . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6587103,7104,"Police have released an image of a man in a tweed cap and jacket who they believe , with an Asian woman , helped dupe a 59 year old dementia sufferer out of 10 , 000 in a fake lottery scam A couple conned a man with dementia into handing over 10 , 000 after a woman said she had won the lottery but was unable to claim her prize . The 59 year old man was approached by an Asian woman in Birmingham who told him she had won the jackpot , but was unable to claim it because she was an illegal immigrant . After she asked him for directions they were joined by another man who suggested they could help the woman by buying her ticket . The couple then took the dementia sufferer to get his details and to a bank and watched him withdraw 10 , 000 before driving off . West Midlands Police have released an image of a man they believed helped dupe the 59 year old into emptying his bank account . They said the pair preyed on him because of his vulnerability . The woman had approached the man in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham and told him about the fake win before asking for directions to the nearest solicitors on October 24 . When the second man approached he claimed to have simply overheard their conversation and suggested they give her 10 , 000 in exchange for the supposed winning ticket . The pair then took him to his home in Edgbaston , collected his bank details . They then escorted him to the nearest bank to withdraw the cash . Detective Constable Michelle Hunt said : ' This has left the victim and his family devastated . ' These two suspects have picked on the victim because of his vulnerability . ' They made up the story to deceive him and take advantage of his good nature . ' They have been driven by greed to take these extraordinary steps and steal a large amount of money . ' We are keen to trace the pair and urge anyone who recognises the man captured on , or the descriptions given , to contact us as soon as possible . ' The 59 year old , dressed in a blue headdress , is seen at his home in Edgbaston escorted by the Asian man images show the victim , dressed in a blue head dress at his home . Footage also captured an image of the man who is suspected of helping to dupe him , wearing a light tweed jacket with a distinctive flat cap and dark rimmed glasses . Officers said the conman , who was in his late 40s to 50s and Asian , was around 5ft 7ins tall and was also wearing dark trousers and a pale shirt with a brown tie and black shoes . His partner was described as the same age and height and was wearing traditional Asian female clothing . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6597105,7106,"British space tourists could be blasting off from the ' s own commercial ' spaceport ' in four years ' time under ambitious Government plans being launched this week . And Scotland is the favourite to open up the ' final frontier ' and host the new base provided the Scots do not vote for independence later this year . Six of the eight potential locations to be unveiled on Tuesday are north of the border , The Mail on Sunday understands . Britain ' s first commercial spaceport could be based in any one of these eight locations , and would act as a hub for flights by Sir Richard Branson ' s Virgin Galactic and Space Expeditions At a special event at the Farnborough Air Show this week , Ministers will press ahead with plans to create what they claim will be the first ' commercial ' spaceport outside the . The complex , which could act as a European hub for commercial space flights planned by Sir Richard Branson ' s Virgin Galactic and Space Expeditions , should be up and running by 2018 . That means tourists could be flying into space from the in just four years ' time as long as they can afford tickets which will cost tens of thousands of pounds . The Mail on Sunday has learned that all but two of the possible sites Newquay in Cornwall and Llanbedr airfield in North Wales are in Scotland . They include Kinloss on the Moray Firth , Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis , and Glasgow Prestwick . New figures show that the space industry employs 34 , 000 people and contributes 11billion to economy Sources said the need for the base to be ' remote ' and secure meant there was more chance it would be on a Scottish site . Last night , Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander , for Inverness , talked up the chances of Scotland leading the drive to open up ' the final frontier of commercial space travel ' . He said : ' Scotland has a proud association with space exploration . We celebrated Neil Armstrong ' s Scottish ancestry when he became the first man on the moon and only last week an amazing Scottish company was responsible for building the Space Agency ' s first satellite . ' But sources also privately made clear it was ' highly unlikely ' the spaceport would ever be built in Scotland if it voted for independence in September ' s referendum . One said : ' An independent Scotland would be free to bid for this sort of thing but I doubt it would have the resources to do it . ' No figure for the cost of the new spaceport has yet been given by officials . But the base , which will also act as a launchpad for commercial satellites , could mirror the existing 122million facility in New Mexico , , which boasts 10 , 225 sq metres of hangar space as well as a mission control complex . Last night , officials said the space sector already made a ' remarkable contribution ' to the British economy , with new figures showing it was worth 11billion and employed 34 , 000 people . They unveiled plans for the country to capture 10 per cent of the global space market by 2030 . Business Secretary Vince Cable , who is unveiling the spaceport bid along with the Space Agency , hailed the space sector as a point of pride for Britain . Mr Cable said : ' This week we will announce the next steps for this country ' s space race , outlining how we will take one giant leap towards establishing the first British spaceport by 2018 making the the place for space . ' Last night , Virgin Galactic and welcomed the plan . president Andrew Nelson , whose firm plans to offer space flights at about 58 , 000 a time , said : ' It would be great if we could fly from the . ' Britons are very adventurous you guys have been the first to do many things . ' A spokesman for Virgin Galactic said it was interested in ' operating outside of the at some point ' but was currently ' focused on beginning commercial operations at Spaceport America in New Mexico ' . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present6607130,7131,"When people talk about the cinematic geniuses of the 1980s , one name invariably comes up John Hughes . For young people growing up then and even today , the writer director ' s name conjures up memories of unforgettable films . From "" Sixteen Candles "" ( 1984 ) and "" The Breakfast Club "" ( 1985 ) to "" Pretty in Pink "" ( 1986 ) and "" Ferris Bueller ' s Day Off "" ( 1986 ) , Hughes was responsible for a series of films that openly and honestly explored the exhilaration and tumultuousness of adolescence . It ' s been nearly three decades since those movies arrived in theaters , but audiences still watch and enjoy them as if they were made yesterday . However , despite the love audiences have shown for his work , Hughes was never nominated for an Academy Award . Hughes isn ' t alone in being an outstanding filmmaker whose features about people under 30 were overlooked during awards season . It ' s unfortunate but undeniable that award shows and the Oscars in particular have a history of ignoring great movies made for and about young people . In 2013 alone , several such films received raves from critics , earning spots on "" best of "" lists . "" The Kings of Summer "" and "" The Way , Way Back "" scored approval ratings of 76 and 85 of critics , respectively , on RottenTomatoesweblink , while "" The Spectacular Now , "" written by the duo behind 2009 ' s underappreciated "" ( 500 ) Days of Summer , "" earned the approval of 92 of critics . "" Short Term 12 "" received a 99 approval on Rotten Tomatoes , a higher ranking than any of this year ' s best picture nominees . "" Spring Breakers , "" starring James Franco and Selena Gomez , may have divided some moviegoers , but the film was also lauded for its provocative depiction of disaffected youth . And it ' s not for nothing that "" The Hunger Games : Catching Fire "" was the top grossing film of 2013 . Yet not one of these movies earned a single Oscar nomination . Meanwhile , "" The Wolf of Wall Street which secured a 77 approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes received five Academy Award nods , including ones for best picture and best adapted screenplay . 2014 Oscars nominees list That ' s not to say that "" Wolf "" didn ' t deserve recognition , but these other movies focused on characters in the early stages of adulthood . From three teenage boys running away from home to build a house in "" The Kings of Summer "" to a couple in their 20s managing a treatment facility for troubled children in "" Short Term 12 , "" these films were about young people finding their way a seeming disadvantage in the academy ' s eyes . In an e mail interview , Dana Polan , a professor of cinema studies at New York University ' s Tisch School of the Arts , noted that "" Hollywood associates youth with escapist entertainment . ( There ) is the assumption here ( no doubt , a biased one ) that to be important , a theme has to be adult and mature , and youth films just don ' t make it . "" Over the years , there have been some exceptions to this rule . For example , "" Rebel Without a Cause "" ( 1955 ) received three Oscar nominations , and "" American Graffiti "" ( 1973 ) grabbed five nods though both films ultimately walked away empty handed . "" Juno , "" the 2007 comedy about a pregnant high schooler ( Ellen Page ) , was nominated for four Oscars , including best picture and best director . The film took home the award for best original screenplay a win that one could argue had more to do with the quirkiness of Diablo Cody ' s script than the subject matter itself . Film critic Nell Minow ( the Movie Mom ) also observed that "" Oscar voters skew older . "" "" They are more interested in stories about grown ups and more likely to have relationships with actors and filmmakers who are 30 and older , "" Minow said via e mail . That may be part of the reason why movies such as "" The Perks of Being a Wallflower , "" which delighted critics with one of 2012 ' s best scripts and stellar performances from Logan Lerman and Emma Watson also didn ' t receive any recognition from the academy . Such snubs seem particularly egregious , partly because the academy often blatantly attempts to appeal to a younger demographic . In 2011 , the Oscars chose James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts in hopes of attracting younger viewers . The plan failed , with the ratings dipping and the duo receiving poor reviews . The intention may have been a noble one , but perhaps a better idea would have been for the academy to begin honoring movies that speak to what it ' s like to be a young person today . "" The Youth , "" a song performed by on "" The Kings of Summer "" soundtrack , speaks of the transition between adolescence and adulthood . It includes the following lyrics : The youth is starting to change . Are you starting to change ? ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6617160,7161,"A Colorado man is accused of using an Army medical kit to remove a transgender woman’s testicles. [James Lowell Pennington, 57, who does not have a license to practice medicine in Colorado, was arrested Thursday and charged with felony reckless aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, the Denver Post reported. Police called Pennington in for an interview, which he agreed to after the victim was taken to a hospital for excessive bleeding. Pennington told investigators that he willingly performed the procedure at the victim’s apartment in Denver, reported. Detectives said he used an Army surgical kit that contained a scalpel, lidocaine, medical dressing, and other medical equipment. According to a record of the interview, the suspect “used the scalpel and surgically disconnected and removed the victim’s two testicles and then sutured the opening back up. ” The victim’s wife was with the victim throughout the procedure. Pennington allegedly told them to call 911 if any problems occurred after the procedure. The victim’s wife told police she called 911 after a large amount of blood poured out from the wound when she was changing his dressing. Paramedics called the police. Doctors could not reattach the testicles because of the time that passed between the procedure and the 911 call. The victim suffered serious injuries that run the risk of “permanent disfigurement,” according to the affidavit. Police say Pennington is a licensed pilot, not a medical professional in Colorado.",true,news,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6627163,7164,"Huddersfield chairman Dean Hoyle passed up the opportunity to sign Rickie Lambert for just 750 , 000 in 2009 as his age ' didn ' t represent good value for money ' . The England international was a target for Huddersfield in 2008 09 before he joined Southampton from Bristol Rovers , which led to a 4million return to his boyhood club Liverpool this summer . Although the 32 year old is almost certain to be part of England ' s World Cup squad , Hoyle decided not to pursue the club ' s interest in Lambert at the time . : Scroll down to watch Lambert ' s first interview as a Liverpool player No regrets ? Huddersfield turned down the chance to sign Rickie Lambert for just 750 , 000 in 2009 Oops ! Dean Hoyles didn ' t sign Lambert from Bristol Rovers because he wasn ' t ' good value for money ' Speaking to the Huddersfield Examiner on July 7 , 2009 , Hoyle said : ' A move for Rickie Lambert is a no no . ' No disrespect to a very good player , but it ' s a simple matter of economics . Any deal would cost a minimum of 750 , 000 plus add ons for a player who is 27 and who would want a three year contract . ' Even if he scored 30 goals a season for those three years , by the time the contract is at an end , the player would be 30 , and therefore there would be little or no resale value . Red alert ! Lambert has since completed a 4million move to his boyhood club Liverpool ' That means that even before meeting wage demands , the signing would cost 5 , 000 a week , and this club cannot do that kind of business . ' If Rickie Lambert was 22 or 23 , it would be a different matter , but he ' s not and suggestions that we will sign him are nonsense . ' The Huddersfield chairman may regret those words after seeing Lambert complete his dream move to Liverpool where he will be challenging for the Premier League title while playing in the Champions League next season . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6637168,7169,"Salida , Colorado A rodeo cowboy with a bum shoulder , a middle aged woman who has trouble sleeping and a handful of snowboarders are all crowded around a shiny aluminum trailer on a sunny winter day . Some clutch X rays , others look around nervously hoping a neighbor won ' t spot them as they wait in line for a medical marijuana prescription . If this all seems a little weird , you probably don ' t live in Colorado , where medical marijuana is the new normal . State sanctioned marijuana dispensaries now outnumber Starbucks in Colorado . But outside Denver and Boulder , few doctors are comfortable dealing with medical marijuana . Now , residents in rural Colorado towns like Salida can see a doctor who are willing to prescribe medical marijuana aboard two shiny aluminum vintage airstream trailers , which have been converted into mobile doctors ' offices . The trailers criss cross the state , providing exams for new patients and access to medical marijuana for those deemed eligible . It ' s all part of the Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America , the brainchild of Vincent Palazzotto , a 37 year old entrepreneur . "" The doctors are the gatekeepers to make sure the patients have access to the medicine , "" he said . "" We want to be sure no patient is left behind and it starts with the rural communities . "" A doctor must first examine would be patients and , if the physician signs off , the state of Colorado will issue a card allowing these patients to buy marijuana from dispensaries around the state . An exam costs 100 , but Palazzotto said he operates on a sliding scale for patients who can ' t afford to pay the full price . "" Right now our doctors will see 10 of our patients for free and we can provide a 30 to 50 discount to disabled veterans as well as other folks in need in programs like Medicaid and Medicare , "" said Palazzotto . David Faulk , a 52 year old tree cutter , is one of those waiting in line to see if he qualifies for a prescription . He says the ibuprofen he ' s been using to treat his chronic pain just isn ' t enough . "" I just hope to deaden the pain and help my quality of life , "" he said . The mobile clinic has saved him a 300 mile round trip drive to Denver , the nearest place where he could find a doctor willing to write a recommendation for medical marijuana . Ten years ago , Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment allowing for the medical use of marijuana , but it remains against federal law . Two years ago , the Obama administration signaled that it would no longer go after medical marijuana in states that have legalized it . So , like a modern day gold rush , hundreds of marijuana dispensaries have sprung up in storefronts across the state . Once vacant warehouses now house elaborate growing operations . Medical marijuana is Colorado ' s ' green rush ' Millions of dollars in taxes have been collected and more than 115 , 000 people have received medical marijuana cards . As the industry grows , Palazzotto a former real estate property manager said he "" felt like the patient was being lost in all this . "" That sentiment was echoed by Dr Margaret Gedde , one of the doctors with the Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America who is seeing patients in Salida . She now works exclusively with medical marijuana patients . After just a year of writing medical marijuana recommendations , she already has 1 , 500 patients . "" In the last couple of years or so I became aware of what was happening with medical marijuana in Colorado and I looked at marijuana as a medication and was very surprised at how beneficial it was , "" she said . But moving into this new industry has been risky for established doctors . They face the potential of being shunned in the medical community and many fear running afoul of federal law . "" It ' s been very difficult talking about it , "" Gedde said . "" I don ' t think my parents even know , so there is a stigma . But I did make a decision that it was important to talk about this so patients have access . "" She believes the situation is changing quickly , and soon she thinks medical marijuana will be widely accepted across the country . "" In Colorado it ' s much more accepted and people are learning the benefits . So many people either have a family member or a friend or have heard about it or themselves have a card so there ' s more understanding here . "" Gedde says marijuana is particularly effective at dealing with chronic pain for patients like Faulk . After asking him a series of questions about his pain and examining his , she approves him . He is eager to try some marijuana , and may even try to grown his own . The tree cutter says hopes the drug will "" help me get through my labor everyday with a little less pain and maybe sleep a little better at night . "" "" Can ' t hurt , "" he says , as he climbs back into his battered pickup truck and drives off . ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present6647172,7173,"Videos Tensions Rise As Pipeline Construction Nears #NoDAPL Blockade The Oceti Sakowin tribe declared eminent domain on land bought by Dakota Access and set up their new winter camp in the direct path of the pipeline on 1851 treaty land. | October 27, 2016 Be Sociable, Share! Oceti Sakowin, – On Sunday, October 23rd , water protectors extended camp beyond the overflow site, just north of the Standing Rock reservation, to the pipeline easement line. The Oceti Sakowin declared eminent domain on land bought by Dakota Access and set up their new winter camp in the direct path of the pipeline on 1851 treaty land. As the encampment was formed, two blockades were created, one on county road 146 and one north of the new winter camp on Highway 1806. We spoke to various blockaders who stated their goal was to ensure safety of the water protectors as they prepared their camps for winter. The video below contains interviews with various water protectors at the multiple blockades and camps. The following day, after the new winter camp was established, a no-fly zone was declared by law enforcement. informed Unicorn Riot that ""only response aircraft in support of law enforcement"" can fly in no-fly zone weblink #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/nZuNKtbFrb This no-fly zone was created, according to the Morton County Sheriff, to ground all drones being flown by water protectors and journalists. The Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) notice on the FAA’s website lists the North Dakota Tactical Operations Center as responsible for issuing the . On October 26th, 2016, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, and various other agencies working alongside them, erected a concrete blockade just two miles north of the frontline #NoDAPL blockade. The new law enforcement blockade is currently manned by sheriff’s deputies armed with automatic rifles. We reported live from the frontline as water protectors gathered near the blockades expecting a raid on the camps by police, military and private security assets. All day, patrol planes and helicopters flew low over the water protectors, while private security vehicles gathered on the hills west of the frontline camp. This yellow helicopter has been flying low over #NoDAPL water protectors for months- & seems to be exempt from new no-fly zone. pic.twitter.com/xPuq9bNneI — Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 27, 2016 Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, who has been acting as “Director of Operations” for Morton County Sheriff, came to the new winter camp today with representatives from the National Guard and asked people to leave the new site and return to the main camp, Forum News Service reports. “We’re here telling you this is private property and you have to leave,” Laney told camp coordinator Mekasi Camp-Horinek. “We don’t want a confrontation. Please stand your people down and go back to the main camp.” Mekasi pointed at the road – “our no surrender line,” he said – and then back at the frontline camp standing in the way of the four-state, $3.8 billion oil pipeline – their “no retreat” line. “That’s your final word?” Laney asked. “That’s my final word,” Camp-Horinek said, walking away. Pipeline construction is less than half a mile from Highway 1806 and we can verify that machines can be heard working from the new frontline camp. Law enforcement in trucks & security in dune buggies watching Oceti Sakowin front line camp from hills maybe 200 yards away. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/NuqlC94gVd — Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 26, 2016 This work (including header image) by Unicorn Riot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License.",fake,news,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past6657174,7175,"Seattle In an exclusive interview with the Hollywood Inquirer , Kurt Cobain ' s ex wife , Courtney Love , claimed that the frontman of Nirvana did not commit suicide , but was murdered by the because of his "" anti establishment political views "" . In an interview with the prestigious Californian tabloid , the well known actress and musician made some surprising comments concerning the death of her ex husband . Ms . Love explains that she had always known that her husband was being followed and tracked by the . She adds that , for many years , she had believed that the stress caused by the secret service ' s constant harassment had pushed him to commit suicide . "" When the Nevermind album came out , Kurt was rapidly hailed as "" the spokesman of a generation "" and he gained tremendous influence , "" she said . "" He was almost immediately approached by the Freemasons , the Illuminatis and other secret societies as well as the and other agencies , because all of them wanted to recruit him . Kurt wanted nothing to do with any of them and he told them to go to hell . That ' s when they began to seriously harass him . They followed him everywhere , made creepy phone calls in the middle of the night It made Kurt very nervous , and he began carrying a gun and using more and more drugs to cope with the stress . I had always thought that he had reached a point where he was no longer able to take it and had decided to kill himself . "" Some new evidence , which surfaced over the last few months , finally convinced her that he had not killed himself after all , but had actually been murdered by the American government . "" After the police released some new pictures of the crime scene in April , I began receiving a lot of letters , emails and phone calls from Kurt ' s fans , "" quotes the magazine . "" Among all the fan mail , I received some classified files emanating from the . I don ' t know who sent them , but I know they are legitimate . They clearly prove that Kurt was being spied upon , and they designate him as a "" target to be eliminated "" . I know they killed him , and I will prove it ! "" Courtney Love has defended , for many years , the conclusions of the original police investigation , but is now convinced that her husband was assassinated . On April 8 , 1994 , Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle , the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self inflicted shotgun wound to the head . The circumstances of his death at age 27 , have become a lasting topic of public fascination and debate . Over the years , several theories have arisen , presenting various alternate explanations for his death , but this is the first time that Ms Love herself , shows support to any for these theories . According to her , the had already tried to eliminate Mr Cobain in Rome a few months earlier , nearly killing him . They would have then hired a professional killer , who shot him and disguised the crime as a suicide . "" The had already tried to poison Kurt in March 1994 , while he was in Italy , "" she claimed . "" The press had reported that he was suffering from an overdose induced coma , but he was actually a victim of strychnine poisoning . Kurt refused to make the information public because he was afraid for me and Frances . The papers ta I received , prove that the was behind the poisoning . The government had been trying to kill him for months , and I think they finally got him . Kurt was murdered , and the is behind it ! "" This surprising new claim from Ms . Love has little chance of leading to a new police investigation on the death of her ex husband , since she has refused for the moment , to publish the files on which her theory is based . Her accusations have already generated an impressive number of reactions on the social media , however . The interview was viewed so many times over the last two days , that the website of the Hollywood Inquirer has suffered some technical difficulties and was periodically unavailable this morning . ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past6667181,7182,"There are no words for these selfish sub-humans Here are a couple of profiles from Twitter of the people tweeting about being ignored because of Nice terror tragedy. They have both made their Twitter accounts private:We found this sweet self-described Georgia Peach listed as a Fashion Contributor at company calledweblink Feel free to send a message to her boss on their Facebook page. Click for link.Here s another pathetic Twitter user: @_nehoda_ who whined about the attention victims of the Nice terror attack were taking from the movement. She s lists herself as living in London, but calls Egypt the motherland ?? Hmmm How does a Muslim woman living in London get hooked up with terrorists in US?And then there s the other Muslim living in London who s a bit more brash with his tweets: Don't #PrayForNice we are fighting a civil war against whites. # Andre Johnson (@LarryKingfisher) July 15, 2016Here are a few replies to Omar s tweet:Here are a few of this Muslim punk s remarks threatening a caliphate and boasting about how the Muslims have already won the war against the West:Here s real bright guy who s got nothing better to do than take to Twitter complaining about the plight of black people on the day after a major terror attack that killed over 80 people. Never mind that people just lost their husbands, wives, children, kids, friends, relatives or co-workers.Some white people die in Europe and now the media can ignore the plight of black people being exterminated #blacklivesmatter #NiceAttack Bob Schmidt (@bobschmidt857) July 15, 2016We tryna rise up for equality n somehow a 'muslim' attacks people? #BlackLivesMatter #FakeShit #NiceAttack Daye Hazit (@YurBoyDW) July 15, 2016The real tragedy about the #NiceAttack is that it takes the spotlight away from #BlackLivesMatter TheAltRightProfessor (@NationalistProf) July 14, 2016And finally this guy nails it:Nice job with #BlackLivesMatter Nothing makes people want to support you like whining about ""getting the limelight stolen"" by #NiceAttack Pink Snow kitty (@HugoThePinkCat) July 15, 2016",fake,dataset,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present6677188,7189,"Justin Bieber has said God spoke to him and encouraged him to turn his life around . Photo Justin Bieber vowed to change his life after God spoke to him . The 21 year old singer who previously hit the headlines for his wild partying , arrests for motoring offences and egging a neighbour ' s house was feeling "" pretty lost "" and though he isn ' t "" super religious "" , his faith inspired him to take things in a different direction . ? Art and Matilda take on Shaun and Kayla He said : "" I am not going to go into detail of what I was doing and where I was at , but I was pretty lost and woke up one day and felt like God was telling me something . "" I ' m not super religious or anything but I just heard a voice and was like , ' You know what ? I ' m going to change my life around . I ' m going to switch up some things and put some stuff together ' . "" I called my manager Scooter and said , ' We need to fix it ' . "" The Sorry hitmaker who is dating model Hailey Baldwin still enjoys drinking and having a good time and doesn ' t think that is at odds with his religious beliefs . Speaking on radio programme The Bert Show , he said : "" We ' ve going and celebrating all the time , getting drinks . I am 21 now so I can go out with my friends and be responsible and still have a good time . "" What ' s weird is I am a Christian , I am a believer , and often people are too conservative and I don ' t think it ' s wrong . "" I ' m stumbling over my words right now because I don ' t want to offend anybody , but I believe you can go and have a good time , get some drinks and enjoy yourself and can be with girls . "" I don ' t think you need to be serious about it . "" Loving God is a separate thing . But I don ' t think you have to love God and not be able to go out and enjoy yourself . "" As long as it ' s not provocative or intense or mean or evil . If you are living life based on loving God then just keep that in mind . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6687189,7190,"Much of the burden will fall on third baseman and captain David Wright when it comes to getting the team refocused and ready to play in Game 2 , but even he fully realizes the magnitude of the opportunity that slipped away , according to Carig . "" We were one hit away , one play away from winning that game , "" Wright said . While the Mets would undoubtedly rather be in Kansas City ' s position , they can hang their hats on the fact that they outplayed the Royals for a large portion of Game 1 . In addition to that , they look to have a significant advantage on the hill in Game 2 with deGrom going up against the unpredictable Johnny Cueto . Provided deGrom maintains his current form , New York has a great chance to even things up Wednesday night . Perhaps no team in Major League Baseball is more difficult to put away than the Royals due to their relentlessness at the plate , and that much was clear Tuesday , as they refused to go down regardless of how dire the circumstances looked . Although they jumped on New York early by virtue of shortstop Alcides Escobar ' s inside the park home run in the first inning , they spent much of the rest of the game playing catch up . Third baseman Mike Moustakas was among those who came through with a huge , clutch hit , as he tied things up with an single in the sixth before even more chaos and unpredictability ensued . Moose was part of last year ' s team that fell to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series , and he is using that defeat as fuel in the 2015 World Series , according to Bob Nightengale of ? Today : The only team people remember are the champions . That ' s what made it so tough last year . When you ' re 90 feet of tying that game and lose , it ' s a tough one to swallow . It ' s going to stick with you for a long time , no matter what . ? Now that we ' re back to the World Series , the only way to get rid of that feeling is to go out and finish the deal . ? Kansas City certainly has the attitude needed to succeed in the World Series , but it will need more than that to overcome the electric pitching of deGrom in Game 2 . The Royals came out on top in Game 1 despite being at a perceived starting pitching disadvantage with Edinson Volquez against Matt Harvey . However , the gap may be even wider in Game 2 due to Cueto ' s volatility . He has a 7 . 88 in the playoffs as opposed to deGrom ' s 1 . 80 , but he is also a player who won 20 games last season and has stuff capable of taking over games . Because of Cueto ' s ceiling , Royals manager Ned Yost feels comfortable sending him out there for Wednesday ' s Game 2 , per ? , via ? ESPNweblink . "" I feel like he ' s pitched great games here . He really draws on the energy of our fans . And again , I felt like you try to put everybody in a position where they can be successful , "" Yost said . "" He more than anybody else really draws that energy from our fans . We just felt it was the best move . "" The Royals have far more margin for error than the Mets do Wednesday , but they would still be wise to approach the game with a must win mindset due to the implications involved with taking a 2 0 series lead . It is understandable why the Royals are underdogs considering deGrom ' s recent dominance , but has been defying odds for the past two seasons , and it would not be at all surprising to see it do so again in Game 2 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past6697198,7199,"It s not . Eight Celtics finished in double figures in a 105 100 victory over Chicago on Wednesday . The Warriors take on the Celtics and their genius young coach , Brad Stevens , this Friday in the sixth game of a seven game road trip . : 7 : 30 p . m . , Bay Area ( Golden State ) , New England ( Boston ) : The line and total for this game are now off the board . The way they ve started , the energy from which they play is incredible heck of a challenge nobody s conquered it yet . The Golden State Warriors are going for their 28th straight regular season win when they face the Boston Celtics on Friday night . Being constantly poked and prodded by aggressive journalists looking to be the one to finally get the scoop on what keeps the Warriors winning has to become brain numbing after a while . Well now the Warriors will be without one half of their backcourt , as Thompson will be out against the Celtics on Friday night . The time off could serve the Warriors and Thompson some good , especially after back to back nights against Boston and Milwaukee . The Celtics are playing decent basketball these days . He had a little bit of pain with some of the movements . The Boston Celtics have won four straight home games . He has been a starter 11 times this season , but has put forth almost the same production whether he is in the first five ( 8 . 3 points , 6 . 3 rebounds , 55 . 6 percent shooting ) or coming off the bench ( 8 . 7 points , 6 . 5 rebounds , 57 . 7 percent shooting ) . Then came the Warriors , who had the final ingredient to make it all come together : Steph Curry . The Celtics may not have Stephen Curry , but they do have Isaiah Thomas , and he can flat out ball . While there are many who can score the ball from 3 point range and make plays out of the post , few have the ability to not only initiate a fast break by handling the ball up court , but also have the court vision to finish it off with an assist . He is also shooting 87 percent from the free throw line . I don t have a problem with it . At least we can relate on something , right ? This man has done a tremendous job so far and should get more recognition . If Thompson can not play against the Celtics , it is unclear who would start in his place . Just knowing any given night you don t know who s going to be that guy , that s the strength of this team . We think we can wear out other teams , Ezeli said . Obviously one of the best teams I ve ever seen ? certainly that I ve ever coached against , Stevens said . The Warriors should head into this game with caution . Bbut instead of dwelling on a shortened offseason , or letting the fact that Steve Kerr was not strolling the sidelines create an escape clause that allowed them to lose focus and stumble out the starting blocks , they have come together in pursuit of one common goal ? winning that second ring . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present6707211,7212,"A blond girl found in Greece whose birth parents were traced to a Bulgarian Roma village will be cared for by a foster family when she ' s returned to Bulgaria , the government ' s social services agency said Maria , as the girl was known by the Roma couple with whom she was living in central Greece , was at the center of an international mystery after police discovered her . tests eventually showed that Saska Ruseva and her husband , Atanas Rusev , were her biological parents . Maria , now being cared for by Greek children ' s charity Smile of a Child , will instead be cared for by a foster family . The parents and their nine children have been living in poverty in a tumbledown , one room mud brick house in the village of Nikolaevo , in central Bulgaria . Bulgaria ' s State Child Protection Agency has yet to say exactly when and how the girl will be brought from Greece , he said . Her interactions with her birth family will be determined by who is named as her legal guardian , he said . The Agency for Social Assistance is also taking action to care for the Bulgarian parents ' seven underage children . The two youngest , ages 2 and 3 , will stay with one foster family , said Todorov . Two other children will stay with another foster family , and a 15 year old will stay with family members . The remaining two , ages 8 and 12 , will be staying at a specialized institution , because no appropriate foster families are available to take them in , he said . Working with the parents The placement of the children in foster care is only a temporary stage , Todorov said . The goal is to give the parents the chance to improve their living conditions in which case they can be reunited with their children . Social services will help the parents find a job , he said . "" We have to work with both parents , so that they can expand their parental potential , "" said Todorov . While the children are in foster care , social workers will encourage frequent meetings with their parents , so that the family maintains its emotional connection , he said . "" We don ' t take away the children , "" he said . "" We count on the collaboration by the whole family to cope with this difficult situation . "" The Agency for Social Assistance said it had determined the parents had another child too , who was "" abandoned by her parents and raised by a family in another city . "" Bulgarian police are investigating the Rusevs on suspicion they sold Maria for illegal adoption . A Greek Roma couple Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulo who were found looking after the girl are in custody , charged with kidnapping . Daughter given away , says mother Ruseva says she was so thin she did not realize she was pregnant with Maria . "" I didn ' t know I was pregnant . I didn ' t even have a belly , "" she said . Maria whom Ruseva originally named Stanka was born in a hospital in the Greek town of Lamia , about 70 kilometers ( 44 miles ) from Farsala and the Roma camp where she was discovered this month . Ruseva said she cared for Maria for seven months while her husband worked in poorly paying odd jobs , picking fruit and vegetables . They often slept in the streets or nearby olive groves , as they had so little money . Then one day , when they took a job picking oranges , a woman offered to take care of their daughter and they gave her to the woman because they couldn ' t care for her themselves , Ruseva said . She denies selling the baby , saying she loves her and wants her back . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6717222,7223,"Inside La Liga : Zinedine Zidane savours Real Madrid victory Real Madrid s first galactico coach got off to a flying start in Saturday s 5 0 win over Deportivo La Coruna at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu . But it seems clear that incoming boss Zinedine Zidane understands the serious work is just beginning . Almost a decade after his last game as a Madrid player , Zidane s first as coach brought a straightforward home victory to bring cheer to what had become a very gloomy stadium during recent months under Rafa Benitez . Once Karim Benzema opened the scoring after 15 minutes , with the opposition appealing for offside , Madrid were always in control . Gareth Bale soon made it 2 0 , and later completed a hat trick . Benzema completed the rout late on and fans and pundits went home happy . The Frenchman had an immediate effect on his debut , wrote Jose Samano in El Pais . Real Madrid was liberated ? everyone , its fans and its players . Zidane clearly wants to have this impact . Previously almost monk like in public , he spent his first week in charge smiling at press conferences , making training more fun for the players , and telling fans what they wanted to hear . The shape of the side did not change much against Depor , but the players looked freed from Benitez s controlling hand . Local favourites Isco and Dani Carvajal returned to the starting side , while the previously underused James Rodriguez and Jese got runs as second half substitutes . There was a good atmosphere from the first minute , Zidane said . The players attitude was good . Nothing has changed for them , all that has changed is the coach . This was the first game , we must see what happens now . But the idea is to play good football and win games . The fans today were happy . He will know that beating a smaller team at home is not really the issue though ? Rayo Vallecano , Getafe , and Malmo were hockeyed at the Bernabeu recently even as Benitez headed towards an inevitable early exit . That tends to happen when one of your galactico forwards costs many times more than the entire opposition squad . Zidane s first big challenge appeared to be with Bale , who was rumoured to be upset at losing his dressing room ally Benitez . But the Welshman looked fine against Depor , scoring his second La Liga hat trick of the season , and embracing his new boss when substituted late on . Cristiano Ronaldo had a more frustrating evening . While everyone else was enjoying themselves , the Portuguese had 10 shots on goal without seriously troubling Depor keeper German Lux . Ronaldo s nemesis Lionel Messi also scored a hat trick in Barcelona s 4 0 win over Granada earlier on Saturday . This evening he will watch on as Messi retakes the Ballon D Or crown in Zurich . During the week , Zidane called Ronaldo the soul of Madridismo , and unlike Benitez he knows the sensitive , soon to turn 31 year old needs careful handling . He knows firsthand all about being a fading galactico , unable to reach former heights while the team around him suffers . His own past as player did not count any more , Zidane said this week , knowing he would be judged on results . And the situation is not so bad ? Madrid remain right in the running in La Liga ahead of six very winnable domestic games , before next month s Champions League last 16 tie against crisis hit Roma . Chasing down Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will require an upturn in form , but Zidane seems well aware of this . What I most liked tonight was the attitude of the players , he said on Saturday . From there we must improve in many things . We have time for that . We will improve , I am convinced of that . Although bigger tests lie ahead , Zidane s first week in charge has gone very well . ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6727227,7228,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 | 9 every Wednesday. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Randy J of 21Wire, Daniel Spaulding from Soul of the East and Jay Dyer ofweblink. Tonight the Boiler Gang discusses the Clinton results, legislature s war against the people on behalf of a tyrannical government gone mad and whatever else floats into our air space during the show! A ZONE! ENJOY! Reference Links:",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present6737230,7231,"Illegitimate Stock Markets Back Hillary By Daily Bell Staff - November 01, 2016 The Stock Market Has a Favorite in the Election … On the evening of Sept. 26, two interesting things happened. First, Hillary Clinton won a decisive debate victory over Donald Trump in the first presidential debate, as judged by prediction markets (and later, by polls). Second, financial markets abruptly experienced large, abnormal swings. Economists Justin Wolfers and Eric Zitzewitz have documented this extraordinary convergence in a new paper, titled “What do financial markets think of the 2016 election?” – Bloomberg This Bloomberg article actually questions conclusions regarding stock market support for Hillary, but adds: “So Wolfers and Zitzewitz make a strong case.” Indeed the study has attracted a lot of attention, though one of the reasons is obviously because it is a pro-Hillary study and apt to be picked up by the mainstream media. The larger question, of course, is why equity markets would find an anti-freedom, pro-war candidate attractive. More: The most likely explanation is that financial markets think a Clinton victory would be good for the economy …. We saw some of the opposite happen when stock markets plunged on Friday, immediately after an announcement by Director James Comey that the agency was reviewing new evidence in a probe related to its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state. Why would markets not like Trump? Well, it’s pretty obvious. Trump’s mercurial temperament, unconventional ideas and lack of governing experience would create large doubts about the direction of all sorts of government policy — just the sort of thing that makes investors uneasy. This really doesn’t make much sense. On almost every front, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s actions over decades have been inimical to freedom. If investing and trade thrive in free-market environments, then markets should not reflect a pro-Clinton bias. The reason that markets are pro-Clinton is probably because markets – especially stock markets – are not expressions of free markets. That sounds strange because stock markets, especially, are seen as expressions of capitalism. Of course “capitalism” is not necessarily an appropriate nomenclature but that’s an article for another day. The point is that corporations and the stocks that offer investment opportunities are not necessarily any more legitimate than central banks. Neither corporations nor central banks are “normal” expressions of a free-market system. Central banks fix the price and value of “money” via interest rate manipulation. This price fixing has the force of law. If you don’t obey – or agree – you can end up in prison. Corporations are artificial entities that the founders of the greatly feared. (See here and here ). Before the Civil War corporations were almost non-existent. Corporations are also the outcome of government force. They are in existence because of intellectual property laws, corporate personhood, monopoly central banking and regulations that prop them up. Without significant government support, modern corporations would not exist and neither would their “stocks.” The titanic nature of modern corporations is the outcome of government manipulation. The “investment” opportunities presented by such quasi-government monopolies would not be viable in a normal free-market environment. People simply don’t realize how distorted modern economies are. They are entirely artificial creations, dependent on state-enforced central banking and industrial monopolies. And this is why “stock markets” prefer the Clintons in this election cycle. It’s because large industries depend on government to sustain their artificial competitive advantages. One can certainly speculate what a real free-market would look like within the context of stock markets. Probably such markets would be a good deal smaller and oriented toward a select clientele rather than a mass audience of “investors.” Most people would make their living in the trades or in others ways that were directly in demand. Societies would probably be more agrarian-based – as they used to be. Savings would gradually appreciate in value as technology brought down the price of goods and services on a regular basis. The stampeding of savers into stock markets is surely an unnatural occurrence. It has been promoted because those who control stock markets and their corporations want people to feel that their net worth is tied up in the current system. Ironically, this system does not provide much wealth to the average individual. Most people in the West are relatively impoverished and times are growing more difficult not less so. Middle classes seem to be shrinking rather than expanding. Conclusion: Many people in the West and certainly in the would be glad to see real entrepreneurism flourish in the context of companies aligned with a fully competitive marketplace. Stocks and stock markets would still exist of course, but they would reflect a bias toward freedom rather than fascism.",fake,news,test,US elections,Economy,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past6747239,7240,"Texas Senator Ted Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump during his speaking slot at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, and the hall at the Quicken Loans Arena descended into chaos soon after.While Cruz congratulated Trump on winning the primary, he declined to directly endorse the Republican nominee. Instead, he told voters to vote their conscience, and the advice was not well received. The crowd loudly booed Cruz as he finished his speech then walked off the stage.Crowd boos @tedcruz as he declines to endorse @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/nqLaVey8mp (@politico) July 21, 2016Video surfaced of former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, part of the Never Trump movement, escorting Cruz s wife Heidi off the convention floor as Trump supporters yelled insults at her.Angry Ken Cuccinelli escorting Heidi Cruz out as Trump supporters yell at her pic.twitter.com/G6USuhoSx2 Graham Moomaw (@gmoomaw) July 21, 2016Trump and Cruz have had an acrimonious relationship for months as they were the final two viable candidates in the Republican Primary. Cruz and his campaign often out-maneuvered the incompetent Trump team in its fights for delegates, while Trump used the unusual tactic of re-posting a tweet that attacked Cruz s wife Heidi for her looks.Trump took to calling Cruz Lyin Ted and the two men verbally battled with each other for weeks trading insults and attacks.In response to Cruz s non-endorsement, Trump insiders called him classless according to Fox News.It is widely believed that Cruz is setting himself up to run for president in 2020 after a likely loss by Trump in this year s elections. While he is unpopular with the Republican establishment who has often criticized him for his outrageous statements and Senate stunts like filibusters that helped to shut the government down, Cruz is popular with the so-called religious right, who calls him one of their own. His opposition to issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as his strident opposition to diplomacy in the Middle East, helped him win the Iowa Caucus earlier in the year.Featured image via Twitter",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past6757259,7260,"A four year old girl has died following an E . coli infection and her five year old friend has suffered kidney failure after they shared a turkey sandwich . Serena Faith Profitt passed away in Doernbecher Children ' s Hospital in Portland , Oregon on Monday and doctors have since confirmed that she tested positive for E . coli . Brad Sutton , who remains hospitalized at Mary Bridge Children ' s Hospital in Tacoma , Washington , suffered kidney failure , which is also associated with E . coli , Q13Fox reported . Their devastated families said they believe they fell ill after sharing a turkey sandwich at Roadhouse 18 Bar and Grill in Otis because it was the only thing the children ate and no one else tasted it . Tragedy : Serena Faith Profitt , four , passed away on Monday after becoming infected with E . coli last week Battle : Brad Sutton also became infected after they shared a sandwich and remains in hospital , right The restaurant ' s owner told that county health inspectors are investigating the restaurant . Oregon Public Health Division are also investigating the cause . The children shared the snack at the start of Labor Day weekend and two days later , both started complaining of abdominal pains and fevers , The Oregonian reported . They then started passing bloody diarrhea . On Wednesday , Serena ' s parents took her to the , but doctors found nothing alarming so sent her home and told her parents to keep her hydrated but she got worse . On Saturday , her parents took her to hospital and physicians sent her to Doernbecher Children ' s Hospital , where she was immediately put on dialysis . Scene : The children had shared a turkey sandwich at the Roadhouse 18 Bar and Grill in Otis , Oregon on Labor Day weekend and both fell ill two days later . Authorities are now investigating the restaurant Questions : Brad ' s mother Elizabeth , pictured with him in hospital , believes the food was to blame Just as she showed signs of improving , she suffered a stroke on Sunday , her uncle told The Oregonian . An scan revealed she had suffered brain damage . ' It attacked her nervous system , ' the uncle , Travis Hargitt , said . ' Then it moved to her brain . ' Doctors declared her brain dead on Monday morning , and she passed away at 9pm . Serena ' s parents also lost their first child at birth . They have one other child , a two year old daughter . Their relatives , who described Serena as a book lover and a great singer , have set up a GoFundMe page to help them pay the hospital bills . Loved : Four year old Serena was remembered as a smart , joyful little girl who loved books and singing ' She ' s the most vibrant young girl ever she ' s just sweet , loving and so amazing , so smart , just a heart that is of gold , ' her aunt , Aleahsa Hargitt , told . Brad Sutton is stable but doctors have said there is a risk of a stroke or seizures . Now the families are hoping to find what inflicted such terror on their children ' s bodies . ' I know in my heart it ' s what they ate because everyone else is just fine , ' Brad ' s mother Elizabeth Sutton told The Oregonian . E . coli normally lives in the intestines of healthy people and animals and most varieties are harmless or cause brief diarrhea . But a few particularly nasty strains , including E . coli O157 : H7 , can cause severe abdominal cramps , bloody diarrhea and vomiting , according to the Mayo Clinic . Foods at high risk of carrying E . coli include under cooked meat especially beef spinach , lettuce , sprouts , raw milk and unpasteurized cider . It can also be passed on contact and some major cases have occurred among children who visited petting zoos . In other incidents , it has been passed in rural waters tainted by human or animal feces . If the water has no disinfecting system and children swim in it , they can become infected . A few days after exposure to the bacteria , the patient may suffer from diarrhea which is sometimes bloody abdominal cramping and vomiting . Healthy adults usually recover within a week after being infected by E . coli O157 : H7 , but children and older adults can develop a kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome . There is no treatment to cure the symptoms and doctors mostly recommend rest and for the patient to fight against dehydration and fatigue . A serious E . coli infection that leads to hospitalization may require fluids , blood transfusions and dialysis . Complications from E . coli O157 : H7 have killed 20 people in Oregon where Serena passed away since 1992 , The Oregonian reported . The last child killed by the strain was in 2010 . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6767261,7262,"Reuters) - The collapse of Islamic State s self-proclaimed caliphate has not diminished the militant group s ability to inspire attacks on Western targets via the internet, U.S. national security officials told senators on Wednesday. The Sunni Muslim extremist group has been building its external operations over the past two years and has claimed or been linked to at least 20 attacks against Western interests since January, said Lora Shiao, acting director of intelligence at the National Counterterrorism Center. Unfortunately, we don t see loss of territory translating into a corresponding reduction in its inability to inspire attacks, she told a U.S. Senate committee. capacity to reach sympathizers around the world through its robust social media capability is unprecedented and gives the group access to large numbers of HVEs, Shiao said, using the government s acronym for homegrown violent extremists. The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State estimated on Tuesday that fewer than 3,000 fighters belonging to the hardline Sunni militant group remain in Iraq and Syria, where they declared a caliphate in 2014. was driven out of Raqqa, the Syrian city it called its capital, in October, prompting President Donald Trump to say the end of the caliphate is in sight. Yet the elimination of the physical caliphate does not mark the end of or other global terrorist organizations, said Mark Mitchell, acting assistant defense secretary for special operations/low-intensity conflict. As loses territory it will become more reliant on virtual connections, he said, and continue to inspire stray dog attacks by vulnerable people. Senators questioned the security officials about U.S. efforts to fight online recruitment of potential extremists. This is the new caliphate - in cyberspace, said Ron Johnson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The experts described an evolving threat including ability to adapt its narrative after territorial losses to portray the struggle as a long-term process. The internet is the primary tool for radicalization and no group has been more successful than in drawing people into its message, said Nikki Floris, deputy assistant director for counterterrorism at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a possible reference to Trump s use of Twitter, Democratic Senator Kamala Harris asked Floris, Has the examined the role that social media posts or videos from our own government officials affect the online recruitment tactics used by ISIS? The answer was no. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6777263,7264,"A Somali terror leader implored his fellow countryman in California to send money ' to finance jihad , "" triggering a chain of events that ended with four convictions . U . S . government agents recorded dozens of such calls a few years ago , according to the Department of Justice . And on Friday , a jury found four Somali nationals guilty of supporting terrorism in their native country . The verdict came after prosecutors played the recordings to jurors in a San Diego federal court during weeks of trial . The four , who included an imam and a cab driver , had raised 10 , 000 and wired it to the Islamist terrorist group Al Shabaab , according to the original indictment . Cab driver Basaaly Saeed Moalin had many phone conversations with former Al Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayrow , before a U . S . missile strike ended the latter ' s life in May 2008 . Investigators from the , Homeland Security and a San Diego anti terror agency recorded dozens of them . Federal prosecutors filed charges in November 2011 . The group pleaded not guilty . But the recordings convinced the jurors otherwise . Read the case file ( pdf ) The money wasn ' t coming fast enough for Ayrow , who implored Moalin in at least one recorded call to hurry it up . "" You are running late with the stuff , "" Ayrow told him . "" Send some , and something will happen . "" Ayrow pushed the cab driver to get his local imam to come up with some funds . Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud ran the City Heights mosque in San Diego , which many in the Somali community attended . Together with a second cab driver , Ahmed Nasiri Taalil Mohamud , and an employee at a money transfer company , Issa Doreh , they raised the cash and wired it to Al Shabaab , the Justice Department said . It wasn ' t the only favor Moalin did for the terror group . Moalin had kept a house in Somalia ' s capital Mogadishu , one of the world ' s most embattled cities at the time . He offered to let the terrorists use it , the Department of Justice said . "" After you bury your stuff deep in the ground , you would , then , plant trees on top , "" Moalin told Ayrow in a recorded conversation . Prosecutors argued he was "" offering a place to hide weapons . "" For months , they talked about "" bullets , bombing and Jihad , "" said U . S . Attorney Laura E . Duffy . After hearing the recordings , the jury no longer bought the defendants ' explanation that they "" were actually conversations about their charitable efforts for orphans and schools , "" she said . Sentencing is scheduled for May 16 . Al Shabaab is one of about 50 groups that have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations . The Islamist extremists have been waging a war against Somalia ' s government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law , or sharia . In recent years , Somali and African Union troops , who have received funding from the U . S . government , have won many battles against the terror group , pushing it back to a handful of strongholds . For more than 20 years , Somalia did not have a stable government , and fighting between the rebels and government troops added to the impoverished east African nation ' s humanitarian crisis . In January , the United States granted official recognition to the Somali government in Mogadishu . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6787271,7272,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed a record surge in the stock market on Thursday, a day after the Dow blasted through the 21,000 mark for the first time after his speech to Congress. “Since November 8th, Election Day, the Stock Market has posted $3.2 trillion in and consumer confidence is at a 15 year high. Jobs!” the Republican president wrote on Twitter. In an address to Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said he wanted to boost the U.S. economy with a “massive” tax relief and make a $1 trillion push on infrastructure, bets that have helped Wall Street scale fresh records since the election. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present6797287,7288,"She has admitted , much to her irritation , that she is better known for ' getting her kit off ' than her award winning performances on screen and stage . But it seems Dame Helen Mirren just can ' t help herself . Nigel Cole , director of the film Calendar Girls in which the actress had a starring role , revealed he had to force her to put her robe back on after shooting her scene because she revelled in strutting around in her birthday suit . Dame Helen , who stripped for the calendar , admitted in the past : ' I ' m famous for getting my kit off in England . ' Cole said : ' The actors were very supportive of each other : a bottle of champagne would be waiting whenever anyone finished their nude scene . ' They were all women in their 50s and 60s and were thrilled by roles that recognised their sensuality . ' After one nude shoot , I recall having to tell Helen Mirren to put her robe back on three or four times . ' The 2003 film , based on the true story of Yorkshire Women ' s Institute members who disrobe for a charity calendar , was a box office hit and earned Dame Helen , now 69 , a Golden Globe nomination . Performing alongside Dame Helen in the film was Celia Imrie , 62 , who has admitted , unlike the Oscar winning Queen star , she struggled with stripping off but Dame Helen led the way . ' I can ' t bear taking my clothes off . I have never been a pretty young thing and stripping off is far more daring when you don ' t have a figure to die for . ' But I love a challenge and there was never any question of us wearing flesh coloured coverings . That would have been a cheat . ' The real life calendar girls taught all of us in the cast not to take ourselves too seriously and Helen , who was used to disrobing for the camera , led us on . Celia Imrie said : ' I can ' t bear taking my clothes off . ' ' I was the first . I had first night style nerves beforehand but , given that my character was supposed to be nervous , the anxiety actually helped . ' And the rest of the cast made a big fuss of me afterwards in my dressing room , where they ' d set out champagne and Twiglets . ' Littered with scenes of tasteful nudity , Cole confesses he struggled to know where to look during filming : ' However strategically we placed vegetables , bits kept showing through and we ' d have to reshoot . ' Even after we ' d cut the film , there were things popping out that shouldn ' t have been and a young man from digital remastering had to spend four weeks removing the private parts . Although the nude scenes only took a week , it felt like a year . ' The more you know you shouldn ' t look , the more you want to , and I noticed the film crew keeping very busy , working far harder than they normally do because they didn ' t want to be caught gazing . ' It was a challenge as a director having to confront veteran actors who were completely naked . I ' ve never made so much eye contact in my life . I ' d offered to strip , so we were all in it together . ' That might have made it easier for me , but the offer was declined . ' In Cole ' s opinion , the film broke the mould for middle aged actresses but it did not go down well with many male actors at the time . In his interview with the Guardian , he said : ' It was rare for a film to focus on middle aged women and not just show them as mothers or aunties . Director Nigel Cole has confessed he struggled to know where to look during the filming for Calendar Girls ' But this made it harder to cast the male parts : several actors disliked the idea of being subsidiary to women . ' Also , it was the era of Billy Elliot and The Full Monty , and I was keen to make a film about northern England that was not about poverty and deprivation . ' I remember waiting at Skipton station to be collected by Helen Mirren ' s real life counterpart . Every time a battered old Ford came along , I thought that must be her . ' Then a black roared up blaring rock music and there she was at the wheel . It brought home to me how guilty we all are of stereotyping . ' When interviewed several years ago about her penchant for nudity , Dame Helen , who is married to director Taylor Hackford , said : ' I ' m famous for getting my kit off in England . It did used to get to me but I just kind of ignore it I ' m still doing it ! stripping off ' Dame Helen has appeared naked in at least nine films during her illustrious career : 1969 ' s Age of Consent , 1972 ' s Savage Messiah , then O Lucky Man ! , Calligula , Hussy , Excalbur , the Cook , The Thief , His Wife And Her Lover , Calendar Girls and Love Ranch . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past6807289,7290,"It should be time to celebrate key milestones in the fight against and . Recently , the United Nations announced that new infections and related deaths fell to their lowest levels since the epidemic ' s peak . Today , 6 . 6 million people in low and middle income countries are on life saving antiretroviral therapy , and people with are living longer . These gains are significant . But because of the shortsightedness of many wealthy countries , we are once again at risk of losing an opportunity to contain and control this deadly epidemic . The announcement by the Joint United Nations Programme on ( ) of these gains was quickly followed by much more sobering news . The Global Fund to Fight , Tuberculosis and Malaria the main financier of programs around the world reported deep funding shortfalls as Western countries shrink or skip their promised Global Fund payments . The Global Fund is freezing expenditures for existing treatment programs and removing hundreds of millions in funding for new programs . The result ? Fewer people on treatment , more , more , more orphans , more misery , more death . The world has been on the cusp of a promising new era in combating before . At the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles , Scotland , the globe ' s most powerful economies committed to fund universal access to prevention , treatment and care by 2010 . The global community fell short by half . Because of that , there were millions of new preventable infections , with widespread morbidity and mortality and massive economic and social costs . Tragically , the pandemic continued to expand . Earlier this year , at the U . N . , the same players renewed their pledge to fund universal access by 2015 . Yet we now hear news of shrinking resources in the face of massive need . Let ' s be clear the United States is a leader in funding the fight against . Since then President George W . Bush ' s Emergency Plan for Relief ( ) launched in 2003 , U . S . support has provided millions of infected people with access to antiretroviral therapy . Today , the U . Sweblinkmitment remains strong , through the Obama administration ' s National Strategy in America and Global Health Initiative , and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ' s recent call for an free generation . Clinton ' s goal hinges on a handful of key initiatives , including the immediate expansion of a program known as "" treatment as prevention "" and a corresponding increase in funding for the Global Fund . Treatment as prevention , which calls for widespread testing for and treatment for those testing positive , was pioneered at the Centre for Excellence in in British Columbia , Canada . Effective treatment of a person living with puts the virus into virtual long term remission and dramatically reduces its transmission , preventing further infections . Leading global health organizations such as the International Society , and the Clinton Foundation support the expansion of "" treatment as prevention "" programs worldwide , calling the preventive benefit of treatment a "" game changer "" in the fight against . Further compelling evidence that treatment as prevention works was provided by a U . S . clinical trial ( HPTN052 ) in May 2011 . It found that immediate antiretroviral treatment of an infected person whose partner does not have reduced related morbidity and mortality in the infected partner by 41 and decreased transmission to the sexual partner by 96 . Together , these results were instrumental in persuading the international community to renew the universal access pledge . says that 12 . 2 million new infections and 7 . 4 million related deaths could be averted between 2011 and 2020 if funding is scaled up to 24 billion annually by 2015 . The dollars required are considerable , but considering that the G8 pledged 40 billion virtually on the spot for the Arab Spring fully affordable . Funding universal access is not just a moral and ethical obligation it is also highly cost effective . China gets it . The world ' s most populous country is implementing a national treatment as prevention strategy to help China meet its goal of bringing and under control by 2015 . Under its program , China conducted nearly 67 million tests in the first 10 months of this year . The global effort to combat cannot afford further delays , as the magnitude and impact of the pandemic grow relentlessly . Today , 34 million people live with and 7 . 6 million people require treatment . We continue to play catch up . For every one person who starts treatment , two become infected with . It is time to fully fund the Global Fund , so we can meet the universal access pledge and realize the goal of an free generation . Millions of lives depend on it . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julio Montaner . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6817299,7300,"Abidjan , Ivory Coast The broadcast antennae for Ivory Coast ' s state news agency was targeted Saturday night by youths loyal to President elect Alassane Ouattara , according to his representative to South Africa . Mallet also accused Gbagbo ' s armed youth league , known as the Young Patriots , along with armed forces loyal to Gbagbo , of committing "" gross human rights violations "" over the past week and a half during fighting that has left the commercial capital , Abidjan , in an increasingly lawless situation . People have been burned alive or gunned down in public because they are supporters of Ouattara , Mallet said . In November , both incumbent Gbagbo and challenger Ouattara claimed victory in the presidential election run off . An independent electoral commission declared Ouattara the winner , but Gbagbo has refused to step aside . Mallet said other rights abuses include using heavy artillery and rocket launched grenades against protesters , the destruction of mosques , denial of medical care for Ouattara loyalists and the use of rape and sexual assault as a tactic . Gbagbo is also tracking down Ouattara backers on social networks and chat rooms , Mallet said . The Young Patriots are run by Charles Ble Goude , Gbagbo ' s minister of youth . On Friday , he called on Gbagbo supporters to impede the movement of United Nations forces around the country "" by any means . "" There have also been clashes between Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters in the central cities , Yamoussoukro and Daoukro , in addition to ongoing fighting in Abidjan . But Ouattara loyalists have secured the border with Liberia to keep mercenaries out of the country , Mallet said . They have intercepted several groups trying to bring weapons including rocket launchers into the country , according to Mallet . Violence escalated sharply over the last week , after four African heads of state left Abidjan . They were given a mandate by the African Union to find a "" binding solution "" to the post election crisis in Ivory Coast . Ouattara is holed up in the Golf hotel in Abidjan under the protection of U . N . peacekeepers . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6827311,7312,"Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was dismayed about violence and divisiveness on the U.S. presidential campaign trail and, in a reference to Republican front-runner Donald Trump, called on leaders to clean up the tone of the race. “We have heard vulgar and divisive rhetoric aimed at women and minorities, at Americans who don’t look like us or pray like us or vote like we do,” Obama said during an event on Capitol Hill. “We’ve seen misguided attempts to shut down that speech. However offensive it may be, we live in a country where free speech is one of the most important rights that we hold. In response to those attempts, we’ve seen actual violence. And we’ve heard silence from too many of our leaders.” Obama spoke as Americans in five states - Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina - voted in the latest round of primaries to select the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates for the November election. Trump has drawn wide criticism, including from within the Republican establishment, for a campaign that has included calling Mexican immigrants rapists and proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. There have been some clashes in recent days at his rallies between his supporters and protesters. Trump, a New York real estate magnate, has dismissed accusations that he has fueled the violent atmosphere. Obama said this year’s campaign cycle was not an accurate reflection of the United States. “It has to stop,” the Democratic president said, describing the atmosphere of the campaign as “vicious,” and adding that the behavior “can undermine our democracy, our society and even our economy.” Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, told reporters that Trump had called him on Tuesday. “I took the opportunity to recommend to him that no matter who may be triggering these violent expressions or conflicts that we’ve seen in some of these rallies, it might be a good idea to condemn that and discourage it,” McConnell said. He declined to comment on Trump’s response. U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich are challenging Trump for the nomination. “I suspect that all of us can recall some intemperate words that we regret. Certainly I can,” Obama said. “And while some may be more to blame than others for the current climate, all of us are responsible for reversing it.” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6837314,7315,Baffling the worst terrorist attack in history and you d think American college students would have a clue about why we were attacked. ,fake,dataset,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present6847326,7327,"Most of us with 401 ( k ) plans watched in horror , as our retirement savings plummeted in the stock market crash of 2008 . That year , the average 401 ( k ) balance dropped by a third , forcing older Americans to delay retirement or cut back on spending . Since then , as the market rebounded , some of our savings have recovered in fits and starts . The crash showed one serious downside to 401 ( k ) s : their complete exposure to the wild swings of the market . But what you may not realize is that even when the stock market is zooming ahead , hidden fees take an unacceptably high share of your investment return . If your immediate response is , "" Oh , I know how much my 401 ( k ) is costing me , "" then you ' re one of small numbers of Americans who ' s in the know . According to a recent survey , 71 of people with 401 ( k ) s didn ' t even know they were paying fees for their retirement accounts . So how much do these fees really cost you ? The answer may shock you . Fees can , on average , reduce your 401 ( k ) balance by up to 30 , regardless of whether you have 1 or 1 million in your retirement account . You may wonder is 30 a big deal ? Yes . Let ' s look at a hypothetical model of say , an average two earner household where the combined earnings is between 50 , 000 and 70 , 000 a year over the course of 40 years ( from ages 25 to 65 ) . This couple , unlike most Americans , consistently saves between 5 to 9 of their salaries each year and puts that money into a 401 ( k ) account , gradually increasing their yearly contribution over time . And atypically , they never have to withdraw from this account . They invest their 401 ( k ) account equally in a stock mutual fund and a bond mutual fund , each of which charges average market fees . For such a household , 401 ( k ) fees will cost 155 , 000 over a lifetime , which leaves the couple with about 350 , 000 in 401 ( k ) income at retirement . This may sound like a large amount , but if the couple spends this nest egg at the 4 annual rate recommended by financial advisers , they will have a mere 14 , 000 yearly supplement to their Social Security benefits not exactly a king ' s ransom . However , 350 , 000 is by far more than what most Americans save . According to the Federal Reserve ' s Survey of Consumer Finances , the average household approaching retirement has only 100 , 000 in total retirement savings among all of their accounts . What are these fees , then , that are taking such a big bite out of your retirement account ? There are four kinds : administrative fees , marketing fees ( sometimes called 12 b1 fees ) , investment management fees and trading costs . The first three types of fees are shown , as an aggregate total , in each mutual fund ' s expense ratio , and are generally reported in your 401 ( k ) ' s "" summary documents "" as a percentage of assets . For example , if you had 50 , 000 invested in a mutual fund that has an expense ratio of 1 , it means that you pay 1 , or 500 , of the total balance you have invested in the fund in fees . This 1 is charged each year regardless of the mutual fund ' s performance . However , the expense ratio does not include the last type of fee trading costs . Despite this omission , rest assured that you are indeed paying this fee as well . Trading costs are pretty complex , but the best way to understand them is to know simply that they rise the more often a mutual fund buys and sells its assets , i . e . , the more it is being "" actively managed . "" If you knew that 30 of your retirement savings are chipped off , you would probably be outraged . It seems like a steep price to pay for investment management , doesn ' t it ? But the investment industry disagrees , arguing that such costs are justified because mutual fund expenses are regulated by the competition of the free market , and what consumers are paying is simply the cost of doing business . The problem with this argument is that it ' s not true . Index funds , for example , have often outperformed actively managed mutual funds while charging a small fraction of the fees . But investing more in index funds will not come close to fixing the broken , expensive 401 ( k ) system . There ' s no way around it : the mutual fund system we have can ' t be fixed , and must be replaced . Why ? Because everything about the 401 ( k ) is too individualized : investment management , risk and fees . We need a new type of retirement account that is somewhere between a traditional pension and a 401 ( k ) that combines some of the best features of each . To minimize the excessive risks of the stock market and keep down investment management costs , we can invest the funds from all the individual retirement accounts as a pool , mirroring the way that the assets of a traditional pension fund are invested . Pooling maximizes returns for all participants by allowing managers to invest in a more diversified portfolio and over a longer investment horizon . The government should administer these retirement accounts , making sure that everyone can participate and the pools are as large as possible . However , investment management can and should be bid out to private companies to foster competition . This is one proposal . It ' s worth exploring . Far too many Americans are paying unnecessary high fees for precious savings meant for retirement . We can ' t let that continue . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6857335,7336,"EWweblink ) The writer James Dickey once described a poet as ' ' someone who stands outside in the rain , hoping to be struck by lightning . ' ' He could ' ve been talking about Taylor Swift . When the Dean of Tween isn ' t inviting guys to meet her in the pouring rain , she ' s courting danger any other way she can , just for the drama of it all . Her new album is called "" Red "" as in red light or red alert and it finds her singing about walking directly into traffic , wading into quicksand , and flirting with the kinds of jerks Kanye West might toast to . ' ' You look like bad news , ' ' she purrs on ' ' 22 . ' ' ' ' I gotta have you . ' ' One gets the feeling that it ' s not this guy ' s love she ' s after . She ' s just using him for the breakup songs . This time around , it ' s getting harder to feel sorry for Swift . Whether she ' s plucking her mandolin , belting out U2 inspired arena rock , or harmonizing with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol or Ed Sheeran , she never sounds happier than when she ' s getting dumped hard enough to justify a good revenge anthem . The quotable Taylor Swift Luckily , she ' s recruited the world ' s greatest boy shaming pop team Max Martin , the Swede behind Kelly Clarkson ' s ' ' Since U Been Gone ' ' and Pink ' s ' ' So What , ' ' and his partner Shellback to produce three of her best tell offs yet . The smash ' ' We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together ' ' is such a sublime explosion of Euro pop glee , robots will still pillow fight to it in 2035 . And between the dubstep lite chorus of ' ' I Knew You Were Trouble ' ' and gooey sweet synths of ' ' 22 , ' ' Red should be required listening at the Camp for Girls , if such a thing existed . ( In Swift ' s polka dot world , it totally would . ) ' ' 22 ' ' also shows how savvy Swift is about uniting guy haters of all ages . After enlisting her girlfriends to ' ' make fun of our exes , ' ' she invites them to dance ' ' like we ' re 22 . ' ' She is 22 , but this song belongs just as much to the preteens and power moms who pretend to be that age . At times , Swift sounds too eager to ify her own life . ' ' Starlight ' ' seems to nod to her recent Kennedy wedding crasher scandal ( ' ' We snuck into a yacht club party Pretending to be a duchess and a prince ' ' ) . And ' ' Treacherous ' ' is nearly 17 . ( When she sighs , ' ' I ' ll do anything you say , if you say it with your hands , ' ' it ' s safe to assume she ' s not dating an interpreter . ) But the dishiest track is also one of the best . Over plaintive acoustic strumming , ' ' All Too Well ' ' recalls a trip to meet an old boyfriend ' s family ( Thanksgiving with the Gyllenhaals , perhaps ? ) , and goes into heartbreaking detail about nights spent singing to the radio or flipping through photos of her ex as a ' ' little kid with glasses in a twin size bed . ' ' She leaves her scarf at his sister ' s place , and he keeps it long after they ' ve split , which makes you wonder . "" Red "" might be about flirting with danger , but who ' s risking more here : Swift , or the guy whose baby photos are now public domain ? For him , it ' s not such a fair trade . He walks away with a scarf . And she gets the rights to the memory . B See the original article at EWweblink to Try 2 issues of Entertainment Weekly 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc . All rights reserved . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present6867347,7348,"Russian convicted in Taliban attack gets life in prison A former Russian military tank commander who was convicted of leading an attack on U . S . forces in Afghanistan was sentenced Thursday to life in prison . Before the judge handed down his sentence , Irek Hamidullin railed against the U . S presence in Afghanistan and accused the government of targeting him in order to send a message to the Russians . "" You accuse me of terrorism . That is a lie . I am doing what Jesus Christ told us to do , "" said Hamidullin , who appeared pale and thin as he was brought into the federal court in Richmond in a wheelchair . Hamidullin has said he ' s on a hunger strike , but hasn ' t been refusing food completely , a deputy U . S . marshal told The Associated Press last month . The 55 year old spoke in Russian through a translator and became animated at times , pointing at the judge and slamming his hands on the table throughout a rambling , 15 minute speech before the court . "" I do not acknowledge your law . I do not acknowledge this court . I despise it , "" he said . A federal jury in August found Hamidullin guilty of all 15 counts of terror related charges , including providing material support to terrorism , attempting to destroy U . S . aircraft and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction . His attorneys said Thursday that they plan to appeal . Unlike the hundreds of other cases involving terror suspects in the U . S . since the Sept . 11 , 2001 attacks , Hamidullin was a combatant captured on the battlefield , not a financier , recruiter or schemer arrested outside the theater of war . That raised questions about whether he should be considered a prisoner of war , and prosecuted by a military tribunal instead of a civilian court . The judge ultimately allowed the case to move forward , arguing that that Hamidullin wasn ' t a lawful combatant because the Taliban and its affiliated groups lack a clearly defined command structure and don ' t adhere to the laws and customs of war . Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a life sentence , citing the need to protect the public . Hamidullin told agents that as long as Americans forces remained in Afghanistan , "" if he met them or other Americans on the street , he would be obligated by his religion to kill them , "" prosecutors said in court documents . Assistant U . S . Attorney James Gillis told the judge he believed the harshest sentence could also potentially deter future attacks by terrorist groups . "" American justice came swiftly in this case and the world watched this , "" Gillis said . Hamidullin ' s attorneys argued for a 30 year term with supervised release , which they called a "" defacto life sentence "" for the man . They noted that Hamidullin cooperated with investigators and didn ' t target civilians or kill any American troops . They also argued that he didn ' t commit an act of terrorism , but a "" lawful act of war . "" Defense attorney Paul Gill dismissed the notion that a life sentence would serve as deterrence , saying that Taliban attacks in Afghanistan have continued , and perhaps even intensified , since Hamidullin was captured and prosecuted . "" This person ' s prosecution has done nothing to the Taliban ' s resolve , "" he said . Hamidullin is a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who stayed in the country and joined the Haqqani Network , a Taliban affiliated militant group , U . S . officials said . He allegedly led three groups of insurgents in a 2009 attack on Afghan border police in Khost province . When U . S . helicopters responded to the attack , the insurgents tried to fire at them with anti aircraft weapons , which malfunctioned , prosecutors say . The insurgents were virtually wiped out , while the coalition forces sustained no casualties . This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Khost province . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6877362,7363,"Manchester United have finally received some positive injury news after Marouane Fellaini returned to full training and Ander Herrera expressed his determination to be back in action within a fortnight . Fellaini and Herrera are among 10 United players who have been sidelined through injury since the beginning of the season , severely hindering the start of Louis van Gaal ' s Old Trafford reign . The Belgium midfielder has been sidelined for the last five weeks since suffering ligament damage in his left ankle in training after playing in the opening game against Swansea . Marouane Fellaini has returned to full training after recovering from an ankle injury The 27 . 5million signing from Everton has resumed training with the first team squad at Carrington this week although it appears unlikely that he will be ready to face his old club at Old Trafford on Sunday . Fellaini predicted that he would be back at the end of September when he spoke last week about his determination to make a success of his move to United . ' I have known difficult moments like last season , but you become a stronger player afterwards , ' said the Belgian . ' I have confidence in myself and in my game again . New signing Ander Herrera is determined to recover from his rib injury within a fortnight Ander Herrera picked up his rib injury during Manchester United ' s win over West Ham ' I played a good World Cup and I was also good during pre season . It is unfortunate that this injury has thrown a spanner in the works , but at the end of the month I will be back . ' Herrera fractured a rib in his back in Saturday ' s win over West Ham and was expected to be out of action for up to a month . United ' s 29m summer signing from Athletic Bilbao is believed to have caught a knee in the back from an opponent in the first half and played on until the 74th minute . The club offered him the opportunity to have a break while he recovers , but Herrera has made it clear that he can be fit to play again in two weeks after the forthcoming international break . Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has had to deal with a growing list of injuries so far this season Darren Fletcher is set to replace Herrera against Everton while Juan Mata is expected to be recalled in place of the suspended Wayne Rooney . There was more promising news from Van Gaal as it emerged that Michael Carrick and Phil Jones are running outside again , although they are not ready to rejoin the main first team group . Carrick has yet to play this season after undergoing ankle surgery in July and Jones suffered a hamstring strain in England ' s win over Switzerland three weeks ago . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6887374,7375,"The last weekend in February ended with another four killed and 10 wounded in Chicago. The tally puts the death toll well ahead of the end of the second month last year. [Over a chilly Chicago again had several incidents with multiple shooting victims per attack with one of those incidents ending with two killed. Two men were killed early on Saturday morning during an incident in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood. At about 1 two men in hoodies opened fire on a group of people attending a house party in the 6500 block of South Drexel. A man took a slug to the head and a man was hit in the chest. Both died soon after, according to the Chicago . A list of others wounded during the weekend includes a girl shot in the backside. She is in stable condition. Thus far this year Chicago has already seen 98 people shot and killed with a total of 512 shot. Another five murders by other means brings the total killed in Chicago to 103. Even as February, being one of the coldest months in Chicago, usually has one of the lower shooting tallies, the number of victims and deaths wracked up in the Windy City has already exceeded that of 2016, a year that ended with more shootings than any year in decades. By the end of February last year 189 had been shot in Chicago compared to this year’s 201 total shooting victims. With 72 shot in 2014 and 75 shot in 2015, that is a 152 percent rise year over year. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.",true,news,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past6897380,7381,"In an ongoing effort to promote nudism , the U . S . Army has forbidden a soldier from reading books by conservative authors while he is in uniform . Corporal ( formerly Master Sergeant ) Nathan Sommers , who has served "" with honor but without distinction "" for a quarter of a century , sees the order as being but another means of persecuting him for having an anti Obama bumper sticker on his military issued V . However , his commanding officer says he ' s just enforcing the Pentagon ' s new "" politically correct "" Approved Reading List . An outspoken conservative Christian , Sommers also opposes gay marriage , abortion on demand , open borders , compulsory nudity , and other policies that are near and dear to his commander in chief ' s own values . The only two interests that he and the president share , Sommers said , is their fondness for music . "" I love classical , and he Obama is a fan of hip hop and rap . "" A member of the U . S . Army band , Sommers plays the bugle , and he "" caught flack for that , too , "" when he was the soloist "" as in the only band member there at the funeral of alcoholic and First Lady Betty Ford . A conservative political group had requested "" full military honors , "" Sommers said , "" but the groups ' request was denied on the grounds that her husband ' s presidency had been "" too conservative to warrant a 21 gun salute or any other military honors . "" When Sommers played taps , anyway , he was demoted to corporal . In addition , more recently , Sommers has been ordered not to read books by such conservative authors as Bill O ' Reilly , Mark Levin , David Limbaugh , or Sean Hannity while he is in uniform . "" I can read about homosexuals , infanticide , illegal immigration , and even nudism while in uniform , "" Sommers said , "" but , to read O ' Reilly , Levin , Limbaugh , or Hannity , I have to be stark naked . "" Forced nudity , he said , is one of the techniques of "" enhanced interrogation "" that the military uses , he said , to "" strip away one ' s identity . "" During the presidential election , he was also commanded to remove bumper stickers from his V . The stickers read , "" NoBama "" and "" Political Dissent Is Not Racism . "" He has since discovered that , in the U . S . Army , it ' s "" Yes , Sir , Mr President ! "" and that political dissent ' ' is ' ' most definitely racism . However , Barak Obama and Joe Biden supporters among the troops were allowed to display anti Romney and anti Ryan bumper stickers that read , "" I Wouldn ' t Wipe My Ass With Romney "" and "" Ryan Can Kiss My Ass . "" Since Sommer ' s political views were "" out of step , "" they created a "" hostile working environment , "" his superior officers maintained , whereas the anti Romney and anti Ryan sentiments were "" boosts to morale . "" After Sommers hired an attorney who brought his client ' s plight to the attention of Bill O ' Reilly , Mark Levin , David Limbaugh , and Sean Hannity , the Army released the following statement : "" The soldier in question was never prohibited , and shall not be prohibited , from affixing political bumper stickers to his private parts and may read in uniform whenever he likes when he is not on duty , provided that his choice of reading materials is limited to books by sanctioned writers such as Molly Ivins , Mark Crispin Miller , Bill Moyers , Jim Hightower , or Harry Reid . Nudity is required only during full body cavity searches for contraband such as has already been identified to the soldier . "" ",satire,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past6907386,7387,"Although many people think of a heart attack as a painful , sometimes fatal event , there are some heart attacks that go entirely unnoticed . Some people may have had heart attacks without knowing it , studies show . Undiagnosed , or "" silent , "" heart attacks affect nearly 200 , 000 people in the United States annually . As many as 40 to 60 percent of all heart attacks are unrecognized , studies show . By definition , a heart attack usually happens when a clot gets in the way of blood flow from a coronary artery to the heart . This may cause symptoms such as severe chest pain , shortness of breath , fainting and nausea . Anyone who believes that he or she is having a heart attack should seek emergency medical attention . But sometimes a heart attack is not painful , or the person experiencing it does not recognize the symptoms as heart related , so he or she does not go to a hospital for treatment . A new study from Duke University Medical Center shows that these silent heart attacks may occur more frequently than physicians thought . Even if a heart attack occurred in the distant past , it may still leave a signature called a Q wave on an electrocardiogram . But there are silent heart attacks that do not have associated Q waves . Researchers used a relatively new technique called delayed enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance and then followed up with patients after about two years . The study was done on 185 patients who had never had a diagnosed heart attack but were suspected of having coronary artery disease . The researchers found that 35 percent of patients had evidence of a heart attack and that silent heart attacks without Q waves were three times more common than those that had Q waves . Patients with non Q wave silent heart attacks also had 11 times higher risk of death from any cause and a 17 fold risk of death from heart problems compared with patients without any heart damage . But experts do not recommend that people generally be screened for silent heart attacks unless they have other heart related problems . "" Currently , there has not been a study that has demonstrated that early identification and therapy changes how patients with unrecognized heart attacks do in the future , "" said Dr Han Kim , a cardiologist at Duke University and lead author of the study . "" If you don ' t know when an actual event occurred , it becomes difficult to prescribe therapy . "" Although the study was done on a relatively small sample of people at risk of coronary artery disease , meaning the results may not apply to the general population , other cardiologists say the study has merit in adding to the knowledge of silent heart attacks . "" Ultimately , we ' re going to need trials to really establish what treatment works and what doesn ' t , "" said Dr Eric Schelbert , a cardiologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who was not involved in the study . Treatment for someone who has had a silent heart attack is usually the same for someone who came to the hospital immediately after a heart attack , Kim said . This may include beta blockers , statin drugs , aspirin or other medications , Schelbert said . Schelbert said he has seen plenty of patients who have had silent heart attacks in fact , he has treated some of his own colleagues who have experienced them . "" It ' s an incredibly important thing that the physician scientist community needs to explore further , "" he said . Researchers noted that patients with non Q wave silent heart attacks were also generally older and were more likely to have diabetes . There needs to be more of a focus on prevention among these risk groups , said Dr David Wiener , a cardiologist at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , who was not involved in the study . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6917400,7401,"A further two French suicide attackers have been identified , police said , while the identity of four other assailants , who were all killed , was still under review . France has been bombing Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria for months as part of a U . S . led operation . Following Friday ' s mayhem , Paris vowed to destroy the group . Underlining its resolve , French jets on Sunday launched their biggest raids in Syria to date , hitting its stronghold in Raqqa . "" The raid . . . including 10 fighter jets , was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan . Twenty bombs were dropped , "" the Defence Ministry said . Among the targets were a munitions depot and training camp , it said . There was no word on casualties or the damage inflicted . The Paris attacks were seen causing a short term sell off in global stock markets and Asian shares fell on Monday , but few strategists expected a prolonged economic impact or change in prevailing market directions . Credit : Seven people believed to be involved with the Paris attacks were arrested in Brussels . The investigation into Friday ' s attacks , the worst atrocity in France since World War Two , led swiftly to Belgium after police discovered two of the cars used by the Islamist militants had been rented in the Brussels region . Police named the man they were seeking as Salah Abdeslam , saying the 26 year old was "" dangerous "" . Although he was born in Brussels , French authorities said he was a French national . "" The abject attacks that hit us on Friday were prepared abroad and mobilised a team in Belgium that benefited . . . from help in France , "" French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters after meeting his Belgian counterpart in Paris . Stunned by the carnage , thousands of people thronged to makeshift memorials at four of the sites where the attacks took place , laying flowers and lighting candles to remember the dead . "" We are living a nightmare , "" said Caroline Pallut , whose 37 year old cousin Maud Serrault died when gunmen attacked the Bataclan concert hall , killing at least 89 people the bloodiest single incident on Friday night . "" It is all so senseless . She had only just got married . "" The death toll rose to 132 , with three more people dying on Sunday from their wounds . Some 103 have been identified , including many young people and many foreigners , out relaxing on a Friday night in one of the world ' s most visited cities . In a sign that at least one gunman might have escaped , a source close to the investigation said a Seat car believed to have been used by the attackers had been found in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil with three Kalashnikov rifles inside . Credit : Neighbors told the media that accused ? French suicide bomber Ismael Omar Mostefai lived with his family here in Chartres until about two years ago . Police have formally named just one of the attackers : Ismael Omar Mostefai , 29 , from Chartres , southwest of Paris . He was identified by the print from one of his fingers that was severed when his suicide vest exploded . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6927424,7425,"David Bowie , whose incomparable sound and chameleon like ability to reinvent himself made him a pop music fixture for more than four decades , died Sunday , January 10 , after an 18 month battle with cancer . He was 69 . French fashion designer Andre Courreges , famous for his "" space age "" designs of the 1960s and 1970s , died Thursday , January 7 , his family told affiliate France 3 . He was 92 . Pat Harrington , the popular comedian and voice over talent who made a lasting impact as superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the hit sitcom "" One Day at a Time , "" died Wednesday , January 6 . He was 86 . Producer Robert Stigwood , the creative force behind "" Saturday Night Fever , "" "" Grease "" and other cultural blockbusters of the 1970s , died January 4 . He was 81 . Vilmos Zsigmond , the Oscar winning cinematographer whose varied work included "" Close Encounters of the Third Kind , "" "" The Deer Hunter , "" "" McCabe and Mrs Miller "" and "" Deliverance , "" died on January 1 . He was 85 . Dale Bumpers , a former U . S . senator and Arkansas governor who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial , died January 1 . He was 90 . Former U . S . Rep . Mike Oxley co author of a landmark anti corporate fraud law that bears his name died January 1 . He was 71 . Monte Irvin was regarded as one of the best hitters and all around players in the Negro League The New York Giants signed Irvin to a contract in 1949 , making him one of the first African Americans to play in the majors Willie Mays reacts to his death : "" Monte Irvin was a great man . I will miss him . "" Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Monte Irvin died Monday night in Houston . He was 96 . Regarded as one of the best hitters and all around players in the Negro League , Irvin was a sensation for the Newark Eagles , making five All Star teams . In 1946 , he won his second batting title as he helped Newark win the Negro World Series . Three years later , the New York Giants signed Irvin to a contract , making him one of the first African Americans to play in the majors . He played a vital role in the Giants ' World Series runs in 1951 and 1954 . Irvin tied a World Series record with a . 458 series batting average and 11 hits in 1951 his best season when he hit . 312 with 24 home runs and a league high 121 RBIs . Irvin played for the Giants for seven seasons , made the 1952 All Star game and won the World Series in 1954 . He also played a season for the Chicago Cubs . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past6937454,7455,"Jihadi John had secret son who is entitled to British citizenship Exclusive : Mohammed Emwazi , the British jihadist killed in a drone strike , married and had a son in Syria Mohammed Emwazi was killed in a drone strike ? ? Jihadi John ' dead ' : MI5 on alert amid fears of Isil revenge attack latest updates Jihadi John , the Isil terrorist killed in a drone strike in Syria , secretly fathered a son who is automatically entitled to British citizenship and could be brought to live in the , The Daily Telegraph has learnt . Mohammed Emwazi , the real name of the Briton whose identity was finally confirmed by David Cameron , was evaporated by a Hellfire missile fired from a Reaper drone after British intelligence analysts located him in the Isil headquarters of Raqqa . The Prime Minister described the operation as a strike at the heart of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , adding that it was an act of self defence and the right thing to do . A British drone , operated from Lincolnshire , was involved in the led operation but did not fire the fatal missile . There were unconfirmed reports that a second British jihadi had also been killed in the same attack . The White House said that the families of Jihadi John ' s victims in Syria were told about the plan before the operation was carried out . Bethany Haines , whose father David was one of two British hostages beheaded on camera by Emwazi , said she felt an instant sense of relief at being told he was dead , knowing that he wouldn ' t appear in any more horrific videos . But it has emerged that the Home Office will be powerless to stop Emwazi s Syrian born son coming to live in Britain at some point in the future . This guy was a human animal and killing him does probably make the world a little bit of a better place The identity and nationality of the boy s mother is not known , but Home Office rules make it clear that he is already regarded as British , stating : British citizenship may descend to one generation born abroad . So a child born abroad to a parent who is British will automatically be British by descent . It means he would be entitled to a British passport and could come to live in the , though his mother , if she is from outside the , would have to apply for a visa to be allowed into the country . Emwazi pictured as a schoolboy ten years ago ? Photo : Paul Grover The Telegraph Although final confirmation of Emwazi s death is still awaited , sources in the said they were 99 per cent certain he had been killed . The security services are now on high alert for possible revenge attacks on targets in the . Mr Cameron described Emwazi , 27 , as a barbaric murderer who had remained a threat to innocent people , and it will demonstrate to those who would do Britain , our people and our allies harm , we have a long reach , we have an unwavering determination , and we never forget our citizens . "" Britain and our allies will not rest until we have defeated this evil terrorist death cult . "" Colonel Steve Warren , the Army spokesman in Iraq , described Emwazi as a "" human animal "" and added : "" killing him is probably making the world a better place . The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn , meanwhile , was mocked by one of his own MPs for saying : It would have been far better for us all if he had been held to account in a court of law . Ian Austin , Labour for Dudley North , sarcastically said : It s not as if it s a really dangerous war zone and I m sure he d have come quietly . Mr Corbyn s comments echoed the response of the controversial human rights group Cage , which had described Emwazi as extremely gentle and kind when he was first named by the media earlier this year . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6947459,7460,"It is hard to find anyone more passionate about the idea of steering public dollars away from traditional public schools than Betsy DeVos, Donald J. Trump’s pick as the cabinet secretary overseeing the nation’s education system. For nearly 30 years, as a philanthropist, activist and Republican she has pushed to give families taxpayer money in the form of vouchers to attend private and parochial schools, pressed to expand publicly funded but privately run charter schools, and tried to strip teacher unions of their influence. A daughter of privilege, she also married into it her husband, Dick, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of Michigan a decade ago, is heir to the Amway fortune. Like many education philanthropists, she argues that children’s codes should not confine them to failing schools. But Ms. DeVos’s efforts to expand educational opportunity in her home state of Michigan and across the country have focused little on existing public schools, and almost entirely on establishing newer, more entrepreneurial models to compete with traditional schools for students and money. Her donations and advocacy go almost entirely toward groups seeking to move students and money away from what Mr. Trump calls “failing government schools. ” Conservative school choice activists hailed her on Wednesday as a fellow disrupter, and as someone who would block what they see as federal intrusion on local schools. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, where Ms. DeVos helped push legislation establishing tax credits for scholarships to private schools, called her an “outstanding pick,” a “passionate change agent to press for a new education vision. ” “Her allegiance is to families, particularly those struggling at the bottom of the economic ladder, not to an outdated public education model that has failed them from one generation to the next,” he wrote on Facebook. Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies for the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, called Ms. DeVos a “smart, principled conservative who’s experienced in politics and versed in the relevant policy. ” But to teachers’ unions, she is anathema. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, called Ms. DeVos “the most ideological, education nominee” since the secretary of education was elevated to the cabinet level four decades ago. Even some groups that share her support for charter schools worried that picking someone so closely identified as a champion of vouchers signaled that the Trump administration would try to starve public schools. As a candidate, Mr. Trump proposed steering $20 billion in existing federal money toward vouchers that families could use to help pay for private or parochial schools, perhaps tapping into $15 billion in Title I money that goes to schools that serve the country’s poorest children. He called school choice “the civil rights issues of our time. ” Amber Arellano, the executive director of the Education an advocacy group in Michigan that supports charters but has been critical of a Michigan charter school law that Ms. DeVos has spent millions to defend, said the pick had “the potential to undermine the nation’s progress by diverting resources from the young people who most need them, or by failing to uphold the federal government’s responsibility to protecting the needs and interests of all students — especially the most vulnerable. ” Michigan is one of the nation’s biggest school choice laboratories, especially with charter schools. The Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids school districts have among the nation’s 10 largest shares of students in charters, and the state sends $1 billion in education funding to charters annually. Of those schools, 80 percent are run by organizations, a far higher share than anywhere else in the nation. The DeVoses, the most prominent name in state Republican politics, have been the biggest financial and political backers of the effort. But if Michigan is a center of school choice, it is also among the worst places to argue that choice has made schools better. As the state embraced and then expanded charters over the past two decades, its rank has fallen on national reading and math tests. Most charter schools perform below the state average. And a federal review in 2015 found “an unreasonably high” percentage of charter schools on the list of the state’s schools. The number of charter schools on that list had doubled since 2010, after the passage of a law a group financed by Ms. DeVos pushed to expand the schools. The group blocked a provision in that law that would have prevented failing schools from expanding or replicating. Ms. DeVos, 58, got into education advocacy primarily as a backer of vouchers, and has served on the board of several organizations that have campaigned for them across the country. A ballot initiative she led to establish vouchers in Michigan failed in 2000. The next year, she established the Great Lakes Education Project, which became an ardent proponent of charter school expansion, and has donated generously to candidates who have supported it. The Michigan law pushed by Ms. DeVos to establish charter schools 20 years ago allows an unusually large number of organizations to start such schools, yet established little mechanism for oversight. Even Republican supporters of charter schools say the law has allowed failing charter schools to expand or replicate. Last spring, the group was the chief force behind the defeat of legislation that would have established standards for identifying and closing failing schools, both charter and public, in Detroit, where a flood of charter schools in the past decade has created what even charter school supporters call chaos. Ms. DeVos was born in Western Michigan, the more conservative and religious part of the state, where her father created a successful auto parts company. Her brother is Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, the troubled private security contractor that was awarded billions in United States government contracts in the Middle East. Like many conservatives who supported Mr. Trump, she does not support Common Core, the set of standards for what students should know at each grade level that was developed by the National Governors Association and other groups — and that has been incorrectly branded as a federal policy. She also had not supported Mr. Trump her family was behind Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the Republican presidential primary. On Wednesday, she wrote on Twitter: “I am honored to work with the on his vision to make American education great again. The status quo in ed is not acceptable. ”",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6957478,7479,"John Mara s 10 word admission that should worry Giants fans , Mass . ? Take a good look . Or , if you d prefer , take a good , angry look . For as long as this New England Patriots season lasts , if it ends next week in Denver or here against the Steelers , or if it goes all the way to another stop in the Big Game , in Santa Clara , stop . Pause . Look . We re never going to see anything like this again . Yes , yes , yes : Every time a dynasty ends its run , we tend to sing the same refrain . We ll never see another team like the Packers again . We ll never see another team like the Steelers again . We ll never see another team like the Niners again . We ll never see another team like the Cowboys again . Time didn t stop when Vince Lombardi stepped down , when Terry Bradshaw retired , when Joe Montana got hurt , when Jerry Jones started to outsmart himself in Dallas . Time shouldn t stop when the end arrives for Tom Brady , or when Bill Belichick decides he wants to spend more time on his boat than staring at a projection screen . This is a hard place to play , Belichick said Saturday night , maybe half an hour after the Patriots had quashed the Chiefs , 27 20 , advancing to their fifth straight Championship Game and 10th in the last 15 years . We re at over 100 practices now , and that doesn t include walk throughs . It s definitely a grind but they come in here , this group , every day , pencils sharpened , sitting in their seats , they want to learn , want to know how to get better , want to compete , and they do that on a daily basis year after year . Fifty years of accumulated , enforced parity was supposed to render it impossible for the Patriots to do what they ve been doing , what they keep doing , what it looks like they ll be doing until and unless they finally grow bored with the grind and take up a new hobby . If you root for the Jets you can certainly detest them , because you ve had an up close look at this whole run . You can remember a time when the Pats and the Jets weren t all that different , living under similarly crossed stars , cursing similarly egregious fates . That s fine . You re entitled . If you are a Giants fan you will forever have those two Super Bowls , those two forever days in Arizona and Indiana , and so you will forever have an air of superiority , no matter what the numbers say . That s fine . You re entitled . And then you tune into another Patriots game on another January weekend . They oppose another team with all kinds of hopes and beliefs ? it s the Chiefs this time it s been the Colts in the past , and the Steelers , and the Jets , and any number of upstarts . Maybe you talk yourself into it again : This is the time . This is the year . This is the end . Then the Patriots walk onto the field and treat the Chiefs ? who had only won 11 games in a row heading into this one ? like Pop Warner all stars . This is 15 years they ve been doing this now . Lombardi s Packers , they didn t even have a 10 year run . The Montana 49ers , their shelf life was 1981 through 1990 . That was a hell of a decade . The Pats are on their way to a second dominant decade . With no sign of weakening . I think we can do a lot better , Brady said , which is a terrifying thing for the rest of the league to ponder . Years in football are like dog years multiplied by 10 . Yet here they are , 15 years and counting , in another Championship Game and a few steps away from another Super Bowl ? which would be their seventh ? and a few more from another title , which would be their fifth . With no sign ? with no trace , with no hint ? of let up . It s pretty cool , Brady said . It s hard to do . You ve got to grind throughout the whole year , and there s only four teams playing next weekend . And we re one of them . The people in the stands stood the whole way , and they sang their songs , and they basked in this magnificent , surpassing era . You may hate all of that . You may hate the Patriots . But take a good , hard look around the next few weeks . You won t see their like again . Not anytime soon . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past6967482,7483,"Amsterdam I recently returned to Amsterdam from the latest round of U . N . climate talks in Cancun , Mexico , and found this city of canals covered in snow . It was a beautiful sight . Yet rather than filling me with joy , it caused me concern . Over the past few years , climate change skeptics have repeatedly used cold snaps as proof that our planet is not heating up . This argument ignores ' s recent analysis of 2010 as the warmest year on record and the World Meteorological Organization ' s pronouncement of the first decade of this century as the hottest since records began . Global warming does not simply mean that temperatures are always climbing . What it does mean is that although our planet is steadily heating up , a delicate set of climatic imbalances creates an increase in extreme weather events . These may include both dramatic heat spells and powerful snowstorms , such as those that have blanketed parts of Europe not used to seeing such weather as well as the more southerly reaches of the Eastern Seaboard of the U . S . Most scientists tell us that we must dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avert catastrophic climate change . To do this , it will be necessary to mobilize people around the globe who are not yet concerned about the issue . But if the scientific evidence can be buried , in the eyes of some , by a single heavy snowfall , then we must have new strategies that generate interest in this complex issue and sustain public and political support for action . Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Joel Pett may have hit upon something with a cartoon he drew for last year ' s climate talks in Copenhagen , Denmark . It shows a scientist addressing a large audience at a climate summit . A spectator at the left side of the panel asks his neighbor : "" What if it ' s a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing ? "" The answer emerges on the right side of the panel where the following list appears on a chalkboard : energy independence , preserve rainforest , sustainability , green jobs , livable cities , renewables , clean water and air , healthy children , etc . , etc . There is indeed something for almost everyone in climate protection . A small nonprofit group called the Climate and Energy Project ran with this idea in 2007 . It sponsored a yearlong competition between six towns in Kansas with the goal of getting them to lower carbon emissions . They did this by reducing their energy consumption and accepting renewable sources of energy . A study had shown that a majority of residents in that region believed either that climate change was a hoax or that recent dramatic weather events were simply the result of natural climate cycles . Organizers decided to highlight the more immediate benefits of cutting carbon emissions , including energy independence , development of the local economy and financial savings . The New York Times reported in October that the project ' s strategy seems to have worked . In a year , the article read , "" energy use in the towns declined as much as 5 percent relative to other areas a giant step in the world of energy conservation , where a program that yields a 1 . 5 percent decline is considered successful . "" Most of the world ' s major religions also offer reasons to engage in climate protection . Because taking care of the poor and needy ( often disproportionately affected by climate related disasters ) and protecting God ' s planet are tenets of most of the world ' s major faith based organizations , environmental protection is commonly becoming part of what they preach . Some Muslim and Hindu groups , for example , are working on special product labeling that would inform consumers about environmental impacts of the items being purchased . Similarly , around the globe , diverse organizations including trade unions , churches , non governmental organizations and governments are coming together to find solutions to climate change . In 2010 , the fossil fuel industry offered , albeit by accident , one of the greatest motivations to take action on global warming . ' s Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in the death of 11 rig workers local economies suffered deeply , and wildlife in the region could take decades to recover . The continued disintegration of public trust in government and business policy and procedures surrounding the disaster will , justifiably , have repercussions for a long time to come . Speaking with a Dutch friend , I commented that the snow which has caused great travel difficulties around Europe was at least a wonderful thing for children , who are out in force making snowmen . "" Yes , "" he replied , but when I was growing up , winters were so cold the canals would freeze over every year , and we could skate on them . Last year was the first time this happened again in over a decade . The world is no longer as we knew it . It is not possible to backtrack on climate change . It is , however , still within our power to help preserve our planet for future generations . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kumi Naidoo . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past6977499,7500,"Thursday could be a key moment in the future of time keeping . More than 100 countries are due to decide on whether to keep the present method of adding so called leap seconds to the global time system at the Radiocommunications Assembly in Geneva , Switzerland . Currently , this Co ordinated Universal Time or is based on a system of extremely accurate atomic clocks . But they are so precise that they do not match the rotation of the Earth which periodically speeds up and slows down due to the action of the tides and changes within the Earth ' s core . Since 1972 these extra seconds are added or taken away from the timescale to make sure is synchronized with the Earth ' s rotation . Fifty years ago , a few seconds difference had less impact but many of our 21st century devices depend on incredible accuracy . Peter Whibberley , senior research scientist in the Time Group at the ' s National Physical Laboratory , explains that people like astronomers also rely on this level of precision . "" There are many applications today that depend on precise time keeping . For example , telecommunications use atomic clocks to keep the networks around the world synchronized precisely together , "" he said . "" Satellite navigation sat navs in our cars and homes depend on signals being sent out from atomic clocks on board satellites . "" But now many countries , including the U . S . and most European nations , want to abandon the procedure which they say is too cumbersome . According to Whibberley , precise timing systems can be disrupted by altering them . The , Canada and China are pressing to keep the leap seconds when the issue is discussed at the U . N . ' s International Telecommunications Union meeting on Thursday . "" Without a correction , eventually our clocks would show the middle of the day occurring at night , "" said Whibberley . "" We have to have some means of making a correction but at the moment no one knows how that ' s going to be done . "" Since 1972 Whibberley said only 24 leap seconds have been used and the rate has slowed because the Earth has been speeding up over the last few decades . Without the leap seconds adjustment , the precise time measured by atomic clocks and time according to the Earth ' s rotation will start to deviate . Although the tiniest inaccuracies might play havoc with our smart phones most of us would not notice the changes in our body clock it is estimated it will take more than 200 years to register an hour ' s difference . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present6987514,7515,"New rail minister : Claire Perry invoked fury when she said commuters enjoy ' fair fares for comfortable commuting ' on the same day they were warned of ticket price increases Commuters reacted with fury yesterday after the new rail minister declared that they enjoy ' fair fares for comfortable commuting ' on the same day they were warned of another inflation busting rise in ticket prices . Claire Perry , facing accusations of shocking complacency , also insisted that high prices could be avoided by simply booking ahead . Yesterday it was revealed that next year ' s increase is likely to be 3 . 5 per cent and some prices could rise by as much as 5 . 5 per cent . Fares have already increased by nearly 25 per cent since David Cameron came to power in May 2010 . But Miss Perry said : ' What we have got to do is to make sure rail passengers who could be forgiven for saying : "" What on earth am I getting for these rises that I ' ve seen over the last decade ? "" start to realise they are paying fair fares for comfortable commuting . ' If Miss Perry who regularly uses a car to get into work takes the train from her constituency of Devizes , Wiltshire , she is able to claim back the cost of a standard class ticket from her nearest station of Pewsey into London . Her comments were met with scorn by commuters yesterday . Phil Guichard , 47 , a marketing director , said : ' I would like to see the minister on the 07 . 45 to Paddington . ' It ' s not comfortable at all . At peak times I ' m lucky to get a seat . ' Julie Ward , 47 , a nurse from near Maidenhead , said her experience was ' horrendous ' , but still costs 240 a month . She said : ' I find it unbelievable that they can charge so much and give such awful service . ' I ' ve actually thought about videoing it and sending it to the minister so she can see what it ' s really like . I don ' t think she ' d call it comfortable then . ' Another commuter , Iain Irvine , 51 , said the transport minister needed ' a reality check ' if she thought the railways offered good value for money . The company secretary , who gets a 5am train to keep down the 400 a month cost of his commute from Bristol to Paddington , said : ' The only reason I use the trains is because I have no choice . If they want us to pay more they need to improve the services . Commuters wait to squeeze on to the next train to Victoria Station at Clapham Junction , south London Rail fares will soar by up to 5 . 5 in January and by an average of 3 . 5 following this morning ' s announcement that inflation was 2 . 5 in July ' It ' s just not good enough . If the minister thinks they represent value for money she needs a bit of a reality check . ' The annual increase in train fares is linked to July ' s inflation figure , published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics , plus one percentage point . With the retail prices index at 2 . 5 per cent last month , this means rail fares will typically rise by 3 . 5 per cent in January 2015 , although some increases could be even bigger . The Chancellor George Osborne could soften the blow , and he is likely to face growing pressure in the coming months to allow an increase of but no more . But in a interview yesterday , Miss Perry dismissed claims that train fares are cripplingly expensive . Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said rail prices would rise by 24 per cent by 2018 When asked whether it was fair that a London to Manchester ticket can cost 160 , she said this was ' only if you don ' t book in advance ' . In fact , the popular Trainline website yesterday showed a day return ticket before 9am to Manchester Piccadilly costs 164 to travel today . If booked a fortnight in advance , it is only 23 cheaper to travel at the same times . Questioned on Radio 4 ' s Today programme yesterday , she insisted : ' People don ' t just rock up to the station , like probably you and I do , and pay the maximum amount . ' The proposed increases are particularly painful because workers have faced six years of pay freezes , minimal rises or even cuts in wages . For example , the cost of a season ticket to London for commuters from Brighton is expected to jump by around 150 a year to around 4 , 455 , according to the Campaign for Better Transport . This is the pressure group ' s estimate of what the cost will be although the rail operating companies have not yet published next year ' s fares . Martin Abrams of the Campaign for Better Transport said : ' If your ticket price is rising four times faster than your salary , or you ' re a part time worker with no choice but to pay for a full time fare , or you ' re stuck with creaking 30 year old diesel trains , or even if you ' d just like a seat in return for your 5 , 000 season ticket , then your fare will seem anything but fair and comfortable . ' Mary Creagh , Labour ' s transport spokesman , said : ' This is shocking complacency from yet another out of touch Tory . Many passengers facing inflation busting fare rises don ' t even get a seat on their train to work , let alone "" comfortable commuting "" . ' When you go through that every single day , the experience is not a good one . ' Last night , the Department for Transport said no decision has been taken about fare rises for 2015 , but a spokesman added that the department was ' looking closely at the cost of travel as part of our ongoing commitment to help hard working people ' . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past6997547,7548,"Lausanne , Switzerland Nuclear talks intensified Sunday between world powers and Iran , but key sticking points remained unresolved as the countries tried to reach a deal to curb Tehran ' s nuclear program ahead of a Tuesday deadline . As the negotiations entered their fourth day , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the agreement coming together is worse than Israel ' s deepest fears . The talks had hit a snag on Saturday , with diplomats describing Iran as refusing to budge , but as the French , German and Chinese foreign ministers arrived , the mood seemed more optimistic . The British and Russian foreign ministers were expected late Sunday . U . S . officials and Western diplomats described the negotiations as tough and intense , which was expected as the talks reached the endgame . They said the contours of a deal are becoming clearer , but they were unsure it could be reached . Two core issues are still unresolved : 1 ) Limits on Iranian research and development on advanced nuclear technology in the end years of the deal and 2 ) The pace of lifting United Nations sanctions . The U . S . officials stressed all of the elements were interrelated and nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to , comparing the final deal to a puzzle . But they indicated most of the other elements were solvable if those two major hurdles could be overcome . The speed of which U . N . sanctions could be lifted remains in dispute . Iran wants them lifted immediately after the deal goes into effect . While diplomats say Iran could see unilateral sanctions relief in the areas of trade , oil and banking , sanctions adopted by the United Nations are more complicated . Many are related to proliferation and transfer of missile technology and are tied to certification by the U . N . nuclear watchdog , the International Atomic Energy Agency , that Iran ' s nuclear program does not have a military dimension . On Saturday , Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif made clear the issue of sanctions remains a stumbling block , saying he believes the world powers "" have realized that sanctions , pressure and an agreement will not go together . It ' s only to translate that understanding and realization into the agreement that we are negotiating . "" U . S . officials said that all sides , including Iran , agree that sanctions would be lifted in phases over time as Iran confirms its compliance to the deal . But they acknowledge there is still disagreement on the actual formula . Iran also wants the ability to continue to research and develop more advanced centrifuges while the deal is in effect . Those machines can enrich uranium much faster than its current machines . U . S . and European officials worry that could enable Iran to quickly produce enough uranium for a nuclear weapon . Diplomats say the first 10 years of the 15 year deal would have the most stringent restrictions , with others being relaxed over the next five . "" We will see if they are ready to swallow what we proposed , "" a Western diplomat said . "" We are not asking them to do nothing , but they want to do more than we want them to do "" referring to how much research the Iranians want to be able to still undertake . But the diplomat added , "" after 15 years , they can do what they want . "" Diplomats said Iran has agreed to a cap of fewer than 6 , 000 centrifuges that it can operate to enrich uranium , a process that can lead to weapons grade material . The figure is down from the 6 , 000 the sides were speaking about when the talks started on Thursday , but substantially more than the several hundred the United States had originally wanted . Iran currently runs about 10 , 000 centrifuges , but it has around 19 , 000 in its stockpile . U . S . officials maintain the number is abstract , because there will be other restrictions on the levels of enrichment and type of centrifuges Iran can operate , which they believe will extend the time Iran would need to have enough fissile material produce a nuclear weapon known as the "" break out time "" to at least a year . On Monday , a senior State Department official said negotiators had not yet decided anything about the disposal of fissile material . There had been word previously that Iran might export it to Russia , but an Iranian negotiator , Abbas Araqchi , told journalists Sunday that Iran had not agreed to it . "" The export of stocks of enriched uranium is not in our program , and we do not intend to them abroad . . . . There is no question of sending the stocks abroad , "" he said . Netanyahu voiced alarm at the emerging deal . After meeting with visiting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , a Republican , Netanyahu said , "" this agreement as it evolves is fulfilling our deepest fears and even worse . "" "" In parallel to the gathering for this dangerous agreement , the proxies of Iran in the Middle East are carrying out a wide occupation of Yemen , "" he said . "" The Iran Lausanne Yemen axis is very dangerous to mankind and needs to be stopped . "" The parties are seeking agreement on the basic parameters of a deal before March 31 . A comprehensive deal including technical annexes is supposed to be concluded by June 30 . Tuesday is seen as a critical milestone to the U . S . negotiators , who are trying to thwart a threat from Congress to impose additional sanctions without the framework . That could prompt Iran to withdraw from the talks and scuttle the chances of a deal altogether . But even if a pact is reached , it is unclear what form it would take . U . S . officials say they will need to publicize something that quantifies Iran ' s commitments before submitting it to Congress . But U . S . and Western diplomats say that Iran is looking simply for an "" understanding "" of what has been agreed to before a formal accord is reached . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7007555,7556,"Los Angeles , California A group of 60 interfaith leaders in California called for Americans "" to rise above the rancorous shouting match "" as they spoke out Friday in favor of a controversial Islamic center near "" ground zero "" in New York . They called for understanding and tolerance and said religious freedom , one of America ' s most cherished values , is at stake in the controversy that has gathered steam in the past few weeks . "" Such intolerance , in this country of all places , breaks my heart and I believe it breaks the heart of God , "" said the Rev . Anne Felton Hines of the Unitarian Universalist Church . She joined voices with Roman Catholics , Jews , Seventh Day Adventists , Muslims and leaders of other faiths at a news conference held at the Islamic Center of Southern California . Among them was Maher Hathout , chairman of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California . "" I ' d like to emphasize this is not an issue for the Muslims , "" Hathout said . "" It is an issue for Americans who want America to be the way it was dreamed by its founders . "" The New York Islamic center ' s leaders say they plan to build the 100 million , 13 story facility called Park51 formerly known as Cordoba House on property it already owns two blocks from the site of the September 11 , 2001 , terror attacks on the World Trade Center . Developer Sharif El Gamal describes the project as an "" Islamic community center "" that would include a 500 seat performing arts center , a lecture hall , a swimming pool , a gym , a culinary school , a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims . The controversy swirling around the proposed center has pitted survivors and families of September 11 victims against each other . Current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is for it , but a past mayor , Rudy Giuliani is against . Radio talk shows are abuzz with the topic and blogs have been filled with venomous comments about Muslims . A new Time magazine cover story on the topic highlights how the controversy has brought new scrutiny to other examples of anti Muslim protests happening around the country . It also discusses a new poll that shows that a growing number of Americans believe President Barack Obama is Muslim . The poll was taken before Obama voiced support for the Islamic center . "" The rhetoric against Muslim Americans namely , that they are a suspect community , or worse , enemies of the state their religion is uncivilized and anti American they are deceitful and they aim to destroy our culture and our constitution are replicas of attacks against other religious minorities in the past as well as current attacks against ethnic and racial minorities , "" the interfaith coalition said Friday . "" We Americans , whether Muslim or Christian , whether Jew or Hindu , whether of faith or no faith , were all attacked on 9 11 by terrorists who can only be described as criminals , "" it said . "" We oppose the exploitation of the pain and suffering of 9 11 by political opportunists . They only divide our country and undermine the principles of pluralism , religious freedom , and security by fostering hate based on fear . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7017556,7557,"Jamie Murray set to beat Andy to world No1 spot after long road to top ? Murray brothers are both at No2 in the world after Australian Open ? Leon Smith : It s astonishing , from one family ? an incredible story Jamie Murray s rise to world No2 in doubles after his Australian Open victory with Bruno Soares is remarkable considering he thought about throwing his rackets away a few years ago . Photograph : Xinhua Barcroft Media Last modified on Sunday 31 January 2016 19 . 50 ? When Jamie Murray lands in London on Tuesday he will do so with a grand slam doubles trophy to accompany his bags . He will also be the world No2 and at some stage in the very near future it is likely he could become the world s top ranked doubles player . Related : Jamie Murray wins Australian Open men s doubles title with Bruno Soares Murray was back in Rod Laver Arena to watch his brother Andy take on Novak Djokovic in the singles final , just as Andy had been there at the end to celebrate Jamie s triumph in the doubles , when he and Brazil s Bruno Soares beat Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek to win the Australian Open . Beating Andy , who has been in nine grand slam finals , to be the first member of their family to be a world No1 is something the 29 year old probably never thought possible , especially not when he was considering throwing away his rackets a few years ago as the grind of the Tour began to take its toll . With the help of a good partner , in the Australian John Peers , and a reunion with his old coach , Louis Cayer , he dug himself out of the hole he was in . Last year he and Peers reached the Wimbledon and Open finals before parting ways as Murray joined forces with Soares , and on Saturday night the newly formed pair won their first doubles title together . Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares win Australian Open men s doubles title ? video highlights I just think it s amazing that you ve got the two brothers sitting at No2 in the world , the Davis Cup captain , Leon Smith , said . It s quite astonishing , particularly from the one family to be in that situation , from the one town . It s an incredible story , it has always been an incredible story , it just gets even more incredible when things like that happen . I just think it s astonishing . For Smith the progress of Andy and Jamie must be even more startling . When Andy was 10 and Jamie 11 , Judy Murray employed Smith as an apprentice , teaching him the ropes as they travelled up and down the country in a van . Smith has the odd flashback when he witnesses the brothers success . I think we always kind of talk to each other about it , said Smith , who led Britain to their first Davis Cup title since 1936 in November . We talked about it a lot in the Davis Cup , laughing , saying it was actually quite funny that we re walking out there in tracksuits and you think back to what it was like 15 , 16 years ago . They were so young . It s amazing ? you never take it for granted ? that journey they ve been on , the way that Judy influenced them all , me as well , the whole programme in Scotland . But it s good to keep reminding yourself about that as well . Related : Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to win the 2016 Australian Open final Jamie Murray in his victory speech recognised the role his family have played , in particular that of his wife Alejandra , who has enjoyed the highs but also had to put up with the lows . Murray also singled out Cayer , the Canadian who is regarded as the best doubles coach in the world and who always believed the Scot had the talent to reach the top even if it took Murray time to buy into it . All the work we ve done together has always been in a process with a view to getting to No1 , Murray said . Whether I believed I could do it I don t know , but he did . I just did what he told me . Almost there . Getting closer . Smith said Murray deserves every success . The speech Jamie did was really nice , he said . I think that showed a man that s put his heart and soul into trying to get to that point , he s suffered some disappointments along the way , it was nice to see him get there . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7027568,7569,"Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook may have planned an earlier terrorist attack in California as far back as 2012 with a separate plotter , authorities have said . reported that two officials said Farook had considered a target in the state but had got cold feet after a round of terror related arrests in the area . There were no details of how far the plot had developed before it was abandoned or of the identity of his co conspirator . However , the on Wednesday added weight to the claims of early radicalisation , saying that Farook and his wife , Tashfeen Malik , had discussed jihad and martyrdom as early as 2013 , one year before they married . Members of the media crowd into a child ' s room in Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik s California home . Picture : Chris Carlson APSource : Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee that investigators believe that Farook and Malik were radicalized even before they began their online relationship and that Malik held extremist views before she arrived in the last year . The disclosure means that Malik s radicalization had already begun when she applied for a visa to come to the to get married , and that the government s vetting process apparently failed to detect it . Mr Comey said he didn t know enough to say whether weaknesses in the visa process enabled her to enter the . Meanwhile , the fate of the couple s daughter is in flux with authorities to decide if it is safe for her to remain with family members . The girl , whose name is not being released , is in the custody of San Bernardino County Child Protective Services , blissfully unaware of the carnage and misery wrought by her parents last Wednesday . Although experts predicted the baby will not be raised by blood relatives , her aunt and uncle moved to gain custody at a Family Court hearing on Monday . The family is naturally distraught at the separation and are eagerly awaiting to obtain custody of the 6 month old girl , Council on American Islamic Relations Los Angeles branch said in a statement . Killers . . . Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik . Picture : AFPSource : The New York Post reports that the next hearing is set for January , and the baby will likely be placed with a foster family until then . lawyer Fatima Dadabhy , who represented the family , said its priority is to ensure the baby is placed with a Muslim foster family . The Monday hearing was closed to the public , said San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert , citing to confidentiality concerns . The radical Muslim couple reportedly left the girl at their home with Farook s mother , Rafia Farook , last Wednesday , telling her they were headed to a doctor s appointment . Instead , they drove a rented to the Inland Regional Centre , a state social services facility in nearby San Bernardino , where Farook s co workers were having a holiday party . Dressed in tactical gear and toting 15 assault rifles , they stormed the building and gunned down his co workers . Months earlier , Farook s colleagues at the San Bernardino County Health Department had held a baby shower for the young couple . Court battle . . . Farook s sister Saira Khan wants custody of the child . Picture : NewsSource : Supplied In the days following the attack , Farook s sister Saira Khan and her husband , Farhan Khan , expressed horror and shock at his actions . Farook and Saira Khan s mother , Rafia , who appeared in Family Court on Monday with Saira , has not spoken to the press but reportedly told authorities that ? despite living in the home with her son , daughter in law and baby granddaughter ? had no idea of the couple s radical orientation or murderous intentions . Farhan Khan , who confirmed to FoxNewsweblink that the baby was not released to the family on Monday , said he and his wife have two children of their own . The couple told News they know that shielding the baby from the knowledge of her parents unspeakable act will one day become impossible . For the time being , we want her to enjoy her innocence , Saira Khan said . You know , we don t want her to know everything , but I think eventually she will find out probably on her own . Access all areas . . . Members of the media crowd into a child s room in an apartment shared by San Bernardo shooting rampage suspects Syed Farook and his wife , Tashfeen Malik . Picture : APSource : Investigators are believed to be dubious of claims of total ignorance by certain family members , and that scepticism could prompt a Family Court judge to decide it is in the best interests of the baby for her to not be raised by blood relatives , said California based criminal defence lawyer Troy Slaten . Investigators will be closely looking at the grandmother and the rest of the family , Mr Slaten said , but the grandmother will be a particular target given that she resided with them and was probably at least aware of all the preparations they were making . Family court advocates could use this during family court proceedings to push for custody outside the family circle , he said . If there is any evidence of even tacit knowledge , involvement or participation , it would certainly give a Family Court judge concern over placing a child in that environment , Mr Slaten said . Fellow lawyer David Wohl , who has 25 years working on family custody cases , said the idea that the family of terrorists knew nothing about their propensity toward jihad or their plans is absurd . I doubt very much the child in question will be placed with the family members , he said , adding that thorough background checks and home evaluations are critical before any such placements can occur and that the process could take months as all relatives will need to be evaluated coinciding with the terrorist investigation and who knew what . The scepticism among officials , locals and the media is growing given that weapons , a stockpile of bomb making materials and thousands of rounds of ammunition were discovered in the couple s home . Also under sharp and evolving scrutiny is that almost 28 , 500 deposited into Farook s bank account weeks before the lethal rampage ? and at least three 5000 transfers to Rafia Farook in the days leading up to the attack , in what a source described to Fox News as a key indicator of premeditation . Sometimes there is the notion that a son can do no wrong and no one wants to think of their son as ever doing something like that , said a source connected to the Farook family . But more and more there are things that don t add up . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7037582,7583,"Reuters ) Pop singer Britney Spears is waiting to be bailed out of jail after being arrested Tuesday on charges of insurance fraud . Several international insurance companies are cooperating in the investigation against the 23 year old singer . It appears that not only did Britney Spears lie about pre existing injuries to her knee when she applied for insurance coverage , she also neglected to reveal that she had undergone a complete skin transplant to treat a raging acne condition , broke two wrists and a foot in a bar room brawl , and had three botched breast implant procedures . Worst of all , she failed to divulge that she was incapable of singing or dancing without the aid of cables and wires strung from above the stage . According to the court papers , insurers are alleged to have refused to pay her claim because it was stated on insurance applications that Ms Spears had no pre existing injuries . The documents state that Ms Spears had in fact undergone "" minor orthopedic surgery "" on her left knee four years and 11 months before filling in the form . Ms Spears ' lawyers refer to the "" failure to recall the injury "" as an "" innocent omission "" that was "" not material "" to the insurers ' decision to provide coverage . Britney Spears was forced to cancel a whole season of touring after breaking both knees on a trip to the restroom . A team of investigators has as yet been unable to uncover the details of the mishap . "" We are going to get to the bottom of this , "" said New York Detective Andy Sipowicz . "" We got her in the pokey until her lawyers get here to make bail . She ' s one tough broad that Britney Spears . I gave her the yellow legal pad , but she ' s refusing to write a single word . I sent Bobby in there to work a number on her with the good cop ' routine . Out on the street , hundreds of Britney Spears fans had to be controlled by a squad of riot police . In London , a well placed man in the insurance industry known simply as "" Lloyd "" said , "" Britney Spears will never get any money from us . "" ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past7047589,7590,"Silverstone , England Formula One prides itself as the pinnacle of technical innovation and sports cars of the imagination but sometimes the sport needs bringing back down to earth . So on Wednesday Pirelli showed F1 a possible back to basics vision of the future as it debuted a new 18 inch tire a size fitted to many everyday road cars on the final day of the Silverstone in season test . The concept tire is five inches taller than the sport ' s current 13 "" wheel and has a lower profile which means it ' s comprised of a larger wheel rim and less rubber . Lotus test driver Charles Pic trialled the new rubber at the high speed Silverstone circuit , the stage for Lewis Hamilton ' s British Grand Prix victory on Sunday . A former Marussia and Caterham racer , Pic set a lap time of one minute , 44 . 728 seconds on the new tire nearly 10 seconds off the fastest lap set on 2014 rubber . "" We weren ' t looking for performance , "" Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery told reporters . "" The priority today was to show people what a Formula 1 car would look like with a change in rim . "" From what I ' ve seen and heard people seem to quite like the idea . Most people said it looked quite modern it didn ' t look strange . "" Pirelli could roll out the new tires as early as 2016 . Producing F1 tires , which are the same specification as road car tires , would make it easier to share technology , as well as to reap the commercial benefits of being able to sell its customers replica F1 rubber . "" We don ' t actually make any 13 "" tires apart from for F1 and the GP2 and GP3 Series , "" explained Hembery . "" The tire today looks more like the product we sell on a regular basis . "" Our business is focused on large wheel diameters and 18 "" is almost standard for us , it ' s the sort of thing you get on a sporty road car . "" Others might say there ' s less advertising space so there is a strange conundrum . "" Our high end business is in wheels around 20 "" so that ' s the other discussion to have , should we be really going for a much bigger wheel ? Maybe F1 needs to do something more dramatic . "" Assessing the tires after running on them for just 14 laps , Pic said : "" The overall grip was very low and ( the car ) was five or six seconds off the pace , mainly for the reason that all the aerodynamics and the rest of the car are made for the tire we are running now and not the 18 "" . "" I think in the philosophy it will be a type of tire that will react quickly , so the reaction you get in the steering wheel is more nervous and each time you get a snap it ' s quicker . "" If we go one day to this type of tire it will be a big challenge first for the team because they will have to build a completely new car around it and it will also be a challenge for the driver . "" Pirelli took over from Bridgestone as F1 ' s official tire supplier in 2011 but a series of dangerous blowouts in 2013 left it reeling . After making substantial changes to its rubber , Pirelli ' s contract was renewed until the end of the 2016 season . A switch to a more standard 18 "" wheel might be an incentive for other tire manufacturers , such as Michelin , to consider a return to the sport . But any tire change will have to be agreed by the sport ' s governing body , the , its commercial rights holder Formula One Management and the teams . The taller tires which are almost as high as the sidepods of the Lotus chassis will affect the aerodynamic flow , weight and suspension of the cars . "" We know what 18 "" will mean it ' s a bigger challenge , "" Hembery continued . "" There will be variations in pressure , there will be sensitivity on the car ' s camber and in F1 you go over the curbs a lot more so you do have an integrity challenge . "" Today is a first step and it ' s in the hands of the sport to decide what they want to do . "" After a major rule change , focused on new engine technology , for the 2014 season , the teams might be reluctant to embrace change again . As one team official whispered in the Silverstone pit lane during Wednesday ' s test : "" Change is fear . "" Hembery countered : "" Change is expensive , change is challenging and I ' m sure the team engineers will be scratching their heads going ' no , no , no . ' "" But others will be thinking maybe it is one of the aspects that needs to change in F1 to bring a different look and feel to the sport . "" The might look more favorably on a tire development that would bring the sport closer to road car technology . This season ' s new engine regulations were partly designed to align F1 with the "" greener "" hybrid technology now seen as essential to the future of road cars . The future of the multimillion dollar sport which now only has Mercedes and Ferrari as the two major car manufacturers running teams also relies on its road car relevance for its long term survival . Could a change of tires be another step towards securing its future ? It ' s all about the tires : Pirelli plan on hold Pirelli comes out fighting over Formula One tire chaos Mercedes and Pirelli face sanctions over F1 tire test ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7057605,7606,"Paris , France This week , France began deporting members of the Roma population as part of what it says is a crackdown on illegal immigration . It has put the focus back on the Roma , who remain widely misunderstood despite being one of Europe ' s largest minorities . France begins controversial Roma expulsion Who are the Roma ? Roma , also called Gypsies or Romany , are a group of people marked by poverty who live mainly in southern and eastern Europe , though they live throughout the continent . They tend to live in camps , caravans , or informal settlements and have been persecuted throughout history . Some are Christian and some are Muslim , having converted while migrating through Persia and the Balkans , according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum . Most Roma speak dialects of a language called Romani , which is based on Sanskrit , the classical language of India , the museum says . The language is largely unwritten , however , because of the high rates of illiteracy in most Roma communities , according to information from Minnesota State University . Where did the Roma come from ? Roma originated in the Punjab region of northern India as a nomadic people and entered Europe between the 8th and 10th centuries , according to the Holocaust museum . They were called Gypsies because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt . Many Roma traditionally worked as craftsmen and were blacksmiths , cobblers , tinsmiths , horse dealers , and toolmakers , according to the museum . Others were performers like musicians , circus animal trainers , and dancers . By the 1920s , some were also working as shopkeepers or civil servants . The number of nomadic Roma was on the decline in many places by the early 1900s , though many "" sedentary "" Roma often moved seasonally , depending on their occupations , the museum says . Where did the Roma go in Europe ? Roma were living in Spain , France , England , and large parts of what is today Russia and Eastern Europe by the late 1400s . They suffered persecution in those countries ranging from laws against their language and dress to expulsion , according to Minnesota State . In the beginning of the 15th century , many Roma were forced into slavery by Hungarian and Romanian nobles who needed laborers for their large estates , according to the university . Roma suffered persecution during World War . The Nazis judged Roma to be "" racially inferior , "" according to the Holocaust museum . "" Their fate in some ways paralleled that of the Jews , "" the museum said . The Nazis subjected Roma to internment , forced labor , and murder . "" While exact figures or percentages cannot be ascertained , historians estimate that the Germans and their allies killed around 25 percent of all European Roma , "" the museum says . "" Of slightly less than 1 million Roma believed to have been living in Europe before the war , the Germans and their Axis partners killed up to 220 , 000 . "" What is the situation for Roma in Europe today ? Many Roma live on the edges of communities or are transient . They suffer massive discrimination throughout Europe , according to Amnesty International , and are often the victims of forced evictions , racist attacks and ill treatment by police , and are often denied their rights to housing , employment , health care and education . In Slovakia , thousands of Roma children are placed in special schools and classes designed for pupils with "" mild mental disabilities "" or in ethnically segregated mainstream schools and classes that provide a substandard education , Amnesty says . Human Rights Watch expressed concern last year about a wave of attacks on Roma in Kosovo , and the United Nations pointed to mounting racial violence in Russia in 2008 that targeted Roma and other ethnic and religious minorities . In June 2009 , there was a series of attacks on Roma families in Northern Ireland , where the Roma had gone for work . In Bosnia , Roma are barred from running for president or the upper chamber of Parliament . The Budapest , Hungary based European Roma Rights Center sent a letter of concern to Danish authorities last month about the recent mass arrest and deportation of 23 Roma in Copenhagen . They said Danish officials , including the mayor of Copenhagen and the country ' s justice minister , had made comments blaming the Roma for crimes . A U . N . report last year cited the cost of deprivation among the Roma . In Bulgaria , it said , their life expectancy is five to six years below the rest of the population and their infant mortality rate is six times the national average . In Hungary , infant mortality among the Roma is nearly four times the country ' s average , and in Romania it is two and a half times greater , according to the report . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7067637,7638,"Just hours before the final Democratic primary debate, Bernie Sanders has finally released his full healthcare plan.On his campaign site, Sanders lays out how important the Affordable Care Act has been. He notes that he, himself, helped contribute to the huge piece of legislation that helped to provide 17 million people with health insurance.But Sanders believes that it is time to move forward with a national healthcare system that provides coverage to all. He writes on his site: All Americans can benefit from increased protections against lifetime coverage limits and exclusion from coverage because of pre-existing conditions, Sanders says. But as we move forward, we must build upon the success of the to achieve the goal of universal health care. Twenty-nine million Americans today still do not have health insurance and millions more are underinsured and cannot afford the high copayments and deductibles charged by private health insurance companies that put profits before people. There has been some controversy between Democrats this week relating to the issue of Sanders proposal to implement a universal healthcare system in the United States. Concerns over how this program would be funded have been of particular interest to the public. Sanders lays that out in plain detail for all to read.Most of the health care plan receives its funding from new progressive taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Some people in the middle class might pay a tiny bit more in taxes. According to the campaign website, A family of four making $50,000 a year taking the standard deduction would only pay $466 this year. That small increase in taxes isn t anything to what a similar family would save under Sanders plan. They would save around $5,000 dollars a year. Last year, the average working family paid $4,955 in premiums and $1,318 in deductibles to private health insurance companies. Under this plan, a family of four earning $50,000 would pay just $466 per year to the single-payer program, amounting to a savings of over $5,800 for that family each year, the site reads.It long past time that the United States join every other industrialized nation in the world and implement a national single-payer healthcare system. That s what the was presented as a stepping stone towards. Regardless of who is the eventual Democratic nominee, the fight for healthcare as a right need to be at the top of the Democratic platform. Democrats should not have to apologize for wanting to live in a nation where every person can get the healthcare they need.Should a better proposal than Sanders be presented, it should be adopted. There may be some strategic advantages to wanted to expand the very gradually, but we are talking about people s lives. But there are some big cracks in the ACA. Cracks that 29 million people have fallen through. It is time that we come together and demand that, no person deserves to be left behind.You can read a full break down of the plan here.Featured Image Credit: Phil Roeder via Flickr ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present7077639,7640,"Ten things to know about the New England Patriots visiting the Denver Broncos in the Championship Game on Sunday ( , 3 : 05 p . m . ) , via s Stats Information : 1 . With a victory , the Patriots would advance to play in their ninth Super Bowl , which would set an record . The Patriots are tied with the Cowboys and Steelers , who each went to eight Super Bowls . Furthermore , quarterback Tom Brady would advance to play in his seventh Super Bowl , which also would be a record . He currently is tied with Mike Lodish for the most Super Bowl games played , with six . 2 . The combined age of Brady and Denver s Peyton Manning is 28 , 603 days ( 78 . 4 years ) , which is the highest ever combined age by opposing starting quarterbacks in a playoff game , according to Elias Sports Bureau research . The old record was 27 , 704 combined days ( 75 . 9 years ) , by John Elway and Dan Marino in the 1998 divisional round . Lastly , this will be the fifth meeting between Brady and Manning in the playoffs , which is the most by any two quarterbacks in history . Brady leads the overall series , 11 5 . The combination of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning is the oldest pair of quarterbacks ever to meet in the playoffs . ? 3 . Brady is 6 8 in his career against the Broncos ( including playoffs ) , making them the only team against whom Brady has a losing record . He s 0 2 on the road against them in the postseason , which includes the 2013 Championship Game against Manning . 4 . If the Patriots win , it will be Bill Belichick s seventh championship as head coach , breaking a tie with Don Shula for the most conference titles by a coach in the Super Bowl era ( since 1966 ) . 5 . Manning is playing more under center upon his return from a foot injury . He was under center for 36 snaps last Sunday against the Steelers , which was eight more than in any other game this season . The Broncos have run the ball by design on 50 . 5 percent of plays in the past two games with Manning they had done so 36 . 5 percent of the plays with Manning during his first nine games this season . 6 . The Broncos rushed for 179 yards against the Patriots in Week 12 , which was the highest total given up by New England this season . All three of Denver s rushing touchdowns came outside of the tackles the Patriots gave up 90 rushing yards outside the tackles , which was the most they had allowed in a game over the past two seasons . Specifically , players spoke of defending the crack toss , when receivers block down to the inside part of the field . View ESPNweblink ' s complete coverage of the 2016 playoffs , from the wild card round through Super Bowl 50 . 7 . Brady was timed getting rid of the ball in an average of 2 . 13 seconds in the divisional round against the Chiefs , which was especially quick and reflected how the offense was back in rhythm with the return of receiver Julian Edelman . Brady ' s average time before pass is considerably shorter when Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski are on the field when both are on the field , it s an average of 2 . 14 seconds . When either Edelman or Gronkowski are off the field , it spikes to 2 . 39 . 8 . In Sunday ' s win over the Steelers , Manning completed five of his 11 passes more than 10 yards downfield . His completion percentage has decreased on those throws in each of the past four seasons 56 . 7 percent in 2012 53 . 1 percent in 2013 50 percent in 2014 and 43 . 2 percent in 2015 . 10 . The Broncos led the in sacks ( 52 ) during the regular season , while the Patriots ranked second ( 49 ) . research notes that 35 of the Patriots 49 sacks came on the standard four man rush . The 49 sacks are the most for the Patriots under Bill Belichick ( 2000 present ) . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7087648,7649,"Avram Grant admits he jumped into the deep end taking over Ghana just before the Africa Cup of Nations but after almost a month with his new players reckons he is getting on swimmingly . The former Chelsea manager saw his team through to the quarter finals in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday after a storming come from behind win against South Africa in their final group match in Mongomo , where a double substitution midway through the second half was followed by two goals in 10 minutes . ' Having to learn every day about my team has not been easy but I think I now know enough about all of them , ' he said after the 2 1 victory ensured top spot in Group C and a quarter final in Malabo on Sunday . Ghana defenders John Boye and Harrison Afful celebrate a 2 1 victory over South Africa at the Former Stamford Bridge boss Avram Grant ( right ) celebrates after taking Ghana to the quarter finals Former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan reacts to a missed opportunity during the game ' The Nations Cup is nothing new to me . I ' ve been watching it all my life . Obviously being here is a little different to what I ' ve done before but I did a lot of research and preparation . ' We had a good training camp and I ' ve had a chance to also see how the players react after losing and after wining . You saw how we bounced back after we lost our first match . ' Grant was under immediate pressure from a skeptical media and public after Ghana let a lead slip and lost to a last gasp goal against Senegal in their opening group game . But they beat Algeria and South Africa to advance . Ghana , who have a rich history in the tournament , turned to Grant just one month before the finals having taken three months to replace Kwesi Appiah . Ghana defender Boye races away after scoring in a 10 minute spell that changed the game Andre Ayew ( left ) drops to his knees after scoring a late winner that assured Ghana top spot in Group C The Israeli had a month to do his homework before pre tournament training started on New Year ' s Day in Accra , followed by a brief training camp in Spain with some scrimmages against European clubs . He has tinkered with the team in each of his three games in charge but got it spot on on Tuesday as Ghana totally dominated the second half against South Africa to reach the last eight for a fifth successive tournament . ' The game was in our hands . I ' m very happy for the players , they showed once again as they did in the previous game their spirit and the determination . We came through the Group of Death , ' Grant added . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7097654,7655,"A top drug lord has been gunned down in Mexico after two days of shootouts between armed forces and members of a criminal organization , a national security spokesman said Friday . Nazario Moreno Gonzalez , also known as "" El Chayo "" or "" El Doctor "" was killed as part of an operation in the Mexican southwestern state of Michoacan , according to spokesman Alejandro Poire . Poire also said that members of the federal police , army , air force and navy participated in the joint operation centered in the city of Apatzingan and the surrounding mountainous region . Moreno was one of the main leaders and founders of the drug cartel known as "" La Familia Michoacana , "" according to Poire . "" This drug cartel began operations under the name of ' La Empresa ' ( The Enterprise ) around the year 2000 and has terrorized the population in Michoacan ever since , not only trafficking and producing drugs , but also extorting , kidnapping , and murdering people , "" he said . The national security spokesman said that five federal police officers and three civilians have died during the joint operation , still under way as of Friday afternoon . He also said that three members of La Familia were killed and three others have been captured . "" During the retreat and escape of these criminals , they have been picking up those members of the criminal group who have been wounded and presumably died , "" said Poire , who said it is too soon to provide an accurate number of deaths and arrests . "" It ' s time to intensify the pressure on this organization in order to diminish crime in the ( Michoacan ) region in an efficient and permanent way , "" said Poire . He said the Mexican government is sending more armed forces to the conflict zone . La Familia ' s stronghold is in the state of Michoacan also the home state of Mexican President Felipe Calderon , who sent thousands of federal troops there after declaring a crackdown on cartels at the beginning of his presidency . Gunfire from high powered weapons greeted police when the operation began Wednesday , Poire said . From there , the violence escalated . Two minors were killed during the operation , when gunmen shot at civilian cars and later used the vehicles as barricades , Poire said Thursday . Nearby , suspected members of the cartel set trucks and buses ablaze on highways to block approaching federal police . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7107686,7687,"Most wanted : Warwick Spinks , a violent paedophile who was on the run for 15 years , has been arrested at Heathrow Airport after he was found in the Czech Republic A violent paedophile who was on the run for 15 years has been found in the Czech Republic and arrested after a major international manhunt , a child protection unit has today confirmed . Warwick Andrew Spinks , 48 , was arrested at Heathrow Airport after he was tracked down by officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre ( Ceop ) . The 48 year old had used various aliases while on the run , including Willem Van Wijk and William Spinks . His horrifying back catalogue of abuse led to his nickname ' the Pied Piper of Paedophiles ' after he bragged he could arrange sex with young boys for as little as 10p . He was convicted in 1995 of a series of sexual offences against boys , including serious sexual assault at knifepoint , taking a child without lawful authority and taking indecent images of children . He was jailed for seven years but this was reduced to a five year term on appeal . In 1997 , while on release on licence , Spinks went missing and fled the . He now faces serving the remaining 18 months of his sentence . Ceop chief executive Peter Davies said : ' Ceop officers , in conjunction with officers at the Metropolitan Police Service and Soca ( Serious Organised Crime Agency ) , have worked tirelessly over a number of years to locate and trace a high risk child sexual offender , who believed he could avoid being managed in the by travelling overseas . Then and now : Abuser was first investigated in 1992 ( left ) after police suspected he had links with paedophile rings in the and Europe . Spinks ( pictured right ) after his arrest on Friday Finally caught : Spinks , 48 , was arrested at Heathrow Airport after he was tracked down by officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre ( Ceop ) ' I hope this arrest sends a clear message to other missing child sexual offenders that however far you travel to avoid facing the consequences of your actions , we will track you down and bring you to justice . ' The abuser was first investigated in 1992 , after police suspected he had links with paedophile rings in the and Europe . He acted as a ' fixer ' in Amsterdam , the Sunday People reports , where he introduced sex tourists looking for underage boys . He told undercover officers from the Metropolitan and Dutch police he could pick up young boys from German , Prague and Poland for as little as 10p . He was also caught on secret camera offering to supply a video in which a 10 year old boy was killed and one featuring the horrific abuse of a young boy . When Spinks was sentenced in 1995 at Lewes Crown Court for a string of offences against under age boys , the court heard how he drugged a 14 year old boy and ' sold him ' to a gay brothel in Amsterdam . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7117709,7710,"Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange . Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell : Diamond Foods ? The snack maker will be bought by rival Snyder ' s Lance for 1 . 27 billion in cash and stock . Diamond shareholders will get 12 . 50 per share in cash , and 0 . 775 shares of Snyder ' s for every share they now hold . Anthem ? The health insurer earned an adjusted 2 . 73 per share for the third quarter , 40 cents above estimates , while revenue beat forecasts , as well . Anthem ' s results were helped by increased enrollment in its commercial and government business segments . Generac ? The maker of generators earned 92 cents per share for its latest quarter , 13 cents above estimates , and revenue was well above analysts ' forecasts . However , Generac did cut its full year outlook , citing fewer than expected power outages and the impact of lower energy prices on certain mobile products . Hilton Worldwide ? The hotel chain matched Street forecasts with adjusted quarterly profit of 23 cents per share . Hilton did beat on the top line , however , and raised its earnings outlook for the full year . Hilton said demand is especially strong in the United States , where it is substantially outstripping supply . Starwood Hotels ? Starwood reported adjusted quarterly profit of 74 cents per share , 2 cents above estimates , with revenue essentially in line . Separately , Starwood announced the sale of its vacation ownership unit to Interval Leisure Group . The sale of the unit ? valued at about 1 . 5 billion ? will take place after it is spun off by Starwood . Northrop Grumman ? The defense contractor won an Air Force contract to build the next generation long range bomber , which could have an ultimate value of up to 80 billion . Separately , the company reported adjusted quarterly profit of 2 . 41 per share , well above estimates of 2 . 19 . Revenue was also above forecasts , and Northrop Grumman also increased its full year guidance . Hershey ? The chocolate and candy maker earned an adjusted 1 . 17 per share for its latest quarter , 4 cents above estimates , with revenue essentially in line . Hershey said its U . S . sales were less than expected , but it did benefit from expanded profit margins . The company also noted an unfavorable impact from the stronger U . S . dollar . Rite Aid ? The drug store chain agreed to be bought by Walgreens for 9 . 4 billion , or 9 per share in cash . Rite Aid stock had risen during the regular trading day Tuesday after Dow Jones reported that the two sides were in talks . Walgreens Boots Alliance ? In addition to the Rite Aid deal , Walgreens also announced quarterly profit of 88 cents per share , 7 cents above estimates , with revenue also beating forecasts . Boston Scientific ? The medical device maker came in 1 cent above analysts ' estimates with quarterly profit of 24 cents per share . Revenue also beat forecasts , but current quarter guidance is below Street consensus . The company did say it is benefiting from both new product introductions and investments in various companies . Apple ? Apple reported quarterly profit of 1 . 96 per share , 8 cents above estimates , with revenue slightly above forecasts . Apple sold more than 48 million iPhones during the quarter and nearly doubled its China sales , but it did issue conservative current quarter revenue guidance . Twitter ? Twitter beat estimates by 5 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 10 cents per share , and revenue also scored a beat , but the stock is under pressure because of a tepid current quarter revenue forecast . Gilead Sciences ? Gilead earned an adjusted 3 . 22 per share for its latest quarter , beating estimates of 2 . 87 , while revenue was also well above estimates . However , the drug maker ' s hepatitis C treatments saw flat sales as health insurers show more reluctance to pay for the relatively expensive drugs . Akamai Technologies ? Akamai beat estimates by 5 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 62 cents per share , while revenue came in slightly ahead of Street forecasts . The Internet technology provider also gave a current quarter earnings and revenue outlook that fell short of analysts ' projections , however , because of the strong U . S . dollar and slower online traffic growth . Anadarko Petroleum ? Anadarko lost 72 cents per share for the third quarter , 1 cent smaller than expected , while revenue fell short of estimates . The oil and natural gas producer , like its rivals , is suffering the effects of lower oil prices . Express Scripts ? The company came in 1 cent above estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 1 . 45 per share , but revenue was shy of estimates for the pharmacy benefits manager . The company did increase its earnings guidance for the full year . Hewlett Packard ? Following the split of Hewlett Packard into two separate companies , Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Inc . will both be added to the S P 500 , while Hudson City Bancorp will be taken out of the index . Domino ' s Pizza ? The pizza chain announced an 800 million share repurchase program , replacing a previous 200 million authorization . Panera Bread ? Panera reported adjusted quarterly profit of 1 . 32 per share , a penny above estimates , with the restaurant chain ' s revenue falling shy of analyst forecasts . Panera ' s sales did improve from a year earlier , but it spent more on hiring , equipment , and technology . Sony ? Sony will buy Toshiba ' s image sensor business for a reported 166 million . ? is near an agreement to buy the digital assets of Weather Channel parent Weather Co . , in a deal that could be valued at more than 2 billion . Re code had first reported the talks last week . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7127739,7740,"“Clueless Gamer,” one of Conan O’Brien’s most popular segments, has been picked up by as a series all its own. [The Turner Broadcasting System will build on the popularity of Conan O’Brien’s forays into the world of video games, creating a standalone show out of a segment that’s been a solid viewer favorite since it transitioned from a web series to the nightly show in 2012. Conan typically sits on a couch with various celebrity guests and pokes fun at whatever they’re playing. Thus far, Grand Theft Auto V, Halo 5: Guardians, Fallout 4, Mario Kart 8, DOOM, Final Fantasy XV, and Battlefield 1 have all been featured on Clueless Gamer, among many others. There’s just one little change: Conan won’t be on the couch anymore. While O’Brien will serve as an executive producer, the will feature a new, unannounced host. president Kevin Reilly told The Hollywood Reporter that the segment has become popular enough that “we’ve gotten to the point where video game companies are sending us their new product for us to play and make fun of because it’s been such a huge success. ” They’re pinning a lot on the hope that the viral popularity of the segment will survive transport into independent programming, and without the snarky wit of its creator. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.",true,news,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7137747,7748,"2013 will be a year of harsh change for the tech industry . We ' ve just experienced five years of rapid , messy and disruptive innovation , and smartphones and tablets aren ' t the future any longer they ' re the present . Powerful mobile devices connected to broadband speed cell networks are now an everyday reality , and it ' s going to take more than a bigger screen or faster processor to make an impact this year . Think of 2013 as the year of refinement and reckoning . Here are five big developments to keep an eye on : 1 . The future of Microsoft Microsoft has been very candid about "" missing a generation "" of mobile innovation after Apple introduced the iPhone , and 2012 was all about the results of a furious catch up effort : the company launched the completely rethought Windows 8 for PCs , Windows for tablets and Windows Phone 8 for smartphones . Steve Ballmer also repositioned Microsoft as a "" devices and services "" company , and he introduced the Surface and Surface Pro , two tablets designed by Microsoft itself to compete with traditional companies such as Dell and Sony . That ' s a lot of bold bets , and they all have to pay off in 2013 . The era is over , and Microsoft has to show consumers it has something to offer in a world dominated by tablets and smartphones . Windows 8 and Surface sales appear to have been slow so far , so we ' ll see how the company does . There is one all but guaranteed bright spot , though : a new Xbox is due to be announced this year . Top tech wishes for 2013 2 . Can Apple get its software mojo back ? Apple found success in 2012 by introducing an iPhone with a bigger screen and an iPad with a smaller screen , but it ' ll have to focus on software in 2013 to stay ahead of the competition . Apple Tim Cook has now launched two iPhones since taking over for Steve Jobs , and both of them have come with buggy , incomplete flagship software features the iPhone 4S launched with the charming but not so useful Siri voice assistant , and the iPhone 5 launched with a homegrown Maps app so buggy that Cook was forced to apologize to customers . In the meantime , archrival Google has begun shipping some of the best iPhone apps around I ' ve replaced most of Apple ' s apps on my iPhone homescreen with Google built replacements such as Gmail , Google Maps , Chrome and YouTube . Most of my peers in the industry have done the same . That ' s not a good sign . Cook just fired Scott Forstall , the controversial head of iOS development who presided over Siri and Maps . Designer Jony Ive is now in charge of both hardware and software , so we ' ll see if the company can regain its reputation for state of the art software design with the next iPhone and iPad . 3 . Will Amazon go head to head with Apple and Google ? Amazon Jeff Bezos was very blunt when he introduced the new Kindle Fire in September he called it the "" best tablet on the market . "" That was an obvious shot at Apple and the iPad , but Amazon ' s real competitor may well be Google , especially as the market for books , music and movies moves entirely online . There ' s no way Amazon wants people searching Google to find content and products from multiple sources . Amazon wants to build an ecosystem so robust you never want to leave . Think of what Apple did for music with the iPod and iTunes and then imagine Amazon doing that for everything . But the Kindle Fire products aren ' t good enough to compete with the iPad yet , and Amazon doesn ' t have all the services it needs to compete with Google either . It needs to offer at least e mail and search , and a social experience wouldn ' t hurt either . That ' s not a small undertaking , but Amazon is one of the few companies with the scale , infrastructure and resources to make it happen . The rumors are getting louder . We ' ll see whether Amazon makes a big move in 2013 . 4 . Can Facebook grow up ? 2013 will be Facebook ' s first year as a public company , and it has to prove that it can be a stable , reliable investment . That ' s no easy task : Facebook figured out how to make money selling ads on its website just as most of its users switched to smartphone and tablet apps . Selling ads on mobile isn ' t nearly as easy , and Facebook has to figure out how to display relevant ads to smartphone users without crossing the privacy line a line about which users are increasingly worried . But Mark Zuckerberg has to answer to his investors now , and the pressure to cross that line will increase every day that Facebook isn ' t making money in mobile . 5 . Can Google take Android back from Samsung and the wireless carriers ? Here ' s the brutal truth of the smartphone market : the only companies that make any money are Apple and Samsung . Every other company , from to Sony to Google ' s own Motorola , is struggling . And that ' s a huge problem for Google . Apple obviously writes its own software for the iPhone , but Samsung ' s phones all run a customized version of Google ' s open source Android , and Samsung is so dominant that it could very well split off and start building its own version of Android , just as Amazon did with the Kindle Fire . That would be a huge blow to Google . If the rest of the market can ' t make money using Android soon , it ' ll provide a big opening for Microsoft . Google also has to find a way to limit the influence of wireless carriers on Android . Companies such as T and Verizon are all too happy to load up Android devices with unnecessary crapware and bloatware that ruin the user experience while delaying important software updates . The animosity between Google and the carriers has gotten so deep that Google ' s new Nexus 4 flagship device doesn ' t have an radio the carriers simply wouldn ' t cooperate . That ' s in stark contrast to the iPhone experience , which is pristine and controlled by Apple from the start . It ' s a control that irritates power users but offers a sense of support and security to the rest of Apple ' s millions of customers . There ' s a happy balance between the two extremes , and Google needs to find it before Android begins to slip away entirely . These are just five of the many interesting things to look out for in 2013 , from the future of to the rise of wearable computing . After several years of rapid change , we ' ve all got computers in our pockets . The next few years will be about what we do with them to make our lives better . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nilay Patel . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7147751,7752,"Dutch authorities have arrested 12 men of Somali origin they believe were about to carry out a terrorist attack , authorities said Saturday . No weapons or explosives were found , he said . The suspects are in police custody . "" The attack was said to be imminent so the national police started an investigation which led to the arrest of 12 Somalis later on Friday in Rotterdam , "" de Bruin said . "" We are not sure about what the target was , how they were going to carry out the attack or when . "" A Dutch counterterrorism office spokeswoman said the immediate threat to the country has been removed and the terror alert level will remain "" limited , "" or relatively low . "" We are now following the information that comes out of the interrogations with these 12 individuals to see if there still remains a threat from this plot , "" said Judith Sluiter of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism . The men , between ages 19 and 48 , were arrested in various locations . Police have searched a pawn shop , four homes and two hotel rooms , de Bruin said . Six of the suspects live in Rotterdam and one is from Denmark . Some are Dutch citizens . They all are of Somali origin , de Bruin said . A spokesman for the Danish Security Service said authorities are in "" close contact "" with Dutch police . War torn Somalia has a virtually powerless central government and is home to several militant groups , including Al Shabaab , which controls much of the country Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for several attacks , including a series of bombs that tore through an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby center in the Ugandan capital of Kampala . Officials said the July 11 blasts , which killed 79 people , were probably set off by suicide bombers . The United States this year charged several people with trying to funnel money or otherwise assist Somali extremists . Al Shabaab has been linked to al Qaeda . Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in September asked other countries to train Somalia ' s forces to help counter militant groups . The Netherlands is concerned about threats to Western countries , including itself , said Sluiter . She made a reference to the recent suicide bombing in Stockholm , Sweden . A 2009 Dutch intelligence report indicated a decreased threat from domestic militant networks . Domestic militants were becoming more focused on jihad outside the Netherlands , the report said . But it did say the country was seeing more jihadist threats from Somalia and Yemen . The report noted several cases of Dutch citizens trying to travel to Somalia to join Al Shabaab , including four arrested in 2009 in Kenya . The arrests in the Netherlands followed an unrelated sweep a few days before in the United Kingdom . An operation Monday led by the British intelligence service , MI5 , resulted in arrests of 12 suspects ranging in age from 17 to 28 in the cities of London , Stoke and Birmingham , England , as well as Cardiff , Wales . A senior British official not authorized to speak on the record said the suspects were arrested on suspicion of "" preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the , "" but he also said the suspects were "" aspirational "" rather than equipped and "" ready to go . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7157753,7754,"Exhausted but satisfied leaders from both parties came together Tuesday night to announce that Congress had successfully completed 12 solid hours of nonstop gridlocking , once again going above and beyond to needlessly prevent the nation from moving forward . In a marathon session that lawmakers proudly called "" one of their least productive ever , "" each of the 535 members of the House and Senate gridlocked deep into the night to ensure that no bipartisan compromise could be reached , no laws intended to aid the American people could be passed , and no sense of national unity or progress could possibly be achieved . "" There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you ' ve just put in a full day of bringing our nation ' s legislative branch to a complete standstill , "" said House Speaker John Boehner , who like the vast majority of his colleagues worked without break throughout the day and night fostering political disharmony and rejecting the passage of crucial legislation . "" We got a lot of good , quality gridlocking done today . We gridlocked efficiently , we gridlocked passionately , and we gridlocked as best we could for the American people . Now we go home , rest up , and get ready for another full day of gridlocking tomorrow . "" "" It ' s a great feeling , "" Boehner added . "" Today , everyone realized what it is we ' re here to do , and that ' s put a wrench right into the machinery of democracy . "" According to Capitol sources , the impassioned gridlocking session was one of the most demanding in recent memory , requiring each and every member of Congress to work in total cooperation to frustrate one another ' s political agendas , and even requiring a number of dedicated lawmakers to stall as many as seven different bills at once . Legislative leaders said they were enormously pleased with the sustained intensity of gridlocking Tuesday , especially considering the fact that , as early as last week , a number of laws under consideration were thought to have stood a decent chance of being passed . "" I wasn ' t sure at first if I would have the stamina to not advance a single item on my docket , but my constituents expect me to get in there , roll up my sleeves , and grind things to a halt , so that ' s exactly what I did , "" said Sen . Joe Manchin ( D ) , who claimed to have gridlocked straight through his lunch hour , despite protestations from concerned aides . "" I think a lot of people out there may not realize just how much gridlocking we do here in Congress . They think we just sit around passing bills and turning the wheels of progress all day . Well , let me tell you , nothing could be further from the truth . We got some great gridlockers here , in both parties , many of whom have been thwarting our democracy for decades . "" "" This place is like a perfectly un oiled machine , "" Manchin added . "" We don ' t rest until absolutely nothing has been accomplished . "" According to Boehner , Thursday ' s "" spectacular display of inaction "" was nearly derailed when Sens . John McCain ( R ) and Bill Nelson ( D ) briefly attempted to pass crucial and long delayed campaign finance reform , but key committee members acted quickly to weigh the bill down with needless riders before shuttling it off toward a certain death on the floor . At another point , congressional sources reported , the rate of gridlocking was so intense that the passage of a resolution honoring Southern Sudan ' s recent independence as well as a bill mandating improved safety regulations were blocked simultaneously in an astonishing 51 second period of time . While pleased with their failure to do anything even close to what they were elected to do , the men and women of the United States Congress announced after Tuesday ' s session that it wasn ' t praise or recognition they sought , but merely the knowledge that they had done everything in their power to confirm every American ' s worst suspicions about the country ' s legislative system . "" My reward is the feeling I get when I arrive home at the end of the day , look my family in the eyes , and say , ' We didn ' t do it , ' "" a smiling Sen . Lindsey Graham ( R ) said . "" That ' s what really matters to me . Obviously we ' re not always going to agree on everything in Congress . But something that every single one of us , to a person , can agree on is that when there is important gridlocking to be done , then it ' s time to set aside the hopes and dreams of the American people and focus on what really matters : our own blind self interest . "" In response to the 112th Congress ' s solid showing of utter nothingness , President Obama issued a brief statement in recognition of the day ' s gridlocking . "" Congress truly lived up to its reputation today , "" read the president ' s statement . "" This is exactly the kind of performance we have come to expect from our leaders in the House and Senate , and I for one am confident that we ' ll be seeing much , much more of it in the future . "" ",satire,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past7167765,7766,"Home › › “ EMAILS” WEINER’S “ EMAILS” WEINER’S 5 [10/29/16] With furious Democrats – and the Clinton Campaign – now openly blasting the FBI’s reopened investigation (as Republicans take delight for once in having a government agency reinforce their side of events), the question turns to just what emails were found on Weiner’s laptop, and how damaging their contents are for the to take the unprecedented step of “intervening” in a major political event just days before the national election. We first laid what was the most likely explanation yesterday , when we showed several examples of Huma Abedin emails being sent from her work email account to her personal account at , courtesy of a Judicial Watch release. Of the more than 160 emails in the latest Judicial Watch release, some 110 emails – two-thirds of the total – were forwarded by Abedin to two personal addresses she controlled. The Washington Times reported in August 2015 that the State Department had admitted to a federal judge that Abedin and Mills used personal email accounts to conduct government business in addition to Clinton’s privateweblink to transact State Department business. One email from May 15, 2009, was sent by Abedin from her State Department email to her personal email. Abedin was archiving in her personal email account an email Hillary Clinton sent her from Clinton’s private email server at . Abedin was asked to print out attachments to an email Mills sent via a private address the previous day to Clinton involving “timetables and deliverables” for her review via Alec Ross, a technology policy expert who then held the title of senior adviser for innovation to Secretary Clinton. However, while forwarding Hillary’s emails to her personal email server for “convenience” is one thing, what is more troubling is the amount of redaction involved in these emails which migrated to the open email account, which as we now know ended up in Anthony Weiner’s computer: in the above example, the two pages of timetables and deliverables attached to the email were 100 percent redacted, with “ DENIED” stamped across the first redacted page. An argument can be made that the extensive redaction confirms confidential material was part of the transmission. This is a nuanced point being pushed by Hillary Clinton supporters such as Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald, who in an article yesterday tried to make a case citing “sources” (even though the said that nobody has seen the content of the Weiner/Abedin emails), that “ no emails being examined by were to or from Clinton .” Post navigation",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past7177777,7778,"Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has said he accepts things will not always run smoothly as young stable jockey Sam Twiston Davies beds into his first season in the high profile role . The 21 year old came in for some criticism after favourite Zarkandar hit the front in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday but was ultimately beaten a head by the rallying Reve De Sivola , who was winning the race for the third year . There was an irony in the outcome as the winner was ridden by Daryl Jacob , who operated as Nicholls ' main jockey last season . Paul Nicholls has called for patience around jockey Sam Twiston Davies Twiston Davies was beaten tiding Zarkandar in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday The win was Jacob ' s most important since deciding to go freelance rather than revert to the No 2 jockey job he had previously held behind former Nicholls ' stable jockey Ruby Walsh . Nicholls said : ' If Sam rode Zarkandar again , he would do things differently . It is the first time he has ridden him in that situation and you never stop learning . It won ' t be happening next time . ' He hasn ' t got that much experience riding in those very big races . When you appoint a young jockey you have to accept these things . He is a good lad . ' We are all competitive and don ' t like giving races away but he will learn from it . Ruby made plenty of mistakes when he was riding . ' Sometimes these talented horses aren ' t straightforward . Zarkandar wants a more competitive field where he can get a bit of cover . He is a monkey but a very talented monkey . ' Zarkandar will now be freshened up for the Cheltenham Festival . Nicholls added : ' He will not run before the World Hurdle . That is the only race I am aiming him at . ' Zarkandar is 12 1 for the World Hurdle with sponsors Ladbrokes . The Jonjo O ' Neill trained 7 2 favourite and last season ' s winner More Of That could run in February after undergoing a breathing operation in the aftermath of his disappointing comeback third in Newbury ' s Long Distance Hurdle . Daryl Jacob ( left ) took Reve De Sivola to victory ahead of Zarkandar at Ascot on Saturday Jacob was the main jockey under Nicholls last season , before Twiston Davies had the role Meanwhile , Nicholls has three of the 10 possibles for the William Hill King George at Kempton on Boxing Day with Twiston Davies on Al Ferof and Noel Fehily on favourite and his 2013 winner Silviniaco Conti . If the going continues to dry , they could be joined by Wonderful Charm ( Nick Scholfield ) . Jamie Moore says he hopes to be fit to ride Nigel Twiston Davies ' Double Ross . Moore has not ridden since a fall on No Buts in the big handicap chase at Cheltenham on December 13 . Moore said : ' I have had a history of shoulder problems and I pulled some muscles . I have been having physio and fingers crossed I will be there . ' The six horses who could oppose unbeaten Champion Hurdle favourite Faugheen in the Christmas Hurdle on Boxing Day include Irving , Elite Hurdle winner Purple Bay , A Sign Of A Victory and Sgt Reckless . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7187782,7783,"Manning , Newton Interviews To Be Featured On ? Filed Under : Carolina Panthers , Denver Broncos , Jim Nantz , , Phil Simms , Super Bowl 50 , 12 : ( L R ) Host of James Brown and Analyst Super Bowl 50 Phil Simms speak onstage during the ' Sports ' panel discussion at the ShowtimeTelevision Group portion of the 2015 Winter Tour at the Langham Huntington Hotel on January 12 , 2016 in Pasadena , California . ( Photo by Frederick M . Brown Getty Images ) On Sunday , Feb . 7 , 2016 , the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos will be battling it out to take home the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50 , but there is a lot more to it . This golden game is a landmark moment for sports and will go down in history as one of the most iconic moments in football . Everyone hopes that the game will be as competitive and exciting as they re anticipating it to be , and the Broncos and Panthers are surely going to compete to their fullest . Sports is going to make sure that fans will have no shortage of great shows , talent , and analysis leading up to and on the big day itself . Jim Nantz Phil Simms , Lead Super Bowl Announce Team Jim Nantz will be making history when he calls Super Bowl 50 with New York Giants great Phil Simms . It took a moment for him to realize it , but Nantz calling Super Bowl 50 is one for the record books , as he has also called the 50th Masters tournament and was part of the call on the 50th Final Four . Phil Simms knows that the teams are evenly matched and that the coaches have their own talents and skills . ? We ve seen the teams , we know what they are about , said Simms . Ron Rivera has an emotional football team and his decision making can sometimes go along those lines . Gary Kubiak his team is tough , controls tempo of the game , and if all goes the way they want , that s how they d like to see the Super Bowl go . Sports is bringing a pre game show to Super Bowl Sunday that is sure to stand out from those in the past . features an incredible roundtable of football knowledge for the pre game show , which will be led by the one and only James Brown , and he ll be joined by Coach Bill Cowher , Tony Gonzalez , Bart Scott and Boomer Esiason . They will evaluate both teams and detail their thoughts on who has the advantages and disadvantages in the game . One of the most intriguing pieces that will be coming during the pre game show was unveiled by Sean McManus , Chairman , Sports , and it has to do with the six living men who have called previous Super Bowls . It s quite the list : Jim Nantz , Jack Whitaker , Joe Buck , Dick Enberg , Greg Gumbel and Al Michaels . Learn the history and valor of one of the biggest games in sports as they reveal what it s like to call all of the action time and time again . Sports pre game show kicks off at 2 , live from Santa Clara , Calif . and will include in depth interviews with Peyton Manning and Cam Newton , and so much more . Sports broadcasts Super Bowl 50 on Sunday , Feb . 7 ( 6 : 30 , ) , live from Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara , Calif . , as the Denver Broncos take on the Carolina Panthers . Nantz and Simms call the action , along with Tracy Wolfson and Evan Washburn reporting . Danny Cox knows a little something about the , whether it means letting you know what penalty will come from the flag just thrown on the field or quickly spouting off who the Chicago Bears drafted in the first round of the 1987 draft ( Jim Harbaugh ) . He plans on bringing you the best news , previews , recaps , and anything else that may come along with the exciting world of the National Football League . Danny is a freelance writer covering all things . His work can be found on Examinerweblink . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7197784,7785,"Reuters) - Two key U.S. senators on Monday asked Equifax Inc (EFX.N) to answer detailed questions about a breach of information affecting up to 143 million Americans, including whether U.S. government agency records were compromised in the hack. Senator Orrin Hatch, who chairs the Finance Committee, and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden, also demanded that Equifax Chief Executive Rick Smith provide a timeline of the breach and its discovery. They asked for information on when authorities and the company’s board were notified and when three executives who sold stock in the company in August were first told of the data breach. Equifax did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. It came amid mounting scrutiny of the company’s response to the breach from lawmakers, regulators and security experts, prompting the credit-monitoring services to issue an apology on Friday and pledge to dedicate more resources to helping affected consumers. “The scope and scale of this breach appears to make it one of the largest on record, and the sensitivity of the information compromised may make it the most costly to taxpayers and consumers,” the letter said. Equifax announced last week that it learned on July 29 that hackers had infiltrated its systems in mid-May, pilfering names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security and driver’s license numbers. Cyber security experts said it was among the largest data hacks ever recorded and was particularly troubling due to the richness of the information exposed. Three days after Equifax discovered the breach, three top Equifax executives, including Chief Financial Officer John Gamble and a president of a unit, sold Equifax shares or exercised options to dispose of stock worth about $1.8 million, regulatory filings show. Equifax said in a statement last week that the executives were not aware that an intrusion had occurred when they sold their shares. Hatch and Wyden asked Smith to respond by Sept. 28. Other congressional committees have announced plans to hold hearings investigating the Equifax breach and want answers. The senators want to know if Equifax has a chief information security officer and over the past two years “how many times has Equifax employed third-party cyber security experts to conduct penetration tests of its internal and external systems?” The senators want copies of all Equifax penetration test and audit reports by outside cyber security firms. Separately, a group of 20 Democratic senators asked Equifax to end its use of forced arbitration agreements, which limit the ability of consumers to pursue claims, and not to lobby to reverse a new rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to limit the use of forced arbitration in the financial services sector. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7207786,7787,"Reuters) - New Zealand s two main parties are neck and neck in opinion polls after the appointment of a charismatic leader boosted the opposition Labour Party, threatening the governing National Party s decade-long hold on power. The election is on Sept 23. Below are the main parties positions on key issues: ECONOMYNew Zealand s once booming economy is facing some capacity constraints. Unemployment is at an eight-year low and a labor shortage, most noticeably in construction, threatens to curb growth. Both main parties plan to be fiscally prudent and maintain a budget surplus, but would differ on monetary policy. National plans to cut net debt to 10-15 percent of by 2025, while Labour and the Green Party both plan to cut it to 20 percent of within five years of taking office. Labour proposes adding full employment to the existing inflation mandate of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which economists say could lead to easier monetary policy and fuel longer-term inflation. To form a government, National may be more dependent on New Zealand First, which favors greater currency intervention - something New Zealand has been reluctant to do in the past. National is planning to adjust tax thresholds, or effectively deliver tax cuts, from April 2018 to boost family income. Labour wants to do away with National s planned tax cuts and boost tax credits and subsidies. New Zealand s house prices have risen more than 50 percent in the past decade as the construction industry failed to keep up with demand from a growing population, fueled by record migration and an increasing number of New Zealanders staying home. Labour criticizes National for leaving the housing crisis unresolved after nine years in government. It wants to ban overseas buyers from purchasing existing homes and build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years. It also plans to create a housing authority to speed up residential development. National questions Labour s ability to build so many houses while curbing immigration. It plans to make NZ$1 billion available to speed up the development of 60,000 houses. New Zealand First wants to ban foreign non-residents from owning a home in New Zealand, except in particular cases, and to provide government assistance for first-home buyers. The Green Party wants to provide 10,000 new houses over 10 years for low-income groups through a rent-to-buy scheme. The National Party tightened eligibility criteria this year for immigration and believes current levels of immigration are about right to meet the economy s needs. Labour plans to reduce net immigration by up to 30,000 from record levels of over 70,000 annually and to charge every visitor a NZ$25 fee, which would be ring-fenced for a NZ$75 million infrastructure fund. The Greens want to review immigration policy to make sure migrants match the skills employers need, in line with Labour s policy. New Zealand First wants to curb immigration by ensuring New Zealand workers have the first chance at jobs and by capping the number of older migrants. National wants to expand New Zealand s international trade. Among other plans, it wants to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, launch a free trade deal with the European Union and Britain post-Brexit and upgrade its free trade agreement with China. Labour wants to reconsider New Zealand s role in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact if provisions on foreign investment are not changed to allow the New Zealand government to restrict investment into the country. New Zealand First wants to renegotiate the TPP. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7217789,7790,"It can easily be said that Donald Trump has absolutely no idea what he is doing in regards to policy both domestic and foreign. He s a blundering fool who belongs nowhere near the Oval Office, and maybe he knows this considering how much time he spends away from it at his resorts.While many are commenting on the order given by Trump to deliver airstrikes on a Syrian airbase, one person who knows probably more than anyone about geopolitics weighed in with their opinion. That person is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Clinton actually agreed that action needed to be taken and hours before Trump gave the order, she suggested hitting Syrian airfields. She said: I really believe that we should have and still should take out his air fields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them. However, Trump s strikes were ineffective at stopping anything, and unlike the *president, Clinton actually knows that a plan of follow up action needs to take place. She also knows that Trump can t say he cares about the slaughter of innocent children, but then also deny them refuge in the United States. It s hypocritical, to say the least.While speaking at the Women in the World conference in Texas, Clinton said: I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is both strategic and consistent with our values And I also hope that they will recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America s doors to them. And she is absolutely correct. Trump s move in Syria was purely symbolic. It was posturing and it did nothing but provide a different narrative for the news to talk about other than Russia helping Trump get elected.It s going to be up to Trump to move forward with an actual plan of action with Syria, but don t hold your breath.Watch Hillary Clinton show what true leadership looks like here:Hillary Clinton: cannot, in one breath, speak of protecting Syrian babies and close America s doors to them weblink pic.twitter.com/FPNms0NBkQ (@CNN) April 7, 2017Featured Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past7227794,7795,"Ben Carson Surges in Iowa , Runs New Ads in Early States Shake up for Republicans as Ben Carson Takes Lead in Iowa Polls On the heels of new polls showing Dr Ben Carson surging in Iowa , his campaign is rolling out two new television ads today in the early primary states of Iowa , New Hampshire , South Carolina and Nevada . Two new back to back polls show Carson taking the lead over Donald Trump in Iowa . A new Bloomberg Des Moines Register poll this morning shows Carson up 10 points since last August , leading Donald Trump by 9 points . And , according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday , the neurosurgeon climbed to an 8 point lead over the real estate mogul . The first ad , called "" We the People , "" shows shots of Carson at rallies along with footage of him and his wife sharing Carson s vision for America s future . People are so concerned about their future . The future for their children , the future of our nation , Carson says in the ad . "" This country was designed around we the people . Of , for and by the people . We need a government that actually understand that and doesn t think that it is the ruler of the people . Ben Carson Doubts Donald Trump Was Blaming George W . Bush for 9 11 The second ad has a much different feel , with Carson talking directly to the camera , comparing Washington , D . C . , to a swamp . Did you know Washington is built on a swamp ? Carson asks . "" Massive government debt , stifling regulation , special interest politics , partisan dysfunction . Washington is broken , the political class broke it . Together , we can drain the swamp and protect our children s future . These are not the first television advertisements run by the Carson campaign , but does represent the beginning of the ad program . The campaign ran television and radio advertisements in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire following the first Republican debate in Cleveland . The new 500 , 000 ad buy is scheduled to run for one week . The campaign has been planning this rollout in key early states for about a month . The campaign will run ads in upcoming weeks as well and campaign officials said their future ad buys will not be small . Get real time updates as this story unfolds . To start , just "" star "" this story in News ' phone app . Download News for iPhone here or News for Android here . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7237795,7796,"Six of the world’s largest and most prestigious marathons — in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City — band together and call themselves the World Marathon Majors. Some people try to run all six in the same year. Dean Bell is among them. He spent last week in Amsterdam attending to his job as a partner at the auditing firm before flying back to New York to finish his sixth marathon of the year — the year he turned 40. He was followed in Central Park on Sunday by a trickle of other finishers, like the sommelier Brian Cronin, who has completed 42 in all. They came from Italy and Spain, China and Denmark, amounting to 1, 200 runners over all. They were led by Michael Wardian, an ultra runner so prolific that for him, finishing the six majors was akin to a 5K on the local circuit for an ordinary runner. Wardian finished the New York City Marathon in 45th place, and he set a record for average pace running the majors in a calendar year — a little less than 2 hours 31 minutes. Sunday’s race was Wardian’s ninth marathon of 2016. He supplemented them with 10 ultra marathons. He is 42. “I know it’s not typical, but with every race I do, I’ve just always wanted to see if it’s possible,” Wardian said. “I’ve never wanted someone else to dictate what I’m capable of. ” If Wardian and Bell are any indication, people who do this kind of thing have some qualities in common — a penchant for the extreme being central to all. They archive their races in spreadsheets (Wardian) and résumés (Bell). They get up at 4:45 a. m. and go for their runs in the suburbs (Arlington, Va. for Wardian Greenwich, Conn. for Bell) supplementing them with a lunchtime run at work in the city when they can. Both are in their early 40s, and they balance their running around their families: in this case, wives and two young children. Both issue claims that they are not as unusual as they sound. “Of course I know all the running is, on some level, crazy, but mostly I’m an ordinary guy,” Bell said. “And there are worse vices. ” Wardian also maintains that his lifestyle is largely ordinary, just augmented by a marathon or every other weekend or so. “I think I’m a pretty normal — well, some people would say maybe not — but I have a family, a job, I take my kids to Cub Scouts and soccer practice, I’m part of civic organizations, I do all this stuff normal people do, but at the same time I don’t think we need to be limited by what is considered normal behavior,” Wardian said. “I just have a really incredible interest in establishing about what’s possible for me and then shattering that. ” Certainly, the schedule is unforgiving. A marathon in Berlin in late September. For October, Chicago. And then a month later, the New York City Marathon. All very fast. Bell has been running for only a little over five years. He gave himself a year to plan the logistics around the races but did not change his training. Since he began running marathons in 2011, he has amassed 20, including Sunday’s. He tends to run his races between 3:10 and 3:15, save for a run this year in Berlin with a bad back. For him, it is a call to constantly push the boundaries of his limitations. “You start with ‘I want to run a marathon,’ then you want to run Boston, then it’s ‘I want to run a certain time,’ then I wanted to run the majors,” Bell said. “As we enter this stage of life, we’re missing competition, it’s us against the clock, but that’s the biggest opponent you can have, yourself. ” Wardian ran his first marathon in 1996 so he could qualify for the Boston Marathon, and he quickly moved on to races from there. When he decided to improve his speed, he qualified for the 2004, 2008 and 2012 men’s Olympic trials, still relishing the day when he led the first 10K of the 2008 trials through Times Square, immortalized in a widely circulated photograph. Now he is focusing on frequency and longer distances. Wardian was a varsity lacrosse player at Michigan State before he began running his junior year. He and his wife, Jennifer, who met at a fraternity party in Maryland, accommodate each other’s training needs. When watching the kids in the morning, he will run on the treadmill at home while she goes to a Jazzercise class. She was fine with his running 48 miles through the Grand Canyon for their 12th anniversary last month — but she has her limitations. “She lays the law down,” he said. “I’m not allowed to go do Everest until the kids are 18. ” Despite an unusual gluttony, and talent, for both volume and speed, Wardian has remained largely for the entirety of his 20 years of running except for August 2012. He developed five stress fractures in his pelvis and five hernias, all at once, and was sidelined for two months. (He attributed the injuries to the time his youngest son developed epilepsy, when he and his wife slept no more than intervals.) “Normally,” he said, “I sleep four hours, and I’m fine. ” The Wardians take their children to his races around the world — they have been to 14 countries on four continents, waiting for their father to finish a race through the Alps or the Outback. Wardian follows the wholesome lifestyle common to many ultra runners, having refrained from eating chicken since he contracted salmonella poisoning from a meal in college. From there, he stopped eating fish and then went vegan, aside from a fondness for egg whites and honey. Some friends he met at a race in Japan take a rice steamer with them for prerace meals, and he has taken up the habit of eating white rice and honey for breakfast and, before dinner, visiting sushi restaurants, where he will eat rolls. He drinks “twice every 18 months” and counts an maker and a salad company among his sponsors. “I’m one of those guys,” he said. “But I think it helps me in recovery. It’s clean energy. ” Wardian spends his days as an international ship broker, arranging oceangoing transportation for food aid. Some of his competitors have been on the receiving end of his efforts: At a dinner for Wardian’s clients, the former marathon champion Paul Tergat spoke of how he would receive the shipments while growing up in Kenya and how they changed his life. (Wardian contracted the ship Maersk Alabama, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009, learning the news only when he returned from running the weeklong Marathon Des Sables through the Sahara and regained phone access.) Wardian and Bell finished their streaks Sunday despite the logistical impediments bound to affect races that happen almost every week or month. For Bell, he had managed to run each time under his Boston qualifying standard — until Berlin, where he was hampered by a back injury. Wardian’s trips were wrought with timing hurdles: He would continue running after the race back to his lodgings to collect his luggage and go straight to the airport, often still in racing clothes. Bell’s family watched the race at 102nd Street and First Avenue, a block from where they used to live. They celebrated after the race with friends who live in their old building but headed back to the suburbs before it grew too late. He had a 7 a. m. flight to Washington the next day. Wardian said he would go to Las Vegas next weekend. He has another marathon record in mind: running the fastest one ever while dressed as Elvis.",true,news,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7247796,7797,"Dueling official Republican responses to Tuesday ' s State of the Union address meant to highlight the party ' s alternate vision for the nation instead underscored the ' s deep divide on immigration reform . One , given in Spanish by Florida Rep . Carlos Curbelo , asked the President to "" cooperate "" with congressional Republicans to make immigration reform happen . "" We should also work through the appropriate channels to create permanent solutions for our immigration system , to secure our borders , modernize legal immigration , and strengthen our economy , "" Curbelo said in Spanish . "" In the past , the President has expressed support for ideas like these . Now we ask him to cooperate with us to get it done . "" The other , delivered in English by Iowa Sen . Joni Ernst , made no mention of reform . She gave a folksy pitch for Republican proposals to improve the economy , overhaul the tax code and open up new trade markets abroad . While Curbelo and Ernst were the two officially sanctioned responses , a cacophony of Republicans spanning the ideological spectrum gave their own rebuttals throughout the night . House Republicans had said Curbelo would be delivering a Spanish translation of Ernst ' s speech in a press release that went out last week , but by Wednesday morning , that note had been deleted from the release . Curbelo told Politico he requested a copy of Ernst ' s prepared remarks and revised them to reflect his own priorities , and that Leadership had okayed his version of the speech . "" I did not get any pushback whatsoever , "" he said . The freshman House Republican said it was "" a shame that Democrats would try to criticize us for each of us having our own priorities and ideas and making them known . "" "" I think leadership should be commended for encouraging those it selects to talk about their lives , their priorities and their vision , "" he said . But the clash between the two speeches reflects the broader struggle within the party to expand its appeal beyond base conservatives and into untapped demographic groups , particularly minorities . With America ' s Latino population growing exponentially , Republican leaders have openly admitted they won ' t be able to compete on the national stage if they can ' t figure out how to narrow Democrats ' advantage with that voting bloc . Many in the party ' s right flank , however , remain staunchly opposed to any reform proposals that include a pathway to citizenship for immigrants here illegally , which conservatives decry as "" amnesty . "" Ernst herself was a loud opponent of a pathway to citizenship during her campaign , and said she would ' ve opposed the 2013 Senate reform bill for that reason . Curbelo , meanwhile , supported that bill during his campaign and bucked Republicans on a pair of amendments meant to block President Obama ' s executive action on amnesty last week , voting against them . But both Republicans hail from competitive swing states , and represent voting blocs that could be key to the ' s hopes of winning the White House in 2016 . Their disconnect on the immigration reform issue suggests the party still has a ways to go in bridging the gulf between the two . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7257818,7819,"It ' s the smile Liverpool have been waiting for since August , but Mario Balotelli ' s delighted post match grin has been one Reds supporters will finally be glad to see . The Italian scored his first Premier League goal for the club after coming off the bench to dramatically snatch a late winner in the 3 2 win over Tottenham at Anfield . Balotelli ' s goal came in a pulsating match between the clubs and could yet prove huge at the end of the season with both teams fighting to reach the top four and a Champions League place that goes with it . Mario Balotelli posted a selfie on Instagram after scoring Liverpool ' s winner against Tottenham , thanking fans for sticking by him following his goal drought for the Reds Brendan Rodgers ( left ) leaves Anfield early after his Liverpool side defeated Tottenham 3 2 Rodgers left before any of his Liverpool players and was on his way to catch a flight It ' s been 850 playing minutes since Balotelli ' s last Premier League goal against Wigan on 28 November 2012 . The striker went 17 games without scoring . In those 17 games , he fired in 19 shots on target , 17 shots off target and had 14 blocked . The striker showed little emotion in his celebration after tapping home Adam Lallana ' s cross from close range , and even at the final whistle he refused to acknowledge the Kop and was the first Liverpool player to depart Anfield with manager Brendan Rodgers also leaving early to catch a flight . Balotelli did later show his delight and gratitude to fans after posting on social media . ' Great game guys ! ! ! ' , Balotelli said on Instagram . ' This smile is for those that always believe and support me . Thank you and forza Liverpool . But now head down and keep working hard . Tonight is past . ' Speaking in the absence of manager Brendan Rodgers , who had to catch a flight , assistant boss Colin Pascoe paid tribute to the Italian , who has struggled to settle back in English football since joining Liverpool for 16million last summer . ' He is immensely happy , ' said Pascoe . ' To get a winner at Anfield , I am sure he is happy . ' It was great movement from Mario in the six yard box . I hope it can be a springboard , he is training hard . The last couple of weeks he ' s been ill and had gashes on his feet so couldn ' t get his boots on . Mario Balotelli ( centre ) scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool as they beat Tottenham 3 2 Balotelli ( left ) pounced from close range to score on 83 minutes and break his Premier League goalscoring duck for Liverpool The maverick Italy international ( centre ) remains calm as his team mates go wild after his late winner on Tuesday night Balotelli was introduced on 74 minutes for Sturridge ( left ) as the Reds sought a winner at home to Spurs Balotelli ( left ) was soon involved in an off the ball clash with Tottenham ' s Eric Dier during his cameo Balotelli was a late introduction after coming on in the 74th minute before scoring nine minutes later . His goal came after Mousa Dembele had equalised for Spurs following a second half Steven Gerrard penalty . Lazar Markovic opened the scoring for the Reds in the first period , with Tottenham ' s in form striker Harry Kane cancelling out the strike . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7267820,7821,"Super Bowl 50 Tickets Headed For An All Time High : What Will It Cost To Snag A Ticket For The Big Game ? If you re looking to attend this year s Super Bowl , you might want to consider a small business loan to gain access to the event . Tickets for the February 7th match up between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers has hit an average of 6 , 000 per ticket , according to the TiqIQ , a secondary market ticket price aggregator . Tickets for this year ' s Superbowl are going for more than 5 , 000 each weblink : t . co ZStwc8YvhQ pic . twitterweblink GwzGPe6P6Y It is the first time in over five years that a single ticket for the Super Bowl is valued at more than 4 , 000 and the fact that the game is being played in Silicon Valley gives reason to believe that the affluent population that resides in the area plays a part in the inflated prices . has reported that the cheapest ticket at this year s Super Bowl is 3 , 279 . 00 , which is likely to drop as tickets go unpurchased and the event date draws closer . Still , an event that is meant to be as much for the fans than the players is evolving into a bidding war with the individual holding the fattest wallet ( or purse ) coming out on top . An unfortunate reality for the average fan hoping to catch their favorite team or player in one of the biggest ( if not biggest ) sporting events of the year . The highest priced ticket up for grabs right now per these secondary ticket sellers like Stubhub and TiqIQ is listed at more than 26 , 100 , while some luxury suites are selling for more than 500 , 000 . Yeah , that s right , half a million dollars to watch a football game . Super Bowl tickets are really cheap this year pic . twitterweblink w671OWaX9U ? Hall of Fame ( HOFSportsTalk ) January 25 , 2016 Fox Business actually reported that after the Denver Broncos defeat of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots this past Sunday in the championship game , tickets for the February 7th s big game have actually dropped ? Thank you , Peyton Manning ! But high ticket prices for the game won t be the only financial obstacle for fans . Fox Business also noted on the substantial amount it would cost to book a hotel in the San Francisco Bay area during Super Bowl weekend . TripAdvisor is showing that prices for a room within 10 miles of Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara ( where the Super Bowl is being played ) are nearly 40 percent more expensive than rooms in last year s location , Phoenix Arizona , for Super Bowl 49 . One way to avoid such inflated prices , according to TripAdvisor s director of communications , Brooke Ferencsik , would be to book a room in a hotel outside of that 10 mile radius . According to Mr Ferencsik s insight , the price for a room reservation at a hotel in Santa Cruz , which sits 30 miles from Super Bowl 50 s Levi Stadium , is 273 compared to those within the 10 miles radius that cost closer to 600 a night . Football fans looking to score tickets or just get a piece of the action in San Francisco can still find a wide selection of reasonably priced rooms available to book on TripAdvisor , Ferencsik said in a press release . Bargain hunting travelers can save up to 50 percent if they are willing to hike more than 20 miles from the stadium in cities such as Oakland or San Bruno compared to closer destinations like San Jose or Mountain View . TripAdvisor was also kind enough to set out a guide for those who plan to make their way to the Bay Area for the game this upcoming February on their website . Super Bowl 50 will be played at Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara , on Feb . 7 . , The game will be broadcasted on at 6 : 30 p . m . and feature one of the leagues most iconic quarterbacks in Peyton Manning with his Denver Broncos vs . hopeful Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers . This year s halftime performance will be headlined by Coldplay featuring pop queen Beyonce . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7277831,7832,"for Trump!!!! vote take A friend friends>>> we want a safe country.Clinton HOME. do you want Bill to be in White House??? Do you remember the last time????Trump will work for the people instead of his BOOK, won't that be NICE???? YOU!!!!",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present7287832,7833,"Talk about projecting! On Fareed Zakaria s show, former New York Times editor Jill Abramson decries false equivalency between Democrats and Republicans, saying Republicans are disproportionately responsible for the divisive political climate. HUH? This angry shrew is showing just how much she is blinded by hate! LUCE: It s very hard to imagine how civility can ensue when people don t even meet each other or live near each other who hold different positions or let their children marry or wish their children to marry people of different views. So that s my concern, there is no public square. ZAKARIA: Jill, you ve written that you think that while all this is true, this is not a situation where both sides are equally at fault. ABRAMSON: I do think that both sides are not equally at fault, and that there s been a bit of a false equivalency at work, especially in the discussion over the past couple of days. I think that in terms of political leadership right now that both President Trump and the congressional leadership on the Republican side are extremely divisive and that they are really benefiting from a kind of rage machine that operates in this country.This woman must have been in a coma for the past couple of years!Does she remember the horrible attacks on conservatives during the 2016 campaign? Does she not remember the 2016 Inauguration? Oh, how about Berkeley?There are just way too many examples of the left s unhinged violence and rhetoric. From the leaders of the Democrat Party to the George Soros sponsored Antifa thugs, we can say without any hesitation that this woman and all others who refuse to see the problem are seriously delusional and blinded by their hate.",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past7297852,7853,"Pressure mounted on Tuesday for Fox News to take action against its host, Bill O’Reilly, as a series of prominent companies pulled advertising from his show and a leading women’s rights group called for his ouster. Following an investigation by The New York Times over the weekend that revealed multiple settlements over allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior by Mr. O’Reilly, the network faced a major advertising revolt as more than a dozen marketers said that they were withdrawing their ads from “The O’Reilly Factor. ” Escalating the tension, the National Organization for Women called for Mr. O’Reilly to be fired and said an independent investigation should be conducted into the culture at Fox News. “Fox News is too big and too influential to simply let this go,” Terry O’Neill, the president of NOW, said in a statement. And inside Fox News, three women who work in the newsroom said that the continued support of Mr. O’Reilly by Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, led them to question whether the company was committed to maintaining a work environment “based on trust and respect,” as executives had promised last summer after the network’s founding chairman, Roger E. Ailes, was ousted. The employees requested anonymity because they feared retaliation for speaking publicly. The erosion of advertising support, along with pressure from advocacy groups, heightened the sense of uncertainty at Fox News, which for months has been trying to move beyond the sexual harassment scandal that led to the dismissal of Mr. Ailes. It also raised questions about how long 21st Century Fox will stand behind Mr. O’Reilly. Fox News signaled that it was trying to contain the controversy and working to restore relations with the network’s advertisers, noting that companies had reallocated their spending from Mr. O’Reilly’s program to other network shows. “We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’” Paul Rittenberg, the executive vice president for advertising sales at Fox News, said in a statement. “At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been into other programs. ” If more advertisers leave the program, Fox News and 21st Century Fox may have to respond. Mr. O’Reilly, 67, is the network’s most visible star, leading a prime time programming slate that draws ratings with its conservative commentary. “The O’Reilly Factor,” which draws almost 4 million viewers a night, generated more than $446 million in advertising revenue from 2014 through 2016, according to the research firm Kantar Media. A spokesman for Mr. O’Reilly, Mark Fabiani, declined to comment on Tuesday. Mr. O’Reilly has said that the accusations against him are without merit and that his fame has made him a target “for those who would harm me and my employer, the Fox News Channel. ” He did not address the issue on either his Monday night or Tuesday night broadcasts. Mr. O’Reilly’s contract, which was set to expire this year, has been extended by 21st Century Fox, people familiar with the deal said. When the company agreed to the extension, it was aware of multiple settlements that had been reached with women who had complained about his behavior, and it structured the deal to include more leverage over his behavior, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. O’Reilly earns about $18 million a year. The advertising boycott and the public outcry echo what happened to the radio host Don Imus a decade ago over racially and sexually charged statements he made about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. After a series of advertisers suspended their ads from his radio and television program, and called for his ouster, NBCUniversal canceled the simulcast of his show on MSNBC. And at Fox News, the former host Glenn Beck left the network in 2011 after hundreds of advertisers refused to allow their ads on his program. On Tuesday, multiple advocacy groups started campaigns targeting advertisers of “The O’Reilly Factor. ” The Women’s March group posted a message on Twitter, encouraging people to use the term “#DropOReilly” to tell advertisers to pull their ads from the program and also encouraged people to share their own experiences with sexual harassment. The advocacy group Color of Change also started a campaign focusing on the advertisers of the show. “Their money and support is keeping him on the air,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of the organization. “It is rewarding his actions. It is rewarding the damage he has done to people in their lives and their careers. ” “In essence, these corporations are the ones whose money is paying the settlements,” Mr. Robinson added. Among the companies pulling their ads from Mr. O’Reilly’s show are the car companies Hyundai, of North America, Mitsubishi and Lexus the pharmaceutical and health care companies Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Consumer HealthCare and Allstate, the insurance company. The decisions came after The Times investigation found that five women who had accused Mr. O’Reilly of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior received settlements totaling about $13 million. “Mitsubishi Motors takes these allegations very seriously, and we have decided that we will pull our advertising at the present time,” Alex Fedorak, a company spokesman, said in a statement. Mitsubishi spent about $2. 1 million for ads on the “The O’Reilly Factor” in 2016, making it the show’s advertiser, according to iSpot. tv, the ad analytics firm. Some advertisers have said they will continue to run ads on his show. Cheryl Reed, a spokeswoman for Angie’s List, said, “Just as we trust members to make their own hiring decisions, we trust them to make their own media consumption decisions. ” The weight loss company Jenny Craig was noncommittal, saying: “As an organization, Jenny Craig condemns any and all forms of sexual harassment. As a matter of corporate policy, we do not publicly comment on our advertising strategy. ” An ad for Jenny Craig appeared during Mr. O’Reilly’s show on Monday night. The broader legal troubles for Fox News continued on Tuesday. Monica Douglas, a black Fox News employee, joined a lawsuit that was filed last week against Fox News by two other women, asserting that they were subjected to racial harassment at the network. The suit was filed in State Supreme Court in the Bronx. Fox News dismissed the executive named in the suit, Judith Slater, the longtime controller, on Feb. 28. It said in a statement “there is no place for conduct like this at Fox News, which is why Ms. Slater was fired. ” On Monday, Julie Roginsky, a current Fox News contributor, filed a lawsuit against Mr. Ailes, Fox News and Bill Shine, one of the network’s asserting that she faced retaliation for rebuffing Mr. Ailes’s sexual advances. Mr. Ailes has denied all the sexual harassment accusations against him.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7307853,7854,"BottleRock Napa lineup : Stevie Wonder , Florence and the Machine , Red Hot Chili Peppers highlight 2016 bill The Guns N ' Roses reunion is official . . . I think . Organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival confirmed Monday night via social media this year ' s lineup with a photo of a promotional poster , showing Guns N ' Roses as the headliners on April 16 and April 23 of the two weekend festival in Indio , California . Rumors have swirled for weeks that co founders Axl Rose and Slash have buried the hatchet and will perform together for the first time in more than two decades . Original bassist Duff McKagen is believed to be on board , as both he and Slash announced the show via Twitter . McKagen has good relations with both men and filled in for bassist Tommy Stinson in recent years when Stinson was touring with The Replacements . This May 25 , 2008 photo shows Axl Rose , lead singer of Guns N ' Roses , performing at the start of a European tour in Madrid . ( Bru Garcia Getty Images ) According to Melodicrockweblink , Richard Fortus who has played guitar for the band since 2001 ( no , really , there was a Guns N ' Roses all this time ) will be included , instead of original guitarist Izzy Stradlin . Frank Ferrer , who has played for Guns N ' Roses since 2006 , will continue in that role . Dizzy Reed , who joined the band in 1990 , will continue on keyboards . There ' s been reports that , after Coachella , the band will do a summer stadium tour in North America . As the band is rumored to be asking for 3 million per show , I wouldn ' t count on tickets being 12 like back when they played the Stone in San Francisco with Jetboy 30 years ago . Other Coachella headliners include Soundsystem and Calvin Harris . Tony Hicks writes celebrity commentary for the Bay Area News Group . Contact him at Facebookweblink BayAreaNewsGroup . TonyHicks or Twitterweblink tonyhicks67 ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7317895,7896,"Bill Montag , father of reality star Heidi Montag , has been abandoned by his family following his arrest in Colorado on Thursday night on charges of sexual abuse . Nobody visited the 67 year old on Sunday at Pitkin County Jail as it ' s feared his wife Terri has fled town , leaving concerned neighbors to take care of their two dogs . A friend of the family told MailOnline that his ' life is in ruins ' even if he ' s found innocent on charges of sexual assault on a child and incest . Wearing an orange jumpsuit behind bars Bill cut a lonely figure during visitation , 10 11am , and was seen staring vacantly at the floor in a communal area while making a short phone call , a witness told MailOnline . ' Abandoned ' : Bill Montag , father of Heidi , cuts a lonely figure in Pitkin County Jail after being charged with child sex abuse . According to neighbors in Glenwood Springs , Colorado , his wife has fled their home Allegations : Montag , 67 , ( pictured with his reality star daughter ) was accused of abuse by a different relative The source revealed how Bill is much older the other inmates many of which spent free time in the morning pacing the corridors and stands out like a sore thumb . A friend of the family , Melody Morris , reveals she spoke to wife Terri Montag on Thursday night by text message . Terri did not explain the situation but asked Melody to ' look after and feed my dogs , ' without giving any indication how long for or when she plans to return . Three days have passed and Terri is yet to contact Melody , a manager at a resource engineering company and lives opposite the Montag house , to tell her whereabouts or intentions to come home . Melody , 52 , said : ' His life is in ruins now . Even if he ' s proven innocent that dark cloud will still loom over him . ' Fled ' : Neighbors told MailOnline that Montag ' s wife , Terri Montag , has not been home for days Melody Morris , who is dogsitting for Terri , told MailOnline reporter James Robertson , no idea where she is ' They are a lovely couple and amazing neighbors so nobody would have seen this coming . We ' re friends so I ' m just concentrating on looking after the dogs . ' Terri sent me a message asking me to take care of things here , I haven ' t asked her about the case because it ' s so awkward . ' She hasn ' t told me where she is or when she ' ll be home just that I ' m in charge of making sure her dogs are fed and watered . She could be anywhere . ' It ' s a difficult situation for me to be in but nobody knows how they ' ll react until it happens to them . I ' m just helping Terri . ' Terri ' s current location is unknown and all three family vehicles are parked on the driveway of their modest detached bungalow that backs on to a freeway in Glenwood Springs . Bill ' s been suspended from his job after cops arrested him without incident at his place of employment , Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club . The Aspen Police Department was notified by the that Bill was skiing at Aspen Highlands , he was arrested when he returned to the offices , police said . Bill was picked up on a failure to appear charge for three counts each of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and one charge of aggravated incest . Records claim the abuse lasted for four years . The victim says the abuse began in 1993 and continued until 1998 . He is torn between two jails in the process of being extradited from Aspen to Arapho and is incarcerated without possibility of bail . Shocked : According to Morris , the neighborhood was shocked by the news as the Montags are ' lovely ' Suspended from work : Bill has been suspended from his job after cops arrested him without incident at his place of employment , Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club Capt . Larry Etheridge of the Araphoe County Sheriff ' s office said : ' Allegations were brought forward by a woman , who is now an adult , who had alleged a sexual assault a little more than 15 years ago during a period of time when she was between 14 and 17 . ' Etheridge said Bill ' denied it all ' and ' did not admit guilt ' but refused to go into further details regarding the investigation which launched in June . According to 9 , ' Due to the statute of limitations , Montag is only eligible to be charged with crimes that occurred after July 1st 1996 , when the victim would have been 16 years old . ' The victim bravely told she is coming forward after more than a decade in silence to protect other possible victims and young girls . Neither Heidi or sister Holly are considered a victim in the case . reports Heidi is certain her father with be exonerated and the woman making the allegations ' is determined to destroy the family , ' and had previously stalked her and husband Spencer Pratt . If convicted , he could face a prison of four to 12 years and a fine of up to 750 , 000 . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7327934,7935,"EVERETT, Washington/ (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump, who has made his criticism of a pending Pacific trade agreement central to his campaign, on Tuesday visited a Seattle suburb home to a large Boeing Co plane manufacturing facility that depends heavily on Asian sales. Trump vowed at his rally that he would win Washington state, even though the state tends to support Democrats and that party’s nominee, Hillary Clinton, leads by large margins in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 8 election. The Republican nominee, however, presents a conundrum for the unions that represent workers at Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company. He has courted manufacturing workers with vows to tear up trade agreements and scrap the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership. “The destruction that started will be finished off if the Trans-Pacific Partnership is approved,” Trump said on Tuesday, referring to a separate deal with Canada and Mexico reached in the 1990s. He also has vowed to renegotiate that agreement. Supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) point to Boeing’s aircraft sales to Asia to tout the benefits of the agreement. Secretary of State John Kerry visited a nearby plant earlier this year to rally support for the pact. Manufacturing unions agree with Trump on his opposition to and the export of jobs overseas, but officials said they find his track record unconvincing. “The fact is that Trump has had the opportunity to bring jobs to Americans, and he’s chosen to outsource them,” said Larry Brown, legislative and political director for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 751, which represents about 32,000 workers in the state, mostly at Boeing. Boeing produces some of its largest planes only miles from where Trump spoke Tuesday night. As they are assembled, the painted tails of the planes show the airlines that ordered them, and many are Asian. Major components of each plane come from overseas: South Korea, China and Europe. Over the next 20 years, Boeing projects that Asian customers will account for 40 percent of the total global jetliner’s market, the company said in a recent report. “Trade is a huge part of the success of manufacturing in Washington,” said Linda Dempsey, vice president of international economic affairs for the National Association of Manufacturers, which Boeing belongs to. “They are exporting $73 billion in manufactured goods.” But Trump offers a more dire outlook, arguing that only he can keep Boeing from moving those high-paying manufacturing jobs from Washington to China. “They’ll start taking your business away, and you won’t have much of Boeing,” Trump told Seattle’s radio on Monday. Trump has broken with the Republican Party’s traditional embrace of free trade. He has vowed to rip up the and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, an existing deal with Canada and Mexico which he blames for the loss of U.S. jobs. The Republican Party’s support for free trade has put it in sync with large business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. Tony Fratto, a former official in the administration of Republican George W. Bush, criticized Trump as out of step with the party. “Trump’s policies in this area are really dumb generally, but are particularly dumb for a major exporting company,” said Fratto, who worked on behalf of a coalition of large companies, including Boeing, that were pushing for renewal of the Export-Import Bank. Some voters in Washington state remain divided. Kirk Hoeppner, 53, a business analyst at Boeing who lives in Granite Falls, Washington, said he will vote for Trump and he agrees with his business views. But he was not sure closer ties to other countries would hurt jobs there. “Even if we ally with other countries, we’re still going to sell more airplanes,” Hoeppner said. Corey McNally, 40, of Whidbey Island, Washington, has not decided whom he will vote for. “The union members love Hillary just because they’re supposed to because she’s a liberal,” said McNally. And Trump, whom he called “just kind of a big show,” may be too late to change anything. “This company’s been outsourcing jobs for years,” he said of Boeing. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7337937,7938,"Great Britain ' s Davis Cup team travel to Belgium amid continuing security fears Great Britain ' s Davis Cup team have delayed travelling to Belgium until Monday amid continuing security fears but are still planning to play in the final . Great Britain ' s Davis Cup team have delayed travelling to Belgium until Monday amid continuing security fears but are still planning to play in the final . The terror alert level in Brussels , where the team were due to fly to , was raised to the highest category on Saturday because of a "" serious and imminent "" threat of a Paris style attack . The search for a man believed to be one of the masterminds of the atrocities in the French capital continues in the Brussels area . Soldiers are patrolling the streets and the city ' s metro system was shut for a second day on Sunday while several sporting events were cancelled . Ghent , where the Davis Cup final is being held , is only 35 miles from Brussels and the Foreign Office updated its guidance for the country , advising visitors not to go to places with large numbers of people . The 13 , 000 seat Flanders Expo is sold out for all three days of the final , which begins on Friday , with more than 1 , 000 British fans due to attend . International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty said on Saturday he was "" greatly concerned "" by developments but that preparations for the tie would continue . The change of plans should not affect Britain ' s preparations given they would not have been able to practise on site in Ghent until Monday anyway . The team instead stayed together in London for a day of practice on clay , with all members understood to be happy to travel to Belgium on Monday . The alert level in Ghent is category three , the same as London , and sporting events there have been held this weekend including the Ghent Six , a large annual cycling competition . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present7347949,7950,"A protester leaps from a wheelchair and runs onto the pitch during the ' s World Cup clash with Belgium . The man , an Italian named Mario Ferri with a history of such stunts , stopped the game in the 16th minute when he ran around on the grass wearing a blue Superman t shirt with ' ' and ' ' printed on it . Ferri had managed to secure a ticket for the match in the disabled section which gave him a front row seat . Making his move : Mario Ferri gets out of wheelchair in the 16th minute of the game Sending a message : Mario Ferri stuns players by running around before being escorted off by security He slipped through the barrier unnoticed before running unimpeded for several seconds , pulling down on his t shirt to better reveal his message . He was eventually escorted off the field by security . CiroVive was a reference to Ciro Esposito a Napoli fan who was shot in May during fan violence before the Italian Cup final . . He died last week , 50 days after the shooting , at the age of 29 . Ferri is a repeat offender from Italy , famous invading Serie A and Italy matches wearing a Superman shirt . Ferri also ran onto the field during a match at the World Cup 2010 with a a vuvuzela , interrupting the semi final match between Germany and Spain . Ferri ' s antics will prompt new fears over security and also concern that concession seats are being sold on the black market . Footage taken at the Maracana during match between France and Ecuador last week shows what appears to be a wheel chair bound man walking to his chair . Dozens of supposedly disabled fans have also been seen standing up in other games . Easy access : Mario Ferri slips through the barrier and onto the field unnoticed Game over : Mario Ferri is held by security and taken off the field ",true,text,test,American football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7357953,7954,"Wayne Rooney , Mario Balotelli and Frank Lampard are successful footballers because their faces are the optimum shape . That ' s according to new research , which compared the facial width to height ratios ( FWHRs ) of high ranking footballers to their on pitch record . It discovered that players with faces that are wider than they are tall are more likely to score goals , but also commit fouls . Wayne Rooney ( left ) and Mario Balotelli ( right ) are successful footballers because their faces are the optimum shape , claims new research . Experts discovered that players with a high facial width to height ratios ( FWHRs ) are more likely to score goals , but also commit fouls The Manchester United star , nicknamed Shrek because of the shape of his head , has the features that mark out the best forwards from the rest , claim experts from the University of Colorado at Boulder . Mr Rooney , who will be awarded with a Golden Cap at Wembley on Saturday to mark his 100th appearance for England , has also received six red cards in his career . While Italian Mr Balotelli has scored 33 goals in his international career , but has also received 50 yellow cards in his career for fouls and other offences . Dr Keith Welker from the university analysed 1 , 000 players from 32 countries at the 2010 South Africa World Cup . Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder analysed 1 , 000 players from 32 countries at the 2010 South Africa World Cup . They measured each of the players ' faces on a chart ( pictured ) . is the distance between the cheekbones divided by the distance between the mid brow and the upper lip Footballer Peter Crouch ( left ) has a low ratio face , while Frank Lampard ' s face scores higher on the scale . Both midfielders and forwards with greater FWHRs were more likely to commit fouls He measured each of their faces on a chart . Both midfielders and forwards with greater FWHRs were more likely to commit fouls . Forwards with higher FWHRs also were more likely to score or lay on goals , according to the findings published in the journal Adaptive Human Behaviour and Physiology . A recent report found that men with wider faces earn around 1 , 300 more than those with narrow faces when asking for a bonus . However , researchers from the University of California said this comes with a compromise , as wide faced people fared less well when it came to business negotiations . A separate study from Singapore Management University found that women are drawn to men with broader faces for short term relationships , but they do not tend to see them as husband material . This could be because men with wider faces are perceived to be more dominant and aggressive . While this may initially make them appear desirable , they are less appealing traits in a long term partner . ' Previous research into facial structure of athletes has been primarily in the United States and Canada , ' said Dr Welker . ' No one had really looked at how facial width to height ratio is associated with athletic performance by comparing people from across the world . ' is the distance between the cheekbones divided by the distance between the mid brow and the upper lip . Past studies have shown a high is associated with more aggressive behaviour . For example , high is associated with greater antisocial and unethical behaviour , but also greater success among CEOs and achievement drive among presidents . A recent report found that men with wider faces earn around 1 , 300 more than those with narrow faces when asking for a bonus . However , researchers from the University of California said this comes with a compromise , as wide faced people fared less well when it came to business negotiations . The Colorado based researchers for the latest study chose to look at the World Cup because of the quality and quantity of the data available . The theory also applies to other sports , such as rugby and cycling . Examples include rugby player James Haskell ( left ) and Olympic medal winner Chris Hoy ( right ) . Scientists have several ideas about how may be associated with aggression . One possibility is it is related to testosterone exposure earlier in life Dr Welker said : ' There are a lot of athletic data out there . ' We were exploring contexts to look at aggressive behaviour and found the World Cup , which quantifies goals , fouls and assists , provides a multinational way of addressing whether facial structure produces this aggressive behaviour and performance . ' The theory also applies to other sports , such as rugby and cycling . Examples include James Haskell and Olympic medal winner Chris Hoy . Scientists have several ideas about how may be associated with aggression . One possibility is it is related to testosterone exposure earlier in life . Testosterone during puberty can affect a variety of physical traits , including bone density , muscle growth and cranial shape , added Dr Welker . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7367958,7959,"Paul Gambaccini : No charges were brought Men accused of rape and other sex crimes should remain anonymous until they are charged , MPs demand today . They have urged a shake up of the law after several high profile figures were arrested and named , only to see their cases dropped . Last year , Radio 2 Paul Gambaccini told of the ' 12 months of horror and trauma ' he suffered after his name was dragged through the mud following sexual assault accusations . Police eventually told him he would not be charged . In January , Tory Mark Pritchard called for those accused of rape to be allowed anonymity until they are charged after an accusation against him was dropped by police . But critics warned the move risked reducing the chance of serial rapists being convicted , and could endanger women who do not know a man has been accused of rape . They said that if predatory paedophiles such as Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall had been granted anonymity as suspects , other victims may not have come forward to help convict them . Lifelong anonymity is granted to anyone who complains to police that they have been sexually assaulted . In May 2010 , the Coalition vowed to reintroduce anonymity for rape suspects after it was dropped in 1988 . But ministers faced huge opposition to the idea and axed it . In a report today , the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee warned that a man accused of rape can suffer irreparable damage to his life , even if charges are never brought . It concluded that because of the stigma attached to rape accusations , it was unacceptable for suspects to have their identities publicised before they were charged . The MPs face being accused of trying to curb the freedom of the Press by calling for zero tolerance of police who confirm the names of suspects to journalists other than in ' exceptional cases ' such as public safety . Chairman Keith Vaz said : ' Suspects deserve to remain anonymous until charged . Police use of the "" flypaper "" practice of arresting someone , leaking the details then endlessly re bailing them in the vague hope that other people come forward is unacceptable and must come to an end . Critics say other victims may not have come forward if predatory paedophiles such as Rolf Harris , pictured left , and Stuart Hall , pictured right , had been granted anonimity ' It is inexcusable that information about suspects is released to the media in an unattributed way . We have seen how destructive this can be to a person ' s livelihood , causing irreparable reputational damage and enormous financial burden . ' The committee also said police bail should be capped initially at 28 days to end the scandal of officers leaving suspects to languish in legal limbo , sometimes for years . Around 303 , 000 suspects a year are given police bail while officers investigate a crime . Around 19 , 600 were bailed for more than six months often with curbs on their freedom . But Chief Constable Chris Eyre , criminal justice spokesman of the Association of Chief Police Officers , said : ' Some cases are complex , involving computers , forensics , , interpreters , medical evidence or cross agency work . These processes are time consuming . An initial 28 day time limit would be unhelpful . We are working to ensure all cases are concluded as swiftly , fairly and transparently as possible . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7377968,7969,"In the hall of fame of comic characters, between wax works of W. C. Fields and Larry David, there ought to be a monument to Billy Bob Thornton’s work as Willie, the alcoholic safecracker of “Bad Santa. ” As much as Terry Zwigoff’s 2003 film relied on the spectacle of Mr. Thornton soiling himself in a Santa suit or saying unspeakable things to children, the performance was a master class in timing and sly reaction shots. Only Mr. Thornton could have played the role. Now comes a belated sequel, “Bad Santa 2,” directed by Mark Waters (already a connoisseur of bad behavior from “Mean Girls”) whose pitch meeting seems to have proceeded from two unnecessary questions: What if bad Santa weren’t as bad as all that? And what if he had an estranged mother whose conduct is at least as foul as his? Yet even the profanity has lost its zing in this retread, which mostly prompts admiration for how far Mr. Zwigoff ran with one joke. When we Willie (Mr. Thornton, looking resigned to his task) he is working as a valet parking attendant, a job that goes south after he is distracted by a mother. Following our reunion with Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly) — Willie has promised to get the kid deflowered for his 21st birthday, which leads to a mortifying interlude with a prostitute (Octavia Spencer) — Willie accompanies his former partner (Tony Cox) to a prospective robbery in Chicago. (Shots of the city may be entirely stock footage, as if the movie crew knew tagging along might be a bad idea.) The target is a charity run by Diane (Christina Hendricks) and by her unfaithful husband (Ryan Hansen) who pockets most of the revenue. Dismayed about ripping off — mawkishness is the only aspect in which “Bad Santa 2” outpaces its predecessor — Willie is not above beating up a street Santa (Mike Starr) who gets into a dispute with him over a spot to stand. Diane, a target for Willie’s lewd advances, takes up the function of Lauren Graham’s character in the first film. If “Bad Santa 2” has anything new to offer, it’s the spectacle of Kathy Bates as Willie’s mom, whom Willie resents. (He offhandedly mentions having taken the fall for her at age 11.) Her remarks about her careless parenting (“Hell, I didn’t even know I’d given birth until I’d tripped over him”) constitute the movie’s best effort at a running joke, and while Ms. Bates can be a nimble scene stealer, decking her out in tattoos and punk jewelry is not enough to spark an uninspired script. “Bad Santa 2” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for Bad S’antics. Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes.",true,news,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7387972,7973,"Britain ' s counter terror laws are ' no longer fit for purpose ' , leaving spooks and police unable to prevent attacks , a former MI5 chief has warned , Lord Evans of Weardale said it is now ' much harder ' than a decade ago for the authorities to access communications between terrorists and criminals , because they are discussing plots on platforms such as Facebook , WhatsApp and Snapchat . But Deputy Nick Clegg today again rejected the idea of retaining data about internet and social media use by ' every single man woman and child in this country for a year ' . Lord Evans of Weardale said it is now ' much harder ' than a decade ago for the authorities to access communications between terrorists and criminals Pressure for more powers for police and intelligence agencies has grown in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris , in which 17 people were killed . Coalition tensions have been exposed after David Cameron demanded that social media and messaging sites open up their networks to the security services . But Mr Clegg has blocked the idea of what he describes as a ' Snooper ' s Charter ' . In a rare intervention , Lord Evans warned national security depends on greater legal powers . In an article for the Sunday Telegraph , Lord Evans said : ' The ability of the police and security agencies to do this important work of protecting our society and its vulnerable people is under threat from changing technology . ' We expect them today not just to follow up a crime or terrorist attack and identify the perpetrators but rather to do all they can to stop the attack or crime from taking place at all . ' They can only do this if they have the tools to do so and the tools at their disposal are no longer fit for purpose . ' Mr Clegg said he agreed with Lord Evans and the police that the state needs to ' retain the ability to intrude on the privacy ' of such people . But he said he is ' uncomfortable ' with the idea of retaining data about internet and social media use by ' every single man woman and child in this country for a year ' . ' It is a blanket approach to the retention of data of people who are innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever , ' he told One ' s Andrew Marr show . ' It is not a very British thing to confer or imply guilt on the whole of the nation by retaining records of every website everyone has visited over the course of a year . ' Deputy Nick Clegg today again rejected the idea of retaining data about internet and social media use by ' every single man woman and child in this country for a year ' . Mr Clegg said the Snoopers ' Charter plans were ' unproven , clunky , resource intensive ' . He went on : ' Lots of experts looked at it and said this is a waste of resources , a waste of time . Why are we keeping records of every man , woman and child across the country when for starters , we tend to know where to look for the people who want to do us harm ? ' The Deputy Prime Minister said the aim was to ' find the needle without inferring guilt on the haystack ' . ' New powers will need to be put on the statute book in the next parliament , and I will advocate them as much as any chisel faced securocrat , ' he went on . ' I want to keep us safe . It ' s ludicrous this idea that people who care about our freedom don ' t care about our safety . ' What I will not do . . . is saying that every single man , woman and child should have data about what they get up to online kept for a year . On a visit to Washington on Friday David Cameron warned internet firms they must work with security agencies to stop their networks becoming a ' safe haven ' for terrorists . The Prime Minister used a press conference in the White House to insist the likes of Facebook and and WhatsApp cannot be used as a secret way for extremists to plot atrocities away from the glare of MI5 and the . Mr Cameron insists the security agencies must be able to intercept communications between extremists and terror suspects who use encrypted messaging services and social media sites to plot atrocities . Mr Cameron insists the security agencies must be able to intercept communications between extremists and terror suspects who use encrypted messaging services and social media sites to plot atrocities He said : ' I take a very simple approach to this , which is ever since we ' ve been sending letters to each other or making telephone calls to each other or mobile phone calls to each other or , indeed , contacting each other on the internet , it has been possible in both our countries in extremis , in my country by signed warrant by the Home Secretary , to potentially listen to a call between two terrorists , to stop them in their activity . ' We ' re not asking for back doors . We have we believe in very clear front doors through legal processes that should help to keep our country safe . ' And my only argument is that as technology develops , as the world moves on , we should try to avoid the safe havens that could otherwise be created for terrorists to talk to each other . ' That ' s the goal that I think is so important . Because I ' m in no doubt as , having been Prime Minister for four and a half years , having seen how our intelligence services work , I know that some of these plots that get prevented , the lives that get saved . ' There is a very real connection between that and the capabilities that our intelligence services , within the law , use to defend our people . ' But President Barack Obama struck a more cautious tone , agreeing only that there should be a ' dialogue ' about balancing national security with concerns about the privacy of web users . Mr Obama said : ' It is useful to have civil libertarians and others tapping us on the shoulder in this process and reminding us that there are values at stake as well . ' We shouldn ' t feel as if because we ' ve just seen such a horrific attack in Paris , that suddenly everything should be going by the wayside . ' Unfortunately this has been a constant background and I think will continue to be for every Prime Minister or President for some time to come . ' We ' ve got to make sure that we don ' t overreact but that we remain vigilant and are serious about our responsibilities . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7397999,8000,"— Portugal’s education minister was robbed at knife point. So was the chief of security for the opening ceremony as he left Olympic Stadium. A police officer was killed when his vehicle was sprayed with gunfire, and an Olympics bus carrying journalists was attacked by people throwing rocks. Even before the armed robbery this weekend of four American swimmers, including the gold medalist Ryan Lochte, a series of crimes had drawn attention to Brazil’s shortcomings in providing security for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But for many in this city, a bigger question remains: What will happen after the Games? To thwart crime around the Olympics, Brazil has mobilized a security juggernaut in Rio twice the size of the one used for the London Games in 2012. Mindful of Rio’s reputation for violent crime, the Brazilians have deployed 85, 000 security personnel. This show of force includes 23, 000 soldiers patrolling the city, some in military vehicles, along with helicopters and warships looming around the city’s most popular beaches. “The city has never felt so safe,” said Gilberto Dias, 50, a hot dog vendor who described how plainclothes officers had sprung to action one morning last week after two muggers accosted a tourist in the upscale Copacabana neighborhood. “They just materialized out of nowhere, which is something I’ve never seen before. ” But even before the Games began, Rio was facing a surge in lawlessness in recent months that had rattled residents and alarmed the authorities. With the economy in turmoil, assaults and robberies on the street jumped by 42 percent in May, with 10, 000 robberies that month. And after years of declining homicides, the number of murders increased by more than 7 percent during the first half of the year, with over 1, 500 people killed. As dread persists over street violence and gun battles rage in Rio’s favelas, some Brazilians worry about what will happen in the aftermath of the Games, when the soldiers are withdrawn and the city is left on its own to grapple with a financial crisis. “The assault on the American athlete is what happens to us in Rio every day,” said Marcello Brito, 51, an architect, referring to Mr. Lochte. Rio’s finances were so bad before the Games that it had declared a “state of calamity. ” Budgets had been gutted, with police officers and firefighters protesting delays in receiving pay by holding signs at the airport telling visitors, “Welcome to hell. ” The federal government responded with an $850 million bailout package to help the state of Rio de Janeiro stay afloat, pay salaries and keep essential services running during the Olympics. But the crisis in Rio’s finances, which are heavily dependent on global oil prices, remains, and the security lapses threaten to undermine ambitions for a resurgence in the city’s fortunes. The authorities invested billions of dollars in sports venues, transit systems and pacification projects in poor urban areas, arguing that the Olympics would serve as a linchpin in overhauling the city. In the weeks before the Games, Mayor Eduardo Paes even contended that Rio would be “the safest city in the world. ” Many residents have welcomed the increased security. “It’s nice to see soldiers patrolling the streets, at least where I live,” said Cassius Almada, 39, a high school math teacher who lives in Copacabana. “It could be a lot worse. ” But those living beyond the necklace of upscale seafront neighborhoods say the increased security has had little effect in communities that have long been troubled by violence. Maria do Rosário Silva Santos, 54, who was visiting Rio from Brasília, the nation’s capital, said she had been stunned to see young men — not police officers — toting guns casually in Acari, a neighborhood in north Rio, where she was staying during the Games. “It was shocking to see,” she said. “As far as I can tell, nothing has changed. ” Some security experts emphasized that considerable risks persisted around the city, especially in favelas, the poor areas that generally emerged as squatter settlements and that are still controlled by drug gangs. Because of Rio’s financial crisis, plans fell apart to establish a network of policing outposts in Maré, one large area of favelas. Julita Lemgruber, the director of the Center for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship at Candido Mendes University in Rio, said it was naïve to expect a drastic drop in crime during the Games. “The government thought a snap of their fingers would bring peace to a city that has lived through so much violence in the past few years,” she said. “It doesn’t do any good to have this show of thousands of extra police unless you tell every Olympic athlete to walk the street with a policeman by his side. ” The Olympics, she said, had actually increased bloodshed — but only in the vast favelas, where the police have been battling militias and drug gangs. In Complexo do Alemão, a large group of favelas, a of gun battles since the start of the Olympics has left at least two residents dead and two police officials wounded. “Police forces are invading the favelas every day and killing people, which is outrageous,” Ms. Lemgruber said. “How can anyone hope to bring peace by spreading violence?” Heder Martins de Oliveira, the vice president of Brazil’s National Association of Police Officers, said that the killing of the officer in Rio last week pointed to the risks that security forces faced daily in the city. Referring to the wave of armed assaults during the Games, he said, “The situation would be even worse, an international disgrace, if dedicated police weren’t doing their job at this time. ” “Of course, there’s more attention to these episodes because they’re taking place when the world is looking at Rio,” Mr. Martins de Oliveira said. “But this is a dilemma that Rio faces on a daily basis. ” The police have also been involved in violent episodes blemishing the Olympics. Over the weekend, an federal police official opened fire in the direction of a man he was brawling with at Rio Scenarium, a downtown nightclub. It was not clear whether anyone was seriously injured. Amid the surge in lawlessness, many residents have found a measure of solace on social media, where they commiserate about their experiences and document each episode of crime in hopes of spurring the authorities to action. Among dozens of Facebook groups focused on crime is “Where I was robbed,” a map containing dots that form a road map of brutalization and despair. “Hello, hello, authorities!” one Facebook user, Eliane Cattapan, wrote recently. “With the arrival of all the tourists, I’m much more afraid of the rise in street crime than terrorism. ”",true,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7408012,8013,"Wednesday 9 November 2016 Democrats begin search for candidate who knows how to use email Officials inside the Democrat party have begun a party-wide search for a candidate who knows how to use email. Party strategists have decided that an inability to use email properly has cost them the White House, and that an aptitude for email will be a real vote winner in 2020. As one insider explained, “Trump has won the presidential election off the back of our inability to convince the American public we can set up and use a modern email service. “If we can just address that one hurdle we can win back the White House in four years time. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who is good with email, would you? Anyone? “I don’t care about their policy objectives, or political views, or their religion – just promise me they know a blind-copy from a reply-all, and we’ll back them all the way. “It’s the only reason we lost. Yes, it is, shut up.” Get the best NewsThump stories in your mailbox every Friday, for FREE! There are currently ",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past7418016,8017,"Reuters) - Venezuela on Monday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of conducting “political terrorism” through travel restrictions on eight countries including the socialist-run South American nation, which is already at loggerheads with Washington. Trump on Sunday announced the restrictions on citizens from North Korea, Venezuela and Chad, expanding earlier travel bans that Trump says are necessary to fight terrorism but have been derided by critics and courts. “It is worth pointing out that these types of lists are incompatible with international law, and constitute a form of psychological and political terrorism,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Our people are being sanctioned because of their pacifist nature as well as their tolerance and respect for different religions and beliefs,” it added. The statement said Venezuela will “consider all necessary measures to protect national interests and sovereignty,” without providing details on how it would respond. The restrictions related to Venezuela focus on officials who have been determined to have done an inadequate job verifying whether citizens pose national security or public safety threats. Washington this year has issued several rounds of sanctions against Venezuelan officials, partly in response to the creation of a legislative superbody called the Constituent Assembly that critics call the consolidation of a dictatorship. President Nicolas Maduro has called those sanctions a financial blockade against the country, which is grappling with triple-digit inflation and chronic product shortages as its economy unravels. The text of the U.S. travel restrictions released on Sunday mentions officials at agencies including the Interior Ministry, the investigative police known as CICPC, the Saime passport and identification office, as well as the Foreign Ministry. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol already was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in July, along with 12 other current or former officials accused of undermining democracy. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7428022,8023,"When Andriy Shevchenko netted the winning penalty to condemn Juventus to defeat in the 2003 Champions League final , they surely would not have envisaged it would take them this long to get back to Europe ' s top table . That penalty shootout followed a 0 0 draw which saw Milan crowned European champions in the first all Italian final . Now , after a long journey , Juve are back among the continent ' s elite . Another goalless draw , this time against Monaco on Wednesday night , was more successful for Turin ' s Old Lady as they reached the Champions League semi finals with Bayern Munich , Real Madrid and Barcelona on the horizon . Gianluigi Buffon was celebrated reaching the Champions League semi finals , 12 years after final heartbreak Juventus ' players salute their supporters after the final whistle in Monaco having made it to the last four Juve have endured a tough few years but they are now back were they belong among the elite of Europe The 12 year gap between now and that night at Old Trafford has been one of twists and turns : relegations , promotions , league titles , stripped league titles and European failure at the hands of relative minnows like Fulham and Bordeaux . Captain Gianluigi Buffon said on Wednesday : ' I thought I ' d have to wait less when I was at this stage 12 years ago , but seeing the journey was very difficult , we can enjoy this result even more . ' We knew it was a great opportunity and after 12 years we wanted to honour the history of Juve . ' Even this season , Bianconeri supporters thought they were as good as out of this tournament as early as late October . A shock defeat by Olympiacos in Athens had them on the brink of exit before they scrambled to a runner up spot in Group A behind Atletico Madrid . Then Borussia Dortmund gave them a mighty scare in the last 16 before the narrow win over Monaco . Andriy Shevchenko sent Buffon the wrong way with the winning penalty in the Old Trafford final on 2003 The Juventus players , including Alessandro Del Piero ( centre ) reflect on their defeat in the showpiece final Back in 2010 , Juventus were downed by Fulham in the Europa League , a side now in the Championship Pajtim Kasami celebrates after leaving Juve on the brink of exit back in October , but they made it through Looking back , their group stage progression is not too dissimilar to the club ' s fortunes over the last decade . After finishing third in Serie A the season after the 2003 final , Juventus came back to win the league twice in a row only to be stripped of them both amid Italy ' s match fixing scandal that sent them into the second division . On promotion , they took four further years to reach the summit of Italy ' s top tier once again but piece by piece , the nation ' s most successful side has rebuilt . That hasn ' t come easy , particularly with their domestic division being overtaken by England ' s Barclays Premier League , Spain ' s La Liga and the German Bundesliga . Talent is hard to tempt to Italy as shown by the failings of Milan , Inter Milan , Lazio and Roma . And when the talent does come , it is usually picked off by the big boys from abroad . The Italian champions were relegated to Serie B amid Italy ' s matchfixing scandal but soon rose back up Juventus celebrate their second consecutive Serie A title last season , and they are on track for a fourth now But not at Juventus . The side celebrating on the Stade Louis pitch on Wednesday night included household names such as Buffon , Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal , while Paul Pogba the most sought after talent in Europe is on his way back from injury . He could even be ready for the semi finals , something any opponent would dread . They haven ' t conceded in their last three Champions League games a hallmark of any great Italian side and their comfortable domestic lead gives them all the time in the world to prepare for their final two or three matches in the competition . Buffon and Carlos Tevez hug on the pitch of the Stade Louis , and they both have a point to prove Arturo Vidal is one of the most sought after midfielders in Europe but he has stuck with Juve until now Paul Pogba could be back in time for their semi final next month and will likely be a key player in any clash Barca , Real and Bayern should beware : the oldest team left in it have a point to prove , and for some this could be their last shot at European glory . Tevez has been linked with a return to South America after nine years in Europe . Andrea Pirlo , Patrice Evra and Buffon are not far from the end of their careers , either . Combine that with the midfield prowess of Pogba and Claudio Marchisio , and the solid defence provided by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci and they just might do it . Juve will be the team that everyone wants to draw but nobody will enjoy playing against . Roberto Pereyra , Andrea Pirlo , Tevez and Fernando Llorente celebrate reaching Europe ' s final four Pirlo , aged 35 , might be facing his best chance of one last European title with the Bianconeri this season Vidal had it about right after Wednesday ' s game when he said : ' I am not afraid of anyone . ' I think all four teams in the semi finals have their qualities and on Friday we ' ll see who we face , but right now I think we ' re on a par with all of them . We play with our heads now and are a mature team , I ' d say . ' The European giants wearing the famous black and white stripes might finally have awoken . ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7438025,8026,"Reuters) - Bones, a moldy hot water bottle, a pair of rusty pliers and a pristine pair of women s pants are among the eclectic cast-offs Reuters photographer Stefan Wermuth has found along the River Thames. Wermuth spent two months collecting items along the riverside to give a snapshot of the litter that finds its way into the waterway that runs through the heart of London. For the photo essay, click on: reut.rs/2yyarEZ A gold-plated watch, a letter in Lithuanian in a bottle and a mobile phone were also retrieved from along the shores of the river, which has undergone extensive cleanups since the Natural History Museum declared the Thames biologically dead in 1957. Today, marine life including seals, porpoises and dolphins have been spotted swimming alongside fish and a hard drive that Wermuth found littering the murky waters. Pollution remains a problem. In March, Thames Water was handed a record 20 million pound ($26 million) fine for pumping sewage into the river. The water company apologized for its failings and said it was working to improve rivers. London municipal authorities say 4,000 plastic bottles were removed from the river over a one-month period alone last year, demonstrating the scale of the waste problem. The impact of pollution on marine life in the Thames has in recent years prompted campaigns to encourage Londoners to make sure their rubbish goes in the bin - rather than the water. ",true,dataset,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7448031,8032,"I m open to do it because I think the rest of our staff deserves it , Lue said . I think the reward for coaching LeBron is you get scrutinized . The Cavs ranked 29th in the league in pace entering the night and Lue wants to play faster . Tyronn Lue wants the Cavaliers playing a more up tempo style of basketball , and while James doesn t exactly sound sure as to why ? the Cavaliers played slower under David Blatt and had success with it ? he s going along with it . I think we came out and did that , and then I think we dropped off the map . Would you fire Derek and try to get a better coach such as Mark Jackson who used to play for I believe in the 1980 s ? Earlier , Griffin disputed the notion that James was part of the franchise s decision making process regarding Blatt , saying the four time doesn t run this organization . Guard Jimmy Butler scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds , Taj Gibson had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls and Nikola Mirotic scored 17 off the bench . What we needed was a connectedness to each other that we weren t playing with , Cavs general manager David Griffin said on Saturday . It s a great sign when you come into a place like this that was buzzing . It s one we can build off . We were aggressive on both ends of the floor . James comments of conformity come less than a week after Blatt was sacked as head coach in a move many speculated was made at James discretion . Lue s got work to do , but he was mostly pleased with his team s effort . I think the world of David Blatt as a person , Hoiberg said . Guys listened , paid attention , gave me a maximum effort , and we ve just got to continue to have that maximum effort . Which makes the position Tyronn Lue is in so hard . Lue said former Suns assistant Mike Longabardi will be added to Cleveland s staff . The scoring drought foreshadowed a rough night for the Cavs , who at one point were 2 of 12 on free throws . G F Shabazz Muhammad scored 25 Saturday vs . Memphis , averaging 14 . 8 points over his past 13 games . He had 26 points , 13 rebounds and nine assists but was 11 of 27 from the field . Anderson scored 23 points and tied a season high with six 3 pointers while leading hot shooting New Orleans to a 116 99 win over the Bucks ( see full recap ) . Typically if a coach and his team had the duty in the previous season , the job goes to the coach of the second placed team in the conference ? who as of Sunday was Gregg Popovich s San Antonio Spurs . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7458039,8040,"The people who killed three Israeli teenagers have hurt the Israeli people deeply , there ' s no doubt about that . But they have also harmed Palestinians , and they have hurt the cause of peace . Anyone who fails to condemn this horrific act the murder of students going home from school is contributing to the poison that makes peace so difficult in the Mideast . Anyone who hesitates , who equivocates , is helping to prolong the conflict . For Palestinians and their supporters around the world , if you remain silent about the killing of Israelis , you are adding to the duration and bitterness of this conflict . Excuse this atrocity , and you condemn the people of this area to remain enemies for the foreseeable future . That does not mean you cannot criticize Israeli actions , but the cold blooded murder of Israeli children will have the effect of making Israelis less willing to believe they can accept Palestinians as their neighbors and live in peace . Israelis today are consumed with grief , but they are watching how the world reacts . They are watching how Palestinians react . I , for one , am convinced that the vast majority of Israelis would strongly support , even advocate and push for a withdrawal from the West Bank if they really believed that they would be safe living alongside a Palestinian state . These attacks undermine their confidence . They provide evidence to back the claim that Palestinians will never let that happen , that what they really want is to destroy Israel . In the hours after we learned that bodies of the three teens Eyal Yifrach , 19 , Gilad Shaar , 16 and Naftali Frankel , 16 had been found under a pile of rocks in a field near Hebron , reaction has been predictable and often disheartening , just as it was when we found out someone had kidnapped them on June 12 . Frankel , it ' s worth noting , was an American citizen , which brings up the question of how the United States will respond to his killing . Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier that "" many indications point to Hamas involvement , "" noting that Hamas , designated as a terrorist organization by many countries , has used kidnappings in the past . The says it has launched an investigation . The atrocities were swiftly condemned by some countries . On social media , there has been a flurry of accusations against Israel ahead of what is expected to be a strong Israeli reaction against Hamas , which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is absolutely sure carried out the operation . But others were slow to comment . It took the European Union ' s foreign policy chief almost a week to condemn the kidnappings . She did it only after Israel complained about European silence . Days earlier , Israeli forces rushed into the West Bank in an urgent and ultimately unsuccessful effort to find the three before they were killed . The military deployment produced clashes with protesters in which five Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers . That received a great deal of attention . The mothers of the kidnapped students appealed for help at the U . N . Human Rights Council in Geneva , describing "" every mother ' s nightmare . . . waiting and waiting endlessly for her child to come home . "" They described their children , one was an amateur pastry chef . Another "" loves to play guitar and basketball . He ' s a good student and a good boy , "" said a heartbroken Racheli Frankel of her son Neftali . But the Human Rights Council reacted to her tearful words with chilling indifference . Many others , including human rights organizations , tempered their criticism of the kidnapping by calling the boys "" settlers . "" The truth is that two of the three did not live on the West Bank . They lived west of the Green Line well inside Israel . The third lived in a settlement called Efrat , in the Gush Etzion area , which was in Jewish hands before the 1967 war , even before the 1948 war , and even Jimmy Carter , a harsh critic of Israeli settlement , agrees it will remain in Israel after a Palestinian state is created . Every peace plan has agreed . But that ' s hardly relevant . The teens were students , not warriors . Kidnappings are immoral . Murder is inhuman . For some Palestinians , the kidnapping was cause for celebration . A new three finger salute became popular , marking the capture of three Israelis . The Facebook page for Fatah , the Palestinian Authority ' s main party , had a number of cartoons , including one showing the three teenagers as Jewish rats , wearing yarmulkes , caught on a fishing line . To his great credit , Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the kidnapping . For that , he came under fierce criticism . Hamas , which is now part of the Palestinian Authority government in a unity deal with Fatah , made no effort to conceal its glee . Hamas denies it had anything to do with the kidnapping . But earlier , its exiled chief , Khaled Meshal , was ambiguous about responsibility , saying only "" I congratulate the abductors . "" Opinion : Slain teens call for justice , not escalation When Israeli authorities named two Hamas members as the perpetrators , the mother of one of the men told Israeli television "" If he did it , I ' ll be proud of him . "" She joins other Palestinian mothers proud of children who commit murder , adding to Israelis ' doubts about future coexistence . Israelis are watching closely to see what Abbas does about his unity deal with Hamas , an organization that is openly committed to Israel ' s destruction . If Israel can show definitive proof that Hamas was indeed behind the kidnapping and killing , it is inconceivable that Abbas would let the unity deal stand . It is even more inconceivable that the United States and Europe would continue providing millions to support the Palestinian Authority under those conditions . This killing hurts Israelis and Palestinians who want peace . The only way this tragedy could be turned into a positive step would be if the Palestinians who support reconciliation , who are outraged by what happened , would speak out loudly against it . That would spark a positive reaction and create energy toward reconciliation . Can that happen ? In this atmosphere , we can only hope for a positive surprise . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7468043,8044,"Reuters) - El Salvador on Wednesday launched the first commission to search for persons who went missing during its civil war, 25 years after the end of a conflict that left tens of thousands dead and hundreds of cases unresolved. The commission will seek victims who were killed or kidnapped by the military or rebels in order to help reunite them with families or return their remains People who lost relative have demanded such measures for decades. With this instrument we reaffirm our deep commitment to pay off the historical debt to the victims of forced disappearances in the country, said leftist President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, himself a former guerrilla leader. The 1980-1992 war in El Salvador between the U.S.-backed army and the Marxist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), now the ruling party, left 75,000 dead and 8,000 missing. We hope that this commission gives something to the mothers because what we want is at least for them to tell us what they did with them, said Sof a Hernandez, 74, who is looking for a daughter, two brothers and four nephews. Last year, the Supreme Court of Justice declared unconstitutional an amnesty law that has prevented since 1993 investigating and prosecuting those accused of war crimes in the impoverished Central American country. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7478047,8048,"Every Chipotle customer knows "" Guacamole is an extra charge , is that okay ? Many customers say yes , others are annoyed by the whole process of getting the burrito the way they want . To lure back customers and satisfy current ones , guacamole will now be free with any burrito or bowl . Chips and guacamole will still cost extra but customers are thrilled with free guacamole on their burritos . Suzy Thompson of Denver , Colorado is "" super excited and "" definitely going back now . "" "" I love guacamole but was always angry it cost an extra 1 . 80 . I always get my bowl with guacamole and it was annoying to hear "" it cost extra from the employe . Like I can ' t read the sign . They treat us like idiots . "" The company will lose a little money on every burrito with guacamole but with sales down 30 , the company is hoping to boost sales and this strategy has great potential to succeed . "" It will hurt our profit per burrito sold , "" said Chipotle spokesman Joe Marrese . "" But our overall sales should see a tremendous boost in volume and that will make up the loss in the extra cost of the free guac . "" The free guac ' strategy will help get the struggling franchise back on track after months of declines sales and stock price after several foodborne illnesses devastated the company and some of its customers . Several stores were accused of spreading e coli and the noro virus and Chipotle has had trouble rebounding from the bad publicity . It ' s noticeable by going to your local Chipotle . "" When people get sick from eating at your restaurants , it ' s bound to have an impact . We have retrained our staff and increased our safety procedures . But the average consumer won ' t notice that . They will notice a sign saying Free Guacamole , "" ' said Steve Ells . "" We are back in business , baby . "" The company ' s stock hopes to get back to 800 mark that it achieved before the food poisoning scandal nearly a year ago . ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past7488051,8052,"Ted Ligety claimed his second gold of the world skiing championships Monday , lifting the U . S . to the top of the medals table in Austria . The 28 year old from Salt Lake City produced a masterful performance over the two legged super combined event for an aggregate time of two minutes 56 . 96 seconds . It left him 1 . 15 seconds faster than Croatian veteran Ivica Kostelic , with Romed Baumann , giving the hosts some rare cheer by taking the final podium spot . Ligety trailed Baumann by 0 . 72 seconds after the earlier downhill leg , but showed his all round skills on the floodlit Planai slope at Schladming in the slalom . He edged inside the time set by Kostelic , then watched as a succession of challengers , including two time defending champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway , ski out in trying to match his time . Ligety was already celebrating when Baumann gave Austria just its second bronze of the championships . "" I surely took all the risks this evening after my great downhill run , I knew I had chance for another podium finish today , "" Ligety told the official championship website . "" These worlds have been pretty exciting for me so far . "" Now I ' m looking forward for another great race in the coming giant slalom . "" Ligety has stepped into the breach after the super G crash which left fellow American Lindsey Vonn with season ending injuries . Vonn was expected to lead the U . S . medal charge in Austria , but Ligety took the men ' s super G title to compensate for her early exit his first ever major victory in that discipline . Svindal , the downhill winner , saw his chances go when he straddled a gate in the mid section of a treacherous course , while Kostelic was disappointed he could not capitalize on a storming earlier run in the downhill . "" I didn ' t ski well at all this evening so I am very happy by that silver medal , "" he said . "" It ' s a lucky medal . I think I didn ' t deserve be on the podium after such as bad slalom run following that great downhill leg earlier today . "" Ligety will get a chance for a hat trick of golds in Friday ' s giant slalom he won the title in 2011 in that discipline . The championships are an important staging post ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi in a year ' s time . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7498067,8068,"Last updated on : November 19 , 2015 8 : 43 President Barack Obama said Thursday that Islamic State could be defeated only if there was a political agreement in Syria . "" It ' s going to be a multiyear task and we ' re not going to be able to fully succeed in eliminating their safe havens until we have a political settlement of some sort in Syria , "" the president said at an Asia Pacific conference in the Philippines . Obama also previewed the soon to be initiated global peace conference on Syria . He said the talks could identify opposition groups that can be part of a transitional government and set out a blueprint for new elections . The next step , he said , would be "" to initiate a cease fire that may not be observed by everyone , but at least would create pockets of calm that could hopefully grow over time . "" One thing is for sure in Syria ' s future , Obama said : There can be no place for President Bashar al Assad . "" It is unimaginable that you can stop the civil war there when the overwhelming majority of people in Syria consider him to be a brutal , murderous dictator , "" the president said . "" He cannot regain legitimacy . "" The international community has been working for more than three years to find a way to end the fighting in Syria , which has killed at least 250 , 000 people . ? Assad ' s role has divided key members on either side of the conflict . Obama said Russia and Iran have to decide whether to continue to prop up Assad or work with the international community to save the Syrian state . Assad told Italian state television that no talks to end the war could begin while "" terrorists "" occupied parts of Syria . He uses the word ? "" terrorists "" to refer to all opposition , from moderates to Islamic State extremists . Also Thursday , Saudi Arabia announced it would hold a conference next month to try to unite the moderate Syrian opposition groups ahead of the international peace talks . It gave no details . Men transport a casualty after what activists said were airstrikes by forces loyal to Syria ' s President Bashar al Assad on a busy marketplace in Douma , near Damascus , Syria , Aug . 12 , 2015 . Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters earlier Thursday that Obama was using his overseas trip to build more support for fighting the militant group that has claimed attacks in a number of countries in recent weeks . "" World leaders understand that this is not something that is distant , this group has aspirations to attack the entire civilized world , "" Rhodes said , using another acronym for Islamic State . "" So there is a new sense of urgency . We want to take that urgency and make it concrete . "" The U . S . has been leading a coalition of nations carrying out airstrikes against the militants in Syria and Iraq for more than a year . Canada has been among those with warplanes bombing targets in both countries , but is now withdrawing from that mission . Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during a campaign that brought him to power this month that he would withdraw the six Canadian fighter jets in the region , and reiterated his commitment to that pledge Thursday . "" We will be doing that in collaboration , coordination with all our allies to ensure that the coalition still has tremendous impact against , "" he said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7508103,8104,"As early as last year Abdelhamid Abaaoud was already known to security forces after appearing , laughing , in an Islamic State video . Paris : ? The Islamic State jihadist suspected of orchestrating the Paris attacks was killed in a major police raid in the French capital , prosecutors confirmed on Thursday , raising troubling questions about a breakdown in intelligence and European border security . Abdelhamid Abaaoud , a Belgian of Moroccan origin linked to a series of extremist plots in Europe over the past two years , died in Wednesday ' s assault by elite police units on an apartment in northern Paris . The 28 year old was thought to have been in Syria where he had boasted of planning attacks on the West and his presence in France will renew debate about Europe ' s border controls and monitoring of fighters returning from Syria . Confirmation that such a high profile figure from the Islamic State ( ) group had managed to slip undetected into France prompted a sharp response from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve , who demanded Europe step up its response to the terror threat . He said Paris had received "" no information "" from other European countries about his arrival on the continent . "" It is urgent that Europe wakes up , organises itself and defends itself against the terrorist threat , "" Cazeneuve told reporters . Abaaoud was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Belgium where a court had in July sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for recruiting jihadists for Syria . But it was only three days after the Paris bloodbath that "" intelligence services of a country outside Europe indicated they had knowledge of his presence in Greece , "" Cazeneuve said , without specifying which country . Abaaoud was also checked by police at Cologne Bonn airport on his way to Istanbul in early 2014 , German officials said , but was allowed to go as they had no indication he should be stopped . interior and justice ministers are to meet in Brussels on Friday where they will tighten checks on all travellers at the external borders of the passport free Schengen zone as an emergency measure . French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the bloc ' s cherished policy of passport free travel in the so called Schengen zone would be "" called into question "" if Europe "" doesn ' t live up to its responsibilities . "" Abaaoud was involved in four out of six attack plots foiled in France this year , Cazeneuve said , including one to attack a church near Paris . Police are also probing links to a thwarted assault on a high speed train from Amsterdam to Paris in August . As the Paris probe widened to countries across Europe , Belgian police arrested nine people in Brussels , seven in raids linked to a suicide bomber who blew himself up outside the French national stadium in Paris last Friday . Italy was also hunting five suspects after an tip off about possible jihadist attacks on landmark sites . Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said handprint analysis was used to identify Abaaoud ' s body , found riddled with bullets in the rubble of the shattered building in Saint Denis following a seven hour police siege . Molins said it was not yet clear whether Abaaoud blew himself up . Another body found after the ferocious shootout is thought to be that of Abaaoud ' s 26 year old cousin Hasna Ait Boulahcen , who detonated an explosives vest . Fresh raids were launched on Thursday on a house northeast of Paris where Boulahcen lived until recently with her mother and siblings . Her brother said she had become radicalised about six months ago and began wearing a full face veil or niqab . "" She was unstable , she wasn ' t looking to study religion , I have never seen her open a Koran , "" he told , saying she had left home three weeks ago . Eight arrests were made in Wednesday ' s massive raid in Saint Denis , but another key suspect , Salah Abdeslam , remains unaccounted for . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7518106,8107,"Superclubs and fishbowls are being phased out by holiday company Thomson as it launches a new range of holidays aimed at young travellers who want a more classy trip abroad . Thomson Scene is aimed at 18 35 year olds keen something more sophisticated than boozing up and baking on the beach , and will eventually replace their current 2wenty concept . ' We are aiming at a young person who is , typically about two years into a new job , perhaps working in London and enthusiastic about trendy hotels , ' said David Burling , and Ireland managing director for Thomson ' s parent company Tui . Thomson has launched a new brand that offers holidays to young travellers who want more than Magluf New destinations include Goa in India and Santorini in Greece , though regular party locales will still be offered The portfolio will be separated into ' Scene Hub ' for the younger end of the spectrum with more affordable hotels in popular destinations , and ' Scene Style ' , for the more cashed up travellers who want more trendy accommodation . The move is a departure from the large , uniform , all inclusive style hotels that are often offered as part of the company ' s portfolio for younger travellers . The Club 18 30 concept was actually created by Thomas Cook , but has equivalents at various tour operators , such as the 2wenty concept from Thomson , which is being phased out in favour of Thomson Scene . Young Britons ' lurid behaviour in resort havens such as Spain ' s Magaluf was highlighted last summer with cheap dorm accommodation and even cheaper alcohol on the menu for most . Thomson is aiming at the market who wants more from their holiday with their packages now set to include the Greek resorts of Santorini and Mykonos along with Croatia for short haul trips . Long haul destinations will include Thailand , Goa in India and Cancun in Mexico . Thomson Scene offers more trendy hotels than those currently included in their holidays Despite the rebranding Thomson continues to supply holidays for 18 to 35 year olds to party scene hotspots like Ibiza and Corfu and in total is providing breaks in 86 hotels in 34 resorts in 20 destinations . The company ' s announcement came in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana where travel association Abta is holding its annual convention . An Abta survey released today showed that three per cent of men had been on an overseas stag party event , with men preferring city breaks for their stag dos while women opted for beach destinations for their overseas hen parties . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7528109,8110,"Silverstone , England If an unexpected fourth place at the Czech MotoGP two weeks ago had given Marc Marquez ' s rivals cause for hope , Sunday at Britain ' s Silverstone served as a reminder that his talents run deep . This was Marquez at his imperious best , as well as a fine advertisement for a sport that thrives on white knuckle tension in a scintillating contest , MotoGP ' s youngest ever champion roared back to form . His victory means only a disaster for the 21 year old Catalan can prevent him lifting his second title well before the end of the season . Repsol Honda ' s record breaking star began on pole after a typically impressive qualifying session , but quickly found himself playing catch up to an apparently rejuvenated Jorge Lorenzo . The Movistar Yamaha rider seized his chance in warmer than expected conditions , taking an early lead as a fierce skirmish developed behind him . Ducati ' s Andrea Dovizioso had gatecrashed the Honda Yamaha power party on the starting grid , and the Italian took his increasing confidence into battle with Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi . Gradually the front five eased away from the chasing pack , but remained close enough to one another to throw up some heart stopping moments as positions changed lap after lap . The contest reached an electrifying climax in the final moments , with Marquez and Lorenzo diving into an uncompromising dogfight . When Lorenzo seized the initiative with just three laps remaining it looked as though the man from Mallorca might be able to hold on for the win . The two riders knocked fairings as their battle raged , before an audacious and fearless pass from Marquez fired the championship leader back to the front with two laps remaining . The champion held his lead to cross the line to claim his 11th victory from the 12 Grand Prix this season . Marquez was delighted with the win , having missed out to Lorenzo at Silverstone last year . "" With higher temperatures it seems that both Jorge and Valentino took a step forward , "" he said . "" Above all , Jorge , because he had a great pace and we were fighting right to the end . "" It was important to win , after missing out at Brno . I also had a score to settle from last year , when Jorge beat me on the final corner , so I am happy to be back on the top step of the podium ! "" Lorenzo , meanwhile , revealed that he had struggled to maintain the same pace as his rival , and blamed their coming together for the loss of valuable momentum . "" I lost a lot of time when he ( Marquez ) touched me , "" he said . "" I knew that he was going to try to overtake me in this corner in first gear on the right , but I didn ' t let him enter . "" On the outside I opened the throttle and he touched me . In the next corner he touched me again as he went into the corner and I lost seven tenths of a second . "" Even so Lorenzo was pleased with his second place . "" I made a really good start and pushed 100 , more than ever , so I am really proud of my riding , "" he said . Rossi who set a new outright record of 246 starts in the premier class of Grand Prix racing won the battle behind the leaders to take third from Pedrosa and a disappointed but philosophical Dovizioso . "" The result confirms the improvements we are making , "" the Italian said . "" Finishing the race less than ten seconds behind the leaders was almost a dream before the start , but instead we did it and we were always in with a fighting chance of finishing on the podium . "" The home fans were left frustrated as one of their favorites , Tech3 Yamaha ' s Bradley Smith , was knocked out of contention by a cracked rear wheel . The Briton ' s tyre deflated as a result , forcing him into the pits . When he re joined with a new wheel his chances of a point scoring finish had gone , but he did manage to ride to within a lap of the leaders , to loud cheers from the stands . "" I tried to stay out and fight through it but it just got too dangerous to ride , "" Smith said . "" When we changed ( the wheel ) , I proved that I have the pace for sixth . It was a good weekend up until the race and the team did a great job , but these things happen sometimes . "" Tech3 could , however , console themselves with an outstanding performance from rookie Pol Espargaro , who forced his way into a highly creditable sixth position . Of the other top British talent , Scott Redding piloted his Open Class Gresini Honda to a solid tenth , but Ducati ' s Cal Crutchlow could only manage twelfth . The talented Coventry born rider must surely be counting the days until he leaves for his new team , Honda , at the end of an intensely trying season . The championship now takes a two week break before the San Marino MotoGP , with Marquez a titanic 89 points clear of Pedrosa , and Rossi a further 10 points back in third , with only six races remaining this season . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7538111,8112,"This undated photo provided by the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows Syed Rizwan Farook who has been named as the suspect in the San Bernardino , Calif . , shootings . Farook communicated with individuals who were under scrutiny in connection with . . . more In a bizarre move that baffled media commentators and confounded police experts , reporters rummaged through the personal belongings of the San Bernardino shooters on live television Friday after gaining access to the California home the couple rented . Reporters from cable news networks and local newspapers sorted through belongings left behind , including photos , credit cards and personal documents after the landlord who owned the home allowed access . Items including toys and a crib for the couple s 6 month old baby could be seen inside the home . Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife , Tashfeen Malik , were killed during a firefight with police as they attempted to evade officers hours after they opened fire at a holiday party for the government agency that employed Farook . The couple killed 14 people and injured another 21 during Wednesday s deadly shooting spree . It was unclear whether the dozens of people who flooded the couples home should have been allowed such unfettered access to a location where just two days before police recovered more than 4 , 000 rounds of ammunition , bomb making devices and 12 pipe bombs . A spokeswoman for the s Los Angeles Field Office said she was not aware of any efforts to get reporters out of the Redlands , California , home . A crib inside the apartment of Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik , the . . . more ? We ve finished our search at that locations , said spokeswoman Lourdes Arocho , adding that officials were expected to address the issue at a press conference later Friday . The strange event was also sure to stir up scrutiny of media ethics , as reporters broadcast images of documents found inside the home including a driver s license , Social Security card of individuals who were not believed to be either of the deceased suspects . Photos of unidentified children at a birthday party and involved in other day to day activities were also shown on several news broadcasts . Investigators were still working to determine what motivated Farook and Malik to commit the massacre , but officials were edging closer to the conclusion that the Muslim couple was radicalized by Islamist extremists either in the U . S . or during trips to the Middle East , including Saudi Arabia . During a press conference Friday shortly after cable networks began to broadcast images from inside the home , White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest referred questions on the matter to the . What the White House is focused on is our investigation get two the bottom of what transpired , he said . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7548149,8150,"To hear Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney tell it , Alabama and Clemson are physically and mentally ready for their 15th game , Monday night s College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by T ( 8 : 30 p . m . , ) . Both coaches addressed the media en masse for the final time before the game on Sunday morning . I think we ' re in as good a shape as you can be , Swinney said . I think the schedule has set up well for us . We finished the season playing 10 in a row , and the last stretch of that was a challenge because this is obviously a physical game , and it ' s mentally taxing , and the balance of school and all those things , you know , mount up . But our guys did as good a job as they could handling that . Our guys have done a really good job of sort of using the rest time that they have , Saban said of the Crimson Tide . When we are practicing and preparing , their focus has been good . Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney on Sunday morning addressed the media en masse for the final time before the Monday night ' s title game . ? Swinney discussed the health of All American defensive end Shaq Lawson , who said on Saturday that there s a "" very good chance he ll play . Swinney seems to agree with that assessment . We expect him to play , Swinney said . Hopefully he ' ll be able to perform and play to the level that we all know he can , but you know , if not , I don ' t think Coach Saban is going to cancel the game over there . We ' re going to have to keep playing , so we ' ll put the next guy in there . . . . But we expect him to play , and he looked good Saturday in practice . But again , until you get out there and you ' re playing in a game of this magnitude with the intensity and physicality , you never know . But he ' s done everything that he needs to do to play the game . For Saban , it will be his last hurrah with defensive coordinator Kirby Smart , who after the game will shift to his new duties as Georgia s head coach . Well , Kirby has been with me a long time , all the way back to days , Miami days and the entire time we ' ve been at Alabama , nine years , Saban said . You know , it ' s sort of like you have a son and he ' s moving away , and you want to see him do really , really well because we all go through stations of life where things change , so now someone else will have . . . an opportunity . Kirby will have an opportunity . Somebody will have an opportunity to do what he does , and hopefully we can provide a little leadership and guidance that will help him along the way have a chance to be successful . The Crimson Tide are seeking their fourth national championship in seven years , so this is familiar territory for Saban Co . For Swinney and the Tigers , it s new ground to cover as Clemson s first title game trip under its current head coach . Clemson ' s last national championship as a program came in 1981 . That s not lost on Swinney , who said he had the members of his coaching staff who have won a title address his team . I ' ve got 11 guys on my staff in different capacities that have won national championships , and I ' ve kind of talked to them and got them all up in front of the team , Swinney said . You take a guy like defensive tackles coach Dan Brooks , for example . Dan Brooks has been coaching 42 years and he ' s coached at Florida and Tennessee and North Carolina and Clemson . This guy has been at some great programs and he ' s got one national championship . It ' s really hard to do . . . . Hopefully this won ' t be our first time . Hopefully we can be back . I don ' t know if we can make it four out of the next seven years , but it won ' t be for a lack of effort . The coaches discussed myriad topics unrelated to the game , including the deadline for underclassmen to declare for early entry into the draft ( Jan . 15 ) and how it affects their teams at this time of year . The moved the draft back . I wish they ' d move the declare date back , Saban said . I wish they ' d make a rule that says you can ' t even give a player what his draft status is from the draft advisory committee until they ' ve finished their competition as a college player , so that you don ' t put them and their family in this situation where there ' s a big timing issue relative to competition . Said Swinney : There ' s no doubt , it ' s a distraction that all of us have to deal with . . . . You get the grades and some guys , they didn ' t get the grade that they want , so they ' re pouting a little bit and got to pick themselves up . Then you get the guy that gets the grade he wants , so it ' s just I echo that 100 percent . It really should be when the season is over , whenever that is , and they should hold those things . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7558153,8154,"Former Queens Park Rangers chairman Gianni Paladini has registered as a director of a new Bradford City holding company in what appears to be the first move towards taking control at Valley Parade . Paladini has been searching for a way back into football since he left Loftus Road in 2011 and has attempted to buy Birmingham City from Carson Yeung . The Italian seems to have enjoyed more success in West Yorkshire where he has forged an official link to Bradford , a club which has been one of the great success stories of the season . Former chief Gianni Paladini appears to be keen on taking over the reins at League One side Bradford Bradford ' s most memorable moment of the season came during their shock Cup win over Chelsea Phil Parkinson ' s team captured the imagination of fans across the nation when they fought back from 2 0 down to win 4 2 at Chelsea in the Cup and went on to beat Sunderland before losing in a quarter final replay at Reading . Those Cup exploits came against a backdrop of colourful and passionate support . They took 8 , 000 supporters to Stamford Bridge and generated a brilliant atmosphere for the tie at home to Sunderland . It was a reminder of the club ' s enormous potential , having been led out of the doldrums of League Two and administration by chairmen Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn , with the help of Parkinson ' s managerial skill . Lawn has spoken of the need to attract new investment and Paladini is registered as the sole director of Bradford City ( Holdings ) Limited , set up in February . The company was originally set up with Paladini and Mauro Milanese named as directors but Milanese ' s name has been removed . Paladini has previously made an attempt to buy Birmingham from Carson Yeung ( pictured ) Milanese is a former centre half who played for several Italian clubs and had one year at during a long playing career and briefly managed Leyton Orient last year . Paladini ' s ambitions to return to football are well documented . As well as trying to buy Birmingham , he has been linked possible takeovers at Millwall and Reading . Bradford were beaten 6 0 at home by Bristol City on Tuesday , which confirmed Bristol City ' s promotion to the Championship and virtually ended Bradford ' s hopes of capping an incredible season by reaching the play offs . Paladini spent eight years at , seizing control after a complicated takeover in 2003 and attracting investment from billionaires Lakshmi Mittal and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore . He left his role at Loftus Road in 2011 following the takeover by Tony Fernandes . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7568185,8186,"After hours of back and forth between members , the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided Friday evening to accept noncelibate clergy members and lay leaders who are in "" lifelong "" and "" monogamous "" same sex relationships . Previous Evangelical Lutheran Church policy allows gay and lesbian clergy , lay people to serve only if celibate . One of the country ' s largest Protestant denominations , the Lutheran church approved four recommendations to its ministry ' s policies that underscore a new approach to homosexuality . While the recommendations passed at the weeklong Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis , Minnesota , do not address recognizing same sex marriage or civil unions , they do allow congregations to support same sex relationships among their members and allow individuals in same sex relationships to hold clergy positions . The previous policy of the 4 . 6 million member church allowed gay people to serve as members of professional rosters only if they were celibate . Some members argued prior to the vote that the change would fly in the face of religious teachings . "" Brothers and sisters , I ask you , before you dig yourselves deeper into this hole , if you are so absolutely certain that these behaviors are not sinful that you are willing to place yourselves and this church at the spiritual risk that comes from encouraging sin , "" said the Rev . Steven Frock of the Western Iowa Synod . Among those on the other side was Alan Wold of the Northern Illinois Synod . "" If according to some I am going to be in err for supporting this . . . Let me err on the side of mercy , grace , justice , and love of neighbor . Let me err on the side of gospel , which makes all things new . "" Many feared the emotional debate could tear at the unity of the church . So the members voted to re order their resolutions moving to the top a resolution that the church "" commit itself to bear one another ' s burdens , love thy neighbor , and respect the bound consciences of all . "" It passed with overwhelming support . Other religious denominations , including Episcopalians and Unitarians , have made moves to accept gay clergy , and Evangelical Lutherans would not be the first to accept those openly in same sex relationships , said David Masci , a senior researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life . But would be the largest to make such a move . The church is the third largest Protestant denomination , representing 2 percent of the U . S . population , according to the Pew Forum . The battle Friday was the latest in what Masci said many "" socially moderate "" denominations , including those in Judaism , are grappling with : balancing the growing acceptance of same sex relationships with traditional teachings . As some have moved toward accepting same sex relationships , within those same denominations "" you see more conservative wings that are pushing back against it , "" said Masci . On hand for Friday ' s debate were hundreds of "" interested parties "" including some people who are not members of the church , said John Brooks , spokesman . When asked whether there had been protests or rallies on either side outside the convention site , he responded , "" Interestingly , no . "" In the convention hall , Brooks said , "" The debates haven ' t been rancorous or mean spirited in any way . They ' ve been quite civil . But people have been passionate with their feelings . "" The Rev . Terri Stagner Collier of the Southeastern Synod said a vote in favor of the resolutions would cause members of her own family to leave the church . Her sister "" felt her church was being ripped away from her , "" Stagner Collier said tearfully , adding , I urge you not to do this to all of those people in the pew and in my family . "" Sara Gross of the Oregon Synod said some "" dear members "" of the church will be lost if the resolution passes . But , she said , "" A vote to reject this recommendation sends a message to the world saying ' not all are welcome . ' "" In a "" changing world , "" Gross argued , the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America "" needs to be a voice that stands up and says ' yes . ' "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7578186,8187,"While science doesn t quite have the technology to give Donald Trump the ability to read our minds, his justice department is doing the next worst thing. They are asking for addresses of every single person who visited a website that organized inaugural protests. There s a good chance they re after you and me.The website, which coordinated protests across the nation on Inauguration Day, is hosted by Dreamhost, and thankfully, they are fighting the warrant from Trump s justice department. The request from the [Justice Department] demands that DreamHost hand over 1.3 million visitor addresses in addition to contact information, email content, and photos of thousands of people in an effort to determine who simply visited the website, DreamHost said in Monday s post [emphasis theirs]. That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution s First Amendment. That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone s mind. Source: BuzzfeedThat kind of data mining would have made Joseph McCarthy drool. It s clearly an attempt to gather evidence against Trump s opposition, even if that opposition is just regular citizens.It s not the first time they have tried going after protesters through internet history. 200 people were arrested during the January 20th protests and prosecutors have tried to go through Facebook to get information about those people Federal prosecutors have sought a range of electronic information related to the Jan. 20 arrests, including defendants social media accounts. In a mostly sealed case that the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other digital rights groups believe is related to the Jan. 20 arrests, Facebook is fighting an order blocking the company from alerting users about search warrants for account information. That case is before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the city s highest local court.This is all a disgusting violation of privacy. Visiting a legal website is evidence of nothing, yet it s clear that Trump is gathering a list of people who disagree with him. What he will do with that list is still a mystery, but remember, it wouldn t surprise me if people on that list started seeing letters from the or one of our law enforcement agencies.At the very least, this as an attempt to control dissent and perhaps make people afraid to organize online, which is by far the most effective way to organize. Just like his attempt to gather voter data from states is an attempt at making people afraid to register to vote.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images.",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present7588199,8200,"In slap at Obama , led House moves to block climate rule Originally published December 1 , 2015 at 2 : 08 pm A giant globe displays a video animation during a conference about Antarctic mass change at the U . S . Pavillon during the COP21 , United Nations Climate Change Conference , in Le Bourget , outside Paris , Tuesday , Dec . 1 , 2015 . ( Photo Francois Mori ) ( ) ? As President Barack Obama worked to hammer out a global climate agreement in Paris , Republicans in Congress moved to block his plan to force steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from U . S . power plants . The House passed two resolutions Tuesday disapproving Obama s power plant rules and rendering them inoperative . A measure blocking an Environmental Protection Agency rule for existing power plants was approved 242 180 , while a measure blocking a rule on future power plants was approved 235 188 . The votes come after the Senate approved identical motions last month under a little used law that allows Congress to block executive actions it considers onerous . The measures now go to the White House , where they face almost certain vetoes . Just four Democrats sided with Republicans to support the measures , which fell far short of the numbers needed to override a veto in both the House and Senate . Rep . Ed Whitfield , R Ky . , said lawmakers were forcing a vote on the climate rule to send a message to the climate conference in Paris that in America , there s serious disagreement with the policies of this president . House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy , R Calif . , said Obama wants to reduce carbon emissions , but his policies will kill jobs , increase electricity costs and decrease the reliability of the U . S . energy supply . And Rep . Jeff Duncan , R S . C . , said he wished Obama took the threat posed by radical jihadists such as the Islamic State as seriously as he takes what Duncan called a pseudoscientific threat posed by climate change . Democrats countered that the power plant rules were important steps to slow global climate change that is already causing real harm through increased droughts , wildfires , floods and more severe storms . Rep . Frank Pallone , D N . J . , said it was regrettable that Republicans were trying to block the power plant rules even as officials from more than 190 nearly countries and many of the world s largest private companies gathered in Paris to work out details of a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions . The global agreement will prevent us from further overheating the earth and causing major disruptions to people s lives , their property and to the global economy , Pallone said . We know that ( climate change ) will endanger our children s future if we don t act now . The Obama administration s Clean Power Plan requires states to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030 , based on emissions in 2005 . Each state has a customized target and is responsible for drawing up an effective plan to meet its goal . The says it has authority to enact the plan under the Clean Air Act . Twenty five mostly Republican states , led by Texas and West Virginia , are contesting the plan in court , calling it an unlawful power grab that will kill jobs and drive up electricity costs . Several utilities , the National Mining Association and the nation s largest privately owned coal company also are suing the . lawmakers challenged the administration s action under the little used Congressional Review Act , which allows Congress to block executive actions with simple majority votes . The maneuver is subject to a presidential veto and has rarely been successful . The White House issued a veto threat last month , saying the resolutions undermine public health protections of the Clean Air Act and stop critical U . S . efforts to reduce dangerous carbon pollution from power plants . Speaking in Paris Tuesday , Obama said parts of a global climate agreement should be legally binding . His declaration was both a boost to climate negotiators seeking a tough accord and a challenge to Republicans in Congress , many of whom reject the idea of global warming . House Speaker Paul Ryan , R Wis . , said Republicans were in step with the American people , who want jobs and economic growth . I think when you weigh the costs and the benefits against these so called legally binding obligations they don t add up , Ryan told reporters . I think it s very clear people want jobs . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7598225,8226,"Los Angeles Summer 2013 was blurry for Robin Thicke , according to what the "" Blurred Lines "" singer told lawyers in April . "" Every day I woke up , I would take a Vicodin to start the day and then I would fill up a water bottle with vodka and drink it before and during my interviews , "" Thicke said in a deposition transcript made public Monday . Being high and drunk appears to be Thicke ' s defense in a high stakes lawsuit filed by Marvin Gaye ' s family against Thicke , producer Pharrell Williams and hip hop artist "" T . I . "" Clifford Harris Jr . The lawsuit filed last fall contends Thicke ' s "" Blurred Lines "" is an illegal rip off of Gaye ' s "" Got to Give It Up . "" "" It is a musical impossibility , "" he said in in the April 23 , 2014 deposition . "" They ' re two complete different syncopations and note choices and different keys . One ' s a minor key and one ' s a major key . "" Fans , journalists and music experts immediately recognized similarities between Gaye ' s 1977 hit and the 2013 ' s summertime smash , Gaye ' s heirs contend . New York Times writer Rob Hoerburger wrote that the "" Blurred Lines "" bass line "" came right from "" Gaye ' s song . Musicologist Judith Finell , an expert hired by the Gaye family lawyers , said she identified a "" constellation of at least eight substantially similar compositional features between the two works . . . . The signature phrase , vocal hook , backup vocal hook , their variations , and the keyboard and bass lines "" are substantially similar and they share "" departures from convention such as the unusual cowbell instrumentation , omission of guitar and use of male falsetto , "" she said . If it was stolen , Thicke was too high and drunk to do it , his testimony suggested . "" I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio , "" Thicke said . "" I walked in and he Pharrell Williams started singing me some ideas he had and the song happened very quickly , "" he said . "" I jumped right into the booth and started singing whatever he said . "" Thicke does claim creation of the melody and four part harmonies in the second verse , but otherwise Pharrell Williams "" geniused the whole thing . "" Several print and video interviews Thicke gave last summer tell a different story of Thicke being thickly involved in creating writing and producing the hit . "" Pharrell and I were in the studio making a couple records , and then on the third day , I told him I wanted to do something kinda like Marvin Gaye ' s ' Got To Give It Up , ' that kind of feel ' cause it ' s one of my favorite songs of all time , "" Thicke told Billboard Magazine for a story published in July . "" So he started messing with some drums and then he started going ' hey , hey , hey ' and about an hour and a half later we had the whole record finished . "" Thicke now says he was lying to interviewers , partly blaming drugs and alcohol . "" With all due respect , I was high and drunk every time I did an interview last year , "" he said in the deposition . "" So there are some quotes I don ' t remember saying , but I do generally remember trying to sell the public on the fact that ' Blurred Lines ' was my idea in some way . "" His lies were elaborations he "" thought it would help sell records , "" he said . "" I thought that it being my song my idea would make it more personal because my music has always been so personal , that this was the first time I had a song out that wasn ' t personal and had nothing to do with me , and yet it was my biggest successful , which , you know , was very tough for me . And so I lied in my story so I could at least make it seem like , hey , I ' m the guy who came up with this great idea . "" Thicke denied the lawsuit ' s contention that he has a "" Marvin Gaye fixation . "" "" I ' ve been called ' the white Marvin Gaye ' since I got started , "" he said . "" So I think I ' ve embraced that , consider it an honor . "" Thicke said that he was not drugged or drunk during the April deposition . In fact , he had been sober for the previous two months , he said . "" I ' ve actually only been sober off the pills , off of Vicodin , "" he later said . "" I still drink . "" "" When your wife leaves you , it gives you good reason to sober up , "" he said . Thicke and his wife , Paula Patton , publicly announced that they had separated in February . "" Sorry , "" he told the lawyer . "" That ' s why I ' m starting to feel a little sad , because I had a tough year . "" Robin Thicke has no idea what he ' s doing Thicke , who has a 20 writing credit for "" Blurred Lines , "" said he didn ' t know how much money he ' s made off the huge hit , since he let ' s his business manager take care of his finances . "" Blurred Lines "" stayed at the top of Billboard ' s pop chart for a record 16 weeks this summer and sold more than 6 million copies , according to court documents . Gaye ' s heirs also accuse Thicke of stealing from their father ' s 1976 hit "" After the Dance "" when he recorded "" Love After War "" in 2011 . Those tunes "" contain substantially similar compositional material in their choruses , including the melodies of their hooks , "" the Gaye filing contends . AskThicke backfires big time on Robin Thicke ",true,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7608229,8230,"The running back committee that the Titans are employing needs to be narrowed down a bit so that players have a chance to get into a rhythm . ? Dexter McCluster has done well over the last few games at being that complementary back who comes in on certain packages . ? If the Titans can wear the Texans down by controlling the line of scrimmage , it should open things up for Mettenberger to find open receivers . Simplifying the offense is key for Mettenberger to gain some confidence . The Texans are 28th in the at defending the run , allowing just under 130 yards per game . You better believe Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt will try to take advantage of those struggles . It was an outstanding defensive effort against the Falcons that put the Titans in great position to pull off the improbable upset . They held the Falcons to just 10 points , which should ' ve been enough to get them out of the loss column . Another defensive performance like that against a much shakier offense should lead to a relatively comfortable win . The Titans need to stick with what ' s working , and what ' s working is remaining aggressive at getting to the quarterback . They don ' t let opposing quarterbacks get comfortable in the pocket , and that props up their young secondary . Even when they miss out on the sack , they seem to always be hurrying the quarterback in the pocket . Derrick Morgan and Jurrell Casey have led this charge with eight sacks combined . They will face Brian Hoyer at quarterback , who is not having too bad of a season statistically . He ' s thrown 11 touchdowns to just three interceptions , good for a passer rating of 95 . 7 . These solid numbers haven ' t resulted in wins , and they looked awful last week in the Texans ' blowout loss to the Dolphins . The key will be to get consistent pressure on Hoyer and force him into decisions that he ' s not ready to make . Hoyer is capable of making great throws when given plenty of time to do so . ? Keeping the Texans from getting the home run play to the likes of DeAndre Hopkins will be vital . You may remember the Titans have fallen victim to big plays in their losses to the Browns , Colts and Bills . Some of that was remedied against the Falcons , even in the loss . Titans Ken Whisenhunt ( left ) and Titans Zach Mettenberger This game could end up being a matter of who plays worse . It ' s probably not going to be pretty , but someone has to win . Mettenberger was so close to breaking through for his first career win as a starter last week , and he ' ll come into this game much more prepared . He also has some experience going up against the Texans defense . Now that Mettenberger has been confirmed as the starter , it ' s hard to see the Titans being able to manage as many points as they would with Mariota under center . However , the running game will be the calling card for the Titans . Andrews and company will string together a couple of long scoring drives to help take control of the time of possession . Turnovers from both teams will keep this game close going into the fourth quarter , but the Titans defense will outshine the Texans defense . Tennessee will force more mistakes and create some easy points for the offense . Mettenberger gets the monkey off of his back by getting a win as an starter , and the Titans get out of the South cellar . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7618231,8232,"Washington Claims that workers associated with Animal Planet ' s "" Call of the Wildman "" show mistreated animals have prompted federal officials to review whether an investigation is warranted . The accusations were made by the magazine Mother Jones , which alleged that "" Call of the Wildman "" staged animal rescues and said it found "" evidence of a culture that tolerated legally and ethically dubious activities . "" Those activities include sedating a zebra in violation of federal rules , directing trappers to procure animals so they could be "" caught "" again as part of a script and wrongly completing legal documents . Animal Planet and Sharp Entertainment , the show ' s production company , have disputed the accusations . spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa said the Mother Jones article prompted the review . "" Once we have an opportunity to look into the situation , we will work to determine our next steps . If we determine an investigation is warranted , we will open one , "" Espinosa said . On Wednesday , People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , an animal rights group , filed a request with the asking it to investigate the allegations . "" Call of the Wildman "" centers on Ernie Brown Jr . , also known as "" Turtleman , "" a Kentucky wildlife rescuer who catches "" nuisance "" animals and releases them back into the wild . "" The life and welfare of all animals is of paramount importance to Animal Planet . It is core to our ethos that every animal ' s life has value . . . The notion that there is a culture of ' neglect ' at the only network that is devoted to celebrating and protecting animals is absurd . "" Claims in the ' Mother Jones ' article were brought to the production company ' s attention nearly nine months ago . Where appropriate , Sharp Entertainment promptly instituted changes to further ensure the welfare of animals while filming the series . "" it read . Dan Adler , senior vice president of Sharp Entertainment , said on New Day Thursday , "" The idea that there is a culture of neglect or abuse on the show is completely false . . . Everyone on the show from staff to talent love animals . "" "" The idea that animals are killed or drugged on ' Call of the Wildman ' is false , "" he said . Adler said nuisance animals in Kentucky are customarily euthanized , but the show has given hundreds of animals "" a second lease on life . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7628239,8240,"This weekend , Saturday Night Live ( ) will be hosted by Donald Trump . The billionaire candidate for president has been criticized for his hateful rhetoric throughout his campaign . Most notably , Trump initiated his candidacy for president with the following statement : "" When Mexico sends its people , they ' re not sending the best . They are sending people that have lots of problems , and they ' re bringing drugs , they ' re bringing crime and they are rapists , and some , I assume are good people . . . "" Soon after , we saw that such hateful rhetoric has consequences , or so we thought . Stating that "" respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values , "" NBCUniversal ended its business relationship with Trump . The network announced he would no longer host The Celebrity Apprentice , and canceled the scheduled broadcasts of Miss Universe and Miss Pageants , which are co owned by Trump . Donald Trump is not fit to serve in any elected office , much less as President of the United States . His support for the mass deportation of 11 million undocumented people and ending birthright citizenship would have detrimental effects . Trump has used his hateful views regarding the Latino community to win political points with his disconnected base and it seems that some of his more ' passionate ' followers took notice . We must all remember that hateful rhetoric often leads to hateful conduct . A clear example can be seen in what happened in Boston , Massachusetts . Not long after Trump made his racist remarks , two white males brutally beat and urinated on a Latino man simply because he was Latino . The victim suffered a broken nose and bruises to his head and torso . According to police reports , the perpetrators were "" inspired in part "" by Trump ' s hateful rhetoric . There has been strong opposition to Trump hosting this Saturday . Some individuals have suggested that we should not prevent Trump from hosting but that instead we should voice our opposition by not watching . This view misses the point . Trump has targeted Latinos with his racist and xenophobic remarks and his rhetoric is causing real harm to the Latino community . We cannot allow him the time nor a platform such as to advance such views . Allowing Trump to host a widely popular program is nothing short of a slap in the face to the more than 50 million Latinos living in the U . S . whose only wish is the opportunity to work hard and provide for their families . On Wednesday , November 4 , 2015 at 6 : 00 P . M . , along with other respected Latino organizations , will be holding a protest in front of Rockefeller Center . We urge those who want to help us deliver the message to join us in reminding and Trump that racism under any guise must be rejected by all Americans . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past7638243,8244,"United Nations Syria ' s U . N . ambassador lashed out Thursday at criticism of his daughter , who was in the news last week after News ' Barbara Walters expressed regret for having tried to help her . "" This is an unethical , immoral , baseless , unfounded , animal and brutal approach toward personal issues related to my family , "" Bashar Jaafari told reporters here after being asked to address the issue of his daughter ' s link to Columbia University . "" Somebody is seeking to get to the Syrian ambassador , "" he continued . "" Since they don ' t have any possibility to get to that , they are trying to attack me through my own daughter . This is why this is an unethical approach and immoral . "" Walters has said she should not have tried to help Sheherazad Jaafari obtain an internship and admission to Columbia ' s prestigious School of International and Public Affairs . "" In retrospect , I realize that this created a conflict and I regret that , "" Walters said last week in a statement . Walters said Sheherazad Jaafari contacted her following the reporter ' s return from Syria to the United States after a December interview with Syrian President Bashar al Assad . Sheherazad Jaafari had coached al Assad before the interview on how to describe the violence there , according to e mails purportedly from Syrian officials released in February by the hacking group known as Anonymous . "" Don ' t talk reform , "" she wrote in one e mail . "" American ' s ( sic ) won ' t care , or understand that . . . . American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear that there are ' mistakes ' done and now we are ' fixing it . ' "" On her resume , Jaafari said she graduated from college in June 2010 and worked for a year as an account executive at Brown Lloyd James , a public relations firm , in New York . Sheherazad Jaafari said Wednesday that she had met a number of English speaking journalists during a three month , unpaid internship she undertook late last year in Syria while preparing to return to school to pursue her master ' s degree . "" Unfounded reports published recently have wrongfully claimed that I was the aide of the President of Syria . I want to make clear that I have never served as a President aid ( sic ) to the President of Syria , "" she continued . "" She added , "" I am nothing but a victim for some personal agendas . "" Sheherazad Jaafari said that she gained admission to Columbia based on her own qualifications . What is occurring in Syria "" and to my people saddens me and breaks my heart . It is in my prayers that peace and stability will prevail . "" "" I miss ur voice already , "" she wrote al Assad in late December . "" Give me a call whenever u can so I could get some energy from you and tell you how much I misss u ( sic ) . "" Walters has said that Jaafari was "" looking for a job "" when she contacted her . "" I told her that was a serious conflict of interest and that we would not hire her . I did offer to mention her to contacts at another media organization and in academia . "" Morgan himself denied having had any contact with Jaafari . Walters also e mailed a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism on Jaafari ' s behalf . The professor , former News executive Richard Wald , is the father of Jonathan Wald . Walters later sent a follow up e mail to Jonathan Wald , advising him not to bother following up with the college graduate , since she did not have an appropriate U . S . visa . "" This looks like a bit of a quid pro quo , "" Kurtz said last week . "" This woman was close to Assad , the daughter of the ambassador , helps her arrange the interview , and the next day they ' re on e mail talking about helping her Barbara Walters helping her to either get into an Ivy League school or land a media internship . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past7648253,8254,"This week, liberals have been repeating their frequent claim that voter fraud doesn t exist. A recent Salon article argues that voter fraud just isn t a problem in Pennsylvania, despite evidence to the contrary. Another article argues that voter fraud is entirely in the imagination of those who use voter laws to deny minorities the right to vote.Yet as the election approaches, more and more cases of voter fraud are beginning to surface. In Colorado, multiple instances were found of dead people attempting to vote. Stunningly, a woman named Sara Sosa who died in 2009 cast ballots in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In Virginia, it was found that nearly 20 voter applications were turned in under the names of dead people.In Texas, authorities are investigating criminals who are using the technique of vote harvesting to illegally procure votes for their candidates. Harvesting is the practice of illegally obtaining the signatures of valid voters in order to vote in their name without their consent for the candidate(s) the criminal supports.These are just some instances of voter fraud we know about. It would be silly to assume cases that have been discovered are the only cases of fraud. Indeed according to a Pew Research report from February 2012, one in eight voter registrations are significantly inaccurate or no longer valid. Since there are 146 million Americans registered to vote, this translates to a stunning 18 million invalid voter registrations on the books. Further, More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters, and approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state. Numbers of this scale obviously provide ripe opportunity for fraud.Don t Let Data Contradict My Narrative Yet in spite of all this, a report by the Brennan Center at New York University claims voter fraud is a myth. It argues that North Carolina, which passed comprehensive measures to prevent voter fraud, failed to identify even a single individual who has ever been charged with committing in-person voter fraud in North Carolina. However, this faulty reasoning does not point to the lack of in-person voter fraud, but rather to lack of enforcement mechanisms to identify and prosecute in-person voter fraud.The science of criminal justice tells us that many crimes go unreported, and the more victimless the crime, the more this happens. The fact is, a person attempting to commit voter fraud is very unlikely to be caught, which increases the incentive to commit the crime.The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a sophisticated, comprehensive effort to catalog the number and types of crimes not reported to law enforcement authorities. However, it tends to deal mostly in violent crimes. As complex as the is, gathering accurate data for unreported victimless crimes such as voter fraud is even harder, since 1) outside of the criminal, no one may know a crime has taken place, and 2) there is no direct victim to report the crime in the first place. Yet we are expected to believe that, unlike violent crime, voter fraud is limited only to the cases that are actually reported and prosecuted? This is a senseless position. Further, the Brennan Center report argues that because prosecutor Kris Kobach s review of 84 million votes cast in 22 states found only 14 instances of fraud referred for prosecution (which amounts to a 0.00000017 percent fraud rate), voter fraud is so statistically small that it s a non-issue. Let s follow this logic. Does the fact that 109 people were cited for jaywalking in Seattle in 2009 mean that only 109 people jaywalked in Seattle that year? Does the fact that 103,733 people were cited for driving without a seatbelt in Tennessee in 2015 mean that only that many people were driving without seatbelt in Tennessee in 2015?Absolutely not. This can be proven easily because in 2014, the previous year, only 29,470 people were cited. The disparity is largely due to increased enforcement efforts in 2015. In other words, increasing enforcement of the crime revealed a much larger number of people committing the crime.The exact same is true for voter fraud. We have no reason to believe that the low number of prosecutions means only that exact amount of voter fraud is happening. Rather, it could mean a lack of enforcement is failing to reveal the bulk of the violations that are occurring. Thus, as with many types of crimes, especially victimless crimes, the real number of cases is likely significantly higher than the number reported.How to Effectively Target Voter Fraud So now that we know voter fraud is a serious issue, what are some solutions to this problem? States like Michigan have Poll Challenger programs, where observers from both parties may be present at voter check-in tables at precincts. They check each voter s against a database of registered voters for that precinct to ensure the person attempting to vote is actually legally qualified to vote in that precinct. If there s a discrepancy, the poll challenger may officially challenge the ballot. Other states should implement similar programs.Read more: FOX",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past7658259,8260,"Carolina forced five turnovers that led to 27 points , had five sacks of Kirk Cousins , and established a franchise record by holding the Redskins to 14 yards rushing ( on 12 carries ) . Between the fumbles and the picks , we had a couple short fields , Olsen said . You ' ve got to take advantage of them . We didn t sit on them . I know we scored a lot of touchdowns , and that s obviously what you re looking for . Newton threw four passes in the first half as the Panthers jumped out to a 31 14 lead . Jonathan Stewart ran for 102 yards on 21 carries and caught a 12 yard touchdown pass . Olsen , Mike Tolbert , Ted Ginn Jr . , and Devin Funchess also caught passes . He has a good command of what we re doing out there , Rivera said of Newton , who has 20 passes this season ? four shy of his career high with six games left to play . Andre Roberts had a 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Redskins ( 4 6 ) , who ' ve lost nine straight on the road . Cousins finished 22 of 30 for 207 yards with one touchdown and one interception . He also fumbled twice on sacks . Running back Alfred Morris left the game early in the first quarter with a rib injury and did not return . With the game tied at 14 in the second quarter , Newton led an eight play , 92 yard touchdown drive , capping it with a 2 yard pass to Ginn . Broncos 17 , Bears 15 ? Brock Osweiler passed for two scores filling in for an injured Peyton Manning , and Denver ( 8 2 ) stopped Jeremy Langford on a 2 point conversion run in the final minute to polish off a win in Chicago . Langford scored on a 2 yard run with 24 seconds left to cap a 65 yard drive . But the Broncos were ready for the run on the conversion attempt , ending a two game win streak by the Bears ( 4 6 ) . Osweiler completed 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards in the first start of his four year career , while the five time stayed back in Denver because of injuries to his foot , ribs and shoulder . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7668278,8279,"Turkey shot down a Syrian fighter jet Sunday after the warplane strayed into its airspace , Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said . "" Our F 16s went up in the air and shot that plane down . Why ? Because if you violate my airspace , then from now on , our slap will be hard , "" Erdogan told supporters at a campaign rally . State run media in Syria called the shoot down an act of "" blatant aggression "" and said the downed plane was over northern Syria at the time . The pilot ejected and was rescued , reported , citing a military source . The Turkish armed forces website reported that two Syrian planes were spotted and were warned four times about approaching Turkish airspace as they flew north in Syrian airspace . One plane left the area but the second plane continued , and entered Turkish airspace by approximately 1 kilometer ( six tenths of a mile ) . The plane turned west and continued to fly into Turkish airspace , according to the site . One of the two Turkish F 16s patrolling the area launched a missile at the Syrian plane and it crashed in the area of the town of Keseb , in Syrian territory near the border , Turkish armed forces said . Syrian government forces have battled rebel fighters in Syria ' s Latakia province since Friday morning after the opposition launched an offensive in the heavily Alawite populated areas of the country ' s Mediterranean coast . The province is still under government control despite some pockets of armed resistance . Warplanes have been striking at the opposition in Latakia , the home province of Syrian President Bashar al Assad , in hopes of preventing a rebel advance . One of the pitched battles on Friday occurred in Keseb , just 3 kilometers ( 2 miles ) from Turkey . Sunday ' s report said the Syrian jets were pursuing rebels in the area . Syria shot down a Turkish plane in 2012 , and the two sides have exchanged artillery fire in the past . In October 2012 , Turkey fired on Syrian government targets in response to the shelling of a Turkish border town in which five civilians were killed . Israel retaliates in Syria after bomb attack ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7678290,8291,"According to an urgent report issued today by the White House , a terrified and frantic President Obama is currently trapped inside the healthcare . gov website . Early reports indicate the president inadvertently became physically enmeshed in the inner workings of the online health insurance exchange at approximately 11 : 48 a . m . this morning , and is at this very moment attempting to find any possible means of escape from the highly unstable and dangerous healthcare . gov internal network . "" Please , if anyone can hear me , I need help ! "" said Obama , his voice reportedly echoing endlessly in the distance as he carefully stepped along a green grid of individual and family enrollment information . "" Is anyone there ? Can anyone hear me ? I ' m Barack Obama , President of the United States of America ! I need to get out of here ! "" "" Oh , dear God , there has to be a way out , "" continued Obama , ducking as several lines of text guaranteeing coverage for preexisting conditions flew just inches above his head . "" There has to be . "" According to reports , Obama has spent the last few hours stranded in a dark , seemingly infinite three dimensional insurance matrix made entirely of programming code , scrolling ones and zeroes , and indecipherable information about government subsidies , and has as yet been unable to locate a safe exit from the digital infrastructure of healthcare . gov itself . White House sources have confirmed that Obama is both alone and intensely frightened , and that the president may at this moment be endangered by the complicated , twisting data fields of healthcare . gov , as well as the terabytes of random eligibility notifications and policy cost estimations shooting in all directions . Further reports have warned that any hope of extracting the president from the online marketplace may already be lost . "" This isn ' t right , "" said Obama , staring as enrollment information for millions of Americans was sucked into a growing cone shaped vacuum in the middle of the healthcare . gov dimensional plane . "" Why is it doing this ? "" "" The mainframe , "" the president quickly added as hundreds of policy cancellations erupted from the swirling vortex . "" I need to get to the health care exchange mainframe . "" Reports confirmed that after finally forcing his way past the dense clusters of programming language tangled in the healthcare . gov help page , Obama finally reached a complicated system of virtual pipelines sending information about spouses and dependents directly into a pulsating golden orb . Upon reaching his hand into the orb , the president was said to be transported directly into the heart of healthcare . gov ' s online marketplace . Obama was then reportedly horrified to find himself inside a crumbling software framework , surrounded by a chaotic array of randomly scattered premiums , out of pocket charges , and collapsed open enrollment architecture . "" Goddammit , I don ' t know what to do ! "" Obama said , banging his hands in frustration against a wall of binary as the entire healthcare . gov mainframe suddenly froze , forcing all previously flowing lines of code to come to a complete standstill . "" I can ' t fix this ! Get me out of this place ! "" "" Please ! Just get me out of here ! "" Obama added as the data grid below his feet shattered into millions of infinitesimal pixels and he plummeted into an infinite void of lost health care coverage . At press time , U . S . Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had assured reporters that engineers are working around the clock to free the president from the healthcare . gov site by the beginning of December . ",satire,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present7688293,8294,"Irbil , Iraq Iraqi forces are doubling down efforts to retake the city of Tikrit from , even uniting Sunni and Shiite fighters in the mission . The Iraqi army , along with Sunni and Shiite militiamen , attacked strongholds in the area Monday , the state run Iraqiya reported . Iraqi warplanes and helicopters are also striking targets in and around Tikrit . It ' s part of a wide scale offensive ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi on Sunday . Tikrit fell to in June of 2014 , after the group ' s capture of Iraq ' s second largest city , Mosul . Tikrit is best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein . , the radical Sunni militant group , has been on a murderous campaign to establish a caliphate across swaths of Iraq and Syria . Iraqi forces approached Tikrit from several fronts , Iraqiya reported , engaging with north of the city at al Alam and south of the city at al Dour . The element of surprise probably was not a factor , as reports of Iraqi troops amassing near Tikrit were widely shared . What awaits the Iraqi army is most likely a long , hard slog and not a quick rout . Tikrit is a big city , and the army and its associated militias have had problems recapturing much smaller towns from . There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014 . While Iraqi forces have gained some territory in the area , it has generally been under control for the last eight months or so . The joint Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit include Iraqi troops , members of the Shia al Hashed al Shaabi militia , members of the Sunni Sons of Salahuddin brigades , and other Sunni tribal fighters . The offensive involves around 30 , 000 fighters in all . Al Abadi , who is also commander in chief of the armed forces , said on Twitter that he will "" oversee the operation to liberate Tikrit "" from . In short , this is the biggest test for an army trying to claw back territory that fell to last summer after a string of dramatic defeats . Last June , Tikrit was the scene of the bloodiest massacre ever perpetrated by militants . They captured more than a thousand Iraqi soldiers , who laid down their arms and donned civilian clothing in an attempt to flee a base once used by U . S . forces . subsequently executed as many as 1 , 700 soldiers , and posted the video of the killing online . There is concern that Iraqi forces , eager for revenge , may kill combatants and civilians alike . The U . N . ' s envoy to Iraq , Nickolay Mladenov , urged all armed forces in Tikrit to do their utmost to spare civilians . U . S . and other coalition troops have been conducting a crash course to retrain and upgrade the Iraqi army , and several thousand Iraqi troops have passed through the course . This offensive will tell whether that training has made a difference . The offensive also highlights the role played by neighboring Iran in the fight against . The semiofficial Iranian news agency reports that Qassim Sulaimani , the commander of the elite Iranian Al Quds Brigade , is helping oversee the operation to retake Tikrit . Iran has provided advisers , weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government . If the offensive succeeds , it means that retaking Mosul , a city 10 times bigger , is possible . But Tikrit is almost 200 kilometers ( 124 miles ) south of Mosul , and much of the territory in between is under control . Al Abadi has said the immediate goal is to liberate Salah ad Din province , of which Tikrit is the capital , and then focus on adjacent Al Anbar province , a similarly Sunni dominated province . After that , retaking Mosul is an option . If , however , the Tikrit offensive fails , it could spell disaster for Baghdad . There will be political recriminations , the already fragile morale of the Iraqi army could collapse , the Kurdish autonomous region could decide to break from Iraq , and it would provide with a victory it hasn ' t seen since last summer . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7698297,8298,"As the home of the Royal Family for almost a thousand years Windsor Castle has become a symbol of peace and harmony . But now the tranquility of the Queen ' s Berkshire home is set to be shattered by sound of an extra 1 , 700 night flights which will give royal residents a rude awakening from four o ' clock in the morning . Plans drawn up by the Department of Transport could see hundreds of night flights diverted away from the homes of 110 , 000 residents of the west London . Queen ' s home : There could be an extra 1 , 700 night flights over Windsor Castle which will begin at 4am But the price of quieter nights in Richmond , Kew and Hounslow will be more noise for the 15 , 000 people living in the Windsor area , including the Queen . Disruption : The planes flying overhead are a ' private matter ' for the Queen And considering 90 per cent of arrivals land between 4 . 30am and 6 . 00am the plans look set to disrupt the Queen ' s peace . Windsor Adam Afriyie , has called on residents to resist . The Conservative told the Sunday Times : ' I am particularly concerned by this latest proposal , which could have a truly detrimental impact on the quality of life of Windsor residents , and I would urge residents to make their views known . ' The Queen spends most of her private weekends at Windsor Castle as well as taking up official residence there for a month over Easter . She also spends a week there in June , when she attends Royal Ascot and the service of the Order of the Garter . The Department of Transport ( DfT ) hopes to divert 1 , 670 flights away from approaching over London and passing over Windsor Castle instead . Under existing rules Heathrow is allowed 5 , 256 incoming scheduled night flights a year . There are also a small number of unscheduled departures which means Londoners have to put up with nearly 16 planes passing overhead every night . The majority of incoming night flights 72 per cent approach Heathrow over the built up boroughs of west London , with the remaining 28 per cent passing the Windsor area . Night flights : More planes used by British Airways and other airlines will fly over Windsor under the proposals But the ( DfT ) is now considering ordering pilots to approach from the west thereby avoiding the more heavily populated area , unless a tailwind of five knots or more makes this impractical . This would increase the flights passing over Windsor from about 1 , 470 to about 3 , 150 every year . The potential winners of this strategy are the 245 , 000 Londoners who claim they are affected by the noise . She said : ' The government recognises that noise disturbance from aircraft flying at night is the least acceptable impact of airport operation on local residents . ' At this stage we are gathering evidence on what might be feasible and have taken no decisions yet on our preferences . We will be consulting on specific proposals later this year once we have assessed the evidence received from this consultation . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7708299,8300,"Casey Stoner showed he will be a force to be reckoned with at new team Honda by dominating practice for the season opening MotoGP event in Qatar on Friday , but seven time world champion Valentino Rossi struggled as he seeks to replace the Australian at Ducati . Repsol Honda claimed the three quickest times in the evening session at the Losail International Circuit , with Stoner ' s best of one minute 55 : 035 seconds heading off Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italian Andrea Dovizioso . Yamaha ' s world champion Jorge Lorenzo was fourth fastest as he beat young American teammate Ben Spies for the first time in three sessions this week . Spanish motorcyclist Hector Barbera , who finished 12th overall last season , was the best of Ducati ' s three riders in sixth place . Rossi , who ended a seven year stint with Yamaha at the end of a 2010 season marred by injuries , was eighth . American Nicky Hayden , who also rode with Rossi at Honda earlier in his career , was back in 14th . "" Today was a bit difficult , because we had hoped to make a bigger improvement , but in the end we didn ' t lower our time enough , "" Rossi told the Ducati website . "" First of all , my shoulder bothered me a little . I wasn ' t as strong as I was yesterday , and in the end of the session , I could feel it . Also , we still don ' t know this bike perfectly and , as happened to us in the test , we get to a point where it ' s difficult to make a step forward with the set up . "" We ' re missing half a second with our pace to be in the group where we hope to be Sunday . Anyway , today we tried two set up solutions that were quite different , and we chose one that we ' ll try to refine tomorrow . "" Stoner , the 2007 world champion in motorcycling ' s elite class , also set the fastest time in windy conditions in Friday ' s opening session of 1 : 55 : 457 as he again headed off Pedrosa , with Spies third . Lorenzo was fifth despite the Spaniard suffering problems with his bike which limited his time on the track . Rossi was ninth , with Hayden just behind him . Lorenzo ' s compatriot Alvaro Bautista has been ruled out of Sunday ' s race after the 26 year old Suzuki rider suffered a broken leg when he crashed late in Friday ' s second session . Qualifying will be held on Saturday evening Qatar time , with Sunday ' s race also at night at 1900 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7718301,8302,"Nairobi , Kenya President Mwai Kibaki proclaimed Thursday a "" happy end "" as an overwhelming majority of Kenyans voted to adopt a new constitution that is sure to bring big change to the East African country . "" The historic journey that we began over 20 years ago is now coming to a happy end , "" Kibaki said while addressing the nation . But he tempered national euphoria by reminding Kenyans that implementing a new constitution will be a difficult task . "" The journey ahead of national renewal will not be easy , "" he said . "" There will be challenges along the way . But it is important that we look forward with renewed optimism to better days ahead . "" U . S . President Barack Obama called the vote a "" step forward "" for Kenya and its people , in a statement released by the White House Thursday . He said the electoral process was "" credible "" and "" transparent , "" and that the results show Kenyans ' desire for a stable and prosperous future . Obama ' s father grew up in a village in western Kenya . He also applauded the fact that the election came and went without the kind of violence that marred the 2007 presidential vote . Obama called the process a "" testament "" to Kenya ' s people . The country ' s new constitution would remove power from the presidency and create a more decentralized political system . The constitution would also bring in a bill of rights , allow dual citizenship for Kenyans sure to be popular with Kenya ' s large and loyal diaspora community and allow for land reform . Results by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission showed "" Yes "" won the referendum with 67 . 2 percent while "" No "" had 30 . 3 percent . "" I do declare that the proposed constitution is hereby ratified , "" said Ahmed Isaack Hassan , chairman of the electoral commission . Leading opponents of Kenya ' s proposed constitution conceded defeat earlier Thursday . Higher Education Minister William Ruto , a leader of the "" No "" team , said despite his camp ' s loss , every Kenyan "" is a winner "" in the outcome . "" It is necessary to create a win win for the country , "" Ruto said flanked by senior members of the "" No "" camp . Despite the win by the "" Yes "" team , Ruto said , the government should address the complaints of those who rejected the referendum . "" It is not only necessary , it is mandatory , "" he said . Many Kenyans were already celebrating before they heard the official results . The Daily Standard newspaper couldn ' t wait for the announcement . "" Yes it is ! "" rang the headline in the morning paper . "" Now it ' s time to reunite the country behind the outcome , "" the newspaper said in an editorial . Kenyans voted against the constitution by a significant majority in the restive Rift Valley , where "" No "" politicians and Christian church leaders focused their campaigning . Churches feared the new constitution would offer abortion on demand and give Muslims special rights . "" The results do not nullify our concerns , "" said a church statement Thursday . Others applauded the peaceful vote . After the last presidential election three years ago , political violence claimed several hundred lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people . "" We very much welcome reports which indicate that Kenyans were able to vote in a free , fair and peaceful atmosphere , "" said a statement from the Panel of Eminent African Personalities . "" The high voter turnout nationally reflects the strong desire of Kenya ' s people to help shape their country ' s future . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7728338,8339,"Michelle Runs Her Nasty Mouth At Trump, Then Karma Smacks Her In The Face Posted on October 31, 2016 by Amanda Shea in Politics Share This Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama at Clinton’s campaign stop in North Carolina Michelle Obama has been hot on the campaign trail to help Hillary Clinton replace her corrupt husband, proving that Democrats care more about power than the American people. After dropping everything for “her girl” Hillary and running to North Carolina to speak on her behalf, Michelle ran her mouth about Donald Trump, but it immediately came back to bite her. While Trump is capable of doing his own talking and campaigning, Hillary needs a lot of help to make it through this election season, and she’s getting it from a number of Democrats, namely, the Obamas. Both Michelle and Barack Obama have campaigned for the ailing criminal candidate numerous times, including at her North Carlina stop on Thursday where Michelle acted as Hillary’s sorority sister more than her campaign supporter, after completely bashing Trump. According to the Daily Mail , the two “First Ladies” acted as if the campaign stop was a teenage popularity contest as they stood on stage like a couple of best friends, who are actually enemies. Only able to discuss what makes Hillary so great by trash-talking Hillary’s opponent, Michelle said, “We want a president who takes this job seriously and has the temperament and maturity to do it well. Someone who is steady. Someone who we can trust with the nuclear codes.” Apparently, Michelle wasn’t paying attention to the presidential debates when her gal pal committed treason by spilling what America’s nuclear response time is. Seemingly forgetting who she was talking about and all that this woman is accused of, sanctimonious Michelle rambled on about what an awesome example Hillary is for our children as if we’re supposed to take parenting advice from a mother who raises her daughters around foul-mouthed rappers. “We know the influence our president has on our children,” she later added. “They turn on the and they see the most powerful role model in the world – someone who shows them how to treat others. How to deal with disappointment. Whether to tell the truth. They’re taking it all in.” In making this statement, she didn’t realize she was actually speaking against Hillary, who is the opposite of the honest role model she described. The label is more fitting for Trump. She closed her speech with a declaration of desperation, pleading with the crowd that if nothing else, choose Hillary because as “First ladies, we rock.” Then, she begged anyone who would listen to keep “working your hearts out for my girl.” This little cheerleading act is very convenient, but it backfired on Michelle when the past came back to haunt her. Hillary isn’t “her girl.” In fact, they’re “frenemies” at best since she was previously recorded talking behind Hillary’s back, saying, “If you can’t run your own house, you can’t run the White House,” in reference to Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affairs. Like “her girl,” Michelle proved herself as a hypocrite in her statements and got a huge dose of karma the next day for supporting Hillary when the announced they are re-opening the investigation into the Democratic candidate’s e-mails. Neither one of these two women or their husbands are “powerful role models” who “tell the truth,” and they certainly aren’t people any child should be looking up to.",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past7738360,8361,"Washington D . C . Kim Jong Un has further solidified his control over North Korea by reportedly purging his uncle Jang Sung taek , Vice Chairman of the important Nation Defense Commission . Although Jang was often referred to as the "" second most powerful man in North Korea , "" he may now been ousted from the leadership elite for the third time . He has twice returned to the inner circle of power , but this cat may now have run out of lives . Kim ' s uncle ' probably ' ousted , S . Korean lawmakers say What does the move say about the stability of North Korea ? Some experts perceive a weak , embattled Kim feeling forced to fend off challengers . But it is more likely that Kim ' s purge of Jang as well as hundreds of other officials since 2011 shows that the North Korean ruler is firmly in control and confident enough to target even the most senior strata of power . Like his father and grandfather , Kim is playing rivals off against each other to eliminate real or perceived challengers . Debate rages amongst experts as to why Kim felt it necessary to purge his former mentor and protector . Potential explanations revolve around four Ps power , parity , people and policy . Although a classic struggle for power between the leader and potential contenders is a possible explanation , Jang had seemed content to play the role of minence grise , exercising power behind the throne . The best chance for Jang to have grabbed the ring of power would have been when Kim was weakest immediately after his father ' s death in 2011 . But even then , the young Kim was immediately presented as the sole ruler and not as a part of a leadership consortium . After Kim acquired each of his father ' s titles affirming control over the government , military , and party , it became increasingly more difficult for potential challengers to oust him . Kim Jong Un more bellicose than his dad was ? Then there ' s the issue of parity between the Korean Workers ' Party ( ) and the military . Under Kim Jong Il , power shifted to the military , as the National Defense Commission became the preeminent center of government power . But under his son , the has regained some power . The ' s Central Military Commission has now eclipsed the National Defense Commission as the arbiter of North Korean military policies . Rather than a struggle to wrest power from Kim , the purge may instead result from people fighting for closer access to him . There are widespread rumors that Jang was defeated in a struggle with personal rivals . The least likely explanation for the purge is a debate over policy . Although Jang was often referred to as a "" reformer "" by the media , there is little evidence that he or any hidden cabal advocated implementing significant economic and political reform or moderating North Korea ' s threatening behavior . Pyongyang created the perception of factions of hardliners and reformers as part of a "" good cop bad cop "" strategy to elicit benefits during negotiations . As a Korean adage warns , "" The same animal has soft fur and sharp claws . "" When Kim ascended the throne in 2011 , he was erroneously perceived as a reformer simply because he had spent a few years in Switzerland as a teen . The likely departure of his uncle will have little impact on North Korea policy . Kim has shown himself to be just as inimical to reform and pursuing a less belligerent foreign policy as his predecessors . He showed his willingness to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula to dangerous levels earlier this year , threatening nuclear attacks against the United States and South Korea . The young leader has also made clear he has no intention of abandoning his regime ' s nuclear weapons , even revising the constitution to enshrine North Korea as a nuclear weapons state . Pyongyang declared , "" those who talk about an economic reward in return for the dismantlement of North Korea ' s nuclear weapons would be well advised to awake from their daydream . . . Only fools will entertain the delusion that we will trade our nuclear deterrent for petty economic aid . "" Rather than seeking an illusory North Korean reformer , Washington and Seoul should instead prepare for the extended rule of yet another member of the Kim family willing to test the resolve of his opponents . The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of Bruce Klingner . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7748382,8383,"Brutal regime : Guantanamo Bay interrogator Richard Zuley is accused of using brutal methods to extract confessions from suspects during 30 years as a Chicago detective A Guantanamo Bay interrogator responsible for implementing brutal methods at the prison allegedly used similar tactics to extract murder confessions from non white citizens during his 30 year spell as a Chicago detective . Richard Zuley is accused of shackling suspects to police precinct walls for hours on end , threatening to harm their families and pressurizing them into implicating themselves and others . Apparently targeting minority Americans , the detective ' s brutal regime resulted in at least one wrongful conviction and other cases being thrown into doubt following accusations of abuse . The shocking details , uncovered in an investigation by the Guardian , further damage the reputation of a country still reeling from recent revelations of wartime torture by the . Zuley was a detective on Chicago ' s north side from 1977 to 2007 and allegedly spent years engaging in brutal interrogation tactics , which are said to have included threatening subjects with the death penalty if they failed to cooperate . He was also accused of planting evidence in one high profile murder case where there was pressure to gain a speedy conviction . As a Navy reserve lieutenant , he also carried out work for the military , telling a Chicago court in the mid 1990s that he did counter terrorism work for Naval intelligence while continuing his role as a detective . He was recruited to the Guantanamo Bay operation in 2002 with U . S . military commanders believing he was just the man they had been searching for having spent three decades cleaning up the streets of Chicago . He says he was sent to Cuba as the ' liaison officer for the European Command ' and was assigned to the prison ' s intelligence collection task force . Recruited : The Navy reserve lieutenant was recruited to the Guantanamo Bay operation in 2002 with military commanders believing he was just the man they had been looking for to get results Zuley was said to have made an immediate impression on Major General Geoffrey Miller , who had been given command of Joint Task Force Guantanamo in November 2002 . The detective took charge of the interrogation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi , described in official government reports and a best selling memoir as one of the most brutal ever conducted at the prison . Slahi was seen as a priority interrogation target upon arriving at the wartime jail in August 2002 . He was a veteran of the anti Soviet jihad in Afghanistan , and officials suspected he would have information on al Qaida ' s recruitment of the 9 11 hijackers in Europe . Brutally treated : Zuley took charge of the interrogation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi ( above ) at Guantanamo , described in official government reports as one of the most brutal ever conducted at the prison Stuart Couch , a former Marine lieutenant colonel and military commissions prosecutor , described Slahi ' s treatment as ' unconscionable ' . He said : ' I ' ve never seen anyone stoop to those levels , ' Stuart Couch , a former Marine lieutenant colonel and military commissions prosecutor , said according to the Guardian . ' It ' s unconscionable , from a perspective of a criminal prosecution or an interrogation , for that matter . ' Memoir : Mohamedou Ould Slahi ' s harrowing account of his treatment as a prisoner of Guantanamo Bay Mark Fallon , deputy commander of the now shuttered Criminal Investigative Task Force at Guant namo , called Zuley ' s interrogation of Slahi ' illegal , immoral and ineffective ' . While his methods at Guantanamo soon came to light , his shameful tactics , honed over years behind closed doors in Chicago police stations , have not received the same public scrutiny . Several people in Illinois say they were wrongly convicted of crimes following coerced confessions extracted by Zuley and his teams . An investigation into his methods and conviction records was launched following the 2013 state attorney ' s decision to free an innocent man Zuley had helped send to prison for 23 years . Lathieral Boyd , who was convicted of murder in 1990 , has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against him after spending half his life in prison . On Tuesday , papers filed in federal court showed that the conviction integrity unit of the Cook County state ' s attorney now wants to look at civilian complaints against Zuley relating to another wrongful conviction case . Another case highlighted by the Guardian includes that of Benita Johnson and Andre Griggs . Griggs was a heroin addict and petty criminal who was accused of murder in 1994 after an informant claimed he boasted about it . Griggs says he was handcuffed to a station wall for ' maybe 30 hours ' an ordeal he claims led him to sign a false confession . Allegedly coerced : Andre Griggs ( L ) and Benita johnson said they signed false murder confessions in 1994 after Zuley and his colleagues handcuffed them to the wall for up to 30 hours and threatened them Murder victim : Griggs and Johnson were both convicted for the killing of Ren e Rondeau Benita Johnson says she was also handcuffed to a precinct wall and implicated herself and former boyfriend Griggs after Zuley and his colleagues threatened to take away her children and seek the death penalty . Describing her interrogation , Johnson said : ' Basically they just tortured me , mentally , and somewhat physically , with the cuffs , and screamed and hollered . I went through a lot . ' Zuley received praise from Chicago mayor Richard Daley for his successful interrogation of the two suspects . So far he has not responded to the allegations . Wrongly jailed : Lathieral Boyd spent 23 years in prison as a result of the faulty police work of Zuley ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7758388,8389,"Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to work for a smooth transition of power with president-elect Donald Trump, the Republican winner of Tuesday’s election, who has promised to undo Obama’s top domestic and foreign policy initiatives. In brief remarks to reporters in the White House Rose Garden, Obama urged fellow Democrats to put aside their disappointment and tried to strike a positive tone after a devastating electoral defeat. “It is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences,” Obama said with a smile about Trump, who had long questioned whether Obama had been born in the United States and his eligibility for office. “We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,” Obama said. Obama and his wife, Michelle, campaigned hard for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to defeat Trump, acknowledging that the president’s legacy on healthcare, climate change and financial reforms were on the line. But Obama kept his remarks on Wednesday focused on ensuring a successful transition for Trump, noting that his Republican predecessor, former President George W. Bush, had done the same for him eight years ago. “Everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we’re actually all on one team,” Obama said. “I want to make sure that handoff is well executed because ultimately we’re all on the same team,” Obama said. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7768398,8399,"Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips didn t wait for a question from the media Friday . He knew what the center of attention would be . "" They asked me if I had seen a quarterback like ( the Carolina Panthers ) Cam Newton . There isn t one like him , "" Phillips volunteered . "" I haven t seen one like him . None of us have . He s a tremendous talent . He s put it all together . I m sure he s going to be of the league this year . It s another big challenge for us . "" You go from ( Pittsburgh quarterback Ben ) Roethlisberger to ( New England quarterback ) Tom Brady , think it won t get any tougher and now you re going against Cam Newton . He is a top notch drop back quarterback , but he can run with it better than the rest of them . "" Phillips , who has been a head coach and a top coordinator in the for decades , said the closest comparison he could make was when Michael Vick was an elite passer with the Atlanta Falcons . But that doesn t account for Newton s defensive end like size . Phillips wasn t the only one singing Newton s praises Friday . Broncos linebacker Von Miller , who was chosen second overall in the 2011 draft behind Newton , gushed over both Newton s ability and personality . "" I don t think there s another quarterback that s ever played the game the way he does , especially the way his personality is on the field , "" Miller said . "" I m just a big fan of everything that he has going for him . He s a huge role model . If he played defense , he probably would ve gotten 220 million because he can probably rush the passer and drop back and do safety and all that stuff , too . I m a big fan . "" Indoor practice : While it was a nice day in Denver Friday , coach Gary Kubiak chose to hold practice inside the team s bubble . That was because the wind was blowing hard and Kubiak finds a windy day tends to cut down on his team s energy and chatter at practice . Three Broncos didn t practice Friday : Safeties Darian Stewart ( knee ) and T . J . Ward ( ankle ) and guard Louis Vasquez ( knee ) . Kubiak said Vasquez likely would have practiced outdoors on grass , but the team thought it best not to subject Vasquez s sore knee to artificial turf . Eye on offense : Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison reiterated an on going theme this week ? that the Broncos must perform better offensively in the Super Bowl than they did in generating 20 points to beat the New England Patriots in the Championship Game . "" I think you said it right , there s always room for improvement . I think we just have so many plays we see that we miss . , "" Dennison said . "" Hey , let s go make them next time . We have to make those . Last week is just like a lot of different weeks . We had too many opportunities that we need to take advantage of . "" ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7778400,8401,"Reuters) - Zimbabwe s President Emmerson Mnangagwa told members of his ruling ZANU- party on Friday they would have to start fixing the economy if they wanted a chance of winning next year s vote. Mnangagwa spoke at a party congress that drew a line under the rule of ousted veteran leader Robert Mugabe by formally expelling his wife Grace and her allies from the organization and by endorsing Mnangagwa as party chief and candidate. We will only win at the ballot box if we can show signs that we are reviving our economy and at the same time we will only be able to make economic gains if we can secure re-election, he said. Zimbabwe s economy collapsed in the latter half of Mugabe s rule, especially after violent and chaotic seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms. The southern African nation could hold elections as early as March, Mnangagwa said this week, which would be just five months after the de facto military coup which ended Mugabe s 37-year reign. Democracy bids that as a political party, ZANU- must always compete for office through pitting itself against opposition parties in elections which must be credible, free, fair and transparent, Mnangagwa, 75, told the congress in downtown Harare. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said late last month that financial support for the new government to stabilize its currency system and help it clear World Bank and African Development Bank arrears depended on democratic progress . In a sign of the military further consolidating its political power, Mnangagwa made three generals members of the party s Russian-styled executive Politburo, the supreme decision-making organ of ZANU-PF. Major General Engelbert Rugeje was appointed political commissar, a job focused on revamping party structures and preparing for elections. Mnangagwa said he would name two deputies in a few days. Defence Forces Commander General Constantino Chiwenga is a strong contender for one of the vice presidency slots as a reward for spearheading the de facto coup that ended Mugabe s rule. Mnangagwa, whose sacking as vice-president set off the chain of events that led to Mugabe s removal, said the ZANU- congress should define a new trajectory - which he did not spell out - and put behind it the victimization of members seen in the past. ",true,dataset,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7788407,8408,"A brutal raid on the Garissa University College in Kenya has left nearly 150 people dead including students and dozens more wounded . Gunmen attacked the campus early Thursday as morning prayers were underway , shooting indiscriminately and taking hostages before being killed by security forces , officials said . The U . S . Embassy in Nairobi said Al Shabaab militants have claimed responsibility . The harrowing attack comes just months after Al Shabaab militants murdered non Muslim workers in a Kenyan quarry . The terrorist group has been behind numerous attacks in the region . It has also recruited some Americans , particularly from the Somali American community in Minnesota . Al Shabaab is a Somali group that the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in March 2008 . It wants to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state , according to the Council on Foreign Relations . The group has been blamed for attacks in Somalia that have killed international aid workers , journalists , civilian leaders and African Union peacekeepers . It has a history of striking abroad , too . Before admitting to the Kenya quarry attack , Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the July 2010 suicide bombings in Kampala , Uganda , that killed more than 70 people , including a U . S . citizen , who had gathered at different locations to watch the broadcast of the World Cup final soccer match . The total size of Al Shabaab is not clear . In 2011 , a U . S . official who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information said the group was estimated to control up to 1 , 000 fighters . A United Nations report identified one insurgent leader who is believed to command "" an estimated force of between 200 and 500 fighters , "" most of them Kenyans . And Al Shabaab has links to other organizations . In February 2012 , the group ' s leader , Ahmed Abdi Godane , and al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri released a video announcing the alliance of the two organizations . Decades of weak government amid grinding poverty have long made Somalia a target for radical Islamist groups . Al Shabaab ' s predecessor was al Ittihad al Islami ( ) , which worked to create an Islamist emirate in Somalia . It was partially funded by former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden , according to the Council on Foreign Relations . , which the U . S . State Department designated as a terrorist group , strengthened after the fall in 1991 of Siad Barre ' s military regime and during the years of lawlessness that ensued . In 2003 , a rift erupted between ' s old guard which was seeking to establish a new political front and its younger members , who wanted to impose fundamental Islamic rule . ( Al Shabaab means "" the youth . "" ) That strife led the younger members to ally with a group of Sharia courts the Islamic Courts Union ( ) that was seeking to impose order over a landscape marked by feuding warlords in the capital city . Working together , the Islamic Courts Union and Al Shabaab gained control of Mogadishu in 2006 . That sparked fears in neighboring Ethiopia that violence would spill over there , according to the Council on Foreign Relations . Those fears combined with a request from Somalia ' s transitional government led Ethiopian forces to enter Somalia in December 2006 to remove the from power . And that move inflamed Al Shabaab , which then attacked Ethiopian forces and gained control of parts of central and southern Somalia , according to a 2011 case study by Rob Wise , who was then with the Counterterrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies . In 2011 , after attacks on tourist destinations in northern Kenya blamed on Al Shabaab , the Kenyan government ordered a cross border incursion aimed at creating a security buffer zone in southern Somalia . Ethiopian troops have also crossed the border and expelled Al Shabaab from Baidoa , a strategic town midway between the Ethiopian border and Mogadishu . The group then targeted African Union soldiers and government buildings in the capital in suicide attacks . A suicide bombing in March 2012 killed five people at the presidential palace . Analysts say tension appears to have been growing within Al Shabaab between Somalis and foreign fighters , several hundred of whom are thought to have entered Somalia in recent years to join the group . The group has a sophisticated public relations arm that includes a Twitter account and video production abilities . Al Shabaab has even made a video that ' s as slickly produced as a reality show , complete with a hip hop jihad voice and a startling message : "" Mortar by mortar , shell by shell , only going to stop when I send them to hell , "" an unidentified voice raps in English . But Al Shabaab ' s enemies and alliances can shift . Abu Mansour al Amriki , a former Al Shabaab fighter and prolific English language propagandist for the group , said in a video posted online last year that he had had a fallout with Al Shabaab "" regarding matters of the Sharia and matters of strategy "" and feared for his life . Finding replacements might not be difficult . Sheikh Ahmed Matan , a member of Britain ' s Somali community , said he knows of hundreds of young Somali men living in the West who returned to Somalia for terrorist training . In 2008 , the launched Operation Rhino , "" a serious effort to crack down on anyone traveling to Somalia to support Al Shabaab , "" Bergen wrote . The once ragtag al Qaeda affiliate has grown into an economic powerhouse , raising tens of millions of dollars in cash from schemes that have involved extortion , illegal taxation and other "" fees , "" according to the 2011 United Nations report . The United States believed then that the group was coordinating with al Qaeda groups in Yemen and might have been plotting attacks in the region and abroad . In 2011 , it was generating "" between 70 million and 100 million per year , from duties and fees levied at airports and seaports , taxes on goods and services , taxes in kind on domestic produce , ' jihad contributions , ' checkpoints and various forms of extortion justified in terms of religious obligation , "" according to the report from the U . N . Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea . In 2011 , the U . N . declared a famine in the southern Somalia regions of Bakool and Lower Shabelle , and Al Shabaab reversed an earlier pledge to allow aid agencies to provide food in famine stricken areas . That year , the U . N . Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation said Somalia had the highest mortality rate in the world for children ages 4 and younger . About 258 , 000 Somalis died in the famine between October 2010 and April 2012 , and half the victims were younger than 5 years old , according to a report from the U . N . Food and Agriculture Organization and the funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network . The United States has supported U . N . backed African forces fighting Al Shabaab and strengthened its counterterrorism efforts against the group . It has also donated millions of dollars in aid . In September 2012 , Somali parliament members selected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new president in a vote that marked a milestone for the nation , which had not had a stable central government since Barre ' s overthrow 21 years earlier . But that didn ' t mean Al Shabaab was calling it quits . In January 2013 , French forces attempted to rescue a French intelligence commando held hostage in Somalia by the group . The raid left the soldier dead , another soldier missing and 17 Islamist fighters dead . But there has been political progress in Somalia . In January 2013 , for the first time in more than two decades , the United States granted official recognition to the Somali government . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7798408,8409,"Senior executives have met to discuss what to do next about the growing Brian Williams crisis after further examples of his apparent habit of embellishing and exaggerating old stories to make himself look better emerged over the weekend Williams , who not only hosts Nightly News but is also managing editor of the country ' s highest rated newscast , announced on Saturday that he was taking a temporary leave of absence after questions arose over his admission to making false on air statements that he was in a helicopter hit by a rocket propelled grenade while in Iraq in 2003 . But if Williams hoped that move might take the heat of him , he was sorely mistaken after new reports emerged casting doubts on old claims that he had experienced a similar close call in Israel in 2006 and been robbed at gunpoint in the sleepy New Jersey suburb of Red Bank in the 1970s . NBCUniversal Steve Burke held a meeting with News executives at his house on Sunday to discuss what to do next about the growing scandal engulfing news anchor Brian Williams Former Today show host Katie Couric tweeted on Monday that she had no interest in replacing Williams despite rumors linking her with his job With much at stake for parent company NBCUniversal , Steve Burke is reported to have held a meeting with News executives at his house on Sunday to discuss what to do , reports Politico . The network has so far refused to comment on when or whether Williams will return and who will decide his future , although News announced on Friday that an internal investigation had been launched . By Sunday night and with the scandal not looking like going away anytime soon the embattled news anchor announced that he was backing out of an appearance on David Letterman ' s Late Show scheduled for Thursday . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7808411,8412,"Much to the dismay of mainstream media journalists, Donald Trump Jr. released all email communication regarding his meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya today on Twitter. Meanwhile, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has told News that she met with Donald Trump Jr. to discuss sanctions, that she did not have any Kremlin connections, and that she did not hand over information about Hillary s campaign.She confirmed her meeting with Donald Trump Jr. was about Russian adoptions in the US.But is there more to Natalia Veselnitskaya than meets the eye? Who is she? Does she have ties to Obama and the Democratic Party? Was the meeting with Donald Trump Jr. a set up?According to The Gateway Pundit: The law firm where Veselnitskaya is listed as managing partner, Kamerton Consulting, is based in a Moscow suburb and does not even have a website.A staff member at Kamerton told The Associated Press Veselnitskaya was unavailable for comment on Monday.Her office in Moscow may be a shell. There is no working phone, email or website.Russian President Vladimir Putin s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the Kremlin is unaware of a meeting between Trump s senior staff and Veselnitskaya and does not know who that is. Peskov said, No, we don t know who that is and obviously we can t monitor all meetings Russian lawyers hold both in Russia and abroad. Now this Natalia Veselnitskaya was sitting with Obama s Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, 8 days after cold-contacting Trump Jr. in Trump Tower.Here s a shot showing who appears to be Natalia Veselnitskaya, sitting behind from the June 14, 2016 Congressional hearing on Russia and the Ukraine.Natalia Veselnitskaya photo: That looks like Emin Agalarov sitting next to Natalia Veselnitskaya. He was mentioned in Donald Trump Jr s statement this morning. Emin helped set up the meeting with Veselnitskaya.Veselnitskaya was also connected to Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that produced the fraudulent and discredited Trump Dossier.So why was Veselnitskaya hanging out with Obama officials just days after her meeting with Donald Trump Jr.?And why was Veselnitskaya given a privileged seat up front during the Congressional hearing? ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past7818413,8414,"Novak Djokovic stretched his unbeaten run to 16 matches as the World No . 1 was joined in the semifinals in Dubai by five time winner and defending championRoger Federer Thursday . Djokovic has been in imperious form at the hard court event and was never troubled by quarterfinal opponent Andreas Seppi of Italy , winning 6 0 6 3 in 64 minutes . Federer was equally impressive against Russian veteran Nikolay Davdenko , dropping just four games in a straight sets romp . But they face much tougher tests in the last four clashes Friday , with Djokovic playing in form fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina and Federer taking on third ranked Tomas Berdych , who beat him in the quarterfinals of the U . S . Open last year . It is the first time in the history of the 20 year old Dubai Open that all top four seeds have reached the semifinals and del Potro and Berdych were largely untroubled in their last eight clashes . Del Potro outclassed World No . 97 Daniel Brands 6 4 6 2 while Berdych overpowered Russian wild card Dmitry Tursunov 6 3 6 2 in just over an hour . Australian Open champion Djokovic ' s streak dates back to November last year , but he knows he will have to be on top of his game against del Potro , who won in Rotterdam earlier this month . "" Delpo is a very talented player , very powerful from the baseline and with a big service . We know everything about each other , it ' s going to be a tough one and I need to be on top of my game , "" he told the official website . World No . 2 Federer knows formidable Czech Berdych will offer a difficult test as he bids fora place in the final and his 77th career title . "" He ' s obviously a good player . He ' s got amazing power , one of the strongest guys out there on tour . We ' ll see tomorrow how it goes . I haven ' t seen him play at all here this tournament . I need to just focus on my game , "" said the Swiss . In Federer ' s favor may be the tough schedule of his opponent , who had to fly from Marseille where he lost to Jo Wilfried Tsonga of France in Sunday ' s final . Tsonga also made the long trip , but exited in the first round to fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7828416,8417,"Tiger Woods has not yet decided if he can play in the Championship starting on Thursday in Kentucky due to his back problem , according to his agent . The former world number one withdrew during Sunday ' s final round of the Bridgestone Invitational because of back pain and returned home to Florida for medical evaluation . ' Way too early . He has to rest and get treatment and then assess later , ' agent Mark Steinberg said in a text message to when asked if Woods would play in this week ' s tournament at Valhalla in Louisville , Kentucky , where he won the 2000 Championship crown . Undecided : Tiger Woods is yet to make a decision over whether he will play at the Championships Withdrawal : Woods pulled out during Sunday ' s final round of the Bridgestone Invitational due to back pain Bridgestone Invitational Day 4 ' Pointless to make that decision now without proper time to give him best chance . Nothing further today , maybe ( not ) even tomorrow . ' Woods left Firestone Country Club in obvious discomfort on Sunday after hitting his drive on the ninth hole of the final round . He said he was enduring back spasms that had hit him on the second hole . The former world number one , who has dealt with a string of injuries , was playing his third tournament since being sidelined for three months after having back surgery . The setback put in jeopardy his chances of playing for the U . S . in September ' s Ryder Cup matches in Gleneagles , Scotland against Europe . U . S . Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson said it ' doesn ' t bode well right now ' for Woods to be selected as a captain ' s pick for the team . ' Tiger would be a great addition to our team , ' Watson told Tour Radio on Monday . ' As I ' ve said all along , I would pick Tiger Woods if he ' s healthy and playing well . This doesn ' t bode well right now . ' I just hope that maybe it ' s just an isolated problem that he can turn around and possibly play this week at the . ' Hopeful : Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson is hoping that Woods will be available for selection Woods , who has been stuck on 14 major titles since winning the 2008 U . S . Open , has played only six events this season with his best result a tie for 25th at the Cadillac Championship . He has withdrawn twice from tournaments and missed the cut in another . Prior to the Bridgestone , the 38 year old Woods finished 69th at the British Open after closing with a 75 for a six over par total of 294 . ' It concerns me because that ' s an injury that seems like he tried to address before and he ' s come back from that particular injury , ' said Watson . The U . S . Ryder captain said he sent Woods a text to tell him he was sorry about the injury , and ' I hope you get well soon . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7838428,8429,"Lew stresses that new statutory authority needed to stop moves The U . S . Treasury Department plans to release additional guidance this week aimed at deterring corporate inversions , though it can t stop such tax avoidance moves without new authority from Congress , Secretary Jacob J . Lew said . Later this week , we intend to issue additional targeted guidance to deter and reduce further the economic benefits of corporate inversions , Lew said in the letter addressed to Oregon Senator Ron Wyden , the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee . It is important to emphasize , however , that Treasury cannot stop inversions without new statutory authority . The potential Pfizer Allergan deal would be the drug industry s biggest ever acquisition and shift Pfizer s legal address out of the U . S . to a lower tax jurisdiction . Unless Congress acts , companies will keep moving their residences overseas and avoid paying taxes in the U . S . , Lew wrote . The Treasury s letter indicates that the new guidance probably won t stop the Pfizer Allergan deal , said Stephen Myrow , managing partner of Beacon Policy Advisors , a policy research firm in Washington . He expects the rules to address earnings stripping , a maneuver that inverted companies use to effectively shift earnings to lower tax countries and reduce the amount of income taxed at the U . S . rate of 35 percent , the highest in the industrial world . Douglas Poms , senior counsel in the Treasury s office of the international tax counsel , said on Nov . 4 that the agency continues to consider earnings stripping regulations . As before , we will continue to review our existing authorities to identify additional ways to address this serious problem , Lew wrote , noting that the department has reviewed a broad range of options for further action since issuing guidance last year . Tax inversions have been criticized by U . S . lawmakers and presidential candidates . Last year the Treasury Department issued a proposal intended to discourage the moves , which typically only change a company s legal address while the operating headquarters stays in the U . S . Allergan , for example , is run from New Jersey and has a Dublin tax address . The fact that American companies , including Pfizer , continue to pursue inversions makes clear that additional steps are needed to stop this trend , ? Sander Levin , the ranking member of the House s tax writing committee , said in a statement Wednesday . I am encouraged that Treasury intends to take additional steps to curb tax inversions , but also recognize that their authority in this area is not unlimited . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7848439,8440,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump plans to sign a repeal of Obama-era broadband privacy rules as a bigger fight looms over rules governing the openness of the internet, the White House said on Wednesday. Republicans in Congress on Tuesday narrowly passed the repeal of the privacy rules with no Democratic support and over the strong objections of privacy advocates. The fight over privacy sets the stage for an even larger battle later this year over Republican plans to overturn the net neutrality provisions adopted by the administration of former President Barack Obama in 2015. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he did not know when Trump would sign the bill. The privacy bill would repeal regulations adopted in October by the Federal Communications Commission under the Obama administration requiring internet service providers to do more to protect customers’ privacy than websites like Alphabet Inc’s Google or Facebook Inc. Under the rules, internet providers would need to obtain consumer consent before using precise geolocation, financial information, health information, children’s information and web browsing history for advertising and marketing. The reversal is a win for AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc. Websites are governed by a less restrictive set of privacy rules overseen by the Federal Trade Commission. Republican commissioners have said the rules would unfairly give websites the ability to harvest more data than internet service providers. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a tweet the vote was “Terrible for American ppl, great for big biz.” Republicans next plan to overturn net neutrality provisions that in 2015 reclassified broadband providers and treated them like a public utility. Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, in December said he believes that net neutrality’s days are numbered. The rules bar internet providers from obstructing or slowing down consumer access to web content and prohibit giving or selling access to speedy internet, essentially a “fast lane” on the web’s information superhighway, to certain internet services. Critics say the rules opened the door to potential government rate regulation, tighter oversight and would provide fewer incentives to invest billions in broadband infrastructure. Pai told Reuters in February be backs “a free and open internet and the only question is what regulatory framework best secures that” but has steadfastly declined to disclose his plans. Trump has not talked as president about net neutrality but in 2014 tweeted he opposed net neutrality. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7858459,8460,"First she was told she had breast cancer . Then doctors explained that the treatment she needed to save her life might rob her of the chance of having children . For Natasha Eaton , 32 at the time of the diagnosis and desperate to be a mother , the news was devastating . Natasha Eaton , 38 , was told she might not ever be able to have children when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 Ms Eaton , from Newcastle , New South Wales , had been prescribed weeks of chemotherapy . While the treatment destroys cancer cells it can also lead to infertility and early menopause in young women . But she was determined to do anything she could to increase her chances of having children and resorted to an egg retrieval procedure at an clinic in Sydney . treatment , however , was not necessary . Only six months after finishing chemotherapy , Ms Eaton was ecstatic to find she was naturally pregnant with a healthy baby boy . Now mother to four year old Jack , she was one of the 256 young women with breast cancer around the world who participated in the Prevention of Early Menopause Study . The study saw half the participants receive a dose of the drug goserelin alongside their standard chemotherapy treatment , while the other half received their cancer treatment without . ' I had to have my chemotherapy every three weeks for six rounds . I got to the fourth week and I ' d already had enough , ' Ms Eaton explained . Now a mother to four year old Jack ( pictured ) , Ms Eaton has the Prevention of Early Menopause Study to thank for her sons miracle birth Ms Eaton required chemotherapy after removing the lump on her breast through surgery . Chemotherapy not only destroys cancer cells in the body , but also often leads to early menopause in women ' And then once a month I had the goserelin injections . It was just a like a pellet that went into my tummy and put my ovaries to sleep . ' The goserelin injections were administered in an attempt to stop the women ' s ovaries from producing eggs while they received chemotherapy , according to Professor Fran Boyle , chair of the Breast Cancer Trails Group . ' What started the study was the idea that if you can switch your ovaries off and put them into resting stage , in theory that should make them less susceptible to chemotherapy , ' professor Boyle said . ' There are drugs that already do that , but they are used for other purposes . So this study just re purposed a drug used for another reason to see if that ovary resting would help preserve fertility and prevent early menopause . ' Astonishingly , the study proved successful , with only 8 per cent of the women who received the goserelin injections experiencing menopause two years after their cancer treatment . This was compared to the 22 per cent of women who went through early menopause after receiving standard cancer treatment with no injections . The goserelin recipients were also twice as likely to have normal pregnancies after their cancer treatment , a reality that still astonishes Ms Eaton . Newborn Jack : The drug trial involved 256 women around the world receiving a monthly injection of goserelin alongside their chemotherapy , which reduced estrogen production , and ' switching off ' their ovaries Success : Only 8 per cent of the women who received the goserelin injections experiencing menopause two years after their cancer treatment , compared to the 22 per cent of women who didn ' t receive the injections ' There was never any trying at all , ' she said of her natural conception . ' I finished in June with the chemo part , but I still had to have radiation therapy . When I had an ultrasound in September , we saw that my ovaries were still shriveled up and asleep and I was panicking . ' Fran said it was alright and we ' ll just see how we go , but I jokingly asked her "" can I have a baby now ? "" and she just said "" no , no , not yet . "" ' The next time I saw her , I was pregnant . ' Ms Eaton fell pregnant in December , only six months after finishing her treatment . In February , she found herself experiencing morning sickness , but thought nothing of it until daring to take a home pregnancy test . ' It was a scary time . The thought went through my mind : "" am I going to have to terminate him ? "" I wasn ' t even sure if I was allowed to have him or if there would be something wrong with him it was a scary lot of mixed emotions , ' she said . After the initial shock and perfect amniocentesis results , she was over the moon now Ms Eaton can ' t imagine her life without four year old Jack . ' He ' s an old soul he ' s definitely been here before , ' she said . ' He ' s way above his years and he ' s quite a character . ' Professor Fran Boyle , who ran the trial , said the results showed that goserelin injections could also lead to similar positive results in women with other cancers Ms Eaton has since had her ovaries removed as a preventative measure and will likely have a double mastectomy , but the proud mother can ' t imagine her life without her new son Ms Eaton ' s battle with cancer is not over , however . After removing her ovaries in a bid to avoid her high risk of developing ovarian cancer , the proud mother is now looking towards a double mastectomy for similar reasons . But with her chemotherapy days behind her , and her happy little boy helping her get through it , Ms Eaton said she finally has room to breathe . Despite the study only being administered in breast cancer patients , Professor Boyle said the results showed that goserelin injections could also lead to similar positive results with other cancers . ' This is a drug that can be accessed in Australia today , so it can be done , ' she said . ' It ' s not covered by the for this purpose though , so people need to buy it , but what we hope is that the company that makes it will now apply to have it funded for this purpose . ' The benefit of this study is that it will also be able to be used in other kinds of cancer for similar benefits as well , including lymphoma . ' ' One of the other important things , is that although it was run in a large number of countries in the world , it was actually an idea initiated in Australia . By collaborating with researchers in other countries we were able to have found enough young women in this situation we couldn ' t have done it just in Australia . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7868480,8481,"Readers share memories of the San Bernardino shooting victims We are asking ? readers to help us tell the stories of the 14 people killed in Wednesday ' s shooting rampage in San Bernardino . Their identities ? were released by the coroner as a stark list of names , ages and hometowns . Friends , colleagues and loved ones are remembering them for their compassion , integrity and devotion . Most were at the Inland Regional Center to attend a ? holiday party with coworkers . All ? were caught in the gunfire when coworker Syed Rizwan Farook , 28 , left the gathering and returned with his wife , Tashfeen Malik , 29 , on a murderous mission . ? I could tell Bennetta was the best mother she could be to Jolene . They were so sweet . Debbie , who saw Bennetta with her daughter when they visited her place of work , European Wax Center Damian Meins dressed up as Santa Claus every year for our kids and their Christmas pictures . He never hesitated to put on that suit and create memories for our kids . Laurie Nusbaum , parent of a child who had Meins as a teacher Harry was one of the smartest people I have ever met . He will be missed greatly . Irene Franco , a co worker Tio Juan was a hardworking , loyal , honest and strict person but at the same time was a loving leader and advisor . He was someone who we could rely on and tell all our secrets . Zhenia Ponce De Leon , remembering Espinoza ' s role as an uncle Aurora always had a good attitude and smile on her face even in difficult working conditions . I enjoyed working with her very much . She had so much joy in her . Rhonds Neill She was an amazing aunt to my niece . Alejandra Chavez , a family friend My favorite memory was the day we graduated . We had gone through the toughest 4 years of our lives together and we were elated to have finally reached our graduation day . Jacqueline Juarez , a classmate at Riverside She had a very calm attitude towards problems . But what made her unique was that she emanated this aurora of positivity regardless of how dire the situations may be . Marcus worked as a resident assistant with Sierra Clayborn , 27 , when both were in school at Riverside She always had a smile on her face and enjoyed having conversations with us Baristas . Her laughter and joy was infectious . Melissa Lock who worked at the Starbucks at Big Bear where Clayborn was a regular customer He loved his co workers , said it was like working for the United Nations and how he had co workers from all over the world . . . . May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace . Toni Arene , who considered Johnson a mentor I have rarely in my life come across an individual who has stood out to me as such a kind and decent man . Benjamin Vagnozzi who ran a small catering business Johnson inspected When you see a health inspector , nine times out of 10 you say ' Oh my god . ' I never felt like that when he came . He was great at his job . Susan Wangeman , manager of a restaurant Johnson inspected She was extremely sweet and one of the most pleasant inspectors . I only met her a few times , but every time I go out to eat in town I see her signature on the letter grades . Ashley Gereau , who said Yvette inspected her employer , Loma Linda University Medical Center He could make you feel like the aspects that made you feel weak were your superpowers , he turned victims into survivors in one conversation . Tatiana Green , who met Kaufman through Renaissance Faire I would see Daniel every morning on my way into the office . He always had a kind word , a smile or joke for everyone . You could have a conversation with him that could last forever . Kirstyn Bruno , former coworker I will miss seeing him wave happily to me as he walked by . Even if we couldn ' t stop to chat , he always made sure to say hello . Miranda Farny , who participated in renaissance fair with Daniel Daniel never met a stranger . His smile was continuous and his laughter contagious . He was beautiful . Sara ( Bentley ) Randolph , who said that when they were young she and Daniel met at coffee shops to discuss metaphysics and stayed up late to play Dungeons and Dragons I hope he ' s at skyfaire with the others we ' ve lost over the years , telling good stories and enjoying the afterlife . Rest in peace , good sir . Stephanie riggs , a friend from Renaissance Faire He would talk about finishing school , his wife and his child . Very kind hearted and funny guy , always had a smile and crazy stories to share . I am honored to have met him . Angel , who works at the county ' s motor pool , got to know the 40 year old father when Adams picked up cars . She promised that no matter what , she would return to have her wedding there and now we ' re having her funeral . Vanessa Nguyen , mother of Tin Nguyen , on St . Barbara ' s Catholic Church in Santa Ana He was always laughing and making jokes . He was so easy to get along with . Chris Roberts , a fraternity brother and roommate of Wetzel ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7878488,8489,"For families looking for a home in which they can create some magical memories , this is surely the property . This luxury 14th century cottage is in fact than the birthplace of Harry Potter and can be bought by fans of the boy wizard provided they can conjure up 950 , 000 . The grade I listed building in Lavenham , Suffolk , was used to create the entire fictional village of Godric ' s Hollow , in Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part One is now on the market for 950 , 000 . Various shots of the picturesque house , called de Vere House , were cut up to create the entire village , which was the birthplace of both Harry and Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore . History book house : The grand cottage is loved by the young wizard ' s fans A scene from the Harry Potter film ' The Deathly Hallows ' where Harry and Hermione travel to Godric ' s Hollow , Harry ' s birthplace and the place where his parents died It was also the place Harry ' s parents made their final stand before being slain by Lord Voldemort , immortalising the house as the backdrop where Harry wizard received his characteristic scar . Astonishingly the home has become the second most photographed doorway in the whole of the , with only number 10 Downing Street pipping it to the top spot . The beautiful medieval building includes a reception hall , drawing room , dining room . , kitchen breakfast room , laundry room , three double bedrooms , two bathrooms and an attic room . The five star self catering wing features a reading room , sitting room , kitchen breakfast room , shower room and two double bedroom suites . Guests who stay at the house can ' t resist watching clips of the famous Harry Potter movies to help make the magic feel more real . The cottage appears in this scene from the Harry Potter film The Deathly Hallows where Harry and Hermione travel to Godric ' s Hollow , Harry ' s birthplace Current owner of the house Jane Ranzetta said : ' It ' s part of Godric ' s Hollow . The house can be seen opposite the graveyard , with a Christmas tree in the window , the lights on and music coming out of it . ' Her husband Tony Ranzetta said : ' It was really quite extraordinary watching both the filming and then the end result on screen . ' The crew arrived without actors and filmed both the front and the back in the height of summer . ' They then used parts of the house like pieces of a massive three dimensional jigsaw , cutting and pasting them to form the streets of Godric ' s Hollow ' They even made the final result a snow scene in the winter , with a Christmas tree in our front window and carol singing coming from within the house . ' De Vere House , which has also been known as the de Vere Hunting Lodge , Oxford House and Oxford Cottages over the years , was owned by the powerful de Vere family from the 14th to 17th centuries . It also includes the remains of one of the last garde robes to be installed in this country , a rare and original medieval wall painting , and a magnificent front door way . Jane , a private tutor , said : ' We have been here for 22 or 23 years and it feels like the time has come for us to leave . ' I never think you own a house like this , you are just custodians and that is an honour . ' House of memories : Harry Potter ' s home De Vere House in Lavenham , Suffolk , is expected to sell for 950 , 000 Once in a lifetime buy : Various shots of the picturesque house were cut up to create the entire village , which was the birth place for Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore Own a piece of history ( for a mere 950 , 000 ) It has become the second most photographed doorway in the whole with number 10 Downing Street taking the top spot The current owners , who have a 15 year old son , first spotted the magical building more than two decades ago during a day trip to Lavenham . Since they bought it , the Ranzettas have lovingly restored the house and gardens , uncovering ornate decorations , including carvings and mediaeval paintings . Jane added : ' We had seen the house several times and taken photos and thought , ' What a lovely house , ' but also that it would never come on the market . ' A few months later we were looking for a property and we were sent details od De Vere House . ' It sounds cliched but we knew we wanted it as soon as we walked through the door . ' During De Vere House ' s extraordinary past King Henry visited in 1498 , historians believe . A scene from the film where Harry ' s parents made their final stand before being slain by Lord Voldemort , immortalising the house as the backdrop where Harry wizard received his characteristic scar ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7888490,8491,"Six cult members have been arrested over the beating death of a woman a McDonald ' s restaurant in eastern China on Wednesday night . Only known as Miss Wu , the alleged victim was having dinner at the fast food outlet when an unknown man , identified as Mr Zhang , asked for her phone number . Once she refused , that ' s when a very tragic and violent conflict unfolded over a brief 20 minute period . The bashing of Miss Wu took place at a McDonald ' s in eastern China after she refused to give a cult member her number Upon the rejection , Mr Zhang used an iron bar to beat Miss Wu to death right in the middle of the eatery . Witnesses told thenanfangweblink that Mr Zhang was also having dinner with his friends at Zhaoyuan , in China ' s Shandong province , when an argument broke out with Miss Wu followed by a physical dispute . The website reported Mr Zhang ' s friends joined in and also beat Miss Wu , kicking her in the head and she was lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood . They then proceeded to use an iron handled mop to strike her in the head and continued to do so until the handle broke . Graphic images and a three minute clip of the beating is circulating online . Mr Zhang was eating dinner with friends before he allegedly beat Ms Wu to death With Mr Zhang ' s friends joining in on the alleged assault , kicking her in the head , she was left lying in a pool of her own blood on the ground Another news site , ecns . cn , reported that Mr Zhang was encouraged by a woman shouting ' beat her to death ' . The accused six were arrested on Saturday and police believe they are part of a religious cult . Zhaoyuan police said on their microblog that the members , four of which are from the same family , belonged to a group calling itself the ' All powerful spirit ' or ' Almighty God ' and had been collecting numbers in an effort to recruit new people . The six people allegedly involved in the incident are believed to be cult members and were arrested on Saturday Emergency crew confirmed that Miss Wu , who has children , died at the scene which occurred between 9 . 10pm to 9 . 30pm . No one was reported to have tried to help the victim as video footage of the incident caused an uproar as it showed customers watch the woman scream in agony as she was beaten to death . The McDonald ' s is located across the street from a local police station . Zhaoyuan is in Shandong province , a traditional hotbed for religious cults . The region gave birth to the violent anti Christian Boxer movement that laid siege to Western interests in Beijing and elsewhere during the waning years of the Qing dynasty in 1900 . It has been reported no one raised the alarm while Ms Wu was being beaten to death with an iron rod State broadcaster said religious material had been found at a location linked to the sect but gave no further details . A clerk who answered the phone at Zhaoyuan police headquarters said no one was available to comment on the case . Video and images of the attack are circulating the internet where people can see McDonald ' s patrons stood idly by as Ms Wu is heard screaming It said the group promoted a philosophy based on a distorted reading of the Christian Bible and had been banned as an ' evil cult ' by the government in 1995 , although that could not be immediately confirmed . Another paper , the Beijing Morning News , said 17 members of the group had been arrested in Beijing in December 2012 for harassing people in a public park with claims that the world was coming to an end . China has struggled at times to control grassroots religious movements based on Christian or Buddhist ideology , most notably the Falungong meditation movement that attracted millions of adherents before being brutally repressed in 1999 . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past7898497,8498,"Martin Atkinson ' s refereeing duties have been overlooked this weekend following a number of controversial decisions during Chelsea ' s draw with Burnley last Saturday . Atkinson will instead be fourth official on the touchline for Manchester United ' s clash with Sunderland at Old Trafford this weekend . The clash at Stamford Bridge was Atkinson ' s 32nd game as head arbitrator this season following his game in charge of Real Madrid ' s Champions League win at Schalke on Wednesday . Martin Atkinson , the referee for Chelsea ' s draw with Burnley , will not take charge of any games this weekend Jose Mourinho did not look happy as he watched on from the sidelines , and later aired his thoughts on The Chelsea boss appeared on Sky Sports ' Goals on Sunday after Chelsea ' s controversial draw with Burnley However , Atkinson ' s services will not be needed in the middle of the park this week after his string of contested decisions in west London . Atkinson will , however , take charge of the match between Southampton and Crystal Palace at St Mary ' s on March 3 . In the wake of the ill tempered encounter with Sean Dyche ' s side , Blues boss Mourinho made a rare extra curricular television appearance to air his views to the nation on this week ' s instalment of Sky Sports ' Goals on Sunday . Gracing our screens armed with an arsenal of ammunition , Mourinho brought up certain refereeing decisions that he believes have gone unfairly against his team this season . Singling out four key incidents from Saturday ' s match during his 27 minute sofa soliloquy , Mourinho laid into Atkinson ' s decision making on the day , including a specific incident between Nemanja Matic and Ashley Barnes , which saw his influential midfielder dismissed for violent retaliation following a dangerous tackle from the Burnley forward . Barnes will not face retrospective action from the for his studs up challenge on Matic , which was seen by Atkinson but went unpunished . Mourinho was upset with this studs up tackle from Ashley Barnes which went unpunished on Saturday Matic is held back by his Chelsea team mates as Atkinson brandishes a red card After Chelsea ' s game against Burnley , Jose Mourinho listed four minutes four key incidents that he believed the referee had got wrong . Here , Sportsmail looks at them : 30 Ashley Barnes sends Branislav Ivanovic crashing to the ground in an aerial challenge after a knee in the back . Ivanovic rolls over twice before leaping up when he realises no action is being taken . It should have been a free kick and could have been a yellow card for Barnes . Barnes catches Ivanovic with his right boot during an aerial challenge in the 30th minute 33 Ivanovic goes for goal but Michael Kightly diverts it with an outstretched arm , as he turns his back to goal . Martin Atkinson waves play on . It should have been a Chelsea penalty . Ivanovic fires a shot at goal but his effort was blocked by the raised arms of Michael Kightly 43 Diego Costa goes to ground after Jason Shackell leans into him with an oustretched arm . Atkinson waves play on . It could have been a Chelsea penalty but would have been soft . Diego Costa vents his frustration after being shoved inside the box by Jason Shackell 69 Barnes misses the ball and almost snaps Nemanja Matic ' s left shin with his studs but Atkinson waves play on . An enraged Matic leaps up and pushes Barnes over . Atkinson sends off Matic and books Ivanovic for trying to take red card out of his hand . It was a shocking tackle that merited a red card for Barnes and a Chelsea free kick . Referee Martin Atkinson shows Matic a straight red card after his altercation with Barnes in the second half ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7908506,8507,"Arsenal supporters are furious that their Cup quarter final against Manchester United at Old Trafford has been scheduled for a Monday night and have accused the Football Association of damaging the competition . The scheduling decision , in order to show it live on One , has left Arsenal fans unable to catch trains back to London after the game , which kicks off at 7 : 45pm on March 9 . They are angry that the demands of the television companies have been pandered to by the at their expense . Olivier Giroud celebrates after scoring Arsenal ' s second goal in their 2 0 win against Middlesbrough Arsenal fans will hope that a late train service will be provided from Manchester Piccadilly station Arsenal Supporters ' Trust spokesman Tim Payton said : ' One of the magic things of the Cup is the large away fan allocation but the Football Association are damaging their own competition . They are sullying the brand of the cup . ' The football authorities need to explain why with four quarter finals we can ' t play two on Saturday and two on Sunday . ' This is another example of broadcasters and their money dictating to the inconvenience of fans . Broadcasters should remember , without fans at the ground there would be no atmosphere for them to show . ' Arsenal are working with Virgin Trains , who provide the service between London and Manchester , and exploring their options to help supporters get back after the match . As it stands , they would have to leave at half time to catch the last train back and could then still find the London Underground services have stopped . Giroud ( left ) is congratulated by his team mates after scoring a double in the Cup fifth round on Sunday Giroud scores his second goal at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal go through to the Cup quarter finals Arsenal Supporters ' Trust are demanding that the club and the help to cut their costs . Payton added : ' We are calling on the and Arsenal to subsidise travel to the game and have reasonably priced match tickets . ' We are already working with other Arsenal fan groups on the issue of broadcasted games . With 5billion about to flow into football it really is time that fans are put first . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present7918528,8529,"Washington Both sides agree that forced spending cuts set to take effect next week will harm the economy and national security . Both sides have plans for averting the worst impacts . So why are there no formal negotiations taking place with Congress on break this week as leaders from both parties accuse each other of intransigence ? Once again , the answer is the Washington blame game . The same pattern of politically inspired brinksmanship that dominated President Barack Obama ' s first term is continuing in the early days of his second . Now , the collective weight of Obama ' s re election in November and the subsequent fiscal cliff deal in which Republicans conceded on tax increases makes compromise seem distant , if not impossible , in the short term . The central issue is the same one that framed last year ' s presidential campaign . Republicans want to shrink the size of government and the spending needed to run it , while Democrats want to strengthen the safety net of federal programs that help the poor , the elderly , the disabled and other vulnerable communities . Obama and leaders of both parties warn the pending 85 billion in spending cuts set to kick in on March 1 bode ill for the nation , but the rhetoric so far has focused on blaming the other side . In an interview on Thursday with the radio program "" Keepin It Real with Al Sharpton , "" Obama said opposition to any further tax hikes or ending loopholes to raise more tax revenue was "" the thing that binds their party together at this point . "" "" Unfortunately , I think Republicans have been so dug in on this notion of never raising taxes that it becomes difficult for them to see an obvious answer right in front of them , "" the president said . "" We continue to reach out to the Republicans and say , ' this is not gonna be good for the economy , it ' s not gonna be good for ordinary people ' but I don ' t know if they are going to move and that ' s what we are going to have to try to keep pushing over the next seven , eight days , "" Obama said . In an opinion piece published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal , House Speaker John Boehner labeled the spending cuts "" ugly and dangerous , "" saying they would diminish resources for the military , law enforcement , border security , aviation safety and other programs . However , the de facto leader on the issue argued that his party ' s agreement to raise tax rates on top income earners in January ended the discussion on further tax or revenue increases now . Instead , Boehner said he wanted other cuts to replace the across the board approach of sequestration , accusing Obama and Democrats of ignoring what he called the nation ' s spending problem . "" The president got his higher taxes "" with no spending cuts in the January deal , he wrote in the op ed , adding that "" no one should be talking about raising taxes "" with examples of rampant government spending such as "" paying people to play video games , giving folks free cell phones and buying 47 , 000 cigarette smoking machines . "" Voters in November returned Obama to office and gave Democrats a stronger Senate majority while reducing the Republican majority in the House , leading to the January agreement on the fiscal cliff by the outgoing Congress in its final hours . That deal raised tax rates on families earning more than 450 , 000 and individuals earning above 400 , 000 while maintaining lower rates for everyone else . It also put off until March 1 the mandated spending cuts from a 2011 agreement that increased how much money the Treasury could borrow to meet financial obligations . Known in Washington jargon as sequestration , the forced spending cuts to the military and other government agencies but not entitlement programs that drive chronic federal deficits were intended to motivate Congress to come up with a comprehensive deficit reduction plan sought by both sides . Obama more emotional on spending cuts However , such an agreement proved impossible in the hyper political climate of an election year , and the government wide cuts opposed by both sides now are set to take effect . That would mean 85 billion in cuts for the rest of fiscal year 2013 , which ends September 30 , as part of a 10 year total of about 1 trillion . Obama and Democrats are offering the same approach to the issue as a central theme of the election , calling for the wealthy to pay more as part of a package of spending cuts and increased revenue to replace the forced cuts of sequestration . Ratcheting up pressure on Republicans with Congress in recess for Presidents Day week , White House spokesman Jay Carney announced Thursday that Obama had phoned Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell . He provided no details beyond describing the calls as "" good conversations . "" Both Boehner and McConnell have complained that Obama refuses to address needed spending cuts and entitlement reforms to bring about substantive deficit reduction , and the timing of the phone calls appeared in response to questions about a lack of formal talks involving the president . A 110 billion proposal by Senate Democrats , which is similar to a plan by House Democrats , would replace the forced spending cuts for a year by getting more tax revenue from millionaires , stopping some agriculture subsidies and cutting military spending after the end of combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014 . "" You may not like what we ' ve proposed but at least let us have a vote in the House of Representatives , "" Rep . Chris Van Hollen , D Maryland , said Thursday in criticizing congressional Republicans . "" Come back here , call the Congress into session in the next eight days and let ' s have a vote . If you want to vote no and say you prefer the consequences of the sequester to the alternative . . . that ' s your right . "" On Tuesday , Obama held a campaign style event at the White House to call for balancing the impact of deficit reduction so that the middle class and vulnerable citizens such as the elderly don ' t get hit too hard . Speaking in near apocalyptic terms , the president warned of criminals going free , longer security lines at airports , reduced military readiness , fewer border guards , pre schoolers losing access to Head Start programs and other problems if the full brunt of the spending cuts occur . Where you ' ll feel forced spending cuts leaders , meanwhile , seek to blame Obama for the forced spending cuts so that any hardships that result , such as predicted job losses and reductions in economic growth , get attributed to the president . "" The president ' s sequester is the wrong way to reduce the deficit , but it is here to stay until Washington Democrats get serious about cutting spending , "" wrote Boehner , R Ohio , in the op ed . "" The government simply cannot keep delaying the inevitable and spending money it doesn ' t have . So , as the president ' s outrage about the sequester grows in coming days , Republicans have a simple response : Mr President , we agree that your sequester is bad policy . What spending are you willing to cut to replace it ? "" Congress passive as spending cuts near By using language such as "" the president ' s sequester , "" Boehner and Republicans want to implant a public perception that the plan was Obama ' s all along . The White House concedes that it raised the idea of forced budget cuts during the negotiations in 2011 on the debt ceiling deal , but argues Republicans , including Boehner and other House leaders , agreed to making it part of the deal and then voted for it . Now , Carney says , Republicans acted like they never supported the idea . He insisted Thursday that Obama has offered the only legitimate compromise proposal for significant deficit reduction , noting the Congressional Budget Office determined the president ' s plan would bring deficits below 3 of gross domestic product by 2015 , which he called an accepted target by economists . Carney labeled any comparisons between what Obama proposes and the Republican stance as a "" false equivalence , "" arguing the president ' s approach of spending cuts , entitlement reforms and new tax revenue is a compromise from a hard line Democratic position that rejects any benefit reductions in Social Security , Medicare and Medicaid . "" You come half way and your negotiating partner stays where he or she is , that makes it very difficult to reach a compromise , "" Carney told reporters . "" You need compromise from the other side . "" In negotiations last December on the fiscal cliff agreement , Obama was willing to include a less generous inflation index for benefits such as Social Security , despite vehement protests from his liberal base , Carney noted . "" There ' s some responsibility here on the Republican side to do what the president has done , which is to hear what the American people are saying , which is please compromise , please be reasonable , please do not adopt positions that represent a ' my way or the highway ' approach , "" Carney said . Obama , Republicans clash on forced spending cuts On Wednesday , Carney defended Obama ' s campaign style approach to generating public support for his stance on the issue , saying such pressure worked in the spending and deficit agreements of the past two years . "" You know why they happened ? Because the American people supported those positions that the president took , "" Carney said . "" And , in the end , Congress responded to the will of the American people . And we hope that ' s what ' s going to happen again this time . "" A new poll on Thursday showed a strong majority of Americans want the kind of comprehensive deficit reduction called for by Obama , but support for a stop gap measure on the forced spending cuts was less certain . Seven of 10 respondents in the Pew Research and Today survey called major legislation to reduce the deficit the most important priority for Congress , and 76 backed the combination of spending cuts and revenue increases favored by the president and Democrats . At the same time , 73 want more spending cuts than tax increases while only about 20 say the solution should be spending cuts alone . If the forced spending cuts go into effect , 49 of respondents would blame Republicans in Congress while 31 would blame Obama , the poll showed . However , 49 said the cuts should be delayed while 40 said they should go into effect . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present7928580,8581,"Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Monday on a draft resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, diplomats said, a move likely to face a Washington veto. The one-page Egyptian-drafted text, seen by Reuters, does not specifically mention the United States or Trump. Diplomats say it has broad support among the 15-member council, and while it is unlikely to be adopted, the vote will further isolate Trump on the issue. To pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China. Trump abruptly reversed decades of U.S. policy this month when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital, generating outrage from Palestinians. Trump also plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has praised Trump s decision as the just and right thing to do. The U.S. mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment on Sunday. Arab foreign ministers agreed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution on the issue. The draft U.N. text expresses deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem. It affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council. The draft also calls upon all countries to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. Israel considers the city its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. No vote or debate will change the clear reality that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Danny Danon, Israel s ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement on Saturday. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city s eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. The draft council resolution demands that all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions. A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December 2016 underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations. That resolution was approved with 14 votes in favor and an abstention by former U.S. President Barack Obama s administration, which defied heavy pressure from longtime ally Israel and Trump, who was then president-elect, for Washington to wield its veto. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7938587,8588,"More than 150 soldiers in Bangladesh were sentenced to death Tuesday for murder , rape and arson during a 2009 mutiny . "" The convicts will be hanged by the neck until death , "" ruled Mohammad Akhteruzzaman , a senior judge at the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court , in pronouncing the sentences for the 152 paramilitary border guards . Seventy four people , including 57 army officers , were killed in the mutiny at the headquarters of Bangladesh ' s border guards in Dhaka in February 2009 . Investigators initially brought charges against 850 people , including 23 civilians , but the final judgment was against 846 people . Four suspects died in custody . The accused troopers were indicted on charges of murder , rape , arson , looting weapons and conspiracy . "" We had long been waiting for the verdict and it has cleansed the image of the force stained by the massacre , "" said Maj . Gen . Aziz Ahmed , who now leads the border guards . Several thousand armed soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles ( ) unit took control of their own headquarters in the capital for two days and massacred scores of people , including officers of the Bangladesh Army who were stationed with the . The civilians in the case include a former lawmaker from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party , Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu , and an Awami League leader , Torab Ali . A total of 262 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years to 10 years and 271 were acquitted of the charges against them . "" We may appeal against those who were acquitted , "" Kazal said . Shamim Sardar , an attorney for one of those sentenced Tuesday , told reporters justice had not been done and vowed to appeal to a higher court . The mutiny erupted less than two months after the present Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power in January 2009 in a landslide victory . According to the charges , the border guards took up weapons , killed the officers , and held the families of the officers hostage in the staff apartments inside the headquarters compound . The dead also included the then chief of the border guards , Maj . Gen . Shakil Ahmed , and his wife . The soldiers demanded better pay and perks , as well as the withdrawal of all army officers from the forces . The government later renamed the the Border Guards of Bangladesh . The prime responsibility of the force , which works under the ministry of home affairs , is to guard the country ' s 4 , 000 kilometer ( 2 , 485 mile ) border with India and Myanmar . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past7948598,8599,"Exercise can vastly improve the lives of osteoarthritis sufferers , health chiefs said yesterday . Too many patients believe nothing they do will lessen their discomfort , according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence . The institute insists that physical exertion can help the condition and ease pain . The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has today said exercise should be the principal treatment for those diagnosed with osteoarthritis Around 8 . 5million people in the have osteoarthritis , which causes joint pain and stiffness . Issuing its new guidance , Nice says exercise should be the principal treatment . ' There ' s a common but mistaken belief that osteoarthritis is an inevitable part of ageing and that it will get worse that ' s not the case , ' said Professor Mark Baker , clinical practice chief at Nice . ' The guidance highlights that the core treatment for osteoarthritis remains exercise this not only helps relieve pain for some but also improves function . ' Nice also called for GPs to refer patients to surgeons for possible joint replacements before they became incapacitated rather than it being a last line of treatment . The new advice warns doctors that a patient ' s age , sex , smoking history or whether they are obese should not be barriers to referral for joint surgery . Osteoarthritis should not be considered an ' inevitable part of ageing that will only get worse ' , say Nice Professor Karen Middleton , of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy , said : ' These guidelines should help challenge the perception that many people often have about osteoarthritis being a normal part of ageing and that nothing can be done . ' Physiotherapists provide effective treatment for the symptoms of osteoarthritis and deliver expert advice on physical activity and weight management strategies to reduce pain and improve mobility . ' Nice has recognised how important this is for the day to day management of the condition and the positive impact it has on patients ' quality of life . ' Judi Rhys of Arthritis Care said the charity ' s experts were ' firm believers in the value of appropriate exercise for people with osteoarthritis ' . Nice said overweight patients should be encouraged to lose weight while drugs such as paracetamol and ibuprofen gel should be considered for pain relief . Professor Alan Silman , of Arthritis Research , said : ' It ' s important that people with osteoarthritis find a type of exercise they enjoy doing . ' Everyone can benefit from some sort of exercise , regardless of their condition . ' Stretching . strengthening and aerobic exercises are the ideal combination . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present7958599,8600,"When Tiah Joo Kim arrived at the Manhattan headquarters of the Trump Organization to pitch a hotel and condominium project in Vancouver, British Columbia, he expected the famous company with ventures across the globe to come with capacious offices and a staff of hundreds. Instead, he was led through a mere two floors with what appeared to be no more than a few dozen employees. “Lean,” Mr. Tiah, a young Malaysian developer, remembers thinking as he walked the halls. The first stop was a conference room, where Mr. Tiah was required to sell his vision to the boss’s three oldest children. Only after securing their support did he advance to the inner sanctum, with its sweeping views of Central Park. Mr. Tiah was not sure what to expect from the man whose face was beamed around the world through the reality television show “The Apprentice,” but the conversation that afternoon in 2012 was casual and warm. Donald J. Trump spent more time showing off a Shaquille O’Neal shoe and a Mike Tyson championship belt — prize artifacts from his display of sports memorabilia — than interrogating Mr. Tiah on the details of his business plan. “You’re a guy,” Mr. Tiah recalled Mr. Trump telling him as he gave the project his blessing. Then Mr. Trump’s trusted lawyers and other top executives swooped in to play hardball — working alongside Donald Trump Jr. to negotiate the confidential agreements that would allow the Vancouver development to be branded with Mr. Trump’s name and managed by his company. The talks consumed days for nearly a week, Mr. Tiah said, explaining: “It was tiring. They’re tough. ” That is the way business has been done at the Trump Organization, a relatively small company with a big reach and a bigger that has come under intense scrutiny as its chief prepares to become president of the United States. With extensive entanglements around the world, many packaged in a network of licensing agreements and limited liability companies, the Trump Organization poses a raft of potential conflicts of interest for a who has long exerted such control over his company that, as he told The New York Times in a recent interview, he is the one who signs the checks. “I like to sign checks so I know what is going on,” he explained. Mr. Trump — owner of all but the smallest sliver of the privately held company — has said that, while the law does not require it, he is formulating plans to remove himself and his older daughter, Ivanka, from the company’s operations. (Ms. Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, is likely to have a role in the White House.) His sons Donald Jr. and Eric, along with other executives, will be in charge, the wrote on Twitter in adding that “no new deals will be done during my term( s) in office. ” People involved in the planning have said that Mr. Trump intends to keep a stake in the business. But in recent weeks, amid rising pressure, Mr. Trump and his advisers have been intensely debating further measures. Among other things, the has agreed to shut down his personal foundation, has ended some international development deals and has reviewed a plan for an outside monitor to oversee the Trump Organization. Yet an examination of the company underscores the complex challenges of taking Mr. Trump out of Trump the organization. His company is a distinctly family business fortified with longtime loyalists that operates less on standardized procedures and more on a culture of Trump. Mr. Trump may leave the details of contracts to his deputies, but his name — and influence — is stamped on every deal the company does. In an interview last spring with The Times, Mr. Trump explained that he approved new ventures based on his personal “feel. ” And while in recent years his three oldest children have taken on more of a leadership role, Mr. Trump has the final say, sometimes weighing in on the most minute design details of planned hotels, golf courses or other properties the company owns or manages. His other top executives — many of them natives of Queens, where Mr. Trump grew up, or Brooklyn, where his father, Fred, expanded a housing empire many years ago — have secured power not necessarily through fancy pedigrees or impressive credentials, but through decades of devotion to their boss. Allen Weisselberg, the organization’s chief financial officer, started off as an accountant for Mr. Trump’s father. Matthew Calamari, the organization’s chief operating officer, was recruited in 1981 after Mr. Trump saw him eject some hecklers while working security at the United States Open tennis tournament. For some executives, there appears to be little division between their service to the company and their service to the Trumps. “We’re not a publicly traded company. At the end of the day, I work for the Trump family,” Alan Garten, the general counsel, explained in an interview with the legal industry publication Corporate Counsel shortly before the election. “That’s how I view my job. Whether it’s protecting their business interests or protecting their personal interests. I am here to assist them and represent them in any way they need. ” When asked to elaborate in an interview last week with The Times, Mr. Garten said that in any job, “you want to be as helpful as you can,” but that “obviously the interests of the Trumps and the interests of the company are two distinct things. ” The divisions between business and politics were often fuzzy during the presidential race: Mr. Garten became a “liaison” to Mr. Trump’s campaign Michael Cohen, an executive vice president, tirelessly promoted his boss’s bid for the White House on television while battling negative media coverage and Jason Greenblatt, the company’s chief legal officer, began serving as his adviser on Israel. On Friday, it was announced that Mr. Greenblatt would be joining Mr. Trump’s administration as a special representative for international negotiations. After the election, other lines continued to blur as the and his children met with foreign businessmen with connections to their global ventures and with foreign officials with potential influence over their business dealings. Some lawyers have warned that unless Mr. Trump fully divests himself from the company and places someone independent of his family in charge, he risks entering the White House in violation of a constitutional clause that forbids him from taking payments or gifts from a foreign government entity. As Mr. Trump assumes the presidency, it is difficult to foresee him walling himself off from the company entirely, said Michael D’Antonio, the author of a critical biography, “The Truth About Trump. ” “I don’t think that he could keep himself from inquiring about the performance of these businesses any more than he can keep himself from tweeting,” Mr. D’Antonio said. “It is just too vital to his identity. Profit is the way he has always measured himself. I don’t see how he can stop. ” Mr. Trump may have business interests around the world, but his power is concentrated at a single Midtown Manhattan address: 725 Fifth Avenue. With a gleaming exterior that shoots to the sky, a lobby decked with marble and a collection of tenants, Trump Tower is his primary residence as well as his company’s headquarters. To get to work, Mr. Trump steps onto the private elevator in his gilded penthouse, presses 26 and waits a matter of seconds. When the doors open, he is at his office, surrounded by Mr. Garten, Mr. Weisselberg and other top executives. One floor down are the offices of Donald Jr. Eric and Ivanka Trump, who joined the company in the 2000s and are now his top deputies and advance guard. David Brecher, the chief executive of Home Loans, visited the Trump Organization about a decade ago to discuss a potential partnership and found the aesthetics telling. “Donald’s floor,” he said, recalling a swirl of gold trim and hues, “is very his style. ” “The kids,” by contrast, “have a very cool floor. Sleek. Marble. ” Photographs of Mr. Trump with the rich and powerful adorn his office walls, and his desk often overflows with papers, evidence of his refusal to communicate by email. When Mr. Trump wants to talk to someone, he calls out to his assistant, Rhona Graff, a Queens native whose office is right outside his door. She has been his gatekeeper for decades. Anyone seeking access to him over the phone has to go through Ms. Graff, sometimes with a secret code. Mr. Trump often boasts of the size of the Trump Organization. “It’s a big company,” he said in the interview last spring. A spokeswoman said the business employed “tens of thousands. ” But industry experts estimate that no more than 4, 000 people work for the Trump Organization worldwide. And executives say that the three floors that make up the headquarters appear to have no more than 150 employees. It is a family business, as everyone involved is quick to explain. And the management structure is informal if not confusing, with deputies constantly buzzing in and out of the boss’s office. “We kind of run a little bit like a in that sense,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a 2011 deposition for a lawsuit involving a Florida development. “I guess there is an organizational chart, but in theory, there is not too many levels. ” He added: “Could I make one? Yes. Is there one officially? Not that I’m aware of. ” Indeed, the elder Mr. Trump has tended to collect executives and assign duties through personal preference. In 2004, Michelle Carlson was a young lawyer determined to move to California when a friend suggested that she meet with an acquaintance who could prove useful. She entered Mr. Trump’s office hoping to secure a recommendation she could use to find work with real estate developers in Los Angeles, and she encountered a warm welcome. “I heard there was this nice Atlanta girl in the lobby,” she remembered Mr. Trump saying as he offered her a seat. Then came a series of direct questions: What were her responsibilities at her current job? How did she view her own strengths? In what areas did she want to grow? minutes later, Mr. Trump was convinced: “I’m not going to give you any recommendations in L. A. I’m going to hire you,” Mr. Trump told Ms. Carlson, who went on to spend almost four years as his assistant general counsel, often working days with a small team of lawyers while taking on other responsibilities in the real estate division. Andrew Weiss, a Romanian immigrant who grew up in Brooklyn, was hired straight out of graduate school in 1981, just as Mr. Trump was starting to make his mark. years later, having weathered many highs and lows with Mr. Trump, including the spectacular failure of his Atlantic City casinos, Mr. Weiss is still by his side, as executive vice president for development and construction. Mr. Calamari, who started out as a bodyguard, also saw his role expand as he remained committed to his boss. Five years ago, his son Matthew Calamari Jr. joined the Trump Organization as a security guard. Today, he is the director of surveillance. Brian Baudreau, the general manager of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, began as a driver for Mr. Trump. “My father knows how to find talent in people,” Eric Trump said, recalling how Mr. Baudreau used to chauffeur him to school. “He’s totally family,” he added. Devotion is rewarded. “To succeed in this company,” Mr. Garten said, “you have to be skilled, highly dedicated and highly loyal. ” Some appear to be hired based on other calculations. For more than a decade, Ronald C. Lieberman oversaw the concession contracts for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, a post that required him to represent the interests of the city in a variety of deals with Mr. Trump. Then, in 2007, Mr. Lieberman began working for a new employer. In his job as executive vice president for management and development at the Trump Organization, he has helped Mr. Trump win contracts to operate the Central Park carousel and the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx, the very projects he handled on behalf of the city for years. Ivanka Trump is generally seen as the powerful person at the Trump Organization, while the 11 other executive vice presidents are all men — and all white. There have been other senior female executives, like Cathy Hoffman Glosser, who oversaw the Trump Organization’s expansion into branding deals, part of its shift from building and buying real estate to selling the Trump name. (She left the company last year and did not respond to interview requests. Ms. Carlson said she left by choice to care for her baby, even though Mr. Trump made earnest attempts to keep her.) Mr. Garten said that outside the top executive ranks, “there’s greater diversity in terms of gender and ethnicity,” adding, “I don’t have the numbers in front of me. ” Jill Martin, a vice president and assistant general counsel for litigation and employment, said in an interview last spring that diversity at the company was “less forced” than at the law firms where she previously worked. “With the firms, there was a lot of attention placed on gender and ethnicity and trying to find the balance,” she said. “With the Trump Organization, I just felt like those things really fall by the wayside. What’s important is someone’s individual drive and talent. ” When Mr. Tiah was at Trump Tower to discuss the Vancouver partnership, he could not help noticing that female employees seemed to have something else in common. “You have to be attractive?” he remembers thinking. “Is that a requirement?” It was the and Phil Ruffin was in search of a partner to develop a combined hotel and condominium tower on the Las Vegas Strip. Mr. Ruffin, a casino tycoon, owned the land, but he needed an investor, a brand name to license and a team to manage the construction and operations of the property. Mr. Trump did not simply say yes to all three, Mr. Ruffin recalled. He threw himself into the details of the deal, pushing a bank to cut the interest rate on a loan by half, insisting that subcontractors lower their prices and requiring that everything about the tower reflect his taste. “We’d tour, and he’d say, ‘This is wrong this is right,’” Mr. Ruffin said. “The glass shower had to be etched glass because that’s the Trump way, more expensive. He didn’t want just a in the bathroom it had to be in the mirror so you can watch when you’re shaving. ” Mr. Trump, he said, remained actively involved when the financial crisis hit in 2008, threatening the financial viability of the Las Vegas venture, and the two men flew to Washington to meet with a tax lawyer. As they pulled up chairs in his office, the lawyer encouraged the men to cut their losses and declare bankruptcy. It would provide them with a handsome tax deduction. But Mr. Trump was adamant. “He said: ‘This is not Atlantic City this is Las Vegas. I think it will recover,’” Mr. Ruffin said. Instead, he and Mr. Trump poured more money into the venture and continued to move forward. Mr. Trump’s children have taken on increasing responsibility in recent years they often solicit new projects and are the primary liaisons with partners. Two years ago, Eric Trump became the Trump Organization’s main point of contact for the Las Vegas tower, Mr. Ruffin said. Ivanka Trump initiated the leasing of the old Old Post Office building in Washington, envisioning it as a new Trump hotel. But Mr. Trump has the final say on most deals, especially those involving his own money. He has signed the licensing agreements, the leases — and the big checks. And the tangle of limited liability companies used to structure all of his deals revolve around a single point of power: Mr. Trump. As one former executive described it, the company is the “hub of a wheel, and he’s in the middle. ” The company adheres to few formal corporate guidelines or procedures. When determining whether and how to enter business partnerships, nothing is decided by established committee, or through written recommendation by the children, Donald Trump Jr. explained in the 2011 deposition in the Florida case. “Other companies can operate like bureaucrats” Mr. Tiah said. “They’re not like that. ” Even so, the executives are known for playing tough. When seeking $470, 000 in outstanding legal bills from the Trump Organization a decade ago, the lawyer Y. David Scharf accidentally included a single page of a separate legal bill to another client, the business magnate Carl C. Icahn. How did Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s chief financial officer, respond? “Mr. Weisselberg threatened to call Mr. Icahn and utilize this inadvertent clerical error in an effort to embarrass Mr. Scharf and my firm — unless my firm agreed to a 50 percent discount on the outstanding legal bills,” David A. Piedra, a partner in Mr. Scharf’s firm, Morrison Cohen, wrote in a 2007 letter to a lawyer representing Mr. Trump. “As I am sure you realize,” he wrote, “this threat, which smacks of extortion, is entirely inappropriate. ” Mr. Scharf said in an interview that his firm had resolved the matter and bore no ill will toward Mr. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization or Mr. Trump. At the time of the election, Mr. Trump’s company was party to at least 75 lawsuits across the country, according to a nationwide tally by Today. Mr. Garten said that not all of the lawsuits were substantial, but acknowledged that “we’re extremely and meticulous in the legal aspects of the business. ” As their boss advanced in the 2016 presidential race, Mr. Trump’s executives remained fierce and aggressive. When The Daily Beast was preparing to publish an article about Mr. Trump’s first wife, Ivana, alleging in a divorce deposition that he had raped her, Michael Cohen, one of the organization’s executive vice presidents, wrongly insisted it was impossible for a husband to rape his wife and made threats. He warned that if the reporter moved ahead with the article, “I’m going to mess your life up,” according to The Daily Beast’s account. It was just one of the many ways that Mr. Cohen had cultivated the image of a pit bull, a reputation he said was well deserved. “Mr. Trump is more than just a boss to those of us who have been fortunate enough to be close to him, both professionally and personally,” he said in an interview. “He’s more like a patriarch, a mentor. These qualities make him very endearing to me, which is why I am so fiercely loyal to him and committed to protecting him at all costs. ” He was not the only seemingly tireless proponent — and protector — of Mr. Trump’s political pursuits. Mr. Garten, the general counsel, defended his boss’s record and fought back against allegations that he had groped women and engaged in other sexual misconduct. At points it appeared as if he were threatening legal action on a daily basis against anyone who criticized Mr. Trump, including The Times and other news outlets. Last December, after Mr. Garten dangled the possibility of legal action against a “super PAC” promoting Jeb Bush and sent a letter to an group that ran $1 million in ads against Mr. Trump, supporters of Mr. Bush complained to the Federal Election Commission that the Trump Organization was illegally acting as an agent for the Trump campaign. “Trump and his agents have explicitly directed his corporate attorneys at the Organization to do the dirty work for the campaign,” a lawyer wrote in the complaint, which is pending. Six months later, Mr. Garten began to appear in the campaign’s financial reports. In the end, he was compensated by Mr. Trump for about $24, 000 of legal work for the campaign and donated thousands more dollars’ worth of services as an contribution. Mr. Garten said he saw many of the attacks on Mr. Trump as an attack on the company. It was his job to fight back, he said. The ’s deliberations over how to separate himself from his company coincided with one of its oldest and most celebrated traditions. Jill Cremer, a former vice president at the Trump Organization, fondly recalls company Christmas parties at the Plaza Hotel, the Pierre or the Rainbow Room. Mr. Trump would hand out prizes — airline tickets, luggage, cameras — and would pose with employees for photos. “The Christmas party was always the highlight,” Ms. Cremer said. “It was a real family affair. ” This year, the celebration fell on Dec. 14, two nights after Mr. Trump said he would postpone announcing the details of his plan for the stewardship of the company. He was facing a flurry of activity, including making cabinet picks and navigating calls with foreign leaders, but he found the time to stop by the atrium of Trump Tower, where the party has been held in recent years. As hundreds of Trump Organization employees and guests nibbled on steak from Trump Grill and sipped wine from Trump Winery, Mr. Trump thanked the crowd for helping build the company that bears his name. “You could see the love in the room,” Eric Trump said.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7968609,8610,"A student at Transylvania University was injured she was attacked by a man wielding a machete. The attacker, identified as Mitchell Adkins, entered a cafe on campus and started asking people what their political party affiliation was. In addition to the machete, he had a bag that was filled with knives. Mark Barnard, the police chief, said the victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Classes at the university were cancelled for the rest of the day.Of the victim, Transylvania University President Seamus Carey said she is safe and her family is with her at the University of Kentucky Hospital. Adkins, who may be a former student at the school, was also taken to the hospital to be evaluated. A guy came in, banged something, a hatchet or an ax, on the table and said the day of reckoning has come. He asked somebody what their political affiliation was, they said Republican and the guy said you are safe. And then I realized what was going on and started getting people out, said Tristan Reynolds, another student who was in the coffee shop at the time of the attack. He reported that there were between 30 and 40 people in the cafe at the time. We started to scatter and then very, very quickly campus security was getting everybody sheltered and secure. They were very on it. The cafe is popular with students. They like to go there for breakfast and coffee, according to Reynolds, who is the editor of The Rambler, the Transylvania student paper. One thing that sets this cafe apart is its open floor plan.The coffee shop, which is inside the Glenn Building, has an open floor plan and is a popular spot for students to get coffee and breakfast, Reynolds said. He is the editor-in-chief of the Transylvania student newspaper, The Rambler, and was with other members of the paper s staff at the cafe at time of the attack.Lexington police, along with the security officers for the University of Transylvania, were given active shooter training a few weeks ago. This exercise also went onto how to lock down sites and the best way to keep students, faculty and staff safe. Seamus Carey, the president of the university said, They ve always been amazing and today they proved their worth again. They were there immediately. They saved what could have been a much more disastrous situation and I d also like to commend the Lexington police for responding immediately as well. Adkins has a history of complaining about discrimination against conservatives. He wrote a letter to the student paper in which he said, Being a Republican in this school makes me such a minority that I ve had to face discrimination on a daily basis. Transylvania is a predominantly Democratic school. I m always happy to listen to other people s opinions, but as soon as I give my own, I m called a bigot, an a -le, some even go as far as fascist Nazi. ",fake,dataset,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past7978611,8612,"Sex is so last year or at least it is according to Amazon ' s annual list of bestselling books . A year after the S M themed Fifty Shades Of Grey by James overwhelmed best seller lists , book buyers have been seeking different kinds of thrills . Dan Brown ' s latest Robert Langdon caper Inferno the fourth in the series made famous by the Da Vinci Code was Amazonweblink ' s No . 1 seller for 2013 , the online retailer announced yesterday . Changing tastes : Dan Brown ( left ) has topped this year ' s Amazonweblink best seller list with his thriller Inferno Saucy : Book buyers are seeking a different of thrill a year after the S M themed Fifty Shades Of Grey by James ( above ) overwhelmed the best seller lists Khaled Hosseini was second with And The Mountains Echoed , while the best sellers for kids and teenagers were Veronica Roth ' s Allegiant and Rick Riordan ' s The Houses of Hades . Other major hits on Amazonweblink were The Cuckoo ' s Calling , a crime story Rowling wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith , and John Grisham ' s Sycamore Row . Sylvia Day ' s Entwined With You was one of the few works of erotic fiction to place high on Amazon ' s list . Nonfiction favorites included Sheryl Sandberg ' s Lean In and Things That Matter , an anthology of essays by conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer . Continued success : Other major hits on Amazonweblink were The Cuckoo ' s Calling , a crime story Rowling ( left ) wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith 1 . Inferno : Dan Brown2 . And The Mountains Echoed : Khaled Hosseini3 . The Cuckoo ' s Calling : Robert Galbraith ( Rowling ) 4 . The Husband ' s Secret : Liane Moriarty5 . Lean In : Women , Work , and the Will to Lead Sheryl Sandberg6 . The Hit : David Baldacci7 . Sycamore Row : John Grisham8 . Entwined with You : Sylvia Day9 . Never Go Back : Lee Child10 . The Storyteller : Jodi Picoult 1 . Allegiant : Veronica Roth2 . The House of Hades Rick Riordan3 . Diary of a Wimpy Kid : Hard Luck Jeff Kinney4 . Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims : Time Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans Rush Limbaugh5 . Never Too Far : Abbi Glines6 . Out of Breath : Rebecca Donovan7 . Clockwork Princess : Cassandra Clare8 . Forever Too Far : Abbi Glines9 . Twisted Perfection : Abbi Glines10 . The Son of Sobek : Rick Riordan ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past7988620,8621,"Analysis : Clinton , Sanders get personal as Democratic race tightens Susan Page , 5 : 31 a . m . January 18 , 2016 Bernie Sanders said that questions about Bill Clinton ' s past are "" annoying "" and went on to say that the debate should be about the issues , not Bill Clinton ' s personal behavior . Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders field questions from moderators Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell during the Democratic debate hosted by News and YouTube on on Jan . 17 , 2016 in Charleston , S . C . With just two weeks until the voting starts ? and contests in Iowa and New Hampshire that are too close to call ? the days of we can still be friends deference are over for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders . At the Democrats final debate before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary , Clinton portrayed Sanders as a friend of the and the gun rights lobby , noting their forum in Charleston was taking place just a block from the Emanuel Church where a mass shooting last year left nine worshipers dead . Sanders accused her of being very disingenuous about his record . They clashed not only over guns but also on health care , Wall Street regulation and campaign finance . The tone has gotten tougher and the attacks more personal since their first debate last fall , when Sanders had reassured Clinton ? he was sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails and the two shook hands . Clinton ' pleased ' that Sanders ' reversed ' position on gun issue Now , some Clinton partisans say she only belatedly has begun hammering the Vermont senator for proposing a health care program she argues would undo the Affordable Care Act . For his part , Sanders attacked the former secretary of State as beholden to Wall Street interests that have contributed millions to her candidacy , part of a corrupt campaign finance system that he says has contributed to growing economic inequality in America . He accused of her of spreading nonsense about the impact of his proposal for a single payer health insurance plan that he calls Medicare for all . In some ways , the Democratic campaign is mirroring the Republican one . With a smaller field and two candidates now neck and neck in the early states , Donald Trump and Ted Cruz at the sixth debate last Thursday dropped their unofficial non aggression pact and began blasting one another on everything from Trump s New York values to Cruz s constitutional eligibility for the presidency . In the Democratic debate , sponsored by and YouTube , Clinton was confident and in command of the details , especially when the topic turned to foreign policy . She repeatedly sought to tie herself to President Obama , who has a 90 approval rating among South Carolina Democrats . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present7998630,8631,"It ' s the gadget that gives passengers who hate their legroom being invaded by reclining plane seats a chance to fight back . The Knee Defender billed with the tagline ' Standing up for the right of the tall guy to sit down ' is two pieces of plastic that are clipped on to the seat in front on a flight . Fastening on to the arms of the tray table , the device , which costs 13 , it locks the chair in front into place , preventing the passenger from reclining . Guaranteed legroom : The 13 gadget clips on to the tray table arms , preventing the seat in front from reclining Knee Defender : The gadget was created by a 6ft 2ins American Ira Goldman The Knee Defender is sold on Gadget Duck along with a note that the buyer can print out , fill in and hand to the passenger in front . The ' Courtesy Card ' tells the person in front that the gadget is being used , giving an choice of reasons including : ' Unfortunately , my legs are so long that if you recline your seat at all it would immediately bang into my knees . ' It continues to state that it ' may be an inconvenience ' and encourages the passenger to complain to the airline ' to provide enough space between rows so that people can recline their seats without banging into other passengers ' . Pocket size : The Knee Defender is no bigger than a front door key Lack of space : The device prevents the seat in front from reclining , guaranteeing your legroom According to newsweblink . au , one user on Reddit who posted that he had been given the note on board a flight , wrote : ' Guy sitting behind me on the plane handed me this as I was finding my seat before take off ( my seat was up ) . ' I had no idea what to say . ' The gadget was invented by 6ft 2ins Ira Goldman , from the . According to the company ' s site : ' Knee Defenders are specifically designed to be used with your tray table lowered , while your tray table must be up and locked during taxiing , takeoffs or landings . Courtesy Card : The note is handed to the passenger in front , alerting them to why the gadget is being used Locked in place : The Knee Defender also comes with a Courtesy Card to alert the passenger in front ' So , as long as Knee Defenders are being used as they are designed to be used in flight , their use does not violate any aviation law , rule , or regulation . ' It adds : ' If the airlines will not protect people from being battered , crunched , and immobilized very real problems according to healthcare professionals , medical studies , government agencies , and even some airlines then people need options to protect themselves . ' Although the product does not violate any aviation laws , individual airlines can choose to ban its use on board their flights . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8008638,8639,"A proposal to let rich donors give more money to political parties slipped behind closed doors into a huge government spending bill is the latest in a string of setbacks for restrictions on money in politics and will be a "" disaster for the American people , "" according to good government groups . Campaign finance reform advocate Fred Wertheimer called the provision a "" great deal "" for millionaires and billionaires who can buy influence through big dollar contributions and for the politicians seeking them . Related : Congress reaches spending deal The 1 . 1 trillion spending bill , which would fund most of the government until next September , includes provisions that will allow donors to give a lot more money to Republicans and Democrats to help fund conventions , building projects and legal proceedings like recounts . Rather than facing the current cap of 32 , 400 , donors would be able to give up to 777 , 600 each year to funds and committees run by the parties or their campaign arms . That means individuals could give 1 , 555 , 200 per two year election cycle and couples could give 3 , 110 , 400 in a cycle , according to several campaign finance groups who have studied the legislative language . "" If this passes it will be the most corrupting campaign finance provisions ever enacted in the history of the country , "" said Wertheimer , whose non partisan group Democracy 21 has sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to vote against the bill . "" The campaign finance laws have been left in shambles first by the Supreme Court and then potentially by the Congress if this becomes law . "" Related : Here ' s what ' s tucked in the spending bill Watchdog groups see the move to chip away at the limits placed on donors as the latest step in a slow unraveling of the campaign finance rules put in place by landmark legislation like the McCain Feingold bill . Known formally as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 , the legislation , among other things , limited how much individuals and corporations could donate to national parties . But in its April decision in McCutcheon v . , the Supreme Court struck down limits on the overall campaign contributions individual donors can make to candidates , political parties and political action committees . That decision followed the court ' s 2010 Citizens United ruling that the First Amendment allowed unlimited independent political expenditures by corporations , labor unions and certain nonprofit advocacy groups . Citizens United opened the floodgates to massive corporate spending in elections and these latest provisions would be a step in that direction when it comes to individual donors . The fear is that allowing more big money in politics places more power in the hands of big donors , effectively taking it away from individual voters . David Donnelly , the president of the pro campaign finance reform organization Every Voice , said Americans who care about everything from taxes to the high cost of college to clean air and water should care about changes to campaign finance rules , because Congress plays a role in all of those areas . "" Every single one of those decisions is impacted by money in politics , "" he said . "" It ' s about who does Congress work for and Congress right now is changing the rules so that they are going to work even more than they are today for the wealthy and well connected . "" Wertheimer said if the language makes it to President Obama ' s desk , he should veto it to avoid enabling the campaign scandals that are sure to follow . Lisa Gilbert , Director of Public Citizen ' s Congress Watch Division , agreed that the administration should make campaign finance reform a veto issue to send a message to the new Congress . "" This is a pretty scary foreshadowing of what ' s going to be on Sen . Mitch McConnell ' s list of to dos in the next Congress and certainly dismantling the campaign finance system is high on his priority list , "" Gilbert said . McConnell filed a friend of the court brief in the McCutcheon case that the argued overall limit placed individual contributions "" offends the First Amendment . "" "" Contribution limits restrict the rights of speech and association of both the contributor and the recipient of the contribution , "" he wrote . Meredith McGehee , policy director at The Campaign Legal Center , a non partisan organization that analyzes campaign finance laws , said she hopes there are enough provisions in the bill that raise the ire of enough Democrats and Republicans to stop it , otherwise it candidates will now be in the business of asking for even larger donations than they already are . While the new language would not change the limits on contributions to individual candidates , it is often the politicians themselves who solicit donations on behalf of their party committees . "" What you ' re now doing , if this provision goes into effect , is putting candidates out there soliciting for contributions of 1 million plus and that ' s the nexus for these contributors they want the credit , "" said McGehee . "" They are businessmen . This is a return on investment . "" The House is expected to vote on the bill Thursday , but Democrats in Congress have already raised alarms about the provision , with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying it "" would work to drown out the voices of the American people and massively expand the role of big money in our elections . "" House Speaker John Boehner argued that these and other provisions were "" worked out in a bipartisan , bicameral fashion or they wouldn ' t be in the bill . "" One campaign finance reform advocate noted that if these provisions become law , mega donors who would have maxed out on individual contributions will have to hold onto their seats in the face of a flood of new "" asks "" from politicians and parties . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8018645,8646,"One of the craziest things about Trump s Russia fiasco is the fact that to defend his role model, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump has gone against multiple U.S. intelligence agencies and all mounting evidence that Russia did in fact meddle in the 2016 election.Trump has continued to deny what has been widely accepted as facts by not only intelligence experts but members of his own Republican Party. Even his own administration is publicly disagreeing with Trump and stating that Russia interfered with the election and today, Trump s Ambassador humiliated him on national television over his infamous denial.In an interview with CNN, Ambassador Nikki Haley stated that everybody knows that Russia messed around with the election. What she really should have said was, everyone but Trump. Haley said: Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections. Everybody knows that they re not just meddling in the United States election. They re doing this across multiple continents, and they re doing this in a way that they re trying to cause chaos within the countries. And it s not just going to be us saying this. I think you re going to hear other leaders come out and say, cut it out, we re not going to put up with it. You can watch Haley pretty much agree that Trump is a liar in the video below: Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections, @nikkihaley tells @DanaBashCNN # weblink (@CNN) July 8, 2017Haley must not be keeping tabs on what her boss is actually saying, because just two days ago Trump refused to say Russia was involved in the election. The dishonest said: I think it could very well have been Russia, but I think it could well have been other countries. I won t be specific. I think a lot of people interfere. I think it s been happening for a long time. When Trump finds out that Haley contradicted him, sh*t is going to hit the fan. Not only did Haley blast Trump, but she did it on his least favorite network, CNN. We won t be surprised if a Twitter meltdown is soon to follow.Featured image via Sean Gallup / Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present8028650,8651,"A 22 year old man was found guilty on Monday for suffocating his teen girlfriend to death after she told him she was pregnant and wouldn ' t have an abortion . The body of 14 year old Shaniesha Forbes was found charred and stuffed in a suitcase that washed up on Brooklyn , New York beach in January 2013 and an autopsy revealed she wasn ' t actually carrying a baby . Christian Ferdinand , the older boyfriend she met through Facebook , was arrested four months later in Maine and confessed to the crime . ' He intentionally smothered a 14 year old girl to death and burned her body to get rid of the evidence , ' prosecutor Robert Walsh said during the trial . ' He had a problem that needed solving , he didn ' t want to pay child support , and Shaniesha got in the way . ' Guilty : Christian Ferdinand , 22 ( left ) , was found guilty on Monday for the January 2013 murder of his 14 year old girlfriend Shaniesha Forbes ( right ) . He faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced next month It took a jury just an hour on Monday to convict Ferdinand with murder , and he now faces between 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced next month . Forbes , who was a freshman at the Academy for Young Writers in Williamsburg , allegedly first infuriated her boyfriend when she told him she was pregnant via text message in January 2013 . Ferdinand responded to the announcement by texting back : ' My n , are you serious ? Kill that s ' Admission : Ferdinand confessed to killing Forbes four months after her body washed up on a Brooklyn , New York beach ( pictured above ) . He told investigators he killed her because she told him he was pregnant Gruesome : Forbes was suffocated to death with a leather pillow . Ferdinand dumped her body in the ocean . Above , a picture of the scene where Forbes ' body was found But Forbes made it clear that she would not get an abortion , saying it would hurt her religious mother . The couple later met at Ferdinand ' s cousin ' s house where Forbes continued to talk about the pregnancy while they were both sitting on the couch . That ' s when Ferdinand snapped and grabbed a leather pillow to suffocate his girlfriend to death . Investigators asked Ferdinand if Forbes fought back as he was killing her , and he replied : ' She tried , wasn ' t much of a struggle , she was little . ' After she died , Ferdinand proceeded to douse her body in Axe body spray which he used to set the corpse on fire with a Bic lighter . He later stuffed her body in a suitcase which he tossed into Gerriston Bay , believing the saltwater would destroy any evidence left on Forbes ' body after the burning . The body was later found when the suitcase washed up on Gerriston Beach . It was also revealed in the course of the trial , that Ferdinand spoke casually about Forbes ' killing to a friend . Promising future : Forbes was a freshman at the Academy of Young Writers in Williamsburg at the time of her death ' It didn ' t deserve to live ' Ferdinand told a friend , according to testimony . He also booked into a hotel with an ex girlfriend the day after the murder . The unnamed ex allegedly wanted to have sex with Ferdinand but he told her he was too tired . And when he confessed to the crime in May 2013 , Ferdinand was bold enough to ask for a light sentence . ' So you think I can get some kind of community service ? ' Ferdinand asked investigators , according to court documents obtained by the New York Post . When he heard the jury ' s guilty verdict on Monday , Ferdinand lowered his head onto the defense table and appeared to tear up . Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson ensured that his office would seek the maximum sentence of life in prison for the crime . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past8038687,8688,"Bobbi Kristina Brown has been taken off her ventilator and her breathing tube removed as her condition remains unchanged at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta , according to a family source . Today reports that the 21 year old has been given a tracheotomy to help her continue to breathe . The decision to remove her tube does not mean her family has made a decision about her life support , the source told the newspaper . Family on Thursday said Brown ' s condition is ' still critical ' and that the surgical procedure which opens an airway into the trachea through the neck was a normal one for coma patients . ' The tracheotomy is a different place for the tube to go , ' the source told . ' Everything else remains the same . It ' s a waiting game . The family is hoping and waiting . ' According to the source , the procedure will also reduce the risk of infection . Proceure : Bobbi Kristina Brown has been given a tracheotomy as the 21 year old ' s condition remains unchanged at a Emory University Hospital in Atlanta ' She is still critical and we don ' t know what the outcome will be , ' the source said . ' No one is giving up on this kid . ' Meanwhile , who that family source is , exactly , remains unclear as Bobbi ' s father Bobbi Brown claims the relatives who have been giving media interviews about her medical condition do not have direct knowledge of her treatment . Singer Bobby Brown ' s attorney asked media outlets on February 13 to stop speaking with family members unauthorized to discuss the condition of his daughter . She was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub at her suburban home last month . ' She is still critical and we don ' t know what the outcome will be , ' a family source said . ' No one is giving up on this kid . ' Few details about the aspiring 21 year old singer ' s condition have been made public . Family members have said she is fighting for her life . ' We continue to request privacy in this matter , ' Bobby Brown said in a statement . ' We thank everyone that supports Bobbi Kristina and God is hearing our prayers . ' Bobby Brown ' s attorney said the relatives giving interviews about Bobbi Kristina Brown are not in communication with her doctors , and in particular asked media organizations to disregard cousin , Jerod Brown . The cousin said in an interview with Atlanta station this week that she remained on a ventilator and the family had no plans to remove her from life support . ' This is a criminal investigation and we do not need this side show , ' attorney Christopher Brown , who is representing Bobbi Kristina ' s father , said in a statement . Jerod Brown was also involved in disputed reports that Nick Gordon , who calls himself the husband of Bobbi Kristina Brown , cannot visit her at the hospital . Lawyers for Gordon said the cousin ' s contention that Gordon was pursuing legal action to gain access to Brown was false . They said Gordon , who has kept a low profile since Bobbi Kristina Brown was rushed to a hospital , only wants to see her recover . ' He remains in constant prayer for his companion and he hopes to be reunited with her soon , ' lawyers Randy Kessler and Joe Habachy said in a statement on Thursday . Division : Bob Brown , pictured at the weekend after visiting his daughter , has issued a public denial that Nick Gordon was married to his daughter . He also says the family member giving information to the press is not authorized to do so ' Despite the incredible public interest , we ask and hope that this request can be resolved privately by Mr Gordon and the family . ' Gordon and Bobbi Kristina Brown referred to each other as husband and wife , but Bobby Brown said they never legally married . Whitney Houston , a six time Grammy Award winner who battled substance abuse , drowned in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills , California , in February 2012 . Authorities said cocaine use and heart disease contributed to her death at age 48 . Police in Roswell , Georgia , are investigating the circumstances leading to Brown ' s discovery in the tub on January 31 . She had been in a car crash four days earlier , according a police report . The she was driving spun out of control and hit a car on January 27 , causing extensive damage to both vehicles and sending her passenger and the driver of the other car to the hospital , the report said . The other driver was listed in critical condition , police said , and one of Brown ' s tires was punctured by a nail and appeared to have blown out . Critical : Family on Thursday said Brown ' s condition is ' still critical ' and that the surgical procedure which opens an airway into the trachea through the neck was a normal one ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8048689,8690,"In 1933, when Yale University named one of its new residential colleges for the ardently statesman John C. Calhoun, at least one person was unexcited. “I suppose that I have bayed at the the John C. I cannot,” the writer Leonard Bacon confessed in a long poem written for the dedication, which went on to note the oddity of honoring the architect of Southern secession in an “abolitionist town” like New Haven. That dissent was mild, compared with the passionate protests against the Calhoun name that swept Yale last year, as part of an outcry on campuses around the world against historic names and symbols associated with slavery, colonialism and other forms of oppression. Those controversies have receded on many campuses. And now Yale, where the renaming ordeal has been unusually drawn out, may finally be getting its own relief. On Friday, the university announced a new procedure for considering the renaming of university buildings, along with an official reconsideration of the controversial decision last spring to keep the Calhoun name. A new — and final — verdict is expected early next year. That policy requires anyone calling for a renaming to submit a formal application, including a dossier of historical research justifying the renaming according to a set of general principles created by an independent committee named in August by the university’s president, Peter Salovey, in response to continuing furor over the Calhoun decision. Mr. Salovey, in an email, praised the committee’s report, which he said had shifted his earlier view that changing the Calhoun name, or any other, amounted to “effacing our history. ” The new principles “allow us to consider renaming a building in a way that preserves history, to remember but not to honor,” he said. The report by the committee, which was not charged with making a specific recommendation on Calhoun, grows directly out of the turmoil at Yale. But it is also billed as the first at any university to elaborate general guidelines for evaluating when symbols of the past should, and should not, be altered. The report strikes a generally cautious note, warning against what it calls morally or even “Orwellian” erasures of the past. But it also cites Yale’s own long history of “creative destruction” of campus names and symbols, while offering a defense of renaming debates at a moment when some on the left and the right are increasingly dismissing them as distraction. “This isn’t about symbolic politics, but about the mission of the university,” said John Fabian Witt, a historian at Yale Law School and the chairman of the committee. Fostering an inclusive campus, he said, “is the best way to approach the project of research and learning. ” The report acknowledges “a certain exhaustion” with the whole issue. “Change the Name — and Quickly,” urged an editorial in The Yale Daily News on Friday lamenting the additional “months of uncertainty” when the report seemed to justify renaming Calhoun. But some historians who have been involved in similar debates elsewhere welcomed the report’s careful parsing of complex questions about history, memory and honor. “They did a very good job fleshing out the issues and creating guideposts on how to deal with a question that is probably going to come up again and again,” said Annette a historian at Harvard Law School and a member of a committee that voted last year to scrap that school’s seal, which honored a family of slave owners. David M. Kennedy, a historian at Stanford University and head of a committee that is considering calls to rename entities on that campus honoring Junipero Serra, the priest who founded the California mission system, said he admired the report’s “humility” in the face of historical judgment, which is never final. “Memory is contested because history is contested,” he said. “Controversy is built into the whole exercise of doing history. ” The Calhoun controversy has sharply divided the Yale community, with support for keeping the name generally running stronger among older alumni. “I think Calhoun became a proxy for a broader feeling about political correctness on campus,” said G. Leonard Baker Jr. a 1964 Yale graduate and Calhoun alumnus who served on the renaming committee. (Calhoun himself graduated from Yale in 1804 but otherwise had little connection with the university, the report notes.) But there was wide agreement across different groups, several committee members said, about the dangers of erasing history. “That was something we heard from everyone, however they felt about renaming,” said Beverly Gage, a history professor who was among the more than 350 faculty members who signed a letter last spring criticizing the decision to keep the Calhoun name. As an example of such erasure, the report cites Yale’s decision in the 1980s to alter a window in a Calhoun common room, replacing the image of a slave in shackles kneeling at Calhoun’s feet with panes showing clouds. “Calhoun was left in a place of honor,” Mr. Witt said. “But the thing that would allow you to see the honor was or not deserved, was removed. ” (The entire ensemble of windows was removed this summer, after an incident in which a dining hall worker smashed a pane showing slaves carrying bales of cotton it will be replaced with a new work of art.) Against that kind of “illiberal” alteration, which conceals or distorts the past, the report praises “liberal” ones, which show how values have changed: For example, last spring another Yale college, named for Ezra Stiles, an president of Yale, installed a plaque memorializing the lives of his slave and two indentured servants. The principles outlined in the report don’t generate automatic solutions but require historical interpretation and argument, starting with disentangling a person’s “principal legacy” from other aspects of his or her life we might revile. (Mahatma Gandhi, the report notes, “held starkly racist views about black Africans,” while Frederick Douglass spoke of what he considered Native Americans’ inferiority to .) The principles also call for considering a namesake within different : Why was the person honored, and was that choice controversial at the time? Were actions or attitudes that are now repellent also controversial during the individual’s life, or commonplace in society at the time? As an example of an overly broad policy, Mr. Witt cited guidelines recently adopted at the University of Oregon allowing for potentially renaming buildings honoring anyone who demonstrated “discriminatory, racist, homophobic, or misogynist views that actively promoted systemic oppression” or who “failed to take redemptive action,” among other expansive criteria. “There’s a real risk that would catch up anyone alive before 1950,” Mr. Witt said. Ms. Gage said that whatever the ultimate decision on Calhoun, the debate was valuable as part of “a process of deep engagement with history,” which is always open to reinterpretation. “You want to respect the past,” she said. “But there is room for change, too. ”",true,news,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8058694,8695,"Reuters) - Uruguay s Vice President Raul Sendic presented his resignation on Saturday amid accusations that he misused public funds while heading state oil company Ancap. He first made the announcement at a special meeting of the Frente Amplio (FA) governing party. I presented to the plenary of the my irreversible resignation from the vice presidency. I also told President Tabare Vazquez, he wrote in a tweet. The party s ethics committee has ruled that Sendic used his Ancap credit cards to buy personal items including books and furniture. He headed the oil company from 2008 to 2009 and 2010 to 2013. No criminal charges have been filed against Sendic. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8068712,8713,"The is in crisis mode after the massive backlash last weekend against the disrespectful behavior of the players who knelt during our national anthem. Fans burned team merchandise and cancelled cable from Direct TV. It was so ugly that the reportedly hired a crisis management person to help deal with the bad feelings from fans. The Steelers were no exception and are backpedaling like crazy We think the Steelers got the memo from their fans After a huge backlash about standing in the tunnel during the national anthem last Sunday, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey says the team will stand this Sunday: I promise you one thing, this week we will all be standing out there for the national anthem. Trust me. Pouncey says he expects the entire team to be on the field for the anthem. As far as I know it s 100 percent participation, Pouncey told reporters. We love this country. It s America. We know there are injustice in this world, but to me, personally, football is football and that s what we need to approach it as. The Steelers decided to remain in the tunnel during the national anthem during their Sunday game against the Chicago Bears. Tackle Alejandro Villanueva was the only Steelers player who stood outside the tunnel.Pouncey says the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. I promise you this week that we ll all be standing out there for the national anthem. Trust me. We respect our flag, and we respect our military and everything that is a part of it, he said.The Steelers decision didn t sit well with some Steelers fans who took to social media to voice their outrage, and even burn team merchandise. I think this week we are going to show that. We are sorry for all of our fans who are upset about the things that went down, and I think we ll come together and all of this will be out the window, Pouncey said.Read more: ",fake,dataset,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8078715,8716,"FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May is setting out her plan for future ties with the European Union in a speech which she hopes will help spur negotiations over the country s divorce from the bloc. Below are the highlights from her speech and a follow-up question-and-answer session with reporters: During the implementation period, people will continue to be able to come and live and work in the but there will be a registration system, an essential preparation for the new regime. As of today, these considerations point to an implementation period of around two years. Clearly people, businesses and public services should only have to plan for one set of changes in the relationship between the and the EU. So during the implementation period, access to one another s markets should continue on current terms and Britain also should continue to take part in existing security measures. And I know businesses, in particular, would welcome the certainty this would provide. MAY, A DEAL: We continue to think that. Of course we will leave at the end of March 2019 and negotiations will be continuing potentially up quite close to that time. I do not want our partners to fear that they will need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to leave. The will honour commitments we have made during the period of our membership. And, as we move forwards, we will also want to continue working together in ways that promote the long-term economic development of our continent. This includes continuing to take part in those specific policies and programmes which are greatly to the and the s joint advantage, such as those that promote science, education and culture - and those that promote our mutual security. Over time ... the rights of citizens in the UK, and citizens overseas will diverge. And I want to incorporate our agreement fully into law, and make sure the courts can refer directly to it. And when there is uncertainty around underlying law, I want the courts to be able to take into account the judgements of the European Court of Justice with a view to ensuring consistent interpretation. And on this basis I hope our teams can reach firm agreement quickly. Throughout its membership, the United Kingdom has never totally felt at home being in the European Union. The profound pooling of sovereignty that is a crucial feature of the European Union permits unprecedentedly deep cooperation which brings benefits but it also means that when countries are in the minority they must sometimes accept decisions they do not want, even affecting domestic matters with no market implications beyond their borders. The British people have decided to leave the and be a global free-trading nation able to chart our own way in the world. For many, this is an exciting time full of promise. For others it is a worrying one. I look ahead with optimism. Our commitment to the defence and indeed the advance of our shared values is undimmed. Our determination to defend the stability, security and prosperity of our European neighbours and friends remains steadfast. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8088730,8731,"There ' s no discernible reluctance in Denis Law to recall one of the most embarrassing own goals in medical history . He whisks you back to 2003 and a doctor ' s consulting room . He ' s there at the behest of an anxious wife he ' s experiencing a troublesome ache in the lower abdomen . The biopsies have been performed and now , three agonising weeks later , the specialist delivers a sombre conclusion . The football legend has prostate cancer . Law becomes a man in torment . He swoons . Embarrassing , or what ? Former Manchester United striker Denis Law has opened up about being diagnosed with prostate cancer He delivers his recollections with a nervous laugh , but if he experienced humiliation that day , the scar is not evident . ' I think that they thought in there that I ' d had a heart attack . Because , as soon as he told me , I said I didn ' t feel well . ' Hey , I wasn ' t laughing at the time . I obviously conked out . Fainted . I was completely out . It ' s the Law Family trait that we don ' t like hearing bad news . ' This interview with the Lawman is being filmed courtesy of the Movember campaign . It pursues a certain logic : two Aberdonians , who once lived less than a mile apart , locked into an insidious common denominator one victim of prostate cancer being quizzed by another . Law is the epitome of punctuality . Right on the appointed hour of noon , he steps into the capacious lounge of the Northenden Golf Club . It ' s a holiday home to him , a place where he can be himself . The last time we met here he was in proletariat mode , demolishing sausage , egg and chips . Time tends to blur memories , of course , but he ' s far more amenable now . At that time , he was about to launch another autobiography and figured that too much compliance with me would somehow inhibit sales . This time he is generosity itself . Law ( left ) discusses being diagnosed with prostate cancer with Bryan Cooney ( right ) Now , he finds himself in a penalty box he never infiltrated in his playing days when he scored more than 250 goals , most of them for Manchester United . This one delineates the grey area between life and death . It tends to focus minds . Let ' s return , for one moment , to that display in the doctor ' s surgery and consider the paradoxes at work here . In spite of his apparently flimsy body structure , Law was an authentic tough hombre who , for two decades , defied the various malignancies of footballers trying to break him physically and psychologically . Ignoring the height and physical superiority of his tormentors , he ' d laugh in their faces when he was kicked , mentally consulting his diary and pencilling in a painful retribution . This was rarely delayed . A few decades later , he keels over at a medical diagnosis . It scarcely equates with reason . Mind you , he has always been two distinct and enigmatic personages . Away from football , he remains one of the most self effacing men on the planet . Whenever he attends an official function , for instance , he always asks a companion to accompany him to the toilet just in case he is claimed by hero worshiping fans . He doesn ' t favour fuss . The pair have been treated for prostate cancer and the video encourages men to get involved with Movember In contrast , on the professional field of his dreams , he seemed to encourage it . Here , the message was all about theatrics and melodrama . We return to that consulting room . The man has emerged from the swoon , but the landscape is , if anything , grimmer and more industrial as ever . He is presented with a list of options . Radiotherapy is mooted . The trouble is if this does not demolish the tumour , then he can ' t have the operation known as a radical prostatectomy . So that ' s delete . There ' s another form of treatment that he doesn ' t even wish to talk about . So that ' s discarded . He opts for an appointment with the knife . ' I ' d rather get rid of whatever I ' ve got , ' he says . You can see he ' s reliving the moment : he ' s wringing his hands so hard that you expect to see water emerge at any time . ' We ' re all cowards , men . ' We return to the emotional front . Certainly , mine were scattered after my operation . One day , in intensive care and attached to myriad tubes , I ' m laughing hysterically at the incongruity of it all the next , I ' m sobbing my heart out after listening to some poignant music . I only stop when I remember the words of an old newspaper boss of mine about never showing emotion . Manchester United boss Sir Matt Busby pours champagne for Denis Law after winning the First Division title Busby with Law ( L R ) , Tony Dunne , Billy Foulkes , Bobby Noble , Alex Stepney , David Sadler and George Best I notice Law ' s eyes are glistening . ' Hey , ( initially ) you think you ' re not going to see the family again the grandchildren . For me , initially , it was the end of the world . Why me ? Then you find out you ' re not alone any more . There are thousands ( like you ) . You put things into perspective . ' You look at others and know that you ' re not too bad . But , as I say , it ' s not easy to be unemotional , Cancer ? Jesus ! What is this ? ' And what about the possible diminishment of sexual activity ? He brushes this aside as if it were mere dust on the mantelpiece . ' Don ' t forget , I had five children . So things were not in that other part of the world the important thing . The importance had to be to get back into a healthy state and return into a normal life . ' Law and I are at different places with the illness . I ' ve had the surgery and the radiotherapy , and next week I start the hormone treatment . Law , at 74 four years my senior , seems to be managing the disease that bit better . I sincerely hope his situation doesn ' t change . Legends come . Legends go . Denis Law , hopefully , is going nowhere . for an extended video of Denis Law discussing prostate cancer ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8098758,8759,"Reuters) - At least 20 people died in a massive wave of wildfires raging across Portugal on Sunday and Monday in the worst such calamity since a blaze killed 64 people in June, state news agency Lusa cited civil protection officials as saying. Initially, officials put the death toll at six and no one was immediately available to confirm the rising death toll. The Portuguese government declared a state of public emergency in all the regions north of the Tagus river, a territory about half the size of continental Portugal. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8108791,8792,"A 39 stone man has left his flat for the first time in three years after firefighters carried him out on a bed sheet . Hang Hang , 20 , was unable to leave his flat in Shenyang , Liaoning Province , because of his size . The man , who lives on a diet of sugary foods such as pancakes , left the building for the first time in three years today thanks to the help of Chinese firefighters . Heavy load : Nine firefighters came to the assistance of Hang Hang , 20 , today lifting the 39 stone man out of his apartment on a bed sheet , pictured . He hadn ' t left the building in three years because of his size Easy does it : The firefighters struggle to lift the man who was 23 stone by the age of 17 down the stairs of his apartment . His mother says he will eat a stack of pancakes , a big bowl of porridge and vegetables in one sitting In order to get him outside , Hang was carried on a thick bed sheet down the stairs by 9 firefighters . Following the success of the tricky maneuver , the man sat outside on a specially reinforced bed enjoying fresh air for the first time in 36 months . The ' rescue ' was organised by a local newspaper who campaigned for people to help him leave the house so he could enjoy some fresh air . Hang ' s mother told Chinese media her son had always struggles with his weight and tipped the scales at 23 stone by the ages of 17 . However , after moving in with his mother three years ago , his weight ballooned and he went from 23 stone to 39 stone leaving him trapped inside the flat . She told reporters : ' For one meal , he at least eats 10 pancakes , one large bowel of porridge , and vegetables . ' Outside : Hang Hang is propped up by the men once they managed to get him out of the building . The ' rescue ' was organised by a local newspaper which campaigned for people to help the man get out in to the fresh air Outside : The 20 year old enjoys his time in the fresh air while sitting on a specially reinforced bed Last month , a Mexican man once listed as the world ' s heaviest human died at the age of 48 . Manuel Uribe weight 87 stone at the height of his obesity and spent most of his final decade bed ridden on a reinforced mattress . Uribe had ' slimmed down ' to about 61 stones after he was awarded the title of world ' s fattest human by the Guinness World Record ' s in 2006 . When he died , his body lying on the same bed was taken to the Serorrey funeral home in Monterry , Mexico aboard a flat bed truck . Funeral home director Pedro Reyes said Serorrey ' s cremation facility was the only one in the northern city of Monterrey able to handle Uribe ' s body . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8118817,8818,"Zero Hedge reported:If there was a time Hillary needed to make a public appearance in the key battleground state of North Carolina to drum up voter support, it was today, if for no other reason than a just released Elon University poll finding Trump now has a modest 44% advantage among likely voters in the Tar Heel State, with 43% going to Clinton.According to the poll, most voters felt Trump would be better for rich people, white people and men, while most believe Clinton would be better for poor people, women and minorities. This election is so tight right now, that small swings of a few points should be expected between now and November, said Jason Husser, assistant professor of political science at Elon and director of the Elon University Poll. North Carolina has been extremely important over the last several election cycles with very tight election outcomes. These numbers suggest that will continue to be the case, and both campaigns would do well to continue to focus on the Old North State. It s not just the closeness of the poll that makes so critical; it s also Trump s recent rebound, which as shown in the following chart from Real Clear Politics has him taking the lead for the first time since late June.Which is why we find it surprising that with Hillary s desperately needing to make an appearance, overnight reported that Clinton campaign officials said that a Tuesday fundraiser in Chapel Hill was postponed.",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past8128825,8826,"Kabul , Afghanistan The U . S . led war in Afghanistan marked its 10th year Friday having passed two major milestones : The Taliban has been forced out of power and Osama bin Laden is dead . But there was little observance by U . S . troops in Afghanistan , where a month earlier many participated in commemorations to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks . "" We really celebrated the 10th anniversary of 9 11 , and we were out here in Afghanistan , "" Marine Corps Maj . Gen . John Toolan Jr . , commanding general of troops in southern Afghanistan , told reporters during a briefing on Thursday . "" I think that to us it was a far more significant date than 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan because , really , when you look at the 10 years , you ' re looking at different levels of forces , different levels of attention given to Afghanistan . "" The U . S . led war in Afghanistan began October 7 , 2011 , with an air campaign that was followed within weeks by a ground invasion . President Barack Obama has called it "" the longest running war in the nation ' s history "" . The aim was to oust the Taliban and dismantle al Qaeda ' s leadership , though the leaders of both groups Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden managed to escape capture . Bin Laden was killed in May during a raid by U . Sweblinkmandos on his hideout in Abbottabad , Pakistan . The whereabouts of Mullah Omar is unknown , and he has not been seen in public in years . As the United States turned its attention toward Iraq , insurgent violence in Afghanistan flared against Afghan civilians and security forces as well as the U . S . and its coalition partners . Since the conflict began , the number of casualties has risen by the year , with a significant jump from 2008 to 2009 . At least 296 coalition troops died in 2008 . It nearly doubled in 2009 when 517 coalition troops were killed . That year , President Barack Obama authorized a surge of 33 , 000 U . S . forces to Afghanistan to combat the violence . Two years later , the United States outlined its plan to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan , beginning with pulling the 33 , 000 surge troops by the end of 2012 and the remaining 68 , 000 by the end of 2014 . The move was followed by withdrawal announcements by most of the nations . On Thursday , defense ministers from the 49 nations that make up the International Security Assistance Force pledged their support to Afghanistan even as they make plans to withdraw troops by 2014 . "" Let there be no mistake : transition is not departure . We will not take our leave when the Afghans take the lead , "" Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Thursday in Brussels , Belgium . The ministers are scheduled to meet again in May in Chicago where Rasmussen said they will "" need to decide what more we will do . "" While has insisted that the transition of security for the country to Afghan forces is conditions based rather than calendar driven , the clock is ticking on the withdrawal deadline . The planned withdrawal has raised a number of questions about the stability of Afghanistan , which has been hit by a wave of high profile attacks in recent months that have jeopardized the peace negotiations . Last month ' s turban bomb assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani , revered by many as a father of the Mujahideen movement that ousted the Soviets in the 1980s , appears to have dealt the biggest blow to the peace process . Rabbani was the chairman of President Hamid Karzai ' s High Council for Peace , which has been trying for a year to foster dialogue with the Taliban a strategy that Karzai publicly abandoned following Rabbani ' s killing . The war in Afghanistan , once viewed by a majority of Americans as a must , has become widely unpopular as concerns have shifted to the economy and job losses . In a new Pew Research Center report on war and sacrifice released this week , half of post 9 11 veterans said the Afghanistan war has been worth fighting . Only 44 felt that way about Iraq , and one third said both wars were worth the costs . Robert Messel is among those veterans who question the war . Messel , who was a freshman in college and a student on September 11 , 2001 , said he remembers thinking that the war in Afghanistan would be over before he joined the Army . But as the war continued , Messel said he began to have mixed feelings . "" In my opinion , it basically should have been limited to what we initially were going in to do : Hunt down bin Laden and the architects of the attacks . "" Messel said it is very difficult to look back objectively on the experience . "" You lost friends and made sacrifices . You don ' t want to ever think that everything that happened was in vain , "" he said . But Asmatullah Kohistani has a different perspective on the war , which he says gave his family back their home and their livelihoods . He was 13 when he and his family fled their home in Afghanistan ' s Kapisa province amid a civil war that would see the Taliban take control of the country . Driven out by bombardments and fighting , his family crossed into Pakistan , making their home in Islamabad . Kohistani , 28 , said "" everything changed "" after the Taliban were forced from power . Kohistani , who worked for a U . S . business for two years upon his return to Afghanistan , founded media startup Afghan123weblink last year . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8138845,8846,"Known for his outspoken , unapologetic support of migrants in Mexico , the Rev . Alejandro Solalinde is bringing his message to the United States . The priest is part of a caravan of migrants and their supporters traveling from Los Angeles to Washington to push for immigration reform . In Mexico , Solalinde has criticized the government , and even the Catholic Church , saying that both can be more compassionate to migrants . His views are shaped by the years he has spent leading a migrant shelter in Oaxaca that offers support to Central Americans who embark on the dangerous route north by clinging to trains . A number of threats last year led to his leaving his post , located in Ixtepec , in the southern state of Oaxaca , but he has since returned . Immigration issues must be tackled both at the source and the destination of the migrants , he said . In the United States , Solalinde says he wants to include more voices in the debate . "" Not just the voice of the north , but the voice of the south , the voice of the poor , the voice of the migrants . "" The 68 year old , wearing a white button down shirt , cream colored vest , thin glasses and a cross necklace , admits that he believes his opinion will have little sway . With so much money and political interests at play , the voice of a Mexican priest is likely to get drowned out , he said . But Solalinde is undeterred . The caravan ' s participants are lobbying for a path to citizenship , a stop to the separation of families , and greater attention to the human cost of immigration policies . The priest says he is not advocating a certain policy , but wants to raise consciousness about the issue . An immigration bill currently pending in the Senate commits additional resources to southern border security and establishes a new system of metrics to measure border control effectiveness , but critics insist the plan is full of holes and will ultimately do little to help stem to the tide of illegal immigration . While claiming to strengthen the border , the legislation also would create a 13 year path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants while bringing dramatic change to labor policy on America ' s farms . U . S . tactics like a border wall and restrictive immigration policies do nothing other than drive up the price that smugglers charge to sneak people across the border , he said . At the migrant shelter in Oaxaca , Solalinde says he sees constant suffering , but also constant hope in the people who pass by . During his brief exile from the shelter , Solalinde spent a month in Europe followed by some weeks of reflection in Jalisco state before returning to Oaxaca . After doing much reading and writing during his time away , the priest said he returned with a deeper commitment for acting now , for helping migrants today , he said . "" Each day god gives me the grace to be happy , he provides strength , but at the end of the day my heart hurts , it tires emotionally , "" he said . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8148846,8847,"Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who spearheaded the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, congratulated Prime Minister Theresa May on agreeing a divorce deal with the to move Brexit talks on to trade on Friday. Congratulations to for her determination in getting today s deal, he said on Twitter. We now aim to forge a deep and special partnership with our European friends and allies while remaining true to the referendum result - taking back control of our laws, money and borders for the whole of the UK. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8158847,8848,"Brussels remains on high alert as police hunt Paris attack fugitive A Belgian policeman and a soldier stand guard outside the central station in Brussels on Monday . A Belgian policeman and a soldier stand guard outside the central station in Brussels on Monday . Brussels will remain on the highest alert level and maintain security measures that have severely disrupted normal life in the city until at least Monday as it faces an "" imminent "" threat of attack , Belgium ' s prime minister said Monday , urging his population to remain calm . In France , police said an explosive belt had been found in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge . A police official , who couldn ' t be named because he wasn ' t authorized to discuss the investigation , said the belt was found without a detonator by a street cleaner in a pile of rubble Monday and was being analyzed by police . Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the country ' s capital , which also houses the headquarters of the European Union and , faced a "" serious and imminent "" threat of attack , while the rest of the nation would stay at the second highest level . The country ' s crisis center said the alert level would change this week only if a significant breakthrough by investigators warranted it . : ? Get the day ' s top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj The increased security measures in the wake of the Nov . 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds have virtually shut down the city , with the subway and shops closed over the weekend and schools remaining shut on Monday . Michel said that despite the alert level , schools and the subway system would reopen progressively as of Wednesday . "" We are very alert and call for caution , "" Michel said . "" The potential targets remain the same shopping centers and shopping streets and public transport . "" "" We want to return to a normal way of life as quickly as possible . "" The unprecedented security measures come as authorities hunt for one or more suspected extremists , including Salah Abdeslam , a fugitive since being named as a suspect in the Paris attacks . He has yet to be found . Belgian authorities arrested a suspect on terrorism related charges Monday after a series of raids which led to 21 people being detained between Sunday night and midday Monday . The federal prosecutor said the suspect , who was not identified , was charged with terrorism offenses related to the Paris attacks after authorities detained 16 people Sunday . Three others were charged with similar offenses last week . The other 15 people detained Sunday evening were released . Earlier in the day , British Prime Minister David Cameron said in Paris that he will ask for parliamentary approval for the U . K . to join airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Syria . If approved , Britain would join other nations carrying out bombings in Syria , including the U . S . , France and Russia . See the most read stories this hour Read the story Cameron and French President Francois Hollande paid a quiet visit to the Bataclan concert venue , which saw the worst of the carnage in Paris . Hollande plans to meet Tuesday with President Obama , then Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in pursuit of a unified strategy in Syria . France ' s Defense Ministry said it had launched its first airstrikes from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier , bombing targets in the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Mosul in a seven hour operation . The ministry said that four Rafale fighter jets were sent from the carrier on Monday afternoon , with two each flying over each city . France has already carried out strikes against targets in Syria . Britain has been carrying out airstrikes in Iraq , but Cameron has long wished for an expanded mandate to include targets in Syria . But having lost a vote once two years ago , his government had been reluctant to even suggest a vote until it could be certain it would win . The raids in Belgium began late Sunday , capping a tense weekend that saw hundreds of troops patrolling streets . Frank Foley , lecturer in war studies at King ' s College London and a terrorism expert , said it was difficult to know if what Belgium was doing was justified because authorities have provided so few details about their decision . The measures intended to avoid attacks similar to the ones that caused devastating carnage in Paris could even be counterproductive if they last too long , he said . "" If these dramatic measures continue in Brussels , we will be doing the terrorists ' job for them , "" Foley said . "" The government may be unintentionally contributing to the atmosphere of fear . "" But Henry Willis , director of Homeland Security and Defense Center , likened the clampdown to the reaction of U . S . authorities after the Boston marathon bombing . "" They did shut down the city for a couple of days and when they lifted those restrictions , that ' s when they caught the terrorist , "" he said . Several of the Paris attackers had lived in Brussels , including Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the man who authorities say orchestrated the plot . He was killed Wednesday in a standoff with French police . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present8168859,8860,"Miriam Brown has always wanted to visit Cape Cod , but when she recently began to plan a trip and found out she would have to pay 200 or more a night for lodging , her dream vacation seemed out of reach . Miriam Brown and her husband bartered their services for room and board on Cape Cod . Brown , who lives in New Orleans , Louisiana , is an accountant . Her husband is a home renovations contractor . Like many people dealing with a soft real estate market and high food and gas prices , they just don ' t have that kind of extra cash for a trip . "" I have traveled a lot in prior years , but after Hurricane Katrina , there ' s just no money for traveling , "" Brown said . So she still plans to go , but she won ' t spend any cash at all on lodging . Brown has joined the growing ranks of Americans who are bartering trading goods and services without exchanging money as a way to cope with tough economic times . Brown posted an ad in the barter section of the online community Craigslist last month , offering to trade her accounting skills and her husband ' s knack for home repairs in exchange for room and board on Cape Cod , Massachusetts . She has lots of company . There were some 142 , 000 listings in the barter section of Craigslist in July , or almost double the number posted during the same month last year , according to Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best . "" When the economy turns unfriendly , Craigslist users become far more creative to get their everyday tasks done , "" Best said . Swapping ' to get by ' Other Web sites that put Americans in touch with like minded people who are willing to trade everything under the sun have also seen a boost in traffic . SwapThing , which lists almost 3 . 5 million "" things "" available for trade , reports its customers are bartering for different reasons than before . "" I think a few years ago it was more for fun , "" said Jessica Hardwick , SwapThing founder and . "" But we ' ve seen a real shift in the last year , and especially an increase in the last few months , where I think people are really doing it to get by . "" Some of the most popular items to trade for late this summer were school uniforms , which some parents found they could not afford to buy for their children , Hardwick said . Experts aren ' t surprised Americans are becoming more financially creative during an economic downturn . "" Historically , when times get tough , you see a 50 percent plus increase in bartering as a way for people to be able to buy things or get things and do it economically , "" said C . Britt Beemer , chairman of America ' s Research Group . The company talks with thousands of consumers every week to gauge their spending habits and attitudes . A couple of years ago , many Americans had 500 to spend at the end of the month , but that money has evaporated because of rising prices , Beemer said . "" We ' ve never had a time , at least in my lifetime , where you have food and fuel going up at the same time . So it isn ' t a question of buying things , it ' s a question of buying nothing , "" Beemer said . Breast implants and a horse Businesses have long recognized the benefits of bartering , and there are hundreds of barter networks set up across the country to fill their needs . They use barter credits as currency , so a plumber in need of a filling doesn ' t need to search for a dentist ' s office with plumbing problems to make a deal . He can fix a leaky pipe for one member of a network and use the credits he earned for that job at any other . Since all kinds of companies are members , the trades can be all over the map , said Michael Krane , president of Green Apple Barter Services in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . His company has brokered everything from breast implants to college tuition to a horse . "" Really , there are no limits to it . We trade for just about anything you can think of , "" Krane said . Bartering on this scale is also robust in tough economic times . Krane said his exchange has seen a 20 percent rise in barter transaction volume in the first six months of this year . A longtime client is Thomas Forrest , an orthodontist in suburban Pittsburgh who barters his services for everything from office improvements to stationery . His practice hasn ' t been affected by the economic downturn , Forrest said , but some of his patients seem glad to be able to visit him under the barter arrangement . "" I think if you have a business owner who has children in need of braces , I sense a gratitude that that ' s available , "" Forrest said . Barter exchanges must carefully document all trades , since the Internal Revenue Service considers income from bartering as taxable . However , a barter exchange "" does not include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis , "" according to the . In New Orleans , Brown and her husband are getting ready to go to Cape Cod after finding a taker for her bartering offer on Craigslist . The couple will work five hours a day in exchange for staying in "" a beautiful three bedroom house right in the center of it all , "" Brown said . "" We can do a lot more if we don ' t have to pay for room and board , "" she added . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8178862,8863,"It is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world , but it seems St Petersburg is also keen to capitalise on its nightlife . Step in the BarBus Maxi , a converted Ikarus 280 bus that is designed to take groups out for a nocturnal tour of the city , while staging an epic party on board . The former public transport vehicle has everything that could be expected of a raging nightclub , including dance floor , fully stocked bar , screens and even a pole in the centre of the floor . The BarBus Maxi in St Petersburg , Russia , is a former public transport provider transformed into party central The BarBus cruises past St Petersburg landmark the Church Of The Savior On Blood While many party buses are colourful transport or alcohol free , the BarBus is the party destination A young woman on the BarBus Maxi dances to tunes pumped out by the fully loaded sound system ( right ) While a party bus is hardly a new concept , many places forbid drinking on them while others are simply trumped up transport from one club to another . But the BarBus is the destination , says Alexander Berest , the entrepreneur who used his engineering skills to create the ultimate in fun on four wheels after being inspired by a night out on a normal bus . ' We were in a great mood and one of my friends had a guitar which he was playing , ' Berest said . ' The driver was too young to mind us making loud music and the other passengers got involved and we were all singing and dancing . ' As the bus drove through the student ' s area more passengers got on and joined the party , and the idea for the Barbus Maxi was born from there . ' BarBus also boasts leather sofas , a smoke machine , air conditioning and a mirrored ceiling . Inside the BarBus , which boasts high back leather sofas and an elaborate lighting system The lights appear to be a bit much for this reveller , who protects her eyes with star shaped sunglasses The fully equipped bar stands alongside the dancefloor where the poles have a dual purpose A night on the BarBus costs 80 in the week and 110 on the weekend for four hours . Alexander said : ' It took a year and a half to create but the result was worth it as now BarBus is legendary in St Petersburg . ' Next he plans to extend his fleet of party buses , with a retro bus themed around the Swinging Sixties on the agenda . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8188868,8869,"A Democratic Senator decided to close out 2015 by raising a strong awareness of just how bad America s gun violence problem is. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) made a list of every mass shooting, including the number injured or killed, and posted it to his Twitter account. The list can be paged through, with each entry showing the number of injured and dead.Take a few moments and page through the list below. The tragedy that was 2015 becomes quickly apparent.# for my year in review I listed out every single mass shooting in 2015. They're all here: weblink Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 31, 2015While paging through the list, the reality of our problem with guns becomes undeniable to even the most backwards, gun-toting, Tea Party patriot. Contrasted with a nation like Japan, which averages less than 1 gun death per 100,000 people most years (sometimes averaging so low the statistic is virtually zero), you can see that we simply do not have to live with this as a reality of our society.Many of the incidents that were included never made it to the mainstream media, because they were just not sensational enough. Let s think about that for a minute. In Japan, there was a year when 22 shootings occurred. It became a national scandal. In America, if we had a year with 22 gun deaths, the only newsworthy portion of it would be how America solved its problem with gun violence.Senator Murphy added the following comment to his post:In 2015 there were 372 mass shootings incidents where four or more people where shot, including the shooter. I went through each and every one of them onweblink, and tweeted out the stories. In the face of this carnage, there is no excuse for our inaction.Senator Murphy s context is very important. Only incidents where four or more people were shot made his list. There are far more that did not. The total number of shootings for 2015 so far stands at an astounding 52,339, with 13,296 deaths. To add a bit of context to the total, only 1,935 were able to be deemed accidental, which includes most acts of irresponsible use or storage of firearms.Very slowly, things are beginning to change. President Obama has plans, by way of executive order, to increase the requirements for background checks as well as strengthen the requirements for reporting lost or stolen guns. Coupled with California s new initiative allowing state government to seize guns from those deemed a menace to society, 2016 could mark a slight turning point in dominance over gun safety in America.Featured image via senate.gov",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present8198870,8871,"If you live in the South , you probably know not to ask for a mustard based sauce in North Carolina and you ' d never , ever think of using soap on your cast iron skillet . But even if you call some corner of the South "" home , "" you might not know how to properly shuck an oyster , prepare the perfect wedding toast or start a fire . It won ' t be held against you but bless your heart you might consider picking up a copy of "" The Southerner ' s Handbook , "" a new book from the editors of Garden and Gun magazine . With a name inspired by a long gone late night club in the magazine ' s hometown of Charleston , South Carolina "" the Studio 54 of the South , "" as editor David DiBenedetto put it Garden and Gun isn ' t just about gardens or guns . Nor is the magazine and its new book directed solely toward Southerners . More than 40 of the magazine ' s readership is based above the Mason Dixon line , he said . It ' s about the culture , people and places that make the South well Southern , with a strong sense of sophistication the region has earned . "" The Southerner ' s Handbook "" is billed as a "" guide to living the good life "" and features illustrations , tips and tricks to help readers embrace Southern living . Yet despite the magazine ' s predilection for all things Dixie , DiBenedetto says transplants to the South no matter where they hail from can benefit from flipping through the handbook ' s pages . Here ' s what DiBenedetto , a native of Savannah , Georgia , had to say about the book and modern Southern culture . DiBenedetto : The South is a vast place with pockets of culture that are really different from each other . If you ' re in the low country , you better know how to shuck an oyster . If you ' re in the Appalachian mountains , you better know when to find ramps . When it ' s Mardi Gras , you ' re gonna need to know how to avoid any throw up flying off a balcony . There are so many nuances to different parts of the South . So many traditions and passions , there are a lot of great skills that get passed down . The South has an unbelievable natural bounty we ' ve developed a set of skills to address that bounty . DiBenedetto : It means to have pride in place it means to be connected to the land and to understand that land . So much of the book is a bit of tutorial , but it ' s also about telling great stories . It ' s about bringing people to the table , about having conversations . Food is a leveler , and Southern food unites us in so many ways . DiBenedetto : Around here we call it high and low . A Southerner is at home in a shack in the middle of nowhere . . . and at the same time dressed in style in a black tie event . The South is these juxtapositions of high and low . To bridge the gap you have to experience them , you ' ve gotta be open to going to the middle of nowhere to a small shack in Mississippi . You have to be open to experience , open to listen to the folks that have experience , tradition and skills . If you ' re willing to listen and learn , it ' s all there for you . DiBenedetto : There is an unbelievable amount of details and information ( in the book . ) If you ' re at a party and there ' s football on , the book addresses great football rivalries and why they ' re important . You ' ll also learn the difference between mustard and vinegar based sauces . There ' s a lot to take away DiBenedetto : I think it lets you get in on the conversation it lets you in on the party . To understand why the Alabama Auburn game , which has been going on since the late 1800s and was postponed for a number of years because the rivalry was so intense , helps you understand how far football goes back in the South and what it means to football fans . The same way with pepper vinegar versus mustard sauce . It helps understand place , and so much of what the book is about is understanding place and tradition . DiBenedetto : This being such a vast place in terms of different cultures and geography , there ' s plenty to learn . There ' s so much variety in the South and a variety of skill sets , even a Southerner would find plenty to enjoy in the book . DiBenedetto : The go to is "" Bless your heart "" and how that can be said with tone or the way someone cuts theirs eyes . A Southern woman can say so much with the way she cuts her eyes when she says something . There ' s a section of the book where we talk about the proper way to say goodbye . At the end of an evening the host might say "" Well , this has been a fun time . "" It means what it sounds like it ' s been fun , but it ' s over now . While that ' s not very Southern , it ' s the Southern way to say "" Get out of the house . "" DiBenedetto : Seersucker . There ' s a danger of overdoing seersucker , but if you ' ve gotta look stylin ' you can impart just enough Southern sense of style , and it ' s still good for a hot climate . DiBenedetto : Bourbon , proper seating and deviled eggs . DiBenedetto : Food and drink are so important to Southern culture . And understanding why is important . There are great recipes in the book and stories about food . Those two chapters are core . Southerners love to have a good time , they ' re not afraid to have a good time . A lot of that centers around food and drink . We have parties where you bring out your grandmother ' s pimentos cheese or deviled eggs and it ' s about that tradition . Good food and drink leads to great stories . To master some of these basics is to be able to be in the conversation . To know what a cat head biscuit is and know how to make it , to understand why we crave and lust after the perfect fried chicken . Knowing that stuff gets you closer to the traditions and the passions and the people and the land . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8208876,8877,"It ' s game over for San Francisco ' s iconic Candlestick Park . Where once Willie Mays , Barry Bonds , Joe Montana and so many more created magic memories for the city ' s sports fans in spite of it ' s famously blustery winds , heavy machinery is now taking the stadium apart piece by piece . There is no room for sentiment for the demolition crew brought in after a successful public petition against more direct methods , such as dynamite and wrecking balls , extended the wait for the site ' s next incarnation as a 200million ( 130m ) urban outlet mall . The mall will open some time in 2017 , but the rich history of where it will stand is undeniable . Not just a previous home for the ' s San Francisco 49ers and briefly the Oakland Raiders , along with baseball ' s Giants after their move from New York , it hosted what would be The Beatles ' last full live concert . Scroll down to watch Incredible time lapse of San Francisco 49ers new stadium build Workers demolish a section of stadium seats inside Candlestick Park , San Francisco , once home to San Francisco ' s Giants and 49ers The ' red zone ' sign remains , for now , as The Stick is demolished in a process that is expected to take up to three months The ' s 49ers were the last professional franchise to call the park home having stayed there from 1971 to 2013 Orange chairs the ones not sold to collectors for 649 a pair are ruthlessly ripped from the stands by diggers and the turf torn up in a process that is set to take up to three months to complete . Developer Lennar Urban , along with partner and mall owner Macerich Corp , have plans in place for a 500 , 000 square foot mall on a site that will also include 6 , 225 homes , 635 , 000 square feet of shops and 220 hotel rooms . Crew at the stadium wear orange but it ' s no homage to the Giants , just safety vests . The Loma Prieta earthquake measuring 7 . 1 on the Richter Scale on October 17 , 1989 , minutes before game three of the World Series was supposed to start , couldn ' t fell Candlestick Park . The stadium was credited with saving lives that day , with no one inside injured . But massive excavators are making short work of it . Unimaginative but lasting catch phrases are a lasting legacy of ' The Stick ' , named after its Candlestick Point location in the Bayview Heights area on the west shore of San Francisco Bay It ' s home to ' The Catch ' , the 1982 heroics of Dwight Clark , who clutched Montana ' s match winning touchdown pass against the Dallas Cowboys to lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl . It was the first of eight Championship games there . The seats that weren ' t sold to collectors for 649 a pair are ruthlessly ripped up during the demolition of Candlestick Park An orange pile of chairs ready for recycling is crushed by machinery as the site is prepared for a 200m urban outlet mall Candlestick Park was first opened in 1960 to be the home of San Francisco Giants baseball team after they moved from New York Two more great plays are remembered as The Catch and Terrell Owens ' receipt of a Steve Young pass in the 1998 Wild Card round for a touchdown with eight seconds on the clock to beat the Green Bay Packers and Vernon Davis ' grab from Alex Smith with nine seconds left for the win over the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 Divisional Playoffs . Originally opened in 1960 , The Stick was built to be the home of Major League Baseball ' s San Francisco Giants and was the first ' modern ' baseball stadium given it was built entirely from concrete . With then vice president Richard Nixon throwing out the first pitch on opening day , it was home to two All Star Games in 1961 and 1984 and the 1962 and 1989 World Series . The stands are being torn down piece by piece after a community petition fought against the potential impact of dust from more direct methods A worker wears the orange colour of the Giants but it ' s no homage to the team , just a high visibility safety vest A pile of stadium seats sits in an empty section inside Candlestick Park on February 4 as the destruction of the stadium continues A United States flag flops on a pile of broken pallets and trash outside the stadium Broken stadium seats are bound for recycling after being torn from the venue of The Beatles ' final live concert The tunnel that visiting team ' s once entered the arena from is now framed by bald stands after the distinctive seats were removed While sporting battles were won and lost at the venue , Candlestick Park has never looked as much like a war zone as this The former playing field of Candlestick Park is also being ripped up as the foundations for the urban outlet mall and apartments are prepared The Giants stayed until their move to Pacific Bell Park ( now T Park ) in 2000 , perhaps facing the also former New York based side the Dodgers in the final baseball game there , leaving the 49ers as The Stick ' s sole occupants . The 49ers ' time there stretched from 1971 to 2013 , before they went to Levi ' s Stadium in Santa Clara , with their final match there their 36th for Monday Night Football the most of any ground . The 34 24 win over the Atlanta Falcons was dubbed The Pick At The Stick by pundits . It ' s not been confirmed whether there will be any remnants of The Stick once the development is complete , in the vein of Arsenal ' s former home at Highbury where the facade was retained at the front of apartments , but the memories will live on . Legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana runs with the ball during the 1984 Championship Game at Candlestick Park Montana ( right ) takes a knee to speak with Niners head coach Bill Walsh in the match against the Chicago Bears , which they won 23 0 Superstar outfielder Willie Mays moved with the Giants from New York to San Francisco as they took up residence at The Stick The scoreboard displays the message ' Tell it Goodbye to Candlestick Park ' after the Giants final match at the stadium against the Dodgers ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8218891,8892,"— Like many presidents before him, President Trump is pushing a bold budget proposal. But for a business executive used to getting his way, he is likely to find, as his predecessors did, that final budgets often bear little resemblance to the originals after being run through the shredder on Capitol Hill. Here is a look at some of the main issues hanging over the coming budget and spending fight. Taking the ax to the Environmental Protection Agency or to State Department aid programs may excite Mr. Trump’s supporters, but he is unlikely to succeed to the extent he would like. His budget is simply a starting point and any cuts would have to be made through the congressional appropriations process. Though in the minority, Democrats retain significant leverage in crafting that legislation and can block bills they oppose in the Senate. “Enacting appropriations law — as opposed to proposing nonbinding budget resolutions — will likely require Democratic votes,” Representative Nita Lowey of New York, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, noted tartly on Monday. It is doubtful cuts of the kind being proposed will fly. Presidential budgets are important as statements of policy and budgetary goals. They stand mainly as political manifestoes of what the White House hopes to achieve — and would do if it had its own way. The Trump administration’s budget also serves as a message to those who supported the new president that he intends to follow through on his campaign promises to cut government spending, even while bolstering the military. Mr. Trump can point to his budget as an illustration of what he had wanted to do before Congress got in his way. And while the unveiling of a budget draws a lot of media attention, the failure to meet many of its goals months or years later seldom produces anywhere near as much news coverage. Military spending remains popular and touches every state and most House districts, giving lawmakers ample incentive to support it. President Barack Obama had proposed his own spending increases. But Democrats have insisted that any increase in Pentagon spending must be matched by higher spending on domestic programs that they favor. The Trump budget, instead, seeks to raise military spending and offset the increases with cuts to domestic programs — an approach most Democrats and some Republicans will resist. At the same time, some conservative House Republicans have previously balked at Pentagon increases, arguing that they are wasteful. Then there is Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Armed Services Committee and argues the White House is not seeking enough new money for the military. Some higher Pentagon spending is possible, but it is unclear it will be enough to satisfy Mr. Trump or Republican hawks. And it won’t come easily. Republicans certainly hope so. They will try to keep as much pressure on Democrats as possible. One strategic approach Republicans are likely to embrace is to move first on a Pentagon spending bill with added spending and then dare Senate Democrats to oppose it, attacking them for shortchanging the military. If Democrats relent and approve the bill, they will sacrifice some of their political influence over the rest of the budget. Top Democrats say their success or failure will depend on a willingness to remain united in their budget position. The party did so last year and successfully derailed the appropriations process. But they are worried about their ability to do so again this year with 10 Senate Democrats up for in 2018 in states won by Mr. Trump. Yes. In recent years, Congress has failed miserably when it comes to passing annual spending bills — the most basic responsibility of lawmakers — and has instead relied on a series of stopgap measures. Last year, the House and Senate sent Mr. Obama just one of the 12 required annual appropriations measures. The government is now running under a temporary funding bill called a continuing resolution, which expires on April 28. Given the level of budget discord, it is conceivable the government will run the entire fiscal year ending Sept. 30 at last year’s spending level. That possibility illustrates the fundamental problem for Mr. Trump. Budget priorities are enacted through the appropriations bills. Passing appropriations bills requires some level of bipartisan cooperation. As budget details emerge, it appears Mr. Trump’s spending plan will not elicit much Democratic support, severely limiting his chances of success. This fight is more between Mr. Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Mr. Trump promised repeatedly during his campaign to leave those huge programs untouched, reassuring his voters who rely on them. Congressional Republicans, notably Speaker Paul D. Ryan, have in the past proposed significant structural changes to the programs — particularly Medicare — to win real budget savings. If such entitlement programs are left out of the equation, more dollars have to be squeezed from agency budgets, setting up the fight over federal priorities likely to consume Congress later this year.",true,news,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8228936,8937,"Pilot of Russian plane downed by Turkey buried with military honours A Russian pilot killed after his plane was shot down by a Turkish jet last week was buried in the Russian city of Lipetsk on Wednesday with military honours , after being posthumously given the country ' s highest military award . People lay flowers by the portrait of Oleg Peshkov , a Russian pilot of the downed 24 jet , in Lipetsk , Russia , December 2 , 2015 . Maxim Zmeyev The coffin of the pilot killed when Turkey shot down a Russian jet is seen in a Turkish Air Force plane as its carried from Hatay to Ankara , Turkey , November 29 , 2015 . Turkish Chief of Staff Handout via Reuters , Russia : A Russian pilot killed after his plane was shot down by a Turkish jet last week was buried in the Russian city of Lipetsk on Wednesday with military honours , after being posthumously given the country ' s highest military award . The downing of Oleg Peshkov ' s plane on Nov . 24 near the Syrian Turkish border has triggered a tense standoff between Russia and member Turkey and Moscow has imposed a raft of economic sanctions on Ankara in retaliation . Russian defence officials said Peshkov managed to eject from his stricken plane only to be killed by ground fire from militants inside Syria . His navigator survived , but a Russian marine was killed during the rescue mission . Fellow air force officers carried the coffin with Peshkov ' s body to his grave in a snow swept cemetery in Lipetsk , some 450 kilometres ( 279 . 62 miles ) south of Moscow , a Reuters photographer at the funeral reported . Peshkov ' s family stood by the coffin , which was wrapped in Russia ' s tricolour flag , and paid their final respects . Wreaths were clustered around the grave . Turkish officials say the Russian Su 24 fighter bomber violated their country ' s air space after being repeatedly warned to change course . Moscow disputes that strongly , saying the aircraft was over Syria , where Russia is carrying out an air campaign backing Syrian President Bashar al Assad in a protracted civil war . Peshkov was named a Hero of the Russian Federation after his death and the award was given to his wife during a ceremony on Tuesday . Lipetsk residents also attended a memorial service for Peshkov on Wednesday and left flowers in his memory at a monument in the city . ( Reporting by Maxim Zmeev Writing by Alexander Winning Editing by Andrew Osborn ) ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8238939,8940,"The world of Formula One may seem an unlikely source of inspiration for a major carbon cutting initiative , but technology used for coordinating pit stops is primed to slash emissions from airports across the globe . According to Britain ' s National Air Traffic Services ( ) , more than half the planes landing at London ' s Heathrow airport are stuck in circles overhead often for 20 minutes at a time as they wait for its congested runways to clear . says the carbon cost of this pile up in the sky is an estimated 600 tons a day . And this is where McLaren , the hugely successful Formula One team behind former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button , have come in with an unexpected solution . Over the years the company has developed modeling software to analyze live racing data and visualize a range of potential scenarios allowing pit crews to make strategic decisions in the blink of an eye all in an effort to get their cars back out onto the racetrack milliseconds ahead of their competitors . It ' s this ground level tracking technology that could hold the key to unlocking congestion , reducing CO2 emissions by streamlining the way aircraft make their own pit stops once they ' ve landed dropping off passengers , refueling and departing again with F1 efficiency . This similarity between a motor race and an airport runway was first observed by Peter Tomlinson , head of aviation data solutions at , while attending a workshop on cross industry collaboration at McLaren ' s technology center three years ago . "" It became clear that the pit stop in a race track , with cars coming in , changing tyres and refueling and going out again actually is pretty similar to an aircraft arriving at the airport , parking at the gate , passengers getting off , refueling and going out , "" said the air traffic veteran , who has over 30 years experience in the industry . The beauty of McLaren ' s system is that it reduces the complexity of a racetrack into a circle "" so at the point of decision , presentation of the data is very simple , which allows the engineer in a very stressful environment to make the right strategic decision and also see the data in a very clear , crisp format , "" said Tomlinson . For the last three years has been working with McLaren ' s engineers to map Heathrow ' s taxiways and runways much as they do a Formula One track . But now , says Tomlinson , in place of a race strategist the system is operated by Heathrow ' s air traffic control , and instead of a circle the airport ' s network of runways and taxi lanes are represented by a simple rectangle enabling planes to be guided around the airport with greater ease and accuracy once they ' ve landed . The collaboration has been "" groundbreaking "" according to Geoff McGrath , managing director of McLaren Applied Technologies the F1 team ' s tech division . "" To my knowledge this is a first has invested in this because there is nothing like it available , "" he added . The system is now in its "" proof of concept "" stage and hopes are high that it will be used by airports around the world within a year . "" Think in terms of the environmental benefits of that , "" enthused Tomlinson . "" Large airports with about 1300 to 1400 flights a day if you save just one minute of taxi time per flight on average , that equates to one day ' s worth of taxi time and that ' s how much we could save using McLaren ' s technology . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present8248940,8941,"Donald Trump is again under fire from allegations of misbehavior on the topic of sexual conduct on the set of his reality show, The Apprentice. Trump has increasingly been criticized for his actions with women, as they have come forward one-by-one making claims that the Republican presidential nominee forced himself on them.The latest claim, uncovered by The Daily Beast, involves Trump s failure to act.Oscar nominee Gary Busey allegedly sexually assaulted a female Apprentice employee during his time on the show, five Apprentice employees tell The Daily Beast. Donald Trump knew about the incident, laughed it off, and kept Busey on his series, these staffers said.Multiple Apprentice employees, including the alleged victim herself, told The Daily Beast that the Academy-Award-nominated actor grabbed one of their colleagues firmly between [the] legs during the 2011 season of Celebrity Apprentice. Busey also forcibly put the female staffer s hand on the crotch of his pants. The alleged incident, which they say took place during a location shoot in SoHo in New York City, prompted a firestorm among members of the Apprentice crew.The report comes as the Trump campaign has begun a public relations offensive featuring Trump s current wife, Melania. She appeared on several outlets and claimed that the women coming forward to accuse her husband were all lying. Melania Trump also claimed that the audio tape in which Trump joked about sexually assaulting women was simply a matter of the 59-year-old Trump acting like a boy and being egged on by Access Hollywood host Billy Bush.Newly released polls show that a majority of woman voters do not take such a charitable view of Trump s actions, and instead are overwhelmingly choosing Hillary Clinton as their candidate. Clinton is even winning a plurality of support with married women, previously a weak spot for Democratic candidates.Featured image via YouTube",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past8258947,8948,"Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha has lifted the lid on his difficult time at Manchester Untied . Zaha , tipped as one of English football ' s brightest prospects at the time , was signed from Palace by former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in January 2013 for a fee believed to be around 15 million . But he was loaned straight back to The Eagles for the remainder of the season and did not arrive at Old Trafford until the following summer , by which time Ferguson had retired and been replaced by David Moyes . Zaha was signed by former Manchester Untied manager Sir Alex Ferguson for around 15m in January 2013 ' Sir Alex obviously saw something in me and that ' s why he brought me to United . But I never got to be coached by him . I signed and by the time I came back ( from the loan spell at Palace ) , he had left . That was weird , ' Zaha told The Sun . The forward was a peripheral figure under Moyes , used sparingly and sometimes out of position . And the lack of first team opportunities afforded to him , coupled with the stresses of moving to Manchester alone , proved frustrating for the youngster . ' I had a lot to deal with living on my own in Manchester . It was lonely . It wasn ' t the best , ' he said , ' If you ' re not playing , you ' re not happy . ' After failing to make an impact under Moyes , Zaha was loaned to Cardiff City for the second half of last season . Although life off the pitch improved at Cardiff , with one of Zaha ' s brothers making the move to the Welsh capital to keep him company , the forward ' s form did not , as he contributed just one assist in 11 games . Zaha found first team opportunities hard to come by at United and has been loaned back to Crystal Palace Zaha returned to Palace again at the start of this season on another loan deal and could yet rejoin The Eagles permanently in the summer . The 22 year old has been given a new lease of life under Palace boss Alan Pardew and is working hard towards rediscovering the sort of of form that led United to sign him two years ago . For now , though , Zaha remains focused simply on playing regular , first team football and will leave any decisions on his future until the end of the season . ' I ' m not ruling anything in or out . I ' m just going to play , ' he said . The 22 year old forward is working hard to rediscover the form that led Untied to sign him in the first place ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8268955,8956,"Miami State investigators concluded there were "" no safety threats "" at the home of a 10 year old girl two days before she was found dead in her adoptive father ' s pick up truck near her seriously ill twin brother , according to a report released Monday by Florida child welfare authorities . Both of the twins ' adoptive parents mother Carmen Barahona and father Jorge Barahona are charged with first degree murder in the girl ' s death . They also each face seven counts of aggravated child abuse and seven counts of child neglect , with the mother being so charged Saturday and the father charged on all the counts Monday . James Loftus , director of the Miami Dade Police Department , told reporters Monday that the girl died and the boy was found only after an extended period of "" systemic long term abuse . "" "" This is , in my experience , one of the saddest commentaries on the human condition that I ' ve ever seen , "" Loftus said , calling the parents ' alleged behavior "" subhuman . "" "" It ' s depressing , it ' s sickening . "" Jorge Barahona earlier pleaded not guilty on charges of attempted first degree murder with a weapon and aggravated child abuse with a weapon in the case . Days before the twins were found , the Florida Department of Children and Families received tips alleging poor treatment of children at the Barahona household in Miami Dade County . Records indicate a 7 year old also lived in the home . One caller on February 10 claimed that the 10 year old girl and another child had been "" tied by their hands and feet with tape , and made to stay in the bathtub all day and night as a form of punishment , "" with the tape removed only so they could eat , according to a copy of the report released Monday . Then , on February 12 , authorities began looking into another claim that one of the Barahonas ' children needed stitches after being hurt on the face and lip . Carmen Barahona applied a bandage but didn ' t take the child to the hospital . The mother said the child fell though the report notes that "" the injury is not consistent with the story . "" Investigators went to the home and late that night filed a report , in which they did not find any reasons for concern for the children ' s well being . "" There is no reason to believe that the family is about to flee or refuse access to the children , "" investigator Bridget Moore said in the "" initial in home safety assessment "" report . "" The home was observed , and there were no hazardous conditions . "" The report concluded with an assessment that the risk to the children was "" moderate , "" with no risk of abuse . "" There are no concerns for the safety of the children while in the care of the parents , "" the investigator writes . Two days later , on February 14 , authorities say Jorge Barahona parked his pest control truck alongside I 95 . A roadside ranger said he found Barahona beside the truck and his adopted son ill inside the vehicle , which was filled with toxic chemicals . The boy was taken to a hospital to be treated for severe burns . The body of the Barahonas ' adopted daughter , Nubia who was the boy ' s twin sister was later discovered in the back of the truck in a plastic bag . The Florida Department of Children and Families held its fourth of five scheduled meetings Monday afternoon to examine how authorities had handled the case . In one instance , a caller told Florida authorities that he knew the Barahonas , and he was worried about the couple ' s twins . The contents of that phone call , which was made two days before the twins were found , was released last week by the department . The caller said he was worried that something sinister had happened to the 10 year old girl because the Barahonas could not explain where the girl was . "" ( Jorge Barahona ) doesn ' t come out with a straight answer , which is worrying me so much that something might have happened to that little girl , "" said the caller , who was not named . During Monday ' s press conference , Katherine Fernandez Rundle the state attorney for Miami Dade said the surviving children in the Barahonas ' home "" clearly are key witnesses "" in the case , describing their cooperation with investigators thus far as "" very courageous . "" Rundle said a decision hasn ' t been made yet on whether prosecutors would seek a death sentence in this case , though she signalled that this scenario appeared likely . "" If there ever was a case that the death penalty would apply , it would seem to apply to this one , "" she said . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8278965,8966,"The Capitol Theatre in downtown Wheeling , , will host a tour de force performance by one of broadcast journalism ' s most polarizing hawk beaked figures in "" An Evening With Nancy Grace As Jan Brady . "" Grace will relive some of Jan ' s most painful adolescent angst and focuses on how an adult Jan would cope with family , relationships and the voices , oh the tormenting voices , in her head . "" Most dazzling one person stage performance I ' ve seen since Sir Ian McKellan as Yogi Berra , "" said theater critic Buster Olney of Broadway . Feeling victimized is required but applause is optional . Parents are advised not to bring middle children with anxiety issues , and those easily offended by preachy know it alls with rabid personalities should consider waiting in the lobby . "" This is about victims ' rights . Jan was a victim . She was victimized by her family , her friends , society , her school , creepy cousin Oliver , Peter ' s look a like , and especially her sister Marcia , "" Grace said in a brief telephone interview before heading off to defend herself in a class action libel lawsuit brought by "" a bunch of potato chip eating potheads sitting around on a couch . "" Good As News was able to obtain a script from a past performance of the show at The Wooden Leg Pub in Stout , Ohio . Some of the monologue includes : Nancy Jan will recall some of her unpleasant encounters with Sam the butcher when he offered her a popsicle . She will address him directly . "" I will not allow you to take me into that freezer like you did with Elizabeth Smart and take my dignity away from me , your sick , perverted , old pedophile , "" said Nancy Jan . "" Would you like me to introduce you to this meat cleaver ? "" A side of beef appears as Sam . Nancy Jan also will talk about how Peter "" took more than a brotherly interest in me . "" "" I was pretty sure I was still a virgin , "" she said . "" Peter kept asking me to go to the ' Malt Shop ' with him . Finally , I agreed to go with him and it turned out to be an old , abandoned Dairy Queen , and he said to me , ' Hey babe , let ' s swing . ' "" I immediately refused his advances . I told him , ' I be used by my brother , or brothers , or cousin Oliver . This is not a Florida trailer park . Incest is not groovy and I plan to obtain an out of court settlement to prove it ! ' "" Nancy Jan said she never wanted to go to Westdale High , but instead preferred to attend a performing arts school and become the next Goldie Hawn . "" I was a victim of gender discrimination , "" she said . "" My parents wanted me to grow up to be soft and cuddly , marry some loser , be a stay at home wife and do ' made for movies ' with Marcia and her husband . "" I told them ' You will not keep me medicated like The Ultimate Warrior . I will break free of my demons , becoming healthy emotionally and physically ! ' "" An adult Jan is more confident in herself , more demanding that they do the right thing instead of blaming everything on Jan . "" Yes , this my business . Marcia is on drugs , mom , and she is not a fit parent , "" said Nancy Jan , speaking directly to her mother . "" This isn ' t pimple cream we ' re talking about . She ' s swallowing Percocets like Bit O Honeys . She has Casey Anthony written all over her . "" You need to call children ' s services and have those kids taken away from her right now . I don ' t care if they are in their 30s . "" A blonde shag wig appears as Carol Brady . Tickets for the May 29 show are 159 . 95 for middle children , 79 . 95 for adults and 49 . 95 for normal children . ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past8288966,8967,"Andre and Korisha Shipley were still mourning the death of their 17 year old son , Jesse , when two months after his funeral , they received shocking news from students of the same Staten Island , New York , high school Jesse had attended . Members of a forensic science club on a field trip to the morgue couldn ' t believe what they noticed on a cabinet in the medical examiner ' s lab . "" They saw this jar with a brain in it labeled Jesse Shipley , "" recalls Korisha Shipley , whose daughter Shannon came home in tears that day delivering the news . "" They knew Jesse and he knew them . They were looking at his brain , and his brain was looking right back at them , "" the father adds . Jesse Shipley died in a car accident in January 2005 , and the family members say that even though they agreed to an autopsy , they thought they were burying their son with all of his organs . To them , the cause of death was obvious blunt trauma resulting from a car accident so there was no reason for authorities to have kept the brain for further review . The couple are now suing the city for the emotional distress caused by the handling of their son ' s remains . "" As far as we understand , during an autopsy you cut open the body , you look for the cause of death , you check out the organs and you put them back in . In this case , it was a little more than that , "" Andre Shipley says . Dr Victor Weedn , a forensic pathologist and a spokesperson for the National Association of Medical Examiners , says determining cause of death is not as simple as people think . He says it is common practice for medical examiners in the U . S . to save the brain and certain other organs when they think it ' s important . "" To say someone died of a motor vehicle accident , doesn ' t really tell us anything , "" Weedn explains . "" For example , if a passenger in the backseat was epileptic , their fit could have distracted the driver and led to the death . So , from the outside it may not be so obvious why the person actually died . "" Weedn says the brain is preserved for at least two weeks in a formula that firms the matter enough for the coroner to examine it , a process necessary to rule out suspicion and to maintain evidence for cases when the death is determined to be the result of criminal activity . He says the deceased is often buried within that time period . "" We have a certain authority to investigate death for public health and public safety reasons . That is a right pitted against the individual right , and sometimes that does upset families , "" he explains . Others , such as University of Pennsylvania medical ethicist Art Caplan , disagree . He says most people recognize the duty of medical examiners to rule out crime , but that does not justify keeping organs . "" The state says we ' re going to take this body and examine it to see what might have happened , but we promise you , we ' ll give everything back , "" Caplan says . "" When you don ' t do that , you ' re breaking a basic covenant with society and with families . "" The College of American Pathologists provides a sample autopsy consent form on its website . According to the form , the consenter authorizes "" the removal , examination , and retention of organs . . . . as the pathologists deem proper for diagnostic , education , quality improvement and research purposes . "" However , the form also states that "" organs and tissues not needed for diagnostic , education , quality improvement , or research purposes will be sent to the funeral home or disposed of appropriately . "" According to Caplan , the laws are clear about what a medical examiner should do , but there is little oversight in the industry . He says in situations where an autopsy has been performed and a bereaved family is concerned whether all the remains have been returned , it is usually up to the family to ask . Court documents from the Shipley case indicate that medical examiners have extensive , but not unlimited , discretionary authority . The trial court "" found that questions of fact existed with regard to whether Jesse ' s brain had been lawfully retained for scientific purposes , and whether the defendants unlawfully interfered . . . by failing to advise the family at the time the body was released for burial that the brain had been removed and retained . "" But , Weedn says approaching the family with this information is an area where even some medical examiners disagree . "" Some forensic pathologists would say going to the family and asking , ' Can I keep this ? ' would further upset them at a time of grieving , "" he explains . "" But , there are others who say we really should be asking the family every time . "" Still , Weedn says , in some circumstances it is not beneficial to ask family , because the person of you ask permission could potentially be connected to the cause of death . "" It ' s all about trust , "" says Rebecca Skloot , author of the book , "" The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks , "" which explores the history of tissue research in the United States . In her opinion , cases such as the Shipleys ' contribute to a growing mistrust in the medical system . "" People worry things are being done to them without their knowledge , and so they don ' t trust doctors , "" Skloot explains . "" It doesn ' t matter if you take it out and put on your shelf or send it off to do research , it ' s still taking something without people ' s knowledge . "" Perhaps what ' s most extraordinary in the Jesse Shipley case is that the family did find out through the serendipitous field trip students from Jesse ' s high school took the morgue . Dr Cyril H . Wecht , a forensic pathologist and attorney who reviews cases like these but is not involved in the Shipley case , says the medical examiner was right to take out the brain for investigation but was wrong to openly display Shipley ' s name on it . "" You ' re talking about a matter of sensitivity and common sense , "" Wecht says . "" Certainly if you ' re going to have student visitors , then you should not have names and numbers available to see . "" The Shipleys ' attorney , Marvin Ben Aron , says not only the brain , but parts of the liver and testes were later returned and buried in a small casket with their son ' s body . He says handling the remains was the most traumatizing aspect for the family . "" For them , whenever they remember their child , part of their memory is holding a jar of organs in their hands that they never should have known existed , "" he explains . He is hoping for a settlement during their October 27 court date . "" I feel bad for those people who found out in the past and even worse for those who never will , "" Andre Shipley says . "" We buried our son , and then two months after we had chunks of him coming back to us . This is not the way it ' s supposed to be . "" ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8298972,8973,"While the United States has as one of its presumptive party nominees a raging bigot who clearly hates Muslim individuals, even going so far as to say that if he were to become president he would ban Muslims from entering the nation, London has just elected a Muslim mayor.Now that Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, he has some very choice words for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.Khan, being the son of Pakistani immigrants himself, is none to pleased with Trump s divisive rhetoric surrounding the Islamic faith. And it s true that if the United States is to embody freedom, especially religious freedom, Trump needs to be educated on what that actually is, and Khan seems more than willing to provide that education.Half joking, Khan said: I ll need to rush to come to America before November, because if Trump wins, I ll be banned from coming. But in an interview with Time magazine, he was much more serious with his remarks. If Donald Trump becomes the president, I ll be stopped from going there by virtue of my faith, which means I can t engage with American mayors and swap ideas. Conservative tacticians thought those sorts of tactics would win London and they were wrong. I m confident that Donald Trump s approach to politics won t win in America. In yet another interview, after hearing Trump congratulated him on his victory, Khan said: My point to Donald Trump is, don t make an exception for me. Reconsider your views on Islam. Driving the point home, also hoping to educate Trump, Khan told BBC: This isn t just about me. It s about my friends, my family and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world. Imagine if the world were to judge all Americans by the words and actions of Donald Trump. That s exactly what Trump does when he judges an entire religion by an extremist few who claim they are of the Islamic faith, but yet clearly are just sociopaths.Trump s rhetoric is not only bad for the United States, it s bad for the entire world. How is a man, who wants to be leader of the free world, supposed to do so by condemning all people of the world s second largest religion?Watch some of Khan s comments here:Featured image via video screen capture Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present8308974,8975,"Solving the mystery of how 900 year old African coins ended up in remote Australia could not only recast the history of foreign contact Down Under , but shed light on Aboriginal rock art . How the ancient Kilwa coins , believed to date from about 1100 , came to be discovered on the Wessels Islands off the Northern Territory in 1944 has long posed questions about foreign visits to far off Australian shores . Australian Ian McIntosh , a professor of anthropology at Indiana University Purdue University in the United States , said rock art found on the islands which includes one image which appears to show a type of European sailing vessel could hold some clues . The Kilwa coins were discovered lying in the sand by Royal Australian Air Force radar operator Maurie Isenberg during World War Isenberg initially tried to sell the coins but was unsuccessful . He put them away for decades and it wasn ' t until 1979 that he sent them to a museum for identification ' A big part of the next stage will be documenting , dating and interpreting ( the art ) , together with indigenous peoples , ' McIntosh told from his home in Indiana . The Kilwa coins were discovered lying in the sand by Royal Australian Air Force radar operator Maurie Isenberg during World War when he was stationed on the island as the Pacific conflict raged . He found nine coins in all , five African copper pieces and four Dutch coins of European origin which are not nearly as old . Isenberg initially tried to sell the coins but was unsuccessful . He put them away for decades and it wasn ' t until 1979 that he sent them to a museum for identification , along with a map showing where he had found them . McIntosh said there were several theories on the coins , including that they were washed ashore after a shipwreck . The coins believed to have originated in the medieval sultanate of Kilwa have led to speculation that parts of northern Australia were visited by other mariners from as far away as the Middle East and Africa One explanation could be that a known Indonesian , a shipwreck survivor who lived his life on the Wessels Islands , could have brought the coins to the area European sailors are known to have sailed the coast of Australia in the 1600s , but it wasn ' t until captain James Cook landed in Sydney ' s Botany Bay in 1770 that the British laid claim to the country . The coins believed to have originated in the medieval sultanate of Kilwa , an area which is now in Tanzania have led to speculation that parts of northern Australia were visited by other mariners from as far away as the Middle East and Africa . As McIntosh wrote in a recent paper for the journal ' Australian Folklore ' , in terms of the chain of events in the discovery , ' the argument for the involvement of Kilwa traders and also the Portuguese is quite compelling ' . He notes the sea route from Kilwa in east Africa to Oman and then onto India , Malaysia and Australia ' s close neighbour Indonesia was well established by the 1500s and probably for many hundreds of years before that . The coins were found on a beach on the Wessel Islands . The islands , pictured here at marker A , are off the coast of the Northern Territory of Australia . They were a key strategic position during the Second World War Aboriginal Australians are thought to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Malay Archipelago between 40 , 000 and 60 , 000 years ago . However , the first known landing in Australia by Europeans was by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606 . Other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century , and dubbed the continent ' New Holland . ' In 1770 , British explorer Captain James Cook explored the east coast of Australia . The British penal colony was then first established at Botany Bay in January 1788 . During the following century , the British established other colonies on the continent . This reduced the number of indigenous Australians because of conflict with the colonists and new diseases bought over from Europe . Australia fought with the British during both world wars . McIntosh said a number of his team felt the coins had simply been washed ashore but admitted ' we ' re still toying with a whole bunch of ideas here ' . The academic said one explanation could be that a known Indonesian , a shipwreck survivor who lived his life on the Wessels Islands , could have brought the coins to the area . The coins , he speculates , may have represented this man ' s ' worldly wealth ' . McIntosh said an expedition he led in July to the site where the coins were discovered , which involved an intensive search in the harsh terrain , had not uncovered any further coins . ' Over the past couple of years , we ' ve developed a whole series of hypotheses to explain how those coins might have got from East Africa to northern Australia , ' he said . ' The whole point of this initial site survey was to try and get enough evidence to push us in particular directions . ' What the researchers did uncover was the Aboriginal rock art and some potential evidence of shipwrecks a not unlikely proposition given the dangerous reefs off the islands in the form of a six foot piece of timber from a boat . McIntosh said the scientists would work with indigenous people to look at the art and see whether it matches any known ship types , adding that there were multiple stories of interaction in the past with ' different people black and white from somewhere else , not Aboriginal . ' For now the mystery remains . ' These coins probably remained in circulation for a couple of hundred years but only in the vicinity of East Africa , beyond that they didn ' t have value , ' McIntosh said , adding that other coins of this type had only been found in Zimbabwe and Oman . ' Nowhere else in the world have they been found , except for northern Australia , "" said McIntosh . "" Very unusual . That ' s had everybody puzzled . ' Australian scientist and professor at Indiana University , Ian McIntosh , points to the location where the copper coins were found ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8318984,8985,"London protesters oppose airstrikes on in In an article for Huffington Post , Mr McCluskey who endorsed Mr Corbyn ' s bid for the leadership but has since criticised his performance made clear that he thought David Cameron ' s plan to extend air strikes from Iraq to Syria was "" illegal and irrational "" . But he must persuade some sceptical members in his own ruling Conservative Party and others in Labour , which is deeply divided on the subject after its leader , veteran anti war campaigner , Jeremy Corbyn said he was opposed to the strikes . A survey ordered by Mr Corbyn received 107 , 875 responses , of which 64 , 771 were confirmed as full individual Labour Party members . The remainder included affiliated supporters and registered supporters . "" We are very much opposed to David Cameron ' s plans to have a vote in Parliament to bomb Syria "" . "" I do not believe the Prime Minister ' s current proposal for airstrikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore can not support it "" , Corbyn told party colleagues in a letter sent Thursday evening . And the sample itself that the party has chosen to examine is random , not representative . His Syrian counterpart , Walid Mouallem , welcomed the first statement , while adding that it would mean "" a radical change in the way they ' re tackling the Syrian crisis "" . But with support for air strikes headed by shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and deputy leader Tom Watson and even leadership loyalist John McDonnell calling for a free vote Mr Corbyn appears to have had no choice but to back down . "" I think public opinion is moving towards us in opposing the rush to war , that ' s why so many right wing newspapers and commentators are opposed to the Syrian airstrikes "" , she said . The latter risks a furious backlash from some members of his shadow cabinet , says political correspondent Ben Wright , and could derail the government ' s hopes of holding a vote within days . The Prime Minister said all MPs would have to make their minds up "" when the choice comes "" . Wherever the day ends , we will keep you updated with all the latest developments here . Under the United Kingdom ' s Operation "" Shader "" program , which is the codename for the British participation in the ongoing military campaign against , the government has deployed 500 military personnel to train Iraqi government and Kurdish forces . "" It may be that the shadow cabinet decides to have a free vote on this and allow people to express their views "" , he told Radio Scotland ' s Good Morning Scotland . "" There has been no challenge to Jeremy Corbyn ' s leadership "" , a Labour spokesman said in response to the report . Aavash brought the Leytonstone and Wanstead Labour Party banner to the protest . A meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party , a large proportion of which is believed to be considering backing military action , will follow the shadow cabinet gathering . His decision averts the threat of a mass shadow cabinet walkout , while making it clear that his own firmly held opposition to airstrikes is official Labour party policy , backed by the membership . He has also written to activists asking for their views on military action in Syria sparking accusations that he is trying to use his grassroots powerbase to "" bounce "" the shadow cabinet into submission . Labour ' s position could on the issue could be crucial because the Government may struggle to gain a majority in Parliament to authorise strikes on account of a bloc of Tory MPs being opposed to action . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8328988,8989,"President Trump referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Justin from Canada during his speech to the military at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy. I m trying to figure out who s in that helicopter that s coming in It may be Prime Minister Abe. It may be Justin from Canada. Great people. We made a lot of good friends this week. His comment caused a stir on twitter with some tweeting that it sounded like he was referring to the pop singer Justin Bieber: Reporter John Roberts of News and others tweeted out: ",fake,dataset,test,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present8338994,8995,"If you were to take one line of dialogue in a film of 2013 to represent the year ' s mood , it would be from Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup in "" 12 Years a Slave . "" The abducted freeman shackled into bondage is plainspoken and eloquent : "" I don ' t want to survive , I want to live ! "" "" American Hustle "" may be the title of David O . Russell ' s satire of con artists ( Christian Bale and Amy Adams ) aiding federal agents to carry out the Abscam sting , but it ' s also a dominant theme in American films of 2013 . If you think hustle in its various meanings the swindler and the determined then just about every character driven film did the hustle . Occupying the amoral lowlands , there is Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in "" The Wolf of Wall Street "" and the title figure in "" The Great Gatsby , "" living large the mansions ! the boats ! the planes ! by defrauding the little people . There is Alec Baldwin as the Bernard Madoff like ex of husband hunter Cate Blanchett in "" Blue Jasmine , "" both of them delusionary in the belief that they are entitled to other people ' s money . And there is Bale in "" American Hustle , "" who rationalizes , "" People believe what they want to believe , "" indicting the suckers for their faith in his cons . Up on the moral high ground , there is Ejiofor in "" 12 Years a Slave , "" caught in a double bind . If , as an intellectual and a freeman , he defends himself against racism , he will be hung if he does not , he suffers the humiliations of slavery . Chadwick Boseman as ballplayer Jackie Robinson in "" 42 , "" likewise is doubly bound : advised to repress his righteous anger at racists or he will be brutalized and won ' t be able to play in the big leagues . In "" The Butler , "" Forest Whitaker , who wears one face as a White House domestic and another as a family man , ultimately reconciles his two faces . Then there is a clutch of films that collectively say forget about living , survival is enough . Filmmakers purveyed the human hustle in stories of those facing near death challenges and variously hanging onto life by a thread , a fraying rope , a stranded lifeboat , safety tether or not . Think of Robert Redford fighting for his life in "" All is Lost , "" Sandra Bullock clinging to tether in "" Gravity , "" Jaden Smith depending on intelligence from his wrist radio in "" After Earth "" and Tom Hanks facing death in a lifeboat in "" Captain Phillips . "" Also tested in a life and death narrative was Jennifer Lawrence in the Survivor tinged "" The Hunger Games : Catching Fire . "" Out of breath ? Take a good , deep one . We haven ' t even begun to discuss the year ' s end of the world movies . The apocalypse was nigh not only in action movies like "" Pacific Rim "" and "" Oblivion "" but in comedies like "" This is the End "" and "" The World ' s End . "" On screen the U . S . and British capitals were under terrorist attack in what seemed like an infinite loop of destruction : "" Olympus Has Fallen , "" "" White House Down , "" "" G . I . Joe : Retaliation , "" "" Star Trek : Into Darkness , "" "" Thor : The Dark World . "" Los Angeles and New York also endured attacks and were defended respectively by the mettle of Robert Downey in "" Iron Man 3 "" and Henry Cavill in "" Man of Steel . "" What does it all mean ? We don ' t need a professional to detect the pervasive anxiety in these Darwinian narratives of survival . Might this reflect Hollywood ' s guilt about its role as con artist fleecing the easily duped ? Or do these films in part show Hollywood ' s unease about its own future in a world where moviegoers are just as likely to download or stream a movie than buy a ticket for one ? Perhaps this , as much as the real life economy , explains why another theme of 2013 films is economic anxiety . It is symbolized in "" Elysium "" by an underclass living on a polluted and overpopulated Earth and the 1 percent living in the pristine atmosphere above , with controlled climate and top flight health care . Job insecurity reverberated through a broad swath of the year ' s movies . Consider the Harlem inspirational "" Black Nativity "" and the ' 60s era "" Inside Llewyn Davis , "" where the protagonists have trouble making the rent . Consider the Brooklyn hipsters in "" Frances Ha "" to the Oakland underclass in "" Fruitvale Station "" where protagonists sought work . Even straight out comedies like "" We ' re the Millers , "" in which a drug dealer hires underemployed individuals to pose as his family in order to make it easier to smuggle marijuana over the border , is peripherally about fewer legitimate jobs than those looking for them . It wasn ' t all about angst , though , even if the laughter at the multiplex was rueful . "" Before Midnight "" and "" The Best Man Holiday , "" two superb sequels , are comic looks at relationships and fidelity . One is sparked by the performances of Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke , the other by an ensemble including Morris Chestnut , Taye Diggs , Sanaa Lathan and Nia Long . The most moving relationship film of 2013 is "" Her , "" Spike Jonze ' s wistful story of a lovesick writer ( Joaquin Phoenix ) who falls in love with his operating system ( voice of Scarlett Johansson ) , and finds the chasm between human and artificial intelligence is as wide as that between Mars and Venus . Another slice of dialogue representative of movie romances comes from Julie Delpy , exasperated with life partner Ethan Hawke in "" Before Midnight : "" "" Sometimes , I think I ' m breathing oxygen and you ' re breathing helium . "" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Carrie Rickey . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8348997,8998,"Moscow : One of two pilots aboard a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey today was killed by fire from the ground after he ejected from the craft , the Russian military said , citing preliminary information . Military spokesman General Sergei Rudskoi said a Russian soldier had also been killed in a failed bid to rescue the pilots , whose Su 24 plane crashed in Syrian territory . Rudskoi said Russia would cease all military contact with Turkey , as international concerns grow that the incident could snowball into a major conflict . The general said the Su 24 "" fell in Syrian territory , four kilometres from the border "" . "" The crew ejected , "" the general said . "" According to preliminary information , one of the pilots died after being fired upon from the ground . "" The fate of the second pilot was not immediately known . In a statement published on the defence ministry ' s website , Rudskoi said a Russian soldier had been killed when his Mi 8 helicopter was "" damaged by gunfire and had to land "" during a search and rescue operation to retrieve the pair . The rest of the crew onboard the stricken Mi 8 were evacuated to the Hmeimim air base in Syria ' s northern Latakia province , Rudskoi said , adding that the helicopter was hit by mortar fire coming from territory under rebel control . The Turkish army said earlier the fighter was shot down by two of its F 16s after it violated Turkish airspace 10 times within a five minute period . Rudskoi insisted the Su 24 had not strayed within Turkish airspace , and denied that the Turkish army had tried to make either radio or visual contact with its pilots before shooting it down . He said the plane was shot down within Syrian airspace and condemned it as a "" flagrant violation of international law "" that would have "" the gravest consequences "" . He said that Russia ' s Moskva guided missile cruiser would be stationed near Latakia . "" All targets representing a potential threat to us will be destroyed , "" he warned . Russian bombers , which launched strikes on Syria in defence of President Bashar al Assad on September 30 , will now be escorted by fighters , Rudskoi announced , adding that operations to retrieve the two pilots were continuing . ? Download the all new Zee News app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with latest headlines and news stories in Politics , Entertainment , Sports , Technology , Business and much more from India and around the world . First Published : Wednesday , November 25 , 2015 04 : 35 ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8359005,9006,"Washington Congress is launching a broad ranging investigation into possible waste , misuse and corruption tied to billions of taxpayer dollars used to support private military contractors in Afghanistan . Among the questions being raised is whether money provided in a nearly 2 . 2 billion trucking contract in the war torn country went to pay off local warlords and the Taliban . The investigation comes as the Obama administration begins deploying another 30 , 000 troops to Afghanistan . The White House has requested more than 70 billion to fund the war in fiscal year 2010 , according to a Senate subcommittee memo . "" Serious allegations have been brought to Congress ' attention that private security providers for U . S . transportation contractors in Afghanistan are regularly paying local warlords and the Taliban for security , "" said Rep . John Tierney , D Massachusetts , who chairs the House National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee . "" After a preliminary inquiry , it has been determined these reports warrant a full scale . . . investigation . If shown to be true , it would mean that the United States is unintentionally engaged in a vast protection racket and , as such , may be indirectly funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight . "" Eight companies currently split the Afghan host nation trucking contract , which went into effect in May . The contract , according to Tierney ' s subcommittee , provides ground transportation in Afghanistan for more than 90 percent of supplies for U . S . troops , including food , fuel and ammunition . Most supplies are shipped overland via Pakistan to Bagram Airfield , the main U . S . base in Afghanistan . They are then distributed to hundreds of other smaller airfields and bases . In the Senate , an oversight subcommittee headed by Sen . Claire McCaskill , D Missouri , also is looking into how contractor money is being spent . Federal auditors state that approximately 950 million in "" questioned and unsupported costs "" has been submitted by Pentagon contractors for work in Afghanistan , according to a report prepared for Congress . That amount represents 16 percent of the total contract dollars examined so far . The U . S . government has spent more than 23 billion on contracts in Afghanistan since 2002 , the report states . There are currently 104 , 000 Pentagon contractors in Afghanistan a figure that could rise to 160 , 000 to support President Obama ' s planned troop increase , according to the report . Roughly 100 , 000 U . S . troops are slated to be in Afghanistan at the height of the coming surge . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8369006,9007,"After allegedly registering 10,000 Muslims to take place in Germany s March Against Terror, the largest Muslim group in Germany refused to show because it would send the wrong message. Say what???A peace march organized by German Muslim groups to condemn terrorism and violence in the name of Islam has been held in Cologne. Organizers had registered 10,000 participants, but actual turnout was much lower.The liberal The Independent published a story about the 10,000 Muslims marching for peace before the march ever took place:10,000 Muslims to march against terrorism weblink #NichtMitUns #NotWithUs Arafatul Islam (@arafatul) June 16, 2017The march, organized by Islamic scholar Lamya Kaddor and peace activist Tarek Mohamad to condemn violence in the name of Islam across the world, was preceded by a heated debate when Germany s biggest Islamic association, the Turkish-Islamic Union (known by its acronym DITIB), refused to take part. DWTo integration commissioner zoguz the problem lies in the fact that decision-makers in associations like have never really settled in Germany, although for the most part, the members have.In other words, the leaders of the most powerful Muslim group in Germany have no interest in assimilating with Germans, but do have an interest in accepting public funds from German taxpayers to keep their organization up and running.However, does not seem capable of surviving only off Ankara s support and without help from Germany. After payments to the association were temporarily suspended because of the espionage affair, the money has been flowing into its accounts again. According to the German Ministry of Family Affairs, It was decided that funding for projects that have already been approved would resume under consideration of all relevant aspects. has received around 6 million euros ($6.7 million) in funding from the German government since 2012.Number of participants at Muslim peace march in Cologne were far less than expected. Is it because DITIB's absence? #NichtMitUns #NotWithUs pic.twitter.com/93kyvYCll2 Arafatul Islam (@arafatul) June 17, 2017Under gray skies, demonstrators waved banners proclaiming together against terror and terrorism has no religion on Saturday in the western German city of Cologne.About 500 of the estimated 10,000 Muslims took part in the Cologne, Germany March Against Terror . ",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past8379011,9012,"by Yves Smith Yves here. This is a very important video from the Real News Network , and I wish there were a transcript, so do take the trouble to listen to it. One of the reasons for the ferocity of the howling from the Democratic Party hackocracy in the wake of the unexpected Trump vicory is that they are effectively cornered animals. As political scientist Tom Ferguson explains, the Democrats can’t get the number of voters they need with their traditional coalition of Big Finance money plus identity politics without delivering tangible benefits to workers, which they have abjectly failed to do. But the power of mone in the Democratic party makes it well nigh impossible for them to devise the sort of populist policies that would appeal to voters that Trump has successfully peeled off. Ferguson also has some important exit poll and early, granular data that debunks some cherished Democratic party myths. For instance, playing the gender card wasn’t as successful as the media would lead you to believe. Ferguson, who has been a consistent critic of the Democrats from the left, does not rule out the idea that Trump could deliver on policies that would make him popular, most important, ones that would create more jobs and improve wages. One expert close to the Sanders camp came to the same view separately months ago. So while Trump may be stymied, or may never have been sincere about his battle call to downtrodden workers, it’s a mistake to rule out the possibility that he will continue to succeed despite the odds and his glaring character defects. 0 0 0 0 0 1",fake,news,test,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past8389026,9027,"Boko Haram extremists are building bombs in iPads and cellphones and leaving them for people to pick up . Inspector Gen . Solomon E . Arase issued the warning while announcing five suspects were arraigned Thursday in Abuja High Court in connection with twin bombings . . . Nigeria ' s police chief is warning that Boko Haram extremists are building bombs in iPads and cellphones and leaving them for people to pick up . Inspector Gen . Solomon E . Arase issued the warning while announcing five suspects were arraigned Thursday in Abuja High Court in connection with twin bombings . . . Nigeria ' s ? social media buzzed with the news Wednesday . "" The war against Boko Haram under Jonathan was only a money making machine for Sambo Dasuki , service chiefs and defense contractors , "" charged A . S . Aruwa . "" Beyond corruption , Dasuki should be charged for high treason : Men , women and children died because their armed forces could not defend them , "" added D . Olusegun . There were also comments about revenge and pay back . Dasuki is said to have arrested Buhari , a former military dictator who seized power from a democratically elected government , when he was ousted in a palace coup in 1985 . Nigeria ' s ? intelligence agency , the State Security Service , has kept Dasuki under house arrest for more than a week despite a Federal High Court order allowing him to travel abroad for medical care . The court had allowed Dasuki bail after he pleaded innocent to other charges of money laundering , involving more than 423 , 000 found in cash , and illegal possession of arms seized at two of his homes . Tuesday ' s move could pre empt the court ' s demand for the attorney general to appear before it next week to explain why its order is being flouted . Dasuki also is fighting a prosecution request for his trial to be held in secret , to protect witnesses . State Security , formerly controlled by Dasuki , said he refused to answer the committee ' s questions about the arms deals but Dasuki said he was never asked . Dasuki , 60 , had usurped the role of the Ministry of Defense in procuring weapons . He was called before a Senate committee last year to explain South Africa ' s seizure of 9 . 3 million in cash and a 5 . 7 million bank transfer that South Africa blocked , saying it involved an illegal arms deal . Dasuki said the deals were legitimate . A retired army lieutenant colonel , Dasuki participated in every coup in ? Nigeria ? since the 1980s . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past8399036,9037,"Foreign tourists stabbed slashed in attack on Egyptian resort of Hurghada Two armed attackers have stormed a hotel in the Red Sea city of Hurghada , one of Egypt s most popular tourist resorts , wounding at least three foreign tourists . The assailants were neutralized by security forces . The Egyptian Health Ministry said that three foreign tourists ? two Austrians and one Swede ? were stabbed and slashed in the attack , Ahram Online reported . The attack took place at Bella Vista Hotel on Friday evening . Security sources told ? Reuters that the assailants arrived by sea to carry out the attack . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? 3 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? weblink : t . co nL4ijYPSk6 ? ? ? pic . twitterweblink G0ldYP1SuJ The two terrorists got into the hotel through its restaurant , which has a street entrance , an Interior Ministry statement said . Security forces managed to neutralize the attackers and prevented them from running away . One of them was armed with a cold weapon , the other had a signal gun , according to reports . Attack hotel in Al Ghardaqa leaves 3 militants dead wounding several foreign tourists Egypt pic . twitterweblink G1Sr9YPBDe One terrorist was killed , the other was wounded as a result of a standoff with government forces . Earlier media sources reported that at least one gunman had been wearing an explosive belt and three tourists were killed . However . This information wasn t confirmed by the ministry . The latest assault comes as shortly after Islamic State ( , formerly ) claimed responsibility for a Thursday attack on Israeli tourists in Cairo . Last month , leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi called on supporters to target Jews everywhere . There were no further casualties , Egyptian authorities reported , adding that the assailants had been trying to target security forces , not the tourists . Security sources told Reuters that in fact the tourists were Israeli Arabs . No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack so far . However , experts agree that it does bear all the marks of an attack aimed at the developing state . Egypt is a target of . It is a key in the region , working with Russia and other countries to defeat that terrorist enemy that we are all facing , analyst Lawrence Freeman told . One a larger scale , he believes , the attacks in Egypt are meant to destabilize its strengthening economy , in particular , cutting of its tourist revenue . That is exactly why and people running are targeting that area ? because of their economy , Freeman said . In October last year , a Russian A321 passenger jet was downed by a bomb over the Sinai peninsula , killing 224 people . claimed responsibility for the attack . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8409071,9072,"England A series of photographic exhibitions have been organized in Europe and North America this autumn to highlight a campaign by Britain ' s Prince Charles to combat tropical deforestation . An aerial of Jambi Province , Indonesia showing the destruction of the tropical rainforest . The photographs were taken by world renowned environment photographer Daniel Beltra who was this year ' s winner of the Prince ' s Rainforest Project Award at the Sony World Photography Awards earlier this year . The images graphically depict the effects of climate change on the rainforests in the South America , Africa and Indonesia . Beltra compiled a library of around 40 , 000 images during month long trips to the Amazon Basin , the Congolese Forest and Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia . When he returned home Beltra produced a shortlist of around 1000 images from which the final exhibition photos were selected . And that ' s not the only problem Beltra encountered . The very acts of destruction he was documenting often got in the way of his work . Click here to see a selection of images from the exhibition "" When you are photographing deforestation , you are taking a lot of pictures of logging and fires and the smoke can make it very difficult to shoot . "" Beltra was born in Spain but is now based in the United States . His work , which includes freelancing for the international environmental group Greenpeace , has taken him to over 50 countries and he is a fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers . Prince Charles has long been a passionate defender of the environment and he founded the Prince ' s Rainforest Project ( ) in 2007 . The works alongside governments , international businesses , non profit organizations and rainforest nations to find a solution to the deforestation and degradation of the rainforests . Speaking at the Sony Awards in Cannes , France earlier this year the Prince said : "" Photographic images can tell a compelling story about the truth of the situation , and the truth is that if we lose the fight against tropical deforestation , then we lose the fight against climate change . "" Beltra hopes that his pictures will raise further awareness of the perils that humans face in the wake of continued rainforest destruction . "" I think we are all getting more aware but we really need to get our act together because at the moment we are destroying more than we are protecting , "" he said . The multimedia exhibitions organized by Sony are taking place at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in London , the Hotel de Ville , Paris , the Alexa Center , Berlin and the Mercy Corps Action Center , New York . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8419073,9074,"Reuters) - Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal trial judge in Washington, is being considered to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, the National Law Journal reported on Friday, citing a lawyer who was contacted as part of the vetting process. The unidentified lawyer was contacted this week and was asked about Jackson’s tenure on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the context of her being a potential nominee for the Supreme Court, the Journal said. The lawyer described the conversation, which lasted less than 30 minutes, as a “preliminary inquiry,” the Journal reported. The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the Journal story. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a nominee in the next several weeks to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13. Scalia’s death left the court with four liberals and four conservatives, and Republican leaders in the Senate have vowed to block anyone Obama nominates. The Senate must confirm the nominee. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a moderate Republican, took himself out of consideration for appointment to the Supreme Court this week after his name surfaced as a possible nominee. If nominated and confirmed Jackson, 45, would be the first African-American woman on the Supreme Court. She was confirmed to the federal district court in Washington in March 2013. During her confirmation hearing, she received support from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, who is related to her by marriage, the Journal reported. Jackson’s husband, Patrick Jackson, is the twin brother of Ryan’s brother-in-law William Jackson. Jackson served as a federal public defender in Washington and then at a law firm. In 2010, she was appointed to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8429077,9078,"The man at the center of an immense art find suspected to have been looted during the Nazi period has spoken publicly for the first time , saying he longs for the art to be returned to him . In an extensive interview with the German magazine , Der Spiegel , published online on Sunday , Cornelius Gurlitt describes how he has never mixed with other people and sees the more than 1 , 400 pictures that he inherited as his only friends . The son of a Nazi era art dealer talked to Der Spiegel while travelling out of Munich to see his doctor . Since officials entered the 80 year old ' s flat in 2012 and removed his paintings , many of them masterpieces , his life has become even more lonely . "" I am not Boris Becker . I am something very quiet . I only wanted to live with my pictures , "" he says . The vast stash of paintings found in the apartment by the likes of Picasso , Matisse and Chagall , some previously unknown , others that had been presumed lost forever , is thought to be worth upwards of 1 billion . His father Hildebrand Gurlitt who was partly Jewish , survived the war as one of only four "" degenerate art "" dealers permitted by Adolf Hitler . Gurlitt Sr . , by all accounts a savvy wheeler and dealer , removed the huge collection from his house in Dresden during the devastating bombing in the final days of World War , and moved it to what later became West Germany . "" My father knew . . . the Russians were coming closer , "" he tells Der Spiegel . Gurlitt defends his father ' s war time dealings , saying "" maybe he was offered something privately , but he would not have taken it . It would not have been good for him . "" Gurlitt Sr . died in a car accident in 1956 , and left all his paintings to his surviving family . His son Cornelius remembers helping his father remove them from the family house in Dresden , and driving them west in a truck . "" I never had anything to do with the acquisition , only with saving them . "" Cornelius Gurlitt never married , never made friends , and eventually moved to Munich with his mother when he was 27 . Until she and his sister Benita died in recent years , he had never lived alone . He remains cross with Benita for dying ahead of him . "" She could have inherited everything , and she would have known how to deal with everything . Now everything is so miserable , "" he says . Gurlitt says he has no lawyers , and no one to help him . "" They are portraying everything wrongly . I will not talk to them , and I will not return anything voluntarily , no , no . The prosecutor has enough evidence to exonerate me . "" For now , Gurlitt lives alone and is isolated once more in his Munich flat . For days after news of the incredible find broke , he was holed up there , with the doorbell ringing nonstop and people putting notes and letters under his front door . But all he wants is the return of his art . "" What kind of state is this that shows my private property ? "" he asks . "" They have to come back to me . "" : What was ' degenerate art ' ? ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past8439092,9093,"Two prisoners have confessed to digging a tunnel that led to the escape of 63 inmates last week , Yemen ' s state run news agency reported Sunday . Dozens of suspected al Qaeda militants escaped Wednesday from a jail in the Yemeni city of Mukalla , a senior security official said . An Interior Ministry official said 63 members of al Qaeda had managed to break out of Almakla prison , according to . He said three inmates were killed , another two were arrested , and a prison guard was killed . He asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media . Some of the escapees had already been convicted others were awaiting trial , the official told . They escaped through a 35 meter ( 115 foot ) tunnel , he said . Witnesses said armed militants began attacking the prison at about 8 a . m . and fired heavy artillery before the escape . The prison warden , his deputy and a number of guards have been suspended for questioning , said Sunday . Mohammed Qahtan , spokesman for Yemen ' s largest opposition bloc , Joint Meetings Parties , said he thinks security officials loyal to the ruling family are responsible for the escape and that the government would create chaos to stay in power . Yemen has been consumed by unrest for months as protesters have demanded an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh ' s rule . In recent weeks , government troops have battled both anti government tribal forces and Islamic militants , including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . Saleh and other senior officials were wounded June 3 in an attack on the mosque at the presidential palace and taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment . Saleh was expected to make a public appearance within the next two days , presidential adviser Ahmed al Soufi said Sunday afternoon . He wouldn ' t say whether Saleh would be making that appearance in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa or in Saudi Arabia , where he has been treated for his injuries . Al Soufi added that Saleh still has "" light burn marks "" on his face , but denied some reports claiming the president ' s face had been disfigured by the attack . In recent days , the Yemeni government ' s control has been receding , said Christopher Boucek , an associate in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace . "" There are instances where you can say that the Yemeni government is instigating some of this chaos with the goal to demonstrate to the United States , Saudi Arabia and others that this regime the government of President Saleh is the best to fight al Qaeda . "" Boucek said the Yemeni government is more concerned with protecting itself from the popular revolt than with going after al Qaeda . As a result , he said , the government has repositioned its counterterrorism forces , retreating from areas such as Abyan province where it had lost ground , and circling the wagons . However , a Yemeni official briefed on security operations rejected Boucek ' s conclusion . "" What about the blood of 66 soldiers ? "" he said , citing the number of soldiers who he said have died in Abyan province alone in recent weeks . Another 291 soldiers have been wounded in operations there that killed six of the most wanted al Qaeda operatives and 40 other militants , he said . The United States has been aiding Yemen ' s military in its fight against Islamic militants amid fears that al Qaeda is exploiting the political chaos and leadership vacuum engulfing the unstable and impoverished Arabian Peninsula country . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8449095,9096,"Fans of crime fiction know the names Connelly and Koryta well . Two Mikes . Two generations . Two masters of their craft . At 56 years old , Michael Connelly is the established veteran . A former reporter for the Los Angeles Times , he ' s won every award given to mystery writers . His books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide and been translated into 39 languages . Later this year Connelly marks an important milestone in his career . His best known character , Detective Harry Bosch , returns in "" The Black Box , "" Connelly ' s 25th novel in 20 years . The other Mike is Michael Koryta , also an award winning and best selling author . You could call him the future of crime fiction . Koryta has published nine novels since 2004 , and he ' s just shy of 30 years old . His latest , "" The Prophet , "" a tale of faith , football and revenge recently debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and is getting rave reviews from fans and critics . Koryta : I feel like I ' m exactly a decade behind Michael . He ' s at twenty years in publishing , I ' m at ten . When I came in there were a group of writers who are standard bearers . You look at what they ' re doing and think this is what I have to go chase . The first book I wrote that was published , my editor was telling me go read Michael Connelly . I said "" I am "" and he said , "" Try again . "" Ten years later I ' m still getting that advice from everyone . What Michael ' s been able to sustain for twenty years is almost unprecedented in terms of the quality of the books continuing to improve . It ' s just remarkable . Hopefully my books are improving . One of the ways I find motivation to improve is looking at someone who is already at a high level and continues to get better with each book . That ' s really what you want to emulate . Connelly : I don ' t think I was one who looked at anniversaries and numbers much , but for some reason this one was significant for me . When you ' re starting out you never believe that you might accomplish writing twenty five books in twenty years . It ' s really bizarre to even contemplate . Twenty years was significant as well because of what happened in Los Angeles in 1992 . My first book was published in January of that year so it was kind of a new world opening up to me . A few months later the city was torn apart by riots after the Rodney King trial . I really did weigh all these anniversaries and years when writing this book . I think it ' s the first time I ever really thought about that . The book ' s about the death of a journalist and during the riots I almost got killed . That ' s something I worked out in a lot of my books . So that all played into it , there ' s a lot of nostalgia , all of it was really important to me and I never really had this kind of stuff inspiring me before . Connelly : What Koryta has done is remarkable . My first book wasn ' t published until I was 36 . Now he ' s almost thirty and on his ninth book . You know I ' m bragging about how I ' m on book 25 and he ' s probably thinking about 75 . That ' s hard for me to imagine , what he ' s doing . I feel like I ' m making up for lost time . That ' s part of what drives me . For some reason , I don ' t know why I had this idea , maybe because I was 36 when my first book was published , but I wanted to write 36 books before I ' m done . I love the play "" Glengarry Glen Ross . "" In the movie , Alec Baldwin says , "" Always be closing . "" I feel the same way . For me closing is writing , always be doing it . Koryta : I knew at a young age this is what I wanted to do . I look at the fact that I got an early start that was a real blessing to me because it gave me a greater opportunity to tell more stories , hopefully , and at the end of the day that ' s what I want to do . What I love is the writing , it ' s not having written . I like the process of it . Koryta : I ' ve always felt an incredible amount of generosity from the time I showed up , people going out of their way to help me who didn ' t have to . It seems like there ' s a really good spirit of brotherhood , especially in crime fiction . In terms of competition , anytime I read a book that I think is really good , like "" The Black Box , "" I love it and I ' m rooting for Michael as a friend but there ' s also a spark of , this is a better book than what I wrote and now I ' ve got to try and catch up with that . For me , that ' s the greatest motivation to improve is to see really good writers continue to get better and continue to pull farther away from you . You ' re always chasing the rabbit , and that ' s a good thing . Connelly : There ' s always been a good mix of camaraderie and motivation . We ' re lucky in the genre we pursue , it ' s so big . We ' re not worried about , that book is so good it ' s going to take sales away from me . You just don ' t see that . Readers love to read good stuff , so there ' s no reason to really be competitive . Koryta : What I like about writing a stand alone novel is you ' re starting with a fresh world and fresh characters . Part of what I love about writing is that journey of discovery where it ' s all new to me as well . This is my fourth stand alone in a row and I am beginning to get a little bit of an itch now to take a longer ride with a character , to get to know them a little better . In "" The Prophet "" I really fell in love with those characters , there was an emotional connection there that I don ' t think I ' ve had in a while . It made me think it would be nice to stick with the characters for a little bit and see what happens . My next book will be a stand alone but after that I ' m thinking about trying to take a little bit longer ride . Connelly : A series character like Bosch can be a trap but it ' s a good trap to be in . This idea that it ' s an unfinished story with more to say . I guess I never write standalones . Even if I come up with a new character , I often bring them back . The last time I introduced a new character was "" The Lincoln Lawyer , "" and now that ' s going on seven or eight years . I ' m already writing my next book and it ' s Mickey Haller , but I kind of feel like creatively I need to come up with something new pretty soon . Connelly : I would be an esoteric thief . Maybe it ' s the comfort of age but I look at what Michael has done with writing different kinds of genres . I ' ve been more straight laced , straight crime . I ' ve never broken away all my stuff is in the same vein . It takes a certain amount of courage and confidence to pop out a book that ' s going to be compared to Stephen King instead of Raymond Chandler . So I would steal that kind of creative courage . Koryta : Courage is one word for it . Foolishness might be another . I ' ve been shamelessly stealing from Michael for years . It ' s his ability to say so much with one simple sentence that has what I call layers of depth . It ' s the words beneath the words . He does that every book , time after time after time . He ' ll lay out a beautiful line , Bosch thinking on the surface what is a very simple thought or observation but it has ripples to the past , the present and goes deeper to the core of the character . He has the ability and the confidence to let it ride on top and know that the reader will get it and feel that impact . That ' s an incredible gift and that ' s just great writing . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8459109,9110,"Most of the Kardashian clan is engaged in an all out feud over Rob Kardashian ' s romance with model Blac Chyna ? but rapper Tyga doesn ' t seem too concerned about the new relationship . The "" Rack City "" artist ? who was once engaged to Chyna and is currently dating Rob ' s half sister Kylie Jenner ? distanced himself from the controversy on Thursday as he weighed in on the situation for the first time . "" Everybody deserves to be happy , "" he told E ! News . Tyga ( left ) doesn t seem too concerned that his ex fiance is dating his current girlfriend Kylie Jenner s ( right ) half brother . Tyga s famous girlfriend , meanwhile , isn ' t quite as indifferent about Kardashian ' s new fling , as People reported earlier in the week that Jenner is "" livid "" and feels "" betrayed "" by her half brother . Tyga , who has a 3 year old son with Chyna , split with the model in 2014 . Things got contentious between them a few months later when the rapper began dating the then 17 year old Jenner , who has since sparked a feud of her own with Chyna . Kardashian ' s family is concerned that Chyna is only dating Rob to infuriate Tyga and Jenner , and they fear she is "" preying "" on him during a "" weak time "" in his life , according to E ! News . The 28 year old reality star has disappeared from the public eye in recent years due to weight gain and depression , and he was diagnosed with diabetes late last year . But the model appears interested in helping Kardashian return back to health , as she recently asked her trainer to come up with a workout and diet regimen for the reclusive reality star , according to Us Weekly . Kardashian , who is currently staying at Chyna ' s house , has teased his family about the relationship several times on social media the past few days , including on Tuesday when he shared an Instagram photo of Chyna holding a baby carriage . "" Blac Chyna probably out shopping rite now as she plan to give birth to the only next generation of the Kardashian name , "" the meme read . Blac Chyna ( left ) and Rob Kardashian ( right ) have the Kardashian Klan up in arms over their new romance . Other members of the famous family haven ' t seen the humor in things , however , as Khloe Kardashian shared a photo on Wednesday of herself with sisters , Kim and Kourtney , captioned : "" Never go against family . "" Rob Kardashian was photographed riding in the car with Blac Chyna on Thursday . Jenner , meanwhile , is trying not to bring any more publicity to the matter , according to E ! News . "" Kylie doesn ' t want to give ( Chyna ) the attention she so obviously wants , "" a source told the outlet . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8469110,9111,"Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz on Wednesday said the Senate should not vote on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. “Merrick Garland is exactly the type of Supreme Court nominee you get when you make deals in Washington D.C.,” he said in a statement that also criticized rival Donald Trump, who often boasts of his ability to close deals. “A so-called ‘moderate’ Democrat nominee is precisely the kind of deal that Donald Trump has told us he would make - someone who would rule along with other liberals on the bench like Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor.” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8479127,9128,"Gay icon and mascot of the 1970s television show 3 2 1 , Dusty Bin , was cruelly assassinated this morning in a revenge attack for the killing of al Qaeda mouthpiece Osama bin Laden . Al Qaeda has many tapes of shows from the 70s and the 80s as these are deemed less offensive than modern programming , the 3 2 1 game show being no exception . According to files discovered in the Pakistan headquarters of Bin Laden , he felt much animosity towards Dusty Bin . Osama had picked up the nickname "" Dusty Bin "" , which he was jokingly referred to as , by the al Qaeda cadets . In the event of his death , Bin Laden had ordered his most loyal followers to exact revenge on the Western infidels and destroy his most hated of game show mascots . According to a report carried out by the police and fire services , it is believed that an al Qaeda operative sneaked into the room where Dusty Bin was and placed a bomb inside him while he slept . "" It was terrible , "" explained a fire officer who was at the scene . "" There were charred signed photos of Ted Rogers all over the place and the remains of several clock radios , teasmades and his and hers mountain bikes . "" Yeah , really terrible prizes they had on that show , weren ' t they . "" Fellow game show mascot Mr Chips is believed to have been worried by the events , after police received a picture of him wetting his pants . This conclusion was dismissed , however , by his good friend Roy Walker , who told us , "" They ' re close , but they ' re not right . "" Police are appealing for witnesses of 3 2 1 to try to erase all memories of that programme from their minds . ",satire,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past8489134,9135,"At least 1 , 000 prisoners are on death row in Iraq , which now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world , the human rights group Amnesty International says in a report being released Tuesday . Samar Saed Abdullah is one of many facing execution in Iraq . She ' s accused of being an accessory to murders . The courts that sentence people to death do not meet international standards , the report charged , and Iraqi authorities "" provide very little information on executions , and some have been carried out secretly . "" It criticizes the Central Criminal Court of Iraq and the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal , which issue the majority of death sentences in the country . "" Defendants commonly complain that ' confessions ' were extracted from them under torture , "" the report alleges . "" Defendants also complain that they are not able to choose their own defense lawyers "" when they appear before the Central Criminal Court of Iraq . But Iraqi Justice Minister Dara Noor al Deen Bahaa al Deen , who said he says he is in favor of abolishing the death penalty , defended the Iraqi justice system , saying it is fair . "" As a judge , I assert that these measures take place with every crime that occurs . Of course , every defendant claims innocence and that the trial is unfair , but I am certain and reassured that especially now that any defendant , no matter what the sentence is , receives a fair trial and is given enough time for his testimony , that of the witnesses , "" al Deen said . "" Afterward , the court makes its ruling . If it finds that the evidence is sufficient that he she committed the crime , it hands down the sentence he she deserves . "" Watch more about Amnesty ' s report and a woman on Iraq ' s death row Trials at the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal , which tries former Saddam Hussein era officials charged with crimes against humanity and other major offenses , "" have been marred by political interference , "" Amnesty charges . The group says the trial of Hussein himself was subject to such interference , with the government dismissing a judge considered unlikely to support the death sentence against him . The former Iraqi leader was hanged in December 2006 . The report says that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani opposes the death penalty but has refused to block executions . And it quotes Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki as "" repeatedly "" defending the death penalty . Amnesty International opposes it "" in all cases without exception , "" the group says in its report . The report lists a wide variety of crimes that can result in the death penalty , including murder , crimes compromising state security , attempting to overthrow the government by violent means and damaging public property . Al Deen said a request by him to waive the death penalty would have no effect . "" Even if I put in a request , this is a worthless request , because there is a law . As for abolishing the death sentence and replacing it with life imprisonment , that is an amendment of the law , and that has to happen through parliament . And parliament as the representative of the people decides if the punishment changes or doesn ' t , "" he said . Responding to a reference to "" hasty rulings , "" he said , "" I don ' t think the judiciary rushes to make a ruling , especially a death penalty for a convict . There are many severe sentences that were handed down , and when they reached the appeals court , they were returned back and changed . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8499147,9148,"Incompetent or complicit Egyptian security was probably involved in the Oct . 31 crash of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt s Sinai Peninsula , British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond suggested Tuesday , saying that his government s belief that a bomb was placed aboard the plane had hardened over the past week . We are acutely aware that terrorists throughout Europe have the capability and intent to place explosives aboard a civilian airliner , Hammond said , but they haven t been able to do it because of strong security restrictions . Where this points the finger is at the capability of the security on the ground at Sharm el Sheikh , the Sinai seaside resort where the airliner carrying mostly Russian tourists took off , he said . All 224 people aboard were killed when the plane , bound for St . Petersburg , disintegrated in the air shortly after takeoff . In Egypt , angry talk of Western conspiracy over plane crash Many countries around the world have the idea that security is about buying some new machines and writing up a manual , Hammond said . That s the key cultural challenge which we ve got to overcome , not just in Egypt but in many systems that will have to look again at the way the people who are doing this security are managed , overseen , incentivized . . . vetted , trained and selected . Suggestions last week by both British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Obama that the plane possibly was downed by a bomb were initially dismissed by Russia as speculation . But Russia has since joined Britain in suspending all flights to Egypt , a ban that a senior Russian official said Tuesday would last for several months at the minimum . The two countries are among those sending the most tourists to Egypt both have dispatched special planes to retrieve tens of thousands of their nationals stranded in Sharm el Sheikh . It is not possible to cardinally change the system of safety , security and checks in a week or even a month , Sergei Ivanov , the Kremlin s chief of staff , told journalists in Helsinki following a meeting with the Finnish president . Egypt , whose tourism industry is reeling from the crash , has said an investigation is ongoing and has cautioned against speculation as to the cause of the crash . Egypt and Russia , along with France , where the maker of the Airbus A321 200 that went down is headquartered , are participating in the investigation but have released no information as to their initial findings . Much of Sinai becomes a no go zone Hammond , speaking with journalists in Washington , said the fact that the Russians decided to evacuate their nationals and suspend flights , along with the fact that they are in possession of the key forensics . . . reinforces our sense that it is more likely than not to have been a bomb . I don t really think there s anybody left around who doesn t recognize that this is more than likely a bomb , he said . The Islamic State affiliate in the Sinai has at least twice asserted that it brought down the plane , although there has been no confirmation of whether this is true . Speculating as to the involvement of the Islamic State , also known as , Hammond said that there are three tiers of possibility . There s central in Raqqa , the north central Syrian city considered the militants de ? facto capital , and this could have been a centrally directed plot , planned and directed from Raqqa , he said . It s not likely , but it s possible . It could have been something that Sinai , a franchise operation , has put together itself and implemented . Or it could have been a lone wolf operation by self radicalized individuals influenced by Islamic State propaganda , he said . Even as Egypt and Russia were saying last week that the crash could have been caused by structural defects in the plane , Hammond recalled , we had to make a decision because we had aircraft on the ground waiting to take off and were receiving information , some of which is open source , some of which is intelligence based , which was pointing more and more clearly to the possibility that this could have been an explosive device . On Wednesday afternoon , Britain decided to suspend its flights . Hammond said the government sent a bunch of experts out to Sharm el Sheikh overnight . . . and got a report back from them at 7 a . m . Thursday morning and , frankly , on the basis of what they were seeing on video surveillance of the search area where the plane crashed and security over the previous several days , decided that we had to stop flying until the Egyptians had sorted it out . Asked whether Egypt was likely to resist expensive and intrusive new security , Hammond said that they have a choice . If they don t want our tourists spending hundreds of millions of dollars , they have that option . But it s clear that we will not allow our airlines to fly into airports that we don t think are safe . And the onus is on local authorities to put into place the measures that we require , he said . Tourism composes up to 6 percent of Egypt s gross domestic product , Hammond said , and they really can t afford not to step up to the challenge here . Now that the Russians have also pulled out of Sharm el Sheikh , there s nowhere for the Egyptians to go , he said . They can t claim this to be some weird British obsession . The Russians have drawn the same conclusion that we have . Missy Ryan in Washington and Andrew Roth in Moscow contributed to this report . Karen DeYoung is associate editor and senior national security correspondent for the Washington Post . Success ! Check your inbox for details . You might also like : ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8509152,9153,"Should Ulysses S . Grant , the legendary Union general and 18th president of the United States , be bumped from his 96 year stint on the 50 bill ? Yes , according to one North Carolina Republican . Rep . Patrick McHenry announced that he will introduce a measure that would replace Grant ' s face with Ronald Reagan ' s , just in time for the 40th president ' s 100th birthday next February . "" President Reagan was a modern day statesman , whose presidency transformed our nation ' s political and economic thinking , "" McHenry said in a statement . "" Through both his domestic and international policies he renewed America ' s self confidence , defeated the Soviets and taught us that each generation must provide opportunity for the next . "" McHenry says it ' s only logical for Reagan to replace Grant on the 50 bill because several historians have ranked Reagan as a much better president than Grant . McHenry specifically cites a 2005 Wall Street Journal survey of scholars who placed Reagan at No . 6 and Grant at No . 29 . "" Every generation needs its own heroes , "" McHenry also said . "" One decade into the 21st century , it ' s time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy . "" Franklin Roosevelt ' s face currently appears on the dime while John F . Kennedy ' s image is on the half dollar . But not so fast , says Dr John Marszalek , the executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S . Grant Association . Calling him a "" beacon "" of the 19th century , Marszalek said Grant deserves to keep his prominent spot on America ' s currency . Marszalek also named a host of other Grant accomplishments , including efforts to promote the rights of freed slaves and native Americans , as well as his post presidency , two year tour of the world during which he negotiated the settlement of a dispute between Japan and China . But the Grant administration was also beset by major scandals close to a dozen in all which is a primary reason that Grant had difficulty working with Congress and why many modern historians continue to rank the 18th president relatively low . Still , Marszalek says Grant ' s death in 1885 was a "" national phenomenon "" and is "" still the biggest funeral any American has had to this day . "" Grant supporters can rest easy for now , though the future of the legislation is highly in doubt . It would first have to clear the House Financial Services Committee where at least one Democrat is already expressing his opposition to the move . It ' s not the first time Republican lawmakers have sought to immortalize Reagan ' s image on American currency . In 2004 , Rep . Mark Souder introduced legislation to put Reagan on the dime in place of Roosevelt . Souder dropped the move after Nancy Reagan publicly opposed the measure . In the years since Reagan ' s death , lawmakers have also considered , though abandoned , legislation placing Reagan on the 10 bill , in place of Alexander Hamilton , and on the 20 bill , in place of Andrew Jackson . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past8519156,9157,"Email NASA’s space cameras have accidentally filmed another unidentified flying object (UFO) travelling out of earth’s atmosphere. The question is why did the space agency not turn off the live feed or try to cover up, as it usually does with UFOs and aliens? Via YourNewsWire A disk-shaped appears in the video giving support to the theory that extraterrestrial beings and their crafts are continuously visiting earth. Scroll Down For Video Below Ever since the footage was uploaded to YouTube, it generated great controversy both among those who support the idea that it might be an extraterrestrial object, as among those who are completely skeptical of the subject, and as a joke suggest that “UFO’s that are planning on entering our air space should be registered and pay taxes.” The truth is that on many occasions only fragments of videos in which these mystery objects are visible are released. However, the fact that interrupts its live feed transmissions is what arouses more suspicion among those who are eager to find new evidence of the existence of alien life, UFO’s and how we are all part of a massive conspiracy. One user wrote on YouTube: “The question isn’t “is this an alien spacecraft?”, but actually “Why didn’t cut or blur this video as they always do with other strange sights?” According to many people, in today’s era, it isn’t a question anymore whether or not UFO’s are real. In fact, if we look back into the past we will see numerous fascinating statements made by former astronauts, military officials and scientists about Alien life and the existence of UFOs. Here are only a few: “Intelligent beings from other star systems have been and are visiting our planet Earth. They are variously referred to as Visitors, Others, Star People, Et’s, etc…They are visiting Earth now; this is not a matter of conjecture or wistful thinking.” – Theodor C. Loder III, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire. We cannot address the phenomena without mentioning Dr. Edgar Mitchel, one of the best-known Apollo astronauts and the sixth man to walk on the moon; a retired Captain in the Navy, aeronautical engineer and founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) who had much to say about Alien life: “I happen to be privileged enough to be in on the fact that we have been visited on this planet, and the phenomenon is real…Yes, there have been crashed craft, and bodies recovered. We are not alone in the universe; they have been coming here for a long time.” Franklin Story Musgrave, an American Physician, retired astronaut who worked on the design and development of the Skylab Program and the only astronaut to have flown missions on all five Space Shuttles had very interesting things to say about life elsewhere in the cosmos: “Statistically it’s a certainty there are hugely advanced civilizations, intelligence, life forms out there. I believe they’re so advanced that they’re even doing interstellar travel. I believe it’s possible that they even came here. It’s logical to presume the universe must have other life in it and by virtue of association that we could be visited at some point.”",fake,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past8529157,9158,"One crew member has been found dead and three others were rescued after a tugboat sank in icy waters off Fire Island in New York . The Coast Guard says the tugboat called Sea Bear sank at about 2 p . m . Saturday Three male crew members in immersion suits were rescued by the Coast Guard from the water a mile off a section of the island known as Fire Island Pines . Coast Guard officials say the body of the fourth crew member was recovered shortly after 5 p . m . following a search by three Coast Guard boats , a helicopter and two other tugboats . Coast Guard Command Duty Officer Mark Averill says the victim was not wearing an immersion suit . Averill says the water temperature was 37 degrees . The victim ' s name was not immediately released . Rescue : The Coast Guard says the tugboat called Sea Bear sank at about 2 p . m . on Saturday in icy and stormy waters about a mile off Fire Island on New York ' s Long Island A search was underway for a missing tugboat crew member after three others were rescued Saturday when their boat sank in icy and stormy waters about a mile off Fire Island on New York ' s Long Island , authorities said . One of the crew members managed to make a cellphone call to the Coast Guard at about 2 p . m . as the tugboat Sea Bear was sinking , said Coast Guard Petty Officer Morgan Gallapis . She said the man said their boat was sinking and they needed assistance . ' They had only seconds to let us know before they sank , ' Gallapis said . Three male crew members in immersion suits were rescued by the Coast Guard from the water a mile off a section of Fire Island known as the Pines , Gallapis said . But another man was missing as a search continued by three Coast Guard boats , a helicopter , two other tugboats and Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau boats , authorities said . Suffolk officers on the beach assisted in the search . One dead : Coast Guard boats ( not pictured ) saved three crew members and later found one dead crew member floating in the frigid waters without a protective suit Gallapis , based in the New Haven , Connecticut Coast Guard station , said the three men who were rescued were treated for hypothermia at the Fire Island Coast Guard station but otherwise had no physical injuries . She did not know what caused the boat to sink . The accident occurred during a storm . Suffolk County police said inclement weather prevented their aviation officers from flying and police Marine Bureau boats were hampered by heavy ice in the water . The petty officer said the tugboat that sank was among three heading back to their New York City base after completing a project on Long Island . ' This tug was in the back of the line when it sank , ' she said . ' The other tugs continued without seeing them . They heard the distress call and headed back to assist in the search . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8539165,9166,"This pair of pole dancing droids bring a whole new meaning to ' Robot moves ' as they prepare to strut their stuff for visitors at a computer exhibition . The life size white robots are set to be among the most popular attractions at the international CeBIT expo in Hannover , Germany when it opens to the public tomorrow . With surveillance camera shaped lights for heads the humanoids shimmied around a pair of poles to music provided by another robot acting as . Modern dance : A staff member gives a pair of pole dancing robots a quick polish as the models perform for visitors to the CeBIT computer expo in Hanover And an engineer was on hand to make sure the robots looked their best as they performed , giving one of the pair a quick clean with some police . The robots first appeared at the expo in 2012 , but proved so popular that they have returned this year among visitors to the trade fair that they were brought back for this year ' s four day event , which will be formally opened tonight by German chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron . The dancers , which cost around 2 , 500 to hire , were made out of old car parts and were designed by British artist Giles Walker , with their sultry moves controlled by a computer . Other exhibitors preparing for the event included Cornish company RoboThespian , which was also showing off their humanoid robots . Great Britian is the partner nation for this year ' s CeBIT , which is the world ' s largest technology fair , attracting exhibitors and visitors from across the globe . Technology : Will Jackson interacts with an humanoid robot at the booth of British company RoboThespian , during preparations for the trade fair Finishing touches : A worker makes sure the Robothespian robot is working perfectly prior to the show ' s opening State of the art : The interactive and multilingual Robothespian robot is designed for human interaction in a public environment Testing : Two woman check the motion control of the life sized robot Prestige : The four day event will be formally opened tonight by German chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron Joining forces : CeBIT is the world ' s largest technology fair and this year ' s partner nation is Great Britain ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8549173,9174,"Bush admits campaign not going well , vows to ' fight on ' Jeb Bush acknowledged today that his run for the Republican presidential nomination is going poorly but he pledged to "" fight on . "" "" I have enough self awareness to know that this is the bumpy time of a campaign , "" he said on ' s "" Meet the Press . "" Bush , brother and son of former presidents and ex governor of Florida , was once considered the man to beat in the nomination race for the 2016 election . But his campaign has floundered , in particular last week when he seemingly bombed out in the latest Republican debate among the crowded field of candidates . He flubbed badly on national television while trying to attack Senator Marco Rubio , a political protege and fellow candidate , for missing Senate votes while campaigning . Rubio counterattacked saying that Bush ' s strategists had told him to do so . Bush looked flat footed and dumbfounded and failed to offer a meaningful response . "" This is the process . I totally understand it , and I ' m more than prepared to fight on , "" Bush said in the interview aired today . He also acknowledged that he has to get better as the debate season continues . "" I am a grinder . When I see I ' m not doing something well then I reset and get better , "" he added . Weighing in on another issue , Bush said he felt torn by the death penalty . He said his Christian faith urges him to be against it , but that he also understands the pain of victims of violent crime and their need for justice and what he called closure . He also said the death penalty fails to deter crime and clogs up the court system . "" We should reform it . If it ' s to be used as a deterrent , it has to be reformed , "" Bush said , referring to the years death row inmates spend mired in the appeals process waiting to know their fate . "" It can ' t take 25 years , that does no one any good . Neither the victims nor the state is solving this problem with that kind of tangled judicial process . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past8559182,9183,"No . 3 Garbine Muguruza falls , Victoria Azarenka into 4th round Two time Australian Open champion ? Victoria Azarenka advanced to the fourth round Saturday , but the opponent she expected , No . 3 seed Garbine Muguruza , did not keep her appointment . Azarenka , the No . 14 seed , dispatched No . 127 ranked qualifier ? Naomi Osaka ? 6 1 , 6 1 in a scant 56 minutes . But Muguruza was stunned earlier in the day by Barbora Strycova 6 3 , 6 2 , joining No . 2 seed Simona Halep as an upset victim . Azarenka , seen by oddsmakers as the second best bet to win this tournament behind No . 1 seeded Serena Williams , has beaten Strycova in all four of the matches they ' ve played , winning all eight sets . It was the first time in the Open era at the Australian Open that two of the top three women ' s seeds were eliminated before the fourth round . And yet , it was the fifth time in the past eight majors that two of the top three women ' s seeds failed to reach the round of 16 . The last time that happened on the men ' s side was the 2004 French Open . Azarenka has dropped only five games in three matches . Osaka , 18 , was one of four teenagers to advance to the third round . She was born in Osaka , Japan , but moved to the United States as a 3 year old and claims dual citizenship . This was her Grand Slam main draw debut . Azarenka , a 26 year old Belarusian , has now lost only 22 games in her 8 0 run to begin 2016 and is hopeful to advance deep in the draw based on her recent performance . "" I just try to focus on my execution more , "" Azarenka said . "" I mean , the score doesn ' t really tell say pretty much the whole story sometimes . But I ' m pretty happy with the way I ' m playing . I just , you know , I want to still keep improving from match to match , because it ' s only getting harder from here . "" She admitted to being caught off guard in the early going against Osaka . "" She definitely surprised me with her play , "" Azarenka said . "" I think in the first game you could see that I was a little bit off my timing because I was expecting some bombs coming my way and the ball came pretty slow . "" "" I think she has an interesting game . I think she has a lot of potential , has a lot of power . I ' m sure we will see a lot more of her . "" At the end of her surprising rally to the third round , Osaka was upbeat and ambitious about her goals . "" To be the No . 1 and to win a lot of Grand Slams and to play Fed Cup and then to play the Olympics and to be happy , "" Osaka said . Strycova , 29 , is ranked No . 48 among players and was only 2 18 versus top five players coming in , but one of those matches came at Wimbledon in 2014 , when she surprised Li Na in the third round . A native of the Czech Republic , Strycova has now won all six sets in Melbourne and has produced her finest effort at the Australian Open . Muguruza , 22 , was a finalist last year at Wimbledon , one of only five players born in the 1990s to reach a Grand Slam final . Afterward , Muguruza lasted for only three questions in her postmatch news conference . "" Clearly not my best , for sure , "" said Muguruza , a Venezuelan born Spaniard . "" I think today is a very bad day , you know , at the office . I think Barbora played good , very good . Also , I didn ' t play good . "" But , I don ' t know , I think I just couldn ' t find the court , my shots . Yeah . Didn ' t really find my game . "" Strycova doesn ' t seem concerned about her winless record against Azarenka . "" Well , I lost also against Garbine in Tokyo pretty easy , and I won today , "" Strycova said . "" So I will go to that match with confidence . I have to play my best tennis and to mix it and try to somehow win and focus on every point . "" But Victoria is very , very good . I saw her hitting some balls yesterday , and she ' s hitting the ball very well . But we don ' t know how it goes . "" Angelique Kerber has advanced to the fourth round after beating Madison Brengle 6 1 , 6 3 . No . 7 seeded Kerber ' s win on Saturday makes her the highest ranked player in the bottom half of the draw , following ? Muguruza ' s loss . Kerber , a two time Grand Slam semifinalist , faces compatriot Annika Beck of Germany in the fourth round . Sydney born Johanna Konta , who beat Venus Williams last Tuesday , became the first British woman to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open since 1987 when she beat Denisa Allertova 6 2 , 6 2 . Her next match is against 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova , who had a 6 3 , 6 2 win over No . 9 Karolina Pliskova . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8569188,9189,"A pensioner who shouted ' die you b ' after slitting the throat of his son in law with a steak knife has been jailed for six years . Rodney Cohen , 68 , had flown over from New Zealand after learning his daughter Jane ' s marriage to her husband ' was on the rocks ' . Victim Declan Campbell thought Cohen was ' joking ' when he first approached him with the knife and it was only when blood poured out did he realise what had happened . Mr Campbell said the amount of blood ' was like something out of a Halloween horror film ' and had to hold his jugular together with his fingers to stay alive . Rodney Cohen ( pictured ) , 68 , crept up behind Declan Campbell and pulled his head back before cutting his neck Cohen ' s daughter Jane , 43 , sent her husband Declan Campbell ( pictured left ) an email ending their marriage Mr Campbell was rushed to Luton and Dunstable hospital with two slashed veins and a gaping neck wound The 41 year old ran from the house to a nearby pub as a laughing Cohen shouted ' die you b ' from a balcony . He was rushed to hospital with two slashed veins and a gaping neck wound and was unconscious for 24 hours . St Albans Crown Court heard the attack happened on July 26 after Cohen flew over from New Zealand when his daughter Jane , 43 , sent an email to her husband saying she wanted to end their marriage . The two men had been to Sainsbury ' s in the town to buy beer and were drinking on the balcony in Harpenden , St Albans , when Cohen suddenly crept up behind his son in law , pulled his head back and cut his neck with the knife . He narrowly missed his jugular vein and left blood pouring from a 10cm wound . When Cohen was arrested he told the police : ' I am sorry . I saw the knife and picked it up and sliced it across his throat . ' He told the police the pair had been arguing and accused Mr Campbell of making derogatory comments about his daughter , who was away at the time . Cohen , who has lived in New Zealand since he was 18 , and pictured here with daugther Jane , admitted wounding with intent at St Albans Crown Court in September and was sentenced to six years in prison The court heard the couple had only got married in July 2013 after meeting four months earlier Prosecutor David Stanton said : ' The first thing Mr Campbell knew about it was when the defendant pulled him by the neck . ' He pulled the skin so it was stretched and he was cutting Mr Campbell with a kitchen knife . ' At first he thought he was joking . It wasn ' t until blood started pouring from the wound that Mr Campbell realised what had happened and he was scared he was going to die . ' Mr Campbell ran from his house and heard Mr Cohen laughing as he left . He heard him shouting "" die you b "" ' . When Cohen was arrested he told the police : ' I am sorry . I saw the knife and picked it up and sliced it across his throat ' Cohen , who has lived in New Zealand since he was 18 , admitted wounding with intent at St Albans Crown Court in September and was sentenced to six years in prison . Judge Stephen Gullick told him : ' You came over to this country because your daughter ' s marriage was on the rocks . You came here with the intention to go and assist this couple . ' You and your son in law had been and bought some alcohol . You then got a hold of him by the head and effectively you slit his throat . ' You cut the skin of his throat but you did not cause any injury to the internal organs which is fortunate but a matter of luck rather than judgement . ' The court heard the couple had only got married in July 2013 after meeting four months earlier . Mr Campbell was devastated in August this year when his wife sent him an email saying she wanted to end their relationship . He desperately tried to change her mind but eventually gave up when she told him the marriage was beyond saving . Speaking outside court Mr Campbell said he has not seen his wife since the attack because she chose to stand by her father . The engineer said he had the ' perfect life ' with specialist Jane , 43 , and rejected claims that her father had travelled to the country to help save their marriage . He added that three days before the attack he and his wife had celebrated their first anniversary in a plush hotel . Mr Campbell , who still lives in the house where the attack happened , said : ' Jane and I had resolved all our issues back in February . We were just a young married couple very much in love . ' He came in and poisoned our marriage . He has destroyed the whole lot and I think it is because he was jealous of us . ' Jane was the love of my life . She gave me butterflies and he took that away from me . ' We had some arguments but they were about hanging the towel up or about ordering her the wrong meal . There were never any big bust ups . ' He added that he felt the sentence handed down by Judge Gullick was an ' injustice ' and said six years was not enough . The father of one said : ' The sentence was not my decision to make , but it is not enough and doesn ' t reflect how this has affected me . ' It is a total injustice as far as I am concerned . I was expecting him to get a lot more . He was trying to kill me , he wanted to murder me . ' I have had nightmares and the attack will always be in the back of my mind . It has shattered my confidence and I will live with this for the rest of my life . ' The amount of blood was like something out of a Halloween horror film . I had to hold my jugular together with my fingers to keep me alive . ' After the attack I secluded myself , I was ashamed and I didn ' t want to talk to anybody . I have gone from sky high to rock bottom just like that . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8579192,9193,"Reuters) - The largest U.S. physician group urged President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday to protect international doctors and seriously ill patients from an executive order that suspends travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. In a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, the American Medical Association warned that the order created barriers to healthcare by preventing international physicians from getting back into the country or obtaining visas. It also wrote that the order should not apply to patients who need timely medical care in the United States. “The is concerned that this executive order is negatively impacting patient access to care and creating unintended consequences for our nation’s health care system,” the group said in a letter posted on its web site. “It is vitally important that this process not impact patient access to timely medical treatment.” Last Friday, Trump put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries, saying the moves would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks. Reuters reported earlier this week that Trump’s order wreaked panic and uncertainty among refugees in the U.S. pipeline with urgent medical needs, some of whom had prioritized applications. The order could mean as many as 800 people needing medical entry will be denied entry, said Karen Monken of HIAS, a Maryland-based refugee assistance organization formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Homeland Security said in a statement the executive order “ensures a more rigorous vetting process.” “The Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce all of President Trump’s executive orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people,” the agency said. The letter also pointed to the importance of international medical graduates, who comprise one out of every four physicians practicing in the United States. They are more likely to work in underserved and poor communities, the group wrote, and fill training positions that face workforce shortages. Other physician groups, including the Association of American Medical Colleges and American College of Physicians, expressed concern in separate statements earlier this week that the order would create further barriers to care. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past8589200,9201,"Baghdad , Iraq At least five people were killed and 39 wounded when a car bomb exploded Monday in Basra , an Interior Ministry official said , capping a day in which at least 11 people were killed in blasts in cities with Shiite shrines . In Baghdad , two mortars or rockets struck the International Zone shortly before 8 p . m . , though there were no reports of casualties . Car bombings targeting religious pilgrims in two major Shiite cities in Iraq killed 11 people Monday , an Interior Ministry official said . On a crowded street in the Iraqi city of Karbala a blast killed at least 10 people and wounded 38 others , the official said . The bomb went off at one of the main entrances to the city where buses carrying Iranian pilgrims stop , the official said . In Najaf , at least one person was killed and 10 others wounded in a bombing , the official said . The parked car bomb targeted buses carrying Iranian pilgrims at the road leading to Najaf ' s old city . Najaf and Karbala , south of Baghdad , have seen increases in foreign pilgrims in the last two years after a drop in the daily widespread violence . Iran ' s Fars News Agency said that on any given day , about 1 , 500 pilgrims travel from neighboring Iran to visit Shiite shrines in Iraq , particularly in Najaf and Karbala . Elsewhere Monday , a roadside bomb detonated outside a busy restaurant in central Baghdad ' s Karrada district , wounding four people . The official said the bomb targeted a police patrol . Two of the wounded were police officers the other two were civilians . Earlier Monday , a mortar round struck the International Zone , popularly known as the Green Zone , but did not cause damages or casualties . A day earlier , at least two rockets struck the area and on Saturday , three others struck the zone . The zone is a heavily fortified central Baghdad district housing the U . S . Embassy and Iraqi government offices . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8599230,9231,"King John Henry is up to his old tricks . This time Ben Cherington keeps his head , but loses his job . For some reason he did not want to stay on under the new President of Baseball Operations , Dave Dumbowsky , who once worked as for King John Henry at the Marlins fiefdom . Now they will be reunited in mediocrity , replacing the nonentities that Cherington brought into the organization through his dartboard process and selection of players . Cherington will always be remembered as the man who sounded like Theo Epstein and unloaded a quarter of a billion dollars worth of bad baseball contracts , sending them all to Los Angeles for a bag of onion chips . Lately Ben Cherington has been exhibiting more than his usual smarmy style , having brought to this year ' s team the concept of a "" team ace , "" meaning no pitcher was ready before his time and certainly not ready period . He also brought aboard two slugs , another Ramirez and a Panda bear . Both seem to have more injuries than Dustin Pedroia . He found a wide range of psychotherapists for Clay Bucholz . We suppose Cherington did only what he was told by retiring poohba Larry Lucchino and he followed the yellow goldbrick road right out the door to Yawkey Way . Sox brass praised Cherington as the right man to run the Red Sox when a mad bomber blows up the Boston Marathon . Cherington knew how to make the team part of the Boston Strong public relations juggernaut . Praise , indeed . If we really cared about the Red Sox this season , we might have followed this fiasco to its inevitable conclusion but we swore off the Sox about four months ago . We make an occasional right decision . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past8609239,9240,"— Russia and the United States agreed early Saturday on a new plan to reduce violence in the Syrian conflict that, if successful, could lead for the first time to joint military targeting by the two powers against Islamic jihadists in Syria. The agreement was reached after 10 months of failed attempts to halt the fighting and of suspended efforts to reach a political settlement to an increasingly complex conflict that began more than five years ago. The conflict has left nearly half a million people dead, created the largest refugee crisis since World War and turned Syria into a prime incubator of recruiting for the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, an affiliate of Al Qaeda. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, announced the agreement in Geneva after weeks of negotiations that were marred, in President Obama’s words, by deep “mistrust” between the Russians and Americans, who back opposite sides in Syria, but share an antipathy to the Islamic jihadists flourishing there. It came at a time when relations between the United States and Russia, which have worsened throughout much of the Obama administration, have been especially jolted by accusations of Russian hacking and subterfuge in American politics. The tensions have been further exacerbated by the effusive praise for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump. The new arrangement on Syria, set to begin Monday, was greeted with skepticism by Syrians on all sides and carries many risks of failure, which the Pentagon and Mr. Kerry acknowledged. “No one is basing this on trust,” he said. “We are basing it on oversight and compliance. ” The plan starts with a continuous “genuine reduction of violence,” in Mr. Kerry’s words, and broad, unrestricted humanitarian access to the ravaged northern city of Aleppo and other besieged areas. If that works, the United States and Russia are to establish a Joint Implementation Center, where they will share targeting data, and begin to coordinate bombing of militants of the Nusra Front and the Islamic State. The key element is that Russia must then restrain the forces of President Bashar of Syria from conducting any air operations over areas held by Nusra and other opposition forces. The United States hopes this will end the indiscriminate dropping of barrel bombs — including chlorine gas attacks — that have punctuated the conflict. In return, the United States is to persuade the opposition groups it has been supporting to separate themselves from the Nusra forces. Mr. Assad has attacked many of them on the pretense of attacking Nusra fighters. American officials expressed strong reservations about whether this new arrangement would work. Especially skeptical was the Pentagon, long suspicious of Russian intentions in Syria, since the Kremlin first deployed military forces there to help Mr. Assad a year ago. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter was among Obama administration officials who raised questions over whether either Russia or the Assad government would comply with the terms. Mr. Kerry’s announcement of the deal, Mr. Lavrov at his side, was permeated with caveats. “We believe the plan, if implemented, if followed, has the ability to provide a turning point, a change,” he said. But he sounded far more cautious here than he did in Munich in February when he announced an earlier “cessation of hostilities” that failed. The accord was reached after sharp divisions inside the Obama administration over the wisdom of sharing targeting information with Russia, and accusations that the Russians have used the negotiating period to help Mr. Assad regain control in Aleppo and strike at opposition groups. For Mr. Obama, who asked Mr. Kerry to keep working on the negotiation after the president failed to reach an accord with Mr. Putin during the Group of 20 summit meeting in China last weekend, the new accord poses considerable risks. For example, if the bombing of Nusra sites kills civilians — almost inevitable given the proximity of militant extremist groups and civilians — there are bound to be accusations about who is responsible. Pentagon officials are also concerned that Russia will use the targeting data to learn more about how American forces identify and attack targets, at a time when forces from the two countries are often near one another around Europe. Mr. Lavrov took a few shots at the United States even while celebrating the arrangement, denouncing “arrogant sanctions” levied against Russia for its annexation of Crimea two years ago. Late on Friday, he suggested the United States could not decide about the deal, sending pizza and vodka to reporters to ease the wait, and coming by to joke about how long it took Mr. Obama and his team to make decisions. But for Mr. Kerry, reaching this deal has become a personal mission, one that at times put him in conflict with the White House. He has pressed for a stronger military commitment in Syria and support for some opposition groups, along with a series of more aggressive covert actions, according to administration officials. Mr. Obama has been reluctant, as have others in the White House who fear that, even if they could engineer a transition in Syria, it could create a power vacuum that Iran, Russia and militant terrorist groups could exploit. The American skepticism is partly rooted in the failed agreement for a cessation of hostilities reached with the Russians in February. That arrangement collapsed weeks later when Russia moved heavy artillery into the Aleppo area to help Mr. Assad’s forces. Among the Syrians, the latest plan was greeted with wariness, particularly from armed opposition groups and their supporters, who, broadly speaking, have come to believe that the United States has lost interest in ousting Mr. Assad, and is willing to see them wiped out. It is a measure of how little trust the Syrians have in the international community — especially after the in February — that initial reactions were lukewarm, even though the deal holds out the possibility of at least a temporary calming of the violence. Armed opposition groups read the deal as ordering them to remove Nusra fighters from their areas, something they lack the military power to do alone, or else face attack by the United States — a country that has provided some of the rebel groups with training and weapons for years. Some government opponents noted that the deal came hours after Syrian military forces — with Russian air support — their siege of the sections of Aleppo. While Mr. Kerry began his announcement by noting that Mr. Assad’s airstrikes were, as he put it, “the main driver of civilian casualties and migration flows,” the deal — as partly described — contains many loopholes that could allow them to continue. And no measures were described that would hold any of the parties to account if they violated the terms of a deal that is being struck at a time when the United States has little leverage over Russia in Syria. The deal allows Syrian government warplanes to continue to fly missions in some areas that are to be defined later. And Russia and the United States will target areas where they both agree Nusra or Islamic State fighters are present. What that really means hinges on how Russia and the United States define legitimate opposition groups that cannot be targeted under the deal, and how they define areas where Nusra is present. The deal also failed to mention anything about the presence of foreign Shiite militias — such as Hezbollah, which like Al Qaeda and Islamic State is considered a terrorist group by the United States — fighting on the Syrian government’s side. It also said nothing about the tens of thousands of detainees in Syrian government prisons, whose release had long been touted as a possible measure under a deal. And while it spoke of allowing aid deliveries into besieged areas, it said nothing of lifting the sieges and restoring freedom of movement of goods and people.",true,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8619244,9245,"Italy ( Reuters ) A new theory that Leonardo ' s "" Last Supper "" might hide within it a depiction of Christ blessing the bread and wine has triggered so much interest that Web sites connected to the picture have crashed . Speculation over hidden meaning in Leonardo da Vinci ' s famous fresco has crashed several Web sites . The famous fresco is already the focus of mythical speculation after author Dan Brown based his "" The Da Vinci Code "" book around the painting , arguing in the novel that Jesus married his follower , Mary Magdelene , and fathered a child . Now Slavisa Pesci , an information technologist and amateur scholar , says superimposing the "" Last Supper "" with its mirror image throws up another picture containing a figure who looks like a Templar knight and another holding a small baby . "" I came across it by accident , from some of the details you can infer that we are not talking about chance but about a precise calculation , "" Pesci told journalists when he unveiled the theory earlier this week . Websites www . leonardodavinci . tv , www . codicedavinci . tv , www . cenacolo . biz and www . leonardo2007weblink had 15 million hits on Thursday morning alone , organizers said , adding they were trying to provide a more powerful server for the sites . In the superimposed version , a figure on Christ ' s left appears to be cradling a baby in its arms , Pesci said , but he made no suggestion this could be Christ ' s child . Judas , whose imminent betrayal of Christ is the force breaking the right hand line of the original fresco , appears in an empty space on the left in the reverse image version . And Pesci also suggests that the superimposed version shows a goblet before Christ and illustrates when Christ blessed bread and wine at a supper with his disciples for the first Eucharist . The original Da Vinci depicts Christ when he predicts that one among them will betray him . E mail to a friend Copyright 2007 Reuters . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten , or redistributed . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8629258,9259,"A young mother choked to death on her vomit after eating a Kinder Beuno while drowsy on painkillers , an inquest has heard . Candice Campbell , 25 , who had taken the medicine to help her post natal stomach pain , drifted off to sleep while eating the chocolate bar . Miss Campbell , mother to one year old son Harrison , then choked as she was sleeping beside her fianc on the couple ' s sofa in Hull . Doting : Mother of one Candice Campbell , 25 ( pictured left and right with partner Geoffrey Burns ) , choked to death on her own vomit after eating a Kinder Bueno before falling asleep on the sofa , an inquest has heard Her husband to be Geoffrey Burns , who had also fallen asleep , woke up to find his partner ' s lifeless body slumped onto his knee . Despite him desperately giving to Miss Campbell , she could not be saved . Miss Campbell , who did not drink alcohol , had been taking a variety of prescribed medication to ease abdominal pain which she had suffered after giving birth in October 2013 . At an inquest into her death , Mr Burns told the hearing how he had warned Miss Campbell not to eat the bar , incase she fell asleep . He told how the pair had both fallen asleep while watching a film , but that he had woken up around 5 . 30am to find Miss Campbell unresponsive . He said : ' Candice was eating a stick of Kinder Bueno and I told her not to eat chocolate in case she fell asleep because her medication makes her drowsy . I was worried that she may fall asleep eating it . ' I must have been tired because I fell asleep . I woke up to the dogs barking and Candice ' s head was on my lap . The first thing I remember saying to her was , "" Wake up , let ' s go upstairs "" . ' I noticed her lips were blue and there was a white foam coming from her nose and food particles at her mouth . ' Mr Burns said when he realised she was not responsive , he began . An inquest heard how Miss Campbell was watching a film with her partner at their home in Hull when the pair both drifted off to sleep . Mr Burns told the inquest that he had warned her not to eat the bar ( pictured ) He said : ' I gave her mouth to mouth and pressed down on her chest as I was taught at first aid . ' I continued to scoop out food from her mouth and I saw there was the Kinder Bueno she was eating before I fell asleep . ' I tried to resuscitate her . I blew twice into her mouth and did 32 compressions . ' The inquest heard how Mr Burns then ran 12 doors down the street to Miss Campbell ' s parents ' house to get help . Her father , Ian Gibson , also attempted before they called for an ambulance . Dr Ian Scott , consultant neuropathologist at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham , carried out the post mortem examination . He said toxicology tests revealed Miss Campbell had taken several different drugs , including diazepam , tramadol , pregabalin and ' possibly ' dihydrocodeine . He said that although Miss Campbell had not taken a ' fatal ' amount of each drug , the combination had been enough to depress the central nervous system , which left her unable to clear her airways if she vomited . Dr Scott said : ' I found debris impacted in the trachea and material similar to that which is found in the stomach . ' Where a patient may vomit and then inhale what ' s been in the stomach it causes asphyxia . The cause of death is asphyxiation due to aspiration of gastric contents . There is no suggestion that this was a deliberate overdose . ' During the hearing , Mr Gibson paid tribute to his daughter . He told the court : ' She was a good mum and would have done anything for Harrison . She doted on him . ' She loved being around people , she had a lot of friends , She was also a real family girl who enjoyed spending time with them . ' Senior coroner Professor Paul Marks recorded a verdict of accidental death , calling it a ' tragic case ' . He said : ' This is a very tragic case where a young mother had been enjoying an evening with her partner and fell asleep . ' She vomited but was unable to clear her airways . There is not a shred of evidence to suggest Candice took more medication than she should have . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8639271,9272,"By Carey Wedler When it comes to brute force, law enforcement and private security currently have the upper hand on the ground in Standing Rock,... ",fake,news,test,Other sport,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present8649272,9273,"Thousands of people were forced to go through security queues at Stansted Airport twice after an apparent ' mix up ' which confused arriving passengers with those waiting to board flights . Staff insisted on evacuating the entire international departures lounge when a ' small number ' of passengers who had just landed on a Ryanair flight from Lisbon on Sunday mistakenly entered it through the wrong door . Huge queues formed throughout the airport , with crowds bemoaning having to wait up to two hours in security queues to be let back through to their gates . Thousands were delayed and forced to queue for security again after a ' mix up ' at Stansted Airport The departure ' s lounge was left empty for around 90 minutes , thwarting scores of flights due to take off . Staff said the confusion came about when passengers on the Lisbon flight walked through the wrong door , leading them to the departures lounge rather than the arrivals gate . ' The crew of this flight correctly directed disembarking customers to the assigned gate , however they entered the airport through a door which had been left open in error , ' a spokesman for the airline said on Monday . ' Ryanair fully cooperated with Stansted Airport as it rescreened departing passengers . A number of flights were delayed throughout the day due to earlier issues with deicing facilities . The incident will be the subject of an investigation , he added . Disgruntled passengers took to Twitter to complain about the delays which offset scores of journeys Disgruntled passengers took to social media to share their fury , with some complaining of queues of two hours . ' Ongoing security "" issue "" at Stansted Airport . Massive queues as no one can get through security . Communication over has not been great , ' said Duncan McKay . James Carter added : ' Massive security queues at Stansted , again . Been in line for two hours now . ' A spokesman for Ryanair said the mishap came about when staff left the wrong door open for passengers Sunday was one of the busiest travelling days of the month , with thousands returning to the to head back to work after the Christmas break . Others arriving at Heathrow Airport on Sunday evening reported long queues as they waited for passport control . One passenger waited for 90 minutes at the airport ' s Terminal 5 , while others complained of flight delays due to severe fog . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8659275,9276,"Wild horses , raging winds and energy sapping heat in the land of Genghis Khan welcome to the Mongolian steppe . This vast expanse of savannah and grassland is the setting for the world ' s longest horse race the Mongol Derby . Equestrian ' s toughest test is perhaps the last place you ' d expect to find a teenager from the English county of Hampshire . But Lara Prior Palmer isn ' t like other teenagers . The 19 year old is the youngest winner and first female victor in the five year history of this most arduous of contests . "" It was really dramatic , it would be first degree heat and the horses would be sweating , then suddenly the air would cool with wind blowing super hard . "" I wanted to do something that was going to put me out of my comfort zone I guess . Mongolia sounded like a really cool country . "" The race , officially recognized by the Guinness Book of Records in 2011 as the world ' s lengthiest , takes its inspiration from the Mongol Empire ' s pioneering postal service . The fearsome Genghis Khan , leader of the Mongols between 1162 and 1227 , established and expanded the "" Ortoo . "" It was a messenger system which saw riders travel on horseback between outposts , stopping to either rest , swap horses or pass the message onto another rider . Forty horse stations , "" urtuus "" to use the Mongolian name , line the race ' s 1000 kilometer route . Not that there is a course set out for the 30 competitors , who use anything from a compass , or good old fashioned intuition to traverse the landscape between each resting spot . As the race ' s official website puts it , "" this is no guided tour , or pony trek . "" Each urtuus is manned by local nomads and furnished with tents , beds and food for man , woman and horse alike . Riders must change horse at each urtuus . It is the nomadic tribes who provide the horses for the race and equine welfare is one of the organizers ' highest priorities . A vet is stationed at each urtuus and if the horse ' s heart rate is above a certain level , the rider is given a time penalty . There is also extensive medical support for the jockeys , half of whom withdrew from the race before the finish line this year . "" There were 30 at the beginning , but not at the end , "" explains Prior Palmer . "" My body got really cross with me the day I finished , I slept all day . "" I ' m lucky because I ' m young . Any problems I had were really painful but didn ' t get that bad . I got really swollen ankles , chafing , a few other things , blisters and other stuff . "" The worst thing is the exhaustion , sitting on a horse may look easy but you ' ve got to keep them cantering . Thirteen hours a day I was on a horse . At lunchtime you ' d want to sleep but you can ' t because there ' s another 120 kilometers to go that day . "" Prior Palmer ' s determination paid off , although her joy came at the expense of another rider ' s despair . American Devan Horn was the first rider to finish the race , but her horse failed a post race medical inspection . A two hour penalty ensued and Prior Palmer was named as the winner . "" It was a strange way to win and I didn ' t feel very good about it because the other girl was super upset , "" said Prior Palmer . "" It ' s slowly sinking in . "" So what next for the teenager who made history ? The answer , it would seem , is more history . "" I begin university in September , I ' m going to study history in Edinburgh or maybe at Trinity College in Dublin , I haven ' t decided , "" she said . "" It ' s a terrible future for me because everything else is really boring . I ' ll have to knuckle down with some work . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8669285,9286,"It ' s been a few weeks since I surveyed the Republican presidential field , but recent developments seem to indicate it ' s time to take another look . Mostly this is because the mainstream media all seem to be ignoring an actual story ( even a horserace story ! ) , to instead focus on an artificial narrative imposed by Fox Business Network ( the host of tomorrow night ' s debate ) . While much attention has been paid to Fox ' s reshuffling of who will appear on which debate stage , virtually nobody ' s talking about the complete collapse of Carly Fiorina ' s polling . She can ' t even now be considered a plausible Republican nominee , when not that long ago she was solidly in third place in the polls . This is a pretty major development , and it has resulted in the field of Republicans with any sort of believable shot at winning the nomination shrinking from six to only five . Carly ' s collapse was predicted by few , and now that it ' s happening it is also being noticed by few . She became a media darling after solid performances in the first two debates , which pushed her Republican voter support up to 11 . 8 percent ( behind Trump and Carson ) . Since then , however , she failed to make any waves in the third debate and now teeters on the brink of being disinvited to future main stages , standing overall in a three way tie for sixth place , at only 3 . 0 percent in the polls . But again , while her quick rise got a lot of coverage , her "" what goes up , must come down "" fall hasn ' t attracted much media attention . As before , I ' m going to split the horserace up into four groups , depending on what sort of chance they have of actually winning the Republican nomination , based on their nationwide polling averages ( all data from Real Clear Politics , I should mention ) . I should also mention that my previous column used data from October 19th , so when you see "" since last time "" below , that ' s what I ' m talking about . And , as before , I ' m going to present these groups in ascending order of possibility . The Fox Business Network set some rather strange guidelines for inclusion into both of their upcoming debates ( for both the main event and the "" kids ' table "" undercard debate ) . I mean , I do applaud them for beginning the winnowing process , but at the same time I wonder why they set both of their inclusion division lines right in the middle of two groups of candidates , instead of in the gaps between the groups ( which would make more sense ) . There are five candidates with virtually no chance of becoming the Republican nominee at this point , but for some reason only three of them were cut from the kids ' table debate . Jim Gilmore didn ' t even get to go to the last undercard debate , so it ' s no surprise he won ' t be appearing this time either . George Pataki and Lindsey Graham also didn ' t make the Fox Business Network cut . Maybe the three of them can get together to watch the debate , and issue angry tweets all the while , or something . Now , it certainly makes sense to cut Gilmore , Pataki , and Graham . Their campaigns are all , obviously , toast . But it also makes perfect sense to cut Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal , both of whom are polling at a mere 0 . 8 percent right now . Does anyone in their right mind really think Jindal or Santorum are suddenly going to catch fire and rocket upwards in the polls ? Me neither . This category was also bizarrely split up , this time between the main debate and the kids ' table debate . The bar for inclusion on the main stage was seemingly designed to be an arbitrary split among a group of candidates whose polling is almost completely identical . The current polling difference between all five of these candidates is only a total of 0 . 8 percent , after all . That ' s a pretty tight range . So why split them up ? All five of these candidates should have been relegated to the undercard ( after booting Jindal and Santorum out completely , to make some room ) . Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee both got downgraded to the undercard . They ' re polling at 2 . 2 and 2 . 4 percent , respectively . So the undercard will have two candidates ( Santorum and Jindal ) who are at 0 . 8 percent alongside two candidates at 2 . 2 and 2 . 4 percent . Makes no sense to me . The other three candidates all teetering on the brink of demotion to the kids ' table are all tied for an overall sixth place in the Republican race , at 3 . 0 percent . They include the previously mentioned Carly Fiorina as well as John Kasich and Rand Paul . They ' ll all have at least one final shot in the main debate , so look for all three of these candidates to be absolutely desperate to make some news . That could be a good thing or a bad thing , depending on how they handle it . Kasich , Paul , Huckabee , and Christie have all been roughly consistent in the polls for the past few months . They slowly jockey for position with each other , rising to as high as 4 . 0 percent at times . Christie , this time around , stayed flat . Paul and Huckabee drifted downwards , Kasich drifted upwards . The big news , though , was Fiorina ' s dramatic fall . She can ' t even argue it was one bad poll , as the past five polls have all pegged her at exactly three percent support . Her only chance , at this point , is to have a spectacular debate performance which pulls her numbers back up above five percent . It ' s a slim chance , but it ' s probably the best of this bunch , the rest of whom have shown no recent significant movement whatsoever ( up or down ) . These are the guys in the middle of the Republican pack , far enough forward that they could benefit from a good debate or even from the collapse of a competitor in front of them . There was quite a bit of movement in this category , from the last time I took a look . The range the category covers has widened , as two of the three candidates went up and one went further down . The overall standings didn ' t change at all , but the gaps between them got bigger . Marco Rubio is the clear winner here , as his poll average went up a solid three points , from 8 . 8 percent to 11 . 8 percent . Rubio is now polling steadily above 10 percent , a feat few Republicans have managed throughout this campaign . He got a big bounce out of the third debate , after besting Jeb Bush on stage . He is now positioned as the top candidate to reap the aftermath , should the two no experience frontrunners ever actually collapse . As such , he ' s now drawing a lot more heat from the other candidates , so he ' ll probably have a pretty big target on him in the upcoming debate . Ted Cruz is still in fourth place , and he also received a bounce from the last debate , although much smaller than Rubio ' s . Cruz rose from 8 . 4 percent to 9 . 6 percent , and has seen some double digit polling ( though not as consistently as Rubio ) . Cruz , however , continues a slow rise in the polling that has lasted for the past few months . He has always positioned himself to reap the biggest benefit if Trump or Carson ever do fall , by attempting to appeal to the voters who are currently supporting Trump and Carson . Their fall hasn ' t happened yet , but he ' s still got a great shot of corralling their voters ( greater even than Rubio , most likely ) should such a collapse ever actually happen , of course . Cruz has been targeting Rubio of late , so this will be an interesting dynamic to watch in the debate . While Rubio and Cruz got a debate bounce , Jeb Bush continued to falter . Bush fell from 7 . 0 percent to 6 . 0 percent in the past few weeks , and his trajectory looks downright grim . In fact , he ' s now flirting with following Carly into the ranks of the below four percenters . Two of his latest polls showed Bush at just four percent support , a new low for Jeb . If he does continue his polling slide , it ' s likely his donors will flee when he can ' t even manage to hit the five percent mark . For now , Bush still remains viable he definitely still deserves to be on the main stage but only for now . If he falls much further , he ' ll likely never recover . Finally , we have the two frontrunners . It ' s been amusing to watch the media ( left , right , and center ) take on the phenomena of Donald Trump and Ben Carson . First , Trump was dismissed out of hand and Carson wasn ' t even mentioned . Then , Trump was ridiculed and the conventional inside the Beltway belief was : "" He ' ll fall hard , and he ' ll fall fast . "" This morphed into : "" He ' s going to fall , it ' s inevitable . "" Then : "" It ' s a summer fling , it ' ll evaporate when voters start paying attention . "" Finally , it dawned on even those inside the Beltway that these predictions were based on nothing more than hopes , and there was no evidence that Trump ' s numbers were going to collapse any time soon . There are still die hards confidently predicting : "" It simply can ' t last , "" but most are slowly beginning to wrap their minds around the possibility that Donald Trump might just become the Republican nominee for the highest office in the land . Ben Carson has received similar treatment , but his storyline has lagged Trump ' s ( as his poll numbers , while rising , also lagged Trump ' s ) . Sooner or later , the data must be believed , though . There are only two candidates who have caught fire with the Republican base , and they are Trump and Carson . No other candidate has gotten anywhere near where these two have been comfortably polling , for the past month or two . Could one or the other of them stumble badly and see their numbers collapse ? Anything ' s possible . So far , however , neither shows any signs of doing so . Call them the Teflon candidates , because nothing seems to stick to them . This time around , the race between the two frontrunners closed to a neck and neck statistical tie . Trump fell back a little bit , and Carson surged forward , to meet in the middle . Part of this was due to the last debate , where Trump wasn ' t as bombastic as usual and Carson held his own . Since the last time we took a look at the race , Trump went down 1 . 4 points , from 26 . 2 percent to 24 . 8 percent . Carson rose 3 . 2 points , from 21 . 2 percent to 24 . 2 percent . That ' s a separation between the two of only 0 . 6 percent , but what ' s more significant is that Carson has been beating Trump in some individual polls ( while Trump beats Carson in others , to be fair ) . Carson ' s average even briefly rose above Trump ' s for a few days , and now they are virtually tied . Trump ' s shown a greater willingness to directly attack Carson , so the next debate should be interesting to watch as the two of them struggle for the lead . The four divisions within the Republican presidential nomination ranks continue to be clear , whether the debate hosts notice it or not . Trump and Carson are way out in front of the pack both men have more than double the third place contender ' s poll numbers . Rubio , Cruz , and Bush occupy the heart of the pack , all polling between six and 12 percent . These are the five who should appear next to each other in the headline debates . There used to be six candidates in these two groups , but the media seem to have missed the utter collapse of Carly ' s numbers . The third division should be the undercard debate . Fiorina , Paul , Kasich , Huckabee , and Christie are all roughly in the same position below four percent and have roughly the same chances of breaking out and having an actual chance of winning . And , finally , the has been division ( who struggle to even reach a single percent in the polls ) should be shoved off television entirely on debate nights . Santorum and Jindal have precisely the same chance ( zero ) of winning the nomination next year as Pataki , Graham , and Gilmore . They ' ve had their shot , now it ' s time to show them the door . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8679311,9312,"The more familiar something looks , the less threatening it seems . This is why images of funny looking college students marching up Broadway or shirtless boys banging on drums comprise the bulk of the imagery we see of the Occupy Wall Street movement . Stockbrokers look on , police man the barricades and what appears to be a traditional protest movement carries on another day , week or month . But Occupy is anything but a protest movement . That ' s why it has been so hard for news agencies to express or even discern the "" demands "" of the growing legions of Occupy participants around the nation , and even the world . Just like pretty much everyone else on the planet , occupiers may want many things to happen and other things to stop , but the occupation is not about making demands . They don ' t want anything from you , and there is nothing you can do to make them stop . That ' s what makes Occupy so very scary and so very promising . It is not a protest , but a prototype for a new way of living . Now don ' t get me wrong . The occupiers are not proposing a world in which we all live outside on pavement and sleep under tarps . Most of us do not have the courage , stamina or fortitude to work as hard as these people are working , anyway . ( Yes , they work hard . ) The urban survival camps they are setting up around the world are a bit more like showpieces , congresses and "" beta "" tests of ideas and behaviors the rest of us may soon be implementing in our communities , and in our own ways . The occupiers are actually forging a robust micro society of working groups , each one developing new approaches or reviving old approaches to long running problems . In just one example , Occupy ' s General Assembly is a new , highly flexible approach to group discussion and consensus building . Unlike parliamentary rules that promote debate , difference and decision , the General Assembly forges consensus by "" stacking "" ideas and objections much in the fashion that computer programmers "" stack "" features . The whole thing is orchestrated through simple hand gestures ( think commodities exchange ) . Elements in the stack are prioritized , and everyone gets a chance to speak . Even after votes , exceptions and objections are incorporated as amendments . This is just one reason why occupiers seem incompatible with current ideas about policy demands or right vs . left . They are not interested in debate ( or what Enlightenment philosophers called "" dialectic "" ) but consensus . They are working to upgrade that binary , winner takes all , 13th century political operating system . And like any software developer , they are learning to "" release early and release often . "" Likewise , occupiers have embraced the Internet access solutions of the Free Network Foundation , who have erected "" Freedom Towers "" at the Occupy sites in New York , Austin and elsewhere through which people can access free , uncensored , authenticated Wi Fi . As this technology scales to our own communities , what happens to corporate Internet service providers is anyone ' s guess . The occupiers have formed working groups to take on myriad social and economic issues , and their many occupation sites serve to test the approaches they come up with . One group is developing a complementary currency for use , initially , within the network of Occupy communities . Its efficacy will be tested and strengthened by occupiers providing one another with goods and services before it is rolled out to the world at large . Another working group is pushing to have people withdraw their money from large corporate banks on November 5 and move it instead to local banks or cooperatively owned credit unions . Whether or not we agree that anything at all in modern society needs to be changed , we must at least come to understand that the occupiers are not just another political movement , nor are they simply lazy kids looking for an excuse not to work . Rather , they see the futility of attempting to use the tools of a competitive , winner takes all society for purposes that might better be served through the tools of mutual aid . This is not a game that someone wins , but rather a form of play that is successful the more people get to play , and the longer the game is kept going . They will succeed to the extent that the various models they are prototyping out on the pavement trickle up to those of us working on solutions from the comfort of our heated homes and offices . For as we come to embrace or even consider options such as local production and commerce , credit unions , unfettered access to communications technology and consensus based democracy , we become occupiers ourselves . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Douglas Rushkoff . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8689313,9314,"Scores of copies of Anne Frank ' s diary and other books covering the Holocaust held by public libraries across Tokyo have been vandalized , local government officials said Friday . Pages have been torn out of at least 167 books most of them versions of "" Anne Frank : The Diary of a Young Girl "" said authorities in the Suginami and Nakano wards of Tokyo . The diary , which has been read by millions of people around the world , is a Jewish girl ' s account of hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War . Local media in Japan have reported that the recent spate of vandalism of the book in Tokyo is more widespread than the just Suginami and Nakano . Damage to at least 265 copies of Anne Frank ' s diary has been discovered at 31 libraries since January , the Kyodo news agency reported . The reports have stoked concern beyond Japan . The Simon Wiesenthal Center , the Los Angeles based Jewish human rights organization , expressed "" shock "" at the news . "" The geographic scope of these incidents strongly suggest an organized effort to denigrate the memory of the most famous of the 1 . 5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis in the World War Holocaust , "" Rabbi Abraham Cooper , associate dean of the center , said in a statement . Anne and her family spent 25 months hiding in cramped quarters in Amsterdam , living in fear of discovery by the Nazis . They were betrayed , arrested and deported in August 1944 . Anne died of typhus in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp just weeks before it was liberated in 1945 . Cooper said the Simon Wiesenthal Center is "" calling on Japanese authorities to step up efforts to identify and deal with the perpetrators of this hate campaign . "" The Japanese government said Friday that the police will fully investigate the matter , according to Kyodo . "" We cannot accept it , "" Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference . "" It ' s extremely regrettable and shameful . "" Authorities in Suginami ward said pages had been torn from at least 119 books about Anne Frank , including her diary , in 11 public libraries . The first case of damage in the ward was reported February 6 . In Nakano ward , authorities said 54 books from 5 libraries were found to have ripped pages . Most of the books are about Anne Frank , the ward said , but others are about the Auschwitz concentration camp . Both wards said that so far they had been unable to identify the cause of the vandalism . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8699325,9326,"Alexander Howard Senior Editor for Technology and Society , The Huffington Post Jeb Bush is not the master of his domain . While the Republican presidential hopeful ' s campaign owns and operates an official website , ? Jeb2016weblink , it apparently failed to secure ? JebBushweblink . If you try visiting the unofficial domain , ? you ' ll be redirected to DonaldJTrumpweblink , the campaign site for frontrunner Donald Trump . ? It ' s not clear whether Trump had anything to do with this , though The Daily Caller has ? implied as much . ? According to the domain history ? for JebBushweblink , it was first registered in 1997 and updated Oct . 20 , 2015 . ? It ' s ? currently registered to Fabulous Ltd . , which provides website management tools and ad revenue . ? reported in April that JebBushweblink was available for 250 , 000 . Bush isn ' t the first of the competitors for the Republic presidential nomination to experience this flavor of digital tweak : Texas Senator ? Ted Cruz doesn ' t own TedCruzweblink . Former Carly Fiorina failed to register CarlyFiorina . org ? before someone else snapped it up . However , ? domain name hijinks are much less likely to influence the outcome of a race than they might have a decade ago , as ? Hunter Schwarz reported at the Washington Post earlier this year . Unless a fake web address gets a huge surge in media attention , inbound links and shares on social media , it ' s unlikely to rank high in Google Search results , which means most people won ' t ever see what ' s on it . Regardless of the presumed lack of impact on the race , the JebBushweblink episode is a black eye for the former Florida governor ' s presidential campaign , which should have locked up that web address years ago . Overlooking this detail also supports what a source told Politico in June : Matt Lira , who ' s now ? ? a senior advisor to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy , felt that the Bush campaign was "" too focused on advertising and not enough on building a digital presence ? which is what he d planned to do . "" ? What may be more worrisome to all of the Republican field is some evidence of search engine bias that favors Democrats ? as researchers at the University of Maryland have found . While it remains a stretch to claim that "" Google is Hillary Clinton ' s ' secret weapon , ' "" as the primaries grown nearer , information searches for candidates will spike in the coming year , putting a premium on search engine optimization from the campaigns . ? Smart , well financed campaigns won ' t just make sure that their candidate ' s official website and social media accounts rank high : They ' ll also advertise against the search results for other candidate ' s names , getting targeted attack ads on the screens of mobile voters who may no longer be reachable through traditional television ads . While this kind of redirected interest is inconvenient for the Bush campaign , it could be worse . Just ask former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum about his ? Google problem . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8709338,9339,"North Korea May Provide It’s Own Election Day Bombshell November 07, 2016 North Korea May Provide It's Own Election Day Bombshell South Korea’s military is on high alert over concerns that North Korea will launch a missile as U.S. voters head to the polls on election day, reports Yonhap News Agency. Military officials suggest that the North may attempt another launch one of its Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), a potential threat to U.S. forces in Guam. The American strategic assets stationed in Guam could be used to back up U.S. and South Korean troops on the Korean peninsula were the North to attack its southern neighbor. South Korea’s military noted that Pyongyang may want to present a show of force to demonstrate that it will continue its nuclear and ballistic missile programs despite pressure from the U.S. and the international community. “Doing a major test would be a way of trying to intimidate the incoming president,” Victor Cha, senior adviser and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously told CNN, “North Korea chooses particular windows that they know will gain maximum attention from the world, and the in particular.” North Korea has historically attempted to stir up trouble around U.S. elections, explained, citing a recent study on North Korea and its provocations. “We are closely watching every move by the North Korean military at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site and other possible missile-launching sites. The military is fully prepared to respond to any provocative acts by the North,” an official from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) revealed to reporters. Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin told troops to arm themselves with a “fight tonight” spirit. MORE: U.S. officials have also indicated that the North may attempt another missile launch prior to or during the election. It is unclear, however, whether the North is prepared to carry out such a test. North Korea has conducted eight Musudan tests with only one success. The two most recent tests were failures which damaged some of the Korean People’s Army’s launch equipment. “While there has been speculation of a North Korean satellite launch or nuclear test occurring during the run-up to the Presidential election, the evidence from commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station and the Punggye-ri nuclear test site suggests it’s possible but unlikely,” 38 North, a blog run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS, argued. The U.S.-based think tank did, however, note that there has been some activity around the North Portal at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and that North Korea could conduct a nuclear test on short notice. Pyongyang has not made any public threats, but that does not preclude the possibility of an election day surprise from North Korea. Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of with Rick Wiles Got a news tip? Email us at Help support the ministry of with your one-time or monthly gift of financial support. ! APP! HERE! Donate Today! Support to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media Top Stories",fake,news,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past8719346,9347,"Gambling on the Unknowable Trump November 13, 2016 Donald Trump’s victory may have shaken up the System but it also revealed a recklessness (or a desperation) among Americans in handing over such immense power to someone so untested, says Michael Brenner. By Michael Brenner At this moment of unprecedented upheaval, it is striking that some things never change. We are being subject to a tidal wave of interpretation and speculation as to what a Trump administration means for American foreign relations in regard to inter alia Russia, Syria, the Iran nuclear deal, the “pivot to Asia,” trans-Atlantic ties and, of course, Mexico. It is entirely natural for a distraught political elite to wonder what comes next from this unstable, quixotic showman who soon will be sitting in the White House. It is neither natural nor appropriate, though, to make believe that Washington in experiencing a transition of power to be approached in standard terms. The unpalatable truth is that we have no idea as to what Trump will do or not do. President-elect Donald Trump. Trump’s campaign remarks are the sole evidence available for indications of the direction that he will take. That is an extremely flimsy a basis for forecasting actions abroad. For two reasons. Candidates’ calculated sound bites while running almost never are a reliable guide to their thinking – in its rudimentary form or as it takes shape under the influence of real life conditions and the counsel of advisers. Consider Barack Obama, a far more thoughtful, sober and intelligent man. Remember the objective of eliminating nuclear weapons (rather than committing $1 trillion to the development of a more “usable” arsenal). Remember closing Guantanamo and reining in electronic surveillance of Americans. Remember ending the engagement of American troops in the “GWOT” (we now are fighting in 38 places by one means or another). Remember “resetting” relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia to emphasize dialogue. Remember the stated goal of normalizing relations with the Mullahs in Teheran instead of treating them as inherently hostile to America. Remember promoting democracy as the long-term cure to what ails the Middle East (instead, backing full tilt the Gulf autocracies, including Saudi Arabia’s homicidal war on the Yemeni people; Sisi’s oppressive autocracy in Egypt; and Israel’s increasing brutalization of the Palestinians). Points of Demagoguery Second, Trump’s comments about foreign policy were mere points of demagoguery meant, as with everything else he said, to appeal to the primitive instincts of an aroused audience. There is not the slightest sign that he had thought seriously about any of it. Donald Trump finds serious thinking itself an alien mental activity. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, one of the few Senate Republicans to support Donald Trump, donning one of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” caps. Moreover, he has few experienced advisers in his entourage. Apart from some conversations with retired General Michael Flynn, the off-beat former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the chairman of his national security advisory panel, James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA, his “advisers” have been a collection of odd-balls, non-entities and dogmatists. Woolsey himself is an uber-hawk whose views on all matters of consequence align with those of the neocons, the Cheney-like hard nationalists and Hillary Clinton – and are diametrically opposite to Trump’s much publicized iconoclastic remarks. So what we will be seeing between now and the Inauguration, and afterwards, is a mad rush by a horde of aspirants for the power and access to occupy Donald Trump’s mind – if they can find it. This is the brutal reality. Since it provides little of substance for the habitual commentators, they are inclined to play a game of make-believe – conjuring supposedly meaningful evidence from what is a kaleidoscope of emotional outbursts and a fantasia of day dreams. There is good reason to believe that within six months of Trump’s taking office, when his administrations undertakes its first half-baked measures abroad, the think tank crowd will be writing articles and monographs on “The Trump Doctrine.” In other words, the same mentality that helped get us into this mess. Americans have become committed to a new categorical imperative: I sound off, therefore I am. If Truth be told, the America we have known and imagined is ended. It never will return. In terms of relations with others, image is of enormous importance. The United States has gained great advantage from being seen as exceptional. From its earliest days, it fascinated and gave inspiration as the first working democracy, as the embodiment of the hope-filled New World, as the land of the common man and common decency. Later, as it grew into a world power, it held the allure for many as being somehow beyond the world’s pervasive tawdriness. These images held even as contradicted by slavery and racism, by imperial wars of expansion, by signs of hypocrisy. America did tip the balance in favor of the right side in two world wars; it did demonstrate uncommon magnanimity in its support for German and Japanese reconstruction and democracy. Even when playing the game of power politics, it retained a measure of credibility as the one underwriter and arbitrator to whom others might resort. The resulting “soft power” or “soft influence” has been a unique asset. Already dissipated to a high degree over the decades of the Global War On Terror, it now is destined to fade into a shadow of its former self. A blatantly racist, xenophobic, studiously ignorant, and belligerent country cannot retain the respect of other governments or the high regard of their peoples. A country so feckless as to choose Trump the buffoon as its President is mocking itself. The negative impact will be compounded as the United States is riven by internal conflicts of all kinds, repressive actions and perhaps another serious economic crisis. The damage to America’s standing in the world should hardly be a surprise; yet many are inclined to underestimate the effect. One cannot appreciate what we have become by talking to foreign friends on the Washington circuit, or by listening to the polite regrets of those around the world who are interviewed by the media. Walk the streets of cities abroad for unscripted reactions to this historic act of national self-mutilation. We can expect that whoever winds up in senior policy positions in a Trump administration will downplay these intangibles – if they even acknowledge them. In this, they will be encouraged by the tradition of self-delusion that has become a feature of American thinking about its place in the world. Think of the Middle East where just about everything that we have been doing since 2001 has been guided by a fantastical view of the region – from Iraq, to Syria, to Yemen, to the Gulf, to Turkey, to Palestine and Israel. Divorced from Reality This tendency to divorce ourselves from reality so as to perpetuate myths of American omnipotence and superiority is also witnessed at the operational level. Consider these examples: President George W. Bush in a flight suit after landing on the Abraham Lincoln to give his “Mission Accomplished” speech about the Iraq War on May 1, 2003 –The U.S. habitually characterizes anybody who resists our use of force against them as evil and criminal. Thus, the insurgents in Iraq are “anti-Iraqi” forces; the Houthis in Yemen are Iranian proxies, the Palestinians are nothing but terrorists, the Russian population in the Donbas region of Ukraine are Russian commandos directed from the Kremlin with the aim of unraveling all of Europe and NATO, etc. etc. –American policy-makers find it convenient to pursue strategies that entail squaring circles. The outcome is predictable. The outstanding case in point is Syria where for four years they have committed themselves to ousting Assad by force while continuing the fight against violent Islamist groups. That has placed us in the absurd position of allying with Al Qaeda (providing indirect material, and indirect political support) while still fulminating about the grave danger of terrorism. –We present ourselves as the promoter and well-wisher of democracy while giving unstinting support to oppressive regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and elsewhere while facilitating the ouster of democratically elected reformist leaders in Honduras, Bolivia. Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. These self-delusional practices have prepared the psychological ground for the grand illusion to come in assuming that the America of Trump will continue to draw the world’s admiration and its deference to American leadership. Normalizing Trump The inclination to “normalize” the transition in treating Trump, his utterances and his odd-lot entourage as if they somehow could be squeezed into conventional molds is understandable. It is a manifestation of an unwitting coping strategy for coming to terms with the shattering event of his election. Americans in general are pursuing a similar psychological strategy for the sake of preserving the conception of themselves and their country deeply rooted in their consciousness. Hence, the impulse to minimize the singularity of this revolutionary development without precedent – not only in the United States but anywhere in the democratic world. This is one instance where American “exceptionalism” is not prized. This is a natural reaction to a brutal Truth about Americans – and its dire consequences. For the choice of Trump reveals most Americans as immature and prone to juvenile behavior. To vote for Trump is the ultimate act of political immaturity. There are, of course, identifiable reasons why many were drawn to the flamboyant candidate, why his demagoguery resonated, why his exaggerated imagery struck a receptive nerve. However, for that emotional response to translate into the actual selection of this man to be President crosses a critical threshold. Children – at times – let emotion rule their conduct. Children only weakly feel the imperative to impose logic and a modicum reason on their impulses. Children disregard consequences. Children overlook the downside in their implicit weighing of the balance in giving in to those impulses or not. Grown-ups do not. Immediate satisfaction – at all and any cost – does not eclipse other considerations for adults. Even a child’s tantrum usually lasts no more than ten minutes or so. The tantrum of Trump voters has lasted 18 months. That’s pathological – anyway you cut it. Admittedly, some Trump supporters share his perverted view of the world – even if contradicted by his own personal history. Let’s say 12 to 15 percent of the electorate. A larger slice was represented by dyed-in-the-wool Republicans who relished sticking it to the Hillary and the Democrats to such a degree that their thrill at the spectacle overcame their realization that Trump was unfit for the office. Indeed, many probably expected him to lose and, therefore, felt free to go along for the fun of it. That leaves roughly 10 to 20 percent of the electorate who placed their emotional gratification above their responsibilities as citizens and above the wellbeing of the Republic. That is the difference between the nearly 50 percent he received and what a broad rejection would represent. They constitute the hard core of the culpable juveniles. What about those who could not stand Hillary, who felt an irresistible impulse to express that feeling somehow? Many options were open to them: abstain, vote for one of the minor candidates, go to the gym and exhaust oneself on an elliptical trainer, get drunk, smoke some weed, pick a fight with one’s spouse. Any of these represents more grown-up behavior than voting for Donald Trump. By comparison, in France when Jean Marie Le Pen – candidate of the racist far-right party, the Front National – FN, made it into the second round of their presidential election, he and his party were rejected by 82.2 percent of the electorate. In other words, the French rallied together to reject Le Pen. That is what a mature polity does. And Le Pen is sane, albeit a crypto-fascist. Michael Brenner is a professor of international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past8729357,9358,"When we first make contact with aliens , they won ' t be toothy horrors from beyond the void , obsessed with eating or enslaving the human race , says one of Earth ' s most seasoned alien hunters . The technological challenges involved in faster than light travel would mean that the aliens were so hi tech they would have no need for slaves , and would probably have their own ways of manufacturing food . ' Often the aliens of science fiction say more about us than they do about themselves , ' said Jill Tarter , who announced on May 22nd that she was stepping down as Director of the Center for ( Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence ) Research . Michael Fassbender in trailer for Ridley Scott movie Prometheus : But when we first make contact with aliens , they won ' t be toothy horrors from beyond the void , obsessed with eating or enslaving the human race , says one of Earth ' s most seasoned alien hunters Sigourney Weaver confronts the alien in Alien 3 : The technological challenges involved in faster than light travel would mean that the aliens were so hi tech they would be unlikely to view us as food or incubators for their young Tarter is to continue her research into aliens even after retirement , but she has headed Earth ' s search for radio signals from space for 35 years . ' While Sir Stephen Hawking warned that alien life might try to conquer or colonize Earth , I respectfully disagree , ' says Tarter . ' If aliens were able to visit Earth that would mean they would have technological capabilities sophisticated enough not to need slaves , food , or other planets . ' If aliens were to come here it would be simply to explore . Considering the age of the Universe , we probably wouldn ' t be their first extraterrestrial encounter , either . ' We should look at movies like ' Men in Black , ' ' Prometheus ' and ' Battleship ' as great entertainment and metaphors for our own fears , but we should not consider them harbingers of alien visitation . ' War of the Worlds : But the technological challenges of interstellar travel will mean that aliens who meet us would be explorers , rather than conquerors Aliens are exceptionally well represented at the local multiplex this spring . Hostile invaders , tipped off by an overly enthusiastic broadcast from Earth , try to sink a lot of naval hardware in ' Battleship ' domestic extraterrestrials give headaches to urbane government agents in ' Men in Black ' and fans of the ' Alien ' films finally get the back story of Ridley Scott ' s toothy terror in the famous director ' s prequel , ' Prometheus . ' Institute astronomer Seth Shostak has been a consultant on ' Battleship , ' ' Green Hornet , ' and ' The Day the Earth Stood Still , ' as well as other films . Frequently , the creative folks simply want your help in solving a script problem for example , what sort of weaponry might an alien society commandeer , ' says Shostak . ' On other occasions , they just want some technical corrections to dialog . But the really interesting challenge is to introduce these people to some of the newer ideas in science ideas that aren ' t yet hackneyed . ' ' Ours is the one conference where the public can rub elbows with the innovators and leaders in the quest to find life in the universe , ' said Andrew Fraknoi , Institute Trustee and Foothill College Astronomy Professor . ' It ' s where ideas that sounded like science fiction just a few years ago become part of today ' s reality . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8739359,9360,"Whether lambasting racial inequity with his trademark eccentricity, or putting on a Jheri curl wig for a parody of Rick James, Dave Chappelle has long been considered one of the most exciting in comedy. But he hasn’t issued a special or album since his infamous decision to walk away from the critically acclaimed “Chappelle’s Show” on Comedy Central — and a $50 million contract — in 2005. [ Read a review of the Netflix specials ] He in the spotlight in 2013, rekindling his love of in what one critic called “magnetically compelling” sets in a variety of spaces: comedy clubs, festivals and 10 shows at Radio City Music Hall. the medium that first made Mr. Chappelle famous, was again his life’s work. On Tuesday he releases two new specials on Netflix, “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and “The Age of Spin,” culled from a 2015 performance in Austin and a 2016 show in Los Angeles. In an interview that touched on the death of Prince and his conflicted feelings about Bill Cosby, Mr. Chappelle spoke by phone on Thursday about his contract with Netflix, his “Saturday Night Live” appearance and how the election of President Trump affects comedy. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. You caught flack for walking away from a lucrative deal more than a decade ago. Now Netflix is reportedly paying you $60 million to air these two prerecorded performances and create a third one. It wasn’t like I made a deal and had to go out and do a lot. [Laughs] I just had to deliver the shows. And you’ll be releasing another special for Netflix this year as part of the deal. Yeah. I’m working on that now. Not a bad deal. Do you have other unreleased shows still in the vault? I have hundreds of hours of audio recording of shows I did after I quit my television show. And then I [taped] three specials — one in Chicago, one in Austin, and one in L. A. Oh, and I also recorded the Radio City shows. These specials showcase a comedian who is reinvigorated by comedy. I could quit my show, and that’s one kind of difficulty. But quitting doing would be another. I’m sure everybody gets to a point where they run out of [stuff] to say, and they’ve got to take a knee and recharge and be introspective and live their life. But it’s hard to not ever come back to. Guys might walk away from it and close the door, but they don’t lock it behind. Eddie Murphy always entertains the possibility of doing it again. Even though he doesn’t do it, I’m sure he thinks about it all the time. It’s just one of those things where you’ll do it for 10 years, and then you’ll think about it for the next 30. Many of your contemporaries are still performing. It kind of reminds me of the ’90s: Chris [Rock] is back out there, I see Jerry [Seinfeld] around, I hear Jon Stewart is around again. All these people who are great comics that stopped doing . It’s fun to see everybody back. It’s a good time for comedy in that respect. But the whole Trump thing makes it harder for comedians. How so? He’s so skewed, it’s hard to find an angle that sounds fresh. If you talk about him, it’s almost like you’re part of the chorus and not a soloist. How do you view the dynamic between comedy and bringing truth to power? I think it’s interesting that people perceive us as having a sanctuary. Because I don’t. In fact, I think we’re almost disproportionately taken to task over what we say. “Chappelle’s Show” brought you a level of ubiquity few comedians ever achieve. A lot of times when you’re a famous dude, you don’t really feel like a person is actually looking at you. They’re looking at the phenomenon that you’ve become. Every once in a while, a person will engage with you, and you’ll be like, O. K. this person actually sees me. But I didn’t want the headache or the scrutiny. It was too much for me at that point. I felt like after I quit my show, the crowds could actually see me. The audience recalibrated with me. They listened to me again. And it was great. I started playing clubs again just because I enjoyed it. It was reaffirming a love for [ ]. It was important for me to do that. I needed that. I loved it. In the last few years, I’ve found an altitude I’m comfortable with. You famously parodied Prince on your show. How did you react when you learned of his passing? It’s a hard thing to talk about. I looked up to him like everybody did. I didn’t know him that well, but the times that we hung out were fun and very memorable and often funny. He was very generous with his advice, and he was very generous with his access. He let me see some of his process. He fostered a community among artists. He used to have these parties where we would go over to his house, and there would be all these musicians that I admired, and they’d just do these jam sessions in the basement. Everybody at the party was playing something. I think when he died there was the icon dying, but then there was this pillar in the community of people dying. Take me through hosting “Saturday Night Live” last November in the immediate wake of the election. At a certain point [on election night] we were all in the writers’ room, and as the night went on, and Trump was picking up these Electoral [College] votes, everyone stopped writing. And then everyone was just staring at the TV. I saw people tear up sketches they were writing. They’d assumed Hillary was going to win. Now there was essentially no show on Saturday. It was like the wind got knocked out of the writers’ room. I was really worried. And yet you delivered a humorous, poignant monologue reflecting your equal parts hope and fear for the future. The best advice I got was from Louis C. K. I went to a comedy club Friday night [before the show] and saw him. And Louis told me: “[Forget] the rest of the show. The monologue is all that matters. ” I was stressed out all that day. But right before I went onstage, this calm just washed over me. Everything just felt right. As someone who idolized Bill Cosby as a child, it’s surprising you dedicate so much time in both specials to the rape allegations against him. The Bill Cosby thing was tough for me. I’m not saying that to detract from his alleged victims at all. But he was a hero of mine. Is there a mourning process involved? So many bad things happened to our heroes: Muhammad Ali had Parkinson’s Richard Pryor had M. S. Prince died too young. And Bill just looked like one of the guys who was going to get to the finish line and just die of old age. And this happened. Jesus Christ. It’s awful. How do you respond when critics put you in the same conversation as comedy greats like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock? I appreciate it, but it’s not a useful thing. I don’t know what to do with that but just be humbled by it. You never feel like you’re better than your heroes. What does life look like moving forward? I need time to think. I need to have experiences. I have to live in order to get onstage. When I’m sitting there staring into space, that’s the heavy lifting. I’m like everybody: Sometimes I’m wildly optimistic sometimes I feel doom and gloom. We all just keep moving.",true,news,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8749365,9366,"This story is for anyone who thinks King Obama s latest decree isn t reckless and dangerous to ever woman and girl in America A man is accused of choking an 8-year-old girl until she passed out in the bathroom of a restaurant in Chicago s South Loop.The girl was with her mother at the Jason s Deli in the 1200-block of South Canal Street on Saturday, police said. The girl and her mother were inside the restroom separated by stalls around 1:15 p.m.Police say 33-year-old Reese Hartstirn walked in and targeted the girl, choking her and trying to lock her in a stall. The mother heard her daughter scream and grabbed her.Police said other people in the deli helped hold the man until officers arrived.Jason s Deli released a statement Friday regarding the incident: We re blessed to have a wonderful relationship with the Chicago Police Department. Many of them are our customers and because of their connection to our deli, this unfortunate situation was handled very quickly. We re proud of how out team members responded and thankful that we have the kind of customers that are willing to lend a hand in a difficult situation. We continue to work hard every day to make every customer happy. The girl was taken to Comer Children s Hospital, but police did not have information about her condition.Hartstirn, of the 500-block of North Racine Avenue, was charged with aggravated kidnapping of a child, aggravated battery of a child and battery causing bodily harm.Police said he was also charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer because he swung at an officer who booked him at the Central District station. Via: ABC7-Chicago",fake,dataset,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past8759398,9399,"The airline whose plane crashed into a Taipei river has cancelled 90 flights over the next three days and it puts its pilots through special training . The dozens of pilots who operate TransAsia Airways ' propeller jets began proficiency tests on Saturday , three days after one of the carrier ' s ATRs crashed into the Keelung River , killing at least 40 people . Incredible images emerged of the aircraft clipping an elevated motorway , with one of its wing tips hitting a taxi , before it smashed into the water . Search and rescue divers continue to look for missing passengers from in the Keelung River today Firemen in Taipei carry another body from a victim of the TransAsia Airways plane crash With the famous Taipei 101 building in the background , divers on boats look for missing passengers Five more bodies were recovered from the water today . At least 40 people died in the crash TransAsia 72 600 clipping an elevated motorway and hitting a taxi before crashing into the Keelung River Rescuers have continued to scour the crash site and recovered five more bodies today , according to the Taipei City Fire Department . Three people remain missing . The airline said it had cancelled dozens of flights to accommodate the requirement by Taiwan ' s Civil Aeronautics Administration that all 71 of its pilots be retested . Preliminary investigations indicate the pilots of Wednesday ' s doomed flight shut off a running engine of the 72 after its other engine went idle , a move that aviation experts said was an error . ' It ' s a mistake , ' said John M . Cox , a former Airways pilot and now head of a safety consulting company . ' There are procedures that pilots go through safeguards when you ' re going to shut down an engine , particularly close to the ground . Why that didn ' t occur here , I don ' t know . ' Local prosecutors have said they will look into the possibility of ' professional error . ' Thomas Wang , head of Taiwan ' s Aviation Safety Council , said Saturday that it was too early to reach conclusions about any pilot error . Pratt Whitney Canada , the plane ' s engine maker , and the safety council have begun to examine both of the aircraft ' s engines , a process that can take four months , Mr Wang said . The plane crashed with 53 passengers and five crew , killing 38 people and leaving 15 injured and five missing Divers prepare to get into the Keelung River . TransAsia ' s 71 pilots are currently being retested Divers on boats are still looking for five missing passengers three days after the horrific crash Preliminary investigations indicate the pilots of Wednesday ' s doomed flight shut off a running engine of the 72 after its other engine went idle , which was a mistake Fifteen people were rescued with injuries after the accident , which was captured in a dramatic dashboard camera video that showed the aircraft banking steeply and scraping a highway overpass before it hurtled into the water . With warmer temperatures , divers on Saturday were able to retrieve more bodies , which were found hundreds of meters downriver from the crash site . One body turned up near the shore , and others were submerged in mud , said You Chia yi , a command post chief with the fire department . Family members of those still missing have given up hope , said Lee Hung Shu ying , a Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer who talked to numerous relatives Saturday . ' They know it ' s not possible ( to survive ) with the weather being so cold , ' she said . ' They just hope the bodies can be found . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8769400,9401,"In order to forge the new relationship , Xi , in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the second summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation ( ) , called for concerted efforts to strengthen "" five major pillars "" and announced 10 major plans to boost bilateral win win cooperation . The address , punctuated by rounds of applause , resonated among officials and observers , who say that it will lead the friendship and cooperation between the world ' s largest developing country and the continent that is home to the largest number of developing countries to an even brighter future . Describing China and Africa as good friends , good partners and good brothers with a common future , Xi said the two sides have always been a community of common destiny , with similar historical experiences having generated a profound friendship between their people . Under the new circumstances , he pointed out , the two sides need to translate the strengths of their traditional friendship into driving forces to boost solidarity , cooperation and development , so as to deliver more tangible benefits to both peoples . "" In conducting China ' s relations with Africa , we adhere to the principles of sincerity , practical results , affinity and good faith and uphold the values of friendship , justice and shared interests , "" Xi told the audience , which included dozens of heads of state or government . He suggested that China and African countries focus on reinforcing "" five major pillars "" in their joint efforts to foster the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership . In politics , the two sides should remain committed to political equality and mutual trust , said Xi , stressing that China strongly believes that Africa belongs to the African people and African affairs should be handled by the African people . "" We should respect each other ' s choice of development path and not impose our own will on the other , "" Xi said . In the economic realm , China and Africa should remain committed to win win cooperation , Xi said , suggesting that the two sides fully leverage the strength of political mutual trust and economic complementarity and focus on cooperation in production capacity , construction of regional transport networks and industrialization . Meanwhile , China and Africa , which both boast a long and splendid civilization , should learn from each other in culture , and particularly focus on boosting people to people exchanges between the youths , women , think tanks , media organizations and universities , Xi said . Also , the two sides need to close ranks and help each other in security , said the president , stressing that Beijing supports Africa resolving African problems in African ways and stands ready to help Africa enhance its capacity in safeguarding peace and security . In addition , Xi called upon the two sides to cement unity and coordination on international affairs and jointly defend their common interests , and pledged that China will continue to support Africa in playing a bigger role on the world stage . "" China , after reform and opening up of over 30 years , now has the technology , equipment , professional and skilled personnel and capital needed to help Africa realize sustainable self development , "" he said . "" In particular , China has the strong political commitment to supporting Africa in achieving development and prosperity . China and Africa share mutual needs and complementarities and face a rare historic opportunity in pursuing development through cooperation , "" added the president . To realize the upgrade to relationship , Xi announced , China will carry out 10 major plans in the next three years to boost its cooperation with Africa . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8779411,9412,"Paris Severe weather continued to disrupt travel across Europe Thursday , as heavy snowfall forced a border closure between France and Luxembourg and stranded thousands of airline passengers in Germany ' s busiest airport . The relentless snowfall shut down traffic on the A31 , a major highway , which prompted the closing of the border . The severe weather also forced German officials to cancel 239 flights and order a four hour shutdown of the Frankfurt airport . German ' s second largest airport , in Munich , announced the cancellation of 51 flights , most of them resulting from canceled flights at other airports . The border closing and flight cancellations come a day after heavy snow paralyzed travel in the Paris region , where officials suspended air traffic at one of Europe ' s busiest airports , closed several highways and shut down the Eiffel Tower . The tourist attraction reopened Thursday as officials downgraded a weather warning for central France from orange to yellow . French police urged motorists to avoid driving unless absolutely necessary to get to work . However , G rard Gauzet , director of Paris motorways , said Thursday morning that "" traffic should be back to normal by mid afternoon . "" The Paris Metro is also running smoothly , but weather continues to delay some bus traffic , which was completely shut down by snow on Wednesday . At Charles de Gaulle airport , "" air traffic is almost back to normal , "" according to an airport spokeswoman . "" However , passengers should be prepared for delays and cancellations depending on the airline , "" the spokeswoman said . Snowfall shut down air traffic for several hours in the afternoon Wednesday . The Wednesday traffic jams in the Parisian metro area set a new record . According to the National Center for Highway Information , snarled traffic lined 420 kilometers of roadways around the capital . Shelters opened in the region to take in stranded motorists , and many people reported spending the night in their offices after being unable to get home . Some disruptions were also reported on the region ' s railways Wednesday , with the high speed trains limited to a speed of 230 kph instead of the usual speeds of up to 320 kph , and several trains were delayed . "" There ' s an incredible silence , not one noise , "" she said . "" People are leaving their cars and trying to go on foot . I saw one man on skis , who was going to find his wife who was stuck in a traffic jam two kilometers away . He was going to help her get out of her car . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8789416,9417,"Accused : Tracy Marie Barras has been accused of sending naked photos of herself to three students and performing oral sex on one of them A married teacher has been accused of sending naked photos of herself to three students and performing oral sex on one of them in her classroom . Tracy Marie Barras was arrested at home after police in Louisiana launched an investigation into the allegations of inappropriate conduct . Barras , 34 , is alleged to have sent the teens nude photos through , Kik , a text messaging app . One of the teens told investigators Barras performed oral sex on him in her classroom before a homecoming pep rally . Barras , a math teachers , worked at Crowley High School in Acadia Parish . According to her Facebook Page she is married with a six year old son . Acadia Parish Sheriff Wayne Melancon said investigators with his office were contacted by officials with the Acadia Parish School Board . School officials had reported possible inappropriate behavior between a teacher and several 16 year old male students . Following an investigation into the incidents , investigators were able to obtain warrants of arrest for Barras , 34 , of Duson . The teacher is the latest in the state of Louisiana to face under age sex charges . Two teachers in a neighboring parish are accused of having a threesome with a 16 year old and making a sex tape . Shelley Dufresen , 32 , and Rachel Respasss , 24 , are alleged to have romped with the teen and videoed the encounter . The women , who both worked at Destrehan High School in St Charles Parish , have been suspended from their jobs . Relationships : Barras , a math teachers , worked at Crowley High School in Acadia Parish Inappropriate : One of the teens told investigators Barras performed oral sex on him in her classroom Relationships : Barras , 34 , left , and right , is pictured with an unidentified man , she is alleged to have sent the teens nude photos through , Kik , a text messaging app The two women were charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior . Barras was released from jail following her arrest after raising bail of 60 , 000 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past8799476,9477,"Samsung is set to start making its own smartphone chips in a bid to move ahead of Apple in the smartphone wars . The firm will not use Qualcomm Inc ' s processors for the next version of the South Korean technology giant ' s flagship Galaxy S smartphone , Bloomberg claims , citing unidentified sources . Samsung , the world ' s No . 1 smartphone maker , has been one of the U . Sweblinkpany ' s top customers . Samsung ' s latest handset , the Galaxy Alpha . The firm is set to use its own chips in new handsets , it has been claimed Previous leaks from say the G925F , the codename believed to be assigned to the Galaxy S6 , will feature a Quad ( 2560 x 1440 resolution ) 5 . 5inch display . It will also have an octa core processor , Mali T768 graphics processing unit , and a 16 megapixel rear facing camera . The handset is expected to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress , a trade show in Barcelona , which takes place from 2 5 March . However , Qualcomm ' s new Snapdragon 810 chip overheated during Samsung ' s testing , Bloomberg reported . The South Korean company will use its own processors instead , Bloomberg said . Such an outcome would be a blow for Qualcomm ' s prospects for 2015 , with the company already having guided for weaker than usual annual revenue growth in a five year outlook issued in November . A Qualcomm spokesman declined to comment on the report . A Samsung spokeswoman said the company does not comment on rumours . Analysts have said the Snapdragon 810 chip has been dealing with a variety of performance issues that may not be corrected in time for the launch of Samsung ' s next Galaxy S smartphone . The South Korean firm is widely expected to unveil the device on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress trade show in early March , and according to Arena it will be unveiled on March 2nd . Samsung will need to ensure that the phone does not disappoint in order to keep its global market share from slipping further , analysts said . Samsung has already used its own Exynos processors in flagship devices such as the Galaxy S5 to some extent , though analysts said Qualcomm ' s Snapdragon chips were more widely used . Greater adoption of Exynos chips in Samsung smartphones would help boost sales for the struggling foundry business . ' Samsung will likely show off the new Galaxy S phone in about a month and a half , so one would have to assume that the chips have been tested a fair amount in order for them to be used , ' said Investment analyst Greg Roh . Apple already designs its own chips some of which are made by Samsung Successful deployment of Exynos chips in flagship Samsung smartphones will help burnish the company ' s credentials as a chip designer and manufacturer , Roh said . This could help its foundry business attract more orders from the likes of Apple Inc , he said . Earlier this week it was claimed Samsung ' s next generation Galaxy handset could have a curved screen that covers both its sides . The handset , which is expected to have a 5 . 5inch screen , will come in a ' special edition ' version with the curved technology , according to Sammobile . The Korean giant believes its curved technology could give it an edge over arch rival Apple . A Samsung Galaxy Note E , the first to use Samsung ' s curved screen . It is claimed the Galaxy S6 could come in a special edition with both sides featuring the technology . The handset is expected to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress , a trade show in Barcelona , which takes place from 2 5 March . ' Today , we can confirm that Samsung is indeed developing a Galaxy S6 with two edge displays , one on each side , reports our source , ' said the Sammobile site . The curved screen has already been used in Samsung ' s Note Edge . However , S6 Edge will have the ability to work in a left or right handed mode ' You will have an option to choose favourite contacts and an ability to assign specific colours to them , ' explained Sammobile . ' So , calls and notifications from important people will show the designated color lighting on the edge area . ' Previous leaks from say the G925F the codename believed to be assigned to the Galaxy S6 will feature a Quad ( 2560 x 1440 resolution ) display , octa core processor , Mali T768 graphics processing unit , and a 16 megapixel rear facing camera . Earlier this month , in the face of stiff competition , and following a consecutive drop in profits , Samsung announced plans to curb the number of phones it makes each year . Instead of releasing handset after handset and saturating the market with Samsung devices , the firm has decided it needs to concentrate on making fewer handsets , better . The South Korean manufacturer is also expected to ramp up production of its remaining models so they can be sold more cheaply . In the face of stiff competition , and following a consecutive drop in profits , Samsung has announced plans to curb the number of phones it makes each year by between a quarter and a third . Instead of saturating the market with Samsung devices , the firm has decided it needs to concentrate on making fewer handsets , better The strategy was unveiled during a presentation in New York by Samsung ' s head of investor relations , Robert Yi . He said the company would reduce the number of smartphone models in 2015 by between a quarter and a third . In a rare acknowledgement , Mr Yi added that Samsung had lagged behind changing market conditions . Analysts claim the bigger iPhones ( shown ) will likely take away customers who favoured Samsung Galaxy ' s larger screens . In emerging markets , such as India and China , Samsung ' s smartphone sales have been overtaken by local rivals The company ' s response ' was not quick enough , ' said Mr Yi . In emerging markets , such as India and China , Samsung ' s smartphone sales were overtaken by local rivals . ' Rather than seeking stability , Samsung should seek to distinguish its phones with Galaxy ' s design policies , ' Lee Seung woo , an analyst at Securities said . The company moved the launch of the Galaxy Note 4 , a large smartphone with a stylus , to late September from October after Apple unveiled the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus . It also began sales of the Galaxy Note 4 in China last month , getting an early start in the world ' s most populous country before Apple . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8809478,9479,"Former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan not only endorses Trump , but he also told last year he wants to be Trump ' s running mate . Asked which presidential candidate he most ? wanted to fight , Hogan ? responded , I don t want to be in the ring with any candidates . I want to be Trump s running mate . ? Did you hear that ? Vice President Hogan ? he added . ? The cut ties with Hogan last July after a video of ? him using racial slurs surfaced online . Aissa Wayne , daughter of movie icon John Wayne , has thrown her support behind Trump ' s presidential bid . She made the ? endorsement at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Iowa in front of a life size , gun toting figurine of The Duke . Aissa Wayne said her father would endorse Trump ? if he were alive . "" The reason I am here to support Mr Trump is because America needs help , and we need a strong leader , and we need someone like Mr Trump with leadership qualities , someone with courage , someone who is strong like John Wayne , "" she said . "" And I ' ll tell you what : If John Wayne were around , he ' d be standing right here instead of me , "" she added . Ethan Wayne , president of John Wayne Enterprises and another child of the actor , ? has since released a statement that ? Aissa was operating independently of the family . Jerry Lamon Falwell Jr . , the president of Liberty University and the son of late televangelist Jerry Lamon Falwell , endorsed Trump ? days before the pivotal Iowa caucuses . ? In my opinion , Donald Trump lives a life of loving and helping others as Jesus taught in the great commandment , Falwell said . ? He cannot be bought , he ' s not a puppet on a string like many other candidates . . . who have wealthy donors as their puppet masters . ? ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8819479,9480,"The famous weathervane at the Home of Cricket has been damaged during high winds over the weekend . Father Time , who sits above the Mound Stand at Lord ' s , has been bent almost 90 degrees by strong wind in London . Weekend gales in St John ' s Wood have knocked the deathly steel figure parallel to the ground , but mercifully still in his elevated roof top position with scythe and bail on stumps intact . The Father Time weathervane at Lord ' s has been bent almost 90 degrees by high winds The famous weathervane has been at Lord ' s since 1926 after it was presented to the Father Time is one of the famous features at Lord ' s and staff are working to get it back to normal Staff from Marylebone Cricket Club ( ) , which owns Lord ' s , are working with specialists to restore it to its original position as soon as possible . Lord ' s is due to host its first game of the season on Sunday , April 12 when Middlesex entertain Nottinghamshire in the County Championship . This is not the first time the weathervane has fallen foul of the elements , back in 1992 it was struck by lightning and the subsequent repairs were featured on children ' s show Blue Peter . Father Time was given to in 1926 by the architect of the Lord ' s Grand Stand , Sir Herbert Baker . During World War , it was wrenched from its original perch when it became entangled in the steel cable of a barrage balloon . Staff set about trying to repair and restore Father Time to it ' s original glory Father Time tweeted to say he had been diagnosed with copper damage and will be undergoing treatment It was reattached to the top of the Grand Stand where it sat until 1996 when it was relocated to the Mound Stand . The symbolism of the figure derives from Law 16 ( 3 ) of the Laws of Cricket : ' After the call of Time , the bails shall be removed from both wickets . ' But he has , as his name indicates , moved with the times and tweets these days on behalf of Lord ' s Cricket Ground , including an update on his latest mishap . The two posts read : ' : I ' ve was felled by high winds last night ! Ouch ! ' Apologies for my poor grammar in the previous tweet but I ' m not feeling my best after being damaged last night ! ' Father Time later tweeted : ' I ' ve been diagnosed with copper damage and will be undergoing treatment . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8829487,9488,"While the U . S . government was recently releasing statistics indicating that illicit drug use was on the rise among baby boomers 50 to 59 and on the decline among young teenagers , Barbara Boomer and her daughter were providing living proof of those same statistics . Fifteen year old Tara was working on a school assignment when she happened to glance out her bedroom window and was startled to see her 50 year old mom , in full Esther Williams gear , cavorting about in a sinkhole on the front lawn . Tara picked up her cell and called her best friend , Amanda . "" Hey , she ' s at again , "" was her greeting to Amanda . "" Uh oh , the marijuana binge continues . She ' s hitting the pot again , huh ? What ' s she up to this time ? "" "" You know that sinkhole outside that formed a few days ago when they were drilling in the street ? "" "" Right , the hole that filled up with water from all that rain yesterday . "" Amanda stopped to allow herself a little giggle , and then said , "" What ' s she doing , fishing in it or launching a boat or something ? "" "" Worse , conducting her own private water ballet . "" This time Amanda went hysterical laughing . When she got control of herself she said , "" Your mom is so cool . "" "" You ' re not supposed to be cool at 50 , "" Tara said primly . "" And it ' s gotten a lot worse since her birthday . "" "" We may have to send her to one of those boot camps , you know one of those for druggies . "" Tara sighed and answered , "" Good idea , but I think she ' s too old . Aren ' t they mainly for teenagers ? But it might be the best thing for her . Maybe they make exceptions and admit oldies every once in a while . "" "" Sounds good . Yeah , otherwise they could be sued for age discrimination . "" Tara and Amanda continued to talk for a few minutes , discussing the details of their history assignment and tomorrow ' s calculus exam . Suddenly , in the midst of their discussion , there was a loud shriek from Tara . "" What ' s the matter ? Are you okay ? "" Amanda asked . "" I ' m fine . But the water ballet has escalated . Now she ' s into doing dives and blowing kisses . And a crowd is forming . Gotta go and put an end to the show . "" Tara quickly broke the phone connection . Amanda looked at the phone , shrugged , and shook her head from side to side . She was thinking , "" Baby boomers . They never did learn to . "" ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past8839493,9494,"A report published by the Conservative pressure group , the 1690 Take No Prisoners Committee , has recommended that state schools should be run even more like businesses in particular restaurants were cited as a suitable model for schools of the future . At a press conference to launch the report , Danny Shorthouses , committee chairman and former head of the Yorkshire sandwich empire ' We Make Butties ' said , ' if more schools were run like restaurants we wouldn ' t have so much disaffection among young people and truancy rates could be significantly reduced . ' Asked to elaborate Mr Shorthouses said that schools could operate a menu system whereby teachers would prepare at least five lessons for every one they do now so that pupils would have a real choice . ' If I were to offer just cheese and tomato sandwiches in my shops I ' d go out of business very quickly , ' he said . Under the new plans teachers could also be required to wear waiters ' uniforms and carry small notebooks and pencils . Shorthouses said the extra preparation involved could be performed by teams of midgets employed at little additional cost thereby sparing teachers an increased workload . A source close to the government said that the report is expected to be fast tracked and given Cabinet approval by next Thursday . However , the report has met with a storm of criticism from across the political spectrum . Teachers unions have called for a day of fasting to protest about its possible implementation . Conversely , Labour Education spokesman Philip Chancer thought the report lacked ambition and said that his party would ensure at least ten choices per lesson for all pupils . Liberal Democrat spokesman Sylvan Glade complained that the proposals hadn ' t been properly costed . ' We should be very careful before we throw the baby out with the bath water , ' he said . Patrician Tory Sir Hugh Hunter Gatherer , a stern critic of his own party , said , ' we should let teachers teach , doctors doctor and dentists dentist . ' Prime Minister David Cameron has sought to dampen down the protests by saying that schools would be free to model themselves on any business , not just restaurants or sandwich shops . ' Some schools may wish to keep an open mind and consider something along the lines of an old style ship yard , ' he said . ' This would have the benefit of enabling teachers to be employed on a completely casual basis whereby they would turn up in the morning on spec in the hope of a day ' s work . In this way schools would become places of innovation and creativity rather than havens of backwardness and restrictive practices . ' When challenged on the use of the term ' backwardness ' the apologised and said that he had meant ' retardedness ' . Mr Shorthouses said that in a recession parents did not expect a cordon bleu menu and that many children would be happy with the academic equivalent of chips and egg . However , he guaranteed that the three condiments of salt , pepper and vinegar would always be available in state funded restaurant schools . Jamie Oliver was said to be confused by the report but is due to fly in by helicopter to meet Mr Shorthouses at one of his weekly surgeries . ( Mr Shorthouses is being treated for psoriasis of the liver ) . Sir Hugh Hunter Gatherer is available for engagements as an after dinner speaker . ",satire,text,test,American football,Conflict,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past8849500,9501,"Reuters) - The mayor of a small town in western Germany known for pursuing liberal migrant policies was stabbed in the neck at a kebab shop on Monday evening and seriously hurt in an attack that officials suspected was politically motivated. The conservative mayor of Altena, Andreas Hollstein, appeared at a news conference on Tuesday to describe the attack which left him with a 15 cm long cut on his neck, covered in a white plaster. I feared for my life, said the 57-year-old mayor who has received a German integration prize from Chancellor Angela Merkel. He said the attack took place in an atmosphere of growing social tension and hate. The attacker asked him if he was the mayor, before saying: You let me die of thirst and let 200 refugees into Altena, Hollstein recalled. Then the man plunged a 30 cm long kitchen knife into him. Police told reporters that the suspect, identified only as Werner S., had been arrested. They believed his motives were xenophobic and political, although they took it to be a spontaneous attack, adding he had alcohol in his system. The attack comes as Germany struggles to deal with an increasingly fractured society. Many voters are still angry about the influx of more than 1.6 million people seeking asylum in the two years to the end of 2016. In a September election, some 13 percent of Germans voted for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) which campaigned hard against Merkel s open-door migrant policy. It brings us no further forward if we transmit political views with hate, Hollstein said. He said his wife had warned him about possible attacks due to his policies but he was determined to continue his work. I will push for refugees and for other people in a weaker social situation, he vowed, thanking the owner of the shop and his son for probably saving his life. Under his leadership, the town of Altena, with 17,000 residents and 450 refugees, has taken in more migrants than it was allocated. Politicians including Merkel expressed their shock. I am horrified by the knife attack on the mayor Andreas Hollstein - and very relieved that he can already be back with his family. Thanks also to those who helped him, Merkel said via her spokesman on Twitter. The attack is reminiscent of the stabbing two years ago of a candidate for mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, in an anti-refugee attack. She was seriously hurt but went on to win the election and become mayor. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8859508,9509,"How bad is Trump for the GOP? It seems he s worse than many would have guessed. As his 100th day in office approaches, more people are noticing that he s gotten nothing done. And the party is starting to realize just how much of a problem this could be. Lawmakers who are up for election every two years pretty much never stop campaigning, and the parties are always working on the next election.But the Republican Party is having trouble finding candidates who will commit to running for 2018. According to Politico: Potential candidates whom party leaders want to recruit are afraid of walking into a buzz saw, uncertain about what kind of political environment they ll be facing by the time the midterms come around and what Trump s record will look like But interviews with more than a dozen top Republican operatives, donors and officials reveal a growing trepidation about how the initial days of the new political season are unfolding. And they underscore a deep anxiety about how the party will position itself in 2018 as it grapples with the leadership of an unpredictable president still acclimating to Washington. Trump and his mouthpieces keep assuring the press that things are humming along and that he s already accomplished a great deal. If they re talking about all the executive orders, then Zac Petkanas has some harsh words for them. According to him, all those EOs are just theater a way to look like he s doing something:.@Zac_Petkanas on @ first 100 days: Most of these executive orders, they re theater It is the perception of activity. #first100 pic.twitter.com/XwFUxFLrYC Fox News (@FoxNews) April 24, 2017They re also worried about vacant House seats in deep red states. Jon Ossof, in Georgia, very narrowly lost his special election outright and will proceed to a runoff in June against Republican candidate Karen Handel. In Kansas, the Democratic candidate made it a much closer race than it otherwise should have been.Democrats who don t really vote all that much have been turning out for these elections at a far higher rate than Republicans who don t vote too much. Furthermore, not only is Trump s approval rating at a record low for this point in his administration, but Congress own approval rating particularly that of Republicans has fallen sharply since February, too. A big part of that is their failure to pass their healthcare bill along with the looming shutdown threat.In other words, 2018 is starting to look like a referendum on Trump and his sheer incompetence. And that has Republicans running scared.Good.Featured image by Aude Guerrucci-Pool via Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past8869518,9519,"Pioneering radio and host Joe Franklin , who gave breaks to the likes of Al Pacino and Bill Cosby on his variety show long before they became famous and who boasted he never missed a broadcast in decades , has died at age 88 . He died Saturday of cancer , which he had had for a few years , longtime producer and friend Steven Garrin said . Franklin often is credited with developing the standard talk show format , sitting behind a desk while interviewing wanna be celebrities , minor celebrities and the occasional bona fide celebrity . Remembered : Radio and host Joe Franklin died Saturday of cancer , which he had had for a few years , longtime producer and friend Steven Garrin said . He was 88 Legend : By the early 1990s , Joe Franklin often said , he had chatted with more than 300 , 000 guests , including Marilyn Monroe , Liza Minnelli and Madonna . Franklin is seen here being interviewed by Conan O ' Brien in 1993 The host of ' The Joe Franklin Show ' started in in 1950 . By the early 1990s , he often said , he had chatted with more than 300 , 000 guests , including Marilyn Monroe , Liza Minnelli and Madonna . But the notables often had to share air time on his low budget show with a tap dancing dentist or a man who whistled through his nose . Garrin recalled how Franklin , who was parodied by Billy Crystal on ' Saturday Night Live , ' hired a young Bette Midler as his studio singer and gave a chance on his show to every up and comer trying to make it big : Bruce Springsteen , Woody Allen and Dustin Hoffman among them . ' He was a wonderful guy , ' Garrin said Sunday . ' He gave everybody an opportunity . ' Garrin said he remembered how Pacino , after he became a Hollywood movie star , told Franklin in a private meeting : ' Joe , why don ' t you interview me now that I ' m somebody ? You interviewed me when I was nobody . ' After Franklin ' s show ended in 1993 , he worked on his late night radio show . He continued to work even after he developed cancer , doing celebrity interviews on the Bloomberg Radio Network . Tuesday was the first scheduled broadcast Franklin had missed in more than 60 years , said Garrin , who worked with him for 20 of those years , booking all his interviews and recording the shows in his studios in Times Square between 1991 and 2010 . Multiple celebrities offered their condolences on Twitter after Franklin ' s death . Billy Crystal tweeted ' Joe Franklin was a New York original , I grew up watching Memory Lane and loved imitating him on . A sad day for all who knew him . ' Meanwhile , actress Martha Plimpton wrote ' All the best things about New York are going away . Joe Franklin . A true icon . ' ' Joe Franklin gone ! ! ! ! Damn ! ' actor Harvey Fierstein tweeted . ' He gave me my first exposure and I certainly wasn ' t alone in that . Ran into him on 8th Avenue last year . ' Chef Andrew Zimmern wrote ' I watched him since I was a kid . A true original . ' Franklin and Betty Hutton are seen together in 1974 . After Franklin ' s show ended in 1993 , he worked on his late night radio show Franklin ( seen with Debbie Reynolds in 1978 ) often is credited with developing the standard talk show format , sitting behind a desk while interviewing guests ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8879530,9531,"Reuters) - A Republican tax bill in the U.S. Senate stalled on a procedural problem late on Thursday, forcing lawmakers to weigh new options to an amendment sought by a leading fiscal hawk to address a projected large expansion of the federal deficit under the measure, senators said. Senator Bob Corker had wanted to add a provision to the bill that would trigger automatic tax increases in years ahead if the tax cuts in the bill failed to boost the economy and generate revenues sufficient to offset the deficit expansion. But the Senate parliamentarian barred Corker’s “trigger” proposal. “We just got the realization from the parliamentarian that that’s probably not going to work,” said Republican Senator David Perdue. In response, Republicans were considering building future tax increases into their bill. “It’s not a threshold anymore. It’s just a tax increase. ... The only thing that’s come off the table is the trigger concept,” Perdue said. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8889547,9548,"Australia Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara received lavish praise from Australian captain Ricky Ponting and an apology from umpire Rudi Koertzen after his side ' s 96 run defeat in the second test at Hobart . Sangakkara trudges off in disbelief after being given out for 192 . With the Sri Lankans chasing a formidable target of 507 for a win to square the two test series , Sangakkara kept them afloat with a magnificent 192 . But , with his seventh test double hundred in sight , Sangakkara was given out caught by Ponting off Stuart Clark . Television replays suggested that the ball had in fact deflected off the batsman ' s shoulder . Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said Koertzen had apologized to Sangakkara for giving him out . "" Rudi came and said sorry to him . But that ' s it . Kumar being Kumar was fine with it , "" Jayawardene said . "" He was very disappointed at the particular moment but when you sit back after half an hour , you know it ' s a mistake made by a human and that ' s it . "" Sangakkara went onto the field after the fall of the last wicket and put his arm around Koertzen ' s shoulder . The 30 year old right handed Sangakkara ' s innings was the highest by a Sri lankan in Australia , surpassing Aravinda de Silva ' s 167 in Brisbane in 1989 . He faced 282 balls and hit 28 boundaries and a six in his 431 minute vigil at the crease . Jayawardene said : "" Kumar ' s innings was fantastic . One of the best I ' ve seen . He batted the plan we had for him after he got his hundred yesterday , to bat through the day today while the other guys rotate around him so that we can challenge the 500 run total . "" Unfortunately , the other guys couldn ' t do it . But Kumar batted exceptionally well . The way he handled the situation was brilliant . "" I was very disappointed the way we got out . He ' s very upset about it , but that ' s how the game goes I guess . "" Ponting , who led Australia to their 14th consecutive test win , was also full of praise for Sangakkara . "" He played beautifully today . I thought the way he struck the ball from about 120 onwards was some of the best hitting that you ' ll probably ever see with his back to the wall and running out of partners . "" It was a terrific knock . He ' s obviously been in great form lately . I read in the paper this morning that ' s six hundreds in his last 12 innings so he ' s in some good touch . "" He ' s a very , very good player , he ' s one of the best Test batsmen going around . "" Sangakkara has now scored 5 , 741 runs in 68 Tests at an average of 55 . 73 . Sri Lanka ' s hopes dipped with the loss of three wickets for seven runs early in the day but they still reached 410 . Brett Lee gained the big breakthrough with the wicket of the experienced Sanath Jayasuriya 20 minutes into the day and his four for 87 gave him eight wickets for the match , 16 for the series , the man of the match title and the player of the series award . E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past8899557,9558,"Kellogg ' s is the latest owned multinational to be embroiled in the controversy over tax avoidance in Britain Kellogg ' s is the latest owned multinational to be embroiled in the controversy over tax avoidance in Britain . The cereal giant warned shareholders its profits could be hit by government moves to close tax loopholes . Kellogg ' s , which makes hundreds of millions of pounds each year from sales to British families , uses a complex web of companies to do business here . Its two main subsidiaries are owned by an operation based in the Republic of Ireland , where corporation tax is 12 . 5 per cent , compared with the ' s 20 per cent . The latest figures show Kellogg ' s effectively paid no corporation tax in Britain in 2013 , as payments to by some of its offshoots were wiped out by tax credits elsewhere . These tax manoeuvres are perfectly legal . Kellogg ' s has so far not faced criticism for its tax affairs in Britain , unlike Google , Amazon and Starbucks , which have come under fire for paying a minimal amount to the Exchequer despite huge sales here . But in its latest annual report the cereal maker , whose worldwide sales last year hit 9 . 8billion , admitted ' contemplated changes in the and other countries ' to ' long established tax principles ' could have a ' material impact ' on its business . It added increases and other changes ' may have an adverse effect on our business ' . Kellogg ' s has produced cereals in the since 1938 , and says it has several hundred employees here . It sells in the through two main subsidiaries owned by Irish based Kellogg Europe Trading Ltd . One is Kellogg Marketing Sales , which distributes breakfast food for Irish and Swiss registered companies , and reported sales of 622million to Britons in 2013 . The second , Kellogg Company of Great Britain , makes cereals under contract for an Irish based operation . These two subsidiaries paid corporation tax of 8 . 4million on profits of nearly 50million in 2013 . Kellogg ' s also has six Luxembourg registered companies which collectively paid corporation tax of 210 , 000 on profits of about 57million a rate of 0 . 37 per cent . But this 210 , 000 and the 8 . 4million were offset by an 11 . 8million tax credit at another registered operation , Kellogg Group Ltd . Kellogg ' s said comments in its annual report are not related to Chancellor George Osborne ' s ' diverted profits tax ' which aims to snare companies that shunt profits overseas with the main purpose of saving tax A Kellogg ' s spokesman confirmed the figures but said some profits through the Luxembourg business would relate to companies outside the . He declined to comment on whether Kellogg ' s accepted it had in effect paid zero corporation tax in Britain , but said it is ' a responsible taxpayer ' . Kellogg ' s said comments in its annual report are not related to Chancellor George Osborne ' s ' diverted profits tax ' which aims to snare companies that shunt profits overseas with the main purpose of saving tax . Richard Murphy , of Tax Research , said : ' It looks as if Kellogg ' s is trading in similar fashion to many of the better known tax avoiders . ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present8909587,9588,"President Donald Trump told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at their headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on Saturday that he is engaged in “a running war” with the “dishonest media,” noting that their latest lies include misleading reports about the size of the crowd at his ceremony on Friday.[ “And the reason you’re my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth,” Trump said. The approximately 400 employees broke out into applause after Trump said this. In addition to making it seem, falsely, like he was in a feud with the intelligence community, Trump said the media “showed an empty field” during his inauguration. “We had a massive field of people. You saw that, packed,” Trump said. He then noted that when he woke up Saturday morning, he turned on the and noticed, “I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I said, wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out. The field was, it looked like a million — a million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, ‘Donald Trump did not draw well. ’” He added, “We have something that’s amazing because we had it looked — honestly, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. And I turn on [the tv] and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. ” “So, we caught them,” he said. “And we caught them in a beauty, and I think they’re going to pay a big price. ” Trump went on to note yet another lie perpetuated by the media. Specifically, Zeke Miller of Time magazine falsely reported that Trump removed the bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office. The bust of the esteemed, late civil rights leader was never removed. (President Barack Obama had removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after he moved in and replaced it with Jr. ’s). “In the Oval Office, there’s a beautiful statue of Dr. Martin Luther King,” Trump said. “And, I also happen to like Churchill … He doesn’t come from our country, but had a lot do with it. He helped us, real ally. ” Trump had requested that Churchill’s bust be replaced in the Oval Office upon his move into the White House. “But there was a cameraman that was right in front of it. So Zeke, Zeke from Time Magazine” wrote a fake news story, Trump said. “I would never do that. I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King. And it was right there. But this is how dishonest the media is. ” Trump added, “I love honesty. I like honest reporting. ” And finally, he told the CIA, “I love you. I respect you. There’s nobody I respect more. you’re going to do a fantastic job. And we are going to start winning again, and you are going to lead the charge. Thank you. I’ll be back. ” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also pointed out the lies perpetuated by the media during his emergency press conference Saturday. “Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting,” Spicer said. “Photographs of the Inauguration proceeding were intentionally framed in a way to minimize the enormous support it had gathered on the National Mall,” he said. He noted earlier how Miller of Time magazine “falsely tweeted out that the bust of MLK, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. “This was just plain wrong. ”",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8919588,9589,"Mexico City , Mexico At least two car bombs exploded Friday near the television studios of Televisa in Ciudad Victoria , the capital of Tamaulipas state in northeastern Mexico , authorities said . One blast occurred outside the station while the second happened next to the municipal transit service offices , said the state attorney general ' s office . No fatalities or injuries were reported . The nearly simultaneous blasts occurred shortly after midnight . Images of one of the blasts show the carcass of a car , the explosion leaving only the vehicle ' s mangled frame but not causing much damage to nearby buildings or trees . The wreckage lies next to a wooden street pole that is slightly tilted and holds a stop sign . The car that exploded in front of the television studio was a red Chevrolet Corsica with Texas license plates , the attorney general ' s office said in a news release . The car in front of the transit office was a white Mazda , also with Texas license plates , officials said . Tamaulipas is the state where authorities discovered 72 bodies this week on a ranch believed to be used by narcotraffickers . Authorities are investigating whether the 58 men and 14 women , who were migrants from Central and South America , were killed by the Zetas cartel . Televisa previously came under attack August 15 when a grenade damaged apartments near the station ' s office in the city of Monterrey in neighboring Nuevo Leon state . There were no reports of injuries in that attack . A similar attack occurred the previous day , when a grenade was launched against the Televisa offices in the city of Matamoros , in Tamaulipas . The building was damaged but there were no reports of injuries . It was not clear Friday why Televisa is being targeted . Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon have become a bloody battleground between the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel , which ended an alliance earlier this year . The Zetas used to be the armed branch of the Gulf Cartel but have split off into a separate drug trafficking organization . Journalists have come under increasing attack in Mexico , as drug cartels try to limit the information being distributed about their activities . The Committee to Protect Journalists , an independent , nonprofit organization , criticized this month ' s grenade attacks against Televisa . "" No journalist is safe in Mexico when criminal groups feel free to wage grenade attacks on a national broadcaster , "" said Carlos Lauria , the organization ' s senior program coordinator for the Americas . "" Drug traffickers are increasingly terrorizing the press and defining what is news and what isn ' t . We urge the Mexican authorities must fully investigate these incidents and bring those responsible to justice . "" Eight journalists were killed in Mexico in 2009 and another eight have been killed so far this year , the Committee to Protect Journalists said this month . In total , 54 journalists and media workers have been slain in Mexico since 1992 , the group said . Car bombings by Mexican cartels are a new phenomena . Among the first was a July 15 explosion in Ciudad Juarez that killed four people . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past8929610,9611,"The rainbows and unicorn crowd decided they just had to complain about a gun manufacturer s ad being in the Columbia, Airport. Manufacturing s ad made travelers upset so it was taken down. Total BS!Columbia Metropolitan Airport has removed a billboard-sized advertisement of a firearms manufacturer from its concourse.The decision comes a day after The State newspaper reported the ad, featuring eight firearms from Manufacturing, upset some travelers. It touted, Yeah, we carry. I pulled in the commission, and really, they felt that given the negative feedback that it d probably be better to bring it down, said Dan Mann, executive director of the airport.The Richland-Lexington Airport District approves all advertisements, including their text, content and graphics, according to the terms and conditions of their advertisement agreements.Two other displays for will remain up: a different billboard and a promotional video at the escalators.Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who spotted the ad while at the airport Friday morning, said the banner with the multiple firearms wasn t appropriate given its location. It was the wrong ad in the wrong place at the wrong time, Benjamin said. I could easily see why anyone, including gun owners, which I am, would be seriously alarmed. Benjamin stressed the city has a good relationship with Manufacturing, which has supplied Columbia Police Department s firearms in the past. He said is a good company. S.C. Poet Nikky Finney echoed Benjamin s sentiment concerning the location in which the banner was displayed given the tenor and the times we live in. I m trying to say that anything that goes up that looks like that and has that kind of attitude should be decided upon by a committee of people that understand that the young man that went to a church, pulled a trigger and took nine lives came from Columbia, said Finney, referencing the killing of nine worshipers at Emanuel in Charleston allegedly at the hands of Dylann Roof in June 2015.Via: The State",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past8939611,9612,"More than 130 unmarked graves at a former convent discovered in Dublin in 1993 first brought to public consciousness the plight of thousands of women forced to work at Catholic run workhouses in Ireland an ugly legacy that ' s the focus of a new report from the Irish government . The report , released Tuesday , acknowledges that Ireland ' s government sent thousands of women and girls to "" harsh and physically demanding "" workhouses known as Magdalen Laundries , where they worked and lived without pay , sometimes for years . The laundries operated from 1922 to 1996 . "" The psychological impact on these girls was undoubtedly traumatic and lasting , "" the Irish government backed investigatory committee found . The report also said , "" Many of the women who met with the committee and particularly those who entered the Magdalen Laundries as young girls experienced the Laundries as lonely and frightening places . "" "" For too long , they have been and have felt forgotten . Indeed for many of them , an inability to share their story in the years after their time in a Magdalen Laundry has only added to the confusion and pain they feel about that period in their lives . "" The committee highlighted the stigma attached to their plight , saying that "" the chronicle of the Magdalen Laundries was for many years characterised primarily by secrecy , silence and shame . "" As a result , the women admitted there "" have for too long felt the social stigma of what was sometimes cruelly called the ' fallen woman . ' This is a wholly inaccurate characterisation , hurtful to them and their families , that is not borne out by the facts . "" But contrary to survivors ' testimony published by advocacy groups , the report did not find physical abuse or torture to be a feature of the laundries . It also found no evidence that women were sexually abused , but acknowledged that it had spoken to only a fraction of those concerned . The report ' s authors said the four orders of nuns who ran the laundries said they had kept many details quiet out of a desire to protect the women ' s privacy , and that they had sought to provide for the marginalized and disadvantaged , rather than profiting from the laundries . About 10 , 000 women worked in the so called Magdalen , or Magdalene , Laundries over seven decades and more than a quarter of them were referred there by the state , for various reasons including by the courts as a condition of probation , according to the report . Others were unmarried mothers , victims of sexual abuse , orphans considered a burden to relatives or the state , or had mental or physical disabilities . Some were simply admitted by the families for reasons not known . Responding to its findings , Ireland ' s taoiseach , or prime minister , Enda Kenny said he was sorry for the stigma the women had suffered and the conditions they endured in the convent run laundries . But he did not give the formal apology many of the women have called for . Survivors ' groups say the women were physically and psychologically abused , denied an education and detained against their will and insist they are owed a formal government apology and compensation . With many now advanced in age , they also want the state to provide pensions for the years they worked without pay . For years , their situation was shrouded in mystery , with details coming to light only in the past two decades . The government backed investigatory committee , chaired by Sen . Martin McAleese , was established in response to a call by the U . N . Committee Against Torture . Its findings will be debated by the Irish parliament later this month . It found "" evidence of direct State involvement "" in numerous aspects of the 10 laundries ' operation . The report ' s authors spoke to about 100 women who had worked in the laundries between the foundation of the Irish state in 1922 and the closure of the last of the workhouses in 1996 . About 60 of the women spent less than a year there , the committee found . Advocacy group Magdalene Survivors Together said the women concerned had been "" let down "" by the committee . One , Mary Smith , said : "" It was worse than any prison , and I ' ll never ever get over it . I ' ll go to my grave with this pain , it was soul destroying , and the pain will never leave me . "" The government and the religious should stand up and acknowledge what they did to us and the scars that they left , and the pain that will never ever go away . "" Survivor testimony published by the Justice for Magdalenes campaign group also depicted the workhouses as harsh and exploitative places . "" In the Magdalene laundry , it was a well known fact that once you went in there you never came out , "" one woman told the group . "" You couldn ' t walk out , because all the locks would be on the doors . You couldn ' t . Unless family of yours took you out . Say somebody claimed you , and took you out . Then that was the only way , or else you ' d go out in a coffin , you know ? You died there . "" Those who escaped the convent walls have had no easy time either , the group said . In a 2011 submission to the U . N Committee Against Torture , Justice for Magdalenes highlighted the dire situation in which many of the survivors still find themselves , years later . "" Their poverty has been exacerbated throughout their lives by the denial of educational opportunity which they suffered while incarcerated in the laundries , as well as the psychological and physical injury caused by the abuse , "" it said . "" Nor have the women received healthcare or education to assist them in overcoming their trauma and abuse . "" There is a dearth of personal records of the women , and they continue to feel constrained and silenced by a deep sense of stigma and shame over their incarceration in the Magdalene Laundries , because of the continued denial of justice , lack of inquiry , and lack of acknowledgment that they were not at fault for what they suffered but instead had a grave abuse perpetrated upon them . "" The lack of personal records has also made it difficult for the adopted children of those locked up in the laundries to trace their mothers . The last of the Magdalen Laundries closed in 1996 . An act passed in 2002 addressed abuse and neglect suffered by thousands of Irish children in state licensed residential homes and schools , but omitted those who ' d suffered in the Magdalen Laundries . ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8949620,9621,"Maybe they should have learned their lesson from the nationwide mockery of David Cameron . But MPs have risked the nation ' s laughter anyway by jumping on the Tim Peake bandwagon with a masterful parade of sci fi quotes . Buzz Lightyear , Star Trek , Star Wars and David Bowie all got a mention in today ' s groanworthy House of Commons debate . At least our MPs had a good reason to celebrate . Major Tim Peake became Britain ' s first astronaut for 24 years after blasting off at 11 . 03am today . Once his 305 tonne Soyuz launch rocket docks with the International Space Station , he ' ll be charged with looking after the vast structure where he ' s set to run the London Marathon on a treadmill . MPs have earned their crust just by talking about him . Here ' s what they had to say . Business Secretary Sajid Javid showed off his stellar knowledge by quoting Star Wars , Star Trek and Toy Story ' s space travelling hero . "" Major Tim Peake has successfully blasted into orbit , "" he boasted . "" Launched a short time ago in a museum that is not far , far away , this policy document shows that there are no limits to the ' s ambitions in this area . "" To mix intergalactic metaphors we want to boldly go to infinity and beyond and our new policy will make it so . "" Han Solo has a bad feeling about his film quotes It couldn ' t last forever he was exposed by Labour Iain Wright , who reeled off the classic Star Wars line "" I ' ve got a bad feeling about this "" when talking about red tape . The line was used by Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars film and has featured as a running gag since . Yet the Business Secretary revealed he had not heard the quote , prompting MPs to shout at him : "" it ' s in every film ! "" . It all started with a David Bowie reference Space oddity : What would Bowie make of the goings on in Parliament ? Whose fault was the list of jokes ? Step forward small businesses minister Anna Soubry . She kicked off proceedings by quoting David Bowie ' s Space Oddity , saying : "" We ' ve heard this great news about the launch today and Major Tim going up into space . "" Ground control can report that the space sector has almost doubled to ? 11 . 8 billion . "" Stellar performance : But Anna Soubry wasn ' t a fan She was interrupted by a chorus of the 1969 hit from the Labour benches which sadly could hardly be heard on Parliamentary . "" I know it ' s the festive season but honourable members opposite are now singing , and it ' s not good , "" she said . Rebel rebels : John Bercow said the gang were no match for Bowie ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8959622,9623,"Reuters) - The United States has denied suggestions it undermined an investigation into a massive data breach at the Italian cybersecurity firm Hacking Team, saying it did everything it could to help in the case. A Milan magistrate last week recommended shelving an investigation into six people who were suspected of orchestrating the 2015 data theft. A senior judicial source criticized U.S. officials for not handing over a computer belonging to a key suspect, saying it might have contained information vital to the probe. But in a comment emailed to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington denied the United States was to blame for the case floundering. The United States assisted Italy to the greatest extent possible and the relevant Italian authorities know that, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson wrote. Magistrates opened their investigation in July 2015 after hackers downloaded 400 gigabytes of data from the firm, which makes software that allows law enforcement and intelligence agencies to tap into the phones and computers of suspects. Much of the data later showed up on the WikiLeaks website. The company said at the time it believed former employees had stolen vital code that gave them access to its systems. It also speculated that a foreign government might have been behind the hacking. The Italian probe led magistrates to a suspect living in Nashville, Tennessee. U.S. authorities raided his house and took the man in for questioning, however a senior judicial source in Milan, with direct knowledge of the case, said his computer was never sent to Italy for technical assessment. We could not carry out the checks on the computer to see if it contained the evidence that we were looking for because the United States did not give it to us. We did not receive an explanation for this decision, the source said. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past8969624,9625,"Suburbs with higher percentages of younger residents will experience a bigger growth in value from having railway constructions , a new study has found . Onthehouse Research found the suburbs where the median age of residents was below the national average of 37 years showed a stronger relationship between train stations and price growth . The study picked seven suburbs to keep an eye on based on impending railway constructions that will likely transform their value , reports Property Observer . A new study has found Suburbs with higher percentages of younger residents will experience a bigger growth in value from having railway constructions The study picked seven suburbs to keep an eye on based on impending railway constructions that will likely transform their value The new stations will allow younger residents to access Sydney , therein generating thousands of jobs . The seven suburbs to watch out for are Kellyville , Rouse Hill , Bella Vista , Baulkam Hills , Paddington , Randwick and Kingsford . ' In Kellyville , the building and maintenance of the station , increased dwelling construction and new commercial establishments are expected to create over 3 , 000 jobs in the area , said Eliza Owen , Onthehouse market analyst . ' Whereas in Kingsford , where one third of the residents fall between 20 29 years old , the light rail is expected to be popular with young people and students travelling to the city for entertainment and work outside of study hours . ' Properties in Kellyville ( L ) and Rouse Hill ( R ) , the top two suburbs set to have their value transformed after impending railway constructions Properties in Bella Vista ( L ) and Baulkam Hills ( R ) are both set to have new railway infrastructure . The new stations will allow younger residents to access Sydney , therein generating thousands of jobs A three bedroom Kellyville house sold for 920 , 000 earlier this month , less than two years after it sold for 580 , 000 in September 2012 , marking a 58 . 6 price growth . Globally , Sydney is considered the third most expensive property market behind only Hong Kong and Vancouver It comes after a downtrodden home in south Sydney sold for a colossal 6 million last Saturday . 73 Vista Street in San Souci captured a crowd of 250 , despite its run down , red brick exterior Properties in Paddinton ( L ) , Randwick ( C ) and Kingsford ( R ) will also experience a transformation in value ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present8979629,9630,"Open for talks on , indicates Congress after Sonia meet Narendra Modi met former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at 7 , Race Course Road in New Delhi on Friday . Congress leaders on Saturday said they want to take the negotiations on Bill forward . ( ) A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the goods and services tax ( ) bill , the principal Opposition party indicated its key demands are not cast in stone and it wants to take the negotiations forward . Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi met a few leaders on Saturday , including the party s Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge , to take their feedback on the negotiations . Gandhi will meet some other senior leaders on Sunday before the Congress formally responds to the government s proposals discussed during Friday s meeting at the s residence . Asked if there was any meeting ground between the government and the Congress on the , party leader Anand Sharma said , We are not saying it s non negotiable . Our demand is not at all partisan politics . Let s try to take it forward . We will meet again and we will see what the government comes back to us with . Read Modi discusses with Sonia , Manmohan another meet likely Asked if there was any meeting ground between the government and the Congress on the , party leader Anand Sharma said , We are not saying it s non negotiable . Our demand is not at all partisan politics . Let s try to take it forward . We will meet again and we will see what the government comes back to us with . In this released handout photograph , Narendra Modi ( C ) in a meeting with former Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at 7 in New Delhi , in the presence of finance minister Arun Jaitley and Union minister for parliamentary affairs , M Venkaiah Naidu . ( ) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi met the party s Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday over the bill . Gandhi will meet more senior leaders on Sunday before the Congress formally responds to the government s proposals on the . At Friday s meeting , Sonia Gandhi reportedly demanded tobacco and alcohol taxes be part of the . The move is seen as a negotiating tool as Congress ruled states such as Kerala and Karnataka might stand to lose if these products are excluded from the states taxation list . At the s Diwali Milan function , parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu said , The meeting ( between the Congress and the government ) was positive . We will have more talks , indicating the government is bracing for prolonged negotiations with the Congress on . Sharma questioned the government s hurry to push the and pointed out that other important bills are also pending in Parliament . In the meeting convened by the , the Congress had pointed out that India s competitors have such tax rates between 14 and 16 . Earlier , in his meeting with the FIIs , Rahul Gandhi had categorically said the must cater to industries as well as consumers , a source said . Meanwhile , Rahul Gandhi s key aide Kaushal Vidyarthee took a jibe at the on Twitter , saying , Dear Modi , U didn t need 18 months , 3 land ordinances , Bihar defeat , sluggish economy to meet Opposition Leaders . ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past8989641,9642,"Donald Trump Jr. took to Twitter today to release all email communication with the Kremlin-linked lawyer, revealing that he had hoped to get his hands on information that would damage Hillary Clinton s campaign. Is this really news? Someone who Donald Trump Jr. knew wanted to help him, by revealing some dirt on Hillary, and Trump Jr. agreed to meet with them. Okay? So what? Would Hillary s camp have declined such a meeting? What about Robert Creamer, a felon and Democrat operative who s married to a Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and had ties to the Hillary campaign and to our sitting President Barack Obama? He was caught red-handed in an undercover video by James O Keefe admitting to inciting violence at Trump rallies as a way to help Hillary win the election against Donald Trump? Why was that story dismissed by the media and this nothingburger story getting wall-to-wall coverage?Here is the tweet from Donald Trump Jr., who was clearly not worried about revealing the contents to the world. Here's my statement and the full email chain pic.twitter.com/x050r5n5LQ Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017Here is the statement made by Donald Trump Jr. about the release of the emails:Page 1:Page 2:Page 3:Page 4:The emails offer the first details about how the sitdown with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer, came about.Trump Jr. posted the emails on Twitter shortly after they were first reported by The New York Times.Trump Jr. said in a statement he thought he was receiving opposition research. The information they suggested they had about Hillary Clinton I thought was Political Opposition Research, Trump Jr. said. Throughout the exchange, he gave no indication that he was concerned about getting information from the Russian government, which the intelligence community has concluded meddled in the election on his father s behalf.Trump Jr. and his high-powered white collar criminal defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, insist he did nothing wrong. Media & Dems are extremely invested in the Russia story. If this nonsense meeting is all they have after a yr, I understand the desperation! he defiantly tweeted Tuesday morning.The White House has said President Trump was unaware of the meeting, and he has not commented on the revelations about his eldest son. NYPNot only do the emails appear to be another nothingburger for the rabid left and their allies in the media, but Donald Jr. should ve known that if the media didn t care about Hillary giving Russia one-fifth of all uranium production in the Untied States in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation (slush fund), they likely wouldn t care much else having to do with Crooked Hillary and the Russians.An April, 2015 article published by The New York Times tells a story of a corrupt Secretary of State who used her position as Secretary of State to gain massive donations to her Clinton Foundation while giving Vladimir Putin control of much of the United States uranium:The headline on the website Pravda trumpeted President Vladimir V. Putin s latest coup, its nationalistic fervor recalling an era when its precursor served as the official mouthpiece of the Kremlin: Russian Nuclear Energy Conquers the World. The article, in January 2013, detailed how the Russian atomic energy agency, Rosatom, had taken over a Canadian company with uranium-mining stakes stretching from Central Asia to the American West. The deal made Rosatom one of the world s largest uranium producers and brought Mr. Putin closer to his goal of controlling much of the global uranium supply chain.But the untold story behind that story is one that involves not just the Russian president, but also a former American president and a woman who would like to be the next one.At the heart of the tale are several men, leaders of the Canadian mining industry, who have been major donors to the charitable endeavors of former President Bill Clinton and his family. Members of that group built, financed and eventually sold off to the Russians a company that would become known as Uranium One.As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock. ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present8999652,9653,"YouTube celebrity Adam Saleh has accused Delta Air Lines of kicking him off flight because he spoke Arabic to his mom on the phone before takeoff.In a statement, Delta said: Two customers were removed from this flight and later rebooked after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort. We re conducting a full review to understand what transpired. We are taking allegations of discrimination very seriously; our culture requires treating others with respect. Saleh has more than 1.6 million subscribers to his TrueStoryASA YouTube channel, and more than 2.2 million subscribers to his Adam Saleh Vlogs YouTube channel. Saleh s YouTube channels are full of prank videos as well as videos about Muslim life, and he is a self-described professional idiot. He said when he was speaking to his mom, a woman in the seat in front of him turned around and told him he ought to speak English. Saleh said he told her he can speak whatever language he likes, and her husband responded by standing up and screaming at him.Then about 20 people allegedly said they were uncomfortable with Saleh and his Arabic-speaking companion. The pair were approached by the captain, who Saleh said seemed ashamed and embarassed when he asked them to leave the plane because of the other passengers complaints.In one video Saleh posted to Twitter that was retweeted 83,000 times in just 2 hours, Saleh can be seen getting escorted off the plane. NewsHere is the video Saleh posted to Twitter of he and his buddy being escorted off the plane:We got kicked out of a @Delta airplane because I spoke Arabic to my mom on the phone and with my friend slim please spread pic.twitter.com/P5dQCE0qos Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016OOOPS! It appears this isn t the first time Saleh has created a disturbance on an airplane. He makes money every time someone clicks on one of his You Tube videos. The more controversial the video the more clicks. But do the passengers on these flights really think a Muslim man who intentionally creates unnecessary drama and attention to himself on their flight is funny? Is it okay for him to make the other customers uncomfortable so he can earn insane amounts of money on You Tube?Here are some previous posts by Saleh shared by Mark Dice on Twitter:It appears this Delta Airlines incident may be the result of another sick prank by the Muslim YouTuber. Look at his track record: pic.twitter.com/r78AleNPty Mark Dice (@MarkDice) December 21, 2016Watch outrage expressed by You tuber Muslim Adam Saleh Vlog over being checked by a Muslim security officer as he was going through airport security at Heathrow Airport in London. According to Saleh, it s apparently not okay for a who is working at airport security to check another MUSLIM. Who knew?Crying discrimination isn t anything new to the attention obsessed Saleh who tells his viewers how worried he is about our racist President-elect Donald J. Trump. It was viewed over 1 million times:",fake,dataset,test,American football,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past9009659,9660,"As a poll challenger who has witnessed unbelievable blatant voter fraud by Democrats, I can only imagine what this poll worker might have done to cross this Democrat chairman.The chairman of the Essex County Democratic Committee in New Jersey is accused of punching a blind Army veteran following an argument at a polling location during East Orange s council primary last month.Video was released purportedly showing Leroy Jones punching 75-year-old Bill Graves, who was volunteering as a poll worker during the incident on primary day, June 2. I hear this rumbling, Where the blank is Bill Graves? I m gonna kick his butt! Mr. Graves told a local affiliate. You can see on the tape it was intentional. The suspect, identified by Essex County Prosecutors as Mr. Jones, is seen throwing several punches at Mr. Graves following what appears to be a heated confrontation.Mr. Graves and his friends said Mr. Jones attacked him because he was backing a political candidate that Mr. Jones did not support, reported.Mr. Jones, however, said he was defending his wife, who was also working at the polls. Mr. Jones said the veteran got aggressive with his wife during an argument, and she called her husband for help, a local affiliate reported. This man threatened my wife. This man assaulted my wife. This man charged at my wife, Mr. Jones said.Mr. Jones has been charged with simple assault, reports said. Mr. Graves was not charged.Mr. Graves, who is completely blind in one eye and legally blind in the other, said his vision has gotten worse since the attack. Angry, disgusted, because why should I have to run back and forth to the doctor because someone decided to hit me, he told ABC. It s not good, that s all I can say. I m smiling, but I m not laughing. Via: Washington Times",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past9019669,9670,"Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller told s This Week host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that White House press secretary Sean Spicer is always 100 percent correct. That s kind of weird since he literally fabricated a terrorist attack several times in order to defend Trump s Muslim ban. There is nothing Spicer won t lie about to defend the alleged president.Stephanopoulos said that Spicer mentioned from the podium that the decision by Nordstrom to pull those products of Ivanka Trump was a direct attack on the president s policies after the retailer pulled her clothing line due to poor sales.The host noted that Sears and K-Mart decided this week to pull Trump s home furnishing lines from their websites. Is that a direct attack on the president s policies, as well? Stephanopoulos asked. I m not going make a comment on that. I don t have any information on it, Miller said. I do want to say that Sean Spicer, as always, is 100 percent correct and that what he said is true and important. And I agree with it. He just said he has no knowledge of what happened but that Sean Spicer was correct. Welcome to the alternative-facts of the Trump administration. You had a case where somebody was treated unfairly. The president stuck up for a member of his family, Miller continued. And the White House counselor made a light-hearted, flippant comment that nobody would interpret as being what has been cast as right now by you and the media and others. The flippant comment Miller is referring to belongs to Kellyanne Conway in which she hawked Ivanka Trump s clothing line on the air while sitting in the briefing room.Watch: He also made a baseless claim about voter fraud which has been thoroughly debunked.Miller is trending on Twitter and he s being mocked over this crazy-time comments.I didn t realize Stephen Miller was a 12 year old boy. SeanScheidt (@SeanScheidt) February 12, 2017 I do want to say that Sean Spicer, as always, is 100% correct. If you listen real close, you can hear Stephen Miller s credibility die. Ron Asher (@rmasher2) February 12, 2017How kind of Stephen Miller to take time off from managing Bates Motel to lie on all the morning shows. Laurie Crosswell ? (@lauriecrosswell) February 12, 2017Like most of the alt-right, Stephen Miller is what happens when literally every woman rejects you. Molly Knight (@molly_knight) February 12, 2017Senior Trump aide Stephen Miller refuses to express confidence in Gen. Flynn. And he lied too. weblink pic.twitter.com/KAH9kyNgXp John Aravosis (@aravosis) February 12, 2017Honestly, I feel like I need to be sprinkled with holy water after listening to Stephen Miller. #MeetThePress Laurie Crosswell ? (@lauriecrosswell) February 12, 2017Meet America s new biggest liar, Stephen Miller. pic.twitter.com/GWewpvAzTt DemsTalk (@DemsTalk) February 12, 2017WOL (weeping out loud) Not @TheOnion On @ThisWeekABC Stephen Miller says Sean Spicer is 100% right-& that voter fraud is serious issue Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) February 12, 2017we ve learned this morning that Stephen Miller also lies for a living. Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) February 12, 2017Trump liked Miller s fact-free interview, because of course.Congratulations Stephen Miller- on representing me this morning on the various Sunday morning shows. Great job! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2017Is there one member of the Trump administration that doesn t have his or her head up their ass?Image via screen capture with added tweet.",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present9029672,9673,"California Kenny Morrison soaked in life from his beachfront home . A top chef at a trendy L . A . restaurant , he served dinner to the Hollywood stars , including A listers . Kenny Morrison got hooked on painkillers after getting dental work in 2003 . "" I lost everything , "" he says . But within a couple years , he lost it all . He got hooked on pain medication after some dental work . His fix was codeine , Vicodin and OxyContin all prescription medications to help him get through the day . At one point , he even had a tooth removed unnecessarily so he could get a prescription for pain medicines . "" At the height , I was taking probably 20 , 25 a day , "" he says . "" It got to the point where I lost the wife , the house , and I was living in a bad part of L . A . in my truck . And I went from taking a couple of codeine all the way to taking OxyContin . "" Morrison didn ' t buy his drugs on a street corner or get them from a dope dealer . He got them mostly from dentists he had never met . He says he ' d scroll through the phone book calling dentist after dentist until one would prescribe him pain medication . "" I kind of found out on my own that a dentist will prescribe you painkillers over the phone , instead of a doctor who you would most likely have to go in and see , "" he says . Watch addicts turn to dentists Dr Jay Grossman , a dentist in the Los Angeles area , says he routinely gets calls from people seeking painkillers . "" The moment somebody hangs up the phone on me , I know that they ' re literally going down the book . They ' re calling the next one in the Yellow Pages , hoping that someone will write them a prescription , "" he says . "" If you ' re an addict , one of your resources would certainly be a dentist . "" Grossman sits on a disciplinary committee for the California Dental Association . He says the calls typically come at the end of the day . The user describes pain in his mouth and insists on medication fast . Red flags go up and Grossman says he begins asking a series of questions to "" put it back in their ballpark . "" When he asks how many pills they need , sometimes the answer is : "" Forty or 50 should do just fine , "" Grossman says . He tries to set up an appointment for the next day , so he can see the patient in person . Most times , they hang up after he grills them . "" I don ' t think doctors of any sort whether it ' s a dental professional or one of my medical colleagues should be doling out prescriptions in that quantity , like M Ms . That ' s not what it ' s there for , "" he says . "" I would like to think the vast majority of my colleagues are doing the honest , ethical and moral thing . "" According to the Drug Enforcement Administration , nearly 7 million Americans are abusing prescription drugs , more than the number who are abusing cocaine , heroin , hallucinogens and ecstasy combined . The number of painkiller addicts has nearly doubled from 2000 , when 3 . 8 million Americans were hooked , the says . The misuse of painkillers represents three fourths of the overall problem of prescription drug abuse . The says addicts get the drugs from "" doctor shopping , "" online pharmacies and other Internet sources , theft from pharmacies and , yes , traditional drug dealers . "" All registered practitioners and dentists registered with must adhere to state laws and regulations as well as federal laws and regulations when dispensing or prescribing a controlled substance , "" says special agent Gary Boggs . But the says only one in every 10 , 000 doctors loses his or her controlled substance registration each year as a result of investigations into improper prescribing . James Stillwell , the executive director of Impact Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in Pasadena , California , says he believes it ' s much more prevalent than authorities realize . He says dentists , doctors and veterinarians all become targets of addicts . "" It ' s an easy way to get your hands on an opiate based drug , a painkiller , for recreational use , "" Stillwell says . "" If you have an addict that wants to get high , . . . he ' s going to find ways and means to do that . "" There ' s another troubling aspect of addicts on painkillers prescribed by doctors , he says . These addicts don ' t think they have a problem because they have prescriptions in their hands . "" It helps you legitimize it not just in terms of family and loved ones , but what your head is saying to you , "" Stillwell says . "" It ' s a way to elude the stigma of being a drug addict . "" Grossman says the has done a good job in the last 12 18 months of cracking down on dentists who may be over prescribing pain medicines . According to the , 38 states have enacted legislation to create a database for physicians and pharmacists to prevent abusers from obtaining multiple prescriptions . Grossman says the notifies dentists and questions them when their prescriptions for painkillers reach high numbers . "" They ' re actually following up , "" he says . But he says for a dentist to come before his local disciplinary board , the board first needs to be notified that a dentist may be acting out of line and a drug abuser typically isn ' t going to turn them in . Grossman believes the issue has come under scrutiny in the last year because "" of the celebrities that have been passing away due to drug overdose . "" Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith had each taken a lethal combination of prescription drugs . He said dentists , doctors and pharmacies constantly need to be on alert for people trying to use medical professionals as their drug dealers . "" Just writing a prescription for the pain is not the answer , "" Grossman says . "" There ' s a moral and ethical code that we have to follow . "" As for Morrison , he says he has been clean for a year after going through Impact ' s program . He ' s now the head chef at the treatment facility that saved his life . It has been five years since his life fell apart . He ' s trying to repair his relationship with his daughter and his ex wife . He wants others to avoid the painful painkiller path he took . "" My body craved it , and I lost everything everything , "" Morrison says . "" It ' s hard to understand how big of a problem this is . My message is it ' s a disease and it needs to be addressed . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9039701,9702,"The Cancer Drugs Fund has done more harm than good by paying too much for new drugs , health economists have warned . Experts claim that paying over the odds for cancer drugs means the health service is being starved of money to spend on patients with different diseases . The money spent on expensive drugs would have done five times more good if spent elsewhere in the , they claim . New research says the drugs rationing body is also approving drugs that are too expensive for the to afford despite rejecting dozens of other drugs on grounds of cost . The research found the ' threshold ' used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( ) when gauging the cost effectiveness of new drugs is too high . Waste : The money spent on expensive drugs cancer would have done five times more good if spent elsewhere in the , a damning report has claimed Many believe the high prices of new drugs are justified because pharmaceutical companies need to recoup the cost of years of investment taken to develop them . But researchers at the Centre for Health Economics at York University say patients are losing out because the money could be better spent elsewhere , such as filling staff shortages or buying new radiotherapy machines . Co author Professor Karl Claxton said ' The increasing pressure to approve new drugs more quickly at prices that are too high will only increase the harm done to patients overall . ' The political pressure to support a multinational pharmaceutical sector cannot justify the real harm that has and will continue to be done to patients . ' The research comes as critics argue that cancer drugs have been given unfair priority in a cash strapped . The Government ' s aim , which was a Tory election pledge , was to enable doctors to prescribe any drug if they believed a cancer patient could benefit . It has led to around 55 , 000 patients in England getting drugs banned by Nice or awaiting approval since April 2011 . The Cancer Drugs Fund ( ) bill this year will be 280 million . Patients not being given the expensive drugs are missing out , it has been claimed . Instead , the money could be better spent filling staff shortages or buying new radiotherapy machines ( file image ) However , research by health economists at the University of York has , for the first time , estimated the impact of the drugs fund on other areas of the . It found outcomes would be better if it refused to fund any drug that cost more than 13 , 000 per quality adjusted life year ( ) . The is a complex formula used to calculate the cost effectiveness of a drug so called quality adjusted life years ( ) . This determines the cost of a new treatment by working out how much it improves and extends a life compared with existing treatments . Nice uses a threshold between 20 , 000 and 30 , 000 per , but on average it approves drugs that cost 40 , 000 per and sometimes as high as 50 , 000 , according to the research . For every 10 million spent on a new drug that costs 40 , 000 per , 250 QALYs would be gained but 773 lost because the money spent would not be available for other services . The net harm would be 523 QALYs . The Cancer Drugs Fund spend this year will buy 4 , 098 QALYs for individual cancer patients but the health lost elsewhere will be 21 , 645 QALYs five times greater , say the researchers . Professor Claxton said he did not blame drug companies , which were responding to a demand for innovative and expensive therapies , mostly driven by the market . Instead he said the should refuse to pay excessive prices and either cut prices unilaterally or bring in a rebate scheme under which companies would reimburse the for drugs that cost more than 13 , 000 per . Professor Claxton added : ' We need to find a way of setting prices that reflects the real value in the market . The key is to find a mechanism that can allow that to happen . ' If for political reasons we have to have the Cancer Drugs Fund , at least we should be confronted with the results of that decision , ' he added . Sir Andrew Dillon , Chief Executive of Nice , said of the issue : ' The question is how to balance investing in the cutting edge of medicine with more routine care ' The research was funded by the National Institute of Health Research and Medical Research Council . Sir Andrew Dillon , Chief Executive of Nice , said : ' The has a choice about whether to use some of its money to adopt new things . It always has done . ' The question is how to balance investing in the cutting edge of medicine with more routine care . ' ' Unless you think that drug companies will be prepared to lower their prices in an unprecedented way , using a threshold of 13 , 000 per would mean the closing the door on most new treatments . ' ' At the other end of the spectrum , we obviously can ' t just say yes to anything and everything . ' We don ' t have enough money and anyway , not everything is worth having . ' And drug companies need the discipline of a critical market to make sure that price matters . ' The research is published in the Health Technology Assessment journal . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9049703,9704,"An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) attorney based in Washington, D. C. was arrested for allegedly shipping methamphetamine from his apartment to Long Island, New York over the past few years. [Jack Vitayanon, 41, is facing charges of conspiring with others to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, the Washington Examiner reported. “Selling methamphetamine is a serious crime which is made more egregious when it is committed by a U. S. government attorney assigned to the Office of Professional Responsibility of the IRS,” Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York, said in a statement. Vitayanon, who works in the IRS’ Office of Professional Responsibility, negotiated sales and distribution quantities with undercover agents and shipped the meth from his D. C. apartment to Long Island through Federal Express. “As alleged, the defendant — a federal attorney working for the IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility — broke bad and supplemented his income by selling distribution quantities of methamphetamine,” stated United States Attorney Robert E. Capers for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY). Vitayanon worked with people in Arizona and Long Island to distribute the drug. An undercover agent recorded a conversation with Vitayanon on the Internet on Dec. 15, 2016 and observed him smoking meth from a glass pipe, according to the complaint. When law enforcement searched his apartment, they found suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, packaging material and drug ledgers.",true,news,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9059715,9716,"Glam Prog Space Rockers Muse have explained why they are allowing a song of theirs to go on the soundtrack of the new Twighlight movie . The Devon trio will be rejigging "" I Belong To You "" to appear in the latest Stephanie Meyer adaptation "" ! ! ! ! 1111oneoneone These Vampires Sparkle And Only My Chemical Romance Understand Me "" . Drummer Dom Howard said the band had ' no choice ' but to put it on there . He added : "" We were just hanging out , planning the latest stuff for our tour not to give anything away , but if you like helicopters , interpretive dance and fire , you ' re in for a good night when Matt Bellamy , singer and guitarist started spazzing out , saying the were after his brain and were trying to control it through the science of something to do with outer space . "" He said the only way he could stop them was doing something really silly with the song , because it ' s normally pretty sensible , what with the ' She attacks me like a Leo When my heart is split like Rio ' line , the bit in French and the Clarinet solo . "" Mr Howard ' s bandmate , bassist Chris Wolstenholme , explained that the destruction of credibility was the only way to help Mr Bellamy ' s ' over worked ' brain . The Cider swilling Chunkmeister added : "" Matt said the cabal of gay Jewish freemasons under the command of the Pope wouldn ' t think it worth bothering with him if he was associated with something really shit . "" Personally , as long as I get some pasties out of it , I reckon it ' s a good idea . "" Matt Bellamy was unavailable for comment , as he had gone for a lie down and was being visited by that nice doctor who gives him those sweeties that stop the New World Order reading his every thought . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past9069724,9725,"After postponing its first execution of a woman in 70 years because of "" cloudy "" lethal injection drugs , Georgia has indefinitely postponed at least one other execution until it can analyze the cocktail it uses for the procedures , the state said Tuesday . Kelly Renee Gissendaner was scheduled to die at 7 p . m . Monday , but for the second time in less than a week , it was called off . The state postponed the first planned execution because of "" weather and associated scheduling issues , "" department spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said . "" Prior to the execution , the drugs were sent to an independent lab for testing of potency . The drugs fell within the acceptable testing limits , "" the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement . "" Within the hours leading up to the scheduled execution , the Execution Team performed the necessary checks . At that time , the drugs appeared cloudy . The Department of Corrections immediately consulted with a pharmacist , and in an abundance of caution , Inmate Gissendaner ' s execution has been postponed . "" Repeating the "" abundance of caution "" wording , the department issued a news release Tuesday , saying , "" The scheduled executions of Kelly Renee Gissendaner and Brian Keith Terrell have been postponed while an analysis is conducted of the drugs planned for use in last night ' s scheduled execution of inmate Gissendaner . "" Gissendaner , 47 , is condemned to die for a 1997 murder plot in which she conspired with boyfriend Gregory Owen to murder her husband . Terrell was convicted in the shooting and beating death of a 70 year old friend of his mother ' s after the man called police to say Terrell had stolen checks from him , according to the Georgia attorney general ' s office . Gissendaner has already requested an extravagant last meal : two Burger King Whoppers with cheese ( with everything ) , two large orders of fries , popcorn , cornbread , a side of buttermilk and a salad with tomatoes , bell peppers , onions , carrots , cheese , boiled eggs and Newman ' s Own buttermilk dressing , the Corrections Department said . She also requested a glass of lemonade and cherry vanilla ice cream for dessert . Terrell was scheduled to die between March 10 and 17 . Last year , Oklahoma issued a months long moratorium on executions after murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett convulsed , writhed and lay alive on a gurney for 43 minutes before dying . It was the state ' s first time using a new , three drug cocktail for an execution . The constitutionality of lethal injection drugs has made headlines since 2013 , when European manufacturers including Denmark based Lundbeck , which manufactures pentobarbital banned U . S . prisons from using their drugs in executions . Thirty two states were left to find new drug protocols . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past9079725,9726,"A florist in eastern Washington state fined 1 , 000 for refusing to sell a same sex couple wedding flowers and also facing a consumer protection lawsuit has netted more than 87 , 000 in a crowdfunding campaign . The Seattle Times reports that nearly half of the money on the gofundmeweblink page set up in February for 70 year old Barronelle Stutzman came in the last several days . Supporters compare Stutzman ' s benefit page to an Indiana pizza shop that raised more than 800 , 000 after closing when the owner said the shop wouldn ' t cater a gay wedding . Supporters : An online campaign for Richland , Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman ( pictured ) has raised over 87 , 000 after the florist was fined for refusing to provide a gay couple with flowers for their 2013 wedding Refused service : Couple Robert Ingersoll ( left ) and Curt Freed ( right ) were longtime customers at Stutzman ' s shop , and while she was fine providing them flowers before , she cited her religious beliefs when declining to service their wedding Stutzman , owner of Arlene ' s Flowers and Gifts in Richland , Washington , received the fine in Benton County Superior Court in March after refusing to serve same sex couple Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed in 2013 . When longtime customer Ingersoll came to Arlene ' s Flowers and asked for the flowers , the devout Southern Baptist told him her ' relationship with Jesus Christ ' wouldn ' t allow her to do the wedding . After they were refused flowers , Ingersoll and Freed went ahead with a smaller wedding than they had planned . They got married in their home with 11 guests and flowers from another florist . In a February ruling , Benton County Superior Judge Alexander Ekstrom found that Stutzman ' s refusal to provide flowers because of sexual orientation violated Washington ' s anti discrimination and consumer protection laws . Along with the fine , the judge ' s ruling also requires that everything Arlene ' s Flowers sells to opposite sex couples has to be available at the same price to same sex couples . Attorney General Bob Ferguson , whose office requested the fine , said in a statement Friday that the ruling is a reminder of the reach of Washington ' s anti discrimination laws . ' My primary goal has always been to end illegal discrimination , ' Ferguson said . ' I ' m pleased that today ' s ruling clearly prohibits discrimination against same sex couples . ' Before Ferguson ' s office filed the consumer protection lawsuit against Stutzman , it had sent her a letter asking for an agreement to no longer discriminate , which she refused . Ferguson ' s statement Friday said the office would not have sued if Stutzman had accepted the agreement Breaking the law : In February , a Benton County judge ruled that Stutzman ' s refusal to provide flowers for the ceremony was a violation of anti discrimination and consumer protection laws . Above , Stutzman ' s shop ",true,text,test,Other sport,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9089726,9727,"Washington Nearly a dozen Republicans who might be considering a run for the presidential nomination in 2016 are auditioning in front of the Conservative Political Action Conference , which touts itself as the largest and oldest annual gathering of conservatives . On Friday , Mitt Romney , the 2012 Republican presidential nominee , will speak at . If Romney is the ' s past , then Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky are the ' s future . Both men , considered leading 2016 Republican White House hopefuls , gave back to back and dueling speeches Thursday . Although different in style and with divergent plans to revitalize a party that ' s lost the last two presidential elections , both men praised the conservative cause . "" We don ' t need a new idea . There is an idea . The idea is called America , and it still works , "" Rubio said to loud applause . Paul said that for the Republican Party to win , "" liberty needs to be the backbone of the . "" Texas Gov . Rick Perry spoke a few hours later . His 2012 bid for the nomination crashed and burned , but he is considering another run in 2016 . Perry used his address to criticize Romney and Arizona Sen . John McCain , the 2008 Republican nominee . "" The popular media narrative is that this country has shifted away from conservative ideals , as evidenced by the last two presidential elections . That ' s what they say , "" Perry said . "" That might be true if Republicans had actually nominated conservative candidates in 2008 and 2012 . "" On Friday , former Sen . Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania , a conservative favorite who battled Romney deep into last year ' s Republican primary calendar , is scheduled to make several appearances . Santorum could make another run for the White House in 2016 . Big surprise : Jeb Bush not on ballot Later in the afternoon Louisiana Gov . Bobby Jindal , who is also considered a possible presidential hopeful , will address the crowd . So will House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan , the congressman from Wisconsin who was Romney ' s running mate . And Friday night former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush , who lately has openly discussed 2016 , will keynote a dinner . Wisconsin Gov . Scott Walker , Sen . Ted Cruz of Texas and former Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin will appear on Saturday . Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father his eligibility for president has been subject to debate . "" is where all 2016 candidates need to go to pass the conservative litmus test : Are they for freedom , or for something less , "" said Castellanos , who is spearheading a new super called the NewRepublican . org to refocus the party ' s messaging and policy goals . Paul , Rubio provide competing glimpses of a revamped "" There ' s not many other events where they all accept the invitation and are happy to parade one after the other , modeling in their swimsuits and evening gowns hoping to be amongst the finalists , "" she said . The conference , which draws tons of attention , has been increasingly critiqued as more political carnival than conference . Regardless , the confab will once again end with its presidential nomination straw poll , which is considered by many as a key gauge of conservative sentiment and garners much media coverage . But there ' s also been plenty of criticism in recent years that the straw poll is not the indicator it once was . "" It ' s a more an anecdotal measurement than an empirical one . Its relevance as a prediction of grassroots strength within the party has waned over the last few years . It can , however , give someone who isn ' t well known a shot of adrenaline so that they ' re more prominently featured in any of the chatter about 2016 , "" said Kevin Madden , a strategist who served as a senior adviser to Romney in both his 2012 and 2008 presidential campaigns . "" Folks shouldn ' t read too much into the results . Straw polls are kind of like political junk food . You know it ' s all empty calories , but some folks eat it anyway . "" straw poll list shows wide array of 2016 potential analyst Rich Galen says the poll means nothing three years out from the election and it represents only part of the party . "" If we ' ve learned anything from it ' s that the conference does not represent mainstream thinking . The poll is routinely hijacked by whomever wants to spend the money to get the eight hours of attention , "" said Galen , who advised actor and former Tennessee Sen . Fred Thompson during his 2008 presidential bid and is author of Mullingsweblink , an online column . "" Last year we not only did a straw poll but also had a national poll we announced simultaneously , "" said Al Cardenas , chairman of the American Conservative Union , the organization that puts on the conference . "" The outcomes were identical . The same order of top three finishers in the straw poll were the same order as the top three finishers in the national poll , and so to those skeptics who were concerned about the accuracy of the straw poll , the national poll provided empirical evidence that it was a pretty good representative sample of what ' s going on . "" Romney finished first in both polls , ahead of Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich . This time around there are 23 names on the straw poll ballot , including some who were not invited to . Among those on the ballot who won ' t be speaking is Chris Christie , the tough talking New Jersey governor who is considered a leading prospect for the 2016 nomination . While popular in his party , Christie angered some on the right after praising President Barack Obama for the federal response to Superstorm Sandy , which devastated parts of the Garden State just days before the November election . Christie also criticized House Republicans for temporarily holding up federal aid following the storm . Major conservative conference comes at crucial time for Virginia Gov . Bob McDonnell also may have designs on the White House , but he is not addressing . Earlier this year he pushed through a transportation plan that included tax increases , considered heresy among fiscal conservatives . Though he doesn ' t have a keynote speaking role , he is part of a panel session at the conference . Others on the ballot without speaking spots include New Mexico Gov . Susana Martinez former Indiana Gov . Mitch Daniels , who now heads Purdue University and Ohio Sen . Rob Portman , a major Romney surrogate last year . Neurosurgeon Ben Carson interestingly appears on the poll the only one on the list who ' s never been elected to public office . He generated buzz in conservative circles after he advocated conservative policies on taxes and health care in front of President Obama while keynoting the national prayer breakfast last month . There ' s one glaring omission from the 23 names on the straw poll ballot : Jeb Bush , who asked not to be on the list . Christie dismisses lack of invite For many conservative activists attending , the straw poll is fun , but they don ' t take it too seriously . "" I don ' t put much weight on it . It ' s a fun way of getting to see opinions , but it doesn ' t predict anything , "" said Ryan Robertson of Reston , Virginia . "" I did it for fun . Why not ? But there ' s so much time between now and then , "" said Shelby Vest , a recent University of Florida graduate and first time straw poll voter . Teresa Ferguson of Albertville , Alabama , sees a value in the straw poll . "" We ' ve got to start thinking about someone , don ' t we ? "" She said the results may reflect the hopes and dreams of some , but added that the straw poll is "" a popularity contest . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present9099729,9730,"A woman has lost over 10 stone after a stranger threw a drink at her on a night out and told her she was disgusting . Steph Hammel , 25 , was devastated when she was humiliated in front of all of her friends and a bar full of strangers after the man threw a drink at her on the stairs of a bar in her hometown of Preston . It was the turning point Steph needed to finally do something about her 22st 5lb frame . Steph managed to shed an impressive 10 stone after the eye opening event at a bar in her home town Now , she weighs just 11st 13lb and is a size 12 and has been crowned Woman of the Year by the Cambridge Weight Plan . Steph , who is a local government authority officer , said : ' I was never a skinny girl , even when I was younger , but I was never fat either . I danced four times a week and was competing in championships on nearly a weekly basis . ' I would always be nervous when I went on a night out , but the night it happened I had made the effort with my hair and make up , and worn a dress . I felt really confident which is why it came as such a blow . ' He walked right up to me , turned round and said , ' Look at the state of you . You ' re disgusting , ' and threw his drink at me . Although her father made healthy food at home , Steph would buy crisps and sweets with her own money and eat them in secret , causing her weight to balloon ' Nobody should be made to feel the way that man made me feel , but it finally gave me the push I needed to do something about my weight . ' If I met him now I ' d shake his hand because without him I never would have done anything about my size . ' Steph started putting on weight when she stopped dancing aged 17 . Although her father made healthy food at home , she would buy crisps and sweets with her own money and eat them in secret . Steph said : ' I thought that if no one saw me doing it , then I hadn ' t done it , which is never a good way to be . The incident on her friends birthday forced Steph to look at the risks associated with her unhealthy lifestyle ' By the time I realised that my weight was going up , it was too late . By then I was a size 26 . ' Steph ' s diet was always put on the backburner until the turning point came while out for her friend ' s birthday . She says : ' I went to the toilets on my own and was going back down the stairs to find my friends as this young man was coming up . ' Luckily , my friend was coming up the stairs as it happened because I was furious . ' But the incident forced Steph to look at the risks associated with her unhealthy lifestyle and she started researching diet plans and which one would be right for her . Steph says if she met the man who threw the drink now she would thank him She eventually decided on the Cambridge Weight Plan , which involved rebuilding her relationship with food by first cutting it out completely and replacing it with milkshakes and porridge . Her incredible weight loss of 10st 7lb led to Steph being crowned Woman of the Year at the Cambridge Weight Plan awards . Steph said : ' I needed to know that I had set boundaries and wouldn ' t be tempted by even just small amounts of unhealthy foods . ' A lot of people doubted me when I first started and didn ' t think I would be able to stick to the diet , but when they could see how well I was doing they became more encouraging . ' Proving people wrong has given me an extra boost of confidence and motivated me to carry on . ' Now my mum will tell anyone that will listen for long enough about how well I ' ve done . ' There were times when I would think ' this is it , I ' ve done enough now ' , but my mum and my boyfriend ' s mum spurred me on to keep going and keep losing the weight . ' Since losing the weight , Steph ' s confidence has skyrocketed and she has also met her boyfriend , Neil . Steph said : I met Neil towards the end of my diet and we ' ve been together about seven months . ' The relationship wouldn ' t have worked before I don ' t think . I would have constantly been wondering why he was interested in me . ' I would have been constantly thinking he ' s only with me until something better comes along . Before I was with Neil I didn ' t know what it was like to be with someone who was nice to me all the time . ' Steph has also noticed more subtle changes in her day to day life , including in other people ' s behaviour towards her , especially as a young woman . Steph has been crowned Woman of the Year by the Cambridge Weight Plan due to her dieting success She says : ' People used to look at me and judge me . They were looking down on me because I was young and overweight . ' Now , people will hold a door open for me . It sounds silly but that was something that wouldn ' t have happened before . ' There are also things that people take for granted , like being able to cross my legs under my desk at work , sitting in an aeroplane seat comfortably and being able to walk between two cars in a car park without worrying you ' d get stuck . ' Seeing herself as a role model , Steph is now feeling the pressure to keep the weight off for good . ' Losing this much weight , going from a size 26 to a size 12 , is something people in their forties do , not people in their twenties . ' By doing it , I ' ve proved that it doesn ' t matter how old you are , there shouldn ' t be any excuse for being overweight . ' I ' m much happier in myself because of how healthy I feel and how much better I feel about myself . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9109730,9731,"England ' s experiment of having two coaches fell apart when tension arose between Andy Flower and Ashley Giles over the need to rest the best players from one day matches . Now , things could be different . There is a strong case for Paul Farbrace , an impressive assistant coach amid the rubble of this World Cup , to be given extra responsibility for limited overs cricket if England are bold and pick a largely different one day team when they move on from this disaster . The primacy of Test cricket remains an important principle but there is no doubt it has contributed to the worst World Cup showing of them all . There is a strong case for England assistant coach Paul Farbrace to be given extra responsibility Farbrace remains a firm believer that England coach Peter Moores ( left ) will get it right If England are serious about closing a gap which has become a gaping chasm between them and the best one day nations , they need to have completely different personnel to the Test team . And Farbrace , who guided Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup and World Twenty20 titles last year , has been a calm and sensible presence here . He remains a firm believer that England coach Peter Moores will get it right another reason the pair should be able to share coaching responsibilities . ' It ' s unfair that Peter is the one in the limelight , ' said Farbrace ahead of this morning ' s dead rubber against Afghanistan . Farbrace talks with Ravi Bopara as the disastrous World Cup campaign comes to a close Farbrace guided Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup and World Twenty20 titles last year and is calm and sensible ' At the last tournament , I left having been head coach of the team that won it and you take the adulation then . But you also receive the stick when things go badly . We ' re all responsible , not just Pete . ' Farbrace also addressed the controversial subject of statistics , adding : ' When I was with Sri Lanka we had a lot more meetings and looked at stats a lot more than England do . ' England assistant coach Farbrace conducts fielding practice during an England nets session in Sydney Glenn McGrath has predicted England will suffer another whitewash in this summer ' s Ashes . Australia won all five Tests in the 2013 14 series and their former bowler said : ' I can ' t see England beating them and I ' m more than happy to predict 5 0 . ' Former Australia bowler Glenn McGrath cannot see England winning anything at next summer ' s Ashes ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present9119736,9737,"A seven year old girl was left with facial injuries after an armed police officer accidentally fired a gun during a demonstration for winners of a colouring competition . The incident , which left the girl with a minor injury to her lip , happened at Nottinghamshire Police ' s headquarters while a group of children and parents were being shown around the building in the Arnold area of the city . The weapon was fired during a lunchtime visit on October 30 but the police force only made a public statement today after details of the incident were leaked . A seven year old girl was left with facial injuries after an armed police officer accidentally fired a gun during a visit to Nottinghamshire Police ' s headquarters ( pictured ) An investigation has been launched following what a force spokesman described as ' an accidental discharge of a police issued firearm into the ground ' . The officer , a trained firearms expert , has been taken off firearms duties pending the inquiry ' s outcome . Assistant Chief Constable Simon Torr , from Nottinghamshire Police , said : ' We are conducting a thorough inquiry to determine exactly how this unfortunate incident happened and have also referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission ( ) . The gun was accidentally fired at the ground , injuring the child ( file picture ) ' We have spoken to the parents , who were visiting force headquarters with their children , to explain what happened and have apologised for any distress caused . ' The group were enjoying an escorted tour of Sherwood Lodge , where they were shown ' specialist services ' including dogs , firearms and traffic cars . After a short talk about the weapons , the gun was accidentally fired at the ground , injuring the child . A force spokesman added : ' It happened around 12 . 15pm on Thursday , October 30 during an escorted visit to Sherwood Lodge by a group of children and parents who were being shown specialist services including dogs , firearms and traffic cars . ' At the end of a brief talk from firearms officers there was an accidental discharge of a police issued firearm into the ground . ' Following the incident a seven year old Nottinghamshire girl , who was part of the visiting group , was found with a minor injury to her lip . ' The cause of that injury will now form part of the investigation . The officer involved is currently not on firearms duties , pending the outcome of the investigation . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past9129742,9743,"I can t speak for this government . I have nothing to do with their policies , I don t know what s on their mind . Nor can I speak about whether they have pre negotiated or have reason to believe that Pakistan will deliver on their promises . I m talking not just about ( punishing ) 26 11 perpetrators but actually acting against terrorism and the groups that attack us , opening up Wagah to more goods , etc . So if you ask me , honestly , today I cannot say whether the optics will actually result in the substance but it would be very unusual for any government to just do the optics without any assurances . So I am quite happy to be surprised . : In a speech last year , you had mentioned that India s foreign policy goal was essentially ensuring the transformation of India . This government seems to be concerned with signalling India s power . Do you think , keeping in mind what happened in Myanmar or the very unpleasant situation with Nepal now , there is a danger of power projection overtaking the first objective of building an enabling neighbourhood ? I see Myanmar and all as part of learning statecraft . It doesn t worry me that much . But I do think that you need much more clarity on your goal . Most governments of India , until this one , have always defined it as eliminating poverty , illiteracy , diseases and making sure that India becomes a modern , socialist country where we solve our own social and economic problems . That is one set of goals . Yes , you have to be a great power to achieve some of those goals . But whether the time now is to concentrate on being a great power , a projecting power , and doing all the other things that go with it or focussing on organic growth from trying to transform India , that is exactly where you get into a grey area . For me , the problem is the lack of a clear strategic vision from the government , which says either we buy into what has always been or we have an alternative . Now India has grown to the stage where we can change our goals . But you need to have a discussion on that rationally and consciously . If you ( decide on the change ) , you need to signal it to the rest of the world as well , especially your neighbours . I am not sure if that has happened in the last few months . : Has India messed it up in Nepal ? Could the approach have been different , better ? I don t know . I think there are a whole set of issues in Nepal which are primarily their own business . It is very easy in Nepal to blame India for Nepal s problems . Until they come to some accommodation among themselves , each one will either come to India and ask for help or blame us . Ultimately , we are so closely linked with our open border and in terms of economic interdependence and people that I am confident that it will work out . You could argue that there has been tactical clumsiness over the way it was done in the last few months , but that s not important when it comes to India Nepal relations . ( Khadga Prasad Sharma ) Oli ( Nepal ) said he will be visiting India . I believe ultimately good sense will prevail , though there will be patchiness in the relations for some time . We also have to lighten up and look at how far Nepal has come from a vicious 12 year insurgency . : Do you think , in the given circumstances , India should go ahead with the January 15 foreign secretary level talks ? I don t think calling off the talks is an answer . That is , like I said before , giving the terrorists exactly what they want . I would say go ahead with the talks but use the talks to deal with it and tell Pakistan that now we expect to see you re dealing with these problems and furnish them with evidence . Put them to test . : What major differences do you see between Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi in dealing with Pakistan ? I m not sure I am qualified to answer that . As I said , there is much more public projection . But I find it hard to believe that there are only optics and no assurances . I would assume that taken together , it is still India s policy . : Some people are advocating that after Pathankot , India should respond in a muscular fashion . After 26 11 , this choice confronted you in a much more traumatic way . Why did you decide not to retaliate ? Was it because General Deepak Kapoor wasn t ready or the Army wasn t ready ? I don t think that is really the case . Immediately after 26 11 , the Pakistan army started crying wolf that India is about to attack , though we had not done anything . It was clear that they wanted you to ( attack ) . It was a time when three or four things had happened : Lashkar itself had split with Ilyas Kashmiri there were parts of the Lashkar which were saying that why are we sparing the Pakistani government . Pakistan army s stock was very low . It served both their interests to actually get you to react . So , why give them the authenticity ? Second , what happens if we do and what did happen when we didn t . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present9139752,9753,"Video shows what it ' s like to be ' barrel bombed ' by Assad in Syria Mr Assad , who is backed by both Russia and Iran , ? said : "" Since the beginning of that coalition , if you want to talk about facts , not opinion , since the beginning of that coalition , Isis has expanded and the recruiting from around the world has increased . "" While since the participation of Russia in the same fight , so called against terrorism , Isis has been shrinking . "" Western leaders have ? demanded Mr ? Assad step ? down , and are backing rebel groups fighting against his regime . David Cameron and French president Francois Hollande have ? described him as a "" butcher "" of his own people , and responsible for triggering the refugee crisis . ? Russia , meanwhile , ? has been criticised for targeting moderate rebels ? as well as jihadists . Syrian citizens check a damaged house that targeted by the coalition airstrikes , in the village of Kfar Derian , a base for the al Qaida linked Nusra Front , a rival of the Isis group , between the northern province of Aleppo and Idlib A Syrian boy ( L ) looking at a destroyed car that activists say was targeted by the coalition airstrikes , in the village of Kfar Derian , a base for the al Qaida linked Nusra Front , a rival of the Islamic State group , between the northern province of Aleppo and Idlib Parts of a missile that activists say was fired by coalition airstrikes , in the village of Kfar Derian , a base for the al Qaida linked Nusra Front , a rival of the Isis group , between the northern province of Aleppo and Idlib Tthe guided missile destroyer Arleigh Burke ( 51 ) launching Tomahawk cruise missiles against Isis targets The Arleigh Burke ( 51 ) launches a Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Red Sea , to conduct strike missions against Isis group targets in Syria The guided missile cruiser Philippine Sea ( 58 ) launching a Tomahawk cruise missile against Isis targets in Syria , as seen from the aircraft carrier George H . W . Bush ( 77 ) in the Arabian Gulf navy sailors standing watch on the bridge while Tomahawk cruise missiles are launched against Isis targets in Syria , aboard the guided missile cruiser Philippine Sea ( 58 ) , in the Arabian Gulf The led airstrikes in Syria against Isis targets in and around the city of Raqqa A fighter from the Isis group holds a piece of what the is saying is a drone that crashed into a communications tower in the Syrian city of Raqqa Fighters from the Isis organisation pray at the spot where the jihadist group said a drone crashed into a communications tower in the Syrian city of Raqqa Fighters from the Isis group load a van with parts that they said was a drone that crashed into a communications tower in the Syrian city of Raqqa Fighters from the Isis group load a van with parts that they said was a drone that crashed into a communications tower in Raqqa Fighters from the Isis group gesture as they load a van with parts that they said was a drone that crashed into a communications tower in Raqqa . A led coalition on carried out its first air strikes and missile attacks against jihadist positions in Syria , with Damascus saying it had been informed by Washington before the operation began A Syrian man rides his bike past a communications tower that was destroyed after a drone crashed into it , according to fighters with the Isis group , in the Syrian city of Raqqa People inspect a shop damaged after what Isis militants say was a U . S . drone crashed into a communication station nearby in Raqqa A man holds the remains of what Isis militants say was a U . S . drone which crashed in Raqqa Resident gather in the back of a van the remains of what Isis militants say was a drone which crashed in Raqqa A man inspects the remains of what Isismilitants say was a U . S . drone which crashed into a communication tower in Raqqa A man inspects the remains of what Isis militants say was a U . S . drone which crashed in Raqqa According to Sky News , when asked what he thought would end four years of civil war in Syria , in which more than 200 , 000 people have been killed , Mr Assad said : ? "" When those countries that I mentioned France , , , Saudi Arabia , Qatar and some other stop supporting those terrorists . "" The situation will be better and in a few months we will have full peace in Syria , definitely . If they stop . "" It comes as British ? MPs prepare to vote on whether the should join its allies and launch ? airstrikes in Syria . ? ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9149753,9754,"Sen . Rick Santorum , who is campaigning to become America ' s second Catholic president , disagrees from the bottom of his gut with the first Catholic to hold the office . In October , he told a Catholic university audience that when he read the 1960 speech in which John F . Kennedy said : "" I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute , "" he "" almost threw up . "" More recently , he elaborated on his dyspeptic condition in an television interview , calling ' s credo "" an absolutist doctrine that was abhorrent at the time of 1960 . "" But the Baptist ministers who witnessed Kennedy ' s speech surely felt differently . In the 1960s , evangelical leaders were not concerned that Kennedy was too secular they were concerned that he was too Catholic . For most of American history , the Protestant majority has regarded Catholics with deep suspicion . Many of the 13 colonies banned Catholics from public office and prohibited Catholic rituals . Priests were banished and sometimes executed . After independence , the Constitution protected Catholics from the worst persecutions of the Colonial period , but discrimination persisted , and anti Catholic paranoia raged with an intensity that would have made Glenn Beck blush . One popular book , "" Foreign Conspiracy Against the Liberties of the United States , "" warned of a secret Jesuit plot to deliver America to the Austrian empire . Its author was Samuel Morse , co inventor of the telegraph . Such fears diminished as Catholic immigrants assimilated in the 20th century , but many Protestants remained hostile toward Catholic politicians . During ' s presidential campaign , the Department of Justice documented 144 producers of anti Catholic campaign literature . The pamphlets warned of Vatican influence over American policy and the prospect of state funded Catholic schools . Most of the opposition came from evangelical groups like the National Association of Evangelicals and the Southern Baptist Convention . In the face of unrelenting hostility , Kennedy decided to address concerns about his religion directly . Speaking to a group of Baptist ministers in Houston , he reassured them : "" I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute , where no Catholic prelate would tell the president should he be Catholic how to act , and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote , where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference , and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him , or the people who might elect him . "" Perhaps Rick Santorum ' s father , an Italian immigrant who came to the United States in 1930 , heard these words and understood the prejudice that struggled against . But Rick Santorum was only 2 years old when they were spoken . If he has any memory of Catholics ' difficult history in this country , he does not publicize it . Nor do other Catholic champions of the religious right in their determination to wash away the old hostilities that divided American Christianity . Evangelicals and Catholics began collaborating politically in the late 1970s . The architect behind their reconciliation was a political strategist named Paul Weyrich . Frustrated by the Republican Party ' s preoccupation with business interests , Weyrich sought to reorient the party toward religious and cultural issues . To this end , he founded the Heritage Foundation , a conservative think tank , and the Moral Majority , the first organization to represent what we now call the religious right . Weyrich , a Melkite Greek Catholic , knew that a Catholic leader would not appeal to evangelicals , so he tried to recruit televangelist Pat Robertson to lead his cause . When Robertson turned him down , Weyrich enlisted the Rev . Jerry Falwell . Falwell would later say that Catholics and evangelicals found common ground in their opposition to abortion , but Weyrich remembered it somewhat differently . He had tried to mobilize evangelicals over abortion and failed . Most Protestants regarded abortion as a "" Catholic issue , "" and many prominent Baptist leaders had even endorsed the Roe v . Wade decision . What actually brought Catholics and evangelicals together was a common enemy . This imaginary enemy has gone by many names . In the 1970s and ' 80s , it was known as "" secular humanism , "" a fiendish anti religious movement that had supposedly taken over the schools , the courts , the media and the government . In the 1990s , it was called "" political correctness , "" and rampaged through the universities . When Bill O ' Reilly of Fox News announced that Christmas was under siege in 2004 , he blamed "" secular progressives "" in the media . Meanwhile , Rick Santorum decries "" cultural liberalism "" and warns that the government is trying to destroy religious freedom by forcing Catholic organizations to insure birth control . Regardless of the name , the supposed enemy ' s goals remain the same : to eradicate Christianity from the public sphere and replace traditional Judeo Christian values with a liberal agenda . Its agents are progressive politicians , journalists , professors and nonprofit organizations . Its creed is the separation of church and state that once appealed to in his campaign to become the first Catholic president . The construction of such a villain has been devastatingly effective in uniting the religious right . The same evangelical groups that once attacked as an agent of the pope have become the foundation of Santorum ' s support in the Republic primary , and his only rival for their vote is fellow Catholic Newt Gingrich . Times have changed . But should Santorum and his conservative Catholic allies succeed in breaking down the barriers between state and religion , they may reap a bitter fruit . For without the secular menace to distract Protestants from their doctrinal differences with Catholics , the old enmities may rise again . And just as religious right leaders seldom extend their demands for religious freedom to Muslims and other non Christian religions , Catholics might one day find the freedoms that they have come to take for granted are no longer assured . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Wolraich . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past9159760,9761,"If you watch at all you know John Harwood is a liberal political hack so why the heck is it ok for him to moderate tonight s debate? Couldn t they find anyone else? Look out for lots of jabs and unfair tactics focusing on the two frontrunners. It s fine to ask questions but these liberal animals will hit below the belt. Watch for it Why in the world is liberal journalist John Harwood moderating Wednesday s Republican debate? And where the heck is his conservative media partner? Wednesday night s debate will be hosted by at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. It will be moderated by Harwood along with s Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick and is supposed to focus on economic issues, though previous debates have strayed far from that topic. Harwood frequently angers conservatives for his partisan takes on the news. I mostly laugh off his predictably liberal views because I don t take him that seriously. But that only leads us back to figuring out why he s moderating this Wednesday s debate. Let s just look at a few examples of how he covers news. The Headlines Below Tell You Most of What You Need to Know: Harwood works for both and The New York Times. You can get something of a feel for his predictable but conventional liberal takes from the headlines of just his most recent pieces: *On the Economy, Republicans Have a Data ProblemTax *Plans of G.O.P. Favor the Rich Despite Populist Talk *Timing Gives Sanders a Lift in His Quest *Republicans Vow to Erase Obama s Record, but Such *Promises Are Rarely Kept *Outsiders Stir Politics, but Often Fail to Win or Govern Well *Angry Bent of Party Let Trump Rise *Bernie Sanders: A Revolution With an Eye on the Hungry Children Read more: The Federalist",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present9169767,9768,"Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates A Kuwaiti court sentenced three former members of parliament to three years in prison with hard labor on charges of insulting the nation ' s ruler , a human rights group said Tuesday . Falah Al Sawagh , Bader Al Dahoum and Khalid Al Tahou are currently out on bail . They will appeal the decision , the Kuwait Society for Human Rights said . More than 300 people are currently detained in Kuwait on charges of insulting the emir , which is a crime under the national security law , said Mohammed Al Humaidi , director of the human rights group . Some have faced prison time for what they said on Twitter . "" We call on the judiciary and the government to create a special law for electronic crimes like in other countries , "" Al Humaidi said . "" Someone sending a text on a mobile or tweeting or commenting on social media should not be tried or convicted in a court of national security . "" On Sunday , a Kuwaiti court sentenced another man , Mohammed Al Ajmi , to five years of imprisonment for insulting the emir the maximum sentence permissible by law . Al Humaidi said that sentence will also be appealed . The human rights group director said he did not know the exact nature of Al Ajmi ' s tweet or why his sentence was longer than others . Kuwait ' s Ministry of Information said anyone accused of a crime gets "" a fair trial with a comprehensive legal defense and open appeals process . "" "" Kuwait has a long standing proud tradition of open debate and free speech with free , transparent and inclusive elections and the most robust parliament in the region , "" the ministry said in a statement Tuesday . "" We are a country led by the rule of law and our constitution holds our Emir to be inviolable . If our citizens wish to amend the constitution there is a straightforward legal way to do this , but we will not selectively enforce our laws . "" Al Ajmi is the third Kuwaiti to be sentenced this year for insulting Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah on Twitter . In January , Rashed Al Enezi and Ayad Al Hirbi were each sentenced to two years . Al Humaidi said Al Enezi ' s tweet implied an opposition member of parliament would do a better job ruling the country than the royal family . Al Hirbi ' s tweet quoted a line by a dissident poet interpreted as insulting the emir . "" We call on the Kuwaiti government to abide by international agreements it has signed respecting human rights , "" Al Humaidi said . "" As a nation , Kuwait must work toward broadening freedoms , not limiting them . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9179774,9775,"The so called ' health tourism gap ' between the amount the collects from patients and the total hospitals on the continent receive from Britain has soared to almost 700million ( file picture ) Hospitals ' failure to claw back the cost of treating Europeans is costing taxpayers millions of pounds a week , figures suggest . The so called ' health tourism gap ' between the amount the collects from patients and the total hospitals on the continent receive from Britain has soared to almost 700million . It means the is now paying out 15 for the healthcare costs of Britons who fall ill abroad for every 1 it gets back for the treatment of European visitors . The Prime Minister and Health Secretary have pledged to introduce tough new measures to recoup an extra 500million from foreigners annually by 2017 18 . Both GPs and hospitals will be given incentives to identify non British users of the and payment procedures will be made easier . However , the latest Department of Health statistics indicate there is a long way to go . Released following a Freedom of Information request , they show that in 2013 14 , British taxpayers handed 749 . 8million to European governments to pay for the care of citizens abroad . This has risen by 100million from 649 . 3million just a year before . But in the same period , the managed to collect only 50 . 3million from European countries to pay for the care of their citizens who needed treatment here . This is an increase on the 32million total the year before but the number is still dwarfed by money going the other way . Ministers believe part of the problem is that hospitals do not ask enough questions to identify patients who should be paying for treatment . Figures which emerged at the weekend show the is still chasing at least 62million of unpaid bills for foreigners ' care . One London hospital trust alone King ' s College is owed almost 18million from overseas patients . One single patient at a different trust racked up an unpaid bill of more than 420 , 000 . Others owe more than 100 , 000 for treatments including dialysis , bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy , according to The Sunday Times . Health minister Dan Poulter was even photographed with a new mother from Zimbabwe who is still being pursued for a 3 , 000 bill . Two years ago , cancer specialist Professor J Meirion Thomas warned many foreigners were travelling to Britain for expensive treatment and then leaving without paying . He said the was also becoming the ' world ' s maternity wing ' . Last night Andrew Bridgen , Tory for North West Leicestershire , said : ' We ' re fortunate to have one of the only truly free at the point of need health services in the world . ' But we are not the International Health Service , it ' s the National Health Service . This is an issue which needs to be addressed . ' Ukip health spokesman Louise Bours said : ' It is clear from these figures that hospitals in this country are way too lax in chasing up payment for health treatment for citizens . ' Prime Minister David Cameron , left , and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt , right , have pledged to introduce tough new measures to recoup an extra 500million from foreigners annually by 2017 18 Part of the gap is due to the fact that so many British pensioners retire to the continent . There may also be more tourists from Britain travelling to mainland Europe than the other way round . But there are more than a million migrant workers from the here , against far fewer Britons employed in other European countries . Under arrangements , citizens can be treated by other nations ' health services and the bill is sent back to Britain . In theory , these European nations should also be billed when their citizens are treated by the . In 2013 14 , the paid Ireland 246million for treating Britons who fell ill there . Only 22million came back the other way . Some 250million was paid to Spain but only 3 . 2million came back . France received 152million but returned just 7million . Italy got 6 . 2million and sent back 1 . 1million , while Greece collected 8 . 9million and returned 400 , 000 . A Department of Health spokesman said : ' We want international visitors to feel welcome to use the , provided they pay for it just as families in the do through their taxes . ' Our plans will help recoup up to 500million a year by 2017 18 . ' Jonathan Isaby , chief executive at the TaxPayers ' Alliance , said : ' Emergency medical treatment is one thing , but taxpayers cannot be expected to pick up the bill for expensive longer term treatment for tourists . ' Our authorities must do better to claw back the amount owed by visitors . ' Zimbabwean born Caroline Nyadzyao , who is being chased for 3 , 000 by the after giving birth in a Norfolk hospital , meets with health minister Daniel Poulter Smiling alongside a health minister at a Norfolk maternity unit in 2013 , this new mum is still being chased for the 3 , 000 it cost the to help her give birth . Zimbabwe born Caroline Nyadzayo ' s unpaid bill is part of the 62million cost of ' health tourism ' to Britain . The 34 year old , an advertising executive in Africa , was pictured with health minister Daniel Poulter on his visit to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital when the maternity suite was reopened . The mum said she complained to Mr Poulter about the charge and said she was under huge pressure to pay it . But Mr Poulter has reportedly said he does not remember being told that . Miss Nyadzayo , now in Harare , told the Sunday Times it was ' unfair ' she was still being pursued , because the baby ' s father is British . She said : ' I know the system may believe I travelled to abuse the benefits , but . . . I just wanted to have my first baby as a family and surely everyone is entitled to that ? ' The couple were questioned about the birth when they entered Britain at Norwich Airport in October 2013 . However , they were released when they agreed they would be paying for it . Miss Nyadzayo said : ' I was told because I was 31 weeks ' pregnant it was likely I was going to use the to my advantage . We said we would pay for the birth . But we had no idea how much we ' d be charged . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present9189778,9779,"Reuters ? ? Jan 25 , 2016 11 : 08 ( Reuters ) A renewed drop in oil prices due to worries about a global supply glut on Monday hurt U . S . and European stock markets and weighed on the dollar following a rebound in those sectors late last week . Anxiety about the drag from tumbling energy prices on global economic growth and central bank policies revived safe haven demand for the yen , gold and U . S . government debt . Crude oil prices fell 4 percent as Iraq announced record high oil production feeding into a heavily oversupplied market , wiping out much of the gains made in one of the biggest ever daily rallies last Friday . O R "" The news that Iraq has probably hit another record builds on the oversupply sentiment , "" said Hans van Cleef , senior energy economist at Amro in Amsterdam . The oil led market turbulence since the start of 2016 has raised hopes of more aid from major central banks . Last week , European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi signalled the bank was open to more monetary stimulus to combat weak growth and inflation in the euro zone . Traders have bet the Federal Reserve would seek to soothe financial markets after its two day meeting on U . S . monetary policy that will begin on Tuesday . Global markets slumped at the start of the year on fears that a slowdown in China would spread to the rest of the world economy , and oil prices sank to 13 year lows . German business confidence deteriorated to an 11 month low in January , a survey showed , suggesting growing concern among company executives in Europe ' s largest economy . The Dow Jones industrial average was down 83 . 34 points , or 0 . 52 percent , at 16 , 010 . 17 , the S P 500 was 12 . 71 points , or 0 . 67 percent , lower at 1 , 894 . 19 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 25 . 75 points , or 0 . 56 percent , to 4 , 565 . 43 . The pan European FTSEurofirst 300 index provisionally closed down 0 . 7 percent , while Tokyo ' s Nikkei ended 0 . 9 percent higher . . . T The world equity index , which tracks shares in 45 nations , fell 1 . 3 points or 0 . 35 percent , to 366 . 67 . Losses in oil and Wall Street pushed the greenback lower . The dollar index , which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies , slipped 0 . 1 percent , to 99 . 445 . The yen edged up 0 . 2 percent against the dollar at 118 . 53 yen , and was steady against the euro at 128 . 32 yen . Brent crude oil futures fell 4 percent to 30 . 89 a barrel while U . S . crude slumped 4 . 7 percent to 30 . 67 . Iraq ' s oil ministry told Reuters on Monday that oil output reached a record high in December , putting oil prices under renewed pressure . U . S . 10 year Treasury yields were down 3 basis points at 2 . 02 percent , as the fall in oil prices underpinned support for safe haven debt . Spot gold rose 0 . 85 percent to 1 , 107 . 19 an ounce . ( Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe and Patrick Graham in London Editing by Hugh Lawson and James Dalgleish ) ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9199782,9783,"Amazon is planning to open its first physical store in Manhattan , it has been claimed . The firm has signed a lease on a building on 34 Street , opposite the Empire State Building , the Wall Street Journal said . It would act as a pickup and returns centre for customers , as well as a showroom for the firm ' s Kindle line . Amazon ' s new store will be opposite the Empire State Building . It will act as a pickup and returns centre for customers , as well as a showroom for the firm ' s Kindle line . In some locations , instead of delivering a parcel an address , Amazon customers can opt for their purchases to be dropped at a locker location . This removes the risk of being out when it is delivered in the post . Once the parcel arrives at the locker , the buyer will get an e mail notification with a unique pick up code and a barcode . The email will also include details of when the lockers often located in stores are open . When the customer arrives at the locker , they then enter the pick up code or scan the barcode , releasing the package . Opening a physical location is ' about marketing the Amazon brand , ' said Matt Nemer , a Wells Fargo analys told the . ' Same day delivery , ordering online and picking up in store are ideas that are really catching on . Amazon needs to be at the center of that . ' People familiar with the matter cautioned that Amazon ' s plans could change , and that the store is an experiment and could be deemed unsuccessful . If it is successful , however , the New York location could presage a rollout to other U . S . cities , it is claimed . The 12 story building on 34th Street , owned by Vornado Realty Trust , once housed an Ohrbach ' s department store and now has Mango and Express stores at street level . There are two loading docks at the back of the building , useful for bringing merchandise in and out . It is believed the location was chosen to take advantage of the footfall of tourists . The Empire State Building last year attracted 4 . 3 million visitors to its observatory , and Macy ' s flagship store nearby draws more than 20 million annual visitors . Amazon already offers a locker option in New York . Instead of delivering a parcel an address , Amazon customers can opt for their purchases to be dropped at a locker location . Your goods are on aisle 427 : One huge Amazon ' fulfilment centre ' in the . The firm is now set to open its first store in Manhattan , opposite the Empire state Building This removes the risk of being out when it is delivered in the post . Once the parcel arrives at the locker , the buyer will get an e mail notification with a unique pick up code and a barcode . The email will also include details of when the lockers often located in stores are open . When the customer arrives at the locker , they then enter the pick up code or scan the barcode , releasing the package . ",true,text,test,American football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present9209786,9787,"Underworld don Chhota Rajan brought to Delhi , kept in custody Underworld don Chhota Rajan arrived at the Air force Station , Palam in New Delhi early morning on Friday . ( Virendra Singh Gosain Photo ) Underworld don Chhota Rajan was deported to India from Indonesia and reached New Delhi early on Friday , 27 years after he had fled the country in the face of numerous cases of murder , extortion and drug smuggling against him . After arriving at the Palam airport around 5 : 30am , Rajan was taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation ( ) headquarters , where he has been kept in a lock up and will undergo a medical examination soon , sources said . All routes leading to the headquarters have been sealed off by Delhi Police , while Central Industrial Security Force ( ) has increased security . His deportation was deferred as the international airport in Bali was shut down due to spewing of volcanic ash from a nearby mountain . After the authorities declared the airport open , the Indian team comprising , Delhi and Mumbai police officials began the process of deportation of 55 year old Rajan , who had fled India in 1988 for Dubai . Sources privy to the developments said the underworld don , who was arrested on October 25 after the Australian police tipped off the Bali police about his presence in the Island , was to undergo mandatory health check up before he would emplane a special aircraft for Delhi . India was keen that the deportation takes place at the earliest and had put in a request to Indonesian authorities immediately after his arrest , the sources said . Read Indonesia : Chhota Rajan s deportation delayed due to airport closure Meanwhile , the Maharashtra government announced on Thursday it had handed over all its cases against gangster Chhota Rajan to the , hours before the fugitive was deported by Indonesian authorities . The decision effectively means Rajan will never go into the custody of Mumbai Police with the mobster alleging some members of the department were close to his friend turned foe , Dawood Ibrahim , the crime boss he broke away with after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts . Maharashtra additional chief secretary Bakshi told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference that all the cases against 55 year old Rajan were being transferred to the because of its expertise in handling transnational crimes . We will provide all necessary help required from the state which includes Mumbai Police , and other districts of Maharashtra , Bakshi said , a day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met national security adviser Ajit Doval . The decision has no connection with the allegations made on Mumbai Police by Rajan . Sources in the security establishment say Rajan first came in contact with central security agencies after breaking away from the Dawood gang as some counter underworld officials in Mumbai Police tried to target him at the behest of his former boss . Sources added that Rajan and his gang were used as a weapon to target the Dawood syndicate and in the process Rajan claimed to be an intelligence asset in his fight against the anti national alleged conspirator in the 1993 Mumbai blasts . Read Decks cleared for Chhota Rajan s return , lawyers get ready Rajan , whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje , is wanted in over 75 crimes ranging from murder , extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking . Mumbai Police has nearly 70 cases registered against Rajan , including 20 of murder , four cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities ( Prevention ) Act , one under Prevention of Terrorism Act and over 20 cases under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act . Delhi Police has six cases registered against Rajan , who was a close aide of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim at one point but split before the 1993 Mumbai blasts were conspired . In 2000 , there was an attempt on Rajan s life when Dawood s men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape by jumping from the first floor of the hotel . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9219809,9810,"Michael Vick turned himself in to authorities on Monday to get a head start on serving his sentence for running a dogfighting ring , the U . S . Marshals Service said . Michael Vick leaves court in Richmond , Virginia , in August after pleading guilty to dogfighting charges . The Atlanta Falcons quarterback is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10 on a federal conspiracy charge of bankrolling the dogfighting operation . Vick , 27 , voluntarily turned himself in around noon , said Kevin Trevillan of the Marshals Service , and is being held at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw , Virginia , until the sentencing hearing . The quarterback , who has been suspended indefinitely by Commissioner Roger Goodell , faces 12 to 18 months in prison on the charge . Vick pleaded guilty in August after three associates admitted their own roles in the operation and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors . "" From the beginning , Mr Vick has accepted responsibility for his actions and his self surrender further demonstrates that acceptance , "" Vick ' s attorney , Billy Martin , said in a statement . "" Michael wants to again apologize to everyone who has been hurt in this matter and he thanks all of the people who have offered him and his family prayers and support during this time , "" Martin ' s statement said . On September 25 , a Virginia grand jury indicted Vick and the three co defendants Purnell Peace , 35 , of Virginia Beach , Virginia Quanis Phillips , 28 , of Atlanta , Georgia and Tony Taylor , 34 , of Hampton , Virginia on state charges of running a dogfighting ring at Vick ' s home outside Newport News . The Surry County grand jury brought two charges against the four men : one count of unlawfully torturing and killing dogs and one of promoting dogfights . Each is a felony charge that could result in a five year prison term . In addition , Taylor faces three additional counts of unlawful torture and killing of dogs . A hearing in that case is set for November 27 , but Vick does not have to be in court at that time . In September , Vick was put under tight restrictions by the federal court after he tested positive for marijuana use . Vick tested positive for the drug on September 13 , a court document from the Eastern District of Virginia shows . As a result , U . S . District Judge Henry E . Hudson ordered Vick to "" submit to any method of testing required by the pretrial services officer or the supervising officer for determining whether the defendant is using a prohibited substance . "" Those methods could include random drug testing , a remote alcohol testing system "" and or any form of prohibited substance screening or testing , "" the order said . Vick was also ordered to stay home between 10 p . m . and 6 a . m . , "" or as directed by the pretrial services officer or supervising officer , "" the order said . He was to be electronically monitored during that time . Vick must participate in substance abuse therapy and mental health counseling "" if deemed advisable by the pretrial services officer or supervising officer "" at his own expense , the order said . E mail to a friend ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9229818,9819,"Georgia Beneath seven flat screen TVs and one large pulldown screen , members of the Racquet Club of the South gathered Monday to watch and celebrate one of their own . Members of the Racquet Club of the South erupt when Melanie Oudin beats Nadia Petrova . Melanie Oudin , 17 , of Marietta , Georgia , has taken the tennis world by storm at the U . S . Open . The 70th ranked female has upset some of the sport ' s biggest female stars , including Russian aces Elena Dementieva ( No . 4 seed ) and Maria Sharapova ( No . 29 seed , who has been ranked No . 1 worldwide in the past ) . And on Monday , she beat 13th seed Nadia Petrova in three sets . Her latest win makes her the youngest American to make the quarterfinals since Serena Williams in 1999 . "" It ' s still so surreal , "" said Anne Keeton , player liaison at the club , before the match started . "" She sort of wins no matter what happens . She ' s there going for it and not giving up . "" At this suburban club , co owned and co directed by Oudin ' s longtime coach , Brian de Villiers , articles about the local tennis phenom dot the walls . In the Grill , on a Bud Light message board above drink specials , are the words "" Congratulations Melanie ! "" And a photo of her mixed in with other young players is posted near a downstairs fitness room . Blending in with others and not retreating to "" a Melanie court "" is part of what makes her special , Keeton said . When there was a flood on some indoor courts this year , she was down there squeegeeing with everyone else . "" She so lovely and so accessible , "" Keeton said . "" It couldn ' t happen to a nicer kid . "" The restaurant buzzed as tables filled with more than 80 onlookers who were courtside in spirit . They feasted on a spread laid out to mark the special occasion as the match started . Watch friends , family cheer Oudin on When Petrova took the upper hand , and the first set , fans erupted into applause with each of Oudin ' s hard earned points and offered encouragement like "" There we go ! "" When she pumped her fist in celebration , they did the same . And when a play didn ' t go her way , they groaned in unison . Her skills were apparent from an early age , said Turhan Berne of Norcross , a coach and tournament director who ' s known Oudin since she was 9 . He watched her rake in wins , beating older kids and snagging No . 1 junior rankings in the country and world . "" But you know when I knew she was going to be something ? "" he said . "" She would play with anybody her coach had her hit with . . . . She always gave back . She ' s very grounded . Her parents and coach did a great job not letting her fame and success change her into a different person . "" As Oudin came back for the second set , the crowd held its collective breath . With every point she earned , they hooted , hollered and exchanged high fives . They booed when they saw Petrova losing her cool , banging her racquet against the net after losing a big point . "" C ' mon , Melanie ! "" people screamed as the tiebreaker began in the second set . When Oudin took that set , they rose to their feet , screamed , did happy dances and shared hugs . "" It ' s awesome , "" said Kathleen Brady of Norcross . "" We are so glad her opponent double faults . "" "" Bless her heart , "" Lisa Wells chimed in with a laugh , offering the Southern tagline to downplay any insult . Earlier in the day , John Sklare joked that the young pro learned something from him . Over the winter , the Alpharetta psychologist often played on the indoor court beside her . "" I knew she was good , but I didn ' t know she was that good and that ' s what we ' re all finding out now , "" he said . He spoke about what a "" great kid "" Oudin is but then added that what he likes best about her is how quiet she is on the court . Sklare , a former writer for Atlanta Tennis magazine , said he called Sharapova "" Screamapova . "" Oudin , on the other hand , is "" like a stealth fighter , "" he said . "" She ' s quiet , but you know she ' s there . "" Her overall attitude is as inspiring as her play , said Jeannette Latimer of Decatur , Georgia , whose 11 year old daughter , Kelsey , has been playing for five years . "" She shows the kids not to get upset on the court , "" Latimer said . "" She ' s always so positive . If the kids learn nothing else from her , it ' s her mental toughness . "" But Kelsey has been more intent on studying Oudin ' s moves on the court . "" I think she has a nice top spin forehand , "" Kelsey said . "" I think it ' s better than mine . "" With Oudin up 5 2 in the third set , anticipation hung in the air . "" Both of them are pressing each other , but to see the 70 ranked player outplaying 13 , that takes heart , "" Ernie Jensen of Woodstock said . Going into the match point , some rose to their feet . Together , the hordes clapped , carrying Oudin to the win . When she took the match , earning her first quarterfinal seat in a Grand Slam , the room exploded . They stood by and watched , smiling widely and some wiping away tears as Oudin gave her victory speech . "" It ' s like something so big happening to all of us all at once , "" said Jennifer Silverberg of Alpharetta . "" Watching her , it ' s like watching your own little girl . . . . My heart ' s still going crazy . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9239869,9870,"As the sun sets on the Saharan desert , its colours cast a glow on its vast sand dunes causing rainbow light to dance across the landscape . And Nasa has captured how this stunning show appears from space using its Landsat 7 satellite . It shows ' ribbons ' of sand and patterned stripes known as linear dunes in the Erg Chech , a desolate sand sea in southwestern Algeria but the exact cause of these longitudinal structures is not known . Linear dunes , like these captured by Nasa ' s Landsat 7 satellite , are straight ridges of sand that have been known to measure as long as 99 miles ( 160km ) . This image shows ' ribbons ' of sand and patterned stripes in an area known as the Erg Chech , a desolate sand sea in southwestern Algeria but the exact cause of these longitudinal structures is not known The image was spotted by io9 and the colours were caused as rays of sunlight hit the sand and were reflected off . Linear dunes are straight ridges of sand that have been known to measure as long as 99 miles ( 160km ) . Ridges are categorised as linear when they are significantly longer than they are wide , and they occur on isolated ridges of dunes as well as , more commonly , as sets of parallel ridges separated by miles of sand and gravel . Linear dunes are straight ridges of sand that have been known to measure as long as 99 miles ( 160km ) . Ridges are categorised as linear when they are significantly longer than they are wide , and they occur on isolated ridges of dunes as well as , more commonly , as sets of parallel ridges separated by miles of sand , gravel . The dunes have also been known to merge and form so called ' Y shaped compound dunes ' , and the formation of these patterns are caused by the wind and movement of sand . But exactly how this wind movement forms the structures is disputed . The dunes have also been known to merge and form so called ' Y shaped compound dunes ' , and the formation of these patterns are caused by the wind and movement of sand . But exactly how this wind movement forms the structures is disputed . One theory , suggested by Steven Hanna in 1969 in his Formation of Longitudinal Sand Dunes by Large Helical Eddies in the Atmosphere paper , is that linear dunes are created by helical roll vortices . These are long rolls of air that spiral , or rotate one way before rotating another . They are commonly seen in clouds , creating what ' s known as ' cloud streets ' that appear as cumulus type clouds . As the wind moves and switches direction it causes the sand to move accordingly and create grooves and ridges in the sand . ' The dunes are aligned in the direction of the prevailing wind and are spaced 1 . 2 miles ( 2km apart ) ' , explained Professor Hanna . ' Observations in the atmosphere and in the laboratory indicate that dominant forms of motion in the boundary layer of the atmosphere are counter rotating helical roll vortices aligned along the wind . ' The necessary conditions for the formation of these roll vortices are fulfilled over large deserts and their spacings agree with the observed spacings of the dunes . ' One theory , suggested by Steven Hanna in 1969 , is that the linear dunes are created by helical roll vortices ( illustrated left ) . These are long rolls of air that spiral , or rotate one way before rotating another . They are commonly seen in clouds , creating what ' s known as ' cloud streets ' that appear as cumulus type clouds align to be parallel to the wind ( illustrated right ) In his book , Geomorphology of Desert Dunes , Nicholas Lancaster from the Desert Research Institute argues that this theory has its flaws . He said Professor Hanna compared data on the spacing of linear dunes with the expected dimensions of helical roll vortices in subtropical desert areas , concluding their ' probable wavelength was 1 . 9 miles to 3 . 7 miles ( 2km to 6km ) . ' But measured dimensions of roll vortices indicate their wavelength ranges between less than 50 metres and 31 miles ( 15 km ) . ' The observed scale of helical roll vortices is in many cases much larger than average dune spacing , suggesting that linear dunes are not the product of such atmospheric motions , ' explained Mr Lancaster . ' Evidence for the existence of helical roll vortices in linear dune landscapes is slight . The theory is attractive but there is little empirical data to support it in dune area . ' Ridges are categorised as linear when they are significantly longer than they are wide , and they occur on isolated ridges of dunes as well as sets of parallel ridges separated by miles of sand and gravel . Linear dunes in the Namib Naukluft National Park , Namibia are shown . The dunes have also been known to merge and form so called ' Y shaped compound dunes ' , and patterns are caused by the wind and movement of sand Another theory believes Barchan evolution may play a role . ' Barchans ' are crescent shaped sand dunes ( top left ) that form in regions where there is almost unidirectional wind . If windblown sand comes from one direction , a dune will be a crescent shaped barchan but if winds switch direction seasonally they become linear ( pictured left centre and in Morocco right ) While in the ' Formation of the complex linear dunes in the central Taklimakan sand sea , China ' study , Chinese researcher Xunming Wang and his colleagues said that in the case of ' complex ' linear dunes that are a combination of two shapes the theory of Barchan evolution may play a role . ' Barchans ' are crescent shaped sand dunes that form in regions where there is almost unidirectional wind . The shapes depend on the wind ' s direction , and if windblown sand comes from one direction , for example , a dune will be a crescent shaped barchan but if winds switch direction seasonally coming from the southwest for half the year and from the southeast for the other half , for instance this dune will be linear . If wind direction is more varied , star shaped dunes appear . The Erg Chech features both compound and complex linear , as well as star dunes . Erg ' comes from the Arabic word for ' field of sand dunes ' Mr Wang said : ' Complex linear dune formation is shown to have five stages . ' Analysis clearly shows that under the control of wind regime , sand supply and other factors , the simple linear dunes move sideways while they evolve . ' The evolutionary processes of complex linear dunes in the region partly support the theory of ' barchan evolution ' but do not support the ' roll vortex ' and ' bimodal wind regime ' hypotheses . ' The researchers continued that after the complex linear dunes develop , local wind patterns and the amount of sand suggest it is possible for them to maintain their linear shape , rather than evolving into star shapes for example , even as wind direction changes . The Erg Chech features both compound and complex linear , as well as star dunes . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9249889,9890,"One look at her photo , and you can ' t help but ask : How could someone so young and vibrant die so quickly from an infection ? Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa died from a sepsis infection . Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa was a healthy 20 year old when doctors told her she had a urinary tract infection , her family says . The infection spread , and after amputating her feet , doctors thought they had the situation under control , according to a blog run by a family friend . "" She ' s alive , she will survive , "" Renato Lindgren wrote on the blog on January 20 , before da Costa also had to have her hands amputated , and part of her stomach and both kidneys extracted . "" She can eat well , visit the sea , swim , travel , talk with her friends and family , marry and have a baby . She has a full and beautiful life ahead . "" Four days later , da Costa was dead . Sepsis the body ' s inflammatory response to an infection really can kill that quickly , according to Dr Kevin Tracey , author of a book about sepsis called "" Fatal Sequence : The Killer Within . "" "" This isn ' t a one in a million case , "" says Tracey , chief executive officer of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset , New York . "" When an infection reaches a certain point , this can happen in a matter of hours . "" Sepsis usually starts out as an infection in just one part of the body , such as a skin wound or a urinary tract infection , Tracey says . For example , Muppets creator Jim Henson died in 1990 from a case of sepsis that started out as pneumonia , an inflammation of the lungs . He was 53 . Most of the time , simple , localized infections remain just that : easy to treat and in one part of the body . Why some infections rage out of control and shut down vital organs is a mystery , but experts say it rarely happens in young , healthy people , like da Costa . Watch more on avoiding septicemia "" You can ask , ' Why her ? ' but really no one knows why her , "" Tracey says . "" It might have something to do with her immune system . It might be about her genetics . "" The Mayo Clinic sees about 100 cases a year of young , healthy people who develop sepsis , says Dr Priya Sampathkumar , an infectious disease specialist at Mayo . With treatment , which usually involves antibiotics and sometimes draining of the wound , about 75 percent survive . Sampathkumar says the key is to keep an eye on even such simple infections as a small skin wound . A fever , a dramatic shift in blood pressure , rapid breathing and extreme confusion are all signs that someone needs quick medical help , she says . "" You need to watch it , "" she says . Dr Carl Flatley said he had no idea what to watch for when his 23 year old daughter , Erin , developed sepsis in 2002 . He says she went into the hospital for a minor hemorrhoid procedure and five days later was dead from sepsis . "" It ' s a horrible death , "" he says . Two years later , knowing the signs of sepsis saved his own life , says Flatley , a dentist in Dunedin , Florida . He fell ill , and an emergency room doctor said he had a urinary tract infection and sent him home . But Flatley said he suspected it was much more than a . "" I felt very sick . My testicle was sore . I told him I was concerned I had sepsis and I refused to go home . He got very irritated with me , "" Flatley says . But in the end , Flatley was admitted to the hospital , where the infection had become so severe that doctors were forced to remove his right testicle . Flatley started The Sepsis Alliance to educate others about sepsis , where he tries to walk a fine line . "" You don ' t want to panic people . We all get infections and , thank God , most of them heal , "" he says . "" So this is what I tell people : If you ' re feeling bad all over and have a high temperature and either high or low blood pressure , those are all indications that your whole system has been infected . It could be sepsis . "" He advises getting medical help immediately , and to specifically mention that you ' re concerned you might have sepsis . "" You don ' t want to take any chances , "" he says . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past9259905,9906,"“I am a person of faith. I am a Christian. I am a Methodist. I have been raised Methodist,” she said. She didn’t fail to bring it to a political point, however. “My study of the Bible, my many conversations with people of faith, has led me to believe the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself, and that is what I think we are commanded by Christ to do, and there is so much more in the Bible about taking care of the poor, visiting the prisoners, taking in the stranger, creating opportunities for others to be lifted up, to find faith themselves that I think there are many different ways of exercising your faith,” she said. It is not for me or anyone else to question someone’s faith, but that statement and her permitting “under God” to be omitted from a Pledge of Allegiance reference at her rally certainly seem contradictory. H/T QPolitical Please share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know what you think about this omission! What do you think of the omission of ""under God""? Scroll down to comment below! Advertisement Popular Right Now",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past9269914,9915,"Mississippi Kelly Clarkson , who was the very first American Idol winner , was in Natchez performing at a concert in The When Dem Cotton Balls Get Rotten Convention Center . And as always the gal from Texas put on quite a performance . She sang all of her hits including "" Since U Been Gone , "" "" Behind These Hazel Eyes , "" and her latest song , "" I Thought I Heard Him Say Suck It , My Bad . "" After her performance Clarkson was backstage and she was asked what she thought about how Taylor Swift had been criticized because in her duet with Stevie Nicks at the Grammy Award Show she had hit a total of 34 bad notes . Clarkson asked who had counted them . She was quickly informed that Stevie Nicks had counted them . Clarkson could not believe that Nicks had actually counted Taylor hitting 34 bad notes while she herself was singing . When informed that she ( Clarkson ) forgets that Stevie Nicks has been singing for almost 50 years Clarkson merely said , "" Oh wow , well I guess that she can sing and count bad notes at the same time huh , my bad . "" Kelly was then asked what she thought about General Larry Platt and his song "" Pants On The Ground . "" Clarkson laughed and said that she had heard that Larry Platt was not really a general . ' S : Well duh , Kelly . She then went on to say that Platt will never tour . When asked why . She replied because he only has one song . And how the heck can you put on a one hour and 15 minute concert with only one song . Kelly was then asked about her sudden weight gain . The young gal turned into a Texas tornado . She stood up and got in the reporter ' s face . "" I am not fat ! "" She yelled . "" I am just a little short for my weight . "" When told that she really wasn ' t all that short she really hit the roof . Literally . The ceiling in her dressing room was only about 6 feet high , apparently there had been some kind of problem with the contractors not getting paid in a timely manner . Kelly said that she cannot help it if the calories that she eats have a tendency of just hanging around . she said that she has tried all kinds of diets from the Water and Ketchup Diet to the Nine Calories a Day Diet , and even The Eat Whatever You Want But Then Regurgitate It Diet . Clarkson said that the only thing she can do is that from now on she will solve her weight problem by wearing black . she ' ll wear a black dress and black jeans , black blouse , and even a black bra and panties . In a developing story . Keira Knightley seems to think that her little bitty size 34 titties are starting to grow a little bit , but her hair stylist Jose of San Jose says , "" Nopers , her chichi ' s are boaf dee same size as dey was jesterday . "" ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past9279915,9916,"Juan Martin Del Potro put on hold Roger Federer ' s hopes of qualifying for the World Tour Finals by inflicting a second straight defeat on the Swiss maestro in the final of his hometown tournament in Basel . Third seed Federer needed to win Sunday ' s showdown to seal his place in the end of season showpiece in London next month for the 12th consecutive time , but came up short in a three set encounter . Top seed Del Potro , who will be a dangerous outsider in the British capital , won 7 6 2 6 6 4 in two hours 20 minutes , denying former World No . 1 Federer his sixth title in the event and repeating his 2012 victory over him in the title match . The Argentine won a tight first set which saw them exchange breaks before it went to a tiebreaker which Del Potro took 7 3 . Federer , who recently parted with coach Paul Annacone after a disappointing 2013 , hit back to level the match as two breaks of service gave him the second set . But he fell an early break down in the decider serving up two double faults in the same game and was unable to retrieve the situation as former U . S . Open champion Del Potro took his fourth title of the season . "" I ' m sorry again to beat you here , "" he said apologetically at the trophy presentation . "" He ' s the hero here and for me my biggest inspiration . "" You make history at every tournament you play . I ' m proud to be playing at the same time as you . "" The 32 year old Federer must now beat South Africa ' s Kevin Anderson or Russian Mikhail Youzhny in his second round match at the Paris Masters next week to reach the finals . It would enable him to tie Ivan Lendl ' s record for successive appearances in the finale of the men ' s season where he would be bidding for his seventh victory in the event , his last in 2011 with a final loss to Novak Djokovic in 2012 . Meanwhile , Zouzhny showed he is in fine form heading into Paris with a 6 3 7 5 victory over top seed and three time defending champion David Ferrer of Spain in the final of the tournament in Valencia . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9289919,9920,"Reuters) - North Korea s foreign minister will arrive in Cuba on Monday, in search of support amid unprecedented pressure from the United States and the international community to cease its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The Cuban foreign ministry, in a brief note on its web page, said Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho would meet with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, among other unspecified activities. North Korea is pursuing nuclear weapon and missile programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan. Cuba and North Korea have maintained warm political relations since 1960, despite Havana s often-stated opposition to nuclear weapons. President Donald Trump has also increased pressure on Cuba since taking office, rolling back a fragile detente begun by predecessor Barack Obama and returning to the hostile rhetoric of the Cold War. The visit provides an opportunity for North Korea to demonstrate, just 90 miles from the United States, that it is not completely isolated, and for Cuba that it will not buckle under U.S. pressure. At the same time, diplomats said Cuba was one of the few countries that might be able to convince North Korea to move away from the current showdown with the United States that threatens war. We often ask the Cubans if they can talk to them, an Asian diplomat said. The two Communist-run countries are the last in the world to maintain Soviet-style command economies, though under President Raul Castro, the Caribbean nation has taken some small steps toward the more market-oriented communism of China and Vietnam. Cuba maintains an embassy in North Korea, but publicly trades almost exclusively with the South. Last year, trade with the latter was $67 million and with the North just $9 million, according to the Cuban government. However, in 2013, Panama discovered a load of Soviet vintage weapons hidden under 10,000 tonnes of Cuban sugar on a North Korean vessel, in violation of U.N. sanctions and appearing to confirm suspicions that the two countries worked together to circumvent them. Cuba claimed the weapons were going to North Korea for repairs and were to be sent back. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past9299929,9930,"They say that your teenage years are supposed to be the best of your life , but Britain ' s over fifties would definitely take issue with that . The ' s middle aged population aren ' t slowing down any time soon in fact , new research shows that they are fast becoming the reckless generation . After years of saving towards pensions , looking after their offspring and taking care of their houses , the fifty pluses are living life for the now , with sexual health and savings the first to take the hit . In a new survey called the 50 project , 76 per cent of those asked confessed to not using contraception when they have sex , despite rising rates of ' s across the country . The ' s middle aged population aren ' t slowing down any time soon new research shows that they are fast becoming the reckless generation . 76 per cent of 50 plus generation don ' t use contraception when having sex and 67 per cent of parents believe in spending their wealth over saving it for their children ( pictured posed by model ) And despite not using protection , the age group aren ' t slowing down when it comes to activity inside the bedroom . 66 per cent of over fifties believe that a good sex life is important and 38 per cent admit to having sex more than twice a week , on average . It ' s no surprise that they are staying busy between the sheets though , given that 43 per cent of that age group believe they are a better lover now than ever before . The reckless behaviour isn ' t just restricted to the bedroom though , our middle aged population are also becoming increasingly carefree with their savings and property portfolios , with less concern for any inheritance to be passed on to their children . Although 42 per cent revealed they had more disposable income than ever , very few were considering sharing much of that with their sons and daughters . 67 per cent of parents said they believe in spending their wealth over saving it for their children and 24 per cent of parents are planning to leave little or none of their wealth to their children . The fifty plus generation are spending their wealth on holidays and socialising . Half of the over fifties admit they now go on holiday more now than ever before and 51 per cent also admit to drinking three or more times a week The figure is even higher for Brits aged between 60 65 , with 71 per cent of them planning on spending their wealth instead of earmarking it for inheritance . While the younger generation aren ' t doing so well out of their parent ' s swollen bank accounts , the tourism and alcohol and hospitality industries are quids in . Half of the over fifties admit they now go on holiday more now than ever before , with 53 per cent taking a vacation more than three times a year . Meanwhile , half of this demographic admit to drinking three or more times a week and 40 per cent also go out socially more than once a week . presenter Mariella Frostrup , who recently joined the 50 plus ranks and will celebrate her 52nd birthday next month , commissioned the research in her role as editor at large of High50 magazine . The mother of two says the findings reflect her own attitudes towards life at this age , including how much of her wealth she is planning on sharing with her children . star Mariella Frostrup , 51 , says has unhealthy attitude to maturity Se said : ' The survey naturally reflects some of my concerns and aspirations , as a recent entry to the High50 generation . ' It ' s a topic I ' ve been talking about for a long time as way before I reached my landmark birthday I felt our attitude to maturity in the is not a healthy one and these days is leagues behind the reality of who we all are at fifty . ' It shouldn ' t come as surprise that people over fifty aspire to a healthy sex life , we ' re still human after all and despite the myths around menopause and the rest we still have a beating pulse . ' Much to my daughters ' horror I still even like to dance , given the right venue , and the right companions ! ' As for leaving money to our children I ' ve seen enough trust fund simpletons to know that educating your kids to their best ability , teaching them how lucky they are to live in a country like ours where a safety net exists and showing them societies where it doesn ' t is far more important to their future than doing their saving for them . ' I ' d love to be able to give my kids a helping hand with a deposit for a flat or similar , it caused me the most anxiety when I was young . ' But having managed without a penny of family money myself I hope they ' ll be proud and capable enough to do likewise . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past9309940,9941,"Claim : Supporters of Mayor Lutfur Rahman allegedly handed out lollipops to the children of voters Voters were promised council houses if they re elected their mayor , a court heard yesterday . Islamic sections of the electorate were told they should be ' good Muslims ' by voting for Mayor Lutfur Rahman , it was said . In a further bid to win votes , supporters of Mr Rahman allegedly handed out lollipops to the children of voters in Tower Hamlets , East London . A petition brought before the High Court claims the re election of the mayor in May was fraudulent ' in a variety of forms ' . It alleges that council officers were bullied into ' securing a certain number of votes ' and were threatened with the sack if they refused . Votes were cast in the names of people who were not ' entitled to be on the electoral register ' and numerous postal ballots were filled in by the same person , the court heard . And false allegations that rival candidate John Biggs was a racist and anti Islamic were circulated . Mr Rahman , who is serving a second term as the mayor of the borough , won by some 3 , 000 votes . The petition , brought by residents Andrew Erlam , Debbie Simone , Azmal Hussain and Angela Moffat , claims that supporters of the mayor descended on 41 polling stations at night , ' making it difficult or impossible for voters to get into the stations ' . Allegations : A petition brought before the High Court ( pictured ) claims the re election of the mayor in May was fraudulent ' in a variety of forms ' The men were ' telling voters that they must vote for Mayor Rahman in an intimidating manner ' , the petition claims . The statement also cited concerns ' that polling station officials folded the ballot papers in such a way to obscure one of the candidates ' . James Laddie , acting for Mr Rahman , said his client denied all the allegations . He asked Mr Justice Supperstone and Mr Justice Spencer to dismiss the petition . The four petitioners are seeking a trial date so that their petition can be heard in full . The hearing continues . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past9319944,9945,"United Nations and step up fight against after Paris attacks Saturday , 21 November 2015 3 : 55pm Agency : The attack on Bamako ' s luxury Radisson Blu hotel added to fears about the global jihadist threat a week after attacks in Paris left 130 people dead , although there was no immediate confirmation of a link with . The attacks on Paris last week left over 120 people dead . File Photo photo The Security Council urged its members to ramp up their fight against Islamic State jihadists after the Paris attacks , as Europe said it would tighten border checks and Brussels issued its highest terror alert . ? Hours after the Security Council passed the resolution authorising countries to "" take all necessary measures "" against , gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Mali ' s capital , taking more than 100 people hostage in a siege that left at least 27 dead . The attack on Bamako ' s luxury Radisson Blu hotel added to fears about the global jihadist threat a week after attacks in Paris left 130 people dead , although there was no immediate confirmation of a link with . In the European Union , ministers agreed to rush through reforms to the passport free Schengen zone to tighten the bloc ' s borders , and Belgium put out its highest terror alert in its capital , warning of a "" serious and imminent threat "" . Officials declined to add further details until later on today "" in order to allow ongoing judicial investigations to follow their course "" , the national crisis centre said in a statement . The 28 year old suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks , Abdelhamid Abaaoud , a Belgian of Moroccan origin , is believed to have travelled to Syria to join and be trained as an operative in Europe . ? News that he and another attacker were able to slip back into Europe from Syria , despite being the subject of international arrest warrants , has raised fears jihadists are taking advantage of the migrant crisis to carry out attacks . One of the suspected gunmen in the Paris attacks linked to Abaaoud , 26 year old Brussels resident Salah Abdeslam , is still the subject of a huge international manhunt . In Syria , meanwhile , a monitoring group said at least 36 people were killed in air strikes by Russian and Syrian jets in the controlled eastern Deir Ezzor province , describing them as the heaviest in the region since the start of the civil war . At the United Nations , Russia joined Western powers in backing the French drafted text that authorises countries to "" take all necessary measures "" to fight and other extremist groups linked to Al Qaeda . Describing as a "" global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security "" , the resolution called for sanctions and urges countries to step up efforts to cut off the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria . French President Francois Hollande welcomed the move , even though the text does not provide any legal basis for military action , saying it will "" contribute to mobilising nations to eliminate Daesh "" ( ) . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past9329946,9947,"In yet another unforced error committed by the Republican Party that hurts America s reputation, the recent surge in discriminatory laws against the community has caused alarm to the rest of the world. The U.K. even issued a travel alert to its citizens warning them of the risk of vacationing in places like North Carolina and Mississippi, given the new so-called bathroom laws and other forms of legislated bigotry. The U.S. is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards people differ hugely across the country, the advisory stated. travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before traveling please read our general travel advice for the community. The advisory encouraged travelers to avoid potentially risky situations and excessive physical shows of affection, and to exercise discretion in rural areas.President Obama, who happens to be in London, was forced yet again to play only adult in the room and reassure the international community that Republican laws, while particularly nasty, haven t made the United States a nightmarish hellscape, and that most people, including residents in those states, want absolutely nothing to do with the Republican Party s brash forms of discrimination. I want everybody here in the United Kingdom to know that the people in North Carolina and Mississippi are wonderful people, they are hospitable people, they are beautiful states and you are welcome. You should come and enjoy yourselves. I think you ll be treated with extraordinary hospitality. Taking a moment to get a bit more personal, Obama said that he found the laws to be absurd, hateful and contrary to the values of America. I also think that the laws that have been passed there are wrong and should be overturned and they re in response to politics in part and some strong emotions that are generated by people, some of whom are good people but I just disagree with when it comes to respecting the equal rights of all people. Obama on Miss. & N. Carolina anti- laws:The laws that have been passed there are wrong weblink Now (@CNBCnow) April 22, 2016The bathroom bills are in response to fabricated scenarios in which male child predators would dress up as women to gain access to bathrooms with girls in them. This has never once happened. The law, instead, opens up members of the trans community to further harassment, violence, and stigmatization.Most Americans seem aware of this and protests against the bathroom bills have become widespread. In North Carolina, the state is hemorrhaging millions of dollars a month in lost business and boycotts while the Republican governor and legislature stubbornly refuse to concede that this plan was based on little more than ignorance and hate. In South Carolina, a similar bill was quickly killed in a desperate effort to avoid becoming the next North Carolina.Meanwhile, the president is forced to explain and defend America s pathetic treatment of its community, because his opposition in the Republican Party would rather focus on bullying trans people than address things like climate change, wealth inequality, healthcare reform or immigration.Featured image via Twitter",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past9339957,9958,"Police close streets near the Grand Place in Brussels on Sunday , November 22 , 2015 ( Associated Press photo ) Brussels : ? The search for a key suspect in the Paris terror attacks kept the Belgian capital in an unprecedented lockdown that brought business to a standstill as European leaders vowed to tackle the crisis at its roots in Syria . The clampdown in Brussels continued for a third day on Monday after a series of raids overnight by counter terrorism special forces failed to find Belgium born Salah Abdeslam , one of two brothers believed to have been involved in attacks that killed 130 in Paris on Nov . 13 . Belgium ' s government warned of a continuing , serious threat to the public . "" What we expect is an attack similar to the one that unfolded in Paris with multiple people who launch offensives in many places at the same time , "" Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said late Sunday . The threat is "" very serious and imminent . "" The Belgian capital of around 1 . 2 million people was quiet with schools , shops , banks and the metro system closed as European governments prepare to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State at its bases in Syria . France , where the government extended a state of emergency for three months , put naval forces in position to bomb Syria , while the U . K . offered Britain ' s airbase in Cyprus for the military operations . "" The U . K . will do all in our power to support our friend and ally France to defeat this evil death cult , "" Prime Minister Cameron told reporters in Paris after meeting with French President Francois Hollande . "" It ' s absolutely right to take decisive action to stop terrorists . "" The decision to keep Brussels on a heightened state of alert extended the disruption to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union , both of which have their headquarters in the city . told non essential staff to stay at home , while the opened with reinforced security . Groep , Belgium ' s biggest bank , closed its headquarters in the capital on Monday . "" We are working from home and from our disaster recovery dealing room to avoid public places in Brussels , "" said Piet Lammens , global head of market research at . "" I hope we ' ll be back in the office tomorrow . We ' ll evaluate the situation later today . I ' m not afraid . "" Brussels has been on its guard since it emerged that at least three jihadists behind the Paris assaults lived in the city . Abdeslam , who ' s now the focus of an international manhunt , comes from the Molenbeek district of the capital . Counter terrorism officers carried out 22 simultaneous raids in Brussels and the Belgian city of Charleroi , federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt told reporters early Monday . They detained 16 people , none of whom was Abdeslam , and didn ' t find any explosives or other armaments , he said . The center of Brussels was filled with gun toting soldiers , while green army vehicles made their way through snarled traffic outside buildings housing European institutions . Security guards stood outside supermarkets , which reopened after closing over the weekend . "" Bombs , shooting , Brussels being the center of the world , it ' s strange everyone is scared , "" said Raphael Van Antwerpen , who runs a cafe in the heart of Brussels . "" I ' m most worried about my daughter , "" whose school just outside the capital is open , he said . At the building housing the European Commission , the ' s executive arm , police used a mirror on a stick to check under vehicles , while armed soldiers guarded the entrance . Finance ministers from the 19 nations using the euro are going ahead with a scheduled meeting in Brussels on Monday afternoon . "" A terror alert or any similar situation makes it all the more pressing on the affected state leaders to be seen to be taking charge , "" Maltese Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said in an email . "" The eurogroup finance ministers ' meeting is no exception . "" After seeing Cameron on Monday , Hollande will meet President Barack Obama in Washington on Tuesday and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Wednesday . He ' ll travel to see Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday . Cameron said in Paris that he ' ll present a "" comprehensive strategy "" to the British Parliament this week for tackling in Syria . He ' s seeking approval from lawmakers to join in airstrikes . French Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian told Europe 1 radio that planes from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would be ready to carry out strikes beginning Monday . In Brussels , store owners are wondering how long these extraordinary measures will continue . Michael Raynaekers has run a flower shop near the European Commission for the last 18 years . His clients are mostly the big offices nearby , and he ' s worried : these are normally his three busiest weeks . "" Business will be less than 50 percent today , "" he said in his store filled with baubles and other Christmas decorations . "" People are scared . Just look at the streets , they are empty . "" Story First Published : November 23 , 2015 18 : 54 ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past9349964,9965,"Mental health professionals have long characterized attempted suicide as a desperate cry for help , the last ditch plea of a wounded soul who , more than anything else , longs to live . Not so , according to a study released Monday by the National Psychiatric Association . researchers say those who try to take their own lives are , in fact , crying out for the sweet release of death . "" People who want to live do not typically engage in such behaviors as wrist slashing and carbon monoxide inhalation , "" said Dr Rachel Leibman Wald , head of the study . "" To the contrary , this tends to be the behavior of individuals who long to depart this mortal coil and be enveloped in the warm , safe shroud of eternal rest . "" "" When one is in terrible pain , be it physical or emotional , "" Leibman Wald continued , "" the natural instinct is to end that pain , even if it means ending one ' s life . Sometimes , there is a viable alternative method of ending that pain other than suicide . Sometimes , there is not . "" Conventional psychiatric wisdom holds that a suicide attempt is the brain ' s subconscious way of telling loved ones that an individual is in need of assistance . "" It now appears , however , "" the report read , "" that in many cases , the attempted suicide is less a cry for help than simply a message from the brain to the body saying , ' Okay , time to die . ' "" Because mental health professionals ' ability to provide the help such individuals are "" asking for "" is limited , and many patients are so mired in depression that they are beyond redemption anyway , many see in the study ' s findings a powerful argument for greater societal tolerance of suicidal behavior . "" We are finally learning that for some , suicide is not an attempt to get treatment , a step , if you will , on the road to healing , "" said noted psychotherapist Dr Eli Wasserbaum . "" In a majority of cases , it is a step into painless oblivion where nothing can hurt you ever again . "" In examining more than 2 , 500 case studies , psychiatrists found that many suicidal patients did not fit the classic profile of someone desperately attempting to make his or her plight known to the outside world . Instead , in many cases , they simply represented horrible failures whose pitiful , ruined lives were unbearable . "" Many of these individuals were so pathetic , "" the report read , "" that any decent person would have to agree that they would be better off dead . Why prolong their pain ? What point would there be ? "" With this in mind , psychiatrists argued that it is not only erroneous to assume that those who attempt suicide need help , but it may actually be cruel . "" To deny someone suffering a shattered , miserable existence the simple escape offered by suicide is nothing short of inhumane , "" said Dr Stanley Temple , one of the study ' s co authors . "" If you look at many of these nobodies , you ' d be hard pressed to argue that they would have even a slight chance of ever getting their lives into any semblance of a livable state . For these tortured , far gone souls , it becomes more obvious each day that there is only one way out . Who are we as mental health professionals to deny them this effective way out of their agony ? "" Temple cited the case of Gregory Fryar , a 49 year old Harwich , , man whose six failed marriages , dead end job at a bread factory , lifelong addictions to alcohol and gambling , and two appearances on The Jenny Jones Show with various dysfunctional relatives led him to attempt suicide in March 1995 . Misdiagnosed as a cry for help , the attempt led to years of hospitalization and counseling , which failed to improve his ugly , embarrassing existence . "" Had Fryar ' s physicians been more tolerant of his heartfelt and entirely justified longing for death , perhaps his agony would have ended five years ago , "" Temple said . "" Instead , this poor excuse for a life continues to this day . Who are we truly helping by giving such patients the ' help ' they neither asked for nor wanted , when they could have easily found peace if left to their own suicidal devices ? "" Said Leibman Wald : "" There are lots of people out there who don ' t want to die , and for good reason : Their problems simply aren ' t bad enough . Let ' s focus on helping these people , people who have valid reasons to live , instead of wasting all this time and energy trying to help those who have very valid reasons to want to die . "" Leibman Wald said she hopes the study will help change public perceptions of suicide and usher in a more enlightened climate in which the needs of those who want to die are no longer ignored . "" Hopefully , someday , suicidal individuals ' right to pursue their goal of death will be recognized and respected by the medical community , "" Leibman Wald said . "" Until then , we are all guilty of allowing these poor , pathetic bastards ' misery to go on far too long . "" ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past9359969,9970,"National programme to continue as central scheme : Nadda Press Trust of India ? ? New Delhi Dec 01 , 2015 08 : 42 Asserting the government ' s commitment towards the fight against , Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said that the National Control Programme will continue as a Central Sector Scheme 1 . "" There had been concerns in some quarters about the ability of some of the states to contribute their share to the programme . These doubts should now be laid to rest . This decision clearly demonstrates the government ' s commitment towards this cause , "" Nadda said at an event to mark the World Day . Announcing policy decisions towards strengthening the fight against the epidemic , he said that government has decided to provide third line treatment to patients and increase the beneficiaries of Anti Retrieval Therapy ( ) . "" The cut off level for initiation of will henceforth be a CD4 count of 500 . Till now , people with CD4 count less than 350 were given the treatement . "" With this decision , an additional 1 lakh persons will start getting benefit of treatment . has been asked to gear up for these initiatives and we hope to start actual delivery in the coming weeks , "" the Minister said . Nadda also launched a report by National Control According to the report , 21 . 17 lakh people are estimated to be living with at the end of this year . Among these , around 40 per cent are female , while children ( below 15 years ) account for 6 . 5 per cent . Eighteen per cent of these people are in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana , followed by 14 per cent in Maharashtra , 9 per cent in Karnataka , 8 per cent in Gujarat and 7 per cent in Bihar . prevalence among adults aged 15 49 years has fallen from 0 . 34 per cent in 2007 to 0 . 26 per cent in 2015 . However , there has been increasing trend of prevalance detected in a number of states and Union territories including Chandigarh , Delhi , Tripura , Punjab , Jharkhand , Haryana and Sikkim . While decline trend persists in all the high prevalence states of south and north east , the trend has stabilised in many states like Bihar , Gujarat , Mizoram and Uttar Pradesh . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past9369971,9972,"Inflation in 2017 Ticking Time Bomb! by · October 27, 2016",fake,news,test,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present9379995,9996,"St . Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin reacts as he scores a touchdown during an football game against the San Francisco 49ers , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) St . Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin slips away from a tackle attempt by San Francisco 49ers linebacker Michael Wilhoite as he scores a touchdown during the second half of an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) St . Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley celebrates as he runs off the field following an football game against the San Francisco 49ers , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . The Rams won 27 6 . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) St . Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin , left , runs past San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite ( 57 ) after catching a short pass and running it for a 66 yard touchdown during the second half of an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) St . Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin , left , is congratulated by teammate Stedman Bailey , right , after catching a short pass and running it in for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an football game against the San Francisco 49ers , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bruce Ellington , right , is stopped by St . Louis Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner , left , after catching a pass during the second half of an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bruce Ellington , right , is stopped by St . Louis Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner , left , after catching a pass during the fourth quarter of an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) St . Louis Rams running back Tre Mason ( 27 ) runs with the ball as San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman defends during the third quarter of an football game , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) St . Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley , left , celebrates after running for a first down as San Francisco 49ers cornerback Kenneth Acker watches during the third quarter of an football game , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) St . Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley , right , runs with the ball as San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Aaron Lynch defends during the third quarter of an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Tom Gannam ) St . Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley , left , runs for a first down as San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite and outside linebacker Eli Harold ( 58 ) defend during the third quarter of an football game , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Photo Billy Hurst ) St . Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin , right , fumbles the ball as he is tackled by San Francisco 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt during an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis tries to break free of a tackle by St . Louis Rams safety Maurice Alexander on a reception during an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) San Francisco 49ers running back Reggie Bush is carted off the field after being injured during an football game against the St . Louis Rams , Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) St . Louis Rams ' Rodney McLeod , cornerback Trumaine Johnson ( 22 ) and linebacker James Laurinaitis converge on a pass but are unable to make an interception during an football game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) St . Louis Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers , left , and linebacker James Laurinaitis tackle San Francisco 49ers running back Mike Davis during an football game Sunday , Nov . 1 , 2015 , in St . Louis . ( Chris Lee St . Louis Post Dispatch via ) ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present93810049,10050,"Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Target Corp and PepsiCo Inc on Wednesday joined an expanded group of nearly 800 companies calling in a letter for U.S. legislation to protect immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents from deportation, according to organizer FWD.us. The retailers and other companies asking Congress to pass a permanent replacement for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, reflect broadening pressure on political leaders to find a solution for the roughly 800,000 immigrants known as “Dreamers”. A group of businesses less than half the size and weighted toward technology companies sent a similar letter in August, before President Donald Trump said he would end the program. The new letter reflects Trump’s decision and asks for a permanent solution to let recipients remain in the United States. Trump said that immigrants who have work permits that expire before March can apply to renew them for another two years, if they do so before Oct. 5. Both letters were spearheaded by FWD.us, a pro-immigration group co-founded by Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. The very first incarnation of the letter included signatories from major technology companies such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp andweblink and Alphabet Inc’s Google. But over the course of several days, a much broader swath of the U.S. economy, from media firm Viacom to private equity firm signed on. The newer letter adds firms like biotech firm Becton, Dickinson and Co, according to a copy of the letter and signatures seen by Reuters. “That you see business leaders from every major sector of the economy come out and ask Congress to pass a permanent fix for right away shows that this is a bipartisan issue that has strong support,” Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, told Reuters. The new letter calls on Congress to “immediately pass the bipartisan Act - or similar legislation - that gives Dreamers the permanent legislative solution they deserve.” The Act, first introduced in Congress in 2001, would provide Dreamers with a way to become U.S. citizens after first becoming permanent residents. DACA, a set of executive actions introduced by President Barack Obama in 2012, didn’t include a pathway to citizenship, which would require an act of Congress. Some conservatives in particular object to offering citizenship to recipients. Activists including United We Dream also are encouraging recipients and companies they work for to be public about their situation. Enrique Ramirez was brought to the United States from Mexico when he was two years old. He graduated from Harvard University and is now attending law school at the University of Texas at Austin. “There’s been so much money invested in me by this country, wouldn’t even a conservative person want me to contribute to my community here?” Ramirez said. shields recipients from deportation and allowed them to work and attend school legally if certain requirements were met. Speaking on television on Sept. 19, Apple Tim Cook said he was “encouraged” that leading Democrats and Republican President Trump have said they are near a deal on legislation. Apple has said it has 250 beneficiaries among its ranks. “We think it’s essential that we not only let them stay in this country, but welcome them,” Cook said of recipients. “I am encouraged that Congress will pass a law to make this permanent.” Other tech companies are looking to pair with local groups to help recipients. Ride-haling firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] said that is holding a series of town-hall meetings in 10 cities to answer drivers’ questions about changes, and that it plans to donate $500,000 to local groups that can help drivers with issues like paperwork and application fees. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past93910063,10064,"Los Angeles , California I pitied the other tourists at the car rental lot at the Los Angeles airport : The sight of two Englishmen in their mid 30s sinking uncertainly into a white Mustang convertible is not pleasant . The car was not a natural fit for us . It was very low to the ground and had a mystifying set of buttons . This meant 20 minutes of painstaking trial and error as we grappled with how to work the roof , as if trying to break the Enigma code . But as alien as the muscle car was , it was vital to this trip to California , which was essentially to reclaim lost youth in an early midlife crisis . My companion and I had lived in Los Angeles after leaving university and were curious to see how it had changed . We then planned to drive along the coast to San Francisco , taking in some of California ' s wine growing regions . This invited unkind comparisons to the movie "" Sideways , "" which sees aging college friends on a road trip drinking wine and navigating disaster . L . A . has some features that can deter tourists : It lacks a natural focal point , is dominated by roadways and has an abundance of depressing motels and fast food joints . It also has Venice , a pocket of urban bohemia that has acted as a cultural center for decades . Developed in 1905 by tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney , the area derives its name from the canals built to drain off the marshland . It was conceived as a family beach resort but fell into neglect . As real estate prices dropped , the area began to attract an eclectic mix of people . This instilled that bohemian into Venice , which served as a rallying point for the Beat generation in the 1950s and remains an important artistic center . 10 top road trip apps Much of Venice has hardly changed . The chaotic beachfront boardwalk is alive and well : Tattoo artists , head shops and fortune tellers hawk their wares to a stream of human traffic , even in winter . We stayed in a free wheeling art deco style hotel that looked like it had not changed in 40 years . Elsewhere , there are signs of inevitable gentrification . The memory of Venice ' s developer is preserved in Abbot Kinney Boulevard , a mile long artery and focal point for residents and local businesses . I walked down the palm lined street every day when I lived in Venice and always enjoyed its offbeat charm . It was a relief to see the hipsterish local coffee bar Abbot ' s Habit was still dosing the population and exhibiting local art . But around it , stylish galleries , boutiques and swanky condos now give the road a feeling of imposing wealth , resembling New York ' s Chelsea district certainly the chic end of Boho chic . The neighborhood has become safer and cleaner , said Joshua Woollen , owner of Urbanic Paper Boutique . Gang related activity has dropped , and "" what you have now are some of the most influential , creative , progressive and cutting edge people living within a couple mile radius in one small beach community , "" Woollen said . "" When my wife and I first moved to Venice over 13 years ago , Abbot Kinney felt like a ghost town , "" he said . Perhaps the most dramatic change was seeing the property where I once lived in harder times . Once a teeming human zoo of chancers and borderline personalities , the three houses have been divided and sold . The rough neighborhood is now transformed into a quiet and sunny residential street . I would happily move back . Feeling considerably older already , we began the "" Sideways "" leg of the journey . Channeling the film , the car ' s top was lowered and we took off along the ravishing Pacific Coast Highway . Hugging California ' s coastline for 655 miles , the road offers the serenity and endless vastness of the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop . The terrain changes as you head north , taking in plains , craggy headlands and lush green hills that tumble down into the sea . All our heightened expectations were met and rewarded . An hour after leaving Los Angeles , we reached Santa Barbara County . Long overshadowed by the Napa region farther north , Santa Barbara was put on the wine tourist ' s map by the release of the Oscar winning film in 2004 . Its influence was immediate . "" Its timing created a tsunami of interest , "" says Jim Fiolek of the Santa Barbara Vintners Association . "" Recognition in not only Santa Barbara County , but wine in general , more specifically , Pinot Noir , which flourishes in Santa Barbara . "" With mountain ranges running horizontally across the county , Santa Barbara channels ocean air into its valleys and has a cool climate . This geographical oddity makes it a natural home for Pinot Noir grapes , which can ripen too early in warmer temperatures . As one "" Sideways "" character explains in loving tones : "" It ' s not a survivor like Cabernet , which can just grow anywhere and uh , thrive even when it ' s neglected . No , Pinot needs constant care and attention . You know ? And in fact it can only grow in these really specific , little , tucked away corners of the world . "" At first , the region struggled to cope with the surge in interest generated by the film : Tasting rooms were hastily built on vineyards , leading to a jump in sales . By 2008 , wine makers were selling directly to customers some eight times as much as they were selling in 2000 . Santa Barbara is a natural target for a day trip from Los Angeles and has the inevitable "" Sideways "" tour guide for visitors , which generated geekish excitement . We took in a few gems : The Day ' s Inn motel boasting a looming windmill and mock Tudor facade Ostrich World , which gives you the bizarre opportunity of feeding hungry flocks and a vineyard which features in one memorable scene . I am far from an oracle on wine , but it ' s not hard to enjoy the distinctly civilized process of tasting . Visitors to Kalyra Winery gather at a bar featured in the movie and pay 10 to taste eight wines . They can be a mix of red and white and each measure gives the drinker several sips . At the vineyard , we sampled Grenache , Pinot and a blend of Shiraz , Merlot and Cab Franc . Tastings are also an inducement to buy bottles , which start at around 15 and provide estates with their main source of profit . Our final destination was on a grander scale altogether : the Napa and Sonoma valleys north of San Francisco . Here , you get the idea of a real industry geared around global exports as much as local sales . There are some 400 wineries in the region , so the visitor can feel overwhelmed on first arrival . We opted to plan our itinerary on the discerning basis of which vineyards offered two for one tasting deals . Most tourists are not averse to sampling wine in the morning , and our first stop took us to Buena Vista , which claims to be the oldest winery in the region . Revealingly , it has been recently taken over by a French brand . The scenery around the valleys is reliably lovely year round . In fall , the countryside turns a languid golden color , with neatly ordered rows of vineyards set off by the surrounding hills . Driving slowly in the late autumn sun was almost a religious obligation , despite the ensuing tailbacks . On my return flight , I resolved to plan a series of similar midlife crises for years to come . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past94010074,10075,"Major league catcher Wilson Ramos has been "" found alive , "" two days after he was reported kidnapped by gunmen , Venezuelan state reported Friday . Ramos was found by security forces in Montalban , a mountainous region about 60 miles from the north central Venezuelan town where he was last seen , according to a tweet posted late Friday by Communications Minister Andres Izarra . Ramos was reported by state run to be healthy and unharmed . Ramos , a rising star for the Washington Nationals as a rookie this past year , had returned to his native country to play in Venezuela ' s winter league . But before his first game with the Aragua Tigers , gunmen kidnapped him Wednesday night from his mother ' s home in Santa Ines in Carabobo state , a team spokeswoman said . On Thursday , authorities said that they had found the they believe was used in the kidnapping and had created sketches of two of the gunmen . Prior to his release Friday , news about the federal investigation was tightly guarded . "" It ' s understandable that everyone wants to know what is happening with Wilson and how the investigation goes , but remember that , in these cases , patience is key , "" Tigers spokeswoman Kathe Vilera said on her Twitter account . She added that keeping the details sealed could help the investigation . "" It has all the earmarks as a targeted kidnapping : selected victim , selected location , selected time , "" said Chris Voss , a kidnapping specialist for Insite Security who has handled six cases involving Venezuela and who worked for the for 26 years . "" There ' s an outside possibility that they thought they were grabbing another member of the family , but that ' s extremely unlikely . "" Kidnapping as an industry has crossed the border from Colombia into Venezuela , Voss said . "" When criminals next door show you a model of how to make money easily and kidnapping is usually pretty easy money then other kidnappers will simply ape it . "" But targeting athletes and other celebrities can be a mistake , he said . "" It ' s going to bring too much law enforcement scrutiny down on them too much international scrutiny . And media attention and scrutiny from law enforcement worldwide is bad for business . "" Ramos , 24 , emerged as the Nationals ' top catcher this past season . He had a . 267 batting average with 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in . Though soccer reigns in most Latin American countries , it is baseball that rules in Venezuela , which routinely feeds players to major league teams in the United States . That pipeline has been transformed in recent years because of violence . As Venezuela ' s economy has stagnated in recent years , crimes such as kidnapping and murder have risen . According to the National Institute of Statistics , 16 , 917 people were kidnapped between July 2008 and July 2010 , or about 23 kidnappings a day . Baseball players who play professionally in the United States , whether in the major or minor leagues , are typically targeted for their money , though Ramos ' case is the first time a player himself has been snatched . Usually , a family member is held for ransom . "" Government , please do something because Venezuela is crumbling with so much insecurity while you say that Venezuela is safe , "" Venezuelan baseball player Jose Castillo wrote on his Twitter account . Dorta has played for the Aragua Tigers and is a friend and former teammate of Ramos . "" Venezuela does have one of the best winter leagues , but it is one of the leagues where the Americans ask before going because of the insecurity and the dangers that one faces , "" he said . Those dangers have led many American teams to abandon their baseball academies in Venezuela , said Arturo Marcano , a lawyer and sports columnist who co authored a book about the recruitment of players from Venezuela . When major league teams noticed the talent sitting in places like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela , they increased their investment in the region . Instead of relying on scouts to find players , they instituted the academies to find , train and sign players , Marcano said . As crime in Venezuela increased , however , operating the academies became dangerous for their managers and scouts . "" All of a sudden , with these safety issues , teams started to leave , "" Marcano said . At its peak , about 16 major league teams operated baseball academies in Venezuela , he said . Today , that number is only five or six . Teams have returned to the practice of sending only scouts , and then sending promising players to academies in the Dominican Republic . Venezuelans who make it to the big leagues in the United States and return home become targets because there is a perception that they all make a lot of money , Marcano said . But for the minor leaguers and nonsuperstars in their first major league years , that is not necessarily the case . Another aspect that may have influenced the Ramos kidnapping is that players from humble backgrounds who make money in the pros often return to the rough neighborhoods where their families live . Working class families often don ' t want to leave their neighborhoods and their friends they may feel they don ' t belong in middle and upper class neighborhoods . For example , Ramos was kidnapped from the home of his relatives , who had stayed in a tough area despite his success . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past94110082,10083,"A student at Georgetown University wrote in an op ed piece that he was ' Not at all ' shocked that a recent mugging he suffered at gunpoint took place . Student : Oliver Friedfeld , pictured , wrote the opinion piece which sparked a debate among online commenters Senior Oliver Friedfeld said in his piece , ' I Was Mugged , And I Understand Why , ' that he questioned his own ability to criticize his attackers , citing his ' perch of privilege . ' The op ed was published November 18 in Georgetown ' s student newspaper The Hoya and picked up by several media outlets this week . As of this writing , Friedfeld ' s piece has 142 comments on the student newspaper ' s website a number of which debate whether or not the author is victim blaming for the crime , while others debate the idea of privilege . Friedfeld wrote of the encounter ' Last weekend , my housemate and I were mugged at gunpoint while walking home from Dupont Circle . The entire incident lasted under a minute , as I was forced to the floor , handed over my phone and was patted down . ' He continued ' And yet , when a reporter asked whether I was surprised that this happened in Georgetown , I immediately answered : "" Not at all . "" It was so clear to me that we live in the most privileged neighborhood within a city Washington , D . C . that has historically been , and continues to be , harshly unequal . ' Frieden revealed in the op ed that he did not view the muggers as ' bad people ' and that instead of the various opportunities he ' d received in life , wrote that , ' I ' d venture to guess that our attackers have had to experience things I ' ve never dreamed of . ' ' Who am I to stand from my perch of privilege , surrounded by million dollar homes and paying for a 60 , 000 education , to condemn these young men as "" thugs ? "" ' he argued . ' It ' s precisely this kind of "" otherization "" that fuels the problem . ' Friedfeld wrote that though there is always the possibility of choice , ' it ' s a lot easier for me to choose good than it may be for them to . ' The college student also dismissed the idea of an increased police presence being helpful he wrote ' Police protect us by keeping those "" bad people "" out of our neighborhood , and I ' m grateful for it . And yet , I realize it ' s self serving and doesn ' t actually fix anything . ' At the end of his column for The Hoya , Friedfeld argued that people ought to acclimate themselves to crimes taking place . He wrote , ' As young people , we need to devote real energy to solving what are collective challenges . Until we do so , we should get comfortable with sporadic muggings and break ins . I can hardly blame them . The cards are all in our hands , and we ' re not playing them . ' Friedfeld did not immediately return a request for comment from MailOnline . Georgetown student Oliver Friedfeld said he and his housemate were the victims of a mugging going home . The university is seen here ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past94210083,10084,"The self inflicted wounds of Hillary Rodham Clinton just keep manifesting themselves . She has two serious issues that have arisen in the past week one is political and the other is legal . Both have deception at their root . Her political problem is one of credibility . We know from her emails that she informed her daughter Chelsea and the then prime minister of Egypt within 12 hours of the murder of the U . S . ambassador to Libya , J . Christopher Stevens , that he had been killed in Benghazi by Al Qaeda . We know from the public record that the Obama administration s narrative blamed the killings of the ambassador and his guards on an anonymous crowd s spontaneous reaction to an anti Mohammad video . Over this past weekend we learned that her own embassy staff in Tripoli told her senior staff in Washington the day after the killings that the video was not an issue , and very few Libyans had seen it . We also know from her emails that the informed her within 24 hours of the ambassador s murder that it had been planned by Al Qaeda 12 days before the actual killings . Nevertheless , she persisted in blaming the video . When she received the bodies of Ambassador Stevens and his three bodyguards at Andrews Air Force base three days after their murders , she told the media and the families of the deceased assembled there that the four Americans had been killed by a spontaneous mob reacting to a cheap 15 minute anti Mohammad video . It is difficult to believe that the federal prosecutors and agents investigating Clinton will not recommend that she be indicted . Clinton s sordid behavior throughout this unhappy affair reveals a cavalier attitude about the truth and a ready willingness to deceive the public for short term political gain . This might not harm her political aspirations with her base in the Democratic Party but it will be a serious political problem for her with independent voters , without whose support she simply cannot be elected . Yet , her name might not appear on any ballot in 2016 . That s because , each time she addresses these issues her involvement in Benghazi and her emails her legal problems get worse . We already know that the has been investigating her for espionage ( the failure to secure state secrets ) , destruction of government property and obstruction of justice ( wiping her computer server clean of governmental emails that were and are the property of the federal government ) , and perjury ( lying to a federal judge about whether she returned all governmental emails to the State Department ) . Now , she has added new potential perjury and misleading Congress issues because of her deceptive testimony to the House Benghazi committee . In 2011 , when President Obama persuaded to enact and enforce a no fly zone over Libya , he sent American intelligence agents on the ground . Since they were not military and were not shooting at Libyan government forces , he could plausibly argue that he had not put boots on the ground . Clinton , however , decided that she could accelerate the departure of the Libyan strongman , Col . Muammar ? Qaddafi , by arming some of the Libyan rebel groups that were attempting to oppose him and thus helping them to shoot at government forces . So , in violation of federal law and the U . N . arms embargo on Libya she authorized the shipment of American arms to Qatar , knowing they d be passed off to Libyan rebels , some of whom were Al Qaeda , a few of whom killed Ambassador Stevens using American made weapons . When asked about this , she said she knew nothing of it . The emails underlying this are in the public domain . Clinton not only knew of the arms to Libyan rebels deal , she authored and authorized it . She lied about this under oath . After surveying the damage done to his regime and his family by bombings , Col . Qaddafi made known his wish to negotiate a peaceful departure from Libya . When his wish was presented to Clinton , a source in the room with Clinton has revealed that she silently made the off with his head hand motion by moving her hand quickly across her neck . She could do that because she knew the rebels were well equipped with American arms with which to kill him . She didn t care that many of the rebels were Al Qaeda or that arming them was a felony . She lied about this under oath . My Fox News colleagues Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne have scrutinized Clinton s testimony with respect to her friend and adviser Sidney Blumenthal . Recall that President Obama vetoed Clinton s wish to hire him as her State Department senior adviser . So she had the Clinton Foundation pay him a greater salary than the State Department would have , and he became her silent de facto advisor . They emailed each other hundreds of times during her tenure . He provided intelligence to her , which he obtained from a security company on the ground in Libya in which he had a financial interest . He advised her on how to present herself to the media . He even advocated the parameters of the Libyan no fly zone and she acted upon his recommendations . Yet she told the committee he was just a friend . She was highly deceptive and criminally misleading about this under oath . When those recommendations are made known , no ballot will bear her name . Andrew P . Napolitano , a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey , is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel . ? ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past94310087,10088,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he would consider raising the federal tax on gasoline to fund infrastructure development, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s something that I would certainly consider,” Trump told the news agency in an interview on Monday. “The truckers have said that they want me to do something as long as that money is earmarked to highways.” The Trump administration released an outline of a tax plan last week that would slash tax rates for businesses and reduce the number of tax brackets for individuals. The plan, however, was silent on gasoline taxes, a potentially delicate issue given the widespread impact any increase would have on U.S. households. Trump told Bloomberg his tax proposal was just an opening gambit in a negotiation with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “Everything is a starting point,” he said, according to Bloomberg, adding that he was willing to give up on aspects of his plan. He declined to specify where he would yield. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past94410097,10098,"We love this guy! Factory worker Keith Ketzler: For eight horrible years I heard, We don t have control of the House. We don t have control of the senate. We don t have the presidency and when we get in we got a plan and we re going to change stuff. Well I tell you what, you re in there now and all I see is infighting. It s very dysfunctional.This guy just said whatever American would like to say to Paul Ryan! Notice how the answer was just more rhetoric blah, blah, blah All talk and ACTION!Paul Ryan is in the back pocket of the Chamber of Commerce and other special interest groups. He s talking out of both sides of his mouth. He needs to go! TRUMP: RELEASED: Paul Ryan Caught On Tape: I am not going to defend Donald Trump not now, not in the future We all know Paul Ryan was no fan of President Donald Trump while he was running for office. Sadly, unlike the Democrats who held their noses and went all in for Hillary, our Republican Speaker of the House went out of his way to support Trump during his highly contentious campaign. Now that a new audio tape has emerged, proving that Ryan went out of his way to make sure his colleagues in the House understood that he would never support Trump, this leaves Ryan looking pretty foolish considering the public support Trump has offered Ryan and his increasingly unpopular Obamacare Lite proposal.On a never-before-released private October conference call with House Republican members, House Speaker Paul Ryan told his members in the U.S. House of Representatives he was abandoning then- presidential nominee Donald Trump forever and would never defend him ever again. In the Oct. 10, 2016 call, from right after the Access Hollywood tape of Trump was leaked in the weeks leading up to the election, Ryan does not specify that he will never defend Trump on just the Access Hollywood tape he says clearly he is done with Trump altogether. I am not going to defend Donald Trump not now, not in the future, Ryan says in the audio, obtained by Breitbart News and published here for the first time ever.Now, Ryan still the Speaker has pushed now President Donald Trump to believe his healthcare legislation the American Health Care Act would repeal and replace Obamacare when it does not repeal Obamacare. Ryan has also, according to Trump ally Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), misled President Trump into believing that Ryan s bill can pass Congress. Paul and others believe the bill is dead on arrival in the U.S. Senate since a number of senators have come out against it, and there are serious questions about whether it can pass the House. This is the first major initiative that Trump has worked on with Ryan and the fact it is going so poorly calls into question whether Speaker Ryan, the s failed 2012 vice presidential nominee who barely supported Trump at all in 2016, really understands how Trump won and how to win in general.The October conference call apparently was intended only for House Republican members. It s unclear which or how many House Republicans took part in the call, whether the participants knew it was being recorded, who made the recording, or whether a recording exists of the entire call. The remarks on the portion provided to Breitbart News certainly sound like they were coming from Speaker Ryan, who seemed to be abandoning his party s presidential nominee altogether just weeks before the election. He says not only will he not defend the Access Hollywood comments, but he will not campaign with Trump at all between this call on Oct. 10, 2016, and the general election for the presidency on Nov. 8 and that Ryan would not defend Trump on anything generally. For entire story- Matthew Boyle, Breitbart NewsLISTEN:",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present94510108,10109,"Attorney General , Jeremy Wright , ( pictured ) referred the case on the basis that the suspended sentence was unduly lenient Appeal court judges have allowed a rapist who attacked a lesbian after a Halloween party to walk free because they do not want to interfere with his suspended sentence The 28 year old from Portsmouth preyed on his victim after watching ' A Clockwork Orange ' even though he knew she had no interest in men . The woman was left deeply traumatised by the attack , but Appeal Court judges have today refused to jail the attacker , describing his case as ' exceptional ' . The Attorney General , Jeremy Wright , had referred the case on the basis that the suspended two year prison sentence imposed at Portsmouth Crown Court in October was unduly lenient . But today , while a panel of three judges headed by Lord Justice Pitchford agreed with that view , they said they did not consider it to be in the public interest that it should be changed . They heard that the man , who has Tourette ' s syndrome , obsessive compulsive disorder , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , anxiety and depression , had reported the rape to police himself and if he had not , it would never have come to light . The man committed the offence after a Halloween party when a friend who he knew had no sexual interest in men , invited him to share her bed which they had done before purely to sleep . The court heard neither of them anticipated or intended sexual activity but during the night the man began touching her . The ' obsessive part ' of his personality took over and , despite her struggles , he had sex with the woman . When he came to his senses and stopped he apologised profusely , ' punched himself in remorse ' and left , while the woman , who made it clear their friendship was ruined , decided she did not want to report the matter to the police . Two years later , distressed and still feeling guilty , he went to the police , saying he wanted to confess to a sexual assault and that he thought he needed help . The man was handed a suspended two year prison sentence at Portsmouth Crown Court ( pictured ) in October The man pleaded guilty to the rape at Portsmouth Crown Court and was handed a suspended two year jail term in October last year . Lawyers representing the attorney general told the Appeal Court the sentence was far too soft . Lord Justice Pitchford agreed a suspended sentence was ' unduly lenient ' but said it would be wrong to lock him up now . He said the man suffered from a litany of mental health problems and both he and his victim were ' vulnerable ' . The judge , sitting with Mrs Justice Swift and Judge Paul Batty , ruled it was ' not in the public interest ' to put him behind bars . What he had done ' caused him distress and an enduring sense of guilt ' , said the judge . Jocelyn Ledward , for the Attorney General , argued that the man should have been jailed . But Lord Justice Pitchford described it as ' an exceptionally sensitive and difficult ' case . He said for all his remorse , there was no doubt that he had done ' a grave wrong ' with serious consequences for his victim . Lord Justice Pitchford ( pictured ) agreed a suspended sentence was ' unduly lenient ' but said it would be wrong to lock up the man now Lord Pitchford said that the man had made a fully committed start to his suspended sentence order and had proved himself highly and genuinely motivated to make progress . He said a rupture of current arrangements could only make more certain serious deterioration in his condition , and put at risk a successful outcome . He said : ' What sets this case apart is the distress the offender himself suffers from unwelcome thoughts , his feelings of guilt and fear of catastrophe , and his almost inevitable mental deterioration if required to serve a sentence of imprisonment . ' ' There is no statutory standard of exceptionality that must be reached before a court suspends a sentence of imprisonment . ' It is a matter for the court ' s judgment , usually determined by weighing up the seriousness of the offence , the offender ' s antecedents and his personal circumstances . ' However , for an offence as serious as rape , a suspended sentence order is , as the recorder acknowledged , almost unheard of . ' He concluded that the man was now responding well to professional help with his mental health problems . That was the best means of reducing his risk to the public and jailing him , the judge concluded , would not be in the public interest . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past94610116,10117,"So many acts of violence and vandalism have been committed against Americans who have voiced their support for Trump, that voters are staying silent about how they plan to vote. That doesn t mean that massive numbers of voters won t be turning out for Trump when it comes to sending in their absentee ballots or showing up to the polls on November 8th.Don t let the media discourage you from getting out to vote for Trump and don t believe the polls! Trump s rallies are a pretty good indication of how strong the momentum for his presidency really is. Trump is doing 2-4 rallies every day across America, while Hillary is either fundraising or resting. For the few rallies Hillary is actually doing, you d think she d be drawing massive crowds, but the truth of the matter is, she can barely fill a high school gym with people who are passionate about her becoming our next President.Listen to what former Governor Mike Huckabee has to say about the silent majority Trump voter:weblink",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,present94710123,10124,"Pope Francis arrived in Kenya ' s capital Wednesday evening for his first trip to Africa , a five day tour that will take him to some of the world ' s poorest communities and to countries facing intractable conflicts . Francis will visit Kenya , Uganda , and the war torn Central African Republic during the potentially dangerous visit . The trip affords him an opportunity to speak directly to one of the church ' s fastest growing populations and reemphasize central themes of his papacy : global poverty , the problem of climate change , and respect between faiths . Not long after arriving here , the pontiff invoked some of those issues in a speech to Kenyan political and religious leaders . "" Violence , conflict , and terrorism feed on fear , mistrust , and the despair born of poverty and frustration , "" he told an audience of 2 , 000 people , who frequently burst into applause . The pope ' s visit comes as Kenya is embroiled in one of its biggest corruption scandals . Five top ministers were fired Tuesday on suspicion of stealing or mismanaging public funds . Francis has been outspoken about the ills of corruption , calling it in July "" the gangrene of society . "" Many Kenyans wondered whether Francis would highlight the issue during his visit . "" The gap between the rich and the poor is growing here , and corruption is a major part of the problem , "" said the Rev . Chrisantus Ndaga , deputy secretary general of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa , which helped plan the pope ' s visit . "" It ' s the right time for a message of encouragement from the pope . "" In his speech on Wednesday , Francis urged Kenya ' s leaders to "" work with integrity and transparency for the common good "" and "" promote responsible models of economic development . "" As the pope landed in Nairobi , he was greeted by throngs of people waving , dancing , and singing "" Karibu Kenya , Papa , "" or "" Welcome to Kenya , Pope "" in Swahili . The highway leading from the airport was lined with posters bearing images of the pontiff . "" Tears of joy as Pope Francis arrives in Kenya , "" said the lead headline in Kenya ' s Daily Nation newspaper . Some Kenyans suggested that the country ' s top officials could learn from the pope ' s modest style . He left the airport in a basic Honda sedan "" the type of car ordinarily used by any Kenyan , "" the Daily Nation said . In introducing the pope , Kenya ' s president , Uhuru Kenyatta , also alluded to the corruption problems plaguing his government , saying that graft "" sacrifices people and our environment in the pursuit of illegal profit . "" Many wonder whether the pope will speak about sexual or gender rights during his Africa trip , particularly in Uganda , where the government has tried to impose life prison terms for those convicted of "" homosexual acts . "" Although the pope is perceived by some to be more accepting of gay members of the church , experts say Francis is unlikely to discuss those issues at length . Instead , the pontiff is expected to focus much of his time on interfaith issues , namely the growing tensions between Christian and Muslim populations across Africa . Kenya has been hit particularly hard by al Shabab , the Somali based Islamist extremist group , which has carried out numerous attacks . They include a 2013 attack on Nairobi ' s Westgate Mall that left 67 dead and an assault in April on a university in eastern Kenya in which 147 were killed . But the focal point of his Africa trip appears to be the Central African Republic , where a war between Christians and Muslims has claimed more than 5 , 000 lives since 2013 . The fighting there remains intense , and some security experts are surprised that the visit has not been canceled . It is the first time a pope has traveled to an active conflict zone . In the Central African Republic , Francis is scheduled to meet with Muslims at the central Koudougou mosque in Bangui , the capital . Driving through the city , he is likely to see some of the thousands who have been displaced by the most recent spasm of violence . Even U . N . camps have proven unsafe . This month , rebel fighters entered the Batangafo camp , firing weapons and setting huts on fire . About 5 , 500 people fled the camp to seek shelter elsewhere , according to the U . N . refugee agency . Asked by reporters during his flight to Kenya whether he was worried about the security situation , he replied : "" I ' m more afraid of the mosquitoes . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past94810132,10133,"Ed Miliband ' s set piece speech outlining Labour ' s pledge to tackle immigration lasted just 7 minutes and 43 seconds today sparking fresh criticism that he was not taking the issue seriously . The Labour leader arrived in the key marginal seat of Great Yarmouth this morning to unveil his election pledge to jail company bosses who exploit cheap foreign workers to undercut British wages . He also pledged to introduce ' proper ' entry and exit checks , limit on in work benefits for migrants , and extend the period before which immigrants can claim out of work benefits to two years . Labour leader Ed Miliband ' s set piece address on immigration lasted just 463 seconds today But his 463 second address was overshadowed by a leaked party document telling party activists to ' move the conversation on ' from immigration if voters bring it up on the doorstep . The paper , setting out plans to counter the challenge from Ukip , was sent to dozens of MPs in constituencies where Ukip threatens to rob the opposition of the votes needed to return to power at next May ' s general election . At the end of his speech on immigration Mr Miliband described the document as ' not very well drafted ' but said there could be no suggestion he was seeking to dodge the issue . He said : ' I think what matters about our party is what I ' m saying on this stage the pledge we ' re making rather than some not very well drafted language in a briefing document . I don ' t think anybody ' s in any doubt where Labour stands on this . ' Mr Miliband added : ' We ' re very clear about this , that ' s why I ' m standing on this stage with our pledge on immigration . The Labour Party not only takes this seriously , but I ' ve changed Labour ' s approach . ' During his speech , Mr Miliband insisted : ' When people worry about the real impact immigration has , this Labour Party will always respond to those concerns , not dismiss them . ' It isn ' t prejudiced to worry about immigration , it is understandable . ' During his speech , Mr Miliband insisted that Labour would respond to concerns about the ' real impact immigration ' Mr Miliband has a demonstration on how to mix paint by customer advisor Tim Mobbs , as he meets staff at a B Q superstore in Great Yarmouth Mr Miliband said he wants to end an ' epidemic of exploitation ' which has led to ' truly shocking ' examples of migrant workers having their wages withheld and being forced to live in appalling conditions . ' When people can be exploited for low wages or endangered at work , it drags the whole system down , undercutting the pay and conditions of local workers , ' said the Labour leader . ' We must end the epidemic of exploitation . We must stop people ' s living standards being undermined by scandalous undercutting . ' Setting out his new proposals , he said : ' We are serving notice on employers who bring workers here under duress or on false terms and pay them significantly lower wages , with worse terms and conditions . ' We will make it a criminal offence to undercut pay or conditions by exploiting migrant workers . ' Aides said that bringing in foreign labour to undercut the pay and conditions of existing workers will not be sufficient , under Labour ' s plans , to secure a prosecution on its own , but it could be used as a piece of evidence of exploitation . Mr Miliband ' s speech was overshadowed by a leaked party document To secure a conviction , evidence will be needed that an abuse of power has occurred and that migrants were employed on significantly different terms to local workers . Mr Miliband said that , rather than the ' false promises ' to bring down net immigration offered by the Conservatives or Ukip ' s ' false solution ' of quitting the , Labour will seek to offer ' clear , credible and concrete solutions which help build a country that works for you ' . Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said she did not sign off the leaked document . Ms Cooper told Radio 4 ' s The World At One : ' I ' m afraid the document was wrong on this and it doesn ' t reflect what we are actually doing . ' What Ed is talking about today is making a pledge on immigration the second pledge that we are setting out for our manifesto for the campaign for the general election , because we know that the three things that people have most concerns about are around the economy , around immigration and around our National Health Service . ' I ' m not taking it too seriously and I don ' t think you should take this document too seriously because it doesn ' t reflect what we are actually doing . ' Labour Simon Danczuk said he was ' concerned ' about the document , telling The World At One : ' I meet people on the doorstep and they talk about the being under strain from immigration , they talk about housing and the pressure from immigration . In this part of the world , when people talk about crime , they sometimes mention trafficking , grooming gangs , sham marriages . This is the reality of it . ' So you can ' t really shine a lot on your other policies without talking about immigration as well . ' Last night a poll revealed strong public support for dramatic curbs on migrant numbers . Six out of ten people said they wanted a cap on the number of European nationals able to enter the . The poll also found opinion on the appears to have become significantly more hostile , with 42 per cent wanting to leave compared to 31 per cent in favour of staying in . Tory Julian Smith criticised Mr Miliband ' s seven minute address . He said : ' While it ' s true to say that Ed Miliband is all talk and no action on some of the most important issues facing this country , clearly he prefers not to talk at all . ' Last week Ed gave us a speech on the deficit when he refused to be drawn on spending cuts . Today he ' s offered a paltry 7mins 47 seconds on immigration . ' Yet again this reinforces that Ed Miliband is a weak leader with no grip over immigration and no long term economic plan , putting the security of British people and their families at risk . ' ",true,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past94910142,10143,"Due to popular demand J . K . Rowling has succumbed to unexpectedly writing Harry Potter Book Eight . "" I know I said I had stopped at Book Seven and would never write another . . . and I am sooooo embarrassed , believe me . But my controllers , . . . er . . . backers , "" she explained , "" simply want more money . Isn ' t it ridiculous after all the millions I made for them ? Sadly , I have to comply or the media might start saying bad things about me like they did with Prince Charles ( laughing ) . . . and we have the franchises to protect and future film deals , and the magical royalties , of course , stretching far into the future which are sooooooo lucrative . I don ' t know the exact figure . . . but it is huge . Harry will go on forever like James Bond . By the time I am finished I will have written more words than Leo Tolstoy in a quarter of the time . Isn ' t that soooo amazing ? "" This time around , the plot focuses on the flaxen haired Hermione Granger . Hermione begins as a humble schoolgirl who daydreams of being a great writer . But her greatest ambition is to save children from poverty and neglect . She knows all about poverty as she once spent a penniless weekend in Edinburgh during a school vacation before her dad , who runs his own business and has many people working for him , managed to wire her some money just in the nick of time . Hermione dreams of marrying a powerful man who can help her . So , after she graduates with a degree in comparative religion she joins Amnesty International in London ( . . . religion was never mentioned in her home and she was always baffled as to why she chose it . ) and that ' s where she meets Harry Potter and they quickly fall in love . Harry ' s uncle is a publishing agent with great contacts in the children ' s book trade especially Penguin . Indeed , one of his closest drinking buddies is marketing editor there . Harry ' s uncle is known in the trade as "" Mr Big "" . It is said he will employ no female in his firm unless she is tall , beautiful , young and single . A known party animal indeed , Mr Big makes sure his public image is that of a shy , retiring intellectual with a great love for England , literature and professional integrity in that order . Harry wants more than anything to fulfil his sweetheart ' s dream . One day , he rushes into her office to present her with a well thumbed manuscript in a funny black binder and tells her that "" it made my uncle ' s toes curl when he read it . All you have to do Hermione is change it around a bit and rewrite it in you own fair hand . . . and you will be rich and famous . And then we can save the world together . "" "" But , isn ' t that . . . p . . . p . . . plagiarism ? "" she protests . "" You could call it that , "" he replies . "" But the chap who wrote it and sent it to my uncle is an absolute Muggle as my uncle is a rogue and everybody knows it . So , we will have taught him a valuable lesson about the wicked world . "" "" We would have . . . wouldn ' t we , Harry ? "" she responds . "" I ' ll do it ! You have to have nerve to get on in this world . And that word "" Muggle "" has given me an idea . Can I use it ? "" "" Be my guest . My uncle and his team have all the ideas you could ever possibly need . You could write as many books as you like , an entire series , seven , eight , ten . . . forever my sweet and be the richest writer who ever lived . "" "" I ' d like that , Harry . More than anything . The teachers who bullied me at school would sooooo die of envy . "" Hermione , at this stage , does not know that her boyfriend has magical powers and that his uncle is , in fact , a Grand Wizard of the Freemasons with many powerful friends in politics and the media including the editors of The London Times and The Telegraph . . . not to mention Tony Blair , George W . Bush , Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson . Soon , she will find out . She will understand then why they made her rich and famous , so that she can help them take over the world and establish the New World Order that they and their forefathers all the way back to Albert Pike have been dreaming about for many years . And in that way , end the three evils of the world . . . over population , freedom of speech and democracy . Critics are already saying that this could be the best Harry Potter book of them all . The Times and the Telegraph in particular are already claiming it as a "" masterpiece "" . Only one critic from the Evening Standard has called it "" crap "" but rumour has it that he has since lost his job . Nobody seems to know where he is . Rowling herself was unavailable for comment as she is busy getting visible proof together that she wrote Book Eight all by herself . . . with no input whatever . . . from anyone , least of all from Mr Big or his team of seasoned writers . An exhibition of her notes etc will soon be on display at Fettes College Edinburgh where her close friend and staunchest supporter Tony Blair was educated . ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past95010154,10155,"Reuters) - The powerful U.S. gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, said on Sunday it would oppose an outright ban on bump-stock devices that the killer in the Las Vegas massacre of 58 people used to turn rifles into automatic weapons and strafe a crowd with bursts of sustained gunfire. The NRA, which has seldom embraced new firearms-control measures, stunned gun control advocates last week when it issued a statement voicing willingness to support a restriction on bump stocks. On Sunday, the organization said it was open to regulation but opposed any legislation banning the devices. “We don’t believe that bans have ever worked on anything. What we have said has been very clear - that if something transfers a semiautomatic to function like a fully automatic, then it ought to be regulated differently,” Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, said on “Fox News Sunday.” Police said the gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, fitted 12 of his weapons with bump-stock devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to operate as if they were fully automatic machine guns, which are otherwise outlawed in the United States. Cox and Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s chief executive, accused the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under Democratic former President Barack Obama of paving the way for the use of bump stocks and creating legal confusion about their usage. Republican President Donald Trump, whose party controls both chambers of the U.S. Congress, was an outspoken advocate of gun rights during his 2016 campaign for the White House. The spent more than $30 million in support of his candidacy. Several Republican lawmakers suggested last week that they were receptive to legislation to curb the use of bump stocks, including Kevin McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, who said such controls were an area where Congress may be able to act. But House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Republican who himself was nearly killed by a gunman earlier this year while at a baseball practice, was cautious on Sunday about potential new legislation. “I do think it’s a little bit early for people to say they know what to do to fix this problem,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “A week ago most people didn’t know what a bump stock was so to think that we’re now all experts and know how to write some panacea law, it’s fallacy,” Scalise added. LaPierre lashed out at U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who has pushed for gun-control legislation on Capitol Hill. “I think you want to tell to do its job. It’s an interpretive issue and they need to get the job done. But not let Dianne Feinstein, which is what she wants to do - turn this all of this into some Christmas tree on the Hill where she brings all of her anti-gun circus she has been trying to do for years into this,” LaPierre said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Feinstein said she has garnered some Republican interest, but no support, for the measure. “I have nobody lined up,” she told the program. Some gun-control advocates praised the for showing some flexibility. “This is the first time that the gun lobby has shown willingness to come to the table and I think that’s in part because Americans just simply do not accept mass shooting after mass shooting happening and Congress doing absolutely nothing,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” But Sunday’s comments from the representatives suggested nothing may have changed as they castigated calls for gun-control measures in the emotional aftermath of a mass shooting. “There used to be a common decency in this country where people paused talking about policy. Unfortunately with Dianne Feinstein and Michael Bloomberg, they want to exploit a tragedy from Day One. It’s shameful, but apparently that’s the new normal.” Cox said on the “Fox News Sunday” program. Bloomberg, a billionaire and former mayor of New York, has been an outspoken critic of the National Rifle Association through the group Everytown for Gun Safety. Investigators remain largely in the dark about what drove Paddock, a retired real estate investor and high-stakes gambler, on Oct. 1 to carry out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past95110171,10172,"Thousands of patients are dying in hospital each year because of bad handwriting , errors in maths and poor monitoring by nursing , according to a study . The death rate at two hospitals fell by 15 per cent after nurses were given electronic devices in place of handwritten paper notes to record patients ' heart rates and breathing . Researchers calculated that 750 deaths were prevented in a year at the two hospitals , Queen Alexandria in Portsmouth and University Hospital in Coventry . At present , nurses are meant to measure patients ' heart rate , blood pressure , oxygen levels and take certain other readings and note them down on a board at the end of the bed : There is no suggestion that these nurses have illegible handwriting ( File photo ) Across the , this means 37 , 000 deaths could be avoided if nurses were given the devices rather than relying on traditional handwritten notes from nurses . At present , nurses are meant to measure patients ' heart rate , blood pressure , oxygen levels and take certain other readings and note them down on a board at the end of the bed . Often these readings aren ' t taken regularly enough and in some patients there are gaps of between eight and 12 hours between measures . In other cases , nurses handwriting is illegible or they don ' t note down all the figures meaning it is not clear for their colleagues to monitor patients . To address the problem of poor handwriting , hand held devices were given to nurses at Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth ( above ) To address the problem , hand held devices were given to nurses at Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth in 2005 and at University Hospitals in Coventry in 2007 . They were handed either iPhones or iPads small computers installed with an app that takes patients readings and reminds nurses when they are next needed . An alert flashes up on the screen if patients are deteriorating and in some cases they will urge nurses to summon a doctor . Researchers compared the death rates for every year from 2004 before the devices were used to 2010 . They annual death rates fell by 397 at Portsmouth and by 372 deaths at University Hospitals Coventry in 2010 compared to 2004 . Dr Paul Schmidt of Portsmouth Hospitals Trust , one of the leaders of the project , said : ' Observing patients and making accurate records provides a safety net to guard against their deterioration . ' We believed traditional paper charts were not doing the job well enough so we designed an electronic system to support staff . This study shows its introduction was followed by a significant drop in deaths . "" Dr Duncan Watson of University Hospital Coventry , who also worked on the project , said : ' This technology improves the performance of routine but important tasks and frees up clinical staff to do what only human beings can do care for patients . "" Many of the deaths avoided would have occurred in the elderly who had developed pneumonia or infections which would otherwise have been spotted too late . Typically they cost around 500 , 000 to roll out across a medium sized hospital trust and about 40 are now using them in at leat one department . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past95210175,10176,"Tragedy : Branson Riley Carlisle suffered a fatal bite from a brown recluse last Sunday at home in Albertsville , Alabama Three photographs taken by five year old Branson Riley Carlisle ' s mother chart the progress of the fatal spider bite that tragically ended his life the Sunday before Thanksgiving . The first picture which reveals a noticeable swelling and redness on Branson ' s shoulder blade was taken by Jessica Carlisle just 15 minutes after he was bitten by the brown recluse . The second photograph was taken just one hour later and reveals the bite has turned into a tender looking welt on the back of the Alberstville , Alabama , boy . The third photograph was taken in hospital by Branson ' s mother nine hours after he was bitten and shows a rash and painful blotching of the skin . Branson passed away suddenly from a cardiac arrest five hours later . Jessica has made the difficult decision to release the images of her dead son in a bid to raise awareness among parents of the dangers of a brown recluse spider bite . She wants them to know that the minute they suspect their child has been bitten to rush them to medical attention . The distraught mother also wants her son ' s final wish to be granted to give all his Christmas gifts away to children in Africa . It was last Sunday that Branson was bitten at around 9am , wearing his new pajamas . His mother then took him to the doctors office where he started showing symptons . He told Jessica he had been and showed her the red mark on his shoulder blade . ' He said something had stung him , ' said Jessica to ALweblink . ' It was a brand new pajama top and this spider was in his shirt . I saw a welt on his back . ' First two bites : Branson was bitten at around 9am last Sunday and showed his mother who took a picture 15 minutes afterwards ( left ) and again one hour after that ( right ) Deterioration : The spider bite is pictured here nine hours after Branson told his mother and tragically , five hours before he passed away Having been bitten herself by a brown recluse , Jessica knew that bites could turn serious , and decided to take Branson straight away to Marshall Medical Centers South in Boaz and got there within one hour . While there Branson began running a fever of 100 and doctors were concerned the spider ' s venom was ' going systemic ' which is a rare reaction to the brown recluse bite . ' They took it very seriously at Marshall . They started him on antibiotics , steroids and Tylenol , ' said Jessica to the Examiner . ' His vitals were all normal . He was laughing and playing and being a 5 year old boy . The doctor said he was going to send him to Children ' s of Huntsville or Birmingham , whichever one was quicker , but he didn ' t seem to think it was going to get worse . ' It was just in case anything happened , he would have the best care . ' First off he was taken to by ambulance to Huntsville Hospital for Women Children . Memory : Jessica Carlisle watched helplessly as her son ' s condition went downhill during the day after he was bitten by the brown recluse spider Culprit : This is the brown recluse spider that bit Branson and was killed and captured by his mother for the benefit of the doctors Also known as the fiddleback spider , the violin spider or the brown fiddler , the brown recluse spider has venomous and potentially fatal bite . They are usually brown or gray in colour and between six to 20 millimeters in length . They typically have markings on the dorsal side of their cephalothorax , These markings include a black line coming from the dorsel side that looks like a violin , resulting in the nickname ' fiddleback ' . The spiders often build their webs in dry , generally undisturbed locations , including sheds , closets , garages , cellars and other similar places . In America , their range lies roughly south of a line from southeastern Nebraska through to southern Iowa , Illinois and Indiana , to southwestern Ohio . In the southern states , they are native from central Texas to western Georgia and north to Kentucky . Brown recluse spiders have the ability to survive starvation and thirst , and the way in which they benefit from the regulated room temperatures of human habitations , make extermination of this species particularly challenging . Jessica said the bite appeared to get worse there and became black and blue like he had been struck by a baseball . His condition became too serious for those at Huntsville Hospital for Women Children to handle so Branson was immediately transferred to another hospital Children ' s of Huntsville . However , once there , Branson began to deteriorate . He developed head and stomach pains and the doctors decided to place him on oxygen and take him to the intensive care unit . ' He was talking in the elevator on the way to , arguing with the doctor . The doctor wanted him to open his mouth and he said , ' No , I don ' t want to . ' Just being a 5 year old . ' said Jessica . Suddenly as Jessica was waiting outside the at around 11 . 30pm she heard raised voices and the unmistakable sound of panic . ' Doors started flying open and people started coming running from everywhere . I ' ve never seen so many doctors in one room , ' said Jessica to the Examiner . ' The nurse came out in the hallway and sat down . They told me his heart had stopped . They shocked him . ' Wish : Branson wanted to give all his Christmas presents to children in Africa who have none and his mother wants anyone who can help to drop them off at Freelife Worship Center in Sardis , Alabama The doctors told her that their son ' s blood was failing to clot and that his organs were bleeding internally . ' I was in the room when they shocked him for the 17th time , and I knew there was nothing else in this world that they could do for him . I told them it was time to stop , ' said Jessica . Stunned , Jessica buried her son on Friday , the day after Thanksgiving . Trying to turn the tragedy into a triumph , Jessica has decided to fulfull her son ' s wish to give toys to children in Africa who have none . ' He wanted all the kids in Africa to have toys , ' said Jessica to . ' I mean , he was going to give his own toys . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past95310223,10224,"Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to President Donald Trump by allowing his latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries to go into full effect even as legal challenges continue in lower courts. The nine-member court, with two liberal justices dissenting, granted his administration’s request to lift two injunctions imposed by lower courts that had partially blocked the ban, which is the third version of a contentious policy that Trump first sought to implement a week after taking office in January. The high court’s action means that the ban will now go fully into effect for people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen seeking to enter the United States. The Republican president has said the travel ban is needed to protect the United States from terrorism by Islamic militants. In a statement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the Supreme Court’s action “a substantial victory for the safety and security of the American people.” Sessions said the Trump administration was heartened that a clear majority of the justices “allowed the president’s lawful proclamation protecting our country’s national security to go into full effect.” The ban was challenged in separate lawsuits by the state of Hawaii and the American Civil Liberties Union. Both sets of challengers said the latest ban, like the earlier ones, discriminates against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution and is not permissible under immigration laws. Trump had promised as a candidate to impose “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Last week he shared on Twitter anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right British party leader. “President Trump’s anti-Muslim prejudice is no secret - he has repeatedly confirmed it, including just last week on Twitter,” lawyer Omar Jadwat said. “It’s unfortunate that the full ban can move forward for now, but this order does not address the merits of our claims. We continue to stand for freedom, equality and for those who are unfairly being separated from their loved ones,” Jadwat added. Lower courts had previously limited the scope of the ban to people without either certain family connections to the United States or formal relationships with U.S.-based entities such as universities and resettlement agencies. Trump’s ban also covers people from North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela, but the lower courts had already allowed those provisions to go into effect. The high court said in two similar one-page orders that lower court rulings that partly blocked the latest ban should be put on hold while federal appeals courts in San Francisco and Richmond, Virginia weigh the cases. Both courts are due to hear arguments in those cases this week. The Supreme Court said the ban will remain in effect regardless of what the appeals courts rule, at least until the justices ultimately decide whether to take up the issue on the merits, which they are highly likely to do. The court’s order said the appeals courts should decide the cases “with appropriate dispatch.” “We agree a speedy resolution is needed for the sake of our universities, our businesses and most of all, for people marginalized by this unlawful order,” Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have denied the administration’s request. Monday’s action sent a strong signal that the court is likely to uphold the ban on the merits when the case likely returns to the justices in the coming months. There are some exceptions to the ban. Certain people from each targeted country can still apply for a visa for tourism, business or education purposes, and any applicant can ask for an individual waiver. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on the merits of Hawaii’s challenge on Wednesday in Seattle. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will arguments on the merits of case spearheaded by the on Friday in Richmond. Trump issued his first travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries in January, then issued a revised one in March after the first was blocked by federal courts. The second one expired in September after a long court fight and was replaced with the present version. The Trump administration said the president put the latest restrictions in place after a worldwide review of the ability of each country in the world to issue reliable passports and share data with the United States. The administration argues that a president has broad authority to decide who can come into the United States, but detractors say the expanded ban violates a law forbidding the government from discriminating based on nationality when issuing immigrant visas. The administration has said the ban is not discriminatory and pointed out that many Muslim-majority countries are unaffected by it. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past95410246,10247,"System Failure for the Establishment November 11, 2016 Democrats thought the political establishment and mainstream media would assure them victory as they brushed off Bernie Sanders and insisted on Hillary Clinton, ignoring the growing hatred of “the system,” notes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson On Election Day, Hillary Clinton, with all her data specialists and poll gurus, came up short. The morning after, they didn’t know what hit them – that is, the unexpected fact that statistical data and real life don’t always coincide. People often tell pollsters what they think the pollsters want to hear, or what media tells them is the expected answer, while clandestinely harboring different opinions that they share only with their family, friends and drinking buddies. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic leadership, as well as their Republican Party counterparts, represent a well-entrenched political system. That system is responsive to lobbies or interest groups and not disgruntled citizens. What is more, none of the country’s political bosses can see beyond this system and how it relates to their own political needs. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, March 21, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore) During the 2016 election campaign that near sightedness led to a fatal misinterpretation: that Trump represented only hooligans and “deplorable” people who could not themselves possibly add up to a “silent majority.” Thinking along these lines, Clinton and the overconfident Democratic establishment made a perhaps unconscious decision to let this apparent bozo Trump lose the election, rather than they, the Democrats, going out there and doing what was necessary to win it. For instance, they apparently did not bother to design a message to compete for the votes of those listening to Trump. They did not take into consideration the historically observable fact that millions of Americans had, over the last 50 years, seemed to give up on politics because they saw the system as unresponsive. The Democrat establishment did not respond to this phenomenon. Indeed, they made sure Bernie Sanders, the only Democratic who was trying to respond, would fail. A Deep Division The truth is that the United States is a very deeply divided country, and has been since the 1960s. The division is multifaceted and involves cultural issues that touch on gender, race and lifestyle; and class issues such as job creation and trade treaties. Also, the city mouse/country mouse divide is very real and very deep. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confronts Sen. Bernie Sanders in Democratic presidential debate on Jan. 17, 2016. Much of rural white America has various degrees of negative feelings toward African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and anyone else who does not look and talk like them. These are the same sort of people who once hated kids with long hair, afros, and a preference for marijuana over whiskey. All of these disgruntled ones, like those millions of Christian Fundamentalists out there, have never gone away. They were just waiting – even if some of them didn’t know it. They were waiting for a “hero,” and when he appeared, they elected him president. So the divisions are real and they are not new. And no one in the political establishment, Democrat or Republican, addressed them. That opened the door for Mr. Trump. That means Trump’s victory should not properly be seen as a Republican Party victory. Trump just exploited the party label. In truth, he has destroyed the Republican Party as we traditionally knew it. Its future is very uncertain. What Can We Expect? Donald Trump has made a fetish out of being unpredictable, which, at the very least, is bad for the stock market. Inevitably, however, there will be signs that give a hint as to what might be expected. The run-down Theatre sign reads “Vote Trump” on Main Street in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. July 15, 2016. (Photo by Tony Webster Flickr) For instance, Trump will have to name a cabinet. Interestingly enough, most of those who will be available, be they private-sector business people or right-wing goofballs like Sarah Palin and Chris Christie, are creatures of the standing political system. They have no real interest in reforming current ways of doing things as against profiting from them – which, of course, is a form of business as usual. There will be tremendous pressure on Donald Trump to go along with and slot himself into the existing political system in Washington (as did President Obama). At every turn, in Congress and in the bureaucracies, there will be no one to deal with but systems people. Beyond a limited number of exclusively executive functions, Trump needs standing political arrangements to operate. Thus, if he suddenly turns relatively conventional, no one should be too surprised. What about all that campaign rebel talk? Well, remember, he is unpredictable which, in his case, goes well with also being a consistent liar. Trump promised a lot during the campaign. He was going to rebuild the inner cities, the military, all of the nation’s bridges, etc. And he would do so while simultaneously lowering taxes. Short of bankrupting the country, this is fiscally impossible. He promised to remake foreign policy, which, being within the realm of executive power, may be more doable. Will he try to cancel international trade agreements? Will he pull out of NATO? Will he dump the Zionists and the Saudis? Will he ally with the Russians? These are interesting questions. What about global warming, which he claims not to believe in? How about international law and our relationship to the United Nations? It’s all up for grabs, and that worries a lot of people – very few of whom voted for Trump. Many of those who did vote for Donald Trump don’t care about any of this. They voted for him because he appeared to stand against the political system they hate. They want the country ethnically cleansed of Mexicans, the government downsized and, culturally, the clock turned back to the 1950s. If he does not do this, he will appear to have become part of that hateful system, and his fans may well end up hating him too.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past95510262,10263,"Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on Monday that tests the boundaries of presidential powers, confronting the question of whether President Barack Obama exceeded his authority with unilateral action to spare millions of people in the country illegally from deportation. The case, one of the most consequential of the court’s current term that ends in June, pits Obama against 26 states led by Texas that filed suit to block his 2014 immigration plan. The high court is evenly divided with four liberal justices and four conservatives following the February death of conservative Antonin Scalia. That raises the possibility of a 4-4 split that would leave in place a 2015 lower-court ruling that threw out the president’s executive action that bypassed the Republican-led Congress. The arguments in the case come at a time when immigration is a divisive issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, with top Republican contenders advocating deporting all of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. Obama took the action after Republicans in the House of Representatives killed bipartisan legislation, billed as the biggest overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in decades and providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, that was passed by the Senate in 2013. Obama’s plan was tailored to let roughly 4 million people - those who have lived illegally in the United States at least since 2010, have no criminal record and have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents - get into a program that shields them from deportation and supplies work permits. Obama’s program was called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Shortly before the plan was to go into effect last year, a federal judge in Texas blocked it after the Republican-governed states filed suit against the Democratic president’s executive action. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision in November. The Supreme Court’s ruling is due by the end of June. Obama’s action arose from frustration within the White House and the immigrant community about a lack of action in politically polarized Washington to address the status of people, mostly Hispanics, living in the United States illegally. Obama has drawn Republican ire with his use of executive action to get around Congress on immigration policy and other matters including gun control and healthcare. On the immigration action, the states contend Obama exceeded the powers granted to him by the Constitution by intruding upon the authority of Congress. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past95610263,10264,"Hillary Clinton Makes Her Case : It ' s Me Or The It ' s not a "" "" poster , but it ' s something . 01 18 2016 12 : 19 am Updated 10 hours ago Ryan Grim Washington Bureau Chief , The Huffington Post , S . C . Hillary Clinton ' s plan to stem her slide against Bernie Sanders in the presidential primary began to come into clear focus Sunday night in the fourth Democratic debate . With two weeks to go before Iowa ' s caucuses , the former secretary of state offered several closing arguments : If you liked Barack Obama , stick with Clinton . Sanders is too risky , he ' ll jack up your taxes , and what he wants to do can ' t get through Congress anyway . Clinton is the only seriously electable Democrat in the race , regardless of polls that show otherwise at the moment . She also went hard at Sanders , a Vermont independent senator , as too conservative on gun control and too radical on health care . With Sanders now tied with Clinton in Iowa , and leading in New Hampshire , her campaign is hoping that although Democratic primary voters may be in love with Sanders , they ' ll ultimately settle down with the pragmatic choice . "" We ' re at least having a vigorous debate about reining in Wall Street , "" she said , appealing to those Democrats who think she ' s too soft on banks . "" The Republicans want to give them more power and repeal Dodd Frank . That ' s what we need to stop "" Nobody thinks a Republican Congress is going to allow a system of single payer health care . With huge majorities , a Democratic Congress in 2009 and 2010 couldn ' t even push a weak public health insurance option into Obamacare . Yet single payer has managed to become a major issue in the Democratic primary ? one that Clinton injected into it . It ' s difficult terrain for Clinton . Democratic primary voters are sympathetic to single payer , and Sanders , who ' s happy to call himself a democratic socialist , eagerly embraces it . The Clinton campaign s messaging on the issue has been muddled : While it insists that Clinton herself supports the goal of universal health care , Clinton has attacked universal health care from a conservative direction , warning it would require major tax hikes on the middle class without mentioning the cost savings that would come with the elimination of premiums and deductibles . Chelsea Clinton went the furthest , bizarrely claiming Sanders wants to end Medicare , Medicaid and other programs , while throwing "" millions and millions "" off their health insurance . Even when the Democrats were in charge of the Congress , we couldn t get the votes for a public option , Clinton said . We finally have a path to universal health care . We ve accomplished so much already . I don t want to see us start over again with a contentious debate . Clinton said she wants to build on the Affordable Care Act and to improve it by decreasing out of pocket costs and capping the amount Americans spend on prescription drugs . This is such a key axis of disagreement : consolidate and declare victory or push to expand coverage ? Two hours before the Democratic debate in Charleston , Sanders finally made good on his promise to release an updated single payer proposal before the Iowa caucuses on Feb . 1 . ( He last released one in 2013 . ) His plan for federally administered health care would be funded by a 2 . 2 percent tax on all Americans which his campaign called a premium , not a tax a new 6 . 2 percent tax on businesses , and increased income and estate taxes on the wealthy . Clinton suggested more than once that opening up the debate could backfire , a warning that Democrats shouldn ' t go too far . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past95710270,10271,"England Almost all British troops in Iraq are being pulled out because the agreement that allows them to be there expires on Friday , the British Ministry of Defence said Tuesday . Nearly all of Britain ' s troops in Iraq will have left by the week ' s end . The withdrawal marks the first time since the invasion of Iraq more than six years ago that there will be almost no British troops in the country . The only British troops there will be a group of about a dozen helping to train Iraqi police as part of a mission , the ministry said . "" The small handful of British military personnel operating in Iraq will be withdrawn to Kuwait after Iraq ' s parliament adjourned without passing a deal that would let them stay , "" the spokesman said . Iraq must give its permission for foreign troops to be on its soil . It was a group of Iraqi lawmakers loyal to anti American Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr that prevented parliament from approving a new agreement on British troops . They walked out of parliament as a group on July 11 , depriving the legislature of the minimum number of lawmakers necessary for votes to take place . Parliament is now on summer recess until September 8 . Fawzi Akram , a lawmaker from the Sadr bloc , confirmed that the bloc reject the Iraqi British security agreement . He said that Iraq does not need the British troops and that Iraqi security forces are ready to handle security on their own . Britain hopes the Iraqi parliament will eventually approve the security agreement . "" While this delay is unfortunate , we are continuing to seek a solution with the Iraqi Government that will provide our forces with the sound legal basis they need , "" the ministry said in a written statement . The British troops who are being pulled out include Royal Navy servicemen who have been helping the Iraqis to protect oil fields around the port town of Umm Qasr , according to the Ministry of Defence spokesman . There were about 46 , 000 British troops in and around Iraq at the peak of major combat operations in March and April 2003 , according to the Ministry of Defence . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past95810272,10273,"It took 18 months to develop , costs an eye watering 800 and has been dubbed the world ' s first Methuselah of beer . And now the cheekily named Savour Everything In Moderation , the equivalent of eight wine bottles , has arrived in London . There are only six bottles of the rare Windsor based specialist beer makers Savour Beer in the world and one is on sale at Sourced Market in St Pancras , London . The six litre bottle of sparkling beer was developed by Windsor brewers Savour Beer . There are only six bottles of the beer in the world and one of them has arrived at Sourced Market in St Pancras , London The giant bottle was developed to raise the profile of the Champagne style beer , which is brewed using 100 per cent floor malted British barley , hops and three yeast strains . ' I wanted to raise people ' s expectations and perceptions of beer how it is packaged and how it can be consumed , ' Sandy Kirkpatrick , Founder of Savour Beer told MailOnline Food . ' The idea came from a trip to Belgium back in 2009 , where I fell in love with the respect and passion people had for beer over there . Mr Kirkpatrick hopes the Methuselah will raise Britain ' s admiration for fine brews Brouweij Bosteels DeuS Brut de Flandres : 11 . 5 A Belgian sour beer tasting of malt , citrus and spice . Brouwerij De Landtsheer Malheur Biere Brut : 12 Belgian brew comes through with a fruity flavour with hints of grape before giving way to citrus and spice . Samuel Adams Weihenstephan Infinium : 10 . 3 A malty and sweet German beer that would pair well with apple cider , lime juice or pumpkin bitters for beer cocktails . Cobra Beer Partnership ' s Krait Prestige : 8 English Champagne style lager with a foamy head and bubbles Brouwerij Liefman ' s Cuvee Brut : 6 Red with a pinkish head , this beer has hints of sweet cherry and apple . ' They drink beer like the French drink wine , and I wanted to bring that attitude towards beer to Britain . ' The Methuselah will hopefully raise Britain ' s admiration for fine brews . ' Rich and smooth with hints of caramel and honey on the palate , the 10 . 5 beer is highly effervescent , with an intense finish and subtle spices on the nose . ' I played around with the name for awhile , ' Mr Kirkpatrick said . ' t ' s a little bit tongue in cheek . Everything in moderation , including moderation . ' Ben O ' Brien , Founder of Sourced Market said : We ' re really lucky to be the host of this extraordinary brew . ' In terms of taste and how to consume , this beer will take British beer lovers ' experience to the next level . ' It ' s a mighty beer , and one lucky Briton will soon have the honour of sipping it with their friends Sparking beer is made using the same method as sparkling wine or Champagne . After the initial fermentation , the beer is given a second fermentation in the bottle . The yeast is then removed from the bottle , leaving behind a clear , sparkling liquid , ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present95910282,10283,"A 12 hour stand off with law enforcement involvement took place today at the outpatient pediatric clinic at Texas Children ' s Hospital . In what appears to be a first of sorts in medical news , a first year pediatrics trainee , or intern , refused to return a nose to its rightful 9 year old owner during a medical encounter . Twenty six year old Dr Thomas Degeneres , was evidently not playing around with new patient , Avery Weaver Parker . Degeneres was in the midst of his newly acquired rapport building routine of catching a patient ' s nose with Avery when things went awry . Avery became agitated , screaming and cursing at Degeneres , while single handedly dismantling the examination room . Nurses and clinic staff were called in to subdue the irate child while Degeneres held on tightly to the caught nose and placed it out of reach . Avery ' s mother , Jenni Parker , attempted to intervene by pleading with Degeneres to return the nose but the young physician held firm . Degeneres insisted on keeping it until the child calmed himself down , then reassembled and cleaned the examination room . This did not sit well with Avery who aggressively launched himself towards Degeneres . Law enforcement was then called in to contain the labile confrontation and facilitate negotiations . Degeneres , visibly shaken and still holding the nose , was able to provide a brief interview : "" As medical providers , we must stand by our principles . This child needed to be taught a lesson that no amount of crying , screaming and aggressive behavior will allow him to get what he wants . I may be a new doctor , but I know a few things about what ' s right and what ' s wrong . "" The boy ' s mother was able to comment : "" I don ' t know what they ' re teaching these young fools , these days . Give the boy his freakin ' nose back ! Avery ' s always hated that touchy feely tactic and of course he went ballistic ! He ' s a special sensitive child and home schooled for that very reason . We ' ve kept his life as free of confrontation as possible . He ' s delicate and misunderstood . "" Negotiations between the two sides were mediated by local police and once reason and calm were restored , the nose was relinquished back to Avery . Degeneres has been placed on administrative leave with pay for an undetermined amount of time . Pediatrics residency director , Dr Barry Tison , released a statement that nose catching will now be de emphasized during training in favor of "" the Claw "" and "" Are you ticklish ? "" rapport building techniques . Avery received no punishment from his parents after the incident and will no longer be seeing Degeneres as a patient . No charges will be filed against either party . ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past96010290,10291,"WASHINGTON/ (Reuters) - U.S. cities that refuse to step up efforts to focus on crimes committed by illegal immigrants will not be allowed to participate in a new crime reduction training program unveiled earlier this year by the Justice Department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday. In making the announcement, Sessions singled out four local police departments that had expressed interest in the new Public Safety Partnership Program, saying they first had to answer a list of questions by Aug. 18 confirming they do not have any “sanctuary” policies to shield illegal immigrants from possible deportation by ensuring they will allow federal immigration officials access to local jails. “Cities and states with so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies make all of us less safe,” Sessions said. The four police departments that must respond are Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore, Maryland; and San Bernardino and Stockton, California. “Baltimore is a welcoming city. We do not enforce federal immigration laws,” said Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, adding that when cities were initially selected for the program, there was no formal selection process and that Baltimore does not control the local jail. Jarrod Burguan, the police chief of San Bernardino, said his department first expressed interest in a similar program during the Obama administration, and remains interested in participating. He added San Bernardino is not a “sanctuary” city, it does not control the local jail, and he will answer the department’s questions. Representatives from the other two police departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sessions’ announcement reflects part of a broader policy push by President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration. He has urged Congress to support funding the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the administration has moved to dramatically widen the net of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation. The National Public Safety Partnership is a program launched in June that involves a three-year initiative geared toward areas with high rates of violent crime. Twelve cities were selected when it was first launched. Some municipalities have pushed back against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. A U.S. judge last month refused to remove a block on an executive order by Trump that would have withheld federal funds from sanctuary cities, which do not use municipal funds or resources to help advance the enforcement of federal immigration laws. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Thursday called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop making arrests in courthouses amid concerns it has a chilling effect on local policing and is sweeping up those with low-level misdemeanor cases. Rachael Yong Yow, an spokeswoman, said the agency’s arrests are carried out “on a case-by-case basis.” ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past96110300,10301,"Afghanistan Our travels in Afghanistan continue . I feel like the title of this posting should be "" why I had to get power washed in Afghanistan "" or "" the body armor is only heavy until they start shooting at you . "" , now I will explain . The Marines are living in some of the toughest terrain there is . It is remote and often raining . That means dust turns to mud , and you find yourself covered in it from head to toe . Stinky , cold , wet , oozy mucky mud . The good news is , everybody stinks , so you lose any sense of self consciousness about it . But you do dream of getting power washed . So , yes , after a few days a shower was , shall we say , more than essential . For the Marines , however , it is a seven month tour of duty in mud in the winter and dust in the summer . It seems very grim , especially when compounded by the fact that the Marines are wearing heavy body armor all the time . Ask them if it ' s heavy to wear , the typical answer goes something like , "" It ' s only heavy to wear until the bad guys start shooting at you . Then it ' s . "" The young Marines know exactly how tough the fight they are facing in the coming weeks and months will likely be . Several of them told me security had gotten considerably worse in recent days . Their bases were being repeatedly shelled by insurgents , several roadside bombs had gone off , and local Afghan police had died at the hands of suicide attacks . Senior commanders usually have a more cheery outlook , but here in southern Afghanistan , everyone is cautious . Almost everyone is a veteran of Iraq and learned the tough lesson there about not declaring victory too soon . Even Conway , who commanded U . S . forces in Fallujah , picks his words very carefully . He tells me he believes that everyone must be ready for a spike in U . S . casualties as the Marines begin to move into the region in greater numbers this spring . All of this was rattling around in my head when I saw the Marines riding around in what they call "" a 7 ton truck . "" As the name suggests , it ' s huge and has some armor plating on the sides . But what it doesn ' t make clear is that the truck is open in the back and sides . The Marines insist it is a safe way to transport troops . For years now , the Army has used fully armored vehicles only in the combat zone . The Marines have a somewhat different view . They believe heavy armor isn ' t everything sometimes being able to get around on the battlefield faster is better . But then again , when someone starts shooting at you , I think you want all the armor you can get . Next stop , Iraq . Yeah , there is still a war there , too . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past96210302,10303,"The two reporters and two editors were suspended even as most of the online reports had corrected the mistake December 7 , 2015 Last Updated at 18 : 32 Copy tiny to save and share articles . Xi Jinping , left , stands with from left , former Chinese President Jian Zemin , former Chinese President Hu Jintao and China ' s Premier Li Keqiang during a parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan ' s surrender during World War . Photo : Communist Party rejig seen as Xi power move Chinese economy facing some problems but functioning well : Xi With long handshake , China and Taiwan affirm better ties Deepak Lal : China ' s cloudy future Why China ' s leadership has lost considerable credibility Four journalists of an official Chinese news agency have been suspended after committing a typographical error which suggested President Xi Jinping was resigning , a media report said today . The two reporters and two editors of China News Service an official service that has a status similar to that of Xinhua were suspended after referring to President Xi Jinping ' s "" speech "" ( zhi ci ) at the China Africa summit in Johannesburg last week as his "" resignation "" ( ci zhi ) . The four journalists were suspended even as most of the online reports had corrected the mistake . The original version of a report filed on Friday by the China News Service referred to Xi saying in his "" resignation "" that China and Africa had a shared destiny in their histories , Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported . Some news websites failed to notice the mistake and published the report with the error . But by yesterday most of the online reports had corrected the mistake , it said . Communist Party ' s propaganda department has made it mandatory that major news reports , especially stories involving state leaders , are always published using official news agency reports . The Hong Kong based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said the journalists had been suspended because of the mistake involving Xi , who is also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China and the Commander in Chief of the People ' s Liberation Army . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past96310305,10306,"The husband of a pregnant Texas woman who he says has been brain dead for seven weeks asked a court Tuesday to force a hospital to take her off a respirator , ventilator and other machines , saying her wishes shouldn ' t be disregarded just because she is pregnant . Erick Munoz filed an emergency motion as well as a complaint against John Peter Smith Hospital , both with the same goal : to have the hospital disconnect the machines so that her family can take her body and give her a proper burial . "" Marlise Munoz is legally dead , and to further conduct surgical procedures on a deceased body is nothing short of outrageous , "" her husband contends in the motion . Notably , officials at the Fort Worth , Texas , hospital where 33 year old Marlise Munoz is have not publicly declared her dead ( though they have not disputed her husband ' s assertions either ) . Erick Munoz like his wife , a paramedic by training said the doctors told him Marlise "" had lost all activity in her brain stem , "" and an accompanying chart stated she was "" brain dead , "" according to his lawsuit . The hospital referred requests for comment to the Tarrant County district attorney ' s office , which said it will defend the medical facility against the lawsuit . It is legal counsel for John Peter Smith Hospital "" in a number of civil areas . "" Noting it first learned of the legal action just before noon Tuesday , the office said it "" will file a response in due course "" but won ' t have any further comment now "" because litigation is pending . "" Hospital spokesman J . R . Labbe said last month that doctors were simply trying to obey a Texas law that states that "" you cannot withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient . "" Munoz ' s husband responds by saying that "" Marlise cannot possibly be a pregnant patient Marlise is dead . "" Furthermore , he argued that her wishes relayed , he said , in conversations but not in writing that she not be on "" life sustaining "" measures when she is brain dead shouldn ' t be treated differently than a man or other woman simply because of her pregnancy . Mom of pregnant woman on life support : Change the law "" Marlise has a fundamental right to make medical decisions regarding her own body , "" her husband contended in the motion . "" . . . To take those rights away from Marlise , and force her to be subject to various medical procedures simply because she is pregnant , is a gross violation of her constitutional right . "" As the lawsuit details , the story began at 2 a . m . on November 26 , when Erick found his wife unconscious on the kitchen floor . At the time , she was 14 weeks ' pregnant with the couple ' s second child . Soon after that , she was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital , where Erick Munoz claims he was told his wife "" was for all purposes brain dead . "" The family also says the fetus may have been deprived of oxygen . In the lawsuit , he claims subsequent measures taken at the hospital and , in turn , the state law used to justify them amount "" to nothing more than the cruel and obscene mutilation of a deceased body against the expressed will of the deceased and her family . "" "" Marlise Munoz ' s death is a horrible and tragic circumstance , but by no means should ( the hospital ) be entitled to continue cutting into her deceased body in front of her husband and family under the guise of ' life sustaining ' treatment , "" according to the lawsuit . Tom Mayo , a Southern Methodist University law professor who helped write the applicable Texas law , said he believes the hospital is misinterpreting it . "" She ' s not a patient anymore , "" Mayo said . "" And so I don ' t see how we can use a provision of the law that talks about treating or not treating a patient in a case where we really don ' t have a patient . "" "" When you have these murky areas , you have to go to court , because courts provide clarity , courts provide direction , "" Hostin said . "" And that ' s why I think the lawsuit is the right thing . . . to jump to the conclusion . "" When ' life support ' is really ' death support ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past96410313,10314,"Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong tweeted Thursday that he ' s handed over the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Summer Games , adding that it should be at International Olympic Committee headquarters in Switzerland "" asap . "" Earlier this year , the committee stripped Armstrong of the medal he won in Sydney and asked him to return it . Armstrong after years of heated denials in January admitted to doping throughout his storied career , which included seven Tour de France wins . Armstrong ' s tweet Thursday included a photo of the medal and said "" the 2000 bronze is back in possession "" of U . S . Olympic officials . Mark Higgins , a key member of Armstrong ' s camp , did not elaborate on how or why the medal was turned over , beyond saying it was given to the U . S . Olympic Committee . A spokesman for that committee , Patrick Sandusky , confirmed that it has the bronze medal it asked for and added , "" The has made arrangements to return the medal to the . "" The Texas born Armstrong was a rising star when he was diagnosed in 1996 with testicular cancer at the age of 25 . After getting treatment , he returned better than ever reeling off his consecutive string of Tour de France victories between 1999 and 2005 . Armstrong left the sport after his last win , only to come back four years later and place third in cycling ' s most prestigious race . His historic rise came at a time when cycling , generally , was mired in repeated doping scandals . Armstrong himself was not immune to such accusations , but each time he fired back at his critics and vehemently insisted he ' d been clean . Yet the tide began to turn against Armstrong in June 2012 , when the U . S . Anti Doping Agency said it had opened proceedings against him and five of his former teammates . The agency , which is designated by Congress as the country ' s official anti doping organization for Olympic sports , announced two months later that it was stripping Armstrong of his Tour de France titles and barring him from future competitions for life . Armstrong remained defiant until sitting down with Oprah Winfrey last January . Calling himself "" deeply flawed , "" Armstrong admitted that he ' d used an array of performance enhancing drugs and took blood transfusions to excel in the highly competitive , scandal ridden world of professional cycling . Armstrong admits using performance enhancing drugs "" This is too late , it ' s too late for probably most people . And that ' s my fault , "" he said . "" ( This was ) one big lie , that I repeated a lot of times . "" The asked for Armstrong ' s Olympic medal back the same day the first part of the Winfrey interview aired . Fast facts : Performance Enhancing Drugs in sports ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past96510320,10321,"David Bowie and Tina Turner perform on stage at the Birmingham . ( Photo by Dave Hogan Getty Images ) . . . E Lou Reed ( L ) and David Bowie ( R ) attend the opening of Lou Reed photography exhibit at the Gallery at Hermes on January 19 , 2006 in New York City . David Bowie at the Kings Hall . 3 12 1995 . Pic Belfast Telegraph archives 1973 . . . Mandatory Credit : Photo by Rex Features ( 50392a ) 1973 Paul Trynka wrote Starman : David Bowie The Definitive Biography David Bowie Is . . . Victoria And Albert Museum undated handout photo of striped bodysuit designed by Kansai Yamamoto for Aladdin Sane tour ( 1973 ) , part of first museum David Bowie retrospective . Photo . Issue date : Tuesday September 4 , 2012 . The show , David Bowie Is , opens next spring and will feature Bowie ' s own instruments , sketches , musical scores , diary entries and album artwork . See story Bowie . Photo credit should read : V A Wire : This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events , things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption . Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder . . . . a David Bowie with Belfast Telegraph reporter Marie Foy in Belfast on the 6th December 1995 . Pic Belfast Telegraph archives Photo of David Bowie . . . 1970 : Photo of David Bowie Photo by Michael Ochs Archives Getty Images . . . E David Bowie at the King ' s Hall , Belfast in December 1995 . Pic Belfast Telegraph archives David Bowie concert at Slane 12 7 1987 Scanned from the Independent archive box 21 Turner And Bowie . . . American pop and soul singer Tina Turner with English singer songwriter David Bowie , 1985 . ( Photo by Dave Hogan Hulton Archive Getty Images ) . . . Ent David Bowie 4 . . . Singer David Bowie performs live in concert as part of The Reality Tour at Wembley Arena in London Tuesday 25 November 2003 . Photo : Andy Butterton . . . A . . . British singer David Bowie performs during the first concert of his tour in Manchester , November 17 , 2003 . Ian Hodgson . . . E David Bowie live at the Point last night . Photo : Tony Gavin 22 11 03 David Bowie live at the Point last night . Photo : Tony Gavin 22 11 03 . . . British singer David Bowie performs in a concert during his worldwide tour called "" A Reality Tour "" at T mobile arena in Prague , June 23 , 2004 . David W Cerny . . . E David Bowie pix for Eamon Carr piece ( See attached file : David 1 . jpg ) ( See attached file : David 2 . jpg ) Eithne Mooney Press Promotions Sony Music Ireland Embassy House Ballsbridge Dublin 4 Direct line : 353 1 6473404 Fax : 353 1 6473430 Email : eithne mooney ie . sonymusicweblink www . sonymusic . ie . . . British rock legend David Bowie smiles during a press conference in Tokyo Monday , March 8 , 2004 . The 57 year old singer songwriter is in Japan as part of his world tour for the first time in about eight years . ( Photo Koji Sasahara ) . . . I Bowie In Concert . . . British singer David Bowie in concert , 1983 . ( Photo by Dave Hogan Hulton Archive Getty Images ) . . . Ent Bowie The Elephant . . . October 1980 : Rock singer David Bowie takes a break from his current project playing the title role in a broadway play based on the life of John Merrick , the hideously deformed ' Elephant Man ' . Bowie uses mime to convey the character ' s deformity , rather than relying on elaborate make up . The play has opened to critical acclaim , with Bowie ' s performance in particular receiving praise . ( Photo by Keystone Features Getty Images ) . . . I . . . LON15D : , 9OCT99 David Bowie performs at NetAid at Wembley Stadium , October 9 . NetAid is putting on concerts simultaneously in New York , Geneva and London and aims to persuade countries to drop Third World debt . as Photo by Paul Hackett . . . I ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past96610342,10343,""" Ride ' em cowboy "" types need not apply . Rather , the ideal candidate for this part time position must be flexible , mature , a good listener and non confrontational . Experience , however , is not necessary . ( That might be because so few people would have that kind of experience . ) The state of Florida is advertising for crocodile response agents to handle complaints from residents and , in the relatively rare event it is necessary , to capture and move crocs . Training will be provided . The addition of more agents comes amid the encouraging rebound of the American crocodile in Florida an estimated 2 , 000 non hatchlings , up from about 300 in the mid 1970s and the accompanying rise in complaint calls . "" ( The crocodile ) is moving back into places where they have not been seen in decades , "" said Lindsey Hord , crocodile response coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission . "" That is obviously resulting in conflict . "" While the vast majority of the crocs are in Everglades National Park , many live in the Florida Keys and along the Atlantic Ocean in Miami Dade and Broward Counties . The program currently has nine agents who serve as "" eyes and ears "" on the crocodile population , responding to calls and patiently listening to residents unhappy with what they consider reptilian encroachment . The job pays 25 an hour , including vehicle expenses . "" It is not something you do for the money , "" said Hord , adding the hiring process weeds out those who do not live close to where the work will take them . Often , the role of the team is to educate residents about not dangling incentives in front of crocodiles , such as having an unfenced dog near water or dumping yummy fish remains into a canal after a day of fishing . Crocs hunt with sticks , researchers say Peaceful co existence is the aim And while some creatures are moved about eight or so out of an estimated 200 complaints in 2013 most remain because they do not meet the criteria for removal . Those that are relocated often return to their capture site . It is unlawful to kill crocodiles in Florida . Hord notes the creatures listed as threatened in Florida are increasingly returning to their historic ranges . The commission describes crocodiles as shy and reclusive but potentially dangerous . Their increasing presence can be a problem when they come close to residents , including newcomers . "" It is the agency ' s hope that people will co exist with crocodiles , "" said Hord . "" We have no objective to unilaterally remove crocodiles from anywhere . We strictly react to complaints . We don ' t go out looking for crocodiles , "" he said . Hord spoke Wednesday with a woman who just rented a home in Broward County . She has small children and a dog . "" She was just now aware there were crocodiles . She was not overly upset but concerned . "" The coordinator told her there are no documented reports of crocodiles biting humans . A bigger danger is swimming pool safety for her children . Regarding the pooch , it might be good to have a fence to keep the crocodiles and alligators which number about 1 . 3 million in Florida away . "" It is about putting things into context , "" Hord said . ' They . . . sense we are something different ' Calls and complaints generally rise after a dog is killed by a crocodile , such as last year in southeast Miami . Wildlife officials encourage homeowners not to swim in potential danger zones , or allow their dogs in the water . "" Sometimes , it is hard for people to change , "" Hord said , pointing out Key residents accustomed to swimming and scuba diving just yards from their homes . "" It is not going to go back the way it was 30 years ago . "" In certain areas , if a complaint comes in and the crocodile is 9 feet long or over , hangs around an area or ends up in a swimming pool , officials move it . On its third capture , an animal will be removed from the wild and placed in a conservation park or similar facility . Biologists have been studying whether magnets will keep crocs from returning to areas where they are not welcome . The idea is that the magnets will disrupt their sense of the Earth ' s magnetic field , making it harder for them to orient themselves after their release . Results so far are mixed . Crocs , Hord said , have keen eyesight and hearing . "" They can learn very quickly to be habituated to people . They learn very quickly that people are not a threat to them if they are not . "" Interestingly , when it ' s time for a capture , the reptiles often are wary . "" They seem to be able to sense we are something different , "" Hord said . "" Then they disappear . "" After 32 years of this type of work , Hord has fond feelings and memories for certain crocodiles . "" A lot of us were very attached , "" to one tagged Blue No . 9 that was shot and killed last year in Islamorada . She had been moved once after laying 27 eggs that failed to produce viable offspring . A memorial service was held on the beach . Florida tackles python problem with hunting contest Final take in Florida snake hunt ? 68 pythons ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past96710359,10360,A watch video!weblink,fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present96810376,10377,"The jet landed safely , and holidaymakers to the Red Sea resort were not told they had been seconds from disaster . The revelation comes amid a report by France 2 that the sound of an explosion can be distinctly heard during the flight according to an investigator who had access to the black box of the Metrojet plane that crashed in the Sinai . France s accident investigation agency said it could not confirm the France 2 report . But if it s true the report further supports the belief that there was a bomb on board the flight . The agency has experts now in Egypt investigating the crash because the Metrojet Airbus A321 200 was made in France . Dismayed . . . Egypt ' s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail looks at the remains of a Russian airliSource : Supplied The Department for Transport confirmed the Thomson incident took place on August 23 but said it did not believe the missile was an attempt to target the British plane , instead ascribing the missile seen by the Thomson pilots to Egyptian military manoeuvres , The Guardian reports . A source quoted in The Daily Mail said : The first officer was in charge at the time but the pilot was in the cockpit and saw the rocket coming towards the plane . He ordered that the flight turn to the left to avoid the rocket , which was about 1000ft away . Meanwhile , President Vladimir Putin agreed to suspend all Russian flights to Egypt after a recommendation by his chief of intelligence . An official said pieces of wreckage from the plane had been brought to Moscow to test for possible traces of explosives . The suspension came after several days of statements by British and American officials that it was possible a bomb on board had brought down the Russia carrier Metrojet s Airbus A321 200 , which crashed 23 minutes after takeoff from the Sinai resort of Sharm el Sheikh , killing all 224 people on board . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past96910378,10379,"Disability campaigners yesterday demanded new laws for wheelchair users after judges ruled they have no legal priority to use reserved areas on a bus . Appeal judges said that a mother with a baby buggy was within her rights to occupy a bus wheelchair bay , leading to a disabled passenger being left behind at the stop . The state funded Equality and Human Rights Commission , which had brought the case of disabled passenger Doug Paulley to court , said : ' This judgment means a wheelchair user has no effective legal rights if unable to gain access to a bus because a traveller blocks the designated wheelchair space . ' Bus companies do not have to force parents with pushchairs to make way for wheelchair users on buses , the Court of Appeal has ruled . It comes after an appeal by operator First Group , which had been ordered to pay 5 , 500 damages to wheelchair user Doug Paulley ( pictured ) Mr Paulley was denied access to a bus in February 2012 after a woman with a sleeping baby refused to move Its disability commissioner Chris Holmes added : ' The Commission will study the judgments before deciding whether to support an appeal for legislative changes to make sure disabled people can use bus travel . ' The case came after Mr Paulley was told he could not board a bus after a woman refused to move her buggy and make room . A judge at Leeds County Court ruled the bus company , FirstGroup , was in breach of its duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people , and awarded 5 , 500 damages to Mr Paulley . But this decision suggested the needs of wheelchair users ' trumped all other considerations ' , one of the appeal judges said yesterday . Lord Justice Lewison , sitting with Lady Justice Arden and Lord Justice Underhill , said there was no law which says bus companies must force selfish passengers to make space for a wheelchair . Instead , they ruled that the ' proper remedy ' for wheelchair users to get improvements in such cases is to ask Parliament . But Lady Justice Arden , sitting with Lord Justice Lewison and Lord Justice Underhill at the Court of Appeal ( pictured ) , unanimously allowed an appeal by First Group Common decency meant other passengers should move from the wheelchair space ' if that was possible ' , or drivers should instead ' persuade ' passengers to do the right thing . But , in law , the needs of wheelchair users did not ' trump all other considerations ' . Lord Justice Lewison said : ' The judge seems to me to have thought that the needs of wheelchair users trumped all other considerations . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past97010380,10381,"One thing fans of the series "" Veronica Mars "" sometimes called "" marshmallows "" hope to see in the movie "" Veronica Mars "" is a resolution to the ongoing debate : Team Logan or Team Piz ? When last we left the young detective , it seemed Veronica had finally settled down with Piz something that still seems to be the case in the trailer for the movie , which was funded entirely by legions of devoted fans . "" We give it some resolution in the film , but playing it back and forth is what makes the drama in the show . "" Logan was never supposed to be coupled with Veronica originally , show creator Rob Thomas revealed at the PaleyFest panel . But he grew on the writers when they saw Dohring ' s chemistry with star Kristen Bell . "" I think Kristen is amazing , and when she smiles at me I kind of go , ' holy s what do I do ? ' I smile back , and it just comes right back . "" Meanwhile , Chris Lowell offered "" Team Piz "" fans this hint about his character ' s chances of being the one to end up with Veronica . "" I think Rob likes to not put a period on the end of every sentence when he finishes something , "" he said . "" The show ended on a cliffhanger note . I believe in a way he did a similar thing here . "" Thomas said the resolution might still be debated in fan circles even after they see the movie . "" I think that fans will understand why Veronica makes the decisions she makes , "" he said . "" It ' s a fun predicament to put Veronica in will she go with her good sense or her passions ? "" One thing Thomas did make clear is that he made the final call on how things ended up . Five ways the show made its mark on "" It was not up for a vote . Certainly I had a way I wanted it to go and that ' s how it went , but we ' ll let the fans decide if they ' re happy with how it ended up . "" Of course , none of this would have been possible without the crowdfunding from Kickstarter , which gave the movie its budget of well over 5 million . "" It ' s been a roller coaster ride for me in terms of hope , "" he said . "" There were moments where I felt optimistic and bullish about our chances , and others where I felt so low , I thought it wouldn ' t happen . Kristen Bell has this confidence and optimism that kept it going . It was like a mini miracle when it came together . "" "" The next few weeks will tell . If the movie makes money then I think there ' s an opportunity for more movies like ours to be made , "" he said . "" If we find this model that can support 5 or 10 million , I think Warner Bros . would be thrilled , and I ' d be proud if we got more 5 to 10 million movies based on existing series or properties because of this . "" So might we get more "" Veronica Mars "" after this ? There ' s already a Web series based on Ryan Hansen ' s character Dick Casablancas set to shoot in July . Thomas told the fans at PaleyFest that the idea of a Netflix or Amazon season of "" Veronica Mars "" excites him to no end . "" I would love to be able to do the R rated version of ' Veronica Mars . ' I would love to tell some darker stories . "" In the meantime , fans can hope that Thomas ' adaptation of the comic book "" iZombie "" starring Rose McIver ( "" Once Upon a Time , "" "" Masters of Sex "" ) gets picked up by the . "" I think we jump off the comic book storylines quite a bit , but we keep the basic idea that our young female zombies have to eat brains to survive , and she gets the memories of the people whose brains she ' s consuming . "" Well , we can see one big difference right away . So not just "" Veronica Mars "" fans but clearly , "" Walking Dead "" fans might want to check it out , as well . 11 reasons we love Kristen Bell ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past97110389,10390,"It s been a bumpy ride for United Airlines, but this one really stings.A passenger was traveling on board Flight 1418 from Calgary to Houston when he was stung by a scorpion, News correspondent Kris Van Kleave confirmed.The scorpion fell onto Richard Bell s head and stung him underneath his fingernail. We were on the plane about an hour, having dinner, and then something fell on my head, so I grabbed it. I was hanging onto it, Bell said in a Skype interview. It was lucky that it hit my nail more than my skin I think, so maybe my thumbnail saved me a little bit. United apologized and offered Bell and his wife a credit for a future flight.As a precaution, crews also checked the airplane for a possible infestation. Our crew immediately consulted with a MedLink physician on the ground who provided guidance throughout the incident and assured our crew that it was not a life-threatening matter. Medical personnel met the aircraft after it arrived in Calgary, United said in a statement. NewsSadly, this scary incident took place the same day that a passenger was filmed as he was being dragged off a United flight from Chicago to Louisville by the airport police. United took a huge hit after the video was seen by millions. ",fake,dataset,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past97210396,10397,"N . Y . A goldfish belonging to Hillary Clinton was found dead on Aug . 7 , just one week after Victor Thorn , a prominent anti Clinton biographer best known for his investigative trilogy exposing Clinton scandals , died of "" an apparent suicide . "" The death of the goldfish , named Monty , adds to the latest in a series of mysterious deaths surrounding the Clintons . Monty was reportedly given to Hillary as a good luck charm by a Monsanto executive . Clinton ' s spokesperson attributed Monty ' s demise to "" natural causes . "" New accounts , however , offer evidence of a sudden , fatal spike in chlorine levels within the goldfish ' s tank . One source says Monty jumped to his death and was found on an Oriental rug . A conflicting account says he was found floating in his tank by a housekeeper . For years , conspiracy theorists have tried to pin a series of peculiar deaths on the former first couple . Clinton and her surrogates have long called these accusations part of "" a vast , right wing conspiracy . "" Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets , accusing Clinton of neglect , charging that her "" terrible , horrible , caretaking shows how she will run the country . Suicides within the fish world apparently occur often , according to Arkansas ichthyologist Dr Althea Thoone . "" There are many ways goldfish can kill themselves , "" says Thoone . "" Overeating is one method of ichicide . Just as humans react to stress by binge eating and other compulsive behaviors , so do fish . "" When asked if emotional turmoil , resulting from witnessing traumatic events , could be a suicide trigger , Thoone demurred , saying , "" Well , that ' s one school of thought . "" Victor Thorn ' s latest book on the Clintons , Crowning Hillary , Why Hillary Shouldn ' t Be In The White House , examines the Benghazi incident , the e mail scandal , and former President Bill Clinton ' s sexual indignities and the resulting cover ups . Monty ' s latest activity was adapting to his new home . A larger tank reportedly paid for with taxpayer funds was recently installed to better accommodate the pet goldfish . One late tweet from Donald Trump , guaranteed to scale up the focus on past scandals , debunks the accidental chlorine spike theory . ",satire,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past97310400,10401,"Hayne travelled home to the Bay Area on a commericial flight and now waits to find out where his future lies . Rival teams have until 8am tomorrow ( ) to sign the Australian , otherwise he is likely to stay in San Francisco . The Dallas Cowboys are expected to discuss signing Hayne , according to team reporter Bryan Broaddus . Hayne had eight carries for 54 yards and returned three punts for 84 yards against the Cowboys in preseason . Dallas has been plagued by problems on special teams recently . Some of you have asked about Hayne in . Was told that likely to have some discussions about him Monday . Hayne s Australian agent Wayne Beavis has insisted his client has no plans to return to the . There s no chance of him coming back , none at all , Beavis told . He is 100 per cent committed to what he is doing over there . San Francisco coach Jim Tomsula gave his first comments about the decision to cut Hayne in his post match press conference , explaining it was because of a desire to get a heavier back in his gameday squad . Jarryd Hayne has done everything we asked him to do , Tomsula said . I made the decision to bring up a power back for the game today . We only have 53 spots and I made that decision . As for the struggles in the running game , Tomsula said : We weren t blocking and we weren t running , we weren t getting it done . Gaskins , who was elevated from the practice squad yesterday after Hayne was cut , endured a rough start to his first game in the . He attempted his first carry in the first quarter but slipped after receiving the hand off and was tackled for a two yard loss . This will not play well in Australia : Gaskins stopped for a two yard loss on his first carry . Bush started at punt returner for the 49ers but on his second return was pushed out of bounds and slipped and injured his knee . Reggie Bush injured after slipping and falling in St . Louis : pic . twitterweblink 8yfBLROXB1 The bloopers continued for the 49ers when Davis was tackled in the end zone for a safety . In the first quarter , the 49ers running backs had a combined seven carries for a net total of 3 yards . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present97410401,10402,"Camera Catches Hillary’s Sick Hidden Message To Christian Voters Posted on October 27, 2016 by Prissy Holly in Politics Share This Democrats are constantly attacking Christianity while making their disdain for anything holy abundantly clear. Evidence of their godless agenda was on full display during the Democratic National convention, when they removed all references to God. It should come as no surprise what Hillary was caught doing at a campaign event, which clearly solidifies the true evil nature of the Democratic Party. Like it or not, our country was founded on Christian principles. “In God we trust” is not only printed on all of our currency, but references to God are throughout the Constitution, as our Founding Fathers intertwined their faith with our founding documents. Liberals loathe this fact, and many have made it their life mission to erase God from everything in our country, as evidenced by their constant barrage on our faith. At a Democratic presidential rally in May, one of Hillary’s little evil minions took the stage to introduce Hillary to the crowd. But when the unnamed woman began using lines of our Pledge of Allegiance to weave with her pro-Hillary rhetoric, she decided to omit two little words, as a blatant slap in the face to God. âOnly Hillary can bring us together as one nation⌠Und⌠Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,â the woman said, while partially quoting the Pledge of Allegiance. This demented woman intentionally removed “under God” from our nation’s pledge, but how Hillary reacted was even more disturbing, as she immediately begins to nod and smile in agreement of this woman’s omission. Watch her choke on ""Under God""&""indivisible"" — NEEDYđLatina4Trump (@tteegar) October 25, 2016 How sickening. Liberals will not be fully satisfied until they completely destroy our country with their vile agenda. If Hillary gets elected, we’ll soon have the most godless and corrupt person on the planet driving our country even further down the path of darkness and destruction. At this point in our nation’s history, it’s imperative that we don’t just sit idly by and allow these things to go on. We have to get loud and aggressively fight back when we see darkness slipping in, whether that be at our children’s schools, in our government, or in our presidential candidates.",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past97510418,10419,"Glasgow , Scotland The Roman Catholic Church has not been vigilant enough or fast enough in responding to the problem of sexual abuse by priests , Pope Benedict said Thursday . "" These revelations were for me a shock and a great sadness . It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly ministry was possible , "" he told reporters aboard his plane to Scotland . "" How a man who has done this and said this can fall into this perversion is difficult to understand . "" He added , "" It is also a great sadness that the authorities of the church were not sufficiently vigilant and insufficiently quick and decisive in taking the necessary measures . "" Critics of the church were quick to pounce on the pope ' s remarks . "" It ' s disingenuous to say church officials have been slow and insufficiently vigilant in dealing with clergy sex crimes and cover ups . On the contrary , they ' ve been prompt and vigilant , but in concealing , not preventing , these horrors , "" said Joelle Casteix of , the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests . Another campaigner took aim at the pontiff personally . "" The pope affects the stance of a shocked bystander , when in fact he has been for decades the church ' s central handler of sex abuse cases , "" said Terence McKiernan of BishopAccountability , a group that tracks reports of abuse by priests . The pope made the comments as he arrived for a historic four day state visit to Britain , where the issue of abuse , and the Vatican ' s perceived lack of response to it , has created anger . But there was a warm welcome for him on a cold afternoon in Glasgow , Scotland , for the first major mass of his visit . Tens of thousands turned out to hear him preach , with members of the faithful describing it as a "" happy day "" and calling it a "" great honor "" that he had come . Benedict elaborated in Glasgow on what ' s expected to be a major theme of his visit , the value of religion in a society that he sees as increasingly secular . "" There are some who now seek to exclude religious belief from public discourse , to privatize it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty , "" he said in his homily . "" Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect . "" He also urged bishops to look after their priests possibly an oblique reference to the sex abuse scandal and warned young people against the temptations of "" drugs , money , sex , pornography , alcohol which the world tells you will bring you happiness , yet these things are destructive and divisive . "" Benedict started his visit in Edinburgh , where he held a meeting with the queen and greeted thousands who turned out to see him on the streets of the Scottish city . Queen Elizabeth shook hands with the pope at her Scottish residence near Edinburgh , the Palace of Holyroodhouse , before they sat down for a private meeting . A military marching band played the national anthem God Save the Queen , for which the pope removed his white cap . The pope used relatively strong language in a speech delivered after the meeting , reflecting on the "" sobering lessons of the atheist extremism "" of the 20th century . He reminded the media of its "" greater responsibility than most "" to promote peace and the spread of human rights , and he reminded the country of its "" deep Christian roots "" that he said are still present in "" every layer "" of British life . "" Today , the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society , "" the pope said . "" In this challenging enterprise , may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate . Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms . "" Those comments , too , resulted in "" disappointment "" from the British Humanist Association , which said the notion that atheism "" somehow fuels intolerance in Britain today is a terrible libel against those who do not believe in God . "" The National Secular Society said British secularism "" is not something to criticize , but to celebrate . "" "" We have rejected dogmatic religion devoid of compassion , "" the group said in a statement . "" In its place we have embraced and included gay people and given them the right to full equality , given women the right to control their own fertility , given scientists a free hand to seek cures for horrific diseases by the use of stem cell research . "" Though a pope has visited Britain once before Pope John Paul in 1982 this is considered the first state visit by a pope to Britain because it comes at the invitation of the queen , not the Catholic Church , as was the case 28 years ago . Benedict ' s September 16 19 trip is scheduled to include meetings with political leaders , royalty , and bridge building events with Anglican Church officials . It will culminate in the beatification of British Cardinal John Henry Newman , a Catholic convert who died in 1890 and is credited with helping rebuild Britain ' s Catholic community . Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Taylor , of Scotland ' s Strathclyde Police , said earlier this week that she estimated only 65 , 000 pilgrims would attend the Mass there , short of an initially anticipated 100 , 000 . There has already been widespread outcry over the estimated 12 million pounds ( 18 . 7 million ) British taxpayers are having to pay for the visit , though Christopher Patten , the prime minister ' s representative for the papal visit , has pointed out that one day of last year ' s G 20 summit in London cost 20 million pounds . Criticism has also focused on the armed police squads needed to protect a religious figurehead previously targeted by attackers . Along with anger about the Vatican ' s response to child and sexual abuse , there is criticism over the pope being granted a state visit , given the Catholic Church ' s attitudes towards gender equality and homosexuality . Catholic leaders and government officials have defended the trip , with Prime Minister David Cameron saying Britain and the Vatican have "" incredibly important work to do together "" in promoting a "" multi faith dialogue . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past97610428,10429,"Google , Railtel to launch public WiFi in Mumbai s station today Google in partnership with the Railways telecom wing , RailTel will launch the first public WiFi service at the Mumbai Central railway station as the joint partnership kicks of its project of providing free WiFi across 400 stations in the country ( File Photo ) Google in partnership with the Railways telecom wing , RailTel will launch the first public WiFi service at the Mumbai Central railway station as the joint partnership kicks of its project of providing free WiFi across 400 stations in the country on Friday . Google had earlier said that the WiFi service will be free and consequently there would be a reduction of speed over continuous usage so as to give equal opportunities to all people accessing the WiFi at the station . The first hour will be free and then we will limit the speeds so as to give fair access to other passengers , Gulzar Azad , head of Access Programs in India , had said , indicating that users would not be charged for internet usage . Later , railway ministry sources revealed that only the first hour of internet surfing will be free and after that every user will be charged somewhere between Rs . 25 to Rs . 30 per hour . A similar model of WiFi usage is in effect across major airports in the country , where users are allowed 30 minutes to an hour of free internet , followed by a pay wall . In December , India born Pichai had accompanied Google s nine international vice presidents with the firm explaining in detail the deployment of the scheme , its speeds , coverage area and how it would work for all passengers . We are looking at finishing 100 stations by the end of this year with incremental progress every quarter , Sundar Pichai , the of Google , had said during his keynote address . Indian Railways in the last week of September had announced it had laid out more than 45 , 000 km of optic fiber network across the country and would be partnering with Google to set up a high speed Wi Fi network at 400 stations . The free Wi Fi will work on the back of fiber already deployed by RailTel and will provide station wide access instead of closing it down to a particular point , Marian Croak , vice president , access strategy and emerging markets , had told . She had also said that the highly reliable and hi speed internet will be open and will allow users to do anything which includes watching videos seamlessly . Google had also clarified the speed of the internet will be higher than average internet speeds accessible in the country . The average internet speed in the country was recently revised from 512 Kbps to 2 Mbps after the new government came into power . As details of the proposed plan still remain hazy , some clarity on recharging , payment gateways and validity might come to fore on Friday as Google makes the announcement some time around 2 pm in the afternoon . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present97710433,10434,"The aunt of Kim Jong un has been credited with being the driving force behind the rise of the Supreme Leader of North Korea . Kim Kyong hui , who is often the only female face on official photographs of ranks of generals and party leaders , has been tasked with transforming her nephew into a figurehead with a reputation for strong military tactics who is able to handle an international crisis . Miss Kim , who has been a key figure in the family for four decades , and her husband Jang Sung taek , were chosen by Kim Jong il to pull the strings behind the consolidation of his son ' s authority before the old leader died in 2011 , The Telegraph has reported . Kim Kyong hui ( pictured on an escalator in a Pyongyang supermarket with a group including Kim Jong un and her husband Jang Song taek ) has been described as the driving force behind the Supreme Leader ' s rise to power Kim Kyong hui ( centre ) has been a key figure in the family , which rules the country , for four decades The pair , who are both 66 , were seen on either side of Kim Jong un at a central committee session of the Workers ' Party last weekend , where their nephew pledged to maintain nuclear weapons as ' the nation ' s life treasure ' . The following week saw escalating tensions as Mr Kim threatened the and South Korea . Miss Kim , daughter of the Eternal President of Kim Il sung , who oversaw the inception of North Korea in 1948 , is the director of the party ' s Organisation and Guidance Department . She is also the sister of the country ' s second leader and now aunt of its third . Her husband , meanwhile , is vice chairman of the National Defence Commission . He is also the regime ' s key link with China . According to The Telegraph however , their main role is to help defend the dynasty by pushing the young leader ' s image as a powerful military figure . There are apparently concerns he is not trusted by some of his generals . The pair were seen on either side of Kim Jong un at a central committee session of the Workers ' Party last weekend While she disappeared from public view for six years after 2003 , she re emerged to a more powerful role , being made a four star general in 2010 . She also owns the only burger restaurant in Pyongyang , where the menu offers ' minced meat and bread ' rather than using the American word ' burger ' . Meanwhile , the third member of the group guiding Mr Kim is Choe Ryong hae , according to the paper , a party bureaucrat who was appointed head of the military . To increase fear in the Korean Peninsula , Pyongyang released footage of Kim Jong un joining in with some target practice during a military drill Kim Jong un watching a rocket launched small aircraft blowing up in the sky after being intercepted by anti aircraft missiles ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past97810436,10437,"Ben Morgan insists England have to be ready to put their bodies on the line against the South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday , but warns muscle alone will not be enough to underpin a first victory of the autumn . The Springboks have been described as ' the big green machine ' by England attacking coach Mike Catt , while prop Joe Marler assessed the challenge awaiting in the second International by stating ' their is run hard and if that doesn ' t work then run harder ' . ' We know South Africa are a big , physical team who like to use route one , so we have to use our smarts to move them around and create mismatches , ' the Gloucester No 8 said . Ben Morgan throws a pass at England training as Stuart Lancaster ' s side prepare for South Africa The No 8 says England are ready to take on the Springboks ' massive forward pack ' We want to get South Africa running around the field chasing us . If we can do that and take our opportunities , we ' ll come out on top . ' If we carry into narrow channels then that ' s exactly what they ' ll want . They ' ll line us up from 10 metres away and come charging at us . But if we can shift the point of attack , it can make the world of difference . ' Not only does it give you the one on one carries that everyone wants , but it means the defence is always moving around . If you hit them tight then they don ' t really move . ' But you can ' t get away from the fact you have to carry hard too . You won ' t always be able to put those passes in , you have to front up and go through the line . ' Taking big hits takes it out of you , but we ' re advanced enough as a team to move around and cope with that sort of stuff . ' There are quite a few Premiership matches that have ended in a slogging match , so we ' ve gone all though that type of game . We know what we ' re up against this weekend . ' Morgan ' s first exposure to the Springboks was the 2012 summer tour when England were swept aside in the first two Tests before recovering to earn a 14 14 draw in Port Elizabeth . Lancaster puts England through their paces as he looks to open their Autumn International account Springboks ' veteran Victor Matfield prepares as his side look to bounce back from defeat by Ireland The 25 year old has now amassed 24 caps and he can see the progress made since the first trip abroad of Stuart Lancaster ' s reign . ' For many of us that was our first tour and it was a real learning curve . I was very green back then and I ' ve come a long way since , ' Morgan said . ' I ' m a lot more experienced and have learnt a lot of lessons through winning and losing . There were also the experience of going through that difficult patch with Gloucester last year . ' I ' m definitely more rounded and I know what I have to do now . I ' m better defensively , which has changed with experience . ' Morgan is likely to continue in his role as No 8 reinforcement to Billy Vunipola when Lancaster names his starting on Thursday morning . Vunipola faded in the 24 21 defeat by New Zealand , but , while there are concerns over his fitness at international level , the 22 year old looks set to profit from Lancaster ' s desire to give the same 23 another chance . England stretch out in training after their 24 21 loss to New Zealand on Saturday Billy Vunipola looks set to start again at No 8 , with Morgan to come off the bench with fresh legs ' Obviously I want to start every game . I don ' t want to be a bench player , but Billy ' s been playing well and if I can make an impact coming off the bench then I want to do that , ' Morgan said . ' If you start you walk on to the pitch with the intention of playing the 80 minutes , but that doesn ' t mean you leave anything in the tank . Basically you go out there and empty the tank . ' With the likes of myself and Billy , it ' s good to know someone else can step off the bench and give as much as they can . ' Semesa Rokoduguni has been ruled out with a thigh problem , so Marland Yarde has been drafted into the squad as wing cover and is competing with Anthony Watson to start in the number 14 jersey . An injury doubt hangs over flanker Tom Wood , who England say is suffering from general soreness after the All Blacks game , so James Haskell is on standby as his replacement . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present97910446,10447,"Nothing is more repulsive than representing Gov. John Kasich, who is polling at almost negative numbers, working to take down the frontrunner. Doesn t it seem kinda futile to attempt a take down of the frontrunner if their candidate has had several opportunities to do so himself on the debate stage and failed miserably? Watch for a backlash against the establishment in 5 4 3 2 1 One has to wonder if the establishment has anything to do with this coordinated effort to take out Trump? And if they do, is this really about Kasich or is it about keeping Rubio and Bush in the game? Donald Trump s presidential campaign warned the Republican Party on Tuesday about donors pooling funds for attack ads, saying Republicans must treat him fairly if they want to keep him from launching an independent bid.Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told that if Republican donors backing different presidential candidates come together for an anti-Trump advertising campaign, it would be a bad, bad decision. The Super planning the attack is New Day for America, which is supporting Ohio Governor John Kasich s presidential bid. Its spokesman, Matt David, said on Sunday that 10 new donors had pledged money since Thursday when Politico reported the group s plans to attack Trump in New Hampshire.Trump signed a pledge to run as a Republican in the 2016 presidential election, but Cohen indicated the agreement would be invalid if Republicans target the billionaire real estate mogul. If they treat him fairly, he will honor the pledge because he s an honorable guy. If they break that agreement with him, as they say woe be on them,' Cohen told CNN.Cohen said the Republican Party may claim it has no control over Super activities. But he insisted Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus has an obligation to treat Trump fairly. If they don t, this will be a very, very bad thing for the Republican Party, Cohen said. representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Trump is leading in polls of Republican primary voters both nationwide and in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire. His numbers have risen despite criticism about his business record and backlash from his contentious statements about immigrants and Muslims, among other things.Via: Reuters",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,present98010450,10451,"In the golden California summers before World War II, Sammy Lee, a was just one of the “colored” boys in the Pasadena pool on Wednesdays. That was “International Day,” when Asian, black and Latino children were allowed to swim. After they were gone, the pool was drained and refilled with clean water for the white children who came every other day of the week. Years later, fulfilling a vow to his father, he stood on the high diving platform at the Olympic Games in London and looked down at cheering crowds. It was like standing atop a building. But he had long ago conquered his fear of heights, and of bigotry. He was a doctor and a compact athlete representing the United States. He ran forward and rose majestically into the air. Dr. Sammy Lee, who died of pneumonia on Friday in Newport Beach, Calif. at age 96, faced prejudice growing up, and discrimination when he tried to buy a home in a white community in Southern California. But he also became the first man to earn Olympic gold, and the first American to win consecutive gold medals in Olympic platform diving. (The diver Victoria Manalo Draves won a gold medal two days before he did.) The University of Southern California announced his death on its website. Dr. Lee won a gold medal in platform diving and a bronze in springboard diving at the 1948 Olympics in London, and a gold in platform diving at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. He also won three national diving championships as a collegian in the 1940s and was named America’s outstanding amateur athlete of 1953 by the Amateur Athletic Union. He became an ambassador to the Olympics for Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan coached Greg Louganis, Bob Webster and other American diving champions, as well as the American diving team at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and was elected to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968 and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990. An ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr. Lee was an Army major and medical officer in the Korean War. But in 1955, as he ended eight years of military service, all his achievements did not spare him from racial discrimination when he tried to buy a home in Garden Grove, a booming postwar community in Orange County, where he wanted to open a medical practice. When turning him away, real estate agents were candid. “I’m sorry, Doctor,” he remembered one telling him, “but I have to eat, and I’d lose my job for selling to a nonwhite. ” Dr. Lee’s wife, Rosalind, then tried to buy a building lot in a development in Anaheim. He recalled, “The agent said the value of the property would drop so badly if he sold to me that he wouldn’t be able to sell the rest of the homes. ” That day, Dr. Lee was at the White House, dining with President Eisenhower. When word got out that he had been a victim of housing discrimination, the news media picked up the story, and it became a national scandal. Protests, apologies and offers of assistance ensued. Housing discrimination has always been common in America, despite laws against it. But Dr. Lee’s status as an Olympian made a difference. Vice President Nixon said he was “shocked” and pledged help. Anaheim’s mayor spoke out. A newspaper offered to pay the Lees’ expenses, and real estate agents jumped to show them homes. The Lees bought one in Garden Grove, and the county gave a welcome party when they moved in. Neighbors came, and politicians gave speeches. “My belief in the American people is substantiated,” Dr. Lee said. He later toured Asia for the State Department. “Whenever I was asked by those people in the Far East how America treated Oriental people, I told them the truth,” he recalled. “I said Americans had their shortcomings, but they had guts enough to advertise them, whereas others try to cover them up. ” Dr. Lee practiced medicine in Orange County for 35 years, retiring in 1990. He later moved to Huntington Beach, Calif. His condominium community had a pool, and even in his 90s he swam a few laps every day. Samuel Lee was born on Aug. 1, 1920, in Fresno, Calif. the youngest of five children of Soonkee Rhee and Eunkee Chun, who married in Korea as children, fulfilling a traditional contract by families. They moved to California in 1905 and settled in Fresno, where they changed their surname and opened a restaurant. Sammy learned to swim in Fresno. After the family moved to Highland Park, in northeast Los Angeles, in the late 1920s, he swam at Brookside Park in nearby Pasadena — but only on Wednesdays, because the pool was reserved for whites on other days. The Lees encountered racial abuse from neighbors, who used slurs and urged them to move. Sammy also heard it in school, where distinctions among Japanese, Chinese and other Asians were lost in a blur of angry abuse. Dr. Lee said his father called the bigots misguided, and urged him to be proud of his heritage. Inspired by Americans who took all the diving medals at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Dr. Lee promised his father he would someday be an Olympian. He graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 1939, Occidental College in 1943 and the University of Southern California medical school in 1947. In 1950, he married Rosalind M. K. Wong. She survives him, as do their two children, Pamela Lee and Sammy Lee II, and three grandchildren. Trained privately, Dr. Lee won the national A. A. U. springboard and platform championships in 1942, and was the national A. A. U. platform champion in 1946. The 1940 and 1944 Olympics were canceled because of World War II, but on Aug. 5, 1948, as the Olympic diving competitions drew to a close in London, he stood on the high platform, as he had vowed. He was lithe and muscled, just over five feet tall, and in recent days had dazzled crowds and judges with dives of balletic precision, with front and back somersaults and elegant pikes and twists. He had already won a bronze for springboard dives, and he led the pack in platform scores. The cheers stopped. He ran forward and rose majestically into the air. He hovered at the peak, his arms reaching for heaven, and curled into a tuck — a man wrapped into a tight ball, chin brushing kneecaps, hands grasping shins — before rolling forward into the power dive. A blur of speed, he somersaulted three and a half times in a pinwheeling plunge, coming out of it just in time and opening into a perfect illusion of the vertical body — a knife entering the water. He had the gold. And he would do it again four years later.",true,news,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past98110487,10488,"When I was growing up in Iraq , math was an everyday part of life . My parents instilled in me a passion for discovery , and they never made a distinction between science and creativity . We would play with math problems just as we would play with pens and paper to draw math was like sketching . In my teens , my family would go to London each summer , visiting the many art galleries and museums , including the Science Museum . I am forever grateful to my parents for introducing me to art and science in a way that drew no boundaries between them . The teachers who taught sciences in the school I went to as a young girl in Baghdad were all professors from the university , so the standards of science courses were really incredible . The headmistress was deeply committed to the education of women and understood that subjects must be taught in a way connects their inherent creativity and relationships with the real world , rather than dry data to be memorized and regurgitated on standardized tests . There is a definite connection between the logic of math and architecture so much of the work we are doing in our office comes from my fascination with mathematical logic and geometry . Huge advances in design technology are enabling us to rethink form and space , and the wonderfully fluid surfaces and structures of each project are defined by scientific innovations . Our design for the new Mathematics Gallery at London ' s Science Museum will convey these seemingly abstract concepts into an inspiring interactive experience for all visitors . There are many successful women working in but there are not nearly enough . Women have made tremendous contributions and we must celebrate their success . When teaching at universities , many of my best students are women , but they sometimes lack confidence . I believe education at all levels is critical . As a woman , education gives you the confidence to conquer the next step and make exciting new discoveries . Zaha Hadid is a world renowned Iraqi British architect , and the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize . Her work includes the London Aquatics Centre , the Sheikh Zayed Bridge and Beijing ' s Galaxy Soho shopping center . Her architectural design firm , Zaha Hadid Architects , is based in London . Read : Zaha Hadid : ' Would they still call me a diva if I was a man ? ' Discover : Zaha Hadid : ' I wouldn ' t build a prison ' Watch : The women behind Olympic Aquatic Centre ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past98210499,10500,"The former London home of a German diplomat which was destroyed by the Nazis during the war has been brought back to life as a 40million mansion . Lion Lodge is believed to be the first new mansion built in Belgravia in almost 70 years and is thought to be one of the most expensive new homes in Britain . It has been in built at Eaton Place , on the site of a Thomas Cubitt designed property , which was bombed in 1940 during the Blitz . The former London home of a German diplomat destroyed by the Nazis during the war has been brought back to life as Lion Lodge , pictured The stunning seven bedroom home is the first new mansion in Belgravia for almost 70 years and has been put on the market with a guide price of 40million . One of its bathrooms is pictured above Luxury : Spread over 9 , 135 sq ft , Lion Lodge has a grand entrance hall , three reception rooms , study , guest cloakrooms , passenger lift , media room and leisure complex with private swimming pool ( pictured ) , gym area and changing rooms The home had been the London residence of Dr Harald Bielfeld , First Secretary of Commerce in the German Embassy , who from 1936 reported to ambassador Joachim Von Ribbentrop , a favourite of Adolf Hitler . But in 1939 their diplomatic delegation departed and Lion Lodge was left vacant only for the Germans to destroy it during a bomb raid the following year . After the war , another home was built in its place , but after a long planning battle it was knocked down and replaced by the new Lion Lodge . The stunning seven bedroom home is the first new mansion in Belgravia for almost 70 years and has been put on the market with a guide price of 40million . This makes it the most expensive new home in London ' s West End . Stamp duty on a 40million home is 2 . 8million , but council tax is just 2 , 143 per year . The home had been the London residence of Dr Harald Bielfeld , First Secretary of Commerce in the German Embassy , who from 1936 reported to ambassador Joachim Von Ribbentrop ( right ) , a favourite of Adolf Hitler . Lion Lodge ( left ) has now been built on the site In 1939 the German diplomatic delegation departed London and Lion Lodge was left vacant only for the Nazis to destroy it during a bomb raid the following year The property features a number of luxury bathrooms , such as the one pictured , and has been described as a ' magnificent new classical mansion ' Spread over more than 9 , 000 sq ft , Lion Lodge has a grand entrance hall , three reception rooms , study , guest cloakrooms , passenger lift , media room and leisure complex with private swimming pool , gym area and changing rooms . There are seven bedrooms , with the master suite boasting his and hers bathrooms . Lion Lodge is on the market with Beauchamp Estates , with boss Gary Hersham describing it as a ' magnificent new classical mansion ' . He said : ' Eaton Place is one of the grandest streets in Belgravia , a highly sought after address by discerning buyers from around the world . ' The site at Eaton Place has come full circle over its history . Prime location : After the building was destroyed in the war , another home was built in its place . But after a long planning battle it was knocked down and replaced by the new Lion Lodge ( pictured ) The 40million price tag makes Lion Lodge ( pictured ) the most expensive new home in London ' s West End and one of the most expensive new homes in the ' Once occupied by Lion Lodge , one of Cubitt ' s elegant "" lost mansions "" , lost to bombing , it is now the site of a magnificent new classical mansion that Cubitt would have surely been proud to see returned to the property . ' It is one of the very few examples I believe even the only true example of a completely new mansion to be built in Belgravia since 1945 . ' The original home in Eaton Place was built between 1826 1828 and designed by Thomas Cubitt and his brother Lewis . It is thought the first occupants were relatives of the Marquess of Londonderry , the Marquess living at nearby No . 76 Eaton Place . The house was then occupied by various merchants and members of the aristocracy , before it became a residence for German diplomats . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past98310513,10514,"Women, especially women in the public eye, are the constant victims of body policing. We re too fat, we re too thin, our breasts are too small, too large, or too fake. Comedian Amy Schumer is one woman who is the constant victim of such comments, specifically those regarding her weight. Schumer may not be a skinny minny, but she is a strong, healthy, beautiful woman who is not ashamed of who she is or how she looks. That never stopped hateful trolls from calling her fat, though. Well, Schumer decided to take those trolls to task via Instagram in the most perfect way by posting a photo of herself in a swimsuit.The post was captioned: I meant to write good morning trolls! I hope you find some joy in your lives today in a human interaction and not just in writing unkind things to a stranger you ve never met who triggers something in you that makes you feel powerless and alone. This is how I look. I feel happy. I think I look strong and healthy and also like miss trunchbull from Matilda. Kisses! Here is the embed of the post:I meant to write good morning trolls! I hope you find some joy in your lives today in a human interaction and not just in writing unkind things to a stranger you ve never met who triggers something in you that makes you feel powerless and alone. This is how I look. I feel happy. I think I look strong and healthy and also like miss trunchbull from Matilda. Kisses!A photo posted by @amyschumer on May 24, 2016 at 10:44am PDTKudos to the brilliant Ms. Schumer for her response to people who would dare to shame her for being proud of her body. The world is so unkind to those who are not a size 0, and that is nothing short of shameful.Amy Schumer is an excellent role model for women and girls and how we should deal with people who think they have the right to constantly comment on our bodies.Well done!Featured image via Brian Bedder/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present98410527,10528,"Scientists say they have created an anti drug so powerful that it could work as a vaccine . Macaque monkeys given the drug were able to fend off high , repeated doses of the simian version of the disease . The protein based drug has been ' astonishingly effective ' at blocking every major strain of tested , marking a major step towards a cure for , the researchers claim . Scientists say they have created an anti drug so powerful that it could work as a vaccine . Macaque monkeys given the drug were able to fend off high , repeated doses of the simian version of the disease . Pictured is an image of particles infecting a human cell When infects a cell , it targets the CD4 lymphocyte , an integral part of the body ' s immune system . fuses with the cell and inserts its own genetic material in this case , single stranded and transforms the host cell into a manufacturing site . The prototype drug , called eCD4 Ig , is made up of two imitations of the receptors . These are the docking points where latches on to CD4 cells the key defences of the immune cells . The mimics latch on to the virus , tricking it into prematurely launching the docking procedure . The virus can only execute the procedure once , rendering it unable to attach to CD4 cells . The scientists likened the effect to closing the door to an intruder and tossing away the key . The technique works by using gene therapy to introduce a new section of inside healthy cells . ' We show a way to achieve long lived , effective vaccine like protection from 1 ' , said study leader Michael Farzan , a professor at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida . The prototype drug , called eCD4 Ig , is made up of two imitations of the receptors , or docking points , where latches on to CD4 cells the key defences of the immune cells . The mimics latch on to the virus , tricking it into prematurely launching the docking procedure . The virus can only execute the procedure once , rendering it unable to attach to CD4 cells . The scientists likened the effect to closing the door to an intruder and tossing away the key . The drug provides ' very , very strong protection , ' Professor Farzan said who wants to conduct human trials ' soon ' . The team undertook a 40 week experiment which showed that inoculated animals thrived even after being injected with four times the dose needed to infect macaques in a ' control ' group . Further research , to be unveiled at a conference in Seattle next week , found that the treated macaques ' continue to be protected from eight times and 16 times the infectious dose , more than a year after inoculation , ' Professor Farzan said . The search for a vaccine has been one of the most frustrating chapters of the saga . Traditional antibody based candidate vaccines have failed to put up more than a partial shield , partly because of mutations in the stealthy virus . ' This is an exciting new approach , but until the vaccine has been trialled in humans , there ' s no way of knowing how effective it will be , ' said Dr Shaun Griffin , director of External Affairs at Terrence Higgins Trust The new prototype formula , though , targets sites on the virus ' so called Env entry protein that are ' highly conserved ' a scientific term meaning that these sites do not mutate very much . Lab dish tests have found that the drug also works on human , which is very close to simian version of the virus . ' Of course , we still need to do further safety studies in both macaques and humans , ' before any trials can take place , Professor Farzan stressed . ' This is an exciting new approach , but until the vaccine has been trialled in humans , there ' s no way of knowing how effective it will be , ' said Dr Shaun Griffin , director of External Affairs at Terrence Higgins Trust . The team undertook a 40 week experiment which showed that inoculated monkeys thrived even after being injected with four times the dose needed to infect macaques in a ' control ' group ' Although this vaccine was found to be effective in monkeys , is an incredibly complex virus , with many different facets that we are still learning about . ' Since 1981 , about 78 million people have been infected by the virus which destroys immune cells and leaves the body exposed to tuberculosis , pneumonia and other opportunistic diseases . Thirty nine million have died , according to estimates . Antiretroviral drugs , invented in the mid 1990s , can treat infection , but cannot cure it or prevent it . Treatment is lifelong and carries side effects . For many health systems , the drugs bill is spiralling , becoming a major burden to budgets . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present98510537,10538,"Bayern Munich ' s record breaking run continued Saturday with Werder Bremen crushed 7 0 by Pep Guardiola ' s European Champions who are making Bundesliga history every week . It was an unprecedented 40th unbeaten league match for last season ' s treble winners and Bayern equaled their own club record of 26 away matches without defeat . But more than just mere records , it was a graphic demonstration of their goalscoring potential , with the returning Franck Ribery at the heart of the attacking prowess . The French international has not played for nearly a month in the Bundesliga through a rib injury but in the 21st minute it was his cross which was turned into his own goal by Bremen defender Assani Lukimy . Belgium defender Daniel van Buyten doubled the lead six minutes later before Ribery scored his first of the afternoon before halftime . Ribery supplied the assist for the fourth from Mario Mandzukic on the hour and a fine finish from Thomas Mueller made it five . Ribery ' s second and a Mario Goetze with the seventh with the last kick of the match wrapped up the rout in front of a stunned capacity crowd at the Weserstadion . Werder continue to hover above the drop zone in a disappointing season , but Bayern have a four point lead over Bayer Leverkusen , who beat third placed Borussia Dortmund in a crunch match later Saturday . South Korea striker Son Heung Min grabbed the 18th minute winner after a mistake in the Dortmund defense . Both sides finished with 10 men with Leverkusen losing Bosnia defender Emir Spahic while Dortmund , who trail Bayern by 10 points , had Sokratis dismissed for a second yellow card late on . Fourth placed Borussia Moenchengladbach kept up their bid for a Champions League place with a 2 1 win at home to Schalke 04 , their sixth in a row . But it is difficult to see who can stop Bayern , who last lost in the Bundesliga in October 2012 and have scored 39 goals in 15 league games this season under new boss Guardiola . Ribery ' s display will help press his claim for the World Footballer of the Year honor , which will be announced next month . Meanwhile , Atletico Madrid opened their defense of the Copa del Rey with 4 0 win at minnows Sant Andreu . A double from Arda Turan , flanked by goals from Raul Garcia and David Villa , gave the holders a comfortable advantage ahead of the second leg of the last 32 tie . Paris Saint Germain went four points clear in France with a 5 0 thrashing of lowly Sochaux as Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice and laid on two others . It was a good response from , who lost their first league game of the season in midweek to Evian . Lille can close again to within a point if they beat Bordeaux Sunday with third placed Monaco meeting Ajaccio . In Serie A , Mario Balotelli scored twice to earn Milan a 2 2 away draw at Livorno . He put them ahead in the eighth minute before Luca Siligardi equalized for the home side . Livorno went ahead through Paulinho then Balotelli leveled with a stunning late free kick . The sixth draw of the Italian league campaign left Milan in eighth place ahead of Sunday ' s games . ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past98610538,10539,"Perhaps this is the new normal , and apparently the Constitution and a famous speech provide for this protest . An armed militia in Flint , Michigan , rallied over several days , and the group s demands are simple : government officials should offer answers to the disturbing water crisis or it will force their hands by any means necessary . Since the public outcry and increased calls for Governor Rick Snyder to resign or be arrested over the state s alleged mishandling of the contaminated water in Flint , rallies have taken place in the beleaguered city . However , not many anticipated the arrival of gun toting citizen protesters . On Sunday , over two dozen members from the Genesee County Volunteer Militia gathered at City Hall , according to the Detroit Free Press . Led by militia executive director Matthew Krol , the men , donning camouflage and sidearms and waving Don t Tread on Me flags , yelled demands that the government provide transparency and answers over how the water became undrinkable . We re here to defend this community . We re not going to allow ( the government ) to step on the people of Flint any longer . If it means having to take up arms in defense we will do that as well . Militias have been around for ages but have only made recent headlines . The Bundy standoff , aka Battle of Bunkerville in southeastern Nevada , and the 2016 Burns , Oregon , standoff over a federal land dispute are two in recent history . Michigan militia vows to take up arms to defend Flint residents in fight with weblink : t . co 2SWsq3Q5cs UniteBlue pic . twitterweblink J8flwmKAiO ? The Progressive Mind ( Libertea2012 ) January 25 , 2016 Their actions are supported largely in part by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments , which grant the state ( including citizens ) the right to bear arms and provides equal protection under the law , respectively . The Second Amendment is what is playing out in the Flint water crisis and other recent standoffs . A well regulated militia , being necessary to the security of a free state , the right of the people to keep and bear arms , shall not be infringed . Arguably , Krol s words echo President Abraham Lincoln s Gettysburg Address on November 19 , 1863 , with his wish that this nation , under God , shall have a new birth of freedom ? and that government of the people , by the people , for the people , shall not perish from the earth . Initially , the militia s presence bore the markings of a response against peaceful protesters . And based on the cast of notable surrogates who ve expressed outrage over Flint s dirty water , Matt Damon , Rev . Jesse Jackson , Michael Moore and others , men with sidearms who are staunch supporters seemed out of place . Michigan militia backs Michael Moore s push to hold officials accountable for Flint crisis weblink : t . co R4dEKLxSVe pic . twitterweblink zg5mNK72Ui However , Krol cleared up lingering confusion pretty quickly . Although his group has more in common with the citizen militias in Oregon and Nevada mentioned earlier , the group s presence is clear , according to Krol . This is not a racial issue , unlike some people last week tried to say . It s a human issue . Earlier , Rev . Jackson called the city of Flint , Michigan , a crime scene , President Obama said the construction was inexcusable , and the Fahrenheit 9 11 director said leaders in the state purposely lied to the citizenry over the water contaminants , which are reportedly behind 10 Legionnaires disease deaths . According to a Washington Post report , as many as 87 cases have been diagnosed since June , two months after the city switched over its water service provider . Although officials say the city s water supply shows decreasing levels of lead in the supply pipes , several experts are cautioning against consuming it until the all clear declaration is given . Unfortunately , there is no timetable in place . Meanwhile , the city and third party donors are providing bottled water for local residents . Still , another militia member said the situation in Flint is a crime and those responsible for the debacle valued money ahead of the welfare of the people they represent . The only color that was involved is green . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,past98710549,10550,"Ore . ( ) ? Sacramento forward DeMarcus Cousins , unstoppable in the Kings past two games , found his match Tuesday night in the Portland Trail Blazers defense . Cousins , coming off games of 56 and 48 points , missed 17 of his 21 shots and scored 17 points against Portland interior defense in the Blazers 112 95 win . C . J . McCollum scored 18 points , Damian Lillard had 15 points and 13 assists as Portland had seven players score in double figures . Cousins was coming off a franchise high 56 point performance Monday night against Charlotte , but never got untracked against a Portland defense led by Meyers Leonard and Mason Plumlee . Cousins missed nine of his first 10 shots and went 1 of 7 during the second half before leaving midway through the fourth quarter with Portland having the game in hand . Cousins also struggled at the free throw line , making 9 of 17 . He s a very good player , able to score in many ways , but I thought for the most part we did a good job on him , Leonard said . We were really locked in on what we needed to do tonight and it was just a great team effort . Though Cousins played 46 minutes before fouling out against Charlotte , Sacramento coach George Karl was hesitant to use fatigue as a reason for Cousins sub par outing . As a coach I don t like that excuse . As a human being , it s probably a justifiable excuse , Karl said . He s been so good I m not going to complain . He s been our horse and we ve ridden him to a lot of good things . Portland s offensive balance also played a big role in the Blazers win . Seven players scored between 11 and 18 points . Portland reserves Gerald Henderson , Allen Crabbe and Ed Davis were among those in double figures . Their bench hurt us more and that s a sign of a good team . When you overshoot your emphasis on their No . 1 and 2 strengths , it usually opens up other opportunities . They had some guys jump in and take advantage of that , Karl said . Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 11 assists for the Kings , who lost in double overtime on Monday night . Portland ( 21 26 ) moved into a virtual tie with Sacramento ( 20 25 ) for eighth in the Western Conference . The Blazers have won six of their past eight . Portland led 58 52 at halftime after leading for most of the first half . The Trail Blazers maintained a narrow margin for much of the third quarter , but momentum eventually moved in their favor after Cousins missed two free throws , then committed an offensive foul . Portland immediately scored seven consecutive points for its largest lead of the game at 81 67 . Portland led 88 74 after three and continued to pour it on early in the fourth quarter . Crabbe and Henderson hit 3 pointers as the Blazers increased their lead to 100 79 with eight minutes remaining . Kings : Sacramento forward Rudy Gay , who sustained a left eye injury in Monday s double overtime loss to Charlotte , didn t play against Portland . Karl says he s hopeful Gay can return sometime during the Kings upcoming two game road trip beginning Thursday . The Kings are 2 10 in the second game of back to back situations . Rondo had 11 assists , his 13th consecutive game with at least 10 assists . Blazers : Of Portland s first 10 baskets , Lillard had seven assists . With the announcement of full All Star game rosters coming Thursday , Karl said Lillard is worthy of a West team berth , with a caveat . He s an All star talent but I don t think there are enough spots for all the All Star talents in the West , Karl said . McCollum , who studied journalism while at Lehigh , is launching a program called s Press Pass , where he ll mentor journalism students at a Portland high school . Lillard recorded his 10th double double of the season , a career high . Portland has been able to refresh itself following an East coast road trip because of a seven game home stand with plenty of rest in between games . Since returning from the road trip on Jan . 18 , the Blazers play seven games over 17 days , with two day breaks in between four of the games . Everybody s been able to catch their breath . unusual in January that we ve had this many days off , Stotts said . Stotts was asked if he could think of a player who compared to Cousins . He pondered the question , and was at a loss . Maybe Charles Barkley in his early days , but ( Cousins ) is bigger and stronger , Stotts said . Cousins had a combined 104 points and 25 rebounds in the two games prior to Tuesday . These are two special games , games we ll remember for a long , long time , Karl said . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past98810562,10563,"Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu will boycott the Ballon d ' Or ceremony in protest at the transfer ban imposed upon the Catalan club by . The Catalans are not allowed to make any signings in the next two transfer windows because of a breach of rules relating to the signing of international players under the age of 18 . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ( ) upheld ' s ruling after the Spanish giants failed with an appeal to overturn the ban , with Barcelona still relentlessly contesting the charge . Josep Bartomeu ( above ) will not attend the Ballon d ' Or ceremony in wake of transfer ban Luis Suarez ' s move to Barcelona was allowed while the club appealed against the ban on new signings , which is now in force after the upheld the original sanction imposed by Bartomeu has contacted Sepp Blatter to inform the president of his intended absence from the January 12 award ceremony and insists the club are to sever all ties with the governing body for the duration of the ban . ' has not told us who made the original charge and during the period of the sanction we will not maintain any institutional relations with them , ' Bartomeu said at a press conference . ' I have sent a stern letter to Sepp Blatter and I will not be attending the Fifa Ballon d ' Or gala set for January 12 . Barcelona are not allowed to sign players for the next two transfer windows Bartomeu said relations with will cease to exist during the period of the sanction ' This is not the end of the matter . I foresee the Barca case becoming a watershed in the football world , just like the Bosman case . However long it lasts , we will not lose this case . ' Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is on the three man shortlist for football ' s top individual prize but is expected to lose out to Real Madrid ' s Cristiano Ronaldo . The club also have a number of players , including Neymar , Luis Suarez , Andres Iniesta and Xavi , who are in the running to be named in the Fifa FIFPro World . Lionel Messi ( left ) is on the three man shortlist to be crowned Ballon d ' Or winner on January 12 ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past98910657,10658,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another broadcast of The Boiler Room tonight 6:00 | 8:00 | 9:00 for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for bar fly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join hosts Hesher and Spore along side Andy Nowicki (The Nameless One) for the hundred and thirtieth episode of ROOM. Turn it up, tune in and hang with the Brain-Trust for this weeks boil downs and analysis and the usual gnashing of the teeth of the political animals in the social reject club.Hesher, Spore, Jay Dyer and Andy Nowicki representing the Brain-Trust with their continuing analysis of the Mandalay Bay Massacre. The details, the anomalies, opinions, hypotheses and the questions we came up with in the days after the event.Direct Download Episode #130 Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved! Reference Links, for your consideration and research:",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past99010668,10669,"Jailed bigamist Andrew O ' Clee , 36 , may have been on the prowl for wife number three after a dating profile matching his description was discovered , pictured outside Chichester Crown Court A bigamist caught out when his wife discovered on Facebook that he had secretly married his mistress may have been searching the internet for wife number three , it emerged yesterday . A web profile apparently matching that of ' shameless liar ' Andrew O ' Clee , 36 , has been spotted on a dating site , where he claimed to be ' looking for a relationship ' . O ' Clee led a double life , duping his first wife , Michelle , 39 , into believing he needed to spend periods away from the family home in a ' safe house ' because he was involved in a serious fraud trial . In reality , the former soldier was living a double life , romancing finance manager Philippa Campbell , 30 , who he eventually married in a lavish wedding . His first wife uncovered his deception when she came across a Facebook video of the pair completing the ice bucket challenge where people are filmed being drenched in cold water for charity . The post led her to photos of his second wedding , which she then reported to police . Michelle , who has been friends with singer Myleene Klass since the pair appeared in a production of Miss Saigon together in 1999 , is currently seeking a divorce from O ' Clee . She refused to comment yesterday , but friends said she felt ' well and truly betrayed ' by her husband . And yesterday it emerged that the cheat may even have been looking for more women to romance after a dating profile for an ' andrewoclee ' was uncovered on the Plenty of Fish website . Although it is unclear when the profile which no longer includes a picture was created , it matches his age and lists the user as living in London , where O ' Clee and Michelle rented a flat . The profile , which no longer has a picture , describes a blue eyed ' adventurer ' who is ' looking for a relationship ' O ' Clee ( middle ) was jailed for eight months after his first wife Michelle ( pictured left ) exposed him as a cheat who was also married to Philippa Campbell ( right ) Mysteriously the profile , which also matches O ' Clee ' s 6ft 3in height and describes a blue eyed ' adventurer ' who is ' looking for a relationship ' , claims he has never had a relationship that lasted longer than a year . O ' Clee , of Chiddingfold , Surrey , was jailed for eight months after admitting bigamy on Tuesday . A judge , sitting at Chichester Crown Court , told business services provider O ' Clee that he had created an ' absurd lie ' which had been ' a selfish act ' . Michelle , who married O ' Clee in 2008 , told the court she felt ' stupid ' and ' naive ' but had not doubted her husband . She even failed to worry when he turned up five hours late for the birth of their daughter , Amelia . By then he was already dating Miss Campbell , who he married in August 2013 at St John the Baptist church in Kirdford , West Sussex , near their detached 575 , 000 home . She has vowed to stay with him . He started the affair with Philippa ( pictured together ) after claiming his first marriage had ended after he caught shopworker Michelle being unfaithful ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past99110672,10673,"' Harry Potter ' Fans Raise Their Wands For A Beautiful Goodbye To Alan Rickman "" One of them was a Slytherin , and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew . "" 01 14 2016 11 : 48 am Updated 3 hours ago Cavan Sieczkowski Senior Editor , News Analytics , The Huffington Post Fans of the "" Harry Potter "" series mourned the death of Alan Rickman , who died at 69 after a battle with cancer . ? Potterheads took to social media to share images from a particularly powerful scene from the film "" Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince "" where Hogwarts students raise their wands in honor of the late Albus Dumbledore . ? The genius that was Rickman , who played Severus Snape in the film series , warranted the same tribute . ? "" We must try not to sink beneath our anguish . . . but battle on "" Raise your wands for Alan Rickman pic . twitterweblink yMRJEcaPMJ Raise your wands for Alan Rickman ? pic . twitterweblink Sg3IMYl5bB Alan Rickman died at 69 after a battle with cancer . ? Rickman ' s career spanned decades , including a role in the Harry Potter franchise , 1988 ' s "" Die Hard "" and "" Robin Hood : Prince Of Thieves . "" Alan Rickman died at 69 after a battle with cancer . ? Rickman ' s career spanned decades , including a role in the Harry Potter franchise , 1988 ' s "" Die Hard "" and "" Robin Hood : Prince Of Thieves . "" Veteran character actor David Margulies , who was best known for playing the mayor in "" Ghostbusters , "" died on Jan . 11 , 2016 . He was 78 . David Bowie , legendary singer , artistic chameleon and Grammy winning songwriter , died on Jan . 10 , 2016 . He was 69 . Former Disney Channel star Michael Galeota , who was best known for playing Nick Lighter on "" The Jersey , "" died on Jan . 10 , 2016 the age of 31 . Hall of fame rhythm and blues artist Otis Clay , 73 , known as much for his big heart and charitable work as for his singing internationally , died on Jan . 8 , 2016 . Actor Pat Harrington Jr . , left , who won acclaim as the buttinsky building superintendent who rarely fixed anything on the long running 1970s sitcom , "" One Day at a Time , "" died on Jan . 6 , 2016 . He was 86 . Pierre Boulez , the former principal conductor the New York Philharmonic and one of the leading figures in modern classical music , died on Jan . 5 , 2016 at age 90 . Nicholas Caldwell , co founder and singer with the California R B group The Whispers , died on Jan . 5 , 2015 . He was 71 . Vilmos Zsigmond , winner of an Oscar for his work on Steven Spielberg ' s "" Close Encounters of the Third Kind , "" died at the age of 85 on Jan . 1 , 2016 . ? ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past99210676,10677,"Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen encouraged the United States and European Union on Friday to freeze the assets of Cambodian leaders abroad in response to his government s crackdown on the opposition and civil society. Hun Sen, the strongman who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, has taken a strident anti-Western line ahead of a 2018 election and has dismissed donor criticism of the dissolution of the main opposition party. The United States and European Union have suspended funding for next year s election and Washington has put visa curbs on some Cambodian leaders. There is no current proposal for asset freezes by either the United States or European Union, but some lawmakers have floated the idea. I encourage the European Union and United States to freeze the wealth of Cambodian leaders abroad, Hun Sen told a group of athletes in Phnom Penh, the capital. Hun Sen said he has no money abroad and any actions by the and the U.S. would not hurt him. The U.S. embassy made no comment. Ambassador George Edgar said on Friday there had been no decision on further measures by the bloc. The Supreme Court dissolved the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) last month at the request of the government, on the grounds it was plotting to seize power. Hun Sen accused Kem Sokha, the leader of the of a U.S.-backed anti-government plot. The opposition leader and the United States denied that. China, Cambodia s largest aid donor, has leant its support to Hun Sen, saying it respects Cambodia s right to defend its national security. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present99310689,10690,"As special operations military troops prepared for a firefight about 7 , 000 miles away , President Barack Obama entered a room in the Washington area early in the afternoon on Sunday to follow along . Like a page plucked from a Hollywood screenplay , Obama and other principal coordinators for the mission that killed Osama bin Laden convened in a "" situation room "" to remotely monitor the situation , John Brennan , the U . S . counterterrorism chief , said in a White House news briefing on Monday . Obama arrived after many of the mission ' s leaders had assembled there , but the president joined before the attack on bin Laden ' s mansion in Abbottabad , Pakistan , began , Brennan said . "" We were able to monitor on a real time basis the progress of the operation , from its commencement , to its time on target , to the extraction of the remains , "" Brennan said . "" We were able to have regular updates to ensure that we had real time visibility into the progress of the operation . "" The mood in the room was anxious because the stakes were so high , Brennan said . "" There were some very tense moments , "" he said . "" We were just saying our prayers that everything would go according to plan . "" The Los Angeles Times reported that the had led the bin Laden attack operation , and officials on the 7th floor of the agency ' s Langley , Virginia , headquarters had access to live video of the raid , the report said . Brennan declined to say whether they had access to a video feed or radio communications . A White House spokesman declined to comment . Google , Apple and other Internet companies have mastered the process of streaming live video from events to the world . But that task would get much trickier if the cameramen are also carrying rifles and broadcasting from an untested , faraway locale . After Obama had signed off on the operation , Director Leon Panetta gave the official order around midday Sunday for the operation to commence , the Times reported . "" We have rid the world of the most infamous terrorist of our time , "" Panetta said in a statement Monday . "" We gave President Obama and his team accurate , relevant , timely intelligence providing the information and insight they needed at key points as this mission developed . "" The had been tracking bin Laden and provided intelligence to the White House saying the agency was "" confident "" the terrorist leader was inside the Pakistan compound , Brennan said . "" It was probably one of the most anxiety filled periods of time , I think , in the lives of the people who were assembled here yesterday , "" Brennan said . "" The minutes passed like days , and the president was very concerned about the security of our personnel . That was what was on his mind throughout . "" Shortly after taking office in 2009 , Obama had directed Panetta "" to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda , "" the president said in his speech Sunday night . "" We give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who ' ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome . The American people do not see their work , nor know their names . "" However , Obama apparently does get to see their work as it ' s being carried out . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past99410709,10710,"Baseball ' s League Championship Series ' start Friday with the New York Yankees taking on the Texas Rangers for the American League title . The winner will go to the World Series against the victor in the National League Championship series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants . The Phillies Giants series starts Saturday and will be televised on Fox . This is an edited transcript : Ron Darling : I think what has been extraordinary is that all the pitchers , whether they came through trades ( Phillies with Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt Texas with Cliff Lee ) or up through the farm system like the San Francisco Giants , or a free agent like Sabathia in New York , the great thing about it is they all deliver . Sometimes the great Braves pitchers would falter during the ' 90s , but none of these guys has faltered . In fact they ' re having some of the greatest games in the history of post season play . Whether it ' s Tim Lincecum ' s 14 strikeouts , Cliff Lee and his ability to throw complete games and strike out hitters without walking anybody , and of course Roy Halladay ' s no hitter . Darling : I thought it was one of the special moments of the post season . There are a lot of people affected by alcoholism and drug addiction in this country , and a lot of people feel alone in their battle against those two addictions . And to see an entire ball club get behind their player ' s problem and have empathy and sympathy for his problems was just one of the special things . Remember their manager ( Ron Washington ) tested positive last season ( for cocaine ) . They could have abandoned the manager instead , it brought them closer together . They ' ve been one of the great stories and to know that they wanted one of their best players to celebrate in the clubhouse because they knew he could only do it with ginger ale to me is a just a beautiful gesture . Darling : I think trying to battle addictions is hard enough if you ' re working 9 5 and you ' ve got a family and you ' re trying to stay out of harm ' s way . When you ' re a young athlete on the road with a lot of free time on your hands , I think it ups it exponentially . I know Hamilton has a caretaker who helps him out on the road , but I think it ' s taken a lot of stick to itiveness by Josh . You know he ' s had a second chance , had a couple of hiccups , but he ' s made the most of it . Addiction is a sickness we should look at it like that . I think we should welcome what he ' s done . He ' s not only a great player , but he ' s also become a leader on that team and that ' s the most interesting part of that to me . Darling : In the National League , you have to look at the little guys , Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco , for the Phillies . Sometimes these games allow them to shine when most of the publicity goes to the home run hitters . On San Francisco , Andres Torres , their centerfielder , had a remarkable season . He ' s a player who floundered and later in his career found his role and had a great season . The Giants closer Brian Wilson had a remarkable year . I know he has the funny hair and funny beard , but there ' s nothing funny about how he gets saves . The New York Yankees ' Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson , batting at the bottom of the order , will have a big series . For Texas , the casual fan may not know about Nelson Cruz , but he has about as much pop in his bat as anyone in the game and he ' s a good fielder and throws well . ( The playoffs ) could be a good forum for the country to learn what a good player he is . Darling : There have been 31 errors so far , and what we should read into it is that the game has changed . You can overlook an error when a lot of home runs are being hit and a lot of runs scored . That ' s not happening as much anymore . Every play is critical , and if you ' re talking about this being the season of the post season pitcher , every time an error is made , it ' s going to be crucial in determining the game . There have been errors before , but over the last 10 seasons , you could overcome it with offensive output . But when the games are 3 1 every night , you can ' t afford those errors . And those players that in the past you put in the lineup because of their offensive abilities and you hoped they would catch the ball but figured they ' d make up for it with their offense , those days are gone and those players are gone . If you are in the minor leagues and not working on your fielding , you ' re going to have a hard time getting to the major leagues . Darling : Watch these series . There ' s going to be lots of steals , bunting and infield hits , all of those things that we saw a lot in the ' 70s and early ' 80s that went away . You ' re still going to have guys hit the ball out of the ballpark . But how many home runs are guys going to hit off Halladay , Lee , Lincecum and Sabathia ? It ' s not gonna happen . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present99510710,10711,"It ' s no secret Google wants more control over the design and building of Nexus smartphones , with multiple reports pointing to changes to policies over the years . A report now claims that the Android maker plans to take an Apple like approach with its Nexus branded smartphones , exerting complete control over the design , hardware , and software of the devices . Google Sundar Pichai aims to vertically integrate Google ' s phone operations , reports The Information . As of now , Google ' s Nexus partners send a team to Google ' s headquarters for manufacturing the smartphone . The report claims that Google wants a complete say on design and other aspects of development . Google wants its hardware makers to be "" order takers , "" similar to how Apple handles Foxconn , the contract manufacturer that produces iPhone handsets . Apple designs the smartphone , mandates the SoC and other aspects of the development . Also , the current batch of Nexus smartphones has "" Nexus "" logo as well as the name and logo of the manufacturer on the back of the smartphone . The report claims that moving forward Nexus smartphones may have Google brand plastered on them . The company reportedly intends to compete with Apple in the high end smartphone market . Over the months , Google has gotten serious about its hardware . In addition to the Nexus program , at one time , the company also maintained a Google Play Edition lineup , under which many smartphones manufacturer launched a variant of their respective flagship smartphone with stock Android experience . Earlier reports , Google has also grown interested in designing its own chips . The company was said to be in talks with small SoC manufacturers to have them make its custom designed processors . Google has in the past designed devices itself , and had them produced by manufacturers , such as its Pixel lineup . The company mandates design and other instructions to its partners for Pixel devices . The report claims that major OEMs aren ' t happy about the current Nexus program . For instance , it gives Samsung as an example , which hasn ' t produced a Nexus smartphone since 2011 . So Google certainly needs to come up with something new . Notably , is said to be manufacturing both Nexus smartphones this year , earlier reports have claimed . Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news , product reviews , and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past99610712,10713,"China Sarah Palin touched on a host of topics including Reaganomics , China and human rights , Tibet , the Asian and U . S . economies , family and moose in Alaska as she delivered a speech to investors Wednesday in Hong Kong , according to audience members . Sarah Palin ' s speech at Investors ' Forum appeared to be largely well received . The former Republican vice presidential candidate was the keynote speaker at the 16th Investors ' Forum , in what was billed as her first speech outside North America . She recently stepped down as Alaska ' s governor . Her 90 minute address , which was closed to the media , was heard by 1 , 100 people , according to head of communications Simone Wheeler . Those who attended her speech said she did well , though some could be seen leaving early on . A few of those people said they were heading to other forum offerings . Most people declined to speak with the media about the speech . Would you pay to see Sarah Palin give speech ? Soundoff below "" I can ' t say I was actually impressed , "" said Mel Goode , a business developer from New York who lives in Hong Kong . "" She speaks well a broad spectrum of what her beliefs are , family views . "" She didn ' t get ( into ) anything too harsh . . . just kept it , five children , my husband ' s here , we believe in what Asia ' s doing , America has a way to go to get itself back together , Reaganism . "" Watch more about Palin ' s trip One area she touched on was human rights , calling on Beijing to be more attentive to the issue in Tibet and countries such as Myanmar and North Korea , he added . Read about the secrecy surrounding Palin ' s speech Rajesh Kothari , a fund manager , noted that Palin ' s "" address was more geared towards politics and very focused on China . "" "" She did speak about the political implications of China ' s rise on Asia and the region , and China with America , "" he said . "" I was quite impressed by her knowledge . It seemed like she did her homework now , this time around . "" Palin also spoke about Alaska , the need for less government and fewer regulations , fiscal responsibility and "" how the U . S . and Asia can be better partners on the global stage , "" said Jasbeena Layman , a fund manager in the United States . "" I think she is very well spoken , "" she said . Goode said it appeared Palin had "" learned quite a bit "" from the vice presidential campaign spotlight . "" I am sure she ' s taken enough criticism where , at this point , she would definitely try to learn a little bit in her mistakes , "" he said . He said she shied from discussing U . S . politics , though she did say it had been 10 months since Obama took office and Americans were questioning whether he had made significant headway . Past keynote speakers include former U . S . President Bill Clinton , former Vice President Al Gore , rocker and activist Bob Geldof , South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former U . S . Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan , Wheeler said , noting that does not disclose whether or how much it pays speakers . "" What we look to do is invite our keynote speakers who we feel are opinion makers , who are newsworthy and who we feel our clients a very broad international client base would be interested in hearing from , "" Wheeler said Monday , noting that was a politically neutral , independent brokerage . Chad Tendler , who works in the financial industry , said Palin ' s speech tried "" to tick a lot of boxes , "" touching on domestic and foreign policy , as well as issues that resonate with investors . He said she spoke about the U . S . relationship with China and recent issues , such as a tariff dispute between the two nations involving the sale of tires . He said her speech was "" very well scripted , "" but a question and answer session afterward "" brought out a bit more color about her as a person "" and reminded everyone of "" the candidate who we all saw campaigning for vice president . "" She talked about her family , her interests and even Alaskan moose , he said . "" She said on her way to the airport in Anchorage , there was a moose in the town , "" he said . "" As she arrived in Hong Kong , coming in from the airport , she was surprised not surprised but , very different from the rural setting to an urban setting . "" Wheeler said Palin would be in Hong Kong only for the speech , adding that it was a short trip . Chinese language media did not give much coverage to her appearance , and some residents and visitors were surprised to learn she was in town . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past99710720,10721,"Washington Death sentences plunged this year and the number of executions continued a steady decline as a result of "" growing discomfort "" felt by many Americans on the application of capital punishment . Only 78 people were sentenced to lethal injection so far this year , the first time that number has dropped below 100 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 , according to a study published Thursday by the Death Penalty Information Center . Death sentences last year were at 112 , and have declined by nearly 75 from 15 years ago , when more than 300 individuals were condemned . The center ' s annual report also showed only 43 people were executed in 2011 , down three from last year , and a 56 decline from 12 years ago , when nearly a hundred people were put to death . "" This year , the use of the death penalty continued to decline by almost every measure , "" said Richard Dieter , the executive director of the center , which opposes the death penalty . He said executions , death sentences , public support and the number of states with the death penalty all dropped from previous years . "" Whether it ' s concerns about unfairness , executing the innocent , the high costs of the death penalty , or the general feeling that the government just can ' t get it right , Americans moved further away from capital punishment in 2011 . "" In January , the Illinois legislature voted to repeal the death penalty , replacing it with a sentence of life without parole . In doing so , Illinois became the fourth state in four years to abandon capital punishment . The death penalty has now been abolished in 16 states . In November , Oregon Gov . John Kitzhaber halted a pending execution and declared that no other executions would occur while he was in office . "" I am convinced we can find a better solution that keeps society safe , supports the victims of crime and their families and reflects Oregon values , "" he said . "" I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer . "" But perhaps the loudest outcry was in Georgia , which executed Troy Davis despite serious doubts about his guilt and an international campaign to save his life . Thursday ' s report said the Davis case exposed the deep concerns over the death penalty . "" In many ways the death penalty today resembles the system struck down in 1972 , when the ( Supreme ) Court could find no justification for the small number of death sentences and executions chosen arbitrarily from so many eligible cases , "" the report said . That ' s not to say that Americans want to abolish the death penalty entirely . The decline in the number who prefer the death penalty as the punishment for murder may be related to the growing number who believe that at least one person in the past five years has been executed for a crime that he or she did not commit . In 2005 , when a solid majority preferred the death penalty , 59 believed that an innocent person had been executed within the previous five years . Now that figure has risen dramatically , to 72 . Davis drew widespread support for his claims that an innocent man was being put to death , after federal and state courts had rejected his calls for a new trial . Since Davis ' conviction in 1991 , seven of the nine witnesses against him recanted their testimony , and no physical evidence was presented linking Davis to the killing of a Savannah police officer . However , a federal judge concluded the death row inmate "" vastly overstates the value of his evidence of innocence . "" A Texas execution in July also attracted international attention . Mexican national Humberto Leal Garcia was convicted of raping and killing a 16 year old girl . A world court found the state violated his rights by not giving Leal access to his home country ' s consulate upon his arrest in 1994 , as required by an international treaty . U . S . and Mexican officials , along with a variety of human rights groups , urged Texas to delay the execution , but to no avail . Texas continues to lead the nation as the busiest death penalty state , with 13 executions this year . Alabama was next with six , and Ohio with five . No more are scheduled until next month . Thirty four states have capital laws , but only 13 states carried out that ultimate punishment in 2011 . In addition , several states with capital punishment laws did not sentence anyone to death in 2011 , including Indiana , Maryland , Missouri and South Carolina . Another high profile murder convict in Pennsylvania saw his death sentence commuted . Prosecutors decided this month not to give Mumia Abu Jamal a new capital sentencing hearing . He was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police office Daniel Faulkner , but has long claimed his innocence as a victim of what he called a racist criminal justice system . He will spend the rest of his life in prison . California voters could decide next year whether to abandon the death penalty . That state has the highest death row population 721 people but no one has been executed there since 2006 , when a court ordered moratorium was declared . But one state that rarely has applied the death penalty could see two notorious killers receive that punishment . Steven Hayes was sentenced to death in Connecticut in December 2010 , and a jury this month recommended the same punishment for Joshua Komisarjevsky . They were found guilty of home invasion killings that left a mother and her two daughters dead . State legislators had contemplated abolishing capital punishment , but these defendants may have caused some rethinking , to allow the practice for only the worst of crimes . Connecticut and New Hampshire are the only New England states with the death penalty , but only one person has been executed in the region since 1960 . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past99810724,10725,"Planning a weekend break ? If so , the chances are you have already wildly underestimated how much your trip will cost . In fact , a new survey has revealed that British tourists overspend on European city breaks by more than double what they had initially planned . According to travel search site Skyscanner , Britons typically budget 65 per cent less than the total spend they are likely to need for a weekend break in Europe . But in some cases such as travelling to Paris or Amsterdam , they blow their budgets by more than double what they had planned . The study looked at the total cost for a two night break for two people , staying in a four star hotel in ten of Europe ' s top holiday cities . The survey found that total costs , including flights , ranged from 500 for a trip to Prague to over 900 for a weekend in Paris . The average cost of a city break was found to be around 700 per couple . Alarmingly Brits perceived the cost of a trip to Prague to be around 380 , and the price of a trip to Paris 460 . Brits are also confused as to which cities offer the best value for money , believing Amsterdam to be the cheapest , when in fact the study found it was the third most expensive option . The survey revealed that the total cost was around 400 more than Brits expected . The study also found that Milan and Rome were perceived to be the most expensive , when in reality they are the third and fourth cheapest cities in the study . The new guide from Skyscanner has now calculated the total cost for two people staying in each of the top ten cities , Amsterdam , Prague , Istanbul , London , Munich , Barcelona , Vienna , Paris , Milan , and Rome . It also breaks down the cost for each element of the trip including flights , accommodation in a four star city centre hotel with breakfast , entrance to a top tourist attraction , sightseeing bus tour , dinner and beer . The breakdown costs for each city highlights that a cheap flight does not necessarily equal a cheap break . In some cases , such as Istanbul , taking a slightly more expensive flight is still worth it as the other costs when you get there are so much cheaper . While Prague offers the cheapest beer , with an average cost of 1 . 14 a bottle , Paris was the most expensive , costing on average 6 . 03 a bottle . Skyscanner ' s Mary Porter said : ' As our guide shows , a cheap flight does not necessarily guarantee a great value city break two return flights can be under 30 percent of the total cost , as is the case with Paris . ' It ' s therefore important to consider all your city break costs and we hope that this guide provides clarity for travellers so that planning and budgeting for a weekend is as easy as possible . ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past99910742,10743,"A jogger in Oregon thought he was struck in the head by lightning when he felt sharp pain in his scalp and his hat flew off his head . Then , it struck again and this time he saw a large pair of wings soar away from his bleeding head . Experts say Ron Jaecks , of Salem , was likely attacked by an owl a night stalking predator that normally aims its sharp talons at mice , not humans . Ron Jaecks run every day so he can fit into his spandex Green Bay Packers costume . He was attacked last Tuesday by an owl while on his morning jog ' It was like a huge electric shock ran through my body , but also like I got hit in the head with a two by four all at the same time . Or maybe a strike of lightning . ' Dr Jaecks , a surgeon , told the Salem Statesman Journal . David Craig , a biology professor at Willamette University , said Dr Jaecks as likely attacked by either a barred owl or a great horned owl which can grow to have a wingspan of more than five feet . Their talons can grow up to eight inches long . Dr Jaecks said the unexpected attack combined with initially having no idea what hit him caused him to run around in circles screaming . Experts believe a great horned owl , which can grow up to five feet in wingspan with eight inch talons , attacked the hapless jogger ( stock image ) He thought for a moment that he may have been having a stroke or an aneurysm . Professor Craig says he does not know why the owl decided to attack the innocent jogger . However , he said that such attacks are not unheard of especially when the owls are nesting and become territorial . Dr Jaecks says he runs laps around the park every morning to stay into shape so that he can fit into his green and yellow spandex Green Bay Packers jumpsuit . He ' s never before had problems with being attacked by owls . Dr Jaecks , a surgeon , said he thought he was having a stroke after getting hit in the head by the mysterious force before realizing it was an owl ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past100010752,10753,"Alan Rickman : Daniel Radcliffe posts rare social media message to the late actor From irksome villain to romantic comedy lead , we list five of Alan Rickman ' s remarkable film performances . On screen they spent six films locked in a passionate hate for one another , as Professor ? Severus Snape and Harry Potter , but in life the bond between the late Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe could not have been stronger . The death of the revered 69 year old actor ? has sparked an outpouring of shock and grief from fans and celebrities ? around the world . Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ( 2004 ) . Photo : Warner Brothers As social media lit up with tributes , Radcliffe , a ? known social media ? introvert , offered a rare insight on the loss of Rickman , who died from ? cancer on Thursday . "" Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with . He is also , one of the loyalest ? and most supportive people I ' ve ever met in the film industry , "" Radcliffe said in a post on Google , the only online social network in which he participates . "" He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post Potter . I ' m pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York . He didn ' t have to do that . "" Daniel Radcliffe in the cult movie Harry Potter . Radcliffe spoke of the perceptions created of actors , as a result of the roles they play . "" It might surprise some people to learn that contrary to some of the sterner ( or downright scary ) characters he played , Alan was extremely kind , generous , self deprecating and funny . And certain things obviously became even funnier when delivered in his unmistakable double bass . "" Radcliffe was just 10 years old when he made his on screen debut in the first Harry Potter film , Harry Potter and the Philosopher ' s Stone . For nearly the entire series by author J . K . ? Rowling , Harry Potter ( Radcliffe ) and Severus ? Snape ( Rickman ) have a poisonous relationship , spurred by Snape ' s ? childhood hate for Potter ' s deceased father , who bullied him as a child . But whatever the storyline , off screen , Radcliffe said his time working with Rickman ? had shaped his career . Normally a social media introvert , Daniel Radcliffe has used Google to farewell the late Alan Rickman . "" As an actor , he was one of the first of the adults on Potter to treat me like a peer rather than a child . Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career , "" he said . "" Film sets and theatre stages are all far poorer for the loss of this great actor and man . ? "" Others from the Harry Potter franchise shared their condolences on social media . Rowling said her thoughts were with Rickman ' s family . "" We have lost a great talent . They have lost part of their hearts , "" she said . In a Facebook post she shared in a picture on Twitter , former co star Emma Watson , who played Hermione Granger , expressed her own sadness at the loss of the actor . "" I ' m very sad to hear about Alan today . I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor . I ' ll really miss our conversations . Alan . We love you . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past100110764,10765,"The total student loan debt held by Americans is estimated to be over 1 . 3 trillion dollars , surpassing even total credit card debt as the largest source of household debt in the country . To make matters worse , the average cost of a college education has risen sharply in recent years , thanks in large part to the state budget crunches that followed the recession and the 2008 financial crisis . The numbers are striking : A report earlier this year from the left leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that average annual tuition at public colleges and universities in the U . S . increased by 29 percent between 2008 and 2015 . Some states saw tuition increases of over 60 percent . The Democrats running for president Hillary Clinton , Bernie Sanders , and Martin O ' Malley have argued that the soaring cost of a college education not only drags on the economy by forcing young workers to pay off debt instead of consuming , it also betrays the American dream by pushing a college degree out of reach for the less affluent . Identifying the best way to fix the situation , though , depends on which candidate you ask . From reducing the cost of college to providing relief to people currently holding debt , here ' s a look at the candidates ' proposals . Hillary Clinton ' s "" New College Compact "" is a 350 billion college tuition plan that aims to enable students to attend a four year public college without taking out loans for tuition . Community college would be tuition free . She would institute a 200 billion federal incentive system to give grants to states that promise to offer no loan tuition at four year public colleges and universities , and free community college tuition . "" We need to make a quality education affordable and available to anyone who is willing to work for it without saddling them with decades of debt , "" Clinton said when she unveiled the plan in August . Clinton ' s plan would require students to work 10 hours per week and contribute their wages to their education . And students ' families would also be required to contribute . "" I think it ' s important for everybody to have some part of getting this accomplished , "" she said during the first Democratic debate last month . "" That ' s why I call it a compact . "" To reduce the burden on people currently saddled with student debt , Clinton would allow them to refinance their loans at lower rates . She would also expand programs that calculate monthly loan payments based on a person ' s income , and she ' s said that nobody should have to fork over more than 10 percent of their income to repay student loans . Clinton says her plan would be fully paid for by limiting the tax deductions wealthy Americans are allowed to claim , effectively raising taxes on high income households . Bernie Sanders would go a step further than Clinton : rather than aiming to eliminate the need for students to take out loans to pay tuition , he would eliminate tuition at public colleges and universities altogether . As a senator , he ' s offered a bill to accomplish this plan . "" This is not a radical idea , "" Sanders ' campaign website declares , citing countries like Germany and Sweden that have taken similar steps . "" If other countries can take this action , so can the United States of America . In fact , it ' s what many of our colleges and universities used to do . "" And he ' s said colleges and universities must cover 100 percent of the "" financial needs "" of lower income students by allowing them to spend financial aid on living expenses like books and housing . He ' s criticized Clinton ' s plan , with its incentive programs and work requirements , as too cumbersome . "" I don ' t think we need a complicated system , which the secretary is talking about . . . the income goes down , if you ' re poor you have to work , and so forth , "" he said last month at the first Democratic debate . Sanders , like Clinton , would allow people currently repaying their loans to refinance their debt . And he would reduce interest rates , according to his website , by resetting the formula for calculating student loan interest rates "" back to where it was in 2006 . If this plan were in effect today , interest rates on undergraduate loans would drop from 4 . 29 to just 2 . 37 . "" To pay for his plan , Sanders would impose a tax on high speed trading and other forms of what he ' s described as Wall Street speculation , and he would slash defense spending . Martin O ' Malley , like Clinton , would aim to reduce the cost of tuition and eliminate the need for students to borrow money , rather than eliminating tuition at public colleges as Sanders proposes . He ' s outlined a proposal that aims to ensure any student can access a debt free college education at any in state university within five years . His plan calls on states to immediately freeze tuition rates something he did for four years as governor of Maryland , his website notes and it urges states to undo recent cuts to higher education funding by "" leveraging federal dollars through matching grants . "" Tuition at public four year colleges would be limited to no more than 10 percent of a state ' s median personal income , and it would limit tuition at two year institutions to no more than 5 percent . He would also expand Pell Grants and work study programs . Free college sounds like a commendable goal , some Republicans have said but who ' s going to pay for it ? presidential candidate Marco Rubio , in an interview with Fox News in August , said of Clinton ' s college plan , "" She has to figure out who to raise taxes on so this is about making doing business in America even more expensive raising taxes , and then taking all that money and pouring it into an outdated higher education system . "" Other Republicans have opposed the very idea of giving away a college education for free , arguing that students need to have some skin in the game . "" I f college graduates are going to reap the greater economic rewards and opportunities of earning a degree , then it seems fair for them to support the cost of the education they ' re receiving , "" Chris Christie , also a presidential candidate , said in June . "" Earning a degree should actually involve earning it . "" Given the ' s philosophical objections , all three Democrats can expect to be pressed on how they hope to enact their plans for debt free college in a combative political environment . Some proposals could be instituted unilaterally , but others , like allowing people repaying their loans to refinance or eliminating college tuition altogether , would require an act of Congress . And that will be hard to secure if Republicans maintain their grip on at least one chamber . Ditto for Clinton ' s and Sanders ' plan to hike taxes to pay for their proposals is it realistic to believe Republicans would ever support such measures ? ? 2015 Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past100210782,10783,"California Some lucky Michael Jackson fans got the e mails they were hoping for Sunday , saying they ' ve won two free tickets to Tuesday ' s memorial service . Some memorial tickets went out to "" friends and family "" on Sunday . "" i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service ! ! ! "" Deka Motanya wrote Sunday afternoon in a Twitter message . The 8 , 750 fans chosen were summoned to Dodger Stadium Monday to pick up their tickets and have a wristband placed on their arms to prevent them from reselling them . The Michael Jackson memorial , set for 10 a . m . ( 1 p . m . ) Tuesday in the Staples Center arena , is expected to be a star studded and emotional tribute to the entertainer , who died June 25 . Twitterweblink served as a seismograph Sunday as fans anxiously watched their inboxes for an e mail from Live , the memorial organizer and Staples Center owner . More than five hours after the notifications were to be sent , none had been received . "" Come on and let me know , Staples . . . did I win tickets to Michael Jackson ' s memorial ? "" read one tweet posted at 3 p . m . , four hours after the e mails were supposed to start flowing . One woman wrote she "" is checking her e mail anxiously to see if she got tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial at the Staples Center . "" Just before 5 p . m . ( 8 p . m . ) , Twitter erupted with messages of excitement : "" I won the Michael Jackson tickets for Tuesday ! ! ! ! Heading to tmrw ! ! ! ! "" read one tweet that linked to a photo of an iPhone screen with the e mail . Watch reporters prepare for Tuesday ' s service "" Apparently my dad ' s friend who hates Michael Jackson , may have won tickets tu the memorial service . . . Step mom ' s freaking out . . ! "" Other messages came from disappointed fans who did not get the e mails : "" I guess i didnt make the drawing to win tickets to Michael Jackson Memorial ! ! ! go figure , I ' m sadden and hurt : ( "" The odds of winning the tickets were long just one of every 182 were chosen . Organizers used a computer to choose 8 , 750 names from 1 . 6 million who registered online since Friday . Motanya , 27 , works in a doctor ' s office in San Francisco , California . She scrambled Sunday night to line up plane tickets so she and her boyfriend could fly to Los Angeles Monday to claim her tickets . Each winner gets two tickets , bringing the number awarded in the lottery to 17 , 500 . Just 11 , 000 of those are for seats inside the Staples Center , while the other 6 , 500 are for viewing the memorial telecast across the street at the Nokia Theater . iReportweblink : "" Surreal journey "" to get tickets Winner must meet other requirements "" in order to avoid the reselling of tickets , "" according to a news release from the Jackson family . The notification gives them a secret code and instructions to appear at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles between 8 a . m . and 6 p . m . Monday to claim their tickets . Along with their tickets , they will get the wristbands "" one of which will be placed on their wrist at that time , "" the family statement said . "" Fans attending the memorial service must have both a valid ticket a wristband , "" the Jackson family statement said . "" Wristbands that have been ripped , taped or otherwise mutilated will be void . "" The Jackson family set aside 9 , 000 Staples Center seats to give out to people they choose , according to organizers . Some people were seen picking up those "" friends and family "" tickets at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon . Two wristbands , one blue and one gold , were given out with each ticket . Ticketholders were instructed that they must wear the wristbands to validate their tickets . Police have said no one will be allowed near the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles without tickets or media credentials . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past100310808,10809,"Vice Media announced on Tuesday that it will begin broadcasting its daily newscast on Sept. 26. The show, called “Vice News Tonight,” will run weeknights for 48 weeks a year. Josh Tyrangiel, who was previously the editor of Bloomberg Businessweek and chief content officer for Bloomberg Media, was hired by Vice last October to oversee the show. The daily show is part of Vice’s broader ambitions to make its programming available across the media spectrum. The company, which started as a free punk magazine in Montreal in 1994, introduced its own cable channel, called Viceland, this year. It is not clear what size audience the channel attracts, but Vice plans to release ratings for it next month. Vice recently announced an agreement with to produce and distribute films and other programs. In the last several years, the company has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in financing and signed deals with major media companies including Rogers Communications, a Canadian media conglomerate. It has also pushed to expand its presence internationally, announcing multiplatform deals with the Times of India Group and the Moby Group, a Middle Eastern media group. Vice already produces a weekly newsmagazine show for HBO, called “Vice,” which began in 2013. In a statement, Mr. Tyrangiel said he wanted to make broadcast news more appealing to young viewers. “We’re going to have to earn people’s time and attention with great reporting and original forms of storytelling,” he said. Plans for “Vice News Tonight’’ were first announced in March 2015. At the time, Richard Plepler, chief executive of HBO, said the show would debut that year. A spokesman for Vice Media said in an email that the show was “on schedule. ” Vice has been on an aggressive hiring push in the last year, snapping up dozens of journalists from news organizations including MSNBC, the BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times. Along with Mr. Tyrangiel, the company has hired Nellie Bowles, a technology reporter from The Guardian, and Madeleine Haeringer, an executive producer at and veteran of News. Vice promoted Mr. Tyrangiel in May to run all of the company’s news operations as part of a reorganization of the division. It also laid off roughly a dozen employees.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present100410818,10819,"Georgia Gregory Maguire absently cleans his glasses with his tie as he talks about pushing someone down the stairs . "" I use children ' s stories as kind of a snare and temptation and illusion to draw in readers , "" Gregory Maguire says . "" I wonder if you ' ve ever stood at the top of the stairs behind someone who ' s really annoying and just imagined putting your foot out and planting your boot in somebody ' s objectionable behind ? "" he asks . "" You know , I think that thought is a fairly common human thought . "" Maybe for the author of "" Wicked , "" who looks more like a college English professor than someone who spends his days writing about the world of Oz . Maguire often imagines evil , and how those without self control respond to it . Maguire ' s "" Wicked "" series puts a spin on the classic "" The Wonderful Wizard of Oz "" tale , bringing in corruption , political prisoners and war . His first book , "" Wicked , "" has sold more than 2 . 5 million copies , and the musical based on the book reportedly has been seen by more than 3 . 75 million people in New York alone . National tours have been huge successes . Maguire ' s newest book in the series , "" A Lion Among Men , "" tells the story of the Cowardly Lion the motherless cub defended by Elphaba in "" Wicked . "" Watch Maguire roar about "" Lion "" Gregory Maguire : I would describe my books as being , not quite allegories , but commentaries on contemporary society and indeed politics to some extent enshrouded in , and disguised by , the guise of children ' s stories . In other words , I use children ' s stories as kind of a snare and temptation and illusion to draw in readers who say this is going to be easy . . . and it ' s going to be fun . And indeed I hope it is fun . But once I get people involved in the plot , I hope to also communicate some of the questions I have about the way we live our lives in the 21st century . Maguire : Well , Brrr is the name that I ' ve given to the cowardly lion who is the main character the protagonist in this novel called "" A Lion Among Men . "" And I gave him that name for two reasons : One , because it does sound like a shiver , and he is always slightly spooked by the world and the second reason , because the two letters in it B r r r are both letters from the name of Bert Lahr , who played the Cowardly Lion so famously in the 1939 film . His character arises in the hollow space in our perceptions between that giant roaring lion at the logo . . . the ideal lion , and the kind of sad , sacked , out of work , vaudeville performer in lion pajamas that we see when Dorothy actually runs into the lion on the Yellow Brick Road . In other words , there ' s a huge disconnect between the image we project of ourselves the best we might ever hope to possibly be and the way we feel about ourselves at our absolute worst when we ' re the most down in the dumps . There ' s a huge space in between there . So the novel ' s really in some ways about character and taking control of the destiny of your own character . Maguire : I had written children ' s books for 14 years before I published "" Wicked . "" And none of them were poorly reviewed , and none of them sold enough for me to be able to buy a bed . I was the traditional artist in the garret , expecting to live that way or maybe to give up writing soon because I would eventually have to get a job that was going to pay me some kind of retirement package . Silly thought , that , these days . Maguire : Well , I like to think I ' m a pretty good natured guy and pretty civil and probably not ever truly guilty in any serious way of any legal infractions . But I do seem to have an unconscionable , easy time of thinking about how people might do wrong , of what they might feel like and how they might behave if they had less self control than I do . And then also , how they would have to deal with the weight of being called evil . If everyone was always calling you a bad name , how much of that would you internalize ? How much of that would you say , all right , go ahead , I ' ll be everything that you call me because I have no capacity to change your minds anyway so why bother . By whose standards should I live ? In a way , all three of my adult books come down to that question by whose standards should I live ? Can I find my own standards ? Can I recognize them ? Can I value them if I can name them ? And are they good enough , are they strong enough , standards by which to live ? Maguire : Well , for one thing children are intensely more impatient than adults . So you have to start out active , you have to start out strong and you cannot be , for a moment , self indulgent . Everything has to be a sound bite or something that the children can visualize as if they ' re running a little Super 8 projector in their mind . Now I date myself with ancient technology , but you know what I mean . . . write the scene that you want Steven Spielberg to film , which means every sentence has to give us something to see . Make it intensely visual and this is , I think , the main rule for writing for children . But in no way do I make it less thoughtful . I just actually have to work harder . Writing for children is like the difference between writing a sonnet and writing a gossip column . I mean you have a lot more restrictions so you have to work a lot harder . I ' m not saying that a gossip column can ' t be intensely rewarding , but I dare say it ' s easier to write . Maguire : I have , but I never seem to get very far . In a way , and I don ' t mean to talk myself down , but sometimes I look at the mysteries of other people and I think , "" How do I know if they think anything like I think ? "" I can only guess who you might be . You might see the world in a whole different range of colors than I do . You might be super sensitive to nuances of body language or music or . . . I just don ' t know . So I always feel when I try to write realistic fiction for adults , that maybe I don ' t have enough life experience , even though I ' m 54 . I ' m not sure I trust it . But when I write something that has a magic base to it , I put in everything I do know about the infinite varieties and subtleties and ambivalences in adult behavior , but nobody can call me out and say , "" You don ' t even know who human beings are "" because I ' ve couched it . I suppose it ' s a kind of safety net for myself , or a security blanket . If I ' m writing magic , nobody can say I got it wrong because we all know magic doesn ' t exist . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past100510826,10827,"Rather than engage in a sectarian conflict , the military campaign is to preserve s geopolitical interests and counter Iran s hegemony In March this year , the last elected president of Yemen , Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi , formally asked the Gulf Cooperation Council ( ) to intervene militarily against his country s Al Houthi rebels , after he escaped from a palace where Al Houthis had imprisoned him along with several of his senior aides . At the time , the Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin warned that the ongoing conflict affected the entire nation , clarifying that Al Houthis wrecked the proposed peace talks in Riyadh that , presumably , encouraged all Yemenis to rekindle their plans to sabotage the lingering national dialogue . In time , and after Yemeni authorities concluded that Al Houthis rejected any and all peace initiatives ( those proposed by the and those brokered by the Security Council ) , President Hadi formally requested the s Peninsula Shield Force to intervene and end the Al Houthi expansion across the country . Saudi Arabia s then Foreign Minister , Prince Saud Al Faisal expressed States sentiment best when he stated : The Al Houthi coup threatens the security and stability of Yemen , the region and the world , and warned that if the Al Houthi coup does not end peacefully , we will take the necessary measures for this crisis to protect the region . Importantly , and while not a full fledged alliance member , Yemeni security was inseparable from the preoccupations that mobilised states , which was the chief reason why Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Qatar , the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain intervened to protect the Arabian Peninsula . Only Oman refrained though the secretary general labelled the Al Houthi takeover of parts of Yemen as a terrorist act . Presumably , Muscat signed on to this appellation even if the Sultanate preferred to leave the door ajar for an eventual diplomatic settlement . Notwithstanding the Omani desire to reduce tensions , few believed that Al Houthi control of the capital city , Sana a , in September 2014 ? along with several northern provinces ? would be allowed to stand , although President Hadi did not formally request military assistance until after his temporary base in the port city of Aden came under attack . The late Saudi King Abdullah and his successor , King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz , displayed incredible patience , waiting for the Security Council to act after it sanctioned the two top Al Houthi leaders as well as the maverick former Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh . In the event , the Iranian backed Al Houthis and military supporters of Saleh made steady advances , captured much of the third largest city of Taiz , as well as its airport , and eventually reached Aden . What are the objectives of the states in general , and those of the in particular , in the war for Yemen ? To be sure , the first goal of the war was to liberate the country from Al Houthis and bring Hadi back to power , which was partially achieved . Far more important , however , the and its allies focused on the security and stability of the Arabian Peninsula , which the pro Iranian Al Houthis threatened . That much was a given and , in the words of Dr Anwar Gargash , the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs , the difficult decision has now become necessary in confronting Al Houthi violence and rebellion and strategic threat to the Gulf through missiles , which pose an unacceptable growing threat . After what seemed like interminable negotiations , the agreed to join Saudi Arabia and the other eight coalition members to launch airstrikes against Al Houthi rebels , because it concluded that the Emirates s own security was at risk . At first , the deployed a few dozen warplanes , though it also put boots on the ground when the battle required it . It took serious casualties under both Operation Decisive Storm ( March 26 April 21 , 2015 ) and Operation Restoring Hope ( April 22 , 2015 present ) , as a total of 70 Emirati soldiers were martyred . This fact alone sealed the s resolve that would deny Iran , which carried the banner of Al Houthis , any kind of victory . Senior leaders , including His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Vice President and Prime Minister of the and Ruler of Dubai , as well as His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan , Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces , were adamant in their commitments to help the Yemenis overcome Al Houthi onslaught . Given Al Houthis militant nature , and their reluctance to accept the vast majority of Yemenis who disagreed with their allegiance to Iran , it was difficult to foresee a political solution to the ongoing confrontations . Interestingly , and whatever differences existed among the twin military pillars of the , Saudi Arabia and the , it is fair to state that the war for Yemen has brought the two countries closer together than at any other previous time . In fact , countries thwarted Iranian attempts to divide the even if Oman retained its political distance from core military decisions . What the wished to achieve was to guarantee the security of Yemen , persuaded that doing so protected the security of the entire Gulf region . Naturally , the preferred option was to reach a peaceful solution to get Yemen out from the dark tunnel that Al Houthis had dug , though the will to intervene militarily became inevitable after all possible political solutions were exhausted . Of course , the perceived Iran s hegemony and expansionist strategy in the region with alarm , though limited media coverage of the war skirted Tehran s brazen activities . Coalition members accused Iran of militarily and financially supporting Al Houthis , backed by John Kerry , the Secretary of State , who recognised that there were obviously supplies that have been coming from Iran even while he and his team were negotiating in earnest with Tehran to reach an agreement over the latter s nuclear programme . In fact , Iran dispatched dozens of flights before hostilities broke , providing Al Houthis with weapons . Not surprisingly , Iran denied these claims , though government troops in Aden said that they captured two officers who belonged to the Iranian Quds Force in early April , presumed military advisers to Al Houthi militias in the city . The claim was not repeated and the officers were kept in abeyance , which buttressed the argument that Al Houthis were not just an Iranian proxy force , even if reliable assertions surfaced that Iran shipped weapons to the Al Houthis between 2009 and 2013 . Whether fresh supplies reached Yemen after 2013 was a hotly debated issue although the over militarised Yemeni society was never shy of arms . Consequently , and even if Iran did not exert , or only partially wielded , command and control over Al Houthis in Yemen , there was little doubt that Tehran cared deeply about the hapless country and its co religionists there . In fact , on May 6 , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , Iran s Supreme Leader , opined that the Americans shamelessly support the killing of the Yemeni population , but they accuse Iran of interfering in that country and of sending weapons when Iran only seeks to provide medical and food aid , something which few believed since media reports affirmed that an Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons , including rockets and anti tank shells , was intercepted and seized 150 miles southeast of the Omani Port of Salalah on September 26 . Few doubted that Iran was effective in achieving regional prominence . Its presence in the region s failed states , including Lebanon where Hezbollah exerted undue power and , against the will of the majority , unequivocally supported the Bashar Al Assad regime , was well known . Similarly , Tehran tamed the backed government in Baghdad , and wished to do likewise with Al Houthis of Yemen . Bahraini and Kuwaiti authorities repeatedly arrested scores of operatives smuggling Iranian arms into their countries . Ironically , by sending weapons , mercenaries and some of its Revolutionary Guards to fight in Syria and elsewhere , Iran justified its various actions under the brilliant manoeuvre of combating both terrorism and Western imperialism . For its part , the rejected Iranian pretence of innocence and backed the Saudi led campaign in Yemen for yet another reason , namely the threat to trade were Iran to dominate the strategic straits of Hormuz and Bab Al Mandeb . Inasmuch as economic and military sanctions imposed on Iran for over two decades seriously damaged the latter s welfare , most observers concluded that Tehran finally accepted the will of the international community over its ongoing nuclear programme , to alleviate what was a serious economic strangulation . To be sure , Iranian negotiators proved their mettle and , it may be safe to state that while Tehran managed to mount counter measures , it reluctantly accepted strict conditions imposed by the P5 1 group . Yet , states in general and the in particular , experienced the Iranian deceptions for decades as Tehran used the trade weapon to discourage several countries from cooperating with sanctions or aligning themselves too closely with the anti Iran camp . Tehran thus used trade to discourage several states from forming a united anti Iranian front headed by Saudi Arabia even if the post 2011 Arab uprisings meant that political considerations would determine the direction that conservative Arab monarchies pursued . In late 2011 and early 2012 , Iran called for the joint development of its shared gas fields with Kuwait and Qatar , though it deliberately left out the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , believing that it did not need to bother with its ideological and strategic foe . In late August this year , it reached an agreement with Oman to build a new 400 km gas pipeline that would carry Iranian natural gas to Sohar on the Sea of Oman in the Indian Ocean . According to press reports , Tehran aimed to export 28 million cubic metres of gas per day to Oman for 15 years that , at current prices could eventually fetch 60 billion . This was a clear example of the method used by Iran to create an economic wedge within the that , left unchallenged , would have a serious impact on the regional alliance . It continued to insist that whatever agreements were reached over regional security arrangements must , by definition , receive its approval since it was the leading power in the area , though it was oblivious to its calls for sectarian uprisings in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that , naturally , irritated both monarchies and further altered perceptions throughout the realm . For all its prowess , nevertheless , Iran failed to divide the alliance and though it blocked imports from the as a punitive measure in response to the s support for sanctions before the P5 1 accord was reached in mid 2015 , its economic co option strategy tumbled after the joined the Saudi military coalition to fight Al Houthis in Yemen . There were no doubts that the was 100 per cent aligned with Saudi policy towards Iran , something that the so called economic co option strategy was supposed to prevent , but could not because the agreed with Riyadh . If the was lukewarm towards international sanctions against Iran before 2011 because Emiratis benefited from their economic ties with that country , recent Iranian bravura to close the strategic straits of Hormuz and Bab Al Mandeb , the war in Yemen , and perceived Iranian meddling in internal affairs ? especially in Bahrain and Kuwait ? essentially removed any lingering doubts . The war for Yemen provided an opportunity for the as a whole , and the in particular , to defend intrinsic interests that , while cognizant of an important Iran as a neighbour , were nevertheless no longer willing to roll over and play dead . Dr Joseph A . Kechichian is the author of the forthcoming From Alliance To Union : Challenges Facing Gulf Cooperation Council States In The Twenty First Century . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past100610827,10828,"Battery life is consistently listed as a major feature customers want from their gadgets and it ' s such a major sticking point , Apple is even said to have delayed launching its smartwatch to get it right . And while many smartwatches boast a two to seven day battery life , an Illinois based site is selling a design that is said to last for an entire year . It is also almost half the price of Apple ' s device , at 179 . 95 ( 110 ) , and connects to any Android or iPhone device . The No Charge watch ( pictured left ) uses one set of batteries for an entire year . It connects to a range of smartphones using Bluetooth Smart technology . When someone calls the connected phone , the watch displays the caller , as well as texts , emails , social media posts , and calendar appointments ( pictured right ) The 179 . 95 ( 110 ) No Charge uses one set of batteries for a year . It connects to a range of smartphones using Bluetooth Smart technology . When someone calls the connected phone , the watch displays the caller . It also shows texts , emails , social media posts , and the phone ' s battery status . Buttons on the side of the bezel let wearers play or pause music playing on the phone , or take a picture . The water resistant watch has a stainless steel bezel and scratch resistant glass . The No Charge watch is available from online retailer Hammacher Schlemer . According to the gadget ' s product page , the watch uses one set of batteries for an entire year . It connects to a range of smartphones using Bluetooth Smart technology . This uses a fraction of the energy required by older versions of Bluetooth , claims the firm , ' allowing the batteries to last up to one year and eliminating tedious recharging ' . When someone calls the connected phone , the watch displays the caller , and will also reveal the number of missed calls . Elsewhere , the No Charge watch shows incoming texts , emails , social media posts , calendar invites and appointments , and the phone ' s battery status . And buttons on the side of the bezel let wearers play or pause music playing on the phone , or take a picture . The watch has a stainless steel bezel , scratch resistant mineral glass , and a rubber strap . It is also water resistant . Battery life is consistently listed as a major feature customers want from their gadgets and it ' s such a major sticking point , Apple is even said to have delayed launching its smartwatch ( pictured with chief executive Tim Cook ) to get it right The closest Mr Cook ( pictured ) came to talking about the battery life for the 349 ( 216 ) Apple Watch , during a launch event last month , was saying that users would ' charge it at night . ' He did , however , spend time talking about the watch ' s charging system , which combines Apple ' s MagSafe technology with inductive charging By comparison , Samsung ' s Galaxy Gear 2 Neo ( pictured ) claims to have a six day battery life Apple is said to be unhappy with its own watch ' s battery life , and , as a result , the 349 ( 216 ) device is not expected to ship before February . Most existing smartwatches on the market , such as the Pebble , tend to last up to a week on a single charge . Samsung ' s Galaxy Gear 2 Neo claims to have a six day battery life , but , in reality , this is closer to four days . The closest Apple ' s chief executive Tim Cook came to talking about the battery life for the watch , during a launch event last month , was saying that users would ' charge it at night . ' He did , however , spend some time talking about the watch ' s charging system , which combines Apple ' s MagSafe technology with inductive charging . Smartwatches have grown in popularity this year . Samsung recently unveiled its Gear S device , the Moto 360 is set to launch later this month , and O2 has announced it is the only mobile network to stock the newly launched Pebble and Pebble Steel Smartwatches . The Pebble Smartwatch costs 99 ( 99 ) , and the Pebble Steel costs 179 . 00 ( 199 ) . Both models are also available from retailer Firebox . The Pebble smartwatch is said to last up to a week on a single charge . Earlier this week , O2 announced it is the only mobile network to stock the newly launched Pebble and Pebble Steel Smartwatches ( pictured left to right ) . The Pebble Smartwatch costs 99 ( 99 ) , and the Pebble Steel costs 179 ( 199 ) ",true,text,test,Football,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present100710832,10833,"One of the world ' s largest pulp and paper companies is destroying Indonesia ' s rainforests and taking away the habitat of rare animals , environmental group Greenpeace charged Tuesday . The Greenpeace report accuses Asia Pulp and Paper of "" relentlessly trashing rainforests , driving species extinction and , if left unchecked , will threaten Indonesia ' s efforts to address climate change . "" , a division of Sinar Mas , denied the charges levied by Greenpeace , including the alleged expansion of logging operations by 17 million hectares ( 42 million acres ) . "" The allegations are totally illogical and untrue , Asia Pulp and Paper has no plans for the expansions in question , "" said Aida Greenbury , an spokeswoman , who said the Indonesian government has publicly announced that their quota for pulp and paper is 10 million hectares ( 25 million acres ) by 2014 . "" I urged Greenpeace to do a proper research before putting such allegations "" Greenbury added . Sinar Mas , which also has a palm oil arm , has long be a target of Greenpeace efforts to curb deforestation . The environmental group says the land cleared for palm oil plantations , and for pulp and paper products is doing long term damage to Indonesia ' s rainforests and the environment . Greenpeace says a 1 billion deal between Norway and Indonesia announced in May to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a moratorium on logging has a loophole that would allow to clear sensitive forest and peatlands . "" Millions of hectares of forests including hundreds of thousands of hectares under Sinar Mas control are not part of the deal with Norway , "" said Bustar Maitar , a Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner . "" This loophole will undermine all attempts to reduce Indonesia ' s emissions . President ( Susilo Bambang ) Yudhoyono must act immediately by implementing a moratorium on all forest destruction and ensure the protection of peatlands . Only then will we be able to really reduce Indonesia ' s emissions . "" Indonesia is one of the world ' s largest emitters of greenhouse gases because of rampant clearing and burning of its forests and peat lands for logging and conversion into palm oil plantations . The country has long been a target of harsh criticisms from environmental groups who have accused the government of failing to enforce its own laws . Yudhoyono said in May that Indonesia would "" conduct a moratorium for two years where we stop the conversion of peat land and of forest . "" He was joined by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg , who said Norway would provide 1 billion to Indonesia to help with the effort to reduce deforestation . "" Indonesia is a key country in terms of reducing deforestation . Therefore this agreement and Indonesia ' s commitment is a great step forward in achieving large scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions , "" Stoltenberg said . Yudhoyono said the halt on new concessions would start in 2010 as part of a broader strategy to reduce the nation ' s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26 percent by 2020 . Deforestation accounts for almost a fifth of total greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change . The Indonesia Norway partnership to cut emissions is part of a broader international strategy called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation , or , that would make stored carbon dioxide in tropical forests a commodity that can be bought and sold on the global market . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past100810837,10838,"California Friday ' s two train collision killed 25 people and injured more than 130 others near Los Angeles after an engineer failed to heed a traffic signal , a spokeswoman for Metrolink commuter trains said . A commuter rail car lies on its side after a collision Friday near Los Angeles , California . The engineer was guiding the Metrolink train that slammed head on into a freight train and is not believed to have survived , Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said on Saturday . "" It was human error , "" Tyrrell said , adding this was Metrolink ' s belief "" barring any new information "" from an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board . spokeswoman Kitty Higgins said the agency would "" look at everything before we rule anything in or out . "" Tyrrell said the engineer , whom she didn ' t identify , was a subcontractor employed by another company . She said she did not have details of his record . The crash occurred about 4 : 30 p . m . Friday in Chatsworth , a northwest Los Angeles suburb . The Metrolink train had about 220 passengers and two crew members on board at the time , according to Tyrrell . Watch rescuers search for victims Forty five of the injured were in critical condition , with 40 flown to hospitals , Tyrrell said . Another 50 had minor injuries , and 40 others were treated at the crash site but transported to hospitals for evaluation . In the minutes after the crash , passers by joined emergency personnel in an effort to free passengers from the wreckage . On Saturday afternoon , Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the search of the wreckage had finished . Earlier in the day , authorities were picking through the wreckage and freeing trapped bodies . Ed Winter , assistant chief of the Los Angeles County coroner ' s office , told reporters two bodies both of females had yet to be identified . If the females had carried identification , it probably was lost in the crash , he said . As of 9 a . m . Saturday , authorities had been able to notify relatives of eight victims , he said . Gov . Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the crash site on Saturday , telling reporters it was "" one of the worst train accidents in modern history in California . "" The will make a final determination of the crash ' s cause . Higgins , the agency ' s spokeswoman , said data recorders have been recovered from both trains , along with a video recorder from the freight train . Higgins said that out of the trains ' five crew members , four survived . Authorities will interview the surviving crew members , Higgins said . Tyrrell said a review of "" a number of programs , "" including the signal system , showed the commuter train ' s engineer failed to heed a stop signal , Tyrrell said . "" We don ' t know how the error happened , but this is what we believe happened , "" Tyrrell said . The wreck occurred on a curved part of the track where the speed limit is 40 mph , Tyrrell said . She said that just like road vehicles , trains are subject to signal systems . At the wreck site is a siding where one train can wait while another passes , she said . "" They receive a signal to stop and they must hold their location until other traffic has passed , "" she said . Villaraigosa praised police officers and firefighters for working under emotionally draining conditions and treating the victims with respect . "" This has been a grueling night for them , "" he said . The crash sparked a fire that impeded firefighters ' s efforts to reach the front commuter car , where most of the injuries occurred , Los Angeles County sheriff ' s spokesman Steve Whitmore said . The fire eventually was brought under control . "" We ' ve already found survivors trapped under fatalities , "" Whitmore said late Friday . Among those killed was Spree Desha , 35 , a Los Angeles police officer on her way home from work , officials said Saturday . "" It ' s not unusual for us to respond to disasters , "" said Jerry Szymanski , an assistant commander for the . "" When we got here , we found it was one that hit close to home . "" Desha had "" mentored and trained a lot of the young officers in the North Hollywood area , "" Szymanski said . Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Friday night a sheriff ' s deputy was in a hospital ' s intensive care unit after collapsing while conducting rescue work . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past100910842,10843,"Obama Explains How Climate Change Is Akin to the Problem of Terrorism President Barack Obama said that the problem of climate change shares similarities with the problem of terrorism and the Islamic State . On both fronts , the president said , the United States must keep going at it , see what works and push away fear . I m optimistic . I think we re going to solve it . I think the issue is just going to be the pace and how much damage is done before we are able to fully apply the breaks , Obama said of climate change . In some ways , it s akin to the problem of terrorism and . Obama took reporters questions Tuesday in Paris , the site of an Islamic State terrorist attack on Nov . 13 , as part of a press conference at COP21 , a U . N . global conference to combat climate change being attended by nearly 200 world leaders . Shifting from climate change to terrorism , Obama went on to talk about the terror attacks in Paris . In the immediate aftermath of the terrible attack that happened here in Paris , sometimes it s natural for people to despair . But look at Paris . You can t tear down Paris because of the demented actions of a handful of individuals , Obama said . The beauty , joy , the life , the culture , the people , the diversity . That s going to win out every time . He then explained the commonalities between the fight against climate change and against terrorism . But we have to be steady in applying pressure to the problem . We have to keep on going at it , Obama said . We have to see what works . When something doesn t work , we need to change our approach . But most of all we have to push away fear and have confidence that human innovations , our values , our judgment , our solidarity will win out . The president said other global problems have been solved through international cooperation . I ve been at this long enough where I have some cause for confidence , Obama said . We went what , a month , a month and a half where people were pretty sure Ebola was going to kill us all . Nobody asks me about it anymore . Although we still see flickers of it in West Africa , we still set up a whole global health security agenda , part of American leadership , to deal not only with Ebola but to deal with the possibility of future pandemics . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past101010862,10863,"The anniversary of 9-11 reminds us of the danger we face when foreign terrorists commit crimes against our citizens. Unfortunately, thanks to Obama s war against America, we have a new enemy who may be just as dangerous, as these domestic terrorists driven by hate, act out their crimes in the same cowardly way as the terrorists of 9-11. Since the refuses to do anything to stop domestic terrorists within the #BlackLivesMatter movement who have publicly called for open season on crackers and cops, a national movement called #OPdethrone has just launched in an effort to stop this group, before any more innocent people lose their lives.Over the past several weeks, we have watched in horror as directives from this group have been carried out, as police officers and white people across the nation have been randomly targeted and brutally executed. And now this group is planning another act of terror this coming 9/11. Although the final details of the event are shrouded in mystery, we do know that this group is planning something big on 9/11, and they are directing their followers to bring their guns and convene at Stone Mountain, where they proclaim that things are about to go down. Although the has been alerted, it appears that nothing has been done to stop this terror organization. In the meantime, this group continues to gain momentum and supporters. In a last-ditch effort to warn his fellow Americans and beacon the to intervene, investigator Hannibal fromweblink has compiled a short documentary video highlighting this group s acts of terror. Hopefully this video will help put an end to the group s activities before anymore of their violent calls to action come to fruition.We are asking that everyone watch and share this video, as this is our final attempt to stop this group before they carry out their violent plans on 9/11. It is quite lengthy at over 18 minutes long, but every detail is incredibly important, and vital for telling the full story and making all the connections.Via: Universal Free Press",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present101110871,10872,"Reuters) - Palestinians seethed with anger and a sense of betrayal over U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Many heard the death knell for the long-moribund U.S.-sponsored talks aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. They also said more violence could erupt. Trump wants to help Israel take over the entire city. Some people may do nothing, but others are ready to fight for Jerusalem, said Hamad Abu Sbeih, 28, an unemployed resident of the walled Old City. This decision will ignite a fire in the region. Pressure leads to explosions, he said. Jerusalem specifically its eastern Old City, home to important shrines of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli captured Arab East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East War then later annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. Palestinians want it to be the capital of a future independent state and resolution of its status is fundamental to any peace-making. Trump is due to announce later on Wednesday that the United States recognizes the city as Israel s capital and will move its embassy there from Tel Aviv, breaking with longtime policy.. This is insane. You are speaking about something fateful. Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Palestine and neither the world nor our people will accept it, said Samir Al-Asmar, 58, a merchant from the Old City who was a child when it fell to Israel. It will not change what Jerusalem is. Jerusalem will remain Arab. Such a decision will sabotage things and people will not accept it. Palestinian newspapers also decried the move. Trump Defies the World, thundered Al-Ayyam. Another, Al-Hayat, roared Jerusalem is the Symbol of Palestinian Endurance in a red-letter headline over an image of the city s mosque compound flanked by Palestinian flags. Palestinian leaders have also warned the move could have dangerous consequences. Although winter rains dampened protests called for East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip, few doubted fresh bloodshed now loomed. Israeli security forces braced for possible unrest but police said the situation in Jerusalem was calm for now. That could quickly change, given the religious passions that swirl around the Old City, where Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam s third-holiest shrine, abuts the Western Wall prayer plaza, a vestige of two ancient Jewish temples. Palestinians mounted two uprisings, or intifadas, against Israeli occupation from 1987 to 1993 then from 2000 to 2005, the latter ignited by a visit by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the shrine area, known to Jews as Temple Mount. Violent confrontations also took place in July when Israel installed metal detectors at an entrance to Al-Aqsa compound after Arab gunmen holed up there killed two of its policemen. Four Palestinians and three Israelis died in ensuing violence. In the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza, demonstrators chanted Death to America , Death to Israel and Down with Trump . They also burned posters depicting the U.S., British and Israeli flags. Youssef Mohammad, a 70-year-old resident of a refugee camp, said Trump s move would be a test for Arab leadership at a time of regional chaos and shifting alliances. Let him do it. Let s see what Arab rulers and kings will do. They will do nothing because they are cowards, the father of eight said. The Jerusalem uproar could affect Egyptian-brokered efforts to bring Gaza, which has been under Islamist Hamas control for a decade, back under the authority of U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who favors negotiation with Israel. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said Trump s planned moved showed the United States was biased. The United States was never a neutral mediator in any cause of our people. It has always stood with the occupation (Israel), he said. He said Abbas administration should rid itself of the illusion that rights can be achieved through an American-backed deal . (Corrects Ariel Sharon s title to opposition leader) ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past101210882,10883,"A woman who was overcome by fumes at an industrial cellar died after losing her balance and falling into a giant vat of wine . Wine specialist Nerea Perez was watching the fermenting process at the cellar in the Spanish village of Salas de los Barrios , in the north west of the country . It has been reported that the 25 year old was overcome by the fumes given off during the process causing her to lose her balance and fall into the vat . Nerea Perez died after falling into a vat of wine at an industrial cellar after being overcome by fumes ( file picture ) Emergency services were then called to scene after receiving a call that about an incident at a warehouse . However , when they reached the cellar , they were unable to save her as she became intoxicated by the gases and could only retrieve her body . According to InfoBizero , her uncle Raul Perez , a well known winemaker , found her body . The emergency services also had to give assistance to members of Miss Perez ' s family , who were said to be overcome with grief after the incident . Tributes have already been paid to Miss Perez , who was also the secretary of the Socialist Youth of Bierzo , in the town of Ponferrada , El Bierzo . The incident happened at an industrial wine cellar in Salas de los Barrios , pictured , in north west Spain All campaigning by the group was suspended today as a mark of respect as people took to social media to speak of their shock . Alvaro Gerarfo Courel , the district secretary of the party told the website : ' We regret the loss of a member of the Bierzo , a companion , which is made more painful by the circumstance and her youth . ' We will show deepest sympathy and send a big hug to her family , friends and the Socialist Youth of Bierzo . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past101310883,10884,"Odds are against dismissal of Cosby ' s sex assault case experts Bill Cosby ' s lawyers may face difficulty in convincing a Pennsylvania judge this week to throw out sexual assault charges in light of what the disgraced comedian ' s defense team characterizes as a decade old non prosecution deal , legal experts said . Cosby is due back in court in Norristown , Pennsylvania , on Tuesday , after the 78 year old entertainer was charged last month with sex assault in 2004 . The alleged victim says Cosby had plied with alcohol and drugs . It is the only criminal prosecution that Cosby has ever faced , even though dozens of women have accused him of assault , in some cases decades ago . The hearing outside Philadelphia will center on the defense ' s argument that the charges violate an agreement struck in 2005 with then Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor . Cosby ' s lawyers say Castor promised not to prosecute the comedian if he agreed to testify in a civil case brought by his accuser , Andrea Constand . Castor has backed that account in an email sent in September to his successor as district attorney . In that email , Castor said he had reached a binding deal with Cosby ' s lawyers . The defense has not produced any written agreement , a point made by prosecutors in seeking to undermine Castor ' s story . "" Cosby had good attorneys , "" said Anne Poulin , a law professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania . "" If they had negotiated something , I think they would have gotten something in writing . "" But in court papers filed on Thursday , Cosby ' s lawyers said prosecutors had waited so long to bring charges that evidence verifying the agreement had disappeared . Cosby ' s former lawyer has since died , and documents that might have corroborated the deal have been lost , they said . Wesley Oliver , a law professor at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania , said it was highly unlikely that a document as critical as a non prosecution agreement would go missing . "" This is not like some receipt for his taxes in 1953 , "" he said . "" This is a get out of jail free card . This is something you keep in a safety deposit box in a temperature controlled room . "" Castor may appear at the hearing to testify that he promised not to prosecute in exchange for Cosby ' s civil testimony . Castor ' s lawyer , Robert Pugh , said he had advised Castor not to comment publicly on the case . Kevin Steele , who was elected last year as Montgomery County ' s district attorney after vowing during the campaign to work on charging Cosby , cited Cosby ' s recently unsealed testimony as crucial evidence in filing criminal charges last month . Cosby has portrayed the encounter as consensual but acknowledged giving Constand Benadryl and wine , which she claims incapacitated her . Cosby ' s lawyers did not return a call for further comment . Even if Castor ' s claim is taken at face value , prosecutors have argued the deal did not carry formal immunity without a judge ' s approval under state law . In addition , they have said Castor did not have the authority to make such an arrangement . Poulin , the Villanova professor , said she would be "" shocked "" if a judge found Castor had the power to "" bind his office in perpetuity . "" She also said that if a non prosecution agreement really existed , Cosby could have sought a formal order of immunity from the judge overseeing the civil case . That said , some experts said a judge could find that if Cosby relied on Castor ' s promise , it would be unfair for him to suffer the consequences . Judy Ritter , a law professor at Widener University in Delaware , said the judge was unlikely to dismiss the entire case but could theoretically bar prosecutors from using Cosby ' s civil testimony . "" That depends on the finding of the facts , "" she said . "" Who promised what , and what was said ? "" ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past101410914,10915,"Modi arrives in Paris to attend the Climate Change Conference ( COP21 ) which begins tomorrow Central African Republic Steps Up Security Ahead of Pope Visit World Reuters Updated : November 29 , 2015 03 : 37 Pope Francis arrives at the House of Charity of Nalucolongo in Kampala , November 28 , 2015 . ( Reuters Photo ) Bangui : ? French and U . N . armoured vehicles and tanks jostled with ramshackle yellow taxis on the congested streets of Central African Republic ' s capital on Saturday as security was beefed up a day before the arrival of Pope Francis . The pope ' s visit to the former French colony , racked since 2013 by a conflict that has descended into inter religious bloodshed , has been welcomed by both the majority Christian community and the Muslim minority . Interim President Catherine Samba Panza said on Saturday that the event could mark a turning point in the fighting , which has pitted neighbours against each other . "" Central Africans know that the pope is a messenger of peace , and they hope that the message he is going to deliver to them will trigger a national awakening and awareness so that Central Africans learn to live together once again , "" she said . However , in the days before his scheduled arrival his exact itinerary has been in doubt and there has been speculation that security concerns might force the final leg of the pope ' s first African tour to be called off altogether . Following months of relative calm , clashes have again flared around Bangui ' s PK5 , an enclave of Muslims , leaving at least 100 people dead since late September , according to Human Rights Watch . Pope Francis , who arrives in Bangui on Sunday from Uganda , is scheduled to visit a mosque the following day in PK5 , which has been under a blockade by Christian militias for the last two months . French officials warned the Vatican earlier this month that the trip to Central African Republic could put the pope as well as hundreds of thousands of believers at risk . Church officials , however , have given assurances that the visit will go ahead . "" I asked myself , before God , is it true what the French said that they didn ' t have the capacity to secure the pope ' s visit , "" said Arlette Tanga , a volunteer who cares for those wounded in the inter religious conflict . "" But I had faith in God and it worked . "" Central African Republic ' s U . N . peacekeeping mission , , is heading up a massive push to limit the risks in the run down riverside city ahead of the visit . has received extra soldiers and will deploy between 3 , 000 and 4 , 000 troops . New surveillance drones and observation balloons capable of quickly pinpointing trouble spots anywhere in Bangui hover in the skies above the city . The Central African government is contributing some 500 police and gendarmes . And France ' s 900 soldiers in the country are also on alert . In addition to Bangui ' s residents , thousands of Catholics are expected to brave militia and rebel checkpoints and travel there from other parts of Central African Republic to catch a glimpse of the pope . Others will cross the Ubangi River in small boats from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo , raising concerns over the capacity to control the massive crowds expected to turn out . Government spokesman Dominique Said Panguindji , however , said the authorities were doing everything necessary to keep order , including training and deploying thousands of boy and girl scouts to cordon off the pope ' s route through Bangui . "" Between the government and the Christian community , I think a combined effort will allow us to ensure the security of the Holy Father during this visit . We won ' t be overwhelmed , "" he said . Story First Published : November 29 , 2015 03 : 37 ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present101510917,10918,"Japan unlikely to sway despite higher Aussie Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda sprang a surprise on investors by adopting a negative interest rate strategy to spur banks to lend in the face of a weakening economy . Extreme monetary ? easing by the Bank of Japan on Friday has ? done little to strengthen the case for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the cash rate at Tuesday ' s board meeting , but it is likely to slow any further depreciation ? of the Australian dollar . In late ? afternoon trade the local unit was fetching US70 . 75 ? , down sharply from a high of US71 . 41 ? after the Bank of Japan on Friday introduced negative interest rates on excess bank reserves . However , the Aussie still remains well above the almost seven year low ? of US68 . 27 ? logged in mid January , amid renewed market turmoil and commodity price weakness . Patchy economic data and signs of a less aggressive tightening cycle by the Federal Reserve have also held up the Aussie in recent days . The domestic currency ' s relative resilience against the greenback and those of its ? trade partners ? is likely to be noted in Tuesday ' s minutes , says ? Nomura chief rate strategist for Australia ? Andrew Ticehurst . "" The Australian dollar ? against the greenback and the trade weighted index ? ? has ? declined a fraction since the last met in early December , but only modestly ? ? ? 1 . 2 per cent ? ? and iron ore and many commodity prices are also somewhat lower over this period , "" he ? wrote . "" We believe that a weaker Australian dollar ? ? as the Fed tightening cycle gets under ? way ? has been a central part of the ' s thinking , and we are particularly interested in its comments here , wondering quietly whether it is disappointed that the Aussie ? has not declined further . "" Despite these concerns , ? interest rate futures pricing suggests virtually no chance of a cut to the cash rate on Tuesday , as underlying strength ? in the domestic economy and job market override broader worries ? about global demand and the so called currency wars . However , some commentators expect governor Glenn Steven ' s accompanying statement to be slightly less upbeat than the outlook offered after December ' s board ? meeting , and in subsequent comments . Friday ' s Statement on Monetary Policy ( SoMP ) ? could also reflect widening jitters about the Chinese slowdown , weak oil prices , ? growth ? and global demand , says economist Scott Haslem . "" Overall , we expect the ' s post meeting press release and ? SoMP to embody more dovish tones ? if only as they acknowledge the reality of the recent turmoil in commodity prices and ? some loss of momentum in growth , "" he said . Despite this , he does not expect the to alter its growth or ? inflation forecasts for 2016 . "" The key risk to our view is that they augment a more dovish tone with modest 0 . 25 percentage point ? cuts to late 2016 17 forecasts . This would support market pricing for a further rate cut mid 2016 , and add some downside pressure to the Australian dollar , "" he said . The Bank of Japan on Friday became the fifth central bank to introduce negative interest rates in recent years , following similar moves by monetary policy setters in ? Denmark , Sweden , ? Switzerland and ? the eurozone . Central banks resort to negative nominal interest rates when conventional monetary policy and other extreme measures such as asset buying have failed to stimulate the economy as much as wanted . ? Lower rates also make a currency less attractive to investors , fuelling ? speculation on competing units , ? making exports more competitive and fanning ? inflation through higher import ? prices . ? After being bolstered as a safe haven asset during the market ructions of December and January , the yen lost more than 2 per cent against the greenback after the BoJ ' s surprise move on Friday . Some commentators pointed to monetary easing by China , and some recent devaluation of the yuan as the BoJ ' s main motive . Asset Management ' s managing director for foreign exchange strategy , Kathy Lien , says it won ' t be long before the acknowledges the risk of the Chinese slowdown to its own outlook . "" With the Chinese economy slowing and commodity prices falling , it may be difficult for the to maintain a brave face , "" she said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past101610918,10919,"Moscow , Russia The mortality rate in Moscow , Russia , has "" doubled recently "" because of an extended streak of heat and smog , Andrei Seltsovsky , the head of the city health department , told Russian news agencies Monday . Seltsovsky said that the average daily mortality rate in Moscow is 360 to 380 cases , but "" today the rate is around 700 . "" Out of 1 , 500 slots in city morgues , 1 , 300 were occupied , he added . The death toll directly attributed to the country ' s recent spate of wildfires remained at 52 , the Russian Health and Social Development Ministry said on its website Monday . Another 62 people across Russia were in hospitals with wildfire related ailments , and in all , 741 people had sought wildfire related medical assistance , it said . The ministry said 22 out of the country ' s 83 regions , mostly in central Russia , are affected by wildfires . And no relief is in sight , with temperatures forecast to remain high in central and northwestern Russia through August 20 . The Russian meteorological service Roshydromet said on its website Monday that the level of air pollution will remain high in and around Moscow in the coming days . "" The air will remain filled with products burning in forest and peat fires , and with toxic emission coming from motor vehicles and industrial enterprises , "" Roshydromet said . It asked Moscow ' s industrial businesses to start cutting emissions by 20 to 40 percent from 3 p . m . Monday until 3 p . m . Wednesday to help reduce air pollution . Alexander Frolov , who heads Roshydromet , appeared live on Russian state on Monday . He said high levels of pollutants in the Moscow air pose a serious danger to Muscovites ' health . "" The highest levels were registered on August 7 and 8 , with the concentration of particulate dust exceeding the permitted level by 3 . 4 times . It is very harmful for the human body as it accumulates in it and is virtually not excreted , "" he said . Frolov said carbon monoxide and ozone levels were significantly higher than the permitted norm . "" It can be said that we lived through probably the worst time with very high levels of harmful substances caused , firstly , by exhaust from motor vehicles and industries and , secondly , by forest fires , "" he said . The Moscow region and the majority of the European part of Russia remain in a zone of high fire risk , Frolov said . According to the Russian index of fire risk meteorological indicators , developed by Roshydromet , most of the European part of Russia is in the fifth , or emergency , risk class for wildfire potential . Forests in the southwest , south and southeast of the Moscow region are particularly fire prone , primarily because of peat bogs , he said . "" As many as 276 wildfires have been extinguished , "" Russia ' s emergency ministry told the state media Novosti on Sunday . "" Currently , 554 wildfires are raging on an area of over 190 , 000 hectares , "" or more than 730 square miles . The dire conditions also are wreaking havoc on agriculture in Russia , Frolov said . "" Unfortunately , the forecast is for virtually no precipitation in August , "" he said . "" Precipitation is crucial as we now need to think when to plant winter crops . The situation in many regions is such that so far there is no reason to start planting winter crops , despite the optimal planting time beginning in some regions . "" Roshydromet forecasts a 30 percent drop in Russia ' s harvests due to the drought , he said . Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced a ban on grain exports last week that will start on August 15 and could last until December 31 . At Monday ' s government meeting broadcast on state , Putin said the order was prompted by uncertainty over this year ' s farm production . A decision on the timeframe for the grain export ban will happen only after the results of the harvest are known , Putin said . Some regions won ' t be sowing winter grain at all this year , so a swift end to the export ban shouldn ' t be expected , he said . "" Of course , this is a temporary measure , but we are in an extraordinary situation and we have to worry about our own citizens and our own farmers , "" Putin said . "" The question is what the country will be left with in 2011 . We don ' t know what the harvest will be and how much carry over grain there ' ll be in 2011 . "" The prime minister said Russia would need 78 million metric tons of grain to support its people this year , but because of the drought , the country might produce only 60 million to 65 million metric tons , forcing it to dip into its "" state intervention fund . "" "" One can say that neither we nor our ancestors observed or registered anything like it , in terms of heat , within a 1 , 000 year period since the foundation of our country , "" Frolov said Monday . "" This phenomenon is absolutely unique . There is no record of such cases . "" ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past101710920,10921,"A 60 year old man has flown more than 6 , 000 miles from Vancouver to Shenzhen , South China and turned himself into a walking billboard in a desperate bid to track down his online ' lover ' . Canadian Jake Malone met a woman calling herself ' RiLi ' on a social website 11 months ago , who according to her online profile lives in Shenzhen and owns a clothing company . Bid to find online ' lover ' : Canadian Jake Malone flew more than 6 , 000 miles from Vancouver to Shenzhenand turned himself into a walking billboard in a desperate bid to track down a woman he met online An infatuated Mr Malone , who fell in love with ' RiLi ' from a photo she sent him , now wanders the streets of the city , which has a population of ten million , with a sign bearing her picture attached to his torso . Mr Malone claimed it was love at first sight when he saw a photo of ' RiLi ' , who said her real life name is Rebecca during their correspondence . ' That innocence is what attracted me to her . ' Mr Malone said the website on which he met ' RiLi ' charged 20 30 Yuan ( 2 3 ) to receive and send each email . The pair have sent each other 396 emails in the last 11 months and Mr Malone claims that he has spent more than 11 , 000 Yuan ( 1 , 100 ) , paying for translators to communicate . He said : ' Translators block out all personal details in the emails . So Rebecca and I can only communicate through the website . ' Mr Malone mentioned coming to China to look for ' RiLi ' a few times , but she said she feared meeting in person would ruin the relationship . Despite her uncertainty , the Canadian decided to fly to China anyway emailing ' RiLi ' about his hotel details and arrival times , though these were blocked by translators . Wild goose chase : Mr Malone has not been able to track down the woman , who calls herself ' RiLi ' , and is unable to contact her after the website they use to communicate was shut down Unfortunately , the website that the pair met on suddenly shut down when Mr Malone landed in Shenzhen on the April 9 meaning his mailbox was not accessible . Rebecca once told Mr Malone that she owns a clothing company that has the same name as her internet alias , ' RiLi ' . After tracking down the company ' s address but finding it had closed down , he started to ask around for his online sweetheart . He arrived at Donghu hotel and the concierge Miss Zhang made him a sign that says ' your Canadian love is looking for you ' . Other hotel staff found a telephone number with the limited online information but no one picked up the call . Mr Malone carries the sign around his neck and walks around Luohu Mall , a big shopping centre , every day hoping that Rebecca will appear . He said : ' People in Shenzhen are very friendly . They took photos of me and put them online . I am very thankful for that . Love at first sight : Mr Malone , 60 , said he fell in love with ' RiLi ' , aka Rebecca , as soon as he saw her photo Despite some passers by warning him that ' RiLi ' was just looking for someone to talk to , the romantic is adamant their feelings were mutual . He said : ' No , I believe in her , I can feel from her letters that she loves me . ' He says is willing to give up his life in Vancouver and move to China if he finds her . Unperturbed by her lack of English , he says he has always been fascinated with Chinese culture and visited the country in 1987 . Mr Malone is a Buddhist and has been practising Taichi for a long time . He added : ' I can be an English or Taichi teacher since I have been doing that in Vancouver . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present101810922,10923,"You are here : Home Facebook posts strong earnings Facebook Inc . ( : ) has just reported a record breaking quarter , and announced fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 ( 4QFY15 ) earnings per share ( ) of 0 . 79 , which topped the analysts ' estimates of 0 . 68 . The company ' s total revenue rose to 5 . 84 billion from 3 . 85 billion a year earlier , with ad revenue increasing 56 . 8 percent to 5 . 64 billion in the holiday shopping period , when spending on advertising typically spikes . Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 80 percent of advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 , up from 69 percent of advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2014 . "" If you ' re an advertiser and you want to reach mass scale , you only have two options : Facebook and Google "" , said James Cakmak , an analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt and Co . These results are encouraging , and we expect that Facebook will continue to account for a larger share of the rapidly growing digital advertising market going forward . "" They ' re providing a very efficient method of distribution for them , they ' re making big investments and evidenced by their quarterly performance it seems to be working "" . Monthly active users increased 14 year over year to a total of 1 . 59 billion , which exceeded expectations of 1 . 58 billion . Facebook owned Oculus this month began taking orders for much hyped Rift virtual reality head gear , set to begin shipping later this year . With Apple and eBay both reporting slightly disappointing quarterly results , investors jumped on the good news from Facebook , which saw its shares rise nearly 12 per cent in after hours trading . The numbers will probably help justify all of the changes that Facebook has made to its platform past year including the introduction of live video and collages , more tailored notifications , the ability to hide from an ex ' s posts and a more powerful search tool . The firm added 46m users in the final three months of past year with which its worldwide users now stands at 1 . 59bn . "" Even as the world has tended to greater openness over time , in many communities we see greater fear over what a connected world and more progress means for them "" , Zuckerberg said . Monthly active users ( MAUs ) increased by 14 from a year ago to 1 . 59 billion , while mobile MAUs stood at 1 . 44 billion . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past101910926,10927,"Tampa , Florida It ' s after midnight , and 100 or so skinny young people in jeans and jackets and wearing anarchy slogans walk down the cobblestone streets of Tampa ' s historic district , dancing and chanting : "" 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 I declare a class war . "" Dozens of buff sheriff ' s officers trail behind the demonstrators in Ybor City . But they are dressed more for war than protest in their combat boots and tan cargo pants , guns strapped to their thighs . They overlook the comments from the kids at the back who ask each other , "" When are we going to smash some sh ? "" The officers ' eyes are on the menacing looking muscular men with shaved heads , their fists balled up by their sides , walking quietly alongside the chanters . Peering down from the wrought iron balconies of nearby restaurants and bars are some of the day ' s conventioneers , suited men whose first day passes to the Republican National Convention dangle from red white and blue lanyards . The men snap photos with cell phones , and their faces grow more serious as the last of the protesters come into view , carrying something high about the crowd ' s heads . It look likes a scene from the Old Testament : A golden animal is hoisted in the air . It catches the street light as it moves through the crowd . A conventioneer leans over and loudly says to his buddy , "" Look ! It ' s an elephant in chains . Are they protesting us ? "" In a word : yes . And they ' re clearly glad someone ' s finally noticed . It ' s a peaceful protest on the first day of the Republican National Convention . It is also illegal . The city has passed an ordinance that forbids protesters from wearing masks and carrying puppets unless they are inspected by authorities in advance . Police say they are a security risk . On this night , a bearded man is taking his chances : He balances a papier m ch hammerhead shark face on his head . A shark fin pokes out from his back . He says he ' s portraying a predatory banker . A 19 year old wearing a bandana on his face is the single protester arrested on Monday . His friends say they don ' t think he heard the police order him to take it off . "" There is a lot of chaos and confusion in these kinds of protests . What we are trying to do is create more inventive ways to express our issues and to stand out from the crowd , "" says Nathan Pim , the 27 year old founder of the Florida Autonomous Playhouse puppet troupe . He is a man who believes firmly in the effectiveness of protest puppets and doesn ' t want the city pulling protesters ' strings . "" I can lecture about helping end discrimination against the homeless all the time and no one will listen . If I do it dressed as a panda , for some reason people listen . "" When Pim and his wife Jillian , also a puppeteer , heard the convention was coming to Florida , they quit their paying jobs in Fort Lauderdale and moved to Tampa to protest full time . Pim ' s pet issue is helping the homeless and fighting Florida ' s foreclosure crisis . He is a regular volunteer for Food Not Bombs , which feeds the homeless and the people who come out for protests . Unsure of the risk , the Autonomous Playhouse puppet troupe held off on bringing their creations to the Monday protests . "" We didn ' t know if they were really enforcing the ban or not so we were going to wait and see , "" Pim said . "" Plus we had rehearsals for our show "" at the New World Brewery in Ybor City . The ordinance didn ' t stop Kelly Benjamin , who abided by the letter of the law , got approval and marched wearing a giant Mitt Romney effigy "" Ritt Momney "" bearing a sign that says "" King of the 1 . "" "" It ' s really ridiculous how much opposition we have had , "" he says . He had his puppet approved by the authorities , he says , but it doesn ' t seem to matter . "" They keep trying to confiscate him and it ' s gotten so bad I now carry the ordinance with me that shows I ' m within the law . "" Benjamin says he knows the police are just doing their job and that maybe they have a particular paranoia about what might be hiding inside the puppet . He calls it a "" scatological fetish . "" "" They think all the anarchists will be throwing poop at them . "" Safe within the boundaries of the brewery , Pim and his fellow performers wait at a back table for the evening ' s performances to start . The opening act is by the activist group Women from Code Pink . They wear bright pink boas and strap on large pink vagina puppets that have bags of fake money on them . They carry signs that say "" read my lips end the war on women . "" After the dancing vaginas exit the performance area , Autonomous Playhouse sets up its hand painted stage . Ukulele music begins , and up pops a puppet named Momma Nature . She is a tree with a bushy Afro of leaves and a Southern accent . The puppet ' s creator , Haylee Becker , 20 , dropped out of college to work full time with her fellow puppet troupe members . She met them while volunteering for Food Not Bombs back when she was in high school . "" As just one person I lose my voice too quickly , "" she says , "" but together we sure as hell can make change . "" Becker says she got involved in feeding the homeless early in life when her parents would write on the invitation to her kiddie parties to bring canned goods rather than gifts . "" Personally , I wanted the gifts , but as I got older I saw how many people needed help . "" The tree puppet in this performance , entitled "" Momma Nature vs . the Foreclosure Crisis , "" tells the audience she ' s never missed a mortgage payment . The bank threatens her with foreclosure because of a bad treehouse mortgage . Pim and fellow troop member Nikki Wright introduce the tree to several menacing puppets . A wolf government agent sings "" You ' ve got no value when you ' ve got no worth . "" A tick banker calls Momma Nature a deadbeat and hands her over to an unfeeling panda judge . A puppet cop throws Momma Nature in the slammer . After her performance , Becker reflects quietly on her mission . "" I feel obligated to be here and be a part of this protest , "" she says . This is the role she wants to play in the national conversation about politics . She doesn ' t plan to vote in November . "" Sure , there are things like abortion and health care that could go wrong if the wrong guy gets in office , "" she says . "" But for personal reasons I don ' t think my voice will make that big of a difference . "" I ' ll vote in other ways : There are other ways to have your voice heard than pushing a button every four years . "" For now , that voice will be heard through puppets . Agencies warn of anarchist activity at conventions ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past102010941,10942,"Remy escaped the enterprise world and now works as a consultant. Editor-in-Chief for TDWTF. From : Kirby McCloy Subject : Concerns about The project seems to be going down the wrong path. I thought our quarterly goal was for modernization. The email carried no specific call to action. It barely had a point, and was little more than bad-natured griping. It also came from Kirby, the CTO. The email triggered a four-alarm underpants fire as every manager on the project tried to guess what Kirby might possibly mean. Someplace between the frenzied cries of, “Chris, did you see Kirby’s email? How do we reply?” someone had the bright idea that maybe this was just politics. Maybe Kirby just wanted to feel like he was part of the process, that his input was valued. They could just schedule a little sit-down, with Kirby, the PMs, and a few of the lead developers, and smooth this whole thing over. Thus, Brittany found herself with an entire Friday afternoon blocked off for a meeting. None of the large conference rooms were available, which meant three PMs, the project coordinator, and four developers had to cram into a small office to review the plan. Thirty minutes into the meeting, they were all huddled around the projector for warmth, and the was a no-show. That didn’t dissuade management from trying to keep the meeting on track. “Well, while we wait for Kirby,” Chris said, “we can make sure we’re all on the same page. Let’s review the current plan.” For the next two hours, the PMs nattered on about critical paths, resource leveling, and project milestones that were already unlikely to bear any resemblance to reality, and would only slip farther with each new bit of overmanagement. Brittany was nearly asleep when Chris called her name. “Why don’t you tell us about the technical side for the web team?” “Well,” Brittany said, “ is a pretty straightforward app.” She noticed the vaguely surprised and offended look among some of the PMs and quickly explained, “Create-read-update-delete. A basic data-management tool.” The application needed to be accessible from the corporate office, at manufacturing sites, and at customer locations, and work on mobile devices. “All in all, it’s very similar to apps like RDR, TPM, and PlusPoint, so we’re planning to use the same tech-stack.” Specifically, Server for the database, C# for the backend services, and Angular2 and Typescript on the front-end. A good stretch of the project could be scaffolded out with automated tools, and most of the rest could be lifted from other projects. The hard parts- the 10% of the code that’d take 90% of the time to build- were the places where it needed to talk to the system. Brittany was in the process of making this explanation when Kirby swept into the room. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, “and I can’t stay long. But I have a few issues I’d like this team to address. First, there are a lot of resources on this project. I want you to be lean. There should be one developer on this project.” “That’s impossible,” Brittany said. The rolled right over her. “It is if you’re using the right tools. Before this meeting, I did a little research, and did you know that Python is the number two programming language in the world? We’re going to use that for this project, which should make our developer more efficient.” This statement was greeted with silence and a vaguely shell-shocked look. The took this for agreement, rapped his knuckles on the table, and said. “Great. Good. Get on that. Email me with any questions. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” What a Python might look like As the door closed behind Kirby, Chris stepped up. “Okay, so you heard what the suggested. Let’s not go making any big decisions just yet. Scott, Lisa, I need you to write up a clearer picture of the side of the project, and why we need multiple developers. Larry, Bob- you do the same for the web team. Brittany, before you leave for the day, I need you to do an alternatives analysis that compares our current tech with Python. Be objective and fair, but… well…” “Well,” indeed. Brittany had no real opposition to Python as a language, but definitely did not like the idea of making a massive shift just on a CTO’s whims. She focused her analysis on a few key points. First, no one in their organization actually knew Python. Their entire portfolio was some flavor of . and the newer projects had added Angular. Their entire toolchain, build-process, continuous integration process, etc., all were built to support C# and Angular projects. Even beyond that, Python didn’t perform as well as C#, and since the requirements wanted a single-page application, they’d need to use Angular anyway , so there was no getting rid of Angular. Brittany did her best to be thorough. That was easy. Being polite was harder. She was working late on Friday night to get the document over to Chris, who was also working late. When she hit send, he instantly replied to her with a big “THANKS!”. She went home, and ignored work until Monday. On Monday, there was an email from Chris. “Got a meeting with Kirby at 11AM. Will follow up after.” At 11:15, Brittany got an email from Kirby. “Saw your analysis,” he wrote, “but with 1 hour of research, I can disagree with it. Angular and TypeScript is old. Python is new, and Google is writing everything with it. Python is the best practices for development.” The project was put on hold while everyone tried to talk some sense into Kirby. Kirby was adamant, though: he read that Google used Python, and so Initech also needed to use Python. “If our team still needs to use Angular, just use the Python version,” were his final words on the subject. Brittany pulled Chris aside. “Chris, does Kirby even know what Python is? He clearly doesn’t know what Angular is. What happens if we just say, ‘Yes, we’ll use Python ,’ and then… don’t?” And that’s how Brittany completed her first major development project in Python, although it didn’t actually contain a single line of Python code. [Advertisement] Manage infrastructure as code across all environments with Puppet . Puppet Enterprise now offers more control and insight, with role-based access control, activity logging and all-new Puppet Apps. Start your free trial today!",fake,news,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past102110973,10974,"Vile Senator Tom Cotton made the mistake of facing his constituents on Wednesday, and things could not possibly have gone worse for him especially after one elderly woman whose healthcare he was trying to take away got ahold of him. We re doing Medicare my way, not your way. My way, the woman told Cotton, who was one of the Republican Senators who sent a letter vowing to undo Obama s Iran deal. I ve got a husband dying and we can t afford let me tell you something, if you can get us better coverage than this go for it. She then lays out the cost of her and her husband s current care: $29 for him and $39 for her rates that no plan (they still have not presented an actual plan) could beat. I have sent you one message after the other, sir, about our family, she told her Senator, chiding him for responding to her concerns with the same form letter every single time. I live just down the road a few places from your office, and I have invited you into our home, and not a word, except a classic, regular letter sent. Other attendees hammered Cotton for not taking a tougher stance on Russia and voiced a number of legitimate concerns. While the response to Cotton s presence was largely negative, one woman told him that she thinks the majority in Arkansas support him. She was met with a chorus of boos from the audience because no one likes Tom Cotton.Watch our heroine wreck Cotton s week below:Voter to @SenTomCotton: My husband is dying. We can't afford health insurance. What kind of insurance do you have? weblink (@CNN) February 22, 2017Featured image via screengrab",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past102210981,10982,"Djokovic equaled Roy Emerson ' s long standing record of six Australian Open titles and increased his career haul to 11 Grand Slam titles , including four of the last five . Murray became only the second man to lose five finals at one major Ivan Lendl lost five and won three U . S . Open finals in the 1980s . Five time champion Novak Djokovic has taken a 2 set lead in the Australian Open final against Andy Murray , winning the second set 7 5 after taking the first 6 1 . Djokovic , down three game points in the 11th game , rallied to break Murray , including a point from a 36 shot rally . Djokovic then held serve , saving one break point , to clinch the second set in 1 hour , 20 minutes . He won the first set in 30 minutes . Murray held service to lead 2 1 in a near 11 minute game with five deuces which included a time violation warning for taking too long between serves . Right after the warning , he hit an ace to bring the game back to deuce , then also had an ace to clinch it . The two exchanged service breaks in the seventh and eighth games the first time Murray had broken through in five break point chances to that stage of the match . Djokovic has never lost a final at the Australian Open , while Murray is 0 4 in finals here . Five time champion Novak Djokovic has steamrolled Andy Murray 6 1 in a 30 minute first set of the Australian Open men ' s final . Djokovic took a 2 0 lead when he held his opening service game after saving a break point , then watched as Murray double faulted to give him a break in the next game . He held his service at love in the next game for a 3 0 lead , then broke again when Murray ' s backhand floated long . It was a disturbing start for Murray , who has lost all four previous finals here , three of them to Djokovic in 2011 , 2013 and 2015 . Djokovic has won 21 of 30 matches between the two , and has won the title every time he ' s reached the final at Melbourne Park . Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares won the last four points of the match tiebreaker to capture the mixed doubles championship at the Australian Open with 6 4 , 4 6 , 10 5 win over Coco Vandeweghe and Hora Tecau . It was Soares ' second doubles title in 18 hours at Melbourne Park he and partner Jamie Murray beat Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 2 6 , 6 4 , 7 5 in a match that ended after midnight Saturday . Vesnina of Russia and Soares of Brazil fell behind 3 0 in the tiebreaker before coming back to take a 6 3 lead , then 6 5 before taking the last four points of the match . The official tournament program for Sunday said that American Vandeweghe had to do a computer search for Tecau ' s name when the Romanian approached her coach to see if she wanted to team up for this tournament she didn ' t know much about his playing pedigree . Tecau won the 2012 mixed doubles title with another American , Bethanie Mattek Sands . It was Vesnina ' s third final at Melbourne Park after making the 2012 mixed doubles final and 2014 women ' s doubles final . It was her sixth mixed doubles final in a Grand Slam tournament , and her first win . Australian Open quarterfinalist David Ferrer has moved up to sixth place in projected rankings effective Monday in a straight switch with Tomas Berdych , who slips down to eighth . Otherwise , most of the top players haven ' t changed . Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will remain Nos . 1 and 2 regardless of the result of their Sunday night final at Melbourne Park . Roger Federer , who lost to Djokovic in the semifinals , remains at 3 , Stan Wawrinka at 4 and Rafael Nadal , a first round loser to Fernando Verdasco , rounds out the top 5 . Following No . 6 Ferrer is Kei Nishikori , unchanged at 7 , and Berdych . Jo Wilfried Tsonga moves to No . 9 , replacing countryman Richard Gasquet who drops down to 10 . Milos Raonic , who lost in the semifinals here to Andy Murray , was the biggest mover among the top players , improving three places to No . 11 from 14 , followed by John Isner at No 12 . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past102311011,11012,"The moral decay continues The Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children at the University of Hawaii is currently recruiting pregnant girls and women to participate in second-trimester abortions to measure their bleeding during the operation, with and without antihemorrhagic drugs. According to the Clinical Trials website, run by the National Institutes of Health, participants must be at least 14 years old and 18-24 weeks pregnant.The controversial study, led by Bliss Kaneshiro, and Kate Whitehouse, DO, will monitor bleeding during D&E abortions to determine the effects of the drug oxytocin, commonly used to minimize blood loss and decrease the risk of hemorrhage.The clinical trial, called Effects of Oxytocin on Bleeding Outcomes during Dilation and Evacuation began in October 2014 and is a collaboration between UH, Society of Family Planning and the University of Washington.The Society of Family Planning funds a number of similar research projects, such as experimenting with the dosage of Misoprostol, a uterine contracting agent, prior to surgical abortions at 13-18 weeks and exploring umbilical cord injections to produce fetal death prior to late-term abortions.In the study, researchers will carry out a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials, to determine the effect of oxytocin s use on uterine bleeding, meaning that they will either provide or deny intravenous oxytocin to the women.Reports suggest that some doctors are concerned that withholding oxytocin during surgery may put patients, especially teen girls, at risk. This study is reminiscent of Nazi concentration camp experiments. I pity the poor women who are being treated like lab rats, especially those who are denied the drug to reduce hemorrhaging, said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.Dilation and evacuation abortions are surgical procedures that involve dismembering the pre-born baby with forceps, scraping the inside of the uterus with a curette to remove any residuals and finally suctioning out the womb to make sure the contents are completely removed.After the abortion, the corpse of the fetus is reassembled and examined to ensure everything was successfully removed and that the abortion was complete.The study is hoping to attract up to 166 test subjects and is expected to conclude in July 2015.Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past102411024,11025,"Many people will be taking time out today to do something special for their loved one on Valentine ' s . But for one man , this means spending time with the ' love of his life ' Lila a blow up yellow dragon . Mark , 20 , has been addicted to his 15 inflatable pool toys for the past six years but claims to be in love with his favourite Lila . Inflated love : Mark , 20 , is obsessed with inflatables toys and claims to be in love with a blow up yellow dragon called Lila Time for tea : Mark , 20 , from Redlands , California , sits down to dinner with four inflatable friends who also have servings of food laid out for them Constant companions : Mark refuses to be separated from his inflatables for more than a day Confession : Mark talks about his obsession on the show My Strange Addiction Mark , from Redlands , California , sleeps with his collection of inflatables and even cooks food fro them so they can sit down for dinner with him . His favourite is a yellow dragon that he has named Lila and he even sleeps with her lying on top of him . Mark , who features in the show My Strange Addiction , says he would even marry Lila because he loves her so much . He showers her with kisses and can be seen sitting on the couch stroking her during the programme . Bedtime : Mark also sleeps with his inflatables often cuddling up to them Six year addiction : Mark believes his addiction began when he was just 14 years old For better or worse : Mark says he would marry his favourite Lila pictured because he loves her Quite a collection : Mark has a total of 15 blow up pool toys which are kept inflated at all times at his home Mark believes his addiction began at the age of 14 when he purchased a whale for his pool and turned to the inflatables for the affection he claims he never got from his mother . He now refuses to be separated from them for more than a day . Mark says he loves the inflatables because they are ' soft and cuddly ' and he can talk to them . Mark agreed to see a psychologist after his friend Josh and cousin Matt stepped in . After several sessions Mark is now interacting with more people but still has his inflatables at home . Joined at the hip : Mark takes his inflatables with him when he leaves the house Splashing around : Mark became obsessed with the blow up toys after he got an inflatable for the swimming pool Having a whale of a time : Mark kisses his inflatable killer whale before going to sleep Loving : Mark claims the inflatables are a replacement for the affection he never received from his mother Bath time : Mark gives all of his inflatables a bath and treats them like his babies Working progress : Mark has been seeing a psychologist to help with his addiction Cuddly toys : Mark says he loves the softness of the inflatables because he can cuddle them Young love : Mark and his inflatable yellow dragon Lila sit on a sofa to watch Study partner : Mark has his inflatables round him all the time even when he is studying Mark has started interacting with people again but still won ' t give up his inflatables ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present102511032,11033,"Tuesday 8 November 2016 by Gary Stanton Americans given historic opportunity to tell Donald Trump to go fuck himself Americans are today being given a once in a lifetime opportunity to tell Donald Trump to go fuck himself. According to experts, today’s vote is less an opportunity to select the leader of the free world, so much as the chance to remind Donald Trump what an arsehole they all think he is. Democratic countries around the globe are today united in telling Americans they have a unique chance to show the world that they have the ability to guide a leading nation in the direction of societal harmony, equality for all, and telling racists to go fuck themselves. political expert, Chuck Williams, told us, “Setting the persuasive policy arguments made by the candidates to one side, the United States will wake on Wednesday morning to either of two plausible realities. “One in which the downcast misogynist billionaire leader has been roundly told to fuck the fuck off, or another in which he enjoys a prolonged, ill-tempered orgasm on the Fox News network.” Williams urged Americans to imagine a forward-looking country in which Donald Trump isn’t constantly forced to appear on the news in order to defend himself against accusation after inevitable accusation of improper behaviour, both privately and professionally. He concluded, “You can either offer a number of quiet ‘fuck you’s at him many, many times over the next four years, or you can give him one enormous one today. “Choose wisely.” Get the best NewsThump stories in your mailbox every Friday, for FREE! There are currently ",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past102611036,11037,"Visitors will be able to travel through time when One World Trade Center opens next month . Those taking the elevator to the observation deck will watch an incredible time lapse video of the growth of Lower Manhattan from the 1500s to the present day as they ascend to the top . The video , shared by The New York Times on Monday , will play during the 47 seconds it will take visitors to reach the 102nd floor observatory . At the start of the ascent , the film shows the city as an expanse of wild vegetation and marshes before it was settled by the Dutch in the 1600s . Houses , churches , markets and bustling ports begin cropping up across Lower Manhattan as the Europeans make the city their home before high rise buildings start jutting into the sky throughout the 1800s . The Brooklyn Bridge can also be seen stretching across the East River to Brooklyn . But it ' s throughout the 20th century when the skyline begins to change most dramatically , with scores of skyscrapers emerging , including the Woolworth Building and the Singer Building . From the end of the 1960s , the facade of the doomed south tower of the former trade center begins to appear on the screen before it vanishes less than four seconds later . David W . Checketts , the chairman of Legends Hospitality , the company operating the three level observatory , said including the tower and a reference to the tragedy on 9 11 seemed necessary . ' The event is certainly a key part of history , ' he told the Times . ' We did not think you could ignore it . View : An image shows how the 102nd floor observatory will look when it opens to the public next month As visitors travel up One World Trade Center , pictured last week , they will see an incredible time lapse video of the growth of the city between the 1500s and the present day , including the construction of the towers ' Having it appear in the year it did and disappear in the year it did was the respectful way of addressing the fact that it was part of the landscape . ' The final part of the ascent shows scaffolding around the elevator , signifying the developing new building , before the journey ends and visitors step off into the newly finished observatory . The panoramic images are displayed on three high definition monitors on the sides of the elevators , and on the way down , visitors will watch a different film . On the video played during the descent , the elevator cab appears to leave the tower and sail around it before re entering through windows that ultimately slide apart , the Times reported . The observatory opens on May 29 . Tickets went on sale last week . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present102711062,11063,"Paul Oliver , a former defensive back for the University of Georgia and the San Diego Chargers , was found dead this week , apparently from a self inflicted gunshot . His death marks the latest in a string of suicides among former professional football players . "" Everyone in the Chargers family is sad today after hearing the news about Paul , "" a statement from the team said . "" He was part of our family for five years . At just 29 years old , he still had a lifetime in front of him . Right now all of our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this most difficult time . "" A tale of two former players and their brains Oliver leaves behind a wife and two children , The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported . "" We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers , "" Oliver ' s family said in a statement to The San Diego Union Tribune . "" We request privacy in the wake of this tragic loss . "" Mark Richt , coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs , called it "" a very sad day . "" "" I just want to say it ' s been rough , "" he told reporters . "" I just want to tell everybody in his family that we ' re thinking about them and we love them . We ' ll do whatever we can to help . "" Police found Oliver ' s body Tuesday night at the bottom of a set of stairs in a home in Marietta , Georgia , Cobb County police spokesman Sgt . Dana Pierce said . A family member had called 911 . The county medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by handgun and gave police authorization to release the cause . Opinion : Junior Seau was hurting and didn ' t know how to say it Oliver played for the Chargers from 2007 to 2011 , recording 144 tackles in 57 games . A former teammate , Eric Weddle , described Oliver as "" charismatic , funny but also quiet and reserved , "" The Union Tribune reported . "" He never said a bad word about anyone . Just a good , genuine guy . "" Oliver ' s high school coach in Georgia , Bruce Cobleigh , said Oliver was a leader . Cobleigh said he hadn ' t talked with his former player in recent years as much as when he was in Georgia , but the coach had fielded calls much of Wednesday from former teammates of Oliver who were all surprised by his death . The circumstances of his apparent suicide were not immediately clear . Suicides of some other former players involved brain injuries . Former player wants brain studied Star linebacker Junior Seau was 43 when he took his own life in May 2012 . The National Institutes of Health later found he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy , or , a neurodegenerative brain disease that can follow multiple hits to the head . A study published in December in the journal Brain looked at brain tissue of 34 professional football players after they died . All but one showed evidence of disease . Concussions Fast Facts In April 2012 , former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling , 62 , committed suicide . An autopsy found signs of . In February 2011 , former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson , 50 , committed suicide with a gunshot to the chest , rather than his head , so his brain could be researched for . Boston University researchers found the disease in his brain . In December 2012 , Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs killed his girlfriend before taking his own life . His remains were not tested for , media reports said . The launched a crisis support line in July 2012 for players , former players and their families . Called Life Line , it operates independently from the and promises to keep all calls confidential . "" There is no higher priority for the National Football League than the health and wellness of our players , "" Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to personnel and fans at the time . and ex players reach deal in concussion lawsuit ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past102811065,11066,"According to a groundbreaking new study from the University of Victoria , applying sunscreen drastically increases your chances of looking stupid . Researchers analyzed data from over 60 adults who were followed over a four month period . Half of them were told to apply 20 or greater on their face and body . The other half were told to use sunscreen at their own discretion , unless they had any interest at all in ever getting laid . "" Among other things , we found that those who regularly used sunscreen to protect themselves from the sun ' s harmful radiation ended up with an 85 higher chance of coming across as basement dwelling dweebs , "" said Dr Steven Demelo , a researcher from the University of Victoria . The findings of the completed study showed that open and widely accepted public mocking was directly correlated with how much sand stuck to somebody ' s back when they lay down at the beach . "" My shirt always felt really uncomfortable and sticky to put on after a day of wearing sunscreen at the beach , "" said David Richards , a sunscreen wearing participant in the study . "" But at least I used the spray on kind and didn ' t publicly rub myself down with warm cream , like some sort of pervert . "" Still , some dermatologists maintain that the findings just reinforce what cool people already know and tell their friends or colleagues . "" If you ask most dermatologists , they ' ll tell you the only thing they recommend for people who really want to avoid looking like idiots in public is , don ' t use sunscreen , "" ' said Dr Laura Chang , from . Nevertheless , the researchers hope that the study will raise awareness about how large a percentage of the public are complete dorks . "" There ' s definitely a sizable chunk of the population who leave a macroscopic filmy residue in the beach water when they go swimming , "" said Demelo . "" It ' s not too much of a leap to assume they also practice other forms of questionable social behaviour , such as tucking their pants into their socks . "" The study concluded that getting cancer was preferable to using sunscreen , as the risk of premature death was offset by the existence of an actual shot at procreating . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past102911072,11073,"Inventions from the Wright brother ' s flying machine to Apple ' s iPod are some of the most instantly recognisable in the world and define entire eras . Now a group of artists have sourced the patents for the game changing gadgets and recreated their designs in a collection of stylish blueprints to celebrate the iconic designs . They include inventions as simple as the Lego brick and other more complex designs , such as the first typewriter or a Harley Davidson motorcycle . A group of artists have sourced the patents for iconic objects and recreated their designs in a collection of stylish blueprints . They include the print for Nintendo ' s Game Boy ( pictured ) which together with the later Game Boy Colour , sold almost 119 million units across the world The designs were the idea of the Florida based art company Oliver Gal Artist Co , whose works feature not only the intricate designs of the objects , but also the history behind each . The company hopes that in a world where inventions that are becoming ever more complex , the images will stand as a reminder of the thinking that went into each of the classic designs . The reworked blueprints include some of our favourite toys such as the Lego brick , which was awarded it ' s for U . S . patent for a ' toy building brick ' in 1961 and has now expired meaning that anyone can copy it . Another design featuring in the series includes the first iPod , which was released on October 23 , 2001 , just over eight months after iTunes was released . It had just 5GB of storage and because it was expensive and only compatible with Macs , sales were pretty slow until 2004 World changing inventions such as the gun and first flying machine are also included in the series of blueprints . One of them ( pictured ) shows the firing mechanism of the revolver handgun , which was patented on December 6 , 1881 Since the Danish company began making its interlocking bricks in 1949 , around 560 billion have been produced . The blueprints also feature another childhood favourite the Slinky which was patented in 1947 . The toy was invented by naval engineer Richard James in 1943 and was a sell out hit when it launched for 1 two years later . In 60 years it has sold over 300 million units and has been used as a toy , teaching tool , wartime radio antenna and even as a physics experiment by Nasa . Blueprints of the Rubik ' s Cube go some way as to explain its fiendish difficulty to solve . In a classic Rubik ' s Cube each of the six faces is covered by nine stickers in white , red , blue , yellow , green and orange and an internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently to mix up the colours . The way we listen to music has changed dramatically over the decades . A re designed blueprint for the phonograph record is pictured left , and another for the tape a symbol of the 1980s is pictured on the right , showing its intricate method of feeding film between rollers The retractable ballpoint pen is pictured . Ballpoint pens have been around since 1888 and dispense a viscous ink from an internal reservoir through the rolling action of a metal ball at its point . The mechanism was originally developed as a cleaner and reliable alternative to fountain pens and millions are manufactured and sold every day Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies . Since the invention of the first working sewing machine , generally considered to have been the work of Englishman Thomas Saint in 1790 , there have been many designs , including the Wheeler Dial model ( pictured left ) . The classic and intricate design of the typewriter is pictured on the right World changing inventions such as the gun and first flying machine are also included in the series of blueprints . One of them shows the firing mechanism of the revolver handgun , which was patented on December 6 , 1881 . The ingenious structure of the Wright brothers ' flying machine was patented in 1906 by the two American aviation pioneers who built the world ' s first successful airplane and made the first controlled and powered human flight in a machine heavier than air , in 1903 . The Slinky was patented in 1947 and was invented by naval engineer Richard James in 1943 . It was a sell out hit when it launched for 1 two years later . In 60 years it has sold over 300million units and has been used as a toy , teaching tool , wartime radio antenna and even as a physics experiment by Nasa Photographic viewfinder apparatus by H . A . Bing is included in the collection of re worked blueprints , ( pictured left ) along with the design for a compact camera with a zoom , which was awarded a patent in 1932 , pictured right , despite looking more modern than the 1960s design on the left Blueprints of the Rubik ' s Cube ( pictured ) go some way as to explain its fiendish difficulty to solve . In a classic Rubik ' s Cube each of the six faces is covered by nine stickers in white , red , blue , yellow , green and orange and an internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently to mix up the colours It is easy to forget that items we take for granted , like the tennis racket , were invented and designed by someone . The method for stringing the racket ( pictured left ) was patented in 1907 and the design of boxing gloves ( pictured right ) was patented in 1923 In more modern times , objects such as the vinyl record , the iPod and Nintendo Game Boy are easily recognisable and are part of the series of artwork based on their original blueprints . The U . S . patent for Nintendo ' s Game Boy was awarded in 1993 . It was Nintendo ' s second held held games console and together with the Game Boy Colour , sold almost 119million units across the world . The console has been a huge success since its launch , when it sold its entire shipment in the U . S . within a few weeks . One of the most recognisable guitars in the world , the Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold in 1952 . Versions of the famous model have been played by guitar legends including Jimi Hendrix , Pete Townsend , Jimmy Page , Slash and Eric Clapton . A patent of the boom box , which became a must have of the 1980s and 1990s , is pictured right The re worked blueprints include some of our favourite toys such as the Lego brick , which was awarded it ' s for U . S . patent for a ' toy building brick ' in 1961 and has now expired meaning that anyone can copy it While CDs were not widely adapted until the late 1980s , and became the main music format in the 1990s , a patent for the technology ( pictured left ) was filed in 1960 . A patent for the forward lean adjuster mechanism for ski boots is pictured on the right The iPod might have spawned a hundred imitations , but the original AppleMP3 player was patented as recently as 2008 . The first iPod was released on October 23 , 2001 , just over eight months after iTunes was released with 5GB of storage but because it was expensive and only compatible with Macs , sales were pretty slow until 2004 . Since then there have been six generations of iPod , the largest of which has 160GB of storage , as well as more compact iPod Minis , Nanos and Shuffles and the iPod Touch , which has a touch screen much like the iPhone . Berliner Gramophone was an early record label , the first company to produce disc ' gramophone records ' pictured playing on this intricate gramophone ( left ) and a version of the 1887 blueprint for an old camera pictured right The ingenious structure of the Wright brothers ' flying machine ( pictured ) was patented in 1906 by the two American aviation pioneers who built the world ' s first successful airplane and made the first controlled and powered human flight in a machine heavier than air , in 1903 There have been many tweaks to bicycle design over the years , but this blueprint of the velocipede ( pictured left ) , patented in 1890 still has classic appeal . The yo yo was patented in 1866 and was first made popular in the 1920s but it was first invented in ancient Greece Harley Davidson Inc was founded in the first decade of the 20th century and was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression . The motorcycles ( pictured ) are known for the tradition of heavy customisation that gave rise to the ' chopper ' style of motorcycle It is hard to believe that Apple ' s first personal compute , which was patented in 1983 , ( pictured left ) led to the development of the company ' s super slim offerings like the iPad and MacBook Air today . The blueprint for an elaborate cash register with beautiful art nouveau style detailing is pictured on the right ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past103011078,11079,"Super Bowl champions New England Patriots will begin the 2015 season at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday , September 10 . The released the full schedule for the 2015 campaign on Tuesday night and , as is tradition , the reigning champions will host the opening game of the season . Week one also features a prime time showdown between the New York Giants and their East rivals Dallas Cowboys . Tom Brady ' s New England Patriots will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the opening game of the season Ben Roethlisberger ' s Pittsburgh Steelers will be the visitors to the Gillette Stadium on September 10 will begin their season of Monday Night Football with a double header in week one with the Atlanta Falcons hosting the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers against the Minnesota Vikings . Seattle Seahawks , who were beaten by New England Patriots in Arizona in the Super Bowl , will visit the Green Bay Packers in week two in a rematch of their Championship Game from last season . Week 12 of the season will see the traditional Thanksgiving triple header take place with the Green Bay Packers taking on divisional rivals the Chicago Bears . Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys will also host their annual Thanksgiving games against Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers respectively . champions Seattle Seahawks will play the St Louis Rams in their opening game of the season Aaron Rodgers ' Green Bay Packers will take on the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night This season will also see three games played at Wembley Stadium as part of the International Series . The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets will travel to London on October 4 before the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Buffalo Bills on October 25 , with the Kansas City Chiefs playing the Detroit Lions on November 1 . Last year ' s game between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions kicked of at 9 . 30am Eastern Time ( 1 . 30pm ) , and all three Wembley games this season will follow suit , meaning afternoon starts for fans . For the full 2015 season schedule , visit NFLweblink . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present103111079,11080,"Kevin O ' Neil had an unfortunate accident yesterday where he lost his right arm . "" I was reaching into the mower to clear some grass that clogged the mower . "" Kevin told reporters before heading back to surgery . Wednesday evening Mr O ' Neil was mowing his lawn when he hit a slightly taller patch of grass . As the mower has done a hundred times before , it stopped instantly . Kevin lifted the mower and started to clear the grass so that he could restart it . He was able to remove 2 handfuls until the unexpected happened . Unfortunately for Kevin , the mower suddenly started up pulling his hand and arm into the mower thus severing it off . Luckily for Kevin ' s quick wits he took his belt and made a quick tourniquet . He ran inside and called 911 . He was rushed by ambulance to the local hospital but his arm was so mangled that surgeons planed to only stabilize the bleeding . Kevin was then able to have his arm saved at the elbow joint . "" I don ' t get it , why can ' t my arm be made of the stuff that makes tall grass ? Mr O ' Neil complained . "" I mean my two bones didn ' t stand a chance . If I would have mowed over the Scarecrow , he would have survived but Dorothy ? A gonner . It doesn ' t make no sense . "" Hearing this from the window the Wicked Witch of the West , who was sitting on the window ledge , hopped on her broom and flew away crackling , "" I ' ll get you , my pretty . "" A nurse saw this and defenestrated a chair , and tried to knock her off her broom . A valiant effort , but unsuccessful due to her entourage of flying monkeys . "" Uh oh , "" Kevin said after seeing what just transpired , "" I should have kept my dumb mouth shut ! Sorry , Dorothy . "" ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past103211091,11092,"Celtic boss Ronny Deila began preparing for next season by signing Dundee United ' s Gary Mackay Steven on a pre contract agreement . The Parkhead side confirmed on Friday that the 24 year old Scotland winger will join the Scottish champions this summer . Mackay Steven , who started his career with Ross County , made his first team debut for United in July 2011 , and has gone on to make almost 130 appearances for the Tayside club . Celtic boss Ronny Deila has signed Dundee United winger Gary Mackay Steven on a pre contract agreement United , in a statement , claimed the player had rejected several attempts to extend his contract , ' including an offer that would have made him one of the highest earners at Tannadice ' . ' He is a player we have been looking at for a long time , ' said Deila as he prepared for the trip to Hamilton on Saturday , where defender Adam Matthews ruled out revenge as motive for Celtic ' s bid for victory . The Lanarkshire side grabbed the headlines in October when they beat Deila ' s men 1 0 at Parkhead with their first win over the Hoops in 76 years . Celtic went on an impressive run of nine league wins after that but still have not been able to shake off Accies , who can go level on points with the Parkhead side , albeit the Hoops have two games in hand following their return from the winter break in Gran Canaria . The 24 year old scores against Hamilton during a Scottish Premiership match Matthews , who missed the defeat to Hamilton , said : ' You don ' t like to lose to any team . But we ' re not looking for revenge . ' We go into this game the same we do every game looking to win and play as well as we can . ' Obviously we were disappointed to lose against them but since that defeat we went on a good run , I think nine games unbeaten . Maybe that was the wake up call we needed . ' It ' s going to be a tough game but we know what we ' ve got to do and we ' re fully focused on the job ahead . ' Obviously there ' s a bit more pressure playing catch up but we know if we win our games in hand we go back top . ' The Parkhead side confirmed that the 24 year old Scotland cap will join the Scottish champions this summer Celtic ' s last outing at Kilmarnock saw them win 2 0 in impressive fashion on Rugby Park ' s artificial surface . Accies also have a plastic pitch but the Wales international was not for putting two and two together . He said : ' They are difficult pitches to play on because you don ' t see them every day . ' We played really well against Kilmarnock . Sometimes the pitch can be sticky so I think the rain helped . ' We ' ve just go to see what it ' s like when we get there . Hopefully we can play the same as we did against Kilmarnock . if not , we ' ve got to adapt quickly and find a way to win the game . ' Celtic manager Ronny Deila takes training on Thursday afternoon ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past103311101,11102,"Luis Suarez has admitted he was moved by Steven Gerrard ' s video tribute last week when he was awarded the Golden Shoe for his 31 goals last season by former manager Kenny Dalglish . ' For such an important person in football to say that he missed me at Liverpool and to thank me for what I had done there , was emotional , ' said Suarez in a TV3 interview in Barcelona . ' He was incredible as a team mate for me , and the club treated me so well too . First by having the faith in me to sign me and then by supporting me in the way that they did . That is why I wanted someone important from the club to present me with the award . ' Scroll down to see Steven Gerrard pay tribute to Luis Suarez Luis Suarez was all smiles during Barcelona ' s training session on Monday and here grins with Neymar ( left ) The striker has not played in a competitive match since June when he lined up for Uruguay against Italy Suarez looks on in training as Barca trained ahead of Tuesday ' s match against Ajax in the Champions League The former Liverpool frontman has revealed it was emotional watching Steven Gerrard pay tribute to him Gerrard ' s tribute was played when Suarez received the Golden Shoe award from Kenny Dalglish last week The Uruguayan forward makes his point during Barcelona ' s training session on Monday Suarez admits in the interview he thought he had ' ruined his career ' when his bite on Giorgio Chiellini earned him a four month ban from all football activity . ' I thought that I had ruined my career , ' he said . ' At the start I didn ' t want to speak to anyone , I hid away behind my family although later I thought about it , I said sorry and I felt relief as a result . ' When I got the call from my representative I couldn ' t believe the faith that Barcelona were showing in me in this moment after everything that had happened . ' When the talks began with Barcelona and when ( his agent ) Pere Guardiola phoned me to say that it was all done I started to cry due to the situation that I was in and for the support that Barcelona were offering me . Suarez ( far right ) has admitted he feared for his career after his bite on Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini ' I had been worried that Barca would decide against it due to all the repercussions from the situation . ' Suarez makes his debut on Saturday against Real Madrid , although he says he is not taking selection for granted and has been blown away by the level of his new team mates . The former Liverpool striker said : ' If you are impressed by watching them on television then when you see them up close in training you are left even more impressed . Lionel Messi looked relaxed in Barca ' s training session as the team prepared to take on Ajax The Argentina star has scored eight goals in the first 10 games of the season for Barcelona Messi ' s last Champions League hat trick was against Tuesday ' s opponents Ajax Veteran midfielder Xavi has had a resurgence this season and scored on Saturday against Eibar ' You see a team mate with three players around him and he still makes the pass and you just think : ' how did he do that ? ' ' I don ' t want to tempt fate by imagining myself playing against Real , ' he added . ' It is not my style to tell the trainer to play me in the game . I wouldn ' t dream of saying to Luis Enrique that I want to play in the Bernabeu . If I don ' t play then I won ' t be angry , I want to help my team mates and feel like a footballer again . ' Brazilian superstar Neymar laughs as he goes through his paces in Monday ' s training session Brazilian Defender Dani Alves ( left ) and manager Luis Enrique enjoy Barca ' s training session Liverpool an important part of my life Suarez ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past103411102,11103,"For a deadline day which ranked as relatively low key in comparison to previous transfer windows , it still managed to throw up all manner of questions and puzzlers . Here , Sportsmail attempts to answer some of the complexities which emerged and managed to bamboozle us all amid the lack of transfer activity . . . Right , let ' s start with the ' deadline ' itself when is it ? It is still 11pm . Domestic transfers , however , can be granted an extension until 1am , and international transfers until midnight . So if you realise at 11 . 30pm you need a new striker then you can get on the phone ? West Brom boss Tony Pulis managed to sign Darren Fletcher but was unable to bring in Carlton Cole No a ' deal sheet ' must be submitted to the Premier League before 11pm . So , in effect , that is still the deadline for all parties agreeing to a transfer and putting their approval to a sheet which says it is going to happen . If the Premier League has this by 11pm then they will grant an extension to finalise all other paperwork . Juan Cuadrado completed his big money move to Chelsea from Fiorentina on the transfer deadline day What is a ' deal sheet ' ? It is an emergency measure which can only be used after 9pm and no later than 11pm . After that documents such as the contract , the transfer agreement and permission to work in the must be submitted . Hull submitted a deal sheet in the case of Dame N ' Doye , who they signed from Lokomotiv Moscow but only confirmed at midnight . Dame N ' Doye ( left ) signed for Hull City from Lokomotiv Moscow but the Tigers needed the use of a deal sheet This one is a bit of a head scratcher how many clubs can a player represent in one season ? rules state that a player can be registered with a maximum of three clubs but can only play for two of those . Hatem Ben Arfa is the most high profile example of a player who has fallen foul of this . He signed for Nice after being released from his contract at Newcastle but intervened and prevented him from playing for the Ligue 1 club . Why ? Well , he had already appeared for Hull during a season long stay which was terminated in January and for Newcastle ' s Under 21s , which is classed as an official fixture by . Therefore , he was free to sign for Nice but not eligible to play . Hatem Ben Arfa signed for Nice from Newcastle but was banned because he was registered with three clubs Is there a way around this for Ben Arfa ? Yes . He could move to the because their 2015 season starts in March and makes allowances for campaigns in different countries overlapping . Why then has Tom Ince signed for Derby after playing for Hull and Nottingham Forest already this season ? In England we have the term ' emergency loan ' which is classified as anything up to 93 days and is not subject to the above rules . For the record , ' emergency loan ' is a Football League term and not one which is particularly endorsed by the Premier League . Anyway , Ince ' s loan stay at Forest was a short term deal and that is why he is free to sign for Derby until the end of the season . It also why , for example , Connor Wickham was able to play for Sunderland , Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United last season . Tom Ince was able to sign for Derby because he only joined Nottingham Forest on an ' emergency loan ' Newcastle have sent players on loan to Rangers ! How ? In Scotland ( and the English Football League ) you are allowed to loan a maximum of two players from one club . However , under rules , there is no restriction on cross border loans , hence Rangers being able to bring in five Newcastle players in one hit . As for the dual interest of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and his 8 . 9 per cent stake in Rangers , well that raises questions for another topic entirely . Gael Bigirimana was one of five players who Rangers loaned fom Newcastle United What happened with Mauro Zarate and Matt Jarvis ? Zarate signed for on loan earlier this month from West Ham . Premier League rules state you can only loan one player from another top flight club . then decided that they didn ' t need Zarate and instead wanted Jarvis from West Ham . No problem , they thought , swap Zarate for Jarvis . However , Premier League rules also state that a player cannot return to his parent club in the same transfer window in which he has left . The deal , therefore , collapsed and Zarate remained at , Jarvis at West Ham . Harry Redknapp tried to swap the loan deals of West Ham ' s Mauro Zarate and Matt Jarvis but was denied Finally , what happened with Danny Ings ? For now he remains 100 per cent a Burnley player . A pre contract agreement with Real Sociedad ( which he was eligible to sign with a foreign club because his contract expires in the summer ) never materialised . There was also a suggestion that he could sign for Liverpool and be loaned back immediately to the Clarets . However , Premier League rule V . 7 . 1 states , ' a temporary transfer to a club may not take place in the transfer window in which the transferor club acquired the player ' s registration ' . Note that this does not apply to deals between Premier League and Football League clubs , hence Spurs were able to loan back Dele Alli to Dons . But Ings could still sign what is known as a U8 agreement with Liverpool , which allows contract rights to be passed over at a future date and can be signed outside of the transfer window . Also , because Ings is under 23 and out of contract in June , a tribunal will set the compensation fee paid to Burnley unless the two clubs can reach an agreement . Liverpool wanted to buy Danny Ings and loan him back to Burnley but Premier Leagues didn ' t allow it ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past103511106,11107,"Wall St drifts higher as tech , energy gain Crude pares some gains after sharp spike Indexes up : Dow 0 . 43 pct , S P 0 . 57 pct , Nasdaq 0 . 86 pct ( Updates to early afternoon ) Jan 28 Wall Street was higher after swinging between gains and losses on Thursday as a fall in healthcare stocks capped gains in technology and energy shares . The S P health sector was the biggest loser , while the Nasdaq biotech index was on track for its biggest monthly fall in 16 years with a 3 percent fall . Abbott Labs was the biggest drag on the healthcare sector , with an 8 . 8 percent drop . However , the energy sector was buoyed by the rise in crude oil , which held steady near 34 a barrel , gaining nearly 3 percent . Oil had risen as much as 6 percent earlier on speculation that Saudi Arabia and other countries would cut output to boost prices . "" Oil ' s been firmly in control of the market , "" said Kim Forrest , senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh . "" I think what oil has become is a proxy for ' are we going into a recession ? ' , "" she said . At 12 : 59 p . m . ( 1759 ) , the Dow Jones industrial average was up 67 . 9 points , or 0 . 43 percent , at 16 , 012 . 36 , the S P 500 was up 10 . 65 points , or 0 . 57 percent , at 1 , 893 . 6 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 38 . 52 points , or 0 . 86 percent , at 4 , 506 . 69 . Nine of the 10 major S P sectors were higher , with energy and tech sectors gaining the most . Facebook surged 12 . 2 percent to 106 . 23 after the world ' s biggest social network reported a 52 percent jump in revenue . Amazon , which reports after the bell , was up 5 . 5 percent at 615 . 28 . The two stocks gave the biggest boost to the Nasdaq . PayPal , which was spun off from eBay last year , was up 7 . 3 percent at 33 . 90 and Under Armour was up 18 . 4 percent at 81 . 26 after revenue at both companies beat estimates . Among the losers , EBay sank 13 . 5 percent to 22 . 86 after it forecast weaker than expected quarterly revenue and profit . Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the by 2 , 067 to 926 . On the Nasdaq , 1 , 538 issues rose and 1 , 143 fell . The S P 500 index showed seven new 52 week highs and 21 new lows , while the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 134 new lows . ( Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru Editing by Anil D ' Silva ) ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present103611112,11113,"Violence . The question of whether it ever really solves anything is , of course , nothing new . The value of violence has been fiercely debated , largely without resolution , since time immemorial . But though violence has never gone entirely out of style , conventional wisdom over the last several decades has held that it is an unacceptable option . Ever since the anti war and civil rights movements of the Vietnam Era , the nation ' s cultural cognoscenti has regarded the human tendency toward violence as a cowardly , barbaric impulse , shunned by members of civilized society in favor of more diplomatic and compromise based problem solving techniques . Yet , according to recent studies , all that has begun to change . Increasingly , Americans are turning to violence the use of brute , animal aggression against an opposing force as a viable means of conflict resolution . From the inner city to the suburbs , from the boardroom to the bedroom , violence is making a stunning comeback . And , surveys indicate , more and more Americans are agreeing that it ' s about time . "" Whoever said that violence never solved anything obviously never met my wife Edith , "" says Nick Petrakis of Chicago . "" For months , her constant nagging about my drinking , the bills , the drapes you name it drove me up the freaking wall . I tried marriage counseling , church , even so called ' quality time , ' but nothing worked . Then , one day , I finally hauled off and whaled her right in the solar plexus as hard as I could . "" "" And you know what ? "" he adds with a grin . "" I haven ' t heard a peep out of her goddamn fat trap since . "" The Petrakis case is far from unique , and it points to one of the main reasons behind violence ' s resurgent popularity : pragmatism . "" Sure , all of those ' talking it out ' solutions look good on paper , but in real life , who has the time ? "" Harvard University sociology professor Dr Hugh Brentley says . "" Reasoned , calm conflict mediation can exact a terrible toll on the patience of those involved . On the other hand , swift , violent action such as the kind Alexander the Great employed in severing the fabled Gordian knot with one swipe of his sword cuts right to the heart of a problem . "" This direct , results oriented approach is being put into practice every day across America . Children mercilessly beat one another on the playground , achieving instant social standing amongst their peers . In the political sphere , long range bombing has proven an effective means of resolving marital infidelity disputes . And the drug lords of the nation ' s blighted ghettos have long championed the merciless machine gunning of competitors as an expedient solution to the seemingly insoluble dilemmas of urban poverty and racial discrimination . Critics of violence say that such short term approaches only leave other , greater problems in their wake . But as violence advocates are quick to point out , a great majority of these problems can easily be fixed with more violence . For example , the skyrocketing crime rate can be addressed through either the death penalty or vigilante justice , both of which are effective alternatives to expensive , complex social reform programs that stress prevention over cure . "" We must also remember , "" psychologist and longtime violence advocate Jane Gelfand notes , "" that emotional violence can , in many cases , be just as effective as actual bodily harm . Breaking a child psychologically , through generous , sustained helpings of verbal abuse , is a far more effective way of handling disobedience and misbehavior than a thousand hours of tedious positive reinforcement . "" "" Not that simple hitting or kicking should be ruled out , of course , "" Gelfand adds . But whether hurling chairs at one another on daytime television or stabbing strangers to death in parking ramps for some quick cash , millions of Americans are giving violence a second look as a viable solution to the challenges with which life presents them . And , as savagery and brutality continue to capture the hearts and minds of the American people , one thing is certain : Violence , in all its forms , is no longer confined to the realm of escapist Hollywood dramas or video game space invader shoot ' em ups . Whether we cower in fear behind the walls of gated communities or actively prowl the alleyways looking for rape victims , violence is a major part of our shared American experience , and it isn ' t going away any time soon . Violence , it would appear , is something we can all rely on . ",satire,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past103711115,11116,"Twitter has lost its sixteenth leader in the last twelve months in its ongoing slide from chaotic cultural relevance into clean and curated silence. [As Twitter continues its desperate efforts to render its platform wholly antiseptic — even going so far as to employ a powerful moderator — another member of its leadership has made for the proverbial lifeboats. Twitter Head of Asia Pacific Aliza Knox is the latest in a line of executives to flee the company. She was preceded by China Head Kathy Chen, India and Southeast Asia Head Parminder Singh, and the Rishi Jaitly, as well as Australia’s Karen Stocks. For anyone keeping track, that makes it a whopping 60% of executives gone in 2016 alone — even if you exclude VPs and above. Knox worked almost five years for Twitter after her time at Google, expanding Twitter’s presence to nine offices and more than 100 employees in their Asia Pacific unit. She ended her time with a fond farewell from her coworkers and employees and finished by passing the torch to her replacement, Maya Hari. #Amazing 4. 5 years at @Twitter! Proud to have built a great team to hand over to @Maya_Hari. Thanks for the farewell! #LoveWhereIWorked pic. twitter. — alizaknox (@alizaknox) March 31, 2017, In a statement released to TechCrunch, Twitter said: We thank Aliza for her contributions and leadership over the past four years and a half years. She pioneered Twitter’s Asia Pacific business (outside of Japan) championed our expansion into new markets and businesses such as Indonesia and China export advertising, set up our Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, and led our diversity initiatives across the region. Unfortunately, new blood hasn’t been enough to recover from Twitter’s continual decline. Twitter stock managed a meager 16 cent earning per share in the fourth quarter, missing revenue forecasts once again. It’s less than 1% in revenue growth, disheartening to even the foremost members of the company. Is there any way for Twitter to pull up, or has it already tweeted its last? Aliza Knox, as well as those before her, have made their opinion all too clear. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past103811123,11124,"Dr Suda Nim , known for his lack of insight and compassion , states that most patient ' s pain is "" just in their head . "" Known for years by co workers as "" Numb Nim , "" by his inability to understand anything from the patient ' s point of view , Dr Nim prides himself in his "" nobody ' s going to fool me "" attitude in the . He currently holds a 27 year record of lowest satisfaction scores in the country . Despite this , Dr Nim maintains he would rather withhold pain meds from someone who needs them than give a "" druggy "" some drugs . "" Oh sweet mercy , please don ' t make me work another shift with him , "" said one of his physician partners . "" Seriously , he doesn ' t even go into the rooms any more . We had a patient with fibromyalgia who was literally writhing in pain . He did nothing . I even showed him , in his own medical book out of his briefcase , how debilitating and painful the disease can be . I just went into the room and saw the patient after Dr Nim had dismissed without even going in the room . He needs to just retire or die . "" We tried to speak with other co workers about his behavior , but others were not as positive . "" That patient was a faker , "" Dr Nim said of the patient he did not see . Despite "" seeing "" over 1 , 700 cases of fibromyalgia over his career , he is yet to give any pain medication to a single one . "" I can tell , they have a certain look to them , "" he said , even though he never actually saw the patient in the first place . Shortly after that , a patient with an open tibia fracture was wheeled into another room . The patient thrashed in pain due to the visible bone protruding through his skin . "" Typical . Those fakers will do anything for narcotics . ! "" he screamed to the man who proceeded to lose consciousness due to his pain . We tried to contact Dr Nim after his shift for further comment , but were unable to understand him due to the muffled sound he produced from how far his head was up his own ass . ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past103911132,11133,"The liberals find this plan to be disgusting until their neighborhoods become the next victim of violent muslim immigrant gangs of course Anti-immigration campaigners in Gullberg in southern Sweden are plotting to build a pig farm next to an asylum centre in a last-ditch effort to deter would-be Muslim immigrants, who might find the animals offensive.More illegal immigrants on the run in Sweden (03 May 15) Swedish Syrian warms hearts over phone return (08 Apr 15) It was a long journey and some of my friends died (30 Mar 15)Plans for a new immigration centre in Gullberg have already been strongly opposed by local residents and on Wednesday it was reported that a group of campaigners had sent a letter to the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) pledging to breed pigs nearby in order to deter Muslims from seeking asylum in the town.The note, signed by what described itself as the interest group for Gullberg s survival said that it was trying to create a probably impossible situation for some religious people, especially Muslims , according to Sveriges Radio.Local politician Henry Sandahl from Sweden s Countryside Party (Markbygdspartiet) told the broadcaster that he agreed with the sentiment of the letter. You know that Muslims are not friends with pigs, he said.But Swedish religious experts have been quick to criticize the campaigners. This is nonsense and shows just how very little they know about Islam, said ke Sander, Professor of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg. It is one thing when Muslims try to stay away from pork, alcohol or gambling but there is nothing [in the Koran] that says you cannot be near pigs. This is a last-ditch effort when they [the campaigners] have no arguments left, he told the news agency.Others turned to social media to voice their disgust at the campaign.Carl G ransson, a lawyer and former Moderate party politician suggested on Twitter that building a gigantic rubbish dump next to the asylum centre instead, designed to blow smelly winds in the direction of the angry residents. Monstrous and a total fail , wrote Johan Arenius, a political press secretary for the Christian Democrat party based in rebro in central Sweden.Sweden became the first European country in 2013 to grant automatic residency to Syrian refugees and has since seen asylum requests rise to record levels, which are still expected to reach about 90,000 in 2015.To cope with an increasing flow of refugees, the Swedish Migration Board announced in March that it was more than tripling the maximum number of residents allowed at asylum centres from 200 to 650.Via: The Local seh/t Refugee Resettlement Watch",fake,dataset,test,Other news2,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past104011133,11134,"A husband and wife were today found guilty of stashing some 50million worth of stolen Picasso art treasures in their garage for almost 40 years . Pierre Le Guennec , 74 , and Danielle , 73 , were given a suspended prison sentence of two years by a court in the French Riviera town of Grasse . Both had insisted that they were all ' presents ' from the legendary Spanish artist , but the court found they were ' fraudulently obtained ' and ordered them to be returned to his family . Pierre Le Guennec ( right ) and his wife Danielle wait for the verdict of their trial . The court today found the couple were found guilty of stashing the ' fraudulently obtained ' artwork The couple address the media following the verdict , in which they were ordered to return the Picasso treasures and given a suspended prison sentence of two years It was in November 2010 that 271 lithographs , cubist paintings , notebooks and a watercolour were found at their modest home in Mouans Sartoux , in the South of France . But six of Picasso ' s descendants accused them of the crime , and will now take charge of the works . During the trial , all 271 works , created between 1900 and 1932 , were beamed onto a giant screen inside the court . Le Guennec claimed he was given the collection by the artist and his second wife , Jacqueline , when he was an odd job man at their home in Notre Dame de Vie in Mougins , near Cannes . Le Guennec , a qualified electrician , installed a burglar alarm at the luxury villa before the artist died in 1973 , and said he accepted them as ' thank you ' gifts . Referring to Picasso , Mr Le Guennec said he ' often invited me in to have some cake or a coffee . Me and the master talked about all things great and small . ' One evening , I was leaving my work , when Madame handed me a little package saying : ' This is for you ' . But Claude Picasso , the artist ' s son , said that his father was noted for his generosity , but that he always dedicated , dated and signed his gifts , as he knew that some recipients might try to sell the works one day . Two of the newly discovered Picasso drawings , one in a notebook ( above left ) , and the other called ' Nature Morte Verre ' ( Still life Glass ) Jean Jacques Neuer , Claude Picasso ' s barrister , said : ' They don ' t remember whether they received the so called gift in 1970 , 71 or 72 . If you are given 271 Picassos , you remember it . ' You have to imagine that Picasso kept hold of them for 70 years and suddenly decided to give the lot away . That ' s doesn ' t make sense . ' The only document with the name Le Guennec on is a signed brochure for a Picasso exhibition , said Mr Neuer . ' When you give a present , you choose something precise that fits the person , ' said Mr Neuer . ' Picasso here is giving away works that have nothing to do with each other notably extremely precious cubist collages that represent 10 per cent of his production , ' he said . The couple listen to Judge Jean Christophe Bruyere give the verdict at a court in Grasse , southeast France Picasso ' s son Claude Ruiz ( left ) and daughter Maya sit in the courtroom today awaiting the verdict Another Picasso drawing , this time of a horse , from Pierre Le Guennec ' s collection that he kept in his garage ' But also two notebooks of drawings , work tools that he would never have given away . The issue is not whether Picasso was generous or not . Picasso wasn ' t someone who was careless about his works he didn ' t give work away just for the sake of it . ' Charles Etienne Gudin , lawyer for the couple , said the works came from the artist ' s ' Grands Augustins ' studio on Paris ' s Left Bank . He said that Mr Le Guennec would never have stolen from the Picasso ' s villa , describing it as a ' fortress ' watched over night and day by security guards . The trial comes after Marina Picasso , the artist ' s granddaughter , said she was selling of the famous villa , along with a selection of his work , for up to 190m . Ms Picasso wrote a memoir ' Picasso : My Grandfather ' in 2001 , in which she accused him of destroying her childhood . Picasso ' s works are the most stolen of any artist in history . He has more than 1 , 000 paintings registered as taken unlawfully , missing or disputed . A painting of a hand by Picasso that was among 271 undocumented , never before seen works estimated to be worth at least 50million A painting ' Still life glass sand ' and a drawing ' Nu Assis ( Sitting nude ) ' which feature among the 271 hitherto unseen works by Picasso produced by the artist ' s odd job man ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past104111137,11138,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump returned to his hometown on Thursday for the first time since taking office, as many New Yorkers took to the streets to protest the politics of the man who built his name and fortune in the city. The presidential motorcade passed hundreds of demonstrators as it arrived at the decommissioned aircraft carrier Intrepid in the early evening for a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hours after it was originally scheduled. Before leaving Washington, Trump held a hastily arranged White House celebration with fellow Republicans from the U.S. House of Representatives who narrowly passed a healthcare bill that would repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. [nL1N1I61UA] If anything, Trump’s role in efforts to scrap the signature domestic achievement of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, further incensed the protesters. Among those on the street were members of the New York State Nurses Association, who chanted: “What do we want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!” Demonstrators from the Working Families Party spent much of the afternoon rallying and marching near the Intrepid, now a floating museum on Manhattan’s West Side, banging pans, chanting: “Not my president” and carrying signs including one that read: “This village doesn’t want its idiot back!” Rob Adkins, 33, a professional musician from Brooklyn who is insured through Obamacare, said he was alarmed by the Trump-backed Republican healthcare plan that passed the House. “It could cost me my health insurance,” he said, echoing the sentiments of several other protesters. The demonstrations, which included other groups throughout Manhattan, were reminiscent of the weeks after Trump’s Nov. 8 election when frequent protests took place outside his home in the Fifth Avenue tower that bears his name. The first 100 days since the Jan. 20 inauguration of the businessman-turned-politician brought rollbacks of environmental regulations and crackdowns on immigrants, none of which play well in the liberal Northeast city. Fewer than one in five residents in the United States’ most populous city voted for Trump, even though he comes from its Queens borough, built a real estate brand and other ventures associated with New York, and has been fodder for its tabloid newspapers for decades. Providing security for first lady Melania Trump, who has continued to live in Trump Tower while their 11-year-old son Barron finishes the school year, has been a costly obligation for New York. After security costs for Trump and his family of about $24 million during the transition and $300,000 a day since then, Congress voted last week to reimburse the city and other local governments for $61 million. Following the events with Turnbull, which include a black-tie dinner on the Intrepid to mark the 75th anniversary of World War Two’s Battle of the Coral Sea, Trump was expected to go to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for the weekend. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past104211138,11139,"Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes , who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film "" Shaft , "" has died , sheriff ' s officials in Memphis , Tennessee , reported Sunday . Singer Issac Hayes seen performing in the U . K . last year . Hayes was found dead Sunday at age 65 . Relatives found Hayes , 65 , unconscious in his home next to a still running treadmill , said Steve Shular , a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff ' s Department . Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital , where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p . m . , the sheriff ' s department said . No foul play is suspected , the agency said in a written statement . Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis , playing in the studio ' s backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s . See photos of singer Isaac Hayes He released his first solo album in 1967 , and his 1969 follow up , "" Hot Buttered Soul , "" became a platinum hit . In 1971 , the theme from "" Shaft "" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and won an Academy Award for best original theme song . The song and the movie score also won Grammy awards for best original score and movie theme . Hayes won a third Grammy for pop instrumental performance with the title track to his 1972 "" Black Moses "" album . From the late 1990s through 2006 , Hayes provided the voice of "" Chef "" for Comedy Central ' s raunchy animated series "" South Park , "" as well as numerous songs . The role introduced him to a new generation of fans , but he left after the show lampooned his own religion , the Church of Scientology . The new generation of popular musicians , he said , "" could use a little more substance like we had in the day . "" "" They ' re standing on our shoulders . Some of them don ' t realize it because they sample me so much , "" he said . Hayes credited his role on "" South Park "" with expanding his fan base , and said that he had almost passed on the job . "" I started to walk out . I thought it was a Disney thing . I had never heard of this thing , "" he said . But his agent persuaded him to tape some episodes . "" Toward the opening I started having trepidations ' Oh my god , what have I done ? I ' ve ruined my career . ' But when it aired , the ratings went through the roof , "" he said . A 1992 visit to the royal family in Ghana was a life changing experience for Hayes , he said . "" I went back on speaking engagements and encouraged African Americans to go to Africa to interact socially , culturally and or economically , "" he said . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past104311178,11179,"Starbucks is embroiled in fresh controversy over its tax affairs after it was accused of using a little known British company to avoid paying taxes across Europe . The U . S . coffee giant is being probed by the European Commission over some of the methods it used to lower its tax bills . It could face millions of pounds in back taxes if they are found to be illegal . For the first time yesterday , details emerged about the company at the heart of the probe , which is focusing on sweetheart tax deals between Starbucks and the Dutch government . Probe : Starbucks ran its European division including the through the Netherlands , but it paid just 1 . 9million in tax to the Dutch government , from a reported 300million profit Starbucks ran its European business , including its booming division , through the Netherlands where it paid almost no tax on its profits . But it has now emerged that the coffee chain used a defunct British entity to hide potentially millions of pounds from the Dutch taxman . By registering its Intellectual Property such as its brand and logo in a company called Alki , it was able to pay hefty sums from its Netherlands division into Britain . Its Dutch division paid just 1 . 9million of tax , despite reporting profits of 300million a meagre tax rate of less than 1per cent . A Wall Street Journal investigation has uncovered previously unknown details about the entity , including a claim that it had not a single registered employee . Starbucks has already been called ' immoral ' by MPs for its labyrinthine structure that effectively funnelled money out of the . Schemes used by the company include buying its coffee beans in Switzerland and selling them at a 20per cent mark up to the Netherlands , where they are then roasted before being sold on again to Britain . This means that much of the money it makes from sales flows into jurisdictions that have lower or less stringent tax regimes . Revealed : It is now claimed the company , which has previously been in the spotlight for its tax practices , may have used a British company to put hefty sums from its Netherlands branch into the Between 1998 and 2012 the company paid just 8 . 6million in corporation tax in Britain , despite racking up combined sales of more than 3billion here . But after its tactics were exposed , the company offered to pay a voluntary 20million in tax to avoid a public boycott . Now details of a little known tax division have emerged . A registered holding business called Alki was set up to house the branding of the business . In a bizarre move , Alki appeared to have no employees and was registered at the offices of Starbuck ' s tax lawyers Baker McKenzie . Compliance : A Starbucks spokesman said the company complies ' with all relevant tax rules , laws , and guidelines ' But because of the very limited details available , it is impossible to identify how much money the arm received or whether it paid any tax in the . Accounts for Starbucks ' Dutch businesses show that they paid several million pounds a year into the division . But without access to full corporate documents it is impossible to tell whether this remained in the division or was funnelled straight into another tax haven . The business , which was closed down last year , has never filed proper accounts at Companies House . When it was dissolved , Alki was folded into a new company , Starbucks Holdings though this business has also yet to file any accounts . This is an aspect that investigators believe is key to their probe . Earlier this year the British boss of Starbucks provoked outrage after suggesting the company would not pay ' normal ' levels of tax for years . managing director Mark Fox said the company needed to get ' its mojo back ' before it would begin to turn a profit . But he was confounded only weeks later when Starbucks reported its first ever profit of 1 . 1million despite sales being a bumper 300million . On this it paid taxes of just 232 , 363 , as well as the sum of 11 . 2million as part of its voluntary 20million tax payment . A Starbucks spokesman said : ' We comply with all relevant tax rules , laws , and guidelines and we continue to cooperate with the European Commission ' s state aid investigation in the Netherlands . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past104411181,11182,"How refreshing it was to see Danny Welbeck properly celebrate scoring for Arsenal against former club Manchester United on Monday night . The striker ' s passion was clear to see as he bounded backwards across the Old Trafford turf , letting out a roar of celebration as Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla rushed over to celebrate the moment . ' The emotion takes over , ' he said afterwards . ' It was difficult to keep it in . ' Quite right too . Welbeck had every reason to celebrate and let all that pent up frustration out . A pumped up Danny Welbeck celebrates his winner for Arsenal at former club Manchester United The Arsenal striker celebrates with team mates Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla after scoring At United since the age of eight , he was booted out the door in the summer by Louis van Gaal , who claimed he wasn ' t good enough to be a first team player at United . So , on his first return to Old Trafford , Welbeck had a major point to prove and when Antonio Valencia under hit a back pass to goalkeeper David de Gea , he seized his chance . Skilfully taking the ball around the Spaniard , he passed it into an empty net before celebrating whole heartedly but still with plenty of respect for the United fans . Welbeck could certainly teach these players , who took the whole not celebrating against a former club thing a little too seriously . Shaun Wright Phillips ( Chelsea vs , January 2013 ) Wright Phillips wasn ' t wanted by Chelsea . They spent 21m to sign him and then kept him as a bit part player until finally ditching him three years later having wasted the best years of his career . So when the winger earned Queens Park Rangers an improbable win at Stamford Bridge during their 2013 relegation struggle , with his first league goal in nearly three years , you ' d expect him to be thrilled . Nope . Wright Phillips looked downright miserable , an island of indifference as his team mates celebrated jubilantly around him . Shaun Wright Phillips ( third right ) looked downright miserable after scoring for at old club Chelsea Adam Johnson ( vs Manchester City , December 2012 ) Likewise with Johnson , who had great expectations when he joined Manchester City from Middlesbrough in 2010 but was barely given a chance by Roberto Mancini . Indeed , Johnson revealed when he escaped to Sunderland that he was barely on speaking terms with the Italian manager towards the end , having been dropped without explanation on a number of occasions during a turbulent two and a half years . So when Johnson gained his revenge by scoring the winner against City a few months after leaving , you ' d expect something a bit more animated than just a raised hand of apology . Adam Johnson consoles his former team mate Joe Hart after scoring against him in December 2012 Romelu Lukaku ( West Brom vs , September 2014 ) Opening your account for a new club , especially after a 28m move , should be kind of a big deal . But Lukaku looked embarassed that his maiden goal for Everton had come at West Brom , the club where he spent the 2012 13 season on loan from Chelsea . Still , at least he earned an appreciative round of applause from the Hawthorns crowd for his sheepish raised hand ' celebration . ' Lukaku holds his hands up after scoring for Everton against West Brom , where he spent a year on loan Jonjo Shelvey ( Liverpool vs , February 2014 ) Shelvey made 47 league appearances for Liverpool over the course of his three seasons there , scoring two goals . Hardly the stuff of Kop folklore . But the midfielder felt the need to apologise to the Anfield crowd after scoring a lovely 20 yard goal on his return there with Swansea last year . It did earn him a round of applause from the Liverpool fans though . Jonjo Shelvey apologised to the Kop after scoring for Swansea at former club Liverpool ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past104511185,11186,"Howard Stern: You seem to be pretty conservative. You kinda are.Megyn: I m conservative on some things and not on others and I love that people just make these assumptions about you because you work at FOX.Howard: Well no, I make it [assumption] because I hear the questions and the line of questions. Megyn: But that s my job.That s not all Megyn seems to be very selective about who can and can t talk about a woman s weight and appearance. It sure sounds like she has no problem talking to Stern about her appearance and how important her good looks and physique are for her job. In fact, it appears as though Megyn actually finds his line of questioning quite amusing.She also spent a considerable amount of time talking about her sex life, her breasts and the size of her husband s penis. Nope nothing seems to offend Megyn in this interview:weblink",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present104611188,11189,"When Hillary Clinton called about half of Donald Trump s supporters a basket of deplorables, she was a bit off-base not because she insulted them by calling them what they are, but because half is far too generous.Recently, a seven-year-old girl in Aleppo that s the place Gary Johnson doesn t know about has been getting quite a bit of attention with her tweets about the horrors of her existence. Bana, like many others, is trapped in the Eastern part of the city with dwindling supplies and a constant fear of death and her tweets about her daily reality are both horrifying and endearing.Tonight we have no house, it's bombed & I got in rubble. I saw deaths and I almost died. Bana #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/arGYZaZqjg Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 27, 2016Under heavy bombardments now. In between death and life now, please keep praying for us. #Aleppo Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 28, 2016We have no home now. I got minor injury. I didn't sleep since yesterday, I am hungry. I want to live, I don't want to die. Bana #Aleppo Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 28, 2016This is our house, My beloved dolls died in the bombing of our house. I am very sad but happy to be alive.- Bana pic.twitter.com/9i0xxJrQtD Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 29, 2016This is my reading place where I wanted to start reading Harry Potter but it's bombed. I will never forget. Bana pic.twitter.com/6fXX2Me8ZB Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 29, 2016On Sunday, the little girl disappeared from social media, leaving an ominous message behind indicating that she is not safe. But fortunately, the reports that she and her mother, who often tweets on her behalf, managed to escape to an undisclosed location. Bana s story has touched many, including J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter series Bana loves, and the world is in awe at the child s bravery well, aside from and the American Right. They don t like her too much at all.While many have expressed sympathy for Bana s plight and have left messages of love and hope, the Basket has been relentlessly trolling the little girl because they really aren t joking when they call them selves Deplorable Dave and other appropriated insults. They wear the title give to them by the former Secretary of State as a badge of honor.@VivaSyrianAA @AlabedBana Her father won't let her have a good life. Uses her as a Wahhabi terrorist propaganda ploy. Sick Jewish Russophile (@JewRussophile) December 2, 2016@AlabedBana death is always sad but looks more like honor killing muslims r always parading the dead bodies of strap bombs2kids Laurinda Cole (@apostlelaurinda) November 26, 2016@TheHerbalRose @AlabedBana these r innocent kids that will b used as bombs, human shields & sold in2sexual slavery by parents&islam Laurinda Cole (@apostlelaurinda) November 28, 2016@BobHenriqurs @AlabedBana Bana you really need to talk to your terrorist mates and get them to stopkilling children steve wright (@stewrigh) November 26, 2016@AlabedBana A D (@dm7474) December 5, 2016@AlabedBana what an attention seekerStop pretending you are dying every couple of daysEveryone knows this is a fake psyop account Chelsea Lopez (@justfake) December 5, 2016@AlabedBana how about you crawl back into the bombed out building you came out to tweet BS. Blazing Fury (@FuryBlazing) December 5, 2016@AlabedBana your a fake, no child would have climbed this rubble to get a picture like this..your a rebel or isis Life is illusions (@Bman4101973) November 29, 2016.@AdamNeira @HKX07 Whatever al Qaeda pic.twitter.com/FVXIfSw5C1 Porkchan (@MostPerfectLord) November 30, 2016@AlabedBana What propaganda ! Nice plug for jk rowling who retweets you. How you have internet connection ? New phone ? Clean clothes etc? DeplorableDave (@ThePhantomPain1) November 29, 2016@AlabedBana Lolololo! I now come here daily for a good laugh. Thinking about having my dog open an acct & 'he'll' Tweet from Mars. Calamity Jane (@AmandaKavanagh5) November 29, 2016@AlabedBana you are another gay girl in Damascus . A hoax just like this is. DeplorableDave (@ThePhantomPain1) November 29, 2016@AlabedBana where are you taking these pictures from Bana? You're like 3 floors up. Trump Supporter (@Trump201611) November 29, 2016@AlabedBana cut the B.S. this is sheer propoganda. Vanna (@vannanancy) November 29, 2016@AlabedBana I hope you were able to shave your beard John Smith (@999100cn) November 29, 2016This little girl is suffering, and her plight has been well-documented, but Trump fans don t care. All they know is that she s a Muslim, which means she s not human enough for anything approaching whatever level of compassion of which they are capable.Watch an interview with Bana below:Featured image via Twitter",fake,dataset,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present104711214,11215,Premier League Match of the Day Soccer Sun 12am Live Extra World Cup : Men ' s Slalom Run 1 Olympic Sports Sun 3 : 30am Live Extra World Cup : Women ' s Slalom Run 1 Olympic Sports Sun 4 : 30am Live Extra Cross Country : Men ' s and Women ' s Sprint Olympic Sports Sun 5am Live Extra World Cup : Men ' s Slalom Run 2 Olympic Sports Sun 6 : 30am Live Extra World Cup : Four Man Bobsleigh Olympic Sports Sun 7am Live Extra World Cup : Women ' s Slalom Run 2 Olympic Sports Sun 7 : 30am Aston Villa v . Arsenal Premier League Sun 7 : 30am Live Extra Ski Jumping : Sunday 134 Olympic Sports Sun 9am Live Extra Women ' s Freeski Slopestyle Finals Pre Show Olympic Sports Sun 10 : 30am Liverpool v . West Bromwich Albion Premier League Sun 11am ,true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present104811229,11230,"French jets strike Islamic State as Britain offers help Published : 13 : 53 , 23 November 2015 Updated : 13 : 53 , 23 November 2015 , Nov 23 ( Reuters ) French jets from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier struck Islamic State targets in Iraq on Monday while Britain offered France the use of an air base in Cyprus to hit the militants behind the Paris attacks . French President Francois Hollande met British Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris on Monday as part of efforts to rally support for the fight against Islamic State and Hollande is also due to visit Washington and Moscow this week . Cameron offered air to air refuelling services and said he was convinced Britain should carry out air strikes alongside France and would be recommending that Britain ' s parliament vote through such measures . France has intensified its bombings in Syria since the Nov . 13 attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State that killed 130 people . The group is also being targeted from the air by a U . S . led coalition and Russia . French jets taking off from the country ' s flagship in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed targets in Ramadi and Mosul in Iraq on Monday in support of Iraqi forces on the ground , the French armed forces said in a statement . The arrival of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the area following the Paris attacks has tripled the French air force ' s firepower by boosting the number of planes targeting Islamic State to 38 . "" I firmly support the action that President Hollande has taken to strike ( Islamic State ) in Syria and it is my firm conviction that Britain should do so too , "" Cameron said at a joint news conference after his meeting with Hollande . "" Later this week , I will set out in parliament our comprehensive strategy for tackling , "" Cameron said . Cameron is eager to avoid a repeat of 2013 when he lost a vote on air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al Assad ' s forces . Britain is already bombing Islamic State in Iraq . Hollande said France planned to intensify its air strikes on Islamic State in Syria , adding that it would focus on destroying targets that would cause as much damage as possible . Besides the aircraft carrier , Britain ' s Cyprus Akrotiri air base could offer another option for French jets , which had been using bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates until Monday . On Tuesday , Hollande is due to visit Washington where he hopes to overcome President Barack Obama ' s reluctance to get sucked further into the Syria conflict . Speaking before Hollande ' s Washington trip , which will be followed by a visit to Russia later in the week , French officials made no secret of their desire to see the United States do more . In between the two trips , Hollande is due to receive German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday night and Italy ' s President Matteo Renzi on Thursday morning . "" We all need each other , so we have to find ways to coordinate , "" French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian said on Sunday . "" We can do that without a combined military command structure , we just need to talk to each other . "" ( Editing by Andrew Callus and David Clarke ) Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past104911230,11231,"Jeremy Menez scored twice to help beleaguered Milan beat Cagliari 3 1 in front of a sparse San Siro crowd on Saturday as fans responded to a request to boycott the match in protest at the club ' s leadership . The Curva Sud section , which usually hosts the hardcore supporters , was almost deserted while banners , written in English , read ' Game Over ' and ' Insert Coin To Save Milan . ' The Curva Sud had called on fans to stay away because the hierarchy , they say , have undermined coach Filippo Inzaghi with their rudderless leadership and confused transfer policy . Jeremy Menez ( right ) scored an impressive double at an empty San Siro to help Milan to victory Menez put Milan ahead in the 21st minute with a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area . Diego Farias levelled for relegation candidates Cagliari two minutes after halftime but French defender Philippe Mexes volleyed Milan back in front almost immediately . Menez completed the win by converting a penalty , controversially awarded after Alessio Cerci appeared to fall under Luca Ceppitelli ' s sliding tackle just outside the area . Milan fans boycotted the game in protest over the leadership of the Serie A giants this season The Frenchman took his tally to 15 this season , making him joint Serie A top scorer alongside Argentines Carlos Tevez of Juventus and Mauro Icardi of Inter Milan . It was only Milan ' s third victory since Christmas and all have been against teams in the bottom three . Milan moved up to seventh with 38 points from 28 games while Cagliari are joint 18th in the 20 team table . Earlier , Chievo eased relegation fears by beating Palermo 1 0 to climb to 15th , 11 points clear of the drop zone . The Frenchman is congratulated by on loan Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel after his second goal Philippe Mexes ( right ) fires in his goal during Milan ' s comfortable victory over Cagliari at the San Siro ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past105011247,11248,"A friend of Jihadi John , unmasked as Mohammed Emwazi ( pictured ) has used the Human Rights Act to avoid being deported A friend of Jihadi John accused of organising al Qaeda terror atrocities has used the Human Rights Act to avoid being deported despite being deemed a threat to national security . The terror suspect , originally from Ethiopia , is believed to be a leading member of al Shabaab , an al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia . He was accused of playing a part in the 2005 plot to blow up the London Underground and is an associate of executioner Jihadi John unmasked this week as Mohammed Emwazi . But the deportation case against the man , who can only be identified as J1 , collapsed after a five year court battle when a British diplomat admitted the system was not working . Lawyers argued the man ' s human rights would be breached if he was sent back to Ethiopia , where he could face detention and possible torture . The terror suspect is now living in London and has also been linked to two al Qaeda extremists killed in drone attacks in Somalia . Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government has ' serious questions ' to answer about the case and questioned why he wasn ' t placed under special controls . She told the Telegraph : ' This man ( J1 ) has been linked to planned terror attacks , associated with known terrorists , and identified as a risk to the . So why didn ' t Theresa May at least put him on a in 2013 when he was released from immigration detention ? ' And what is being done now ? Are they reconsidering TPIMs , deportation assurances or prosecution options ? Or do they no longer believe he is a significant threat ? ' A is a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure which allows authorities to impose a curfew and limit communications on someone they ' reasonably believe ' is involved in terror activities . The terror suspect has been accused of being a leading member of an al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia , pictured are hundreds of al Shabaab fighters He was accused of playing a part in the 2005 plot to blow up the London Underground , pictured is footage of failed July 21 bomber Hussein Osman ( circled in green ) at Clapham Junction train station J1 has been accused by the Government of being a senior organiser for al Shabaab . Court papers disclose that ' on the morning of the failed London bombings of 21 July 2005 , a mobile telephone which the appellant ( J1 ) now accepts was used by him , was in contact with a telephone used by one of the bombers , Hussein Osman ' . The Government argued he was a threat to national security and should be deported , court papers show . They claimed he was an associate of Londoners Mohammed Sakr and Bilal Berjawi , both of whom died in drone strikes in Somalia . Sakr and Emwazi were friends and Sakr attended Quintin Kynaston academy in St John ' s Wood along with Emwazi . It was revealed this week that Emwazi was a ' person of interest ' to MI5 as a member of a cell known as The London Boys , which was set up to recruit and raise funds for al Shabab . MI5 was also aware of Emwazi for six years before he appeared on a hostage video for the first time in August 2014 . It was revealed that Jihadi John was a ' person of interest ' to MI5 as a member of a cell known as The London Boys , which was set up to recruit and raise funds for al Shabab , pictured with British journalist David Haines They had a file on Emwazi from at least 2009 , when he was stopped as he arrived in Tanzania . British agents suspected that he was trying to travel to Somalia to join up with al Shabaab , an accusation that Emwazi denied . He was never charged with a terror offence . Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government has ' serious questions ' to answer about the case Michael Adebolajo , convicted of Lee Rigby ' s murder , is also believed to be linked to the Somali group . The case has heightened calls for the Human Rights Act to be scrapped . It collapsed when Anthony Layden , the British diplomat in charge of negotiating his deportation , admitted the system was not working . He is believed to have blamed the Home Office for the failure . This comes as the Government admitted that hundreds of extremists like Emwazi have been free to leave Britain because they were not being properly monitored by the security services . A spokesman for the Home Office said yesterday : ' Control orders were not working and were being struck down by the courts . ' TPIMs have been endorsed by the courts , counter terrorism reviewers , the police , and the Security Service . Following a review of the powers available to manage the terrorist threat , the range of measures available under the Act is being extended , including a measure to allow subjects to be relocated to different parts of the country . ' Michael Adebolajo , convicted of Lee Rigby ' s murder , is also believed to be linked to the Somali group al Shabab ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past105111262,11263,"There s been a meme spreading across social media that says Only in America do we accept weather predictions from a rodent but deny climate change evidence from scientists. Sadly, that meme is more accurate than Punxsutawney Phil could ever hope to be as conservatives continue to deny climate science outright as they flock to see if a groundhog sees his shadow or not to predict an early spring or more winter.Of course, groundhogs are not scientifically accurate at all. It s a complete myth that they can forecast the weather. This is explained particularly well by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who put together a nice chart comparing Phil s predictions with the actual temperatures that occurred following them. From 1988-2015, found that, The table shows no predictive skill for the groundhog during the most recent years of this analysis. While Groundhog Day is a way to have a little fun at mid-winter, climate records and statistics tell us that winter probably isn t over. Climatologically speaking, the three coldest months of the year are December, January, and February, so winter typically still has a bit to go when the groundhog comes out in search of his shadow on February 2. And that s why Bill Maher had a field day on Friday mocking conservative climate science deniers with a hilarious attack ad aimed particularly at Ted Cruz.Maher noted that Groundhog Day fell on the same day as the Iowa caucus vote, and said that because Punxsutawney Phil predicted warmer weather, naturally, conservatives now think that Punxsutawney Phil is in the tank with the liberals on global warming. They re crazy about this issue, Maher said, which is why he introduced an ad mocking climate science deniers in which conservatives attack Phil for being just another scientist propped up by liberal media. The ad also took a masterful shot at Iowa winner Ted Cruz.Here s the video via YouTube:Conservatives probably are crazy enough to believe that a groundhog can predict weather and they are certainly crazy enough to attack the groundhog for predicting warmer weather. But not believing actual science is truly crazy and it s the kind of crazy that is dangerous as Republicans continue to ignore that many of our coastal cities are going to be under water if we don t act. Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present105211265,11266,"A weekend fight allegedly involving nearly every member of the Sarah Palin ' s family was actually started by her daughter ' ex boyfriend , according to a source close to the family . It had been reported that the drunken brawl erupted when the Palin pack apparently had a run in with Connor Cleary , an ex boyfriend of Willow , 20 , on Saturday night in South Anchorage , Alaska . But a source from the Palin side is now claiming it began when Cleary ' tried to get in ' to the Hummer limousine after he had engaged in some unspecified ' questionable behavior . ' A weekend fight involving nearly every member of the Sarah Palin ' s ( left ) family was actually started by her daughter ' ex boyfriend Connor Cleary ( right ) according to a source close to the family It had been reported that the drunken brawl started when the Palin pack apparently had a run in with Connor Cleary , an ex boyfriend of Willow , 20 . Pictured : The Palins in 2007 The former vice presidential candidate has not commented publicly on the episode , but RealClearPolitics spoke with a source close to the Palin family , who wanted to provide their version of the events in question . The source said oldest son Track , 25 , soon found himself struggling against four men who had ' piled on him . ' That was when father Todd Palin who was celebrating his fiftieth that night , although it was not his party became involved . Partygoer Eric Thompson told Good Morning America , ' I heard Sarah Palin scream out , "" You know who we are , don ' t you ? "" ' But the source told the website Palin was shouting : ' Don ' t you know who he is ? He ' s a vet ! ' Husband Todd Palin who was celebrating his fiftieth that night although it was not his party became involved in the brawl after his son was allegedly attacked Her son Track served with the U . S . Army service in the Iraq War . According to the source , Track left the fight nursing four cracked ribs , while his father suffered a bloody nose . Several local sources reported on the incident , initially scooped by Alaska political blogger Amanda Coyne . She wrote : ' Word is that Bristol has a particularly strong right hook , which she employed repeatedly . ' But the source said that Bristol is left handed . One report suggested host Korey Klingenmeyer was allegedly punched in the face seven times by Bristol when he politely asked her to leave the party . Another report claimed that Willow and Bristol apparently tried to go after the mother of Willow ' s ex boyfriend . The fight involved ' roughly 20 people ' and alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the incident , which took place around 11pm on Saturday night , The Anchorage Police Department said . ' Anchorage police responded to a report of a verbal and physical altercation taking place between multiple subjects outside of a residence , ' police spokesperson Jennifer Castro told Alaska Dispatch News . Sister sister : Willow ( left ) and Bristol Palin ( right ) apparently tried to go after the mother of Willow ' s ex boyfriend A victim and a gentleman : Host Korey Klingenmeyer ( above ) was allegedly punched in the face seven times by Bristol when he politely asked her to leave the party Scene of the crime : The home of Klingenmeyer in Anchorage , Alaska ' A preliminary investigation by police revealed that a party had been taking place at a nearby residence and a fight had broken out between multiple subjects outside of the residence . ' At the time of the incident , none of the involved parties wanted to press charges and no arrests were made . ' Alcohol was believed to have been a factor in the incident . Some of the Palin family members were in attendance at the party . ' Although none of the parties wanted to press charges at the time of the incident , police confirmed that the case is still an active investigation and is being reviewed by and the Municipal Prosecutors Office . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past105311285,11286,"Poll Released 36 Years Ago Today Had Reagan Down by 8… He Won in a Landslide Most of the money spent on these expensive steak dinners was spent outside Alaska, in an effort to butter up her special-interest friends. “The cavalier attitude Lisa Murkowski has used in spending contributors’ dollars reflects a Big Government mindset she has employed in spending taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars in Washington, D.C,” Joe Miller said. She is a typical liberal fat cat who cares more about upholding a failing establishment than spending taxpayer dollars on the issues her constituents voted for her to address. She cares more about keeping her job so she can hang out with her special-interest friends than she does about actually doing her job. If Alaskans really want a responsible government that is going to work for the people and not for the establishment, it’s time to let Murkowski go. It’s not just good for Republicans, it’s good for the country, because since Murkowski succeeded her father in the Senate in 2002, the national debt has increased by over $13 trillion. Now she spends nearly a quarter million on eating out. She is the most liberal Republican up for reelection and has voted with President Barack Obama over 72 percent of the time during the last Senate. With the possibility of Hillary Clinton taking office, do Americans really want Murkowski in that seat? “The 36-year Murkowski dynasty has led Alaska and helped lead the nation down a dead-end road,” Miller stated. “If we want to change the course of our state and nation, we must change the people we send to Washington, D.C.” ",fake,news,test,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present105411305,11306,"By Jason Easley on Tue, Nov 1st, 2016 at 9:38 pm The more things change, the more they stay the same. The House Freedom Caucus is planning a secret meeting, which in typical Republican fashion was leaked to the press, to discuss ousting Paul Ryan and demanding more ransom from leadership. Share on Twitter Print This Post The more things change, the more they stay the same. The House Freedom Caucus is planning a secret meeting, which in typical Republican fashion was leaked to the press, to discuss ousting Paul Ryan and demanding more ransom from leadership. Politico reported , “One of the most pressing questions preoccupying Washington is what the group will do about Paul Ryan. The Wisconsin Republican has said he intends to seek another term as House speaker but has rankled members of the group of several dozen Republican lawmakers that drove John Boehner out of the Speakership last year. The Freedom Caucus is also weighing proposals meant to empower its members, some at the expense of leadership’s authority.” There have been early rumblings that Speaker Ryan may be open to making a few deals on policies like tax reform with Hillary Clinton if she wins the election. One of the reasons why these deals may never happen is because of the ability of far right Republicans to cause trouble. If Ryan’s Republican majority shrinks, he will be an even bigger hostage to the far-right wing of his caucus. The dysfunctional dynamic in the House is going to continue even if Hillary Clinton wins the election. Ryan has run into the same hurdles that John Boehner faced. House Republicans are deeply divided and unable to agree on much of anything. The fact that the Freedom Caucus is holding a secret meeting is a sign that nothing is going to change. If Paul Ryan doesn’t cave to their demands, they will force Ryan out of the Speaker position. A group of House Republicans is plotting new ways to keep the House from working properly before a new president has even been elected. This is a reminder that Washington is fine. It’s the Republican Party that’s broken.",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past105511312,11313,"British bobbies were under the spotlight today as it was revealed that the use of Tasers in incidents almost doubles with every release of Call of Duty . The shock trends were uncovered by using the freedom of information act and asking some kids nicking off from school , the data then fed into a spreadsheet then printed out , photocopied five times then studied by scientist type people . It seems when our proud bobbies helmets are not fitting up people , contaminating evidence and typing out reems of paper work in smoke filled offices speaking in guttural Scottish accents , they unwind by playing call of duty . The rise in the use of the game as a way to deal with the stress of modern policing is slowly seeping into how our Five 0 act on the streets , with many beat bobbies preferring to be called SniPerxxKIll4r in public rather than officer or Pig . Our journalist was given full access to the police recruit training department in Staffordshire a state of the art laser tag and bowling alley off a non descript side street . Inside , hundreds of up and coming constables of the thin blue line can be seen running around with bright yellow laser guns shouting "" spotted "" and "" kill streak "" while they camp in the changing rooms rarely moving only to poke their gun barrel round the corner while covering the sensor with their other hand . Important skills when hiding in the bushes with a speed camera in the real world . We spoke to an Inspector who wishes to remain anonymous , we will Call him "" 1 "" for the sake of this interview . He had this to say about the use of Tasers . "" Gentlemen , at 0600 hours you will be inserted by black hawk helicopters to the primary target , an abandoned city in Russia . "" Refusing to be pushed on anything further we made our excuses and left but not before witnessing a Constable Glitching out of the station by climbing on the photocopier and jumping up and down on a milk crate , until he could climb onto the dropped ceiling were he was impossible to kill . It seems that this trend of wayward use of Tasers seems likely to continue with the announcement of a new map pack and some different coloured guns being released on Friday . One can only hope that is postponed until after Christmas , typically the busiest time for the Police with hundreds of games being released . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present105611323,11324,"Per Mertesacker says that a frank team meeting between the defenders has sorted out the problems that bedevilled Arsenal ' s first leg of their Champions League tie against Monaco . The Gunners face Monaco on Tuesday night knowing they must score at least three times after their 3 1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium last month . But Mertesacker , the Arsenal vice captain claims that the response of the team since that result with four straight wins , including the Cup sixth round victory at Manchester United , and in conceding just two goals since then is an indication that the team is ready to overturn the two goal deficit and produce an extraordinary comeback . Per Mertesacker speaks to the assembled media ahead of Arsenal ' s Champions League tie in Monaco The World Cup winner shares a joke with Mesut Ozil as the Gunners prepare for their second leg clash ' We speak a lot to each other , even when we win , ' said Mertesacker . ' We need to learn after defeat and winning . We always try to improve as a defensive unit . It ' s always a topic to analyse things that went right and things went wrong . ' After that game lot of things didn ' t go well . That is a mental thing for tomorrow . We know mentally that we weren ' t really up for it and at times we could feel there was a bit of pressure and we couldn ' t really cope with that . ' But we feel after the game we moved on from that and that ' s why we ' re confident we can beat any team in the world . ' We ' re coming out of great week with two important wins and a good level of confidence . There is always a good mood in the squad and during the season we ' ve responded well . But we have to face truth and show a different face tomorrow . We need to embrace the challenge . ' Mertesacker tangles with Ashley Young during Arsenal ' s Cup victory at Manchester United Mertesacker celebrates in front of the Arsenal fans at United after their impressive Cup win ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present105711333,11334,"Brazil Corruption Probe Nets Pactual Esteves Esteves became youngest self made billionaire with deal Pactual names Arida as interim chief as shares tumble Andre Esteves , ? the brash banker who once joked his firm s name , Grupo Pactual , stood for better than Goldman , became the latest high profile executive dragged into Brazil s widening corruption scandal . The 47 year old billionaire was arrested Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro , ? along with Senator Delcidio Amaral , police said . ? Esteves allegedly sought an agreement with Amaral to interfere with testimony from ? a jailed former executive of oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro , according to a court document . Esteves made a splash on the international financial stage and became Brazil s youngest self made billionaire when he sold Pactual to for 2 . 6 billion in 2006 . ? He and partners bought it back three years later and set off on an expansion , snapping up businesses including the Swiss private banking unit of Assicurazioni Generali SpA . The firm sold shares to the public in 2012 . He epitomizes the idea of a private , successful , entrepreneurial generation of Brazilian bankers that s what he represents , ? said Felipe Monteiro , a professor of strategy at Insead in France . His alleged involvement with the most classic type of old politics is somehow strange . The risk to the firm is that Andre Esteves is the firm , said Mark Williams , author of Uncontrolled Risk , a book on the rise and collapse of Lehman Brothers . There is not a charismatic number 2 executive groomed and ready to lead . Pactual said it appointed Persio Arida , a former governor of Brazil s central bank and s managing partner , as interim chief executive officer . The firm said in an e mailed statement it s cooperating with the investigation , declining to comment on the question of succession . Esteves lawyer , Antonio Carlos de Almeida Castro , said in a phone interview that Esteves isn t guilty and wasn t involved in the actions he s accused of . Esteves was born in Rio , in the middle class Tijuca neighborhood . An only child whose main interests were reading , studying and playing soccer , ? as a teenager he became fascinated ? by computers , he said in a 2007 interview . He went on to study computer science at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro . He started his career fixing computers at Pactual in 1989 . ? Within two years , ? the bank s founder , Luiz Cezar Fernandes , had assigned him accounting and administrative jobs in the back office of the trading desk . Fernandes , in an interview in 2007 , said he took a liking to Esteves early on because both men came from middle class families and had no financial education or ties to Brazil s traditional , family owned banking community . Esteves later teamed up with three partners to engineer a boardroom maneuver that toppled his mentor . I was surprised when they turned against me , Fernandes said . But nobody could argue with a guy who was making a lot of money for the bank . Making money was something Esteves said he excelled at , and enjoyed . ? He oversaw the fixed income team at Pactual from 1993 to 1996 , and became a managing partner in 2002 . ? Less than a year after bought the firm , it put Esteves in charge of global fixed income sales and trading . He moved to London and oversaw more than 1 , 000 people . I like making money , Esteves said after he was appointed to that job . I m good at making money . It s exciting to create wealth . Before long the financial crisis swept across the globe , crippling with more than 50 billion of losses and writedowns and spurring a government rescue . After quitting to form , Esteves joined up with ? some of his former partners to buy Pactual for 2 . 5 billion . He s built the firm into Latin America s largest independent investment bank . It was the leading arranger of stock sales in the region in 2013 , and again so far this year , data compiled by Bloomberg show . Esteves donated an undisclosed sum to Harvard Business School in 2013 to renovate Baker Hall . A residence facility used by visiting executives , it was renamed Esteves Hall . Esteves personal fortune has been falling , however , not rising . His riches peaked at 4 . 9 billion in September of 2014 . He s now less than half as wealthy , as his net worth dipped below 2 billion on Wednesday , ? according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . He shed hundreds of millions of dollars in value earlier this year as his firm was dragged down by loans and investments with companies embroiled in the Petrobras scandal . Esteves has been involved in deals with the oil giant over the years , most notably involving Sete Brasil Participacoes . Pactual teamed up with Petrobras and other partners in 2010 to create the oil rig supplier , whose former operating chief admitted in plea bargains to crimes of corruption . Sete Brasil is in talks to renegotiate its supply contract with Petrobras , while had to book impairments on its investment in the second and third quarters . He was the key guy , and now it s a kingdom without its king , ? Ray Zucaro , chief investment officer at Asset Management in Miami , said in an e mail . As an outside investor it does give me pause , I just don t know where the next shoe will drop . ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past105811361,11362,"Baghdad , Iraq The Iraqi government Friday demanded the withdrawal of an Iranian "" armed group "" that it says seized an oil well in southern Iraq on Thursday night . Iran is denying any takeover took place . The Iraqi government issued a strong statement deploring the act after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki headed an emergency meeting of Iraq ' s National Security Council to discuss the situation . "" The council stressed that such incidents would be considered a violation of the border and violated Iraq ' s sovereignty and its territories and calls upon Iran to pull out the group from well No . 4 and take down the Iranian flag from the tower of the well immediately , "" Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh said in the statement . Senior Iraqi government sources initially referred to the Iranians as "" security forces , "" but the official Iraqi government statement later called them an "" armed group . "" Drilled in 1979 , the well is in Iraq ' s Maysan province , east of Amara , near the Iranian border . It is within the province ' s Fakka oil field , the Iraqi government said . Al Dabbagh said in the statement that the Iraqi government had summoned the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad , Hassan Kazemi Qomi , to inform him officially about the incident and asked him to provide a note to Iran ' s Foreign Affairs Ministry "" to address such a violation . "" The statement said the Iraqi government called upon Iran "" to resolve all border problems through diplomatic dialogue and avoid the use of military force in order to preserve our common security and bilateral relations between the two countries . "" An official at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad had said earlier that Iraqi authorities had not yet contacted them . Iraq and Iran share a long border , and high ranking committees from both countries handle all border matters , an Iranian Embassy official said . Iraq and Iran fought a bloody eight year war that ended in 1988 in a cease fire with no clear victor and parts of the border under dispute . But political , economic , cultural and religious ties between Iran , a predominantly Shiite Muslim nation , and Iraq , a majority Shiite Muslim nation , greatly improved after the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003 . At the same time , there has been widespread concern among Iraqi and U . S . officials that Iran has been providing Iraqi insurgents with material for roadside bombs during the Iraq war . The report of the oil well incident comes several days after the Oil Ministry ' s two day auction of oil fields . Aimed at increasing Iraqi oil production , deals were struck for seven of the 15 fields offered . There also had been oil bidding in June . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past105911381,11382,"In a warehouse about the size of four football fields , more than a million units of online retail items are housed . It is essential that all inventory is organized and easy to find , in order to get these items to their final destinations on time that is , unless the inventory needed can be summoned on demand . That is exactly what happens at the 25 , 500 square meter Quiet Logistics fulfillment center , in Massachusetts , where 200 robots help workers prepare 10 , 000 to 20 , 000 orders for delivery every day . It uses a system designed by Amazon subsidiary Kiva that keeps track of all inventory so the robots know exactly what is on each storage unit . "" The robots job is really to move inventory from storage to the work station , "" said Brian Lemerise of third party fulfillment at Quiet Logistics . "" Anytime someone places an order . . . the robot is dispatched to the storage location that has that unit and brings it to our associates to pick . "" Kiva robots have a reported accuracy rate of 99 . 99 , so human error is practically eliminated in this phase of the process . With names like Bot Mobile , Jack in the Bot , and Betty Bot , each robot is given its own identity and its own assignments . Like a choreographed routine they move autonomously up and down the aisles of the warehouse at about 10 kilometers per hour never missing a step , and always hitting their mark . This is made possible by the bar codes they drive over and the cameras on the bottom of the drive units , which together communicate where the bot is driving to . They are designed to operate in tight quarters and at just 76 cm long , 64cm wide and 41 cm high , the robots are small enough to travel under the storage units , yet strong enough to lift almost a metric ton of merchandise . They can even find the charging station when their power is running low . What keeps this mechanical workforce performing with such precision and from crashing into each other is the software that commands it . "" We think of the software as being a giant air traffic control system , "" says Al Dekin , Senior of sales and marketing at Quiet Logistics . "" The software will allocate a certain number of spots to a specific robot that ' s what keeps the robots from hitting each other "" He adds : "" In terms of overall productivity , the use of the robotics tend to be around anywhere between three and a half to upwards of five times more productive , so we ' d have to have that many more people to actually get the same amount of work done . "" But the human touch is still necessary to get the products out the door . Quiet Logistics has 400 people working on fulfillment at the Massachusetts facility alone , so these smart machines are not yet ready to replace living workers . But they do make it easier to get the job done . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present106011412,11413,"Davis Cup team delay travel to Belgium amid Brussels security fears ? Terror alert in Brussels was raised to highest category on Saturday ? Ghent , where Davis Cup final is to be held , is second highest category Andy Murray and the rest of s Davis Cup team have delayed travelling to Belgium amid security fears . Photograph : Ella Ling Shutterstock Last modified on Sunday 22 November 2015 19 . 50 ? Anxiety and uncertainty remain high around Great Britain s journey to Ghent this week in pursuit of their first Davis Cup in 79 years following Belgium s decision on Sunday night to retain security in Brussels at the highest level . The five man squad , led by Andy Murray and the team captain , Leon Smith , along with Lawn Tennis Association back up staff and security operatives , have delayed their departure until Monday , although they are keeping secret the time and the route . They hope to arrive in Ghent in time to practise on the match court at the Flanders Expo . Ghent ? just 35 miles from Brussels , which is still in virtual lockdown , with the metro and schools shut as a full scale manhunt for several terrorists continues ? is rated a level three security threat , one below the capital . The , responsible for the safety of the British players , and the International Tennis Federation , the organisers of the tournament along with the host governing body in consultation with government and security forces , are monitoring the situation by the hour . However , the decision on Sunday night by the Belgian prime minister , Charles Michel , and his government not to reduce the Brussels alert from four to three is a cause for continued concern and vigilance . The former British No1 and Davis Cup stalwart Tim Henman said he did not expect the players to be adversely affected but admitted he had cancelled plans to attend the final . There is uncertainty with the shutdown over there , he said . Only time will tell . But fingers crossed it will continue as normal ? because , if it doesn t , it s a very difficult scenario . I was going to go but I am not going any more . I was going to take the three girls , I was going to go with my family . With the train and the going over there , I just thought : Is it really worth the hassle for them ? However , Mary Pope , chair of the British Association of Tennis Supporters , said night that their travel group of up to 150 supporters still intended to go . I ve only heard from one person who is definitely not going , she said . People are definitely concerned but we haven t cancelled our plans at this stage and are hoping to go . I think everyone is keeping an eye on the situation and there is some concern about travelling through Brussels . It s a case of wait and see but we hope it goes ahead . Henman , who played in the Davis Cup 54 times for Great Britain ? including a dangerous expedition to Ecuador weeks after the 9 11 attack in New York ? expects the players will handle the unique psychological pressure . I remember Ecuador away in 2001 but I think they were slightly different circumstances . I was flying to the training camp when we were meant to be meeting in Miami and got diverted to Bermuda and spent 24 hours there and then came back . I then went round through Europe and direct to South America . Once we got to South America I didn t feel as if we were under immediate threat . I felt like the issues were elsewhere , whereas I think circumstances are different in Belgium . It s obvious there s been so much going on there in the last few days . I m sure they will be relying on a lot of information from outside sources . But hopefully they can travel there on Monday and the event is going to continue . He said he expected Murray would lead by example in difficult circumstances . Pressure is self inflicted . It s what your mind tells you . When you have the sort of mind set Andy has had his whole career you do a good job of controlling things that you can control : his preparation and performance . I m sure the team will be talking to the and the embassy to make sure everything is in place . That is something the rest of the team will take care of so Andy can concentrate on his job on the court . I don t envisage it having an impact . The Murray brothers mother , Judy , shares Henman s optimism . We have been following what has been going on and we have discussed it , she told La Derni re Heure , the French language daily newspaper published in Brussels . Molenbeek the suburb at the centre of the most intense police attention isn t far from Ghent but that shouldn t stop us . We trust the security that has been organised . Everyone will be vigilant and we hope that the event will be a great success . On Murray s concerns about his Davis Cup preparation after leaving the World Tour Finals in London , she said : I find it shameful that such events are so close together . He cannot totally focus on the final and he only has a few days to change from hardcourt to clay . He could work a bit on this surface but the tournaments at the end of the year are all played on hardcourts . He will have to quickly turn the dial and get on with it . The Belgian team trained on Sunday at Merelbeke , about 20 minutes from Ghent . Led by the clay specialist David Goffin , they will be keen for the final to go ahead if possible , and the says no consideration has been given to a postponement , cancellation or even allowing both finalists to share the title . Tim Henman will play Tie Break Tens a night of 10 point tie breaks at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 5 December ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past106111430,11431,"Modi invites Congress chief Sonia Gandhi , former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss Bill : sources American and Russian Militaries Don ' t Agree About Much in Syria World Karen DeYoung , The Washington Post Updated : November 26 , 2015 18 : 44 The and Russian militaries have lobbed a steady stream of verbal brickbats at each other since Russian operations in Syria began . ( Representational photo ) During a two day period early this week , the United States reported that coalition aircraft had conducted 23 strikes in Syria , destroying about three dozen Islamic State vehicles , buildings and tactical units . During the same two days , Russia said its aircraft had hit 472 "" terrorist objectives "" in Syria , including an Islamic State oil depot , an "" oil production plant "" and 80 tank trucks . The numbers were fairly typical of descriptions separately released nearly every day by the U . S . led coalition and the Russian Defense Ministry . In the eight weeks since Russia began air operations in Syria , its military claims to have flown many more missions than the United States , and destroyed thousands of targets . Russia ' s efforts , Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Moualem said in Moscow on Wednesday , have been "" 100 times greater than what is being done by the United States of America and their allies against terrorism . "" Beneath public presidential statements and diplomatic exchanges , the U . S . and Russian militaries have lobbed a steady stream of verbal brickbats at each other since Russian operations in Syria began on Sept . 30 . They have repeatedly criticized each other ' s tactics , munitions and goals . The U . S . military says that Russia has consistently exaggerated both its activities and successes in Syria , and that the vast majority of its attacks have not even been aimed at the Islamic State but have targeted coalition backed opponents of its ally , Syrian President Bashar Assad . In response , Russia has accused the United States of sour grapes and said the Americans are lying about what Russian planes are hitting . "" These statements are . . . made without presenting any proofs , with no specific facts , and citing unspecified sources , "" the Defense Ministry said this week , and Russia can back up all its reported operations with "" objective control data . "" Most recently , the U . S . led coalition command ridiculed a Russian claim to have destroyed 500 Islamic State oil tankers in one operation , just after the Americans said U . S . planes had wiped out 116 tank trucks . "" We didn ' t go through the effort . . . to do a detailed battle damage assessment "" of the Russian strikes , Col . Steve Warren , the Baghdad based coalition spokesman , said Wednesday . After looking at a Russian released video , he said , "" unless the Russians are counting , you know , flattened tires and chipped paint , it ' s simply impossible that they were able to destroy 500 trucks , particularly using the imprecise and , you know , dumb bombs , dumb munitions that they used . "" "" My guess is it ' s probably on an order of magnitude of an exaggeration , "" Warren said . "" Under 100 , I would posit . "" On Monday , the Russian Defense Ministry upped the ante , saying that over a five day period , Russian aircraft had "" destroyed over 1 , 000 petrol tank vehicles , which carried out transportation of crude oil to the plants controlled "" by the Islamic State . The United States has also claimed that Russia has caused numerous civilian casualties with unguided munitions : gravity bombs dropped from the sky . Warren said that tallies by unnamed human rights groups of "" upwards of 1 , 000 civilian casualties . . . including over 100 kids "" are "" probably fairly accurate . "" "" This is sloppy military work , "" Warren said . "" This is the reckless and irresponsible , imprecise and frankly uncaring approach to operations in Syria that the Russians have taken on . "" In a report issued late last week , the Britain based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented 403 civilians , including 166 women and children , killed in Russian airstrikes , more than the 381 fighters from both rebel and terrorist forces it said had been killed . The U . S . military has acknowledged two instances in which airstrikes against the Islamic State resulted in civilian deaths . Striking oil tankers , most of which are driven by civilians , is a particular problem , Warren said , but "" our assessment is that we have not caused a single civilian casualty . "" To avoid them in the operation that destroyed the 116 vehicles , he said , U . S . F 15s dropped leaflets over the trucks , which are usually lined up beside Islamic State oil installations , warning drivers that "" we ' re about to blow them up "" and telling them to run away . Thirty minutes later , the U . S . jets "" flew right over , near ground level , to scare the crap out of them , "" Warren said . "" Just for good measure , they then did strafing runs off to the side "" of the trucks , "" as an attention getter . . . just in case one or two really stubborn guys "" didn ' t get the message . "" We saw them flash their lights at one another , jump out of the trucks and run away . That whole process took about 45 minutes , then we blew them up . "" The Russians , he said , provided no such warning . The two militaries carefully study each other ' s released videos and counter each other ' s charges in detail . In response to American charges that Russian warplanes were again striking opposition forces in northwestern Syria , a Defense Ministry statement Monday said that "" most terrorist units in these areas have left their positions without permission despite their leaders ' threats . They discarded their Islamic State ( and other terrorist groups ) clothes and insignia to blend in with the local population . "" "" In connection with a large scale operation on simultaneous destruction of terrorists ' infrastructure all over the territory of Syria , "" the statement said , "" the so called fake ' human rights observatories ' and other propaganda organizations were expected to issue another batch of stovepiping in the Western media . "" Western media , it said , appeared to have become more "" careful in their statements "" following terrorist attacks in Paris , Egypt and Mali , the statement said . "" On the other hand , statements by certain alleged military experts ( such as the official representative of the U . S . Armed Forces Central Command , who has made a statement saying that ' most Russian airstrikes are aimed against moderate Syrian opposition ' ) remain the same . "" Story First Published : November 26 , 2015 18 : 44 ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past106211438,11439,"Rosa Parks works as a seamstress , shortly after the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott in Montgomery , Alabama . Don Cravens Getty Tuesday marks 60 years since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery , Alabama . ? Her ? arrest on December 1 , 1955 sparked the 381 day Montgomery bus boycott . ? President Barack Obama said that Parks ' lifetime of activism continues to inspire Americans today . Rosa Parks held no elected office . ? She was not born into wealth or power . ? Yet sixty years ago today , Rosa Parks changed America . ? Refusing to give up a seat on a segregated bus was the simplest of gestures , but her grace , dignity , and refusal to tolerate injustice helped spark a Civil Rights Movement that spread across America , the president said in a statement on Tuesday . ? "" Because Rosa Parks kept her seat , thousands of ordinary commuters walked instead of rode . ? Because they walked , countless other quiet heroes marched . ? Because they marched , our union is more perfect . ? Today , we remember their heroism . ? Most of all , we recommit ourselves to continuing their march . "" ? Rosa Parks seated toward the front of the bus in Montgomery , Alabama in 1956 . ? Underwood Archives Getty Images Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is traveling to Montgomery on Tuesday to deliver a keynote speech at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church , where Martin Luther King served as the pastor . The speech will headline a two day event organized by the National Bar Association . We are going to be recognizing these older foot soldiers and the people s shoulders that we all stand on today , Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange told Reuters . We want to make sure that as many as possible get their moment . Jeanne Theoharis , ? political science professor at Brooklyn College and author of the newly published ? The Rebellious Life of Mrs Rosa Parks ? told that ? Parks ' frustration with the American justice system is ? the same frustration that motivates ? Black Lives Matter movement in present day . We fall back on stock images . We fall back on the ways we re comfortable with her , as a quiet seamstress in a movement that was long ago , "" she said . ? But Rosa Parks at the end of her life was saying there s still more work to be done . ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past106311465,11466,"producer Tim Robinson who is suing Marks and Spencer after wrongly being accused of shoplifting from one of their stores A former producer is to sue Marks and Spencer for 100 , 000 after he was wrongly accused of shoplifting and marched through one of their stores in handcuffs . Award winning Tim Robinson , 51 , who has worked on programmes such as Timewatch and Digging for Britain , was then locked in a police cell for six hours as police investigated claims he had stolen pork chops . Now the Oxford graduate , who was released without charge , is claiming compensation of 100 , 000 for false imprisonment , defamation , emotional distress and mental suffering . He is also claiming back all the money he believes he spent at the store close to his home over the past 13 years , together with 20 , 000 in interest . Private security guards approached Mr Robinson as he shopped at the Camden Town branch of Marks and Spencer in North London in May . He was then taken to the stairwell in front of neighbours where he claims two ' threatening and rude ' security staff accused him of stealing 60 worth of peppered steak and a barrel of pork over two weeks previously . They then called the police and allegedly claimed Mr Robinson was being ' physically threatening ' . But it was only when police compared his photo from security cameras with the meat thief that they spotted the blunder . Mr Robinson today said : ' I feel appalled at how I was treated . I was just wandering through the shop it ' s very close to my house . A security guard came up to me and said could he have have a word with me . ' He showed me a still of myself and said is this you ? He said to come to the back of the shop and we ' ll talk about it . His manner was threatening . ' They said I had stolen food from the shop . I said I had no idea what they were talking about . They had an array of stills with them but they only showed me two of myself taken on a different date . ' They had these stills of the criminal with different coloured hair and at least fifteen years younger . The only similarity is that we ' re both male , white and slim . It ' s unbelievable . What on earth were they doing putting photographs of me and mixing them up with photographs of a criminal ? ' He added : ' They didn ' t even have the decency to take me somewhere private . They said I would have time to look at the photographs later . They were very threatening and very rude . ' The first thing the policeman said was "" why did you tell me this is an emergency ? He isn ' t physically threatening "" . ' The police said I could have an interview there and then but I said I wasn ' t prepared to say anything until a solicitor was there . ' I was handcuffed and marched through the shop in front of everyone , in front of my neighbours . I was made to get into the police van on Camden High Street . ' I was put into the back of the police van with the grille , all my belongings taken . And then they took a mug shot . ' Mr Robinson says he shopped in the Camden Town branch of Marks and Spencer for over 12 years and is also claiming back all of the money he claims he has spent at the store Mr Robinson ' s partner , who is a City lawyer then turned up at the police station where he was told he had been identified as a shoplifter . He explained : ' I was really shocked , I actually burst into tears when I spoke to the duty solicitor . ' She said that the police told her they had incontrovertible evidence that I committed this crime . She was saying that it would be better to admit to the crime . I thought I was having some kind of memory lapse . I thought I was bonkers . ' But he added he was only let go when officers re examined the photos of him and the thief and realised they had the wrong man and said : ' The police didn ' t look carefully enough at the photographs . It clearly wasn ' t me . ' She apologised afterwards after it and said that she had never seen anything like this . ' The writ is composed of three main parts , defamation , false imprisonment , and basically an abuse of trust . ' I ' m an Oxford graduate , I ' m in a very fortunate position . Just imagine what could have happened to a person without these sorts of advantages . ' I ' m just determined this doesn ' t happen to someone else . I want M S to change the way they operate . ' A spokeswoman for Marks and Spencer said : ' As this is part of ongoing legal proceedings , it would be inappropriate for M S to provide any comment at this time . ' A Camden Police spokesman confirmed they were called to the shop on May 19 after staff reported they had found believed responsible for thefts on May 2 . The spokesman added : ' A 51 year old man was taken to a north London police station where he was interviewed under caution . No further action was taken on the man . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past106411470,11471,"Oslo , Norway Norway mass killer Anders Breivik should be considered sane and acquitted for the attacks that left 77 people dead , his lawyer said in closing arguments Friday . Breivik has admitted carrying out the July 22 attack on a Labour Party youth camp on Utoya Island that killed 69 people and a bombing targeting government workers in Oslo that killed eight . But Breivik , who boasts of being an ultranationalist who killed his victims to fight multiculturalism in Norway , says he acted out of "" necessity . "" Defense lawyer Geir Lippestad argued that Breivik should be fully acquitted on the charges of voluntary homicide and committing acts of terror in Norway and that this should be on the grounds of necessity , not insanity . If Breivik is not acquitted , he should be given the lightest possible sentence , Lippestad said as he wrapped up his closing arguments . He asked the judges to discount the claim by prosecutors that Breivik is mentally ill and should be transferred to a psychiatric institution . Many friends and relatives of the victims left the courtroom in protest as Breivik rose to give his own closing argument , the last one heard before the trial concluded . He described his actions on July 22 as "" barbaric "" but said that only two of more than 30 experts who have evaluated him consider him insane . Some in the courtroom laughed as he made points criticizing Norway ' s multicultural society and moral values . The court ruled that his speech could not be broadcast . After Breivik ' s statement , the judges said the verdict would be delivered August 24 . Several outcomes are possible . Prosecutors have asked that Breivik be acquitted on the grounds of insanity , in which case he would be held in a secure mental health unit . If he is fully acquitted on the grounds of "" necessity , "" as urged by his defense , he could go free . If he is ruled sane and found guilty of some or all the charges , he would be sentenced to prison time . Earlier , applause greeted the accounts of survivors and relatives of those killed when they addressed the court . The judges and prosecutors were among those displaying emotion as they listened , with some moved to tears . Outside the courtroom , one of the survivors of the Utoya attack , Tore Sinding Bekkedal , said he was "" very relieved this trial has been as dignified , thorough , proper as it has been . "" Seeing the legal system treat it like any other criminal case has been the best show of strength possible , the 24 year old said . Bekkedal , a youth politician in Oslo , said the case had highlighted the danger of Islamophobia in Norwegian society and the need to fight it . Hearing fellow survivors testify about the attacks on Utoya had been less difficult than seeing their impact on the relatives of those killed , he said . "" You meet people who have lost relatives and children , sisters and brothers , and it ' s a much more profound bereavement than losing friends , even though I did lose some very good friends and role models , "" he said . The issue of Breivik ' s sanity has been at the heart of the case . If he is not found to be mentally ill , prosecutors will ask for a prison sentence of 21 years , a spokeswoman for the prosecutor ' s office said . Giving his closing arguments Friday , Lippestad sought to argue that his client ' s past did not point to a history of violent acts but rather to political activism . "" The central criterion for insanity is that the ability of realistic assessment of one ' s relationship to the outside world is largely abolished , "" he said . "" Is it violent fantasy that is the mother of these actions , or is it his political opinion ? "" The lawyer outlined Breivik ' s political life and activity as heard by the court , from the early days when he was member of a party to the extreme political arguments he posted online . Lippestad also recalled how Breivik ' s mother and his friends said he was intense when he talked about politics but never said he was intense about violence . He questioned an initial psychiatric report given to the court that said his client had been acting under a delusion , saying Breivik ' s radicalization had developed through his engagement with extremist communities online . The lawyer cited Breivik ' s active stock trading , social life and preparations for the attacks as examples of how he did not meet the criteria to be considered insane . Under those criteria , he should be disinterested , aimless , inactive , self centered and socially withdrawn , Lippestad said . "" That he has been aimless is certainly the last thing I would call this man , "" he said . Lippestad also argued that Breivik had chosen his targets politically , noting that he didn ' t attack nonpolitical people like the captain on the boat to Utoya and the youngest children on the island . "" Breivik knew that killing was wrong , but it ' s what any classic terrorist does , "" he said . The lawyer told the court he shared the prosecutor ' s view that the attacks , which he called "" a cruel act of terrorism , "" were almost too horrible to be true . But , he said , the key question for his client was whether he acted under the legal principle of "" necessity . "" Lippestad has previously said it is important to Breivik that people see him as sane so they don ' t dismiss his views . Last month , Breivik promised that he would not appeal if a court finds him sane and guilty . Bjorn Ihler , a survivor of the Utoya attack , said it is down to the court to deliver a "" good and fair judgment "" on Breivik , in accordance with Norway ' s longstanding principles of justice . Its ruling on whether he is sane matters less than the fact that Breivik ' s extremist views are shared by other people , he said . However , listening to Breivik in court had made him appear as less of a "" scary monster , "" Ihler said . "" Now it ' s just a pathetic man sitting there . "" Asked what his personal message to the court would be , he said , "" I am still alive . I ' m a survivor , not a victim , and I will live on and fight on to work against future extremist acts . "" The issues thrown up by Breivik ' s trial have led the Norwegian authorities to re evaluate the country ' s provision for holding dangerous criminals who are found to be insane . The government proposed amendments to the Norwegian Mental Health Care Act in May , aiming "" to strengthen the security measures relating to a small group of particularly dangerous patients . "" The current law allows "" too great a risk for escape , hostage taking and severe violence against patients and staff "" in the health institutions where such patients are currently housed , a statement from the Ministry of Health and Care Services said . The new legislation would strengthen security measures and allow for a high security unit to be based within a prison , opening the possibility that Breivik could be held in a secure unit in the same Ila Prison where he has been detained for almost a year . The amendments will come into force July 1 . In the course of the trial , which started in mid April , the court has heard grueling testimony from the survivors of the July 22 attacks . Survivors and relatives of those killed and injured have also been present in the courtroom to hear Breivik give his account of the events of that day and the motivation for his acts . In his testimony early in the trial , Breivik claimed to represent a "" European resistance movement "" and "" Europeans who don ' t want our ethnic rights to be taken away . "" The shocking attacks prompted Norwegians to reassert their commitment to multiculturalism and tolerance at a series of mass public tributes . ",true,text,test,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past106511492,11493,"Cruz tops Trump , Clinton pushed hard in Iowa caucuses Ted Cruz has edged his Republican rivals to win the Iowa Caucus with 28 per cent of the vote . Donald Trump polled 24 per cent , while Marco Rubio took 23 per cent of the vote . ? : Ted Cruz felled long time Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton was battled into a virtual tie with rival Bernie Sanders on Monday ( Feb 1 ) , as Iowans held the inaugural vote of the 2016 White House race . Republicans in the rural midwestern state backed the ultraconservative Cruz for their party ' s nomination , leaving a humbled Trump in second place just ahead of Senator Marco Rubio , according to nearly complete results given by the party . Iowans flocked to churches , gymnasiums and libraries to be the first voices officially heard in the boisterous months long nominating process that leads to Election Day on Nov 8 . "" To God be the glory ! "" exclaimed Cruz , claiming victory with 27 . 7 per cent of the vote and staking his claim to be the new standard bearer of the right . "" Tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation , "" he said , clearly pleased that his heavy investment in campaigning in the deeply conservative state had paid off . For Trump , a modest vote tally just above 24 per cent raised deep questions about whether showmanship can take him all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue . The real estate mogul who has centered his campaign around being a "" winner "" tried to brush off the steep loss , saying he had been given no chance to win Iowa at the outset . "" I was told by everybody , ' Do not go to Iowa . You couldn ' t finish in the top ten ' , "" he told supporters . "" I said ' I have to do it ' . "" Rubio , whose star has risen in recent weeks , tried to capitalize on a strong showing and his status as the top mainstream Republican . He earned more than 23 per cent , according to the nearly complete party results . "" Tonight here in Iowa , the people of this great state sent a very clear message , "" he said , training his fire on Democrats . "" Tonight we have taken the first step but an important step towards winning this election . "" Iowa Democrats also showed their doubt in their party frontrunner , with Clinton in a dead heat with Sanders , who has railed against Wall Street and money in politics . With more than 95 percent of precincts reported , Clinton was on 49 . 9 per cent and Sanders 49 . 6 per cent . "" What Iowa has begun tonight is a political revolution , "" said Sanders , a Vermont senator , as he focused on building a movement around campaign finance reform and a more equitable society . "" So you guys ready for a radical idea ? Well , so is America , "" Sanders said to cheers . "" We are going to create an economy that works for working families not just the billionaire class . "" Clinton had been looking to lay to rest the demons of 2008 , when she lost in Iowa to now President Barack Obama , and pursue her quest for history by dealing a solid blow to her upstart challenger . But she now faces another tough battle in Sanders ' backyard , New Hampshire . The former first lady signaled that would be a bruising battle . "" It is rare that we have the opportunity we do now , to have a real contest of ideas to really think hard about what the Democratic Party stands for and what we want the future of our country to look like , "" she said . Experts had predicted that high turnout would benefit political outsiders , who have dominated the 2016 race so far . And so it proved . "" This is very chaotic but I ' m happy that so many people showed up , "" said Aaron Menick , a 21 year old at a Democratic caucus at Drake University . Activists in one Des Moines precinct reported turnout was three times higher than expected . Armies of campaign volunteers have fanned out through the state in recent days , knocking on doors or manning phone banks to get out the vote , while candidates dominated the air waves with talk show appearances and a relentless barrage of campaign ads . For many long shot candidates , Iowa has spelled the end of the road . Republican Mick Huckabee announced he was dropping out of the race , and sources close to Democrat Martin O ' Malley said he would follow suit . Even as votes came in , fourth place Ben Carson was forced to deny reports he was dropping out of the race . "" Contrary to false media reports , Dr Ben Carson is not suspending his presidential campaign , which is stronger than ever , "" said campaign spokesman Larry Ross . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past106611497,11498,"Phoenix , Arizona Sue Schwartz says she ' s been called a racist so many times she doesn ' t mind the label anymore . If wanting immigrants to enter the country legally , like her great grandparents from Mexico , and obey the laws of the land makes her racist , then so be it , she says firmly . "" I ' m getting to the point I wear it with pride , "" says Schwartz , a lifelong Arizonan who has warily watched the growth of the illegal immigrant population in the state over the course of her life . About 500 , 000 unauthorized immigrants were believed to live in Arizona in 2008 , and 11 . 9 million nationwide , up from 3 . 5 million nationwide in 1990 , according to a Pew Hispanic Center report published in 2009 . This year , the tide is finally turning in her favor , she says , with the passage of 1070 , aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration . The new law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect they ' re in the United States illegally . Read the full text of Senate Bill 1070 ( ) "" I hope it makes a lot of them leave on their own , self deportation . Hopefully that ' ll open up more jobs . There ' s a lot of people here who will do menial jobs maybe not pick lettuce , but these people aren ' t just picking lettuce any more , "" says Schwartz . The new law also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them . What will Arizona immigration law do ? Schwartz , a retired worker , says undocumented workers are taking jobs from citizens like her teenage granddaughter , who hasn ' t been able to find a job since she began looking after she turned 15 . "" She can ' t even work at the Hometown Buffet if she doesn ' t speak Spanish . How fair is that ? "" she said . Of equal concern to her friend , Martha Payan , is how she claims illegal immigrants "" fleece "" government coffers by collecting welfare on multiple children , or vanish without a trace after an arrest or a hospital visit . The two women , who became acquainted through various demonstrations in the metro Phoenix area , met Thursday to discuss their views outside the Maricopa County Municipal building , as more backlash against the controversial immigration law continued to flood the city . Latin pop star Shakira arrived in town Thursday to discuss 1070 with Mayor Phil Gordon , who has vowed to fight the law . This comes a day after Mexico urged its citizens not to travel to Arizona . Sporting a white baseball cap that that reads , "" 100 American Citizen , "" Schwartz says she believes that 1070 came about because law enforcement in Phoenix was fed up over not being able to ask suspects about their immigration status . "" Any time an American does something wrong or breaks the law they ' re going to pay the consequences . Whenever an illegal does something wrong they get a new and become a new person , "" she says . "" I want the laws same for everybody here , not bent for them . "" The 59 year old mother of four adult children says her Mexican parents and grandparents taught her a respect for the law at an early age . Her grandmother , who lived in Juarez , Mexico , after being kicked out of the United States for smuggling drugs , encouraged her to get a good education and speak English , her second language , outside of the home . "" If I entered another country illegally I ' d go to jail , yet they ' re demanding better treatment than their government would give us , "" she says . iReport : Share your thoughts on immigration policy Anna Gaines , a Mexican born U . S . citizen , says she took up the fight against illegal immigration after becoming disillusioned by the attitudes of immigrant families that she witnessed as a teacher in the Paradise Valley School District in Paradise , Arizona . "" Many of these families were having one child after another just to earn a paycheck from the U . S . government and they didn ' t care about their children ' s education , "" says Gaines , the controversial founder of American Citizens United , a grass roots organization known for its extreme views on immigration enforcement . "" They didn ' t want to contribute , just take . "" Gaines , who came to the United States as a nurse on a work visa during the Vietnam War and met her current husband , says she thinks immigrants have changed over the years . "" There used to be a level of dignity and self respect . They were hard working people who wanted to contribute to American society because it was better than where they came from , "" says Gaines , a petite woman in her 70s . "" But our government has been giving them handouts for so long that now they expect them . "" Gaines says 1070 mirrors federal law on fortifying the borders , allowing local officials to enforce immigration law in a manner that the federal government should have been doing all along . "" We as Americans have the right to defend this country ' s laws . There ' s nothing racist about protecting the country , "" she says . Payan , originally from Puerto Rico , hopes the law will deter future illegal immigration . "" I hope it stops trespassers and lets people know the law is the law and you cross that border illegally , it ' s a crime , "" she says . Payan has also been called "" traidora , "" or traitor , by neighbors in her primarily Hispanic neighborhood who know how she feels about illegal immigrants . "" They know how I feel . I don ' t hide my feeling , "" she says . "" I ' ve already had by apartment broken into and had my car hit by an illegal . What more do I have to lose ? "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past106711532,11533,"A number of McDonald ' s restaurants have been slammed for advertising their fast food directly to young children and offering them free food products . The Advertising Standards Board ( ) heard that the fast food chain issued vouchers to children aged 10 years and under who were participating in the University of Sunshine Coast Basketball Club Competition in late September . Forming part of the Team Spirit Award handed to the children , the voucher was redeemable for a ' small cheeseburger meal ' or ' seared snack wrap , apple bag and small orange juice ' at eight McDonald ' s restaurants in the Sunshine Coast , Queensland . McDonald ' s restaurants in Victoria and the Sunshine Coast have been caught advertising fast food to children under the age of 14 The upheld the complaint , finding that McDonald ' s had breached the Quick Service Restaurant Initiative for Responsible Advertising to Children ( ) as the products advertised did not meet the nutritional criteria . The complainant claimed that the fast food chain had ' little concern for the dietary health of Australian children ' due to repeatedly breaching the . The comment referred to an earlier instance in July when McDonald ' s stores were found to have breached the code after handing out vouchers at a playground in Victoria . Picturing Ronald McDonald standing with a group of people on one side with the words ' play money ' , the other side of the voucher had an image of McDonald ' s chips next to the words ' free small fries with any purchase ' . The most recent complaint regarded a voucher redeemable for a small cheeseburger meal ' or ' seared snack wrap , apple bag and small orange juice ' that was handed out as an award for children participating in the University of Sunshine Coast Basketball Club Competition in late September The vouchers were redeemable at five different McDonald ' s restaurants in Victoria . McDonald ' s responded to the complaint by saying that the vouchers were withdrawn and made no longer available once it became aware of the breach . ' We believe this Complaint to be an isolated incident concerning the Nominated Restaurants only , ' the chain restaurant wrote to the . ' McDonald ' s is a business with over 920 restaurants and whilst we have strict controls in place to ensure compliance with the the Voucher was unfortunately not passed through our standard internal review and approval process . ' The upheld the complaints , finding that McDonald ' s had breached the Quick Service Restaurant Initiative for Responsible Advertising to Children ( ) Following the second incident , McDonald ' s responded again by saying the Awards had been withdrawn and made no longer available . ' In light of this complaint McDonald ' s has updated its guidelines in consultation with the in relation to its compliance requirements when providing food or beverage vouchers to children under 14 years of age , ' it wrote in response to the complaint . ' All members of the McDonald ' s system will be reminded of their responsibilities under the to ensure that only food and beverages that represent healthier choices are promoted to children . ' We have also reaffirmed our standard advertising review protocol which requires advertising to be approved through appropriate channels . Training has and will continue to be undertaken with relevant McDonald ' s team members to improve understanding in these areas . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past106811545,11546,"For Heather Neroy , it used to be a tedious process : Whenever she came across an interesting arts and crafts project or recipe on the Internet , she would save it for later by copying the link , pasting it into an e mail and sending it to herself . After that Neroy , a stay at home mom from Southern California , would file the e mail in a folder for future reference . It wasn ' t exactly the most efficient system . Then last year , during one of her browsing sessions , she read a blog post that gushed about a new website called Pinterest . The virtual pinboard , where users can pin and organize images onto individual "" boards , "" didn ' t pique Neroy ' s interest at first , but she quickly changed her mind . "" Someone described it as an online filing system , and I thought , ' That ' s exactly what I need , ' "" she said . Soon Neroy was pinning away and , like many Pinterest users , got quickly hooked . She first started with a Halloween board where she pinned costume ideas . Next , Neroy created a shared color board for redecorating her daughter ' s bedroom that she and her husband could add to . Pinterest also allows other users to follow each other ' s boards and "" re pin "" another person ' s images . In no time Neroy was sharing other people ' s pins and following users with similar tastes . "" It ' s been really neat to see what other moms are pinning , "" she said . "" Some days you run out of ideas and you don ' t know what to do to fill the time before bedtime . I thought it was going to be just me organizing , but it ' s really a community sharing all these different ideas that I didn ' t even know existed . "" Think of Pinterest as a way of cataloging your passions . Members have used the website to plan weddings and holidays . Others have pinned images of clothes , recipes , architecture , art , crafts , cars and even technology . Thanks to media reports and the devotion of users like Neroy , there ' s been a lot of buzz around Pinterest in recent months . In October , TechCrunch confirmed that Pinterest had received 27 million of funding from the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowtiz . The pinboard website has been covered and praised extensively by media like Time magazine , and Mashable , which called it "" addictive . "" Pinterest co founder Ben Silbermann declined to cite specifics about the invite only site ' s growth . But Experian Hitwise , an Internet analytics firm , estimates that Pinterest received nearly 11 million total visits during the week ending December 17 , 2011 almost 40 times the number of visits six months earlier . Silbermann said what ' s most exciting about his website is how it helps you find new influences for things that you like and in turn lets other people with shared interests provide feedback on your pins . The appeal of content curation Marshall Kirkpatrick , a senior writer at ReadWriteWeb , is not surprised by Pinterest ' s success . In an analysis of the website in September , he wrote that Pinterest ' s "" clean retro visual design "" and our fundamental need to collect and organize are part of its appeal . "" Content curation is a timeless problem that a lot of people have tried to solve , "" Kirkpatrick said . "" Pinterest brings a lot of high design to doing it and a lot of user experience . And with a larger group of people then there ' s a never ending supply of content to enjoy . "" Yet the concept of content curation is hardly new . FFFFound , vi . sualize . us , We Heart It , Image Spark and Tumblr are among the other websites that offer visual bookmarking with a few clicks and have been doing so for a while . But Elad Gil , director of corporate strategy at Twitter , pointed out in a blog post a few weeks ago that Pinterest takes this further by giving structure to "" push button content generation . "" Here ' s what he means : Clicking Pinterest ' s "" Pin It "" button , which can be added to your browser ' s bookmarks toolbar , will automatically grab the picture you want from the website you are on . What is different is that it immediately adds it to any of your Pinterest boards , allowing you to categorize your content then and there . The boards each have a separate page and can be easily accessed , shared and viewed on a sort of mother board on your Pinterest profile . "" Importantly , it was easy for new users to consume these sets of content visually as structured sets , and to share these sets with others , "" Gil wrote . "" This next wave of social curation will fundamentally change how users find and interact with content over time . "" Users : Defining ' your own aesthetic ' Blogger Jonathan Lo , creative director of J3 Productions , a design and marketing agency , often pins using the Pinterest mobile app . He calls using the website "" instinctual . "" Lo first started with home and graphic design pins related to his blog and then eventually created a board for his personal taste in fashion . "" It helps you define your own aesthetic , "" said Lo , who lives in Irvine , California . "" I noticed patterns and recurring themes , so I got a stronger sense of what style I have . I wouldn ' t have necessarily been able to see that earlier . It ' s nice to be able to put a sense of order to all the things you like . "" Business owners also are flocking to the website to lead new audiences to their products . Jeanine Hays , the creative director and founder of AphroChic , an interior design company and blog , says she uses Pinterest to find inspiration for her business . As a designer , she uses Pinterest as a virtual mood board to develop concepts , and is often up till midnight just pinning . "" Pinterest is a great tool for designers looking for new and different content , "" said Hays , who lives in Philadelphia . "" And it is a way to get into the mind of the designer and the brand of the company . My readers can actually see what the next trend is going to look like . "" Silbermann believes Pinterest is different from other social networks because users are using the website to catalog their day to day activities . "" I think it ' s really cool that people are pinning the most important projects in their lives . "" he said . "" I think it ' s a service that can really make your offline life more interesting . "" Neroy is one such user . She is determined to use Pinterest for more offline purposes . "" I want to spend more time doing than pinning , to encourage time with my kids so that mom ' s not just sitting at the computer , "" she said . In fact , Neroy went as far as to start a blog called Pinfluence to make sure of that . The blog chronicles her Pinterest exploits , in which she picks interesting do it yourself pins , tries them out for herself and writes about the results . At present , Neroy has blogged about more than 30 pins , from cleaning her ceiling fans with a pillowcase to an unsuccessful crock pot lasagna recipe to dressing her daughters in her wedding dress , which has been her most popular post to date . "" I thought it would be interesting to other moms to see me putting my own spin on it and sharing my success and failures , "" she said . "" I want to show that if I could do it , they could do it as well . "" Neroy added : "" What I tell my friends is , they are not just pinning but creating . And that ' s really where they ' ll find the benefit from Pinterest . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past106911562,11563,"Tributes are flowing for Scottish author Iain Banks , who has died aged 59 after a short battle with cancer just days before the release of his final novel . The prolific writer , best known for his 1984 debut "" The Wasp Factory "" and 1992 ' s "" The Crow Road , "" was noted as an author of darkly humorous literary and science fiction , the latter of which was published under the name Iain M . Banks . His wife , Adele , said he died in the early hours of the morning and that "" his death was calm and without pain . "" Banks released a statement in April revealing he had been diagnosed with late stage cancer of the gall bladder , after suffering what he believed was a back strain . Writing that it was "" extremely unlikely "" he would live beyond a year , he announced that he had asked his long term partner "" if she will do me the honor of becoming my widow , "" adding that "" we find ghoulish humor helps . "" The couple were married in the Scottish Highlands and honeymooned in Venice and Paris , before Banks was hospitalized in Scotland on their return . Banks asked his publishers to bring forward the release of his final novel , "" The Quarry , "" so he could see its publication . The book , to be released June 20 , details the final weeks of a 40 something protagonist , Guy , in his own fight against cancer . His publishers , Little , Brown , said the author had been presented with a finished copy of the book three weeks ago . "" Banks ' ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humor made him unique , "" the company said in a statement . "" He is an irreplaceable part of the literary world . "" The rapid passing of the writer , known for his love of malt whisky and strong political views he tore up his passport in 2003 in protest at the Iraq War drew an outpouring of grief from fellow authors and fans alike . The English writer Neil Gaiman tweeted : "" I ' m crying in an empty house . A good man and a friend for almost 30 years . "" Referencing the expression for death used in one of Banks ' most celebrated novels , the Scottish author Ian Rankin tweeted that his friend was "" away the crow road far too soon . "" He added : "" Right now I ' d like to kick cancer in its sniggering head , but instead I ' ll take a single malt . "" Fellow Scot Irvine Welsh , the author of "" Trainspotting , "" called Banks "" one of the finest writers and greatest imaginations ever , "" and said his debut novel "" was one of those books that changed my life ( and ) made me want to be a writer . "" Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond described Banks as "" one of Scotland ' s literary greats who always approached life with extraordinary vitality . "" In 2008 , newspaper The Times named Banks one of "" the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 . "" People we lost in 2013 : The lives they lost ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past107011571,11572,"Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) held a town hall earlier this week and it did not go well for him. The Republican congressman told his constituents that taxpayers don t pay his salary and saying otherwise is bullcrap. You say you pay for me to do this? That s bullcrap, video shows Mullin saying. I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got here and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go, he added.Go figure, no one was impressed with his remarks. When his constituents pushed back, Mullin tried to spin his comments, saying, this is a service for me, not a career, and I thank God this is not how I make my living. Amy Lawrence, Mullin s spokeswoman, told the press that he was just trying to say that he doesn t want to be a career politician, that s all. The congressman reiterates in the video that his work as the representative of the Second District of Oklahoma is a service, Lawrence said. His aspiration is to be a career legislator and not a career politician. He is not, nor does he ever aspire to be, a career politician. His priority will always be to serve his constituents to the best of his ability. Mullins owns Mullin Plumbing, a lucrative company with multiple smaller subsidiaries. But comprehending exactly how this negates the salary he earns as a congressman requires a special type of mental gymnastics. For the record, base pay for a U. S. congressman is $174,000.The good news for Mullin is that after telling his constituents that they don t pay his salary, he probably won t have to worry about the possibility of becoming a career politician.You can watch Mullin sabotage his career below: Featured image via Wikipedia",fake,dataset,test,Other news1,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past107111583,11584,"Liverpool ' s dramatic week ended in disappointment as Everton claimed a 2 0 victory in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Sunday to leave their rivals second from bottom of the Premier League table . Roy Hodgson ' s Liverpool side came into the match on the back of a tumultuous last seven days which saw the club finally sold to the owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team . And all the disruption off the pitch continues to transmit into poor results on the pitch , as goals either side of half time from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta gave Everton a deserved win . Both teams came into the match struggling near the foot of the table , with Everton 17th and Liverpool 18th in the 20 team division . However , the home side dominated throughout and took a deserved lead when Tim Cahill thundered home a shot after good work on the right from Seamus Coleman . And the points were secured five minutes after the interval when Spanish midfielder Arteta was given too much space on the edge of the area to fire home through a crowd of players . The result lifts Everton up to 11th place but only goal difference now separates Liverpool from lying bottom of the table , their lowest ever Premier League position . Meanwhile , Manchester City are up to second place in the table after a hard fought 3 2 win at newly promoted Blackpool . After a goalless first half , City took the lead whan captain Carlos Tevez flicked home a cross from substitute David Silva . Blackpool levelled when Marlon Harewood glanced home a Charlie Adam free kick , but City immediately went down the other end and Tevez fired home a deflected shot to restore the visitors ' lead . Silva then scored a delightful third goal , skipping past a couple of challenges before curling home a superb strike , before the home side pulled one back in injury time through Gary Taylor Fletcher to set up a nervy final two minutes . Chelsea continue to lead the table with 19 points from their eight games , but big spending City are now just two points behind the defending champions on 17 points . Arsenal , Manchester United and Tottenham are all level in third place on 14 points , with the Gunners ahead on goal difference . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past107211591,11592,"South Africa started their Rugby Championship campaign with an edgy victory against Argentina in difficult conditions at the Loftus Versfield Stadium . The Springboks hammered the South Americans by 60 points when they met in the competition last year , but Saturday ' s affair was a much closer affair as the hosts triumphed by just seven points . South Africa scrum half Ruan Pienaar scored the only try , in the second minute of a game played on a drenched pitch in Pretoria . Sodden : Nicolas Sanchez of Argentina runs through some puddles at the Loftus Versfield Stadium Not ideal : Sanchez fights for the ball against South Africa players Francois Louw , left , and Handre Pollard , right You shall not pass : Gonzalez Iglesias is tackled by Damien de Alleende , left , and Marcell Coetzee , right The home side led 10 3 at the break but conditions in South Africa were so bad that just two penalties were scored after the interval . Handling errors and testy exchanges dominated the rest of the game as the converted try proved the difference with Handre Pollard and his replacement Morne Steyn both contributing a penalty while Nicolas Sanchez slotted over two of his own for the Pumas . Argentina had three good chances in the last five minutes to force a possible draw but defeat by seven points ensured some consolation in the form of a bonus point . Tough conditions : Mariano Glarza of Argentina , top right , vies for the ball with South Africa ' s Lood de Jager Raining pumas and Springboks : South Africa recorded a narrow victory against Argentia in Pretoria Soaked fans : People attend the Rugby Championship despite heavy rain at the Loftus Versfield Stadium Dodging a tackle : Argentina ' s point scorer Nicolas Sanchez sprints past South Africa try scorer Ruan Pienaar South Africa go top of the table with four points , with Australia and New Zealand , who drew in Sydney earlier on Saturday , in second and third with two points . Argentina are bottom of the pile with a single point . Next week New Zealand face Australia and Argentina play today ' s opponents South Africa on home soil in Salta . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past107311614,11615,"YORK/ (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday said it is barring legal settlements in federal investigations that include donating funds to community organizations or other third-party groups, rather than paying those directly harmed by the wrongdoing or involved in the cases. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that settlement payments must be directed to victims impacted by the defendants’ actions and then to the federal government. The change could impact banks and other corporations, and marks the latest action by the Republican Trump administration to end policies from the previous Democratic Obama administration. Such agreements were a feature of several U.S. settlements with banks following the 2008 financial crisis. Under former President Barack Obama, the Justice Department aimed to hold banks accountable for shoddy securities that contributed to the U.S. housing market collapse. From 2013 to 2016, the department reached $46 billion in settlements with U.S. banks that in part directed funds to approved housing aid and other related groups. In Obama’s final weeks in office, the department sued Barclays (BARC.L) over similar claims. “In recent years the Department of Justice has sometimes required or encouraged defendants to make these payments to third parties as a condition of settlement,” Sessions said a statement. “We are ending this practice and ensuring that settlement funds are only used to compensate victims, redress harm, and punish and deter unlawful conduct.” The change could impact banks still under federal investigation over mortgage issues such as Credit Suisse Group (CSGN.S), Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS.L), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), Group (UBSG.S) and (HSBA.L). Representatives for the banks could not be immediately reached. Sessions, in a one-page memo dated Monday, told the nation’s 94 U.S. attorneys they could not make any agreements in civil or criminal cases “that directs or provides for a payment or loan to any non-governmental person or entity that is not a party to the dispute.” Sessions’ new policy “is ill-advised and ignores the tens of thousands of families who were helped by housing service providers across the country in the wake of the financial crisis,” said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Schneiderman was co-chair of a working group that investigated misconduct in the pooling and sale of mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. Sessions cited three exceptions to the new policy: payments or loans that directly aim to address harm such as to the environment or official corruption; legal or other professional services from the case; and restitution, forfeiture and other payments required by law. While the policy affects future deals, it would have impacted cases like the Environmental Protection Agency’s diesel emissions settlement with Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) that required the German automaker to invest $2 billion in zero-emission vehicle efforts over 10 years. Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project and a former civil enforcement director, said the new ban could prevent a similar settlement after the Justice Department sued Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) last month over excess diesel emissions. The memo could ensure “violators won’t be required to support development of low emission vehicles to compensate for illegal pollution from the dirty engines they designed,” he said. The change could still affect a proposed $12 million Justice Department settlement with Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG.N) that was announced in August but not finalized that includes $3 million to reduce air pollution through a project to replace conventional woodstoves. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past107411616,11617,"A fearless daredevil has risked his life by climbing an industrial chimney and balancing on a beam above a sheer drop without safety equipment . Flaviu Cernescu scaled the abandoned structure in Pitesti , Romania , using a disconnected electrical cable to hoist himself for the first 70ft of the climb . The 32 year old then walked across a rusted railing which runs across the summit of the hollow 920ft structure . Flaviu Cernescu scaled the abandoned structure in Pitesti , Romania Some of the scenes in the video are sure to leave many viewers gasping in fear Despite the long drop , Cernescu , who captured the footage using a GoPro camera , said he felt calm and confident for most of the stunt . But Mr Cernescu has a warning for anyone who may want to copy his stunt . Mr Cernescu doesn ' t underestimate the danger of the chimney climb as he warns viewers of the video For the first 70ft Mr Cernescu had to use a disused electrical cable to climb the chimney ' Please understand that by climbing this chimney you put yourself and others in danger , ' said the fearless Romanian . ' Don ' t try it unless you really know what you are doing . Take care and enjoy life . ' And people who have viewed the incredible video on YouTube are impressed , if not a little shocked at the extremity of the challenge . Don ' t look down : Flaviu Cernescu tells viewers : ' Don ' t try it unless you really know what you are doing ' Once at the top , the daredevil walked over a rickety old frame in a heartstopping scene A YouTube user named KnowHope wrote : ' The part where he walks on the chimney rim and across the beam on the chimney is enough to give anyone vertigo even if you are in an office sitting on a chair . ' S Powers added : ' My head is spinning watching this . Must blow up full screen and watch in . ' Rhys Burns writes : ' My palms are sweating and my heart racing just from watching that ! That was awesome ! ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past107511622,11623,"Her viral post won her the title of racist of the week. June Pridmore somehow got a job working as the vice-president of loan operations at a Regions Bank in Alabama, but after investigating a recent Facebook post she wrote, Pridmore no longer has a job.In an atrocious, incoherent, and racist post featuring multiple misspellings and poor grammar that make one wonder how the bank picked her for the job in the first place, Pridmore ranted about her support of Donald Trump and trashed President Obama and his wife First Lady Michelle Obama. I voted him in, Pridmore began in reference to Trump. I like him. He has a beautiful wife unlike the ugly and embarrassing woman (for lack of a better word), in the White House now. Ms. Trump s face would make Michele (sic) O Bama (sic) a Sunday face. Seriously, does this women not have spellcheck? I m certainly glad [Trump] he has a lot of money because she he (sic) won t be bought out like Barack (sic), socialist Muslim O Bama (sic) or his wife or all those host of relatives they have in the whitehouse (sic) for to support. Oh, you mean his two kids and mother-in-law? That s only three people, and two of them really didn t have a choice since they are kids. On the other hand, Donald Trump s family is way bigger and they ve all made a mint mooching off the government and taxpayer dollars. Plus, it is costing taxpayers $1 million a day to protect Trump in his New York Trump Tower apartment.But Primore still wasn t done. She ranted about President Obama s vacations, which are less than the number of vacations President Bush and President Reagan took during their presidencies. And Trump has already expressed his desire to be a part-time president who spends most days at his golden tower or on the golf course instead of in the White House working.And then she said this: If any idiot out there thinks that is justified, you deserved him as president. I prefer a man who can buy Michele (sic) and Barack and sell them several times over. Yep, she went there. A definite reference to slavery.And she went on to bitch about people who are unemployed, calling them lazy non-working takers. Here s an image of the post via Facebook.This post was too much for Regions Bank, who fired Pridmore after receiving many complaints.Bank spokesman Jeremy King announced the canning in a statement. We appreciate the concerns shared about offensive social media comments that were made through an associate s personal Facebook account. We want you to know that we share those concerns. Those comments do not reflect our values as a company or the way we do business. The associate is no longer an employee of the company. So now Pridmore is unemployed and has the new title, Racist of the Week. Of course that title won t pay the bills unless Donald Trump has position open for another ignorant racist. Maybe she can use Jeff Sessions as a reference.Featured Image: Facebook",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present107611624,11625,"Volume of Islamic State oil sold to Turkey insignificant ? official The amount of oil smuggled into Turkey by Islamic State militants from territories under their control in Syria and Iraq is economically insignificant , coordinator for international energy affairs Amos Hochstein claimed following Russia s revelations . In response to Moscow accusations that Turkey is involved in oil trade with the Islamic State ( , formerly ) terrorist group , officials claimed that the volume of oil smuggled from controlled territories is too insignificant to interest government officials . At the same time , the confirmed that oil trade between Islamic State and some buyers on Turkish territory does exist , as its officials admitted that small amounts of oil could , in fact , be crossing the Turkish Syrian border in tanker trucks , though they claimed the volume is of no significance . Iran ready to present proof of Turkey s oil trade with ? Tehran official weblink : t . co QNhyYDs1oN pic . twitterweblink TGpPosfnO7 The amount of oil being smuggled is extremely low and has decreased over time and is of no significance from a volume perspective ? both volume of oil and volume of revenue , said Hochstein , as quoted by . I don ' t believe that there is significant smuggling , between controlled areas and Turkey of oil in any significance in volume , he added . On Wednesday , the Russian Defense Ministry presented evidence showing the main oil routes leading from eastern Syria into Turkey , including photos taken from satellites , drones , and aircrafts . According to the ministry , Islamic State oil is transported to Turkey with hundreds of oil trucks and heavy vehicles moving both to and from the Turkish border , as ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy said during the presentation . So far , neither Turkey nor any other country or international organization has contested the authenticity of Russia s areal footage showing Islamic State oil trucks heading towards the Turkish border . On the other hand , officials have accused the Syrian government of indirectly buying oil from Islamic State in times of shortage by using middlemen smuggling oil across the Syrian frontlines , reported . Additionally , the has claimed that coalition air strikes in Syria and Iraq have done significant damage to the terrorists oil infrastructure , insisting that most crude oil produced on controlled territories is refined in ad hoc desert pit facilities and sold on the black market within the war zones in Syria and Iraq . Map , images from Russian military show main routes of oil smuggling to Turkey weblink : t . co 3g1MQxzfNF pic . twitterweblink LSlBFUlgqc According to the led coalition s estimates , Islamic State gets 1 1 . 5 million per day from its oil trade . However , Russia says as much as 200 , 000 barrels of oil per day is smuggled to Turkey by Islamic State , which equals the average daily oil export of Gabon in 2014 or Australia in 2013 , according to an annual statistical bulletin . In terms of revenue , this volume could generate 8 . 6 million per day ? eight times higher than the estimates given by the led coalition . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past107711627,11628,"England and Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley ' s latest Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing will take place in London on Tuesday . Northampton look set to mount a robust defence of their captain after he was sent off for elbowing Leicester centre Matt Smith in the face at Franklin ' s Gardens two days ago . Scroll down to see Dylan Hartley meeting his inspirational childhood coach England international Dylan Hartley seems perplexed at why he has been sent off at Franklin ' s Garden Hartley could miss at least the start of England ' s 6 Nations campaign following the latest episode in a career scarred by repeated disciplinary episodes . In a statement , the said : ' Dylan Hartley ( Northampton Saints ) will have his case heard by an disciplinary judicial officer on Tuesday , December 23 . ' Hartley was sent off in the Aviva Premiership match between Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers for striking Matt Smith with his elbow , contrary to Law 10 . 4 ( a ) . ' The case will be heard tomorrow evening in London by Jeremy Summers sitting as a sole judicial officer at a time to be confirmed . ' Hartley ( right ) was adjudged to elbow Leicester ' s Matt Smith ( left ) before the pair had to be separated Hartley cuts a dejected figure trudging off the pitch after his sending off as his disciplinary woes continue April 2007 : Banned for 26 weeks after gouging Wasps ' James Haskell and Jonny O ' Connor . March 2010 : Claims of gouging versus Scotland dropped when alleged victim , Ross Ford , chose not to complain . March 2012 : Banned for eight weeks for biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris during Six Nations Test . June 2012 : Sin binned against South Africa in first game as England captain . December 2012 : Given a two week ban for striking Ulster ' s Rory Best . May 2013 : Eleven week ban after being sent off for swearing . December 2014 : Sent off for elbowing Leicester ' s Matt Smith . Hartley was handed a 26 week ban for eye gouging in 2007 , and an 11 week suspension for verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes during the 2013 Aviva Premiership final against Leicester . That latter ban led to him missing the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia , and the could easily take a dim view of his latest indiscretion . It happened after just 17 minutes of a titanic east midlands derby that Northampton won 23 19 . Referee J P Doyle initially seemed happy to award Hartley a yellow card , but television match official Sean Davey urged Doyle to watch further replays , and he responded by sending 61 times capped Hartley off . ' It was disappointing , ' Northampton rugby director Jim Mallinder said , speaking directly after the game . ' Dylan has got to keep his arms down , but he was being held and I don ' t know there was any malice in it . ' The nature of the game didn ' t justify a red card . I think Smith went down pretty easily , to be honest , which was disappointing . Vereniki Goneva touches down his second try during the 23 19 defeat at Northampton on Saturday Ben Foden of Northampton plays the ball out of the ruck as the Saints prevailed 23 19 winners England international Luther Burrell attempts to avoid the tackle of Owen Williams on Saturday afternoon ' It is a tough game . That 80 minutes of rugby was hard , physical with some great tackles , but I don ' t think there was any malice in that . I think ' s initial reaction of the yellow card would have been the correct decision . ' England open their Six Nations campaign against Wales in Cardiff on February 6 , and given Hartley ' s poor record biting and punching offences also appear on his charge sheet another lengthy suspension appears likely . ' It ' s a tough game , and Dylan plays to the edge . You wouldn ' t change Dylan . He is competitive , ' Mallinder added . ' It is a difficult one . I think he should have kept his arms down we are not saying that what he did was right but what I am probably saying is that the opposition made it a lot easier , and a yellow card was sufficient . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past107811631,11632,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 | 9 every Wednesday. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Randy J of 21Wire, Andy Nowicki from Alt Right Blogspot and Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East and Jay Dyer from Jays Analysis Tonight the Boiler Gang brings the internet show with more twists and turns than Space Mountain! We ll be covering the disturbing concept of men so brainwashed that they think the have man-stral cycles, Michael Moore s moobs, Jay versus atomistic materialist philosophy peddlers, the Panama Papers psyop, the smoke screen of the so called classified 28 pages of the 9/11 report, the university organized reproduction of the temple of Baal being recreated after destroyed the original site in Palmyra Syria, Tragedy and Hope how bankers revolutionaries, and what to make of occult symbolism being paraded in the faces of that alternative media and Robert Dinero s response to the documentary film, Vaxxed being removed from the Tribeca Film Festival. Listen in as we discuss a plethora of media and current events in a un- fashion . If you want to participate, bring something interesting to throw into the boiler Join us in the chat room. A ZONE! ENJOY! LINKS:",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present107911633,11634,"Laura Bates is the founder of The Everyday Sexism Project and the author of the forthcoming book , Everyday Sexism . "" This is the relentless misogynistic abuse of a high profile woman doing her job "" Amber Rose : How I Learned To Stop Caring What People Think Barbie s Problem Is Far Beyond Skin Deep Viola Davis : We ve Been Fed a Whole Slew of Lies About Women As Donald Trump boycotts Thursday night s Fox News Republican debate , news sites are awash with speculation about his reasons for pulling out . Headlines have referred to the Donald Trump ? Megyn Kelly feud , shows are debating why Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly are currently quibbling , and the situation has been described as a spat and a drama . These characterizations suggest a two sided war of words , with escalation and attacks from both parties . The reality couldn t be more different . Trump s animosity towards Kelly first arose when she challenged him over his misogynistic comments about women at the first Republican primary debate in August , saying : You ve called women you don t like fat pigs , dogs , slobs and disgusting animals , and asking : Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president ? It was a tough question , but one well within the realm of relevance , especially , as Kelly pointed out , in the context of Hillary Clinton s candidacy . Since then , Trump has repeatedly , childishly and abusively taunted Kelly , making high profile public comments about her professionalism and performance , retweeting sexist and critical tweets about her and repeatedly reviving the issue . Asked about Kelly on after the August debate , Trump said : you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes , blood coming out of her wherever , a comment he later denied was a reference to menstruation . He has also repeatedly cast aspersions about Kelly s journalistic prowess , calling her a lightweight and saying : I just don t respect her as a journalist , I have no respect for her , I don t think she s very good , I think she s highly overrated . Later in August , Trump launched a fusillade of critical tweets at Kelly during her show The Kelly File , including a quote from another Twitter user that read : The bimbo back in town . I hope not for long . On another occasion , Trump tweeted : I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo , because that would not be politically correct . Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter ! Early Thursday morning , Trump followed up with a new line of attack , retweeting a pair of images from a photoshoot Kelly did for magazine and the message : And this is the bimbo that s asking presidential questions ? The images were captioned : Criticizes Trump for objectifying women . Poses like this in magazine . In a statement rightly supporting Kelly , Fox News claimed that Trump s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski threatened Kelly in a telephone call with a News executive . It read : Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a rough couple of days after that last debate and he would hate to have her go through that again . Trump s behavior isn t doing him any favors with female voters either . Countless women are using the EverydaySexism hashtag , the name of my forthcoming book , to call out his misogyny , describing his attacks on women as low , gross and ignorant . One asked : Can we just all agree that anything Trump says is automatically EverydaySexism ? Another wrote : Megyn Kelly posed for in 2010 . Conservatives slut shaming the hell out of her because Trump . everydaysexism Kelly , meanwhile , has maintained a dignified and professional composure . She has refused to apologize , saying I shall continue doing my job without fear or favor , and has rarely responded to his aggressive tweets . This is not a spat , a drama , a feud or a quibble . This is the relentless misogynistic abuse of a high profile woman doing her job . The problem with a woman being attacked in such a way on a national stage is that it tends to have a ripple effect , causing her also to experience a range of other sexist repercussions . For example , while commenting on the issue , Doug Gross , an Iowa Republican strategist unaffiliated with any particular campaign said : It s the only Republican debate in our state and he s not even going to show up because he s afraid of a woman reporter ? What kind of a wimp is this ? Trump s chief rival , Texas senator Ted Cruz seemed to jump on the same bandwagon , albeit more subtly , offering to debate Trump one on one ? If Donald is afraid of Megyn Kelly . The mocking of Trump for being afraid of Kelly undermines her professional status by suggesting that a female reporter is a less formidable interviewer than her male peers . Other criticisms of Trump similarly dealt Kelly backhanded sexist implications , like The View commentator Joy Behar s suggestion that : This is the first gorgeous blonde that he can t wrap around his finger . Meanwhile , Trump s sexist attitude towards Kelly has also had a more predictable knock on effect in spurring many of his more than 5 . 8 million Twitter followers to bombard her with misogynistic abuse , a phenomenon for which he should take at least some responsibility given his own repeated attacks on her using the platform . It has been reported that in the time since Trump announced his withdrawal from the debate , his supporters have tweeted the word bitch at her 432 times , the word bimbo 404 , whore 88 times and c ? nt 34 . This is not the standard response that male journalists have to contend with simply for doing their job . This is just the most recent high profile example of the deeply misogynistic abuse , double standards and sexist attacks that women in the public eye experience on a daily basis . To correlate Kelly s question about Trump s misogynistic comments with a completely unrelated photo shoot is to try and suggest that a woman who dares to be photographed or care about her appearance automatically forfeits the right to challenge sexism . To ridicule Trump for refusing to enter into a debate with Kelly as moderator is to suggest that female journalists in general , and Kelly in particular , are lightweight pushovers ? playing into Trump s own sexist rhetoric . To bombard Kelly with misogynistic online abuse is to admit that there are no logical arguments with which to challenge her , as she has acted entirely professionally throughout . But perhaps worst of all , to characterize this ugly display of misogyny as a feud or a spat is to hide the real truth . This is sexism . Nasty , cowardly , unprofessional sexism . It deserves to be seen for exactly what it is . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past108011656,11657,"October 26, 2016 Trump Has Hissy Fit After Reporter Points Out Pausing Campaign To Open Hotel Is Really Dumb (VIDEO) Don’t bother pointing out how incredibly dim-witted it is to pause a losing campaign just days away from Election Day to open up a luxury hotel to the Republican nominee, Trump doesn’t want to hear it. After inexplicably spending a day participating in an opening ceremony for a new Trump Hotel in Washington DC, its namesake was in no mood to discuss his failing campaign. CNN’s Dana Bash learned that the hard way when she asked the question on everyone’s mind: What were you thinking? Rather than answer, Trump threw a hissy fit. “I say the following: You have been covering me for the last — long time. I did yesterday eight stops and three major speeches, and I’ve been doing this for weeks straight,” Trump said. “For you to ask me that question is actually very insulting because Hillary Clinton does one stop and then she goes home and sleeps. And yet you’ll ask me that question. I think that’s a very rude question, to be honest with you.” Dana Bash: Is your hotel opening free advertising? Donald Trump: “No, not at all” weblink weblink — Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 26, 2016 For those keeping score that short answer checks a lot of boxes: Whining about the media Flagrant conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton’s health Groundless accusation that asking a simple question is “rude” No answer whatsoever Trump may be testy due to his slow realization that his campaign is under water, he has no practical way forward, and it would take a miracle to win. Instead of even trying, he seems to be retreating to the things he knows will make him money after the election. His campaign recently launched the prototype to “Trump TV,” a daily live stream filled with confused campaign staffers, shameless opportunists and Rudy Giuliani. He also seems desperate to salvage his failing properties, something that may not be possible after running a campaign that offended practically every group in America. Already there are signs that Trump’s hotels have taken a hit. Yahoo explains : Rates for rooms at Trump’s new D.C. hotel are being slashed as travelers weigh their options, and smartphone data suggest fewer people are visiting his properties compared to rival venues nearby. The Republican nominee for president is in danger of losing not just the election, but something dear to a man who claims the marketing value of his name alone is worth $3 billion: the many customers, mostly wealthy, who have stayed at his hotels, played a round at his golf courses or held galas at his oceanside resorts. Trump may find that his bigotry has cost him not only the election, but the fortune he valued more than his reputation as well. Featured image via Twitter",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past108111660,11661,"In a shockingly selfish pattern of behavior that has occurred repeatedly over the past six months , local 8 year old and whiny brat Sean Cooper has continued his habit of interrupting his parents with his pleas for them to stop screaming at each other , sources reported Thursday . Sean , who has an extensive history of not minding his own business , apparently cannot display the common courtesy of keeping his mouth shut as his parents , Robert and Karen Cooper , loudly discuss Robert ' s short temper and Karen ' s controlling nature at the family dinner table , or in the middle of the living room late at night when Sean is supposed to be in bed sleeping . "" I wish Mommy and Daddy would be nice to each other , "" the wantonly disrespectful second grader told reporters , seemingly unaware of the total lack of gratitude he exhibits toward his parents on a nearly daily basis by constantly interjecting tearful pleas for them to stop arguing . "" They used to be happy and now they fight all the time . I just want things to be how they used to be . "" "" I wish I could make them not fight anymore , "" he continued , perhaps too self absorbed to realize that whatever his parents happen to be discussing from moment to moment is absolutely none of his concern , and that children should never , under any circumstances , try to involve themselves in the business of adults . "" I hope they don ' t get a divorce . "" According to sources , despite the fact that no one cares what his opinion is because he ' s only 8 years old , Sean once again subjected his parents to his rampaging ego late Wednesday night when he knocked on their bedroom door at 1 a . m . and tearfully informed them that he could hear them yelling mean things at each other through his wall . While clutching his stuffed animal and staring morosely at his feet like some sort of sulking , grade school prima donna , Sean then reportedly proceeded to take up another 45 seconds of his parents ' valuable time explaining in needlessly long winded detail that it made him sad when they fought , never once stopping to take note of how utterly self indulgent he was sounding , or how his outburst might be construed as utterly inappropriate given the fact that his parents had been in the midst of a private conversation concerning their marriage . "" They told me it was very late and they were having a grown up talk and I should go back to my room , "" said the child , who was quite rightly put in his place in that instance , and really should have known better than to interrupt in the first place . "" Then later I heard Daddy slam their door and go downstairs to his car . "" After trying to present his parents with a rather condescending and manipulative colored pencil drawing he had made of the three of them standing outside their house with big smiles on their crudely rendered faces , Sean told reporters in a trembling voice that can only be described as immensely irritating that he didn ' t "" know who to talk to "" about the situation with his parents , as though blabbing his mouth off about the lives of others were ever a wise idea . "" Why is this happening ? "" whined the little shit for what felt like the 5 , 000th time this week , his pouty voice reaching levels of annoyance that would make even the most levelheaded adult want to pick up a chair and throw it across the room in sheer exasperation . "" Is it my fault ? "" "" I should just run away , "" added Sean , positing his first sensible thought in years . "" Maybe that would make everything better . "" At press time , Sean was most likely feeling sorry for himself and finding a way to make everything all about him , just as he always does . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,negative,past108211697,11698,"The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor Sr . was sentenced Friday to 97 years in prison for charges including torture and conspiracy , according to a federal court in Florida . The U . S . born son of Charles Taylor Sr . , pictured , moved to Liberia when his father became president . U . S . District Judge Cecilia M . Altonaga sentenced Charles "" Chuckie "" Taylor Jr . , 31 , in a Friday morning session that lasted four hours , according to a court document . Altonaga cited Taylor ' s "" sadistic , cruel and atrocious past , "" saying it "" constituted unacceptable , universally condemned torture , "" The Miami Herald reported . "" The lengthy prison term handed down today justly reflects the horror and torture that Taylor Jr . visited upon his victims , "" said Matthew Friedrich , acting assistant attorney general of the criminal division . Taylor , also known as Charles McArthur Emmanuel , was convicted October 30 of torture , conspiracy to commit torture and firearm charges . His case , tried in Miami , was the first brought under a 1994 U . S . law saying those accused of committing torturous acts overseas can be tried in a U . S . federal court , as long as the person is a U . S . national or is present in the United States , regardless of nationality . Calls to Taylor ' s defense attorneys were not immediately returned . Prosecutors had asked for Taylor to be sentenced to 147 years . Taylor was born in Boston , Massachusetts , but he moved to Liberia when his father was named president . Prosecutors said Taylor became the leader of the Anti Terrorist Unit and the Liberian National Police while his father was president . The two groups are accused of abducting , torturing and killing people . From 1999 to 2002 , Taylor committed torture and allowed others to commit torture , prosecutors said . Taylor and his associated burned victims with molten plastic , lighted cigarettes , candle wax and an iron . Some were severely beaten with firearms , cut and stabbed and shocked with an electric device , prosecutors said in an indictment that superseded the initial indictment from 2006 . In the initial indictment , Taylor was charged with one count of torture , one count of conspiracy to torture and one count of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime . The superseding September 2007 indictment which incorporated the initial charges included five counts of torture , one count of conspiracy to torture , one count of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and one count of conspiracy to use a firearm during the commission of a violent crime . The defense had said the U . S . government had little or no evidence to back up its claims . Also Friday , the World Organization for Human Rights filed a civil class action suit against Taylor on behalf of a group of people who are said to have been subjected to torture and other human rights abuses by Taylor or his subordinates , according to the organization . The suit seeks declaratory relief and general , compensatory and punitive damages , the organization said in a written statement . "" This civil suit aims to address Defendant Taylor ' s wrongs on a much greater scale "" than the criminal trial , the organization said . Taylor ' s father , Charles Taylor Sr . , is standing trial in The Hague , Netherlands , on war crimes charges . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past108311699,11700,"Reuters) - The chief of the U.N. atomic watchdog reiterated on Friday that Iran was under the world s most robust nuclear verification regime after U.S. President Donald Trump struck a blow against a 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in defiance of other world powers. The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the are being implemented, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said. He referred to the Iran nuclear by its proper name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present108411702,11703,"has terminated its relationship with Kathy Griffin after the comedian posed for a photograph while holding a fake, bloodied decapitated head meant to resemble the head of President Donald Trump. [“ has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year’s Eve program,” the network’s communications department tweeted Wednesday morning. has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year’s Eve program. — Communications (@CNNPR) May 31, 2017, Griffin had CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live broadcast each January since 2007 alongside the network’s lead anchor, Anderson Cooper. Cooper took to Twitter late Tuesday night to say he was “appalled” by his ’s photo. “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in,” the Anderson Cooper 360 host wrote. “It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. ” The shocking photograph, first published by Tuesday morning, was taken during a photo shoot conducted by the My Life on the comedian and Los artist and photographer Tyler Shields, who is reportedly known for his provocative work. The photo caused a firestorm online, where it quickly circulated and led to calls for a boycott of Griffin’s work, including her current comedy tour. The comedian apologized in a brief video posted to her Twitter account Tuesday, saying she had “crossed the line” and that the image had gone “too far. ” CNN’s termination of its relationship with Griffin is the latest in the continuing fallout over the image. On Wednesday, — the largest home security company in North America — announced it would pull its advertising from over the photo, while the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico announced it had cancelled Griffin’s upcoming performance, which had been scheduled for June 16. The U. S. Secret Service is also reportedly investigating the circumstances surrounding the photo shoot. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump responded to the image Wednesday, with the president saying in a message on his Twitter account that the photograph and its resultant coverage has been particularly hard on his son, Barron. The First Lady called the photograph “very disturbing” and “simply wrong” in a separate statement. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past108511704,11705,"to read Matt Lawton assessment of Roy Keane ' s explosive press conference . The explosive opinions and revelations contained in Roy Keane ' s new book have captured the headlines all week yet a Tesco store in Ireland has still found a novel way to boost sales of the autobiography . The franchise in Wilton , Cork , has taken the rather amusing way of publicising the sale of the book by offering a free prawn sandwich to any person who purchases The Second Half . A sign , positioned next to the books in the store , reads : ' Free Prawn Sandwich with every copy of the Roy Keane Book , The Second Half . Just take your receipt to the deli counter for your free sandwich . ' Scroll down to watch . . . A Tesco store in Wilton , Cork , is offering a free prawn sandwich with every purchase of Roy Keane ' s new book The former Ireland midfielder officially released his second autobiography titled The Second Half on Thursday Keane ( left ) argues with Fabian Barthez during Manchester United ' s clash with Dynamo Kiev in November 2000 This references the former Republic of Ireland midfielder ' s famous interview in November 2000 when he referred to Manchester United fans at Old Trafford as eating ' prawn sandwiches ' and being unaware of the action on the pitch . Keane ' s rant directed at fans who voiced their disapproval during United ' s Champions League home match with Dynamo Kiev infamously became linked with the term ' the prawn sandwich brigade ' . During the interview , Keane said : ' Away from home our fans are fantastic , I ' d call them the hardcore fans . The Champions League clash with Kiev was the match which prompted Keane ' s ' prawn sandwich ' rant Keane argued that United ' s fans were too busy eating prawn sandwiches than watching the football Keane pictured with his book at Dublin ' s Aviva Stadium on Thursday , the location for autobiography ' s launch ' But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches , and they don ' t realise what ' s going on out on the pitch . ' The ex United , Nottingham Forest and Celtic midfielder ' s new book was launched during a press conference at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Thursday . In The Second Half , among other revelations , the Aston Villa and Ireland assistant manager explains his disdain for Sir Alex Ferguson ' s criticism of former United players , he talks through the bitter row which led to his exit from Old Trafford , and how he does not regret his horror challenge on Alf Inge Haaland . He also says he knew Cristiano Ronaldo would be one of the world ' s best players when he left John O ' Shea needing medical attention due to dizziness while playing for Sporting Lisbon in a friendly . Keane ( right ) added fire to his spat with Sir Alex Ferguson ( left ) saying he may never be able to forgive him Keane , pictured putting in a horror challenge on former Alf Inge Haaland , was known as United ' s tough man ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past108611710,11711,"For the 135th straight year since Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s surrender at Appomattox , representatives for the South announced Monday that the region has postponed plans to rise again . "" Make no mistake , the South shall rise again , "" said Knox Pritchard , president of the Huntsville based Alliance Of Confederate States . "" But we ' re just not quite ready to do it now . Hopefully , we ' ll be able to rise again real soon , maybe even in 2001 . "" Pritchard ' s fellow Southerners shared his confidence . "" Yes , sir . The South will rise again , and when it does , I ' ll be right up front waving the Stars and Bars , "" said Dock Mullins of Decatur , . "" But first , I gotta get my truck fixed and get that rusty old stove out of my yard . "" "" Lord willing , and the creek don ' t rise , we gonna rise again , "" said Sumter , , radiator technician Hap Slidell , who describes himself as "" Southern by the grace of God . "" "" I don ' t know exactly when we ' re gonna do it , but one of these days , we ' re gonna show them Yankees how it ' s done . "" "" Save your Confederate dollars , "" Slidell added . "" You can bet on that . "" The Deep South states of Alabama , Georgia , Mississippi , South Carolina , Louisiana , and Tennessee consistently rank at the bottom of the nation in a wide variety of statistical categories , including literacy , infant mortality , hospital beds , toilet paper sales , and shoe usage . Even so , some experts believe the region could be poised for a renaissance . "" The way things stand , things in the Deep South almost have to get better . Otherwise , the people who live there will devolve into preverbal , overall wearing sub morons within a century , "" said Professor Dennis Lassiter of Princeton University . "" Either Southerners will start improving themselves , or they ' ll be sold to middle class Asians as pets . "" "" My constituents are decent , hard working folk , "" said Sen . Jesse Helms ( R ) , despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary , in his 22nd annual "" Next Year , By God ! "" speech on the steps of North Carolina ' s capitol building . "" We are a proud people who mayn ' t have all that much fancy pants book learnin ' , but we live and die with pride in our proud heritage and the dignity of our forebears . "" Helms ' speech was met with nearly 25 minutes of enthusiastic hoots and rebel yells by the 15 , 000 drunk , unemployed tobacco pickers in attendance . Though Southerners are overwhelmingly in favor of rising again , few were able to provide specific details of the rising again process . "" I don ' t know , I reckon we ' ll build us a bunch of big , fancy buildins and pave us up a whole mess of roads , "" said Bobby Lee Fuller of Greenville , . "" I ain ' t exactly sure where we ' re gonna get the money for that , but when Johnny Reb sets his mind to something , you best get out of his way . "" "" Oh , it ' ll happen , sure as the sun come up in the morning , "" said Buford Comstock , 26 , a student at Over ' N ' Back Diesel Driving School in Union City , . "" The South is gonna rise up , just as soon as we get together and get all our shit back in one sock . Then , look out , Northerners ! "" "" Yesiree , "" Comstock added , "" one day soon , the Mason Dixon Line will be the boundary between a great nation and one whose time done passed . "" ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past108711726,11727,"manuals offering tips to help spies maintain their cover while using false documents as they crossed international borders have been released by Wikleaks . The two documents , dating from 2011 and 2012 , are marked classified and ' , ' which means they were not meant to be shared with allied intelligence agencies , WikiLeaks said . The documents outline a number of strategies for agents to avoid secondary screening at airports and borders . manuals offering tips to help spies maintain their cover while using false documents as they crossed international borders have been released by Wikleaks Some are obvious don ' t buy a one way ticket with cash the day before flying , although others are less so don ' t look scruffy while traveling on a diplomatic passport . The manual states : ' Mental preparation almost certainly helps travelers pass secondary scrutiny . ' The guide states that travelers who attract attention and appear suspicious qualify sentence meanings with ' words like "" typically , "" "" normally , "" "" often , "" "" maybe , "" or "" almost "" or phrases like "" to be honest , "" "" the truth is , "" or "" swear to God . ' There is a section devoted to baggage and lists reasons for detection including : Baggage or contents inconsistent with the passenger ' s appearance , profession , or ticket class An unexplained lack of baggage probably would raise suspicions . Multiple new items , such as alarm clocks or notebooks , in baggage . Carelessly packed baggage when passenger is purportedly an experienced business traveler . Unopened and unmarked maps , guidebooks , or other literature . Maps of unrelated cities in baggage for a purported tourist traveler . Camera quality not matching the traveler ' s profile or camera memory card insufficient for a lengthy tourist trip . The documents outline a number of strategies for agents to avoid secondary screening at airports and borders The guide lists countries which look for certain types of travelers for example it states Japanese customs officials pay attention to single , Western travelers ' because they may be drug couriers . ' Similarly it states that in Tel Aviv , officials are on the look out for ' military aged males traveling alone with backpacks . . . regardless of their nationality or skin color . In one incident during transit of a European airport in the early morning , security officials selected a officer for secondary screening , ' one of the documents reads . ' Although the officials gave no reason , overly casual dress inconsistent with being a diplomatic passport holder may have prompted the referral . ' The agent involved went on to have his bag swabbed for explosives and it tested positive . Despite extensive questioning , he stuck to his cover story that he had been involved in counterterrorism training in the United States , and eventually was allowed to continue his journey . ' Consistent , well rehearsed , and plausible cover is important for avoiding secondary selection and critical for surviving it , ' the wrote . WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement : ' The has carried out kidnappings from European Union states , including Italy and Sweden , during the Bush administration ' In a statement , WikiLeaks said this example ' begs the question : if the training that supposedly explained the explosives was only a cover story , what was a officer really doing passing through ( a European Union ) airport with traces of explosives on him , and why was he allowed to continue ? ' One of the documents , called ' Schengen Overview , ' reveals that the is very concerned about nations introducing biometric security measures for people traveling on passports and that new systems pose an increased ' identity threat ' in other words , making it harder for agents to travel on false documents . The document focuses on the ' s Schengen area , a chunk of Europe in which travelers between 22 countries are no longer required to show passports . The expressed concerns that a new security system will potentially make life harder for agents . WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement : ' The has carried out kidnappings from European Union states , including Italy and Sweden , during the Bush administration . These manuals show that under the Obama administration the is still intent on infiltrating European Union borders and conducting clandestine operations in member states . ' Sunday ' s release is the second in a series of releases from WikiLeaks . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present108811727,11728,Live Extra Nordic Combined Olympic Sports 3am Live Extra Cross Country Olympic Sports 4am Live Extra World Cup Olympic Sports 5am Live Extra Cross Country Olympic Sports 5 : 20am Stoke City v . Manchester City Premier League 7am Live Extra Nordic Combined Olympic Sports 8am Live Extra World Cup Olympic Sports 8 : 15am Arsenal v . Sunderland Premier League 10am Manchester United v . West Ham United Premier League 10am Live Extra Southampton v . Aston Villa Premier League 10am Live Extra Swansea City v . Leicester City Premier League 10am Live Extra Watford v . Norwich City Premier League 10am Live Extra West Bromwich Albion v . Tottenham Hotspur Premier League 10am Live Extra Ski Jumping Olympic Sports 10 : 45am Golf Channel Hero World Challenge Third Round Golf 12pm Sports Chelsea v . Bournemouth Premier League 12 : 30pm Birds of Prey Olympic Sports 1pm Live Extra World Cup : Lake Louise Women ' s Downhill Olympic Sports 2 : 30pm Sports Hero World Challenge Third Round Golf 2 : 30pm Ole Miss vs . UMass General 4pm UMass vs . Notre Dame Notre Dame 6pm Live Extra Track Cycling World Cup Olympic Sports 11pm Premier League Match of the Day Soccer 11pm Live Extra Nordic Combined Olympic Sports Sun 3am Live Extra Cross Country Olympic Sports Sun 4am Live Extra Cross Country Olympic Sports Sun 5 : 50am ,true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present108911745,11746,"A computer manipulated talking cat in a commercial for Fresh Step cat litter thoroughly delighted Ottumwa resident Sheila Dagenhardt Monday . "" Honey , you ' ve got to come in here and see this ad ! "" Dagenhardt called out to husband Dale , who was in the kitchen making a bowl of microwave popcorn at the time . "" It ' s so adorable ! "" Dale , who missed a majority of the 30 second spot , managed to race back to the living room in time to see the cat ' s owner hold out a bag of Fresh Step cat litter , to which the sass talking feline responded , "" Meow you ' re talking ! "" The ad then ended with an announcer delivering a warning to viewers to "" get your cat Fresh Step , before your cat gets fresh with you . "" "" That was just about the cutest commercial I ' ve ever seen , "" Dagenhardt said . "" When the lady tried to fill the cat ' s box with a brand of litter that wasn ' t Fresh Step , the cat got all mad and put out its arm and said , ' Talk to the paw ! ' "" Dagenhardt enjoyed the computer generated cat so much , later that evening she phoned her sister in Des Moines to ask if she had seen the commercial . "" Yeah , I saw that one during Judging Amy ! It really looks like the cat ' s talking ! "" sister Deborah Sayner said . "" How do they make it do that ? "" "" Don ' t go there ! "" added Sayner , repeating the part of the commercial in which the sharp tongued tabby warns its owner not to reach for a bargain brand litter . After a lengthy discussion , the sisters came to the conclusion that the Fresh Step commercial was the best talking animal ad they had seen since the one in which a group of brown bears sing "" P E P S I "" to the tune of "" . "" They did note , however , that even though the antics of the Fresh Step cat are funnier , the Snuggle bear is cuter . According to Fresh Step spokeswoman Roberta Alt , the Dagenhardts are not alone in their positive response to the new ad . In extensive focus group testing , it scored 45 percent higher than last year ' s Fresh Step campaign , in which a large cat , heartbroken over his owner ' s litter choice , wakes up the neighbors by mournfully singing "" O Sole Meow . "" "" Last year ' s ' Luciano Paw varotti ' spot was popular , but this one is even bigger , "" Alt said . "" People really seem to love Fresh Step ' s new ' frank feline . ' The cat ' s got attitude . Or , as we like to say , ' cattitude . ' "" Created by the San Francisco based computer animation firm Ocean 1 , the ad ' s special effects cost 200 , 000 . Total project expenditures for the funny cat commercial were 245 , 000 , but television air time outlays are expected to bring the total cost of the campaign to 4 . 5 million , a sum Alt called "" well worth it in gains to brand name recognition . "" "" We ' re currently developing other cheeky ads that humorously illustrate what might happen if you don ' t provide your pet with a premium cat litter like Fresh Step , "" Alt said . "" Imagine a cat who rebels against his owner ' s cheap litter by donning a leather jacket , sunglasses and mohawk ! "" Though Fresh Step ' s in house creative team is still working on the new computer generated cat ' s dialogue , Alt did confirm that the feline will utter the catchphrase , "" Are you talking to me ow ? "" ",satire,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past109011753,11754,"After the publication of a Truth and Reconciliation commission report calling the Residential Schools a cultural genocide , Prime Minister Harper has sent an apologetic email to Canada ' s First Nations . "" Hey , sorry you felt genocided , "" said the email . "" Oh well , it ' s all water under the bridge now . "" Sources in the Prime Minister ' s Office say that the email , whose subject line just read , sup ' , took the Head of State in excess of five minutes to compose . "" He almost never spends that much time on something other than poisoning our system of parliamentary democracy , "" said one aide . "" So you can tell that he takes this seriously . "" While some conservatives have taken the Prime Minister to task for being too apologetic ' , others are just glad that it ' s over with ' . "" I thought the whole sorry ' phrase was overstating things a bit , but at least we don ' t have to worry about it any more , "" said Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt . "" They lived through decades upon decades of dehumanization , torture , and sexual abuse , we said we ' re sorry , everything ' s square now . "" Members of the say that this email is literally the nicest thing the Canadian government has ever done for the First Nations . "" No , really , "" said Perry Bellegarde , President of the Association of First Nations . "" This is even less bad than the text message he sent us about the missing and murdered aboriginal women . "" ",satire,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past109111765,11766,"A study recently released by the Self Center for American Psychology noted a sharp divide among losers regarding the effectiveness of the positive self statements known as "" affirmations "" winners , however , had little to say on the subject . According to the Self Center report , some losers avow that affirmations and positive thinking are enormously effective and are guaranteed to eventually , on some level bring them professional success , joy , and rewarding relationships , provided they believe devoutly enough to attract the right sort of energy . Other losers , however , dismiss affirmations as an utter waste of time , serving only to fool losers more gullible themselves into a false sense of hope that their lives might , someday , become marginally better . Two participants in the study , New York City losers Geoffrey Alsup and Denise Bennett , are ( former ) friends whose difference of opinion regarding affirmations caused a seemingly unbridgeable rift in their relationship , such as it was . Denise , at five foot two and 287 pounds , proclaims that the use of affirmations over a five year period has profoundly improved her self esteem , personal energy , and overall health . Explained Denise , "" Every morning , when I first wake up and my mind is at its most suggestible , I affirm to myself that I am lithe , lean , sensual , and sexy . I am getting better and better in every way , and so is my life . "" Inarguably powerful statements but have they effected tangible positive change in Denise ' s health and well being ? She claims that they have . "" I ' ve lost four pounds in just the last nine months , "" Denise reported . "" The physical changes have been slow , but steady . And I know that the only reason they haven ' t happened more quickly is that sometimes , when I ' ve spoken the affirmative statements out loud or written them down on a piece of paper , a part of me was doubting what I was saying . That doubt is what ' s prevented my affirmations from manifesting as effectively as they otherwise would . "" In fact , Denise admitted that on one occasion , when she uttered the positive phrases , her posture was less than fully upright . "" Obviously , the universe can ' t really do much for me when I ' m slouching , "" she acknowledged . From loser Geoffrey ' s perspective , however , Denise ' s and other people ' s use of affirmations is but a foolish , delusional waste of time , proving that she ' s dumber and more na ve than intellectuals like himself . At a tubby six foot six , 38 year old Geoffrey is socially awkward and has been unemployed for almost a year . "" Nothing ever goes my way , and nothing ever will , "" stated Geoffrey . "" We live in an impossible economy , and the system ' s stacked against us . In other words , life is tough , and it ' s only going to keep getting tougher . And I ' d be an idiot to try and fool myself into thinking that that will ever change . "" Another intractable personal situation , said Geoffrey , is his unhappily single state . "" Women care only about money and how they look , "" he noted . "" They just want some super buff dude with five Hummers who ' ll pay for their Botox . I ' m not that guy , and affirmations will never change that . "" As a former friend who still wants the best for him and for everyone , Denise despairs over Geoffrey ' s negativity and only hopes that her own positive example will inspire him to watch an Abraham Hicks video on the law of attraction . Admittedly , that seems unlikely . According to Denise , perhaps the final nail in the coffin of her and Geoffrey ' s friendship was his casual remark that despite her commitment to daily affirmations , she is still fat . Denise said that Geoffrey was entirely unswayed by her response that her body is becoming more toned and supple every moment of every day , and he was similarly unimpressed by her assertion that the only reason her weight loss hasn ' t proceeded more quickly is her own lack of faith , which , on occasion , has caused the affirmations to backfire , resulting in actual weightgain . According to Denise , her protestation , "" It ' s not the affirmations ' fault , it ' s mine ! "" fell on deaf ears with her former friend . The Self Center Study found that , like Denise and Geoffrey , nearly all of the losers interviewed expressed extremely vehement opinions as to the effectiveness , or lack thereof , of affirmations . At the same time , researchers found it surprisingly difficult to locate any winners with strong views on the subject . Eventually , however , they did manage to press two winners into offering their relatively neutral opinions on affirmations . Winner Theresa Hummel , who operates a wildly popular vegan bakery in Manhattan ' s SoHo , shrugged offhandedly when asked what she thought of the effectiveness of affirmations and positive thinking . "" Affirmations ? Sure , why not ? They probably help , at least a little bit . And even if they don ' t , who really cares ? There ' s not much to lose in trying them . "" Another winner , Mick Cosgrove , who is blissfully married and recently launched a hyper successful multi million dollar solar energy business , was a bit more skeptical , pointing to his own achievements as evidence that affirmations and positive thinking are not crucial to personal or professional success . "" I mean , look at me , "" said Mick . "" I ' m naturally , even ridiculously , lucky . Windfalls and pleasant surprises constantly come my way . At any given moment , I find just what I need , and more . I ' m almost fifty now , and just when I think things can ' t possibly get any better , they do ! And I ' ve never done an affirmation in my life . "" With the debate over the effectiveness of positive thinking expected to rage on for the foreseeable future , affirmation curious folks are left in bit of a quandary . To affirm , or not to affirm ? That , it seems , is the question for modern day American losers . Fortunately , Self Center psychologists concluded , there are significant advantage to both approaches . For naturally optimistic losers like Denise , they found , affirmations can offer increased hope that their lives will improve , despite all evidence to the contrary . And for determinedly defeatist losers like Geoffrey , the self perceived boost in intellectual superiority that they gain from refraining from positive thinking can , in many cases , do more to improve their overall mood than any affirmation could ever hope to accomplish . When asked whether he found it encouraging that , regardless of whether they choose to use affirmations and positive thinking or avoid them altogether , losers literally can ' t go wrong , Geoffrey responded , "" No , I don ' t find that encouraging at all . In fact , it sounds suspiciously like an affirmation . "" ",satire,text,test,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past109211766,11767,"When they go low we go high. Michelle Obama famously used this quote to explain the difference between Democrats and Republicans at the convention. Sadly, the Democrat Party has proven time and time again, that nothing could be further from the truth.Television writer Jen Statsky tweeted Saturday the people who support President Trump should have their children taken away.light reminder that being president of the means nothing anymore, if you support Trump you should have your children taken away, etc etc Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky) October 1, 2017Yesterday s tweet by the woman who writes for the Parks and Rec show as well as The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, was not the first time she ventured into the bowels of humanity to come up with a vile comment in order to satisfy her angry and vile base of leftist supporters. Here are a couple of examples, starting with the time she thought touring the country looking for fistfights with people who voted for Trump might be a good use of her time.A tour of the country where I fistfight people who voted for Donald Trump, is that a good use of my time? Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky) January 10, 2017To which, one of her fans replied with an image of a boxing glove lined with barbed wire. How very tolerant. This tweet only confirms what we already know, using violence to fight anyone who disagrees with them is one of the first tenants of being a Democrat:Only if you wear these pic.twitter.com/JXVaR0PMGb Drew Brown (@brewdrown) January 10, 2017In this tweet, Statsky wishes cancer on Donald Trump, husband, father of 5 and grandfather to 9 grandchildren, and oh yeah, the man most of America chose as their leader.I know things seem grim right now, but let's remain optimistic: maybe Trump will get cancer? Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky) July 25, 2016Once again, Statsky s classy followers didn t disappoint with their responses:The most luxurious tumors you've ever seen. Cod dependence (@geoffglaab) July 25, 2016In this tweet, Statsky suggests that if you voted for Trump, you should drink bleach .quick reminder that if you voted for Trump you should drink bleach Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky) May 15, 2017This classy fan suggests Trump supporters could follow up the bleach with a draino chaser . For anyone who didn t catch it, Drano is spelled incorrectly, but we re pretty sure you already knew anyone who would respond in such a manner isn t the sharpest knife in the drawer anyhow.With a draino chaser emmalu (@emmalu) May 15, 2017And one last ignorant response from the guy who uses the disgraced pedophile Democrat Anthony Weiner as his profile pic, who just wants to clarify that Statsky is, in fact, wanting us to put bleach in their drinks for them, right? He goes on to call it what it is, poison terrorism suggesting they could poison Trump supporters at those fly-over Old Country Buffets. One has to wonder if this guy shouldn t be getting a visit from law enforcement:u want us to put bleach in their drinks for them, right? Inciting poison terrorism at those fly-over country Old Country Buffets SuperSparky (@SuperSparky101) October 1, 2017h/t Daily Caller ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,present109311767,11768,"Los Angeles A southern California woman convicted of cutting off the penis of her then husband and throwing it into a garbage disposal was given a life sentence Friday with the possibility of parole after seven years , authorities said . Catherine Kieu , 50 , of Garden Grove , California , and her husband were going through a divorce at the time of the July 2011 incident . The couple married in December 2009 , but in May 2011 the husband filed for divorce , which was granted in August 2011 , according to Orange County court records . Kieu laced her husband ' s dinner with the sleep medication Ambien after they had an argument over a friend possibly staying with them at a later date , the Orange County district attorney ' s office said in a statement Friday . When the husband went to sleep , Kieu tied his legs and arms to the four corners of the bed , and when he awoke , she pulled down his pants and severed his penis with a knife , prosecutors charged . Kieu then threw the severed penis into the garbage disposal , turned it on and mutilated it , prosecutors alleged . Kieu then called 911 about how her husband was bleeding , and he was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery , authorities said . The victim ' s name has not been made public because he is a victim of spousal abuse , police said . The ex husband , 60 , described the trauma in an impact statement during Friday ' s sentencing , according to a statement by the prosecutor ' s office . "" The convicted ( person ) viciously deprived me of part of my life and identity , "" the ex husband told the court . "" Then , as is routine in cases of violence that involve something sexual , the victim must endure , at the hands of the defense , a second attack . This was a cruel and calculated violation of a person ' s body and mind . I now struggle with what is before me . She has torn off my identity as a man . She has caused doubt in my belief in good . She has betrayed my trust in people . "" On April 29 , a jury convicted Kieu of one felony count of torture , one felony count of aggravated mayhem , and a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a knife , prosecutors said . The Vietnam born Kieu is also known as Que Anh Tran , court papers said . She and her ex husband had no children , divorce papers said . During the trial , Kieu ' s attorney said she suffered mental health issues , including depression , and the lawyer argued she shouldn ' t be found guilty , the prosecutor ' s office said . The Orange County case was widely compared to the1993 attack against John Wayne Bobbitt by his then wife , Lorena , who cut off his penis with an 8 inch carving knife while he slept . Lorena Bobbitt then drove away , tossing the penis out her car window . The penis was eventually found and surgically reattached . Lorena Bobbitt was later found innocent by reason of insanity . During her testimony , she tearfully described her life at the hands of what she described as her abusive husband . In a separate trial , John Wayne Bobbitt was acquitted of sexually assaulting his wife . He later made adult films . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past109411768,11769,"— The board of Uber is confident in its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, board member Arianna Huffington said on Tuesday, providing a show of support as the embattled company seeks to repair its reputation. Ms. Huffington made her remarks in a conference call with reporters that Uber announced only hours before. During the roughly call, executives also laid out a multipart plan to get the reeling company back on track after a series of revelations about its business practices and internal unrest that have damaged its image. Of paramount importance, the company stressed, is Uber’s search for a chief operating officer to help Mr. Kalanick. In addition, Uber is overhauling its human resources department, improving its relationships with drivers, and soliciting feedback from concerned employees. The company also plans to release a report on the diversity of its work force this month, and will conclude an investigation into its workplace culture by the end of April. “The board is confident in Travis, and we are proceeding ahead with the search for the C. O. O. ,” Ms. Huffington said during the call. “Put very simply, change starts at the top. ” Because Uber rarely puts together such calls for the news media, the one on Tuesday reflects how the company is working to seize control of its image after a rough start to the year. In recent weeks, Uber’s reputation was badly damaged after a former employee published a scathing blog post detailing what she said was a history of sexual harassment and systemic issues in the company’s human resources department. Separately, Uber faced criticism for its program to deliberately deceive law enforcement using a software tool called Greyball, The New York Times reported. Mr. Kalanick, who helped found Uber in 2009, also came under fire for how he had influenced the culture of the company. After a video of Mr. Kalanick arguing with an Uber driver recently leaked on the internet, Mr. Kalanick apologized and said he would seek leadership assistance. Several executives, including president Jeff Jones, have since left the company. Mr. Kalanick was not present during the conference call. Ms. Huffington, who joined Uber’s board last year, was joined on the call by Liane Hornsey, the recently hired head of human resources, and Rachel Holt, the head of Uber’s business in the United States and Canada. In the call, Uber said it expected that Mr. Kalanick would be highly collaborative with any executive hires. Bill Gurley, a venture capitalist and longtime Uber board member, is helping to lead the executive search for the chief operating officer, as is Ms. Huffington. Asked whether Mr. Kalanick would be willing to step down if asked, Ms. Huffington said the company’s leadership has not discussed the “hypothetical” situation. “It’s clear that both Uber and the entire industry would not be where we are today without Travis,” Ms. Huffington said. Beyond providing assistance to Mr. Kalanick, Uber said it had significant work to do to repair what appears to be a culture badly damaged by infighting and harassment. Ms. Hornsey said Uber had held more than 100 “listening sessions” with employees across the company, and had set up a hotline for anonymous complaints from employees for sensitive subjects. She also noted the recent hiring of a global head of diversity, Bernard C. Coleman III. Uber plans to publish its first diversity report breaking down the gender and ethnic makeup of its work force by the end of March. Uber also is working to change its feedback system in human resources, which many current and former employees had criticized as unfair and opaque. “Too much time is spent looking backward rather than forward,” Ms. Hornsey said of the system. “We need to change it. ” A companywide investigation into Uber’s workplace practices, which is being conducted by Eric H. Holder Jr. the former United States attorney general, is expected to conclude by the end of April. Ms. Huffington said the company would honor the results of the investigation and abide by any changes recommended. Despite Uber’s culture problems, Ms. Holt said the company’s business remains healthy. Last week in the United States, riders took more trips with Uber than in any previous week, she said. “In our most mature country, we’ve grown faster in the first 10 weeks of 2017 than in the first 10 weeks of 2016,” Ms. Holt said during the call. “Looking at less mature regions like Latin America, trips were up 600 percent in February, year on year. ” Uber, which has raised billions of dollars in capital, is privately valued at close to $70 billion. Employees and investors were shaken early this year when a campaign to delete the app sprung up, following concerns that Uber was trying to capitalize on a New York taxi work stoppage. About half a million people requested deleting their Uber accounts over the course of that week, according to three people familiar with the company’s internal metrics who asked not to be named because the numbers are confidential. Those deletions have slowed drastically in recent weeks, and the company continues to add new users on a weekly basis, one of the people said. Aside from internal changes, Uber said it would continue to work on improving relationships with drivers, who are freelancers that the company does not employ . “We need to bring more humanity to the way we interact with drivers,” Ms. Holt said, noting changes in how Uber would treat rider feedback and how the company considers a driver’s history on the platform.",true,news,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past109511770,11771,"Reuters) - Global warming helped fuel the hottest year on record in 2016, with greenhouse gas concentrations reaching a new high, a U.S. government report released on Thursday said. The report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also cited a strong El Nino cycle as a factor behind the third consecutive year of record global warmth. ",true,dataset,test,Football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past109611790,11791,"Children in Russia gave been banned from buying fizzy drinks ' in a bid to protect their health ' . The local parliament banned the sale of fizzy caffeinated drinks to minors in the country ' s Vologda region . The ban includes carbonated drinks containing caffeine or plant extracts , which applies to Western soft drinks , including Coca Cola , Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew , as well as domestic products such as Baikal . Russian children have been banned from buying fizzy drinks ' in a bid to protect their health ' . Pictured , bottles of Coca Cola , Sprite and Fanta in a Dixy supermarket in Moscow , Russia But tea and coffee is not restricted , according to The Moscow Times . The restrictions came into effect on January 1 . An overview of the law on the regional legislative assembly ' s website states stores will have to ask for identification when selling certain soft drinks to young people . In addition to the outright ban on sales of carbonated caffeine drinks to minors , the law also prohibits their sale in ' children ' s , educational and medical institutions , as well as cultural and sports centers . ' Yevgeny Korotkov , chair of the parliament ' s committee on economic policy and property , said the ban has been put in place to protect the health of minors . He said : ' We received an expert opinion on the effects of these drinks on the body of children and adolescents , and they have a very negative impact . ' It comes as Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland , that Russians are prepared to ' eat less ' for President Vladimir Putin . Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos today , he warned the West against trying to topple Putin and said that Russians are ready to sacrifice their wealth in support . Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland , today that Russians are ready to ' eat less ' in support of Putin Russia has been sliding into recession for the past year amid a slump in its energy export prices as well as Western sanctions against Moscow ' s role in the conflict in Ukraine . Shuvalov , who is believed to be one of the richest men in the government , said that what he considers the West ' s attempts to oust Putin will only unite the nation further . He said : ' When a Russian feels any foreign pressure , he will never give up his leader . ' Never . We will survive any hardship in the country eat less food , use less electricity . ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past109711803,11804,"Friday ' s launch of the iPhone 3GS could usher in an innovative and lucrative new era for those who create applications for the popular device , developers and industry observers say . This woman in an iPhone costume was among the crowd outside an Apple Store in New York City on Friday . The phone ' s upgraded hardware , combined with a new operating system , will allow developers to design apps that wouldn ' t have worked on previous models of the iPhone . For example , developers said , the iPhone 3GS is the first iPhone with a video camera , which could inspire apps that edit or mix video clips . Other developers are eyeing the new phone ' s built in compass or its "" push notification "" feature , which pings users with messages even if its instant message application is not open . "" Apple has given us all these new tools , "" said William Kasel , founder and of Jumpfox , a San Francisco , California based company that makes mobile apps . "" And I can ' t wait to see what developers come out with in the next six months . The new features really take the phone to a whole new level . "" Apple fans in the United States and seven other countries lined up Friday morning to be among the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 3GS , billed as the fastest , most feature laden iPhone yet . iReport : Buying an iPhone 3GS ? Lines outside Apple ' s 211 retail stores in the United States were generally shorter than for last July ' s debut of the iPhone 3G , probably because owners of that phone balked at paying upgrade fees to wireless carrier T or could simply update their devices by downloading the iPhone ' s new 3 . 0 operating system . The buying process also seemed smoother than last summer ' s iPhone launch , which was marred by slow moving lines and a flood of customers trying to activate their phones at once . According to reports on Twitter , many iPhone 3GS buyers were able to activate their phones faster and more smoothly than last year . The new iPhone contains a processor that Apple claims is more than twice as fast as its 3G model , plus a video camera , voice control , longer battery life and a built in compass . It comes with an upgraded operating system which Apple released Wednesday for download onto older iPhones with 100 new functions , including the ability to copy and paste text . But the phone ' s biggest game changer , observers say , may be new software that allows iPhone users to make purchases within applications . On previous versions of the iPhone , applications linked users to Web sites where they could buy consumer goods or other items . With the new iPhone 3 . 0 operating system , users can shop entirely within apps designed specially for the phone , which promises to make for smoother transactions . App developers love this new function . Until now , they earned money only when people bought applications through Apple ' s App Store , or from selling ads within the apps themselves . But now , for example , a game developer could charge users a few extra dollars to access higher levels of a video game . Other apps could allow users to locate the nearest movie theater , and then buy tickets . "" It ' s a whole new revenue stream , "" said Brian X . Chen , who writes about consumer technology for Wiredweblink . Chen believes the new feature could help iPhone app developers achieve long term profits instead of hoping for an App Store "" one hit wonder "" that sells well and then disappears . "" This could be absolutely huge for a lot of people , "" agreed Siegler , who writes for TechCrunch , a popular technology blog . "" There ' s a lot of money to be made there , I think . "" Siegler believes another bonus of the iPhone 3GS ' s new software is its ability to interact with special accessories via Bluetooth and the phone ' s dock connector . To cite one example that Apple showcased at a recent 3 . 0 event , a diabetes app could hook up with an insulin meter , allowing a diabetes patient to check his or her glucose levels . Developers already are customizing apps for the new iPhone . Jumpfox is hoping to launch BuzzBuy , its PayPal like e commerce widget , as an iPhone 3GS app this summer . And ScrollMotion plans to introduce an upgraded version of its Iceberg reader , which will allow iPhone users to download more than 50 magazines , 170 newspapers and 1 million books to their devices for reading on the go . "" We love the new 3 . 0 functionality , "" said Josh Koppel , a ScrollMotion co founder , who also believes the phone ' s copy and paste feature will help students and other readers get more use from the Iceberg app . "" A new way to monetize on this magical device . . . is the best thing we could have asked for . "" The popular phone went on sale Friday in the U . S . and Canada plus six European countries : France , Germany , Italy , Spain , Switzerland and the United Kingdom . Watch iPhone buyers lined up in London About 300 people stood outside the flagship Apple Store on New York ' s Fifth Avenue waiting for the doors to open Friday morning . In Atlanta , Georgia , more than 100 people were in line early Friday outside an Apple Store at Lenox Square mall . "" It doesn ' t seem like it ' s the Apple fanatics this time . It ' s moms and dads , "" said Robin Cutshaw , 51 , who lined up for previous iPhone launches in 2007 and 2008 . An specialist , Cutshaw said he travels everywhere with his iPhone and once even used it to work remotely from a beach in Brazil . "" It doesn ' t go in the shower with me , but that ' s about it , "" he said . Some who had preordered phones were frustrated by how slowly their line moved outside the Atlanta store . But Marc Kagan , 31 , said that buying his new phone took him about three hours , much less than the 10 hours it took last year . Customers encountered problems activating their new phones last July because demand overwhelmed Apple ' s iTunes servers . But on Friday , Kagan said it took Apple employees about 15 minutes to activate his phone in the store . "" It went pretty smooth . I think they ' re a little more organized this year , "" he said . T stores , Best Buy and Wal Mart also are selling the iPhone 3GS , although preorders through T and Best Buy sold out before Friday . Advance buzz about the iPhone 3GS has been largely positive . In a review , gave it a four star , or excellent , rating . Compare the iPhone 3GS to three other smartphones An iPhone 3GS with 16 gigabytes of storage sells for 199 with a new two year T contract one with 32G capacity will cost 299 . Since June 8 Apple has been selling the iPhone 3G model for 99 half its original price . Apple has sold more than 17 million iPhones since the iconic device hit the market in 2007 . Apple ' s phones are the second best selling consumer smartphones in the United States , according to the Group , an online market research firm . See a chart tracking iPhone sales The launch comes less than a week after rival Palm unveiled its much ballyhooed Pre smartphone on the Sprint network and Research In Motion announced it will debut the new BlackBerry Tour on Sprint and Verizon in the coming months . ",true,text,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present109811818,11819,"Tim Howard joined Everton in the Community ' s Medicash powered wheelchair football team for a training session at Croxteth Sports Centre last week . The Toffees goalkeeper met players from the team currently sitting third In the National League in the Championship Division and was provided with his own wheelchair . The U . S international joined in with some short skills and shooting practice with the team before taking his place in goal for a short game . Tim Howard joined Everton in the Community ' s powered wheelchair football team for a training session The Everton goalkeeper was provided with his own wheelchair and joined in with some shooting practice Speaking after the visit , Howard said : ' I ' ve really enjoyed myself , the guys were great with me and were really helping me along as it was my first time in a motorised wheelchair . They were giving me tips and encouragement when it came to dribbling , passing and shooting . It was a good time . ' There are a lot of talented players in this team and it goes to show that practice makes perfect and hopefully they ' ll have me back so I can slowly but surely perfect my skills . ' It ' s been great for me to come out and see not just what Everton in the Community does but to also be a part of it and lend a helping hand . Our charity means everything to this club and our local community and that ' s why us players are always so eager to get involved and be a part of Everton in the Community because we know what it means to everyone . ' Everton in the Community Disability Manager Steve Johnson added , ' Tim has been absolutely superb with us today and his skills in the chair were very impressive given that this was his first time . He mixed in well with the team and pulled off some great saves at the end . Howard poses with the Everton in the Community team after the session at Croxteth Sports Centre ' It ' s great to have the club ' s involvement and support Tim is a hero and role model to many of our players here today and to have him come down and get involved today with our session is something that they will talk about for weeks on end . ' Everton in the Community ' s disability empowerment programme provides football and physical opportunities for thousands of disabled children and adults each year . The programme is all inclusive and currently runs 13 disability teams available to those with any disability whether that be learning , physical , reduced stature , autism , cerebral palsy , deaf or partially sighted . For more information visit http : community . evertonfcweblink ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past109911819,11820,"Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Wednesday that $400 million in cash paid to Iran soon after the release of five Americans detained by Tehran was not ransom as some Republicans have charged. The five, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, were released on Jan. 16 in exchange for seven Iranians held in the United States for sanctions violations. The prisoner deal coincided with the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. At the time, the United States said it had settled a longstanding Iranian claim at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague, releasing $400 million in funds frozen since 1981, plus $1.3 billion in interest that was owed to Iran. The funds were part of a trust fund Iran used before its 1979 Islamic Revolution to buy U.S. military equipment that was tied up for decades in litigation at the tribunal. Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to appear at a future committee hearing to discuss the payment. White House spokesman Josh Earnest rejected suggestions the money transfer to Iran was ransom or a secret. “The United States, under President Obama, has not paid a ransom to secure the release of Americans unjustly detained in Iran and we’re not going to pay a ransom,” he said in response to a Wall Street Journal article that said Washington secretly organized the cash airlift. Earnest said Republicans, who have long opposed the Iran nuclear deal, are seizing on how the money was paid to Iran as a way to undermine the deal. “They’re struggling to justify their opposition to our engagement with Iran,” he told a briefing. While there have long been questions about the timing of the payment, one Iranian concern was that the Obama administration could face too much domestic political criticism if it delayed acting on the tribunal’s decision. Due to international sanctions against Iran, the payment, made in euros, Swiss francs and other currencies, had to be made in cash, U.S. officials argue. One U.S. official said the $1.3 billion in interest was paid to Iran through the U.S. Treasury-administered Judgment Fund, which is used to pay awards against the United States. Senior officials at the Justice Department had objected to sending cash on a plane to Iran at the same time that Iran was releasing four imprisoned Americans (the fifth American was released separately) but were overruled by the State Department, The Wall Street Journal reported in a separate story on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions. “People knew what it was going to look like, and there was concern the Iranians probably did consider it a ransom payment,” the newspaper quoted one of the people as saying. Justice Department prosecutors were also concerned that the United States would release too many Iranian convicts and drop too many pending criminal cases against people suspected of violating sanctions laws, the second Wall Street Journal report said. Reuters was unable to independently verify the report. In response to the report, a Department of Justice spokesman said in a statement: “The Department of Justice fully supported the ultimate outcome of the Administration’s resolution of several issues with Iran, including Hague settlement efforts, as well as the return of U.S. citizens detained in Iran. We will not comment further on internal interagency deliberations.” A senior State Department official also responded by saying that the payment had been fully an interagency decision and that any idea that the State Department had the power to overrule was false. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blamed his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state during Obama’s first term, for launching the talks with Iran. “Our incompetent Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was the one who started talks to give 400 million dollars, in cash, to Iran. Scandal!” Trump said in a Twitter post. The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, also weighed in. “The Obama-Clinton foreign policy not only means cutting a dangerous nuclear deal with the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, it also means paying them a secret ransom with cargo planes full of cash,” he said. House Speaker Paul Ryan was more measured, saying, “If true, this report confirms our longstanding suspicion that the administration paid a ransom in exchange for Americans unjustly detained in Iran.” ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past110011829,11830,"As the fallout from Gretchen Carlson s sexual harassment lawsuit continues, people are stepping forward and offering their two cents (or less) on the issue. It s only natural that former employees would want to weigh in on this as well, and some who are weighing in are really disgusting about it. Former Fox Business executive Ray Hennessey, for instance, threw his totally worthless cents into the ring when he decided to tweet this absolutely sexist crap:There will be lots of piling on Roger Ailes today, but I find the charges hard to believe, except in the context of his sense of humor. 1/2 Ray Hennessey (@Hennesseyedit) July 6, 2016 I can t see Ailes, who is overall a great manager of people, demanding a sexual relationship from any employee. Lawsuit distorts reality 2/2 Ray Hennessey (@Hennesseyedit) July 6, 2016Except Ailes has a history of this that goes back decades. We suppose all those allegations were distortions too, because Ailes was just joking and why can t women take a joke? Or a compliment? Or or or or This is really disgusting. Carlson not only has to endure the strain of the suit itself, but she gets to deal with having her name publicly dragged through the mud as a man-hating feminazi who wants to destroy Ailes career and life because he fired her.Or anything else along those lines.Hennesey could stand to do a little Googling on the issue before going off. Several sources from Fox News have come forward confirming Carlson s allegations and saying sexual harassment was a regular thing for him. One woman said he d ask her to turn around so he can see my ass. Another said Ailes told her she could only wear dresses on the air. That source also dropped this bomb: He always brags to people about how he doesn t do polling or testing when he chooses his on-air talent. He told me that if he was thinking of hiring a woman, he d ask himself if he would fuck her, and if he would, then he d hire her to be on-camera. Ailes also hated Carlson and called her a crazy, vindictive bitch, according to these sources. It s very telling that they requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.In other words, there are a lot of people at Fox News who know he s a disgusting, dirty little old man who can t keep his pants zipped. Hennessey made a fool of himself, along with putting himself into that same, sexist women are all vindictive bitches looking to ruin men s lives corner.Featured image by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present110111830,11831,"posted by Eddie It seems that the long wait to receive a signal from outer space has finally paid off because after years of silence two astronomers from the Laval University in Quebec claim to have found 234 signals from alien civilizations. Ermanno Borra and his graduate student Eric Trottier, the astronomers we mentioned, begun analyzing stars and galaxies in search of light emitted at regular intervals. After analyzing 2.5 million of them they found what they were looking for in234 stars which resemble our Sun in size. According to the researchers, the signals are emitted by alien civilizations. The team was focused on the light spectrum’s Fourier Transform (FT). For the uninformed, an is a mathematical device that helps scientists to find the origin of the signal’s components and how they came to be. For example, if the light is a muffin, using the formula will reveal the recipe, couldn’t be simpler than that. The analysis revealed periodic modulated components which the scientists believe are a result of the super quick light pulses (less than a trillionth of a second) sent by Extraterrestrial Intelligence (ETI). Their paper is published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and it reveals that the scientists discard any other possible explanation like instrumental effects, rotation of molecules, rapid stellar pulsations, and peculiar chemistry. They write: “ We find that the detected signals have exactly the shape of an signal predicted in the previous publication and are therefore in agreement with this hypothesis . The fact that they are only found in a very small fraction of stars within a narrow spectral range centered near the spectral type of the Sun is also in agreement with the hypothesis .” Only extremely powerful lasers, such as the one found at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , could generate these superfast pulses. Furthermore, Ermanno Borra has previously published articles where he states that this is the least explored area of astronomy. An inevitable question then arises: Why would these aliens choose such a complex and energy-consuming way to communicate? Surely they could have figured out a better way, after all they’re supposed to be millions of light years ahead of us in terms of technology and science. Although the team believes that the most logical explanation would be that aliens are trying to communicate with us, they are aware that further research is needed to confirm their findings. Breakthrough Listen , a Stephen Hawking-backed project will take up the task of further analyzing the 234 stars the team found, but the Berkeley team (the project’s science program base) encourages people to be skeptical regarding the findings, until further proof is available. The Breakthrough Listen team released a statement saying: “ The one in 10,000 objects with unusual spectra seen by Borra and Trottier are certainly worthy of additional study. However, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It is too early to unequivocally attribute these purported signals to the activities of extraterrestrial civilizations .” Source:",fake,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past110211837,11838,"Is this why we worked so hard to get a majority in the House and Senate? Spineless weasels Republican House members blasted their leadership Wednesday for caving to Democratic leaders demand that they abandon the House s bipartisan bill to tighten screening of refugee applicants from Syria and Iraq. The bill to bolster the Syrian and Iraqi [refugee] vetting process passed with a veto-proof majority and is supported by a vast majority of Americans, said Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC)57% , who is one of the two co-authors of the original House bill that leaders are now abandoning. It would be a shame to bow to the wishes of Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and the White House, leaving our country vulnerable to foreign terrorism, he told Breitbart News exclusively.After the Paris attacks that killed over 120 people, the House passed a bill with a huge bipartisan majority that would implement tough screening requirements for refugees. The bill was criticized by Democrats and President Obama, who vowed to veto the legislation and suggested that Republicans work with them to tighten oversight of visas given to legal visitors.Now, House Republican leaders are reportedly planning to abandon their original idea to tighten screening of refugees and are instead caving to Democrats who want to only fix security gaps in the legal-visitor visa program.Republican House leadership is backing away from the refugee problem because they fear their fix will be rejected by Democrats and lead to a partial government shut-down.Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) also told Breitbart News exclusively that he isn t surprised that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is following in the steps of former House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)32% by bowing to Democrats, rather than putting up a fight.He called the original vote a show vote that was arranged by the leaders, and told Breitbart News that the entire refugee program needs to be stripped of its funding.Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) told Breitbart News exclusively that House leadership should fix both problems. This should not be an either or question, Babin said. Both should be addressed in a timely manner. We should concern ourselves first and foremost with the safety and security of the American people. Babin recently released a letter, signed by more than 70 of his colleagues, calling on House leadership to include language in the must-pass omnibus spending bill that would defund the refugee resettlement program. More than 70 of my colleagues joined me in calling for an immediate suspension in the refugee program to give us time to put in place security measures that the Administration has failed to implement Babin told Breitbart News. We must restore Congressional authority and ensure that Congress has a final sign-off on any Administration proposed Security measures. Congress has until December 11th to pass the omnibus bill.Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past110311839,11840,"Athens , Greece Greece swore in a new Cabinet on Thursday , putting an elected government in charge of the country for the first time in 224 days . The new governing coalition is made up of three parties : the center right New Democracy , which placed first in Sunday ' s vote Pasok and the Democratic Party of the Left . Prime Minister Antonis Samaras appointed Vassilis Rapanos , chairman of the Greek National Bank , to the key finance minister post . Dimitris Avramopoulos becomes foreign minister , while Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos takes the role of defense minister , and Evripidis Stylianidis heads up the interior ministry . New Democracy lawmakers dominate the 38 member government , with only a handful of representatives coming from Pasok and the Democratic Left . Samaras , who heads New Democracy , met with the heads of his two coalition partners , Evangelos Venizelos of Pasok and Fotis Kouvelis of the Democratic Party of the Left , earlier Thursday , the broadcaster reported . The new governing coalition , which has pledged to push for a renegotiation of some of the painful austerity measures imposed under the terms of an international bailout , will face significant challenges . The country is struggling to get out of the political and financial mire that threatens to drag down Europe ' s common currency and spark a new global financial crisis . "" Greece has a government . . . . That is the message that we need to send abroad , "" Venizelos said as he announced the deal in a televised statement Wednesday . Vassilis Monastiriotis of enic Observatory at the London School of Economics predicted that the international community will show patience with the new Greek government at least until September , not least because any alternative would be far more radical and anti European . But , he said , "" There ' s no decision about how ( they ) actually deal with the immediate problems of acute poverty in parts of society and problems of tax collection . "" Greece will go to a summit of European leaders in Brussels , Belgium , next week , determined to push them to renegotiate the terms of Greece ' s unpopular international bailout , most likely by extending the timetable for certain elements . While few specifics are known , all three parties are keen to renegotiate a provision under which Greece ' s current minimum wage of 750 euros a month ( about 950 ) would be cut by 22 , Monastiriotis said . What will Greek elections mean for the country ' s future ? While Samaras has been rather narrow in his views , Monastiriotis said , the politician has shown some leadership in recent days in making concessions to form the coalition . "" The Democratic Left is insisting that this platform will contain commitments that will ensure the removal of measures that have gravely affected the Greek society , "" Kouvelis said . The leftist party has supported bailouts from international lenders while seeking to renegotiate the terms . The party with the second highest number of votes , the leftist Syriza , which is against austerity measures , has declined to be a part of the government . The future of Europe : 3 scenarios International bailouts have kept Greece from defaulting in the face of an ongoing recession and low tax revenue , but lenders have demanded hugely unpopular government budget cuts in exchange . Some observers had predicted that efforts to renegotiate the bailout could lead to a run on Greek banks and deeper misery . The country must identify additional budget cuts by the end of June to be considered compliant with the terms of its bailout . After five years of recession , unemployment is running at about 22 , taxes are going up and many of those with jobs are suffering cuts to wages . German Chancellor Angela Merkel , Europe ' s powerful advocate for balancing budgets to build a strong basis for economic growth , had urged Greeks not to walk away from the international loan deals . Resentment of Germany has run high in Greece during the course of austerity ' s implementation . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past110411841,11842,"A 100 , 000 signature petition demanding that Welsh cancer sufferers get the same access to treatment as English patients was handed over by campaigners yesterday . They called on the Welsh government which is run by Labour to create a special fund to pay for advanced but expensive new drugs . Cancer victims in Wales have been forced to use their own savings or move to England to get cutting edge medication recommended by their doctors . Professor John Wagstaff , from the South West Wales Cancer Institute in Swansea , pictured , said the lack of a Cancer Drugs Fund in Wales was a ' serious issue If they do try to get the treatment in their own country , they must make bureaucratic ' individual patient funding requests ' which are frequently rejected . By contrast , English sufferers have access to 71 types of pioneering cancer treatment for free on the . They are available through the 200million a year Cancer Drugs Fund , which was set up in 2010 . The petition of 98 , 230 names was handed to Conservative members of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff yesterday . It was started by Julie McGowan after her friend Ann Wilkinson , a 76 year old bowel cancer sufferer from Monmouthshire , was initially denied funding for the life extending drug Avastin . Mrs McGowan said : ' We are all part of the National Health Service and I believe Welsh patients should have the same access to these drugs . ' Professor John Wagstaff , from the South West Wales Cancer Institute in Swansea , said the lack of a Cancer Drugs Fund in Wales was a ' serious issue ' . He added that his own success rate for getting drugs approved through the independent request scheme was just 15 per cent . By contrast , English sufferers have access to 71 types of pioneering cancer treatment for free on the In 2011 the Rarer Cancers Foundation estimated that setting up a Cancer Drugs Fund for Wales would cost around 3 . 3million a year , depending on which treatments it included . The charity ' s chief executive Andrew Wilson described the inequality in access to treatment as ' devastating ' for patients . Stephen Crabb , the Tory Welsh Secretary , added : ' Welsh Labour ' s continued refusal to adopt the scheme is pure politicking . The Labour Government in Cardiff need to start putting the needs of Welsh people above desire to save face on their own poor policy choices . ' But a spokesman for the Welsh government said : ' We are proud in Wales that patients have access to proven and cost effective treatments for all conditions , not just cancer . ' We will not be replacing our system with a cancer drugs fund the chair of the Cancer Drugs Fund in England has admitted it provides funding for drugs which have "" no impact on survival "" and "" uncertainty "" about whether quality of life is improved or not . ' Research published in the British Journal of Cancer earlier this year concluded that Wales had a faster uptake of medicines most recently launched and subsequently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence than England . ' We spend more per head on cancer care than in England and we do not agree with spending millions of pounds on non approved medicines . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past110511846,11847,"This weekend, Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, are expected to step off the campaign trail for a beach vacation with their extended family at the Virginia shore. It is an annual tradition, as is Ms. Holton’s practice of making the adults hand over all their grocery store receipts. She ensures that every household, factoring in the number of children, has paid not a dollar more or less than its fair share. “She is not the accountant, she’s the judge,” said her brother Dwight Holton, a former United States attorney in Oregon. “No one has ever questioned her Solomonic wisdom. ” The daughter of a governor who grew up to marry a man who became governor, senator and now nominee, Ms. Holton has lived since childhood in a world of politics and power. But relatives and friends describe her as being uncommonly unimpressed by the trappings of privilege and instead driven by an almost religious sense of fairness, an aversion to idleness and a commitment to service that has helped elevate her into of Virginia’s most famous power couple. As a child, Ms. Holton, 58, had a symbolic role in helping integrate Virginia’s public schools before graduating from Princeton and meeting Mr. Kaine at Harvard Law School. As he rose up Virginia’s political ladder, she achieved renown in her own right as a legal aid lawyer, family court judge and Virginia’s secretary of education, a job she resigned once her husband was chosen as Hillary Clinton’s running mate. In some ways, Ms. Holton, who has been mentioned as a possible replacement for her husband in the Senate, represents Mrs. Clinton’s road not taken, continuing to pursue her career throughout her husband’s ascent rather than waiting her turn. But now those roads have converged on the presidential campaign trail, with Ms. Holton sharing stages with the Clintons and amplifying her husband’s high school teacher vibe with her Everywoman appeal. In a backstage holding room after Mrs. Clinton’s acceptance speech last Thursday, Mr. Kaine broke out his harmonica, one of his hobbies, and goaded his wife into one of hers, clog dancing. On the trail, Ms. Holton is a staple at her husband’s side, monitoring his speeches, giving him encouraging smiles and offering remarks in her lilting accent. “She has been around politics a looong time,” said Tom Wolf, Mr. Kaine’s former law partner and a friend of the family. “And she knows what it’s about and knows what needs to be done. ” Ms. Holton, who declined to be interviewed, first moved into the Virginia executive mansion in 1970 as the daughter of Gov. A. Linwood Holton Jr. a Republican, and his wife, Virginia, known as Jinks. She enrolled at a prestigious grade school recommended to her parents by their friends. Many children at school wanted to attach themselves to her because of who her father was. “She called them ‘Buggy Friends,’” recalled her brother Woody, because they were constantly bugging her to visit the mansion. Status seeking, he said, was not a value instilled by their father. Instead, the children were roused from their comfortable beds every morning with refrains of “It’s opportunity time! Let’s go get ’em. ” A Presbyterian, he gave each of his four children Bibles with underlined passages about the good Samaritan. The lessons stuck. When a lightning strike in 1968 killed the daughter of the sitting governor, Ms. Holton started the Becky Godwin Club in the girl’s honor. The club specialized in good Samaritan deeds, like playing with and raising money for a developmentally disabled girl down the block. When a federal judge ordered the desegregation of Virginia schools, Governor Holton sent his children to Mosby Middle, an public school. He also made sure to alert the news media. “Dad is like Tim in this way,” said Woody Holton, a historian at the University of South Carolina and the author of an acclaimed biography of the first lady Abigail Adams. “They both are really good social justice people, but they also understand that you better call reporters. ” A photograph of Anne’s older sister, Tayloe, being escorted into the school by her father became an iconic image, though Woody Holton said she “was mad because Tayloe was becoming famous wearing Anne’s dress. ” At Mosby, Ms. Holton, then 12, showed a middle child’s talent for getting along with people, starting a cheerleading squad and making friends. She also gave a tour of the mansion to Slaughter, another who would go on to be a foreign policy adviser to Mrs. Clinton, and whose best friend was the daughter of the Democrat that Linwood Holton beat in the governor’s race. “She was very gracious,” Ms. Slaughter said. The Holton children entertained themselves by roller skating in the basement, and while Donald J. Trump has criticized “Corrupt Kaine,” as he calls him, for accepting gifts as governor — it was legal — the Holton children were themselves awash in presents. “When Dad was governor, the gifts just flowed,” Woody Holton said. “This is all before Watergate. Nobody thought how it might be corrupting. So one of the gifts we got was a golf cart, and we drove it all around the Capitol grounds. ” Ms. Holton later enrolled in Open High School, which allowed students to create their own curriculum and did not give grades. When asked to pick an activity for physical education, she took up clogging. When assigned to research her family’s ancestry, she presented not the names of distant gentry, but the names of slaves owned by her . At Harvard Law, she met Mr. Kaine in a legal assistance program that focused on civil rights protections for inmates, and she worked for the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, interviewing the criminally insane about the conditions of their imprisonment. “She handled the case of a serial killer,” Woody Holton said. As the couple decided where to live, Mr. Kaine’s family, who lived in the Kansas City area, wooed her by taking her to barbecue meccas. But for ambitious young lawyers, Richmond had its advantages. “He told us that Anne’s dad was the former governor of Virginia,” said Pat Kaine, Tim’s younger brother. Ms. Holton came home first, looking for a church to marry in. She was attending services at a Quaker meeting house at the time, but she knocked on the door of St. Elizabeth’s, a predominantly black Roman Catholic church (her husband is Catholic). She gave her name to the priest. “I tried to play it a little cool — we all deal with hierarchy all the time,” recalled the Rev. Michael Schmied, who said they had talked about wedding details for an hour. Then he looked up and remarked: “‘Wow. You are the real Anne Holton. ’” Ms. Holton began clerking for Robert R. Merhige Jr. the federal judge who had issued the desegregation order. As Mr. Kaine became a successful lawyer, a City Council member and mayor, Ms. Holton made a name for herself as a lawyer for families and foster children, and then as chief judge on Richmond’s juvenile court. Ms. Holton was sometimes so busy that she dropped her three children off at day care in their pajamas. In 2002, she conducted the ceremony when her husband became lieutenant governor. But before he ran for the office, she had to assuage his concerns about whether they could give a normal life to their three children: Nat, now a Marine Woody, an artist and Annella, who is studying to be an actress. “You’d see Anne tacking up posters to advertise the elementary school and middle school plays,” said Pierce Homer, a former secretary of transportation under Mr. Kaine and a neighbor. The couple live in a modest house and drive sensible cars. Their friends talk about the autoharp Ms. Holton bought Mr. Kaine for his birthday (she plays the violin) and their unapologetic public displays of affection: kissing on stages, holding hands in the park. When Mr. Kaine was elected governor in 2005, Ms. Holton resigned from the bench and returned to her childhood home, where as first lady she concentrated on foster care programs that helped keep older children with permanent families and extend their education. Mr. Kaine won his Senate seat in 2012. When Terry McAuliffe was elected governor a year later, he surprised many people by appointing Ms. Holton as secretary of education, a position she at first declined because of her lack of education background, according to Mr. Wolf, the family friend. “She knew everybody and had a real opportunity to bring people together,” Mr. McAuliffe explained. As for filling Mr. Kaine’s seat in the Senate should he and Mrs. Clinton win, Mr. McAuliffe said, “It will be a little hard since he presides over the Senate. ” (The vice president serves as president of the Senate.) Ms. Holton is clearly at ease among the most exclusive club in Washington. At a retreat at his Virginia farm last month, Senator Mark Warner said, senators were singing along to Mr. Kaine’s harmonica playing when Ms. Holton jumped into the middle of the room and started clog dancing. “Our jaws dropped,” Mr. Warner said. Mr. Kaine told Virginia delegates at a Democratic National Convention breakfast last week that his wife was “my political partner, my most astute critic, my most energetic enthusiast, my lover, my girlfriend, my wife of 32 years, the great mother of our great three children. ” He then kissed her on the lips and relayed to the crowd what the Clinton campaign told him about his wife: “We want every last minute that she can give us. ”",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past110611848,11849,"Novak Djokovic ' s reign as king of the Australian Open is over . The world No . 2 , a winner at Melbourne Park in each of the last three years , was beaten in a grueling five set contest by eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka . At the end of a marathon four hour encounter , it was Switzerland ' s Wawrinka who converted his first match point to seal a 2 6 6 4 6 2 3 6 9 7 win over the six time grand slam champion . Wawrinka will play Tomas Berdych for a place in Sunday ' s final , after the Czech upset third seed David Ferrer in Tuesday ' s earlier quarterfinal . Energy sapping duels between Wawrinka and Djokovic have become the norm over the past 12 months , with the Serb emerging on top until now . At the 2012 Australian Open , Djokovic edged a fourth round match 12 10 in the fifth while the two once again went the distance in their U . S . Open semifinal . Djokovic won that match and he was protecting an unbeaten run which stretched back to his defeat by Rafael Nadal in the final in New York . "" He ' s in a great form , "" Djokovic told reporters when asked about Wawrinka . "" In the last 15 months he ' s had the best results . He ' s established now in top 10 . He ' s been winning against top players in big tournaments . "" So he knows how to play now on the big stage . You could feel that with his game . He ' s really taking to the opponent and stepping in . When you ' re playing like this , the only thing I can say is congratulations . "" Berdych is into the semifinals of the season ' s first grand slam for the first time after falling at the quarterfinal stage in each of the past three tournaments . The seventh seed will play in the last four of a major for the first time since the 2012 U . S . Open . "" There were some special moments which went well together in this match , making it for the first time here in the Aussie Open to the semis , winning my first match on Rod Laver after all those years , "" said the Czech . "" That ' s been a very special match to me . I ' m extremely happy to go through . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past110711850,11851,"As King ' s Cross reopened today , disgruntled passengers forced to cancel their journeys yesterday were outraged when crammed services were held outside the station for up to an hour due to signal failure . Scores took to social media to share their fury after being held outside Finsbury Park station where hundreds flocked after King ' s Cross closed yesterday because of the technical fault . After waiting outside the north London train station for up to an hour , passengers were then not allowed to disembark as trains were shunted onto another line to make their way to Kings Cross . Elsewhere those travelling on cross country services had to stand in carriage aisles for up to five hours after losing seat reservations in yesterday ' s disruption . Engineers were forced to use red and yellow flags to signal trains in and out of the station today as the chaos at King ' s Cross station continued Passengers complained of being held outside King ' s Cross at Finsbury Park for up to an hour today The Office of Rail Regulation has launched an investigation into why engineers were able to continue working on the tracks yesterday , cancelling the journeys of hundreds of passengers . Trains were leaving Kings Cross today again as planned , though several others were held for up to an hour at nearby Finsbury Park while waiting to arrive at the central London station . Engineers were forced to use red and yellow flags to manually wave trains in and out of the station this evening as tensions flared . East Coast trains told customers to expect delays of up to 20minutes , though passengers said delays were closer to an hour . ' So close and yet so far . . . 10 mins away but now in a queue to get in to King ' s Cross due to signal failure at Finsbury Park , ' said one Twitter user , while another angered : ' Now stuck at Finsbury Park , waiting for our train to be shunted onto another track . 45 minutes , and counting . ' ",true,text,test,American football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past110811862,11863,"China signs deal with Germany for 130 Airbus jets Airbus ' s company logo is pictured at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse , December 4 , 2014 . China and Germany signed a deal on Thursday that will see Chinese airlines buy 130 jets manufactured by Airbus Group ( . ) , sending shares in the European planemaker higher . The order , valued at 17 billion , was announced after Germany ' s Chancellor Angela Merkel met China ' s Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing . Airbus is battling its U . S . rival for dominance of the Chinese market , which Boeing estimates is worth 1 trillion over the next two decades . Air China Ltd ( 0753 . ) and other Chinese carriers are expanding fleets as the number of passengers traveling within China and overseas is set to triple over the next two decades . To help secure more orders in China Airbus agreed in July to build a 150 million euro completion center for A330 wide body jets in Tianjin where it has already been assembling A320 narrow body planes sold mostly to Chinese airlines . Thursday ' s deal includes a firm order for 30 A330 jets , on which China had already taken an option in June . The order allays fears that production of the wide body jet , which faces competition from Boeing ' s newer 787 Dreamliner , may have to be cut again while Airbus prepares to introduce an upgraded model with new engines to boost sales . "" It is obviously good news , notably for the A330 . This announcement will be a relief for investors as the risk of further cuts will move away once and for all , "" a Paris based stock market trader said . The order also includes 100 of the company ' s best selling A320 family of medium haul jets . Both types of aircraft are a key source of cash for Airbus . In September Boeing also signed a cooperation document with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China ( Comac ) to build a completion center for its 737 jets in China . The deal was seen as a boost for Comac , which has been struggling to build its C919 , a narrow body jet it is developing to compete with the 737 and A320 . ( Writing by Matthew Miller and Fang Yan , Additional reporting by Tim Hepher , Alexandre Boksenbaum Granier Editing by Greg Mahlich ) ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present110911895,11896,"The end of the 50 year freeze in diplomatic relations with Cuba will mean many more U . S . travelers could be on their way to the neighbor island , only 90 miles from Key West , Florida . But the days of Havana as a glamorous destination for U . S . tourists as it was before the Cuban revolution ended legal U . S . travel there aren ' t returning quite yet . And while American visitors who do make it to Cuba will be able to return with rum and cigars , exporting them for sale in the United States still isn ' t in the works . Historic thaw in U . S . Cuba standoff Americans already travel to Cuba in large numbers nearly 100 , 000 per year , according to Cuban government statistics . The numbers rose after Obama ' s 2009 easing on some of the restrictions on travel to Cuba , including making it easier for Americans to visit family members there , and a subsequent 2011 announcement allowing for certain types of other trips . Now Obama is easing up restrictions for other kinds of visitors . Administration officials listed a host traveler types the federal government will now allow to visit : government officials , journalists , professional researchers , educators , religious officials , performers planning public presentations , humanitarians , emissaries of private foundations , and importers or exporters . Officials say all legitimate applications received by the Treasury Department ' s Office of Foreign Asset Control the body that dispenses licenses to for Cuban travel will be approved . When they visit , Americans will be able to use their credit or debit cards on the island , a convenience previously banned . Agencies inside the United States will be permitted to organize trips . And American telecom equipment will now be allowed into Cuba , making communication with Americans easier . But the day when Americans can log online to book a vacation in Cuba hasn ' t yet arrived . U . S . officials say the ban on tourism in Cuba is still in place the overall ban on travel to Cuba can ' t disappear without congressional changes to the law . "" The ban has to be lifted by Congress , "" a senior administration official said . "" But the President is doing everything that he can with his authority to facilitate travel within the limitations of the law , and we believe that that will lead to a significant increase in travel . "" Americans have long found ways around the travel ban to Cuba . U . S . citizens have been known to get around travel restrictions by stopping first in a country with flights to the island . Cuban customs officials are familiar enough with the practice to not stamp American passports when they cross their desks . 9 questions you were embarrassed to ask about Cuban embargo U . S . visitors will now be able to return to the U . S . with Cuban cigars , coveted for their quality . Cuban rum is also allowed Americans will be allowed to return with up to 100 worth of alcohol or tobacco . Those imports are only allowed for personal use , though , not resale . But with the latest crack in the long standing travel ban , American travel companies were optimistic a new vacation market could soon be open to tourists . "" We look forward to the day hopefully soon when all Americans have the opportunity to travel to Cuba , "" said Barney Harford , the of travel booking website Orbitz . "" There are numerous economic , social and cultural benefits that will flow from free and open access and our customers are eager to visit Cuba . "" eyes U . S . Cuba opening ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111011920,11921,"West Bromwich Albion have opened the door to the sale of Saido Berahino this month as Tony Pulis looks to shape his squad for the battle against relegation . Chairman Jeremy Peace has previously insisted the England Under 21 striker would not leave the Hawthorns but with the arrival of Pulis technical director Terry Burton revealed a softer stance . Liverpool and Tottenham are monitoring the situation but yet to make a bid , with Burton insisting it would take a much greater fee than 20million . Scroll down to see Berahino score an outrageous goal in training West Brom could be tempted to accept an offer for striker Saido Berahino if it matches their valuation Technical director Terry Burton suggested the Baggies could be ready to cash in for Berahino Burton was talking as West Brom unveiled Tony Pulis as their new head coach on Friday ' Tony is a totally realistic football manager , ' said Burton . ' He will do and work whatever way is best for the football club . ' He tries to win football matches and if he needs to sell somebody to do something else he will sell them . ' He will do whatever is best to get results for the club and that could involve any aspect of the policy . ' Whatever he wants we will work our hardest to make happen . Tony is in total charge . ' It was suggested a 20m bid might test the waters . ' I don ' t think he would take that small amount of money , ' Burton replied . ' He is worth what some club would pay for him . ' If a club want a player bad enough and they are top quality players and if they have the finances the try and do that . ' Burton confirmed West Brom have halted negotiations over a new deal for Berahino . ' Yes the club have just put that on hold for now . He had quite a lot going on at one time and they have just put it on hold to let things settle down and see where we go . ' The situation of Berahino ( pictured scoring against West Ham ) is being monitored by Liverpool and Spurs ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111111923,11924,"Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. Democrats seemed relieved and pleased a day after Hillary Clinton used a major speech to ridicule Donald J. Trump. Some Republicans fretted that Mr. Trump might not be up to the task of repelling such attacks. “I thought it was one of the most important speeches Secretary Clinton has made throughout this campaign,” said Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary under President Obama and chief of staff for Bill Clinton. _____ 2. The judge hearing a lawsuit by former students of Trump University is a cool customer, his friends say. That temperament is said to be helping the judge, Gonzalo Curiel, weather unusual public criticism by Mr. Trump. His attacks on Judge Curiel, including calling out his Mexican heritage, are part of a pattern of behavior that has led some scholars to question Mr. Trump’s respect for the rule of law. _____ 3. Officials in Chicago released videos and other materials from 101 cases in which police officers had shot or otherwise injured civilians. The officials said many of the videos were not illuminating, but the disclosure was unusual for a city whose police department has a reputation for secrecy. The head of the investigative agency behind the release said it represented “an important step” toward increased transparency. _____ 4. As flooding in Paris threatened the Louvre, staff members and volunteers worked to remove art from harm’s way. Nearly 160, 000 works were moved to higher floors from storage areas and galleries. Rain has lifted the Seine River to its highest levels since 1982. _____ 5. The U. S. economic recovery isn’t quite as robust as analysts had hoped: Employers added just 38, 000 workers in May, the lowest monthly growth since September 2010. But the numbers aren’t as foreboding as they seem, our analyst writes. Averaging job growth over the past three months shows a more modest slowdown. _____ 6. Nest, a digital device maker Google bought for $3. 2 billion in 2014, drew comparisons to Apple with its innovative approach to bringing unglamorous household devices like thermostats into sync with a digital world. Its Tony Fadell said Friday that he was leaving because Nest was in “maintenance mode. ” But the departure came after reports that Nest had a harsh corporate culture and Mr. Fadell an abrasive style. _____ 7. It’s a big weekend in sports, kicking off tonight at 9:30 Eastern time with the first game of the Copa América soccer tournament, pitting the United States against Colombia. On Saturday, Serena Williams goes for her 22nd major championship in the French Open final, and the Pittsburgh Penguins shoot for a lead over the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup finals. Sunday brings Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray competing in the French Open final, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, down to the Golden State Warriors in the N. B. A. finals, try to tie the series. _____ 8. If you’re looking for a movie to watch this weekend, our critics say the mockumentary “Popstar: Never Stop Stopping” is one of your best bets. It features Andy Samberg as a Justin pop idol, and “takes aim at everything that is artificial and plastic in contemporary pop in a spirit of love rather than spite,” A. O. Scott writes. Ostensibly more serious fare: “Me Before You” is the story of a romance between a paralyzed aristocrat and the woman hired to keep him company. But Mr. Scott finds it to be ridiculous. _____ 9. Most West African capitals are scenes of sartorial flair, but the bright patterns adorning skirts and dresses worn by women there are more than just eye candy. Messages ranging from the playful to the political are encoded within the prints. During election season, clothes sporting the face of a politician can signify support — although that depends on where the face is placed. _____ 10. A Japanese boy survived six nights alone on the island of Hokkaido. He had wandered off after being left on the side of the road by his parents as a disciplinary measure, and was found by soldiers on a military base about three miles away. “I’m full of gratitude. From now on, I’m going to take better care of him as he grows up,” the boy’s father said. _____ 11. In other rescue news, a Florida fisherman who fell out of his boat without a life jacket was saved by the Coast Guard after 20 exhausting hours treading water, a local news channel reported. The man, William Durden, said the night was an ordeal but when the sun came up, he felt a surge of optimism. He felt fish hitting his legs, but his fears that a shark “would come out and decide to have me for dinner” went unrealized. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.",true,news,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past111211934,11935,"No good deed goes unpunished and one man had to learn that lesson the hard way earlier this month when he was stabbed nine times after asking a man to stop catcalling his girlfriend . Ben Schwartz , 31 , of San Francisco was brutally stabbed nine times while walking home from a party with his girlfriend Miyoko Moody and another friend . He is now recovering from the attack and is in stable condition . Schwartz ' s friend , Daniela Saavedra , said that Schwartz asked a man who had been catcalling his girlfriend to stop after he made passes at her at least two times , reports The San Francisco Chronicle . Stabbed : Ben Schwartz was brutally stabbed after he told a man to stop catcalling his girlfriend Miyoko Moody In recovery : The suspect stabbed Schwartz nine times in the back , face , neck and arms , puncturing a lung and just missing his spine but Schwartz is on the steady road to recovery ' All he said was , "" Can you please just stop ? "" ' Saavedra said . ' The man then sort of trailed behind them , and that ' s when he attacked , ' she continued . Schwartz was brutally stabbed in the back , face , arms neck , and even had a punctured lung . The suspect just nearly missed Schwartz ' s spinal cord before jumping into a silver sedan . Police are still on the lookout for the man who ruthlessly stabbed a Good Samaritan . ' He definitely sticks up for women , for anyone really , ' Saavedra said . ' If you ' re his friend , you ' re his friend for life , and I ' ve watched him just support many friends through many hard times . He ' s just so kind hearted , and you can see that in everything that he does . ' Helps others : Not only did Ben Schwartz defend his girlfriend , he helped to return a stolen bicycle in February For love : Ben Schwartz told the suspect to stop catcalling his beautiful girlfriend Miyoko Moody several times This isn ' t the first time Schwartz has made the news for helping someone . , The San Francisco Chronicle did a story on Schwartz back in February when he bought a bicycle on the street he guessed was stolen then did whatever he could to get it back to its original owner . The owner of the bike happened to be a freelance photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle . ' I ' ve had friends get their cars broken into , smashed in windows , stolen laptops , stolen cell phone there ' s nothing I can do a lot of those times ' Schwartz said in February . ' But this way , it was easy . It was safe , and it got him his bike back . . . . I just wanted to do somebody a solid for once . ' Those wishing to help Schwartz in his recovery can donate to his GoFundeMe page . So far they have raised 17 , 000 out of their 25 , 000 goal . "" Street harassment is definitely more dangerous than people think it is , ' Saavedra said . ' A point my fianc brought up was you know this isn ' t the first time this man has stabbed someone , or acted out in this way . To be that angry and aggressive and mentally unstable , that is just terrifying to think about . ' There are currently no leads on a suspect responsible brutal attack but those with any information are asked to call ( 415 ) 553 0123 . Help him out : Those wishing to donate money to Ben Schwartz so he can pay his medical bills can donate online to his GoFundMe page set up by friends ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111311938,11939,"Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump on Tuesday to block some Chinese investments in the United States to pressure China “to help rein in North Korea’s threatening and destabilizing behavior.” In a letter to Trump, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged him to use his authority through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, to pressure Beijing by suspending approval of “all mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. by Chinese entities.” Schumer’s request comes amid concern about North Korea, which fired a missile Friday that experts said was capable of hitting Los Angeles. Trump has repeatedly urged China to rein in its ally North Korea, and Schumer agreed. “It is my assessment that China will not deter North Korea unless the United States exacts greater economic pressure on China,” Schumer wrote to Trump, a Republican. “The U.S. must send a clear message to China’s government.” Senator John Cornyn, a Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was unconvinced that was the right tool. “That’s not specifically the purpose of CFIUS. is a national security vehicle to try to make sure that high-tech investments by foreign countries don’t steal our cutting-edge technology,” Cornyn said outside his Senate office. “I’m happy to work with Senator Schumer to figure out what his concerns are,” added Cornyn, who has urged changes at because of China. His worry, however, was not North Korea but that China would close the technology gap between the U.S. and Chinese militaries. Led by the U.S. Department of Treasury, reviews foreign acquisitions of U.S.companies on national security grounds and can take action on its own or refer cases to the president. In an interview with Reuters Friday, the top U.S. counter-intelligence official suggested the Trump administration was already working on a plan to toughen CFIUS. “We’re making significant progress on that, working with both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue,” said William Evanina, National Counterintelligence Executive, referring to the White House and Congress. “I think it’s going to look a lot different than it does now.” Evanina, whose office oversees U.S. government efforts to counter spying and industrial espionage, declined to be more specific but noted that China’s direct investment in the United States quadrupled from 2015 to 2016, to $48 billion annually. China’s ambassador, on the other hand, has said that it was up to Washington and Pyongyang to work toward talks on North Korea’s weapons programs. “(The United States and North Korea) hold the primary responsibility to keep things moving, to start moving in the right direction, not China,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told reporters on Monday. “No matter how capable China is, China’s efforts will not yield practical results.” While China worries about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, and the U.S. reaction to them, its overriding concern, U.S. officials say, is to avoid a North Korean collapse, which could send millions of refugees fleeing toward China and lead to a reunified Korea allied with Washington. Schumer’s plan to prohibit from approving Chinese deals would be technically legal but would stretch CFIUS’ mandate, experts said. “What sounds like effectively a bar on Chinese investment that is being suggested is probably legal but quite different than the case-by-case process that has used in the past,” said Stephen Heifetz of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson who represents clients before CFIUS. “The U.S. government should consider the potential for a Chinese response.” The task force this year faces what could well be a record number of deals, many of them controversial as Chinese firms scout U.S. targets as varied as hotels and film studios to hedge against a weaker yuan CNY=. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111411959,11960,"Usain Bolt ensured the world athletics championships in Daegu ended on a high by leading Jamaica to a stunning world record in the final of the men ' s 4x100m relay on Sunday . Exactly a week after Bolt ' s shock disqualification from the final of the 100 meters , the sprint superstar once again underlined his superiority as he carried the baton home in a time of 37 . 04 seconds , bettering the Jamaican squad ' s previous world record set in the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics . The quartet of Nesta Carter , Michael Frater , new 100m champion Yohan Blake and Bolt were pressed three quarters of the way by a strong United States team . Dominant Bolt claims 200m gold in Daegu However , a bizarre incident on the final changeover saw American third leg runner Darvis Patton crash to the ground after colliding with Harry Aikines Aryeetey who was running the Great Britain anchor leg ruling out both teams . This meant Bolt was out on his own as powered down the finishing straight , with France claiming a distant silver medal and the tiny Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis winning an unexpected bronze medal . Bolt , who was celebrating his second gold in 24 hours after retaining his world 200m title , normally runs the third leg for the Jamaican team , but Asafa Powell ' s injury forced him to miss the championships , meaning he was switched to the anchor leg . "" I enjoyed being the anchor but for me it was just to go out there and be fast , "" Bolt told reporters . "" We did just that . I am proud of my team and I ' m very happy with myself , "" added the 25 year old , who celebrated in his own unique style by leading his teammates through a series of dance moves in front of a delighted crowd . But there was some consolation for the United States sprinters as the women ' s squad took gold ahead of Jamaica in the women ' s 4x100m relay , with Ukraine taking the bronze medal . There was a surprise result in the men ' s triple jump where American Christian Taylor recorded the fourth largest jump of all time to pip Britain ' s defending champion Phillips Idowu . The 21 year old recorded 17 . 96 meters with his fourth attempt to leave Idowu in second place on 17 . 77m . Another American , Will Claye , claimed bronze . There was a thrilling finish in the final of the men ' s 5 , 000m where Britain ' s Mo Farah made up for the disappointment of being caught on the line in the 10 , 000m by securing his first ever gold medal in a major championships . Farah was pushed hard by 2007 champion Bernard Lagat , but he held on to finish 0 . 28 seconds ahead of the American . Ethiopia ' s Dejen Gebremeskel took bronze after his compatriot Imane Merga was disqualified for stepping inside the curb . Russia ' s Mariya Savinova denied South African Caster Semenya a second consecutive women ' s 800m title , with a devastating finishing kick . Savinova , the reigning world indoor and European champion , was the favorite coming into the event , and she justified that tag by coming from near the back of the pack at the 600m mark to clinch the gold medal in a time of one minute 55 . 87 seconds . Semenya took silver with Kenya ' s 2007 champion Janeth Jepkosgei claiming bronze . The men ' s marathon title went to Kenya ' s Abel Kirui , who finished nearly two and a half minutes ahead of his team mate Vincent Kipruto the biggest winning margin in world championship history . Ethiopia ' s Feyisa Lilesa took bronze . The final day of competition confirmed the United States at the top of the medal table with 12 golds , ahead of Russia with nine and Kenya on seven . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111511961,11962,"The day my daughter Marley was born , I went straight to the nursery and held her for well over two hours . I just held her and cried because I had never experienced such a love for anyone or anything in my life . I think the nurses thought I was crazy because eventually they told me I needed to go be with my wife . Three days later , before we left the hospital , the pediatric doctor told us she thought Marley might have Down syndrome . My reaction : Are you freaking kidding me ? I immediately had a panic attack and was taken to the emergency room . Thoughts were racing through my mind : How could my perfect daughter have Down syndrome ? How could they not know for sure ? How could the general ultrasound , which said we had a 1 in 18 , 000 chance of having a child with Down syndrome , be wrong ? Why was God punishing me ? How could I live with a daughter that was going to be rejected by everyone . . . including myself ? I entered into a deep depression for the first year of Marley ' s life . My wife became concerned about me , so I started taking antidepressants and seeing a counselor . I contemplated leaving my wife , or giving my daughter up for adoption , and suicide . I would lie awake at night thinking about my future , and searching for a reason to live . I believed all the negative things the world told me about Down syndrome , and viewed it as a curse on my family . The entire time , I couldn ' t stop thinking about how this would change my life ! But the truth is , I felt badly about myself . At one point , I wrote a letter to myself asking why things had to be this way . I prayed for God to take my worthless life in exchange for removing Marley ' s extra chromosome . I would even quietly lie awake at night contemplating how I would feel if she suddenly stopped breathing while she slept . Finally , one Saturday morning , when Marley was about 2 months old , I got up and told my wife I was going for a walk . I had no intention of coming back . I was going to leave my wife and daughter . I couldn ' t do it anymore . But then , after I left , I started having second thoughts , and that ' s when I remembered that my wife had signed up for an online support group . I ended up spending the next two hours talking on the phone about my daughter and family with a man I had never met . He had a 2 year old with Down syndrome . I cannot explain it , but after talking to him for two hours I had the strength to go home and face another day . For the next six months , I got up and faced one day at a time . Years ago , my father said to me , "" If you want to fix a problem , then do something about it . "" I followed his advice . First , I tried to gain as much knowledge as I could about raising a child with Down syndrome . Next , I started calling every family I could find that had a child with Down syndrome . I owe a great deal to these families because they were willing to talk to me despite the 12 hour time difference between Bangkok and the States . I also started forcing myself to interact with my daughter . She was desperate for me to start loving her , and she continued loving me until I broke down and did the same . I was scared to accept my daughter because that would mean accepting her disability . But the reality was the only thing keeping me from loving my daughter was my own ignorance . Once I overcame my own selfish expectations for my daughter , I slowly began to see the beautiful girl that would change my life forever . Mom : Down syndrome doesn ' t change my dreams And finally , I talked to God . I talked to Him just like He was sitting in a chair beside me because that was the true barrier in my life . I was honest with God throughout the entire process , and that is when I started finding peace . Healing is a process and a journey . I would have never experienced this life changing transformation if Marley had not been born . It is true , there are difficult times having a daughter with Down syndrome . But it also true that she is very much like any other child . Marley smiles , laughs , plays , is able to meet many developmental milestones ( albeit her own pace , with her own style ) , makes mistakes , and , most importantly , completes our family . She literally brightens my day every time I see her . She ' s now 2 years old , and at this age all children develop at different rates . Marley can walk swim sign and speak words throw and kick a ball follow simple directions and throw tantrums . She also knows how to manipulate her grandparents . But she has not learned how to run or jump . She is taking thyroid medication and has a small heart defect . The key is , she is very similar to most toddlers her age and every child with Down syndrome is different just like every child is different . Before our summer break , she passed an entrance exam to start at a British preschool in September with her peers who are not labeled as "" special needs children . "" In my opinion , these limitations we put on children with Down syndrome are outdated and lead to a lack of acceptance in our society . The medical community focuses on so many of the challenges associated with Down syndrome that we develop an unnecessary fear but these are only differences . The truth is , I am a better person today because of my daughter , my daughter who has Down syndrome . I am thankful for a wife that was willing to push me to change , and support me when I struggled . Want to respond , or got a story to share ? Write a personal essay Mostly , I thank God for Marley . I remember praying while waiting those first two weeks to get her confirmed diagnosis : "" God , if you heal my daughter , then I will give up my own salvation . "" God didn ' t need my salvation that was a gift from him to me , just like Marley is a gift to us . The reality is that I am still saddened that Marley has Down syndrome , but I am beginning to realize that God can bless us regardless of our circumstances . I will never be able to fully understand why Marley has Down syndrome , but I do know she has made a difference in my life , my wife ' s life , and in the lives of so many in our community . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past111611985,11986,"Hong Kong The leading contenders in Japan ' s upcoming national election kicked off their 12 day campaign Tuesday near the seaside prefecture that was at the heart of last year ' s nuclear disaster "" and is now a powerful symbol of Japan ' s deepening economic woes . The man polls suggest will become the country ' s next leader appealed for votes in Fukushima City , some 50 kilometers ( 30 miles ) from the site of last year ' s nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant . Shinzo Abe , leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat Party ( ) , has said that , if elected , he ' ll decide within three years whether to restart the nuclear plants that were shut down after an earthquake and tsunami triggered nuclear devastation in March 2011 . He ' s a former prime minister who stepped down in 2007 after just one year in power citing health reasons . In his first official campaign speech Tuesday , Abe focused on economic arguments , saying he will act to counter deflation , weaken the yen and promote economic stability . "" We ' ll regain economic power in Japan , "" he said . Nearly two years after the nuclear meltdown , hundreds of thousands of people remain in temporary homes as the government , led by the Democratic Party of Japan ( ) , sees its support slip away . The economy is weakening , and policymakers are under enormous pressure to restore communities affected by the disaster . Since assuming power in September 2011 , current Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has faced fierce resistance to his plan to raise government revenue by doubling the 5 sales tax by October 2015 . He ' s dealing with an economy that ' s contracting by 3 . 5 between July and September after years of economic malaise . If continues to shrink this quarter , the country will officially enter another recession . "" Any prime minister who has seriously taken up the cause of instituting or increasing an existing consumption tax rate if they succeeded or failed has lost power , so in that sense you have to give Noda his dues , "" said Keith Henry , founder of consultancy Asia Strategy . Last month , Noda agreed to dissolve the lower house of parliament , clearing the way for an election on December 16 , as part of a deal to secure support for a crucial financial bill from the . It was a risky move , and one that a poll released on Monday suggested would lead to Noda ' s removal from power , just one year after assuming office . The poll , conducted by Asahi Shimbun last weekend , suggests the retained a 5 lead over the . Twenty percent of respondents said they ' d vote for the if the lower house election was held now , compared to 15 who ' d vote for Noda ' s . Noda also launched his re election campaign in Fukushima prefecture , at the Iwaki station , where he told supporters they faced a clear choice . "" The question in this lower house election is whether we can move forward with what we should do or whether we turn back to the old politics , "" he said . He has promised to phase out nuclear power by 2040 , seizing on a popular backlash against the energy source since last year ' s nuclear disaster . It ' s a policy pledged by other smaller parties vying for votes in an election that ' s expected to see 1 , 500 candidates compete for 480 lower house seats . According to the polls , neither party is expected to win a majority , although Asia Strategy says a survey of polls shows that the is on track for a coalition win , with its traditional ally the New Komeito Party . Amid flagging support for the major players , smaller parties have proliferated including The Japan Restoration Party , led by Shintaro Ishihara . The controversial former governor of Tokyo is perhaps best known outside the country for triggering a diplomatic spat with China over his move to buy disputed islands in the East China Sea . Earlier this year , he urged residents to donate cash to fund the purchase of the islands Japan calls Senkaku and China refers to as Diaoyu . The Japanese government eventually stepped in to buy the islands from private owners , provoking a sharp rebuke from Beijing and anti Japanese protests across China . In the Asahi poll , 9 of respondents said they ' d vote for Ishihara ' s , the same proportion who said they ' d give him their vote last week , indicating that his rising popularity may have stalled . Henry said that it ' s unlikely that this election will give marginal parties enough votes to influence the parliament . "" I ' m convinced that these minor parties are going to remain minor parties , "" he said . "" They grab the attention of the media , they ' re old style curmudgeons but they won ' t gain any political influence . "" Whether the combined leadership of the and the New Komeito Party is able to introduce policies to contend with Japan ' s major structural challenges remains to be seen , Henry said . If it can ' t , more political waves could be made when the upper house votes in an scheduled election next year , he said . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111711995,11996,"Maria Sharapova set up a U . S . Open semifinal clash with world No . 1 Victoria Azarenka after battling past French 11th seed Marion Bartoli on Wednesday . Third seed Sharapova was taken to three sets by the 2007 Wimbledon finalist , who had raced to a 4 0 lead in the first set when their quarterfinal match was halted by rain on Tuesday . Bartoli duly closed out the opener , but Sharapova fought back to claim the match 3 6 6 3 6 4 after two and a half hours . She has now won 12 successive times in matches that have gone to three sets since her third round defeat in New York last year , and 24 out of 25 since the start of 2011 . "" I think the rain delay gave me some time to think about things , "" the French Open champion said . "" I came out so flat yesterday , and she was playing so well . I just played a bad four games , but I knew the match wasn ' t over and had a chance to come back and turn things around . "" Sharapova will be seeking revenge for her thrashing by Azarenka in the final of the opening grand slam of the season in Australia , but has lost four successive matches in straight sets to the Belorussian on hard courts . "" Tough challenge , "" she admitted . "" She beat me in Australia quite easily and I would love to get my revenge at a grand slam . "" The Russian reached the last four at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2006 , when she claimed the second of her four grand slam successes . In June she beat Sara Errani in the final at Roland Garros to complete a full set of the majors , and she could potentially face the Italian again in a title match in New York . However , the 10th seed must get past the imposing figure of Serena Williams , who needed less than an hour to dispose of fellow former world No . 1 Ana Ivanovic in the closing quarterfinal . The American , seeking her fourth U . S . Open title but first since 2008 , demolished the Serbian 6 1 6 3 . "" I felt much better moving , "" said the Wimbledon and Olympic champion after winning 26 of her 29 first serve points and firing 12 aces . "" I was excited I ' m moving faster . Feels good . I felt solid . "" I feel like I ' m going to get more focused and serious and start playing ' Serena tennis ' in the next couple of rounds , if I get to play two rounds . That ' s my goal . "" Errani has lost all three meetings with the 14 time grand slam champion , with two of those on hard courts in 2009 . She became the first Italian to reach a grand slam semifinal outside of the French Open after beating compatriot , best friend and doubles partner Roberta Vinci 6 2 6 4 . "" A quarterfinal with your best friend is difficult , "" Errani said . "" There was a lot of tension . We know each other very well and have played together many times . "" Normally when we walk out on the court we go together and we speak today was a bit strange , especially to see her on the other side of the net . "" They have reached the semifinals of the doubles event in New York , and next week Errani will be ranked as the format ' s top player for the first time , with Vinci No . 2 . "" It ' s the best year of my life . I ' m playing very well and my ranking is very high , "" said the 25 year old , who has won four singles titles in 2012 . "" I just go on the court , fight the best I can and that ' s it and by winning more matches I get more confidence , and with that you go on the court thinking you can win more than before . "" Meanwhile , 12th seed Ivanovic was able to take positives from her defeat , having reached the last eight of a grand slam for the first time since her breakthrough victory at the 2008 French Open . "" Overall I ' m very satisfied , "" said the Serbian , who had never before featured in the New York quarterfinals and who at one stage dropped out of the top 50 . "" I played some really good tennis to get into this position , and even tonight I felt I was striking the ball so nicely on both sides . That ' s something I ' ve worked hard for . It ' s a big step for me . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past111812015,12016,"Store Oct 26 2016 Always under fire from designated terrorist group CAIR, former agent and counter-terrorism expert, John Guandolo, is the go-to person for training law enforcement officers about the growing threat Islam poses to America Every time Guandolo is scheduled to give a speech or a training session, thugs try to shut him down in advance. At the recent Breaking the Silence ” conference in Colorado Springs, Guandolo warned that Muslims in America are getting jobs at airports, hotels, convenience stores and cab companies as part of a growing “insurgency” and an “intentional plan” to “occupy the land.” “Why are they building huge, $100 million mosques in areas where there are like 100 or 90 Muslims?” he asked. “Because, when they build a mosque they’re claiming territory, now all they have to do is occupy it. So they’re calling Muslims to occupy the land. All of this, they have an intentional plan and it’s based in Islamic doctrine and they’re putting it to work through what they’re doing.” CAIR’s relentless harassment of John Guandolo:",fake,news,test,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past111912025,12026,"Tottenham ' s imminent hiring of Southampton ' s head of recruitment Paul Mitchell could hasten the demise of Spurs ' s technical director Franco Baldini . But Spurs have been warned that instead of operating a revolving door policy for staff and attempting a ' short cut route ' to success by poaching people from better run clubs , they need a coherent plan , boardroom consistency and to back a single manager long term to achieve the progress their fans crave . Mitchell , 33 , a former defender and midfielder at Wigan and Dons , has been at St Mary ' s since 2012 and is credited with a key role in the scouting and hiring set up that helped Saints emerge from a troubled summer with an upgraded squad and a 37million profit to boot . Tottenham sold Gareth Bale to La Liga giants Real Madrid for 86million in 2013 Paul Mitchell ' s task is to overhaul Tottenham ' s scouting system and have the success he did at Southampton Tottenham technical director Franco Baldini could be heading for the White Hart Lane exit door Roberto Soldado Spanish , 29 , F , 26 . 4m Verdict : Underwhelming . Six goals and six assists in 33 Premier League games is a costly return . Erik Lamela Argentinian , 22 , , 25 . 7m Verdict : Nearly man . Lavish talent but no goals in 20 games . Paulinho Brazilian , 26 , M , 17 . 4m Verdict : Miss . Far from the best midfielder in north London , let alone Brazil . Etienne Capoue French , 26 , M , 9 . 7m Verdict : Jury out . Patchy form and injuries have disrupted his season . Christian Eriksen Danish , 22 , M , 11 . 5m Verdict : Mercurial . Brilliant last season , less so this . 10 goals , eight assists . Ben Davies Welsh , 21 , D , 10m Verdict : Miss . One game is a poor return . Vlad Chiriches Romanian , 25 , D , 8 . 5m Verdict : Middling at best . Solid early but unreliable . Federico Fazio Argentinian , 27 , D 8m Verdict : Miss . Error prone , two red cards already . Nacer Chadli Belgian , 25 , , 7 . 2m Verdict : Hit . Best value of all , goals ( seven ) and assists ( four ) . Eric Dier English , 20 , D , 4m Verdict : Promising . Early goals ( two in ) and shows potential . Ben Stambouli , French , 24 , M , 4 . 7m Verdict : Miss . Just one sub appearance . DeAndre Yedlin ( , 21 , 2 . 5m ) Michel Vorm ( Dutch , 31 , 5m ) Yedlin on loan . Vorm yet to play in . Tottenham lured manager Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton in the summer , will add Mitchell when his notice period expires in the new year and have coveted Saints players included Jay Rodriguez and Morgan Schneiderlin . Baldini , 54 , has been in his job since summer last year and oversaw player departures including Spurs ' best player and talisman Gareth Bale for a world record 86m . But the jury has been out on many of the 13 faces brought in partly with the cash raised , from Paulinho to Roberto Soldado to Erik Lamela and , more recently , Federico Fazio and Ben Stambouli . ' Franco is pretty relaxed about the situation but he knows in football that people come and go and that he ' ll be moving on at some point , whenever that is , ' said a source . Another insider familiar with the workings at both White Hart Lane and St Mary ' s said of Spurs : ' It doesn ' t appear that they have a strategy of any ilk , it seems to be a case of seeing Southampton do things well so let ' s take a short cut and hire their people . ' It will work sometimes and others won ' t go near them but ultimately it ' s a naive approach . Sustainable success is not about individuals , it ' s about a culture . ' Many fans believe Spurs ' managerial merry go round has hurt the club , with Pochettino the fifth permanent boss in seven years since Juande Ramos joined in 2007 . The turnover of players has exacerbated the situation and Pochettino has been left with a squad that cannot or will not function in the high tempo pressing system he used to such effect at Southampton . Results have suffered , with Spurs losing three of their last four league games before Sunday ' s trip to Hull . The home capitulation to Stoke last time out has been described as the worst performance many have seen in a long time . Tottenham fan Martin Cloake , an author , whose latest book Taking Our Ball Back looks at discontent within the wider game . ' It ' s clear that there has been too much change in personnel recently , ' he says of Spurs ' dilemma . ' There ' s not much sense of team spirit evident when we play and no real leaders stand out . Paulinho and Roberto Soldado are among the players who have failed to impress since joining the club Tottenham ' s Harry Kane has said his team mates need time to adapt to Mauricio Pochettino ' s style ' There are lots of players with potential flair , perhaps fewer of the type who will dig in and help to hold a team together therefore letting the flair players express themselves . ' Off the pitch , the phrase ' I ' ve never felt so disconnected from the club I support ' keeps coming up . That ' s partly because of the discontent with the top level of football in this country but it ' s also because those running the club too often come across as aloof and as treating the fans as cash cows . ' Fixing things on the pitch will take time and the vast majority of fans want Pochettino to be given time . There has been too much chopping , changing and blaming . Off the pitch the club just needs to show goodwill , talk to the fans more , resolve some of the uncertainties around the stadium and generally demonstrate that we ' re seen as supporters and not just customers . ' Striker Harry Kane acknowledges a lengthy transition period could lie ahead . ' We haven ' t won as much as we ' d have liked . ' he said . ' But there is a long way to go . We are adapting to the manager ' s style each game and we are learning . Hopefully we can pick up some momentum and then who knows ? ' The manager has come in with his style and it has only been four months . That ' s not long when you are changing the way you want to play . We are getting used to it and we will only get better . ' Tottenham go into their fixture against Hull in 12th spot having started slowly under Pochettino ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past112012046,12047,"It was announced that the latest theme park will be built in Washington , D . C . Washington was chosen because there is already a strong sense of living in a fantasy world there . Spokesman Goofieson stated "" We feel that people in the D . C . area are already living in a state of artificial reality , a world where terrorists are around every corner and ' s are everywhere and where the good guys wear white hats and always win . This is especially true around the White House , a replica of which will be replacing the castle as the main building of the park . "" "" A lot of the retiring Bush administration have signed on as characters in the park . Dick Cheney is going to play either Captain Hook or Grumpy , depending on his mood of the day . Condleeza Rice will be the evil witch from Snow White . Karl Rove will play the Big Bad Wolf who blows the piggies houses down . George W will be playing himself because none of the characters we have could match his authenticity . He is very enthusiastic about it because he will be living in our White House and will feel as though he is still President . "" Other possibilities we are considering for characters are Woody Allen as Wall E , the robot , Al Gore as Doc , Mrs Bush as Mary Poppins , and Ann Coulter as the evil witch from Sleeping Beauty ( the nice thing being she won ' t need makeup ) . Bernie Madeoff will be introduced playing a new dwarf called ' Sleazy ' and Rob Blagojevich ' s hair will play Aladdin ' s carpet . For a special feature we will be introducing Sarah Palin as Xena , the Princess Warrior . To give the park a genuine D . C . feel , several special attractions will be added such as ' A Ride Through a Scary Neighborhood ' and ' Pork Barrel Land ' . New characters such as Crack Whore , Mr M . the Drug Dealer and The Lobbyist will add to the warm , familiar faces kids already know and love . When asked why they chose D . C . specifically Mr Goofieson said "" D . C . gives the impression of being a feudal state surrounded by vast lands of lesser beings which matches the way we in the Disneylands feel . Plus they have control of everything in the country and total control is something that has always appealed . The U . S . Government also has no competition , and a lack of competition we like a lot . Remember when Pixar was beating our butt ? Not any more . "" Construction will begin as soon as incidentals such as the Washington Monument , the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian Museum can be demolished to make room and the ground cleared . ",satire,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past112112058,12059,"While many on the left continue to accuse President Trump and his administration of colluding with the Russians, one well-known progressive thinker said such actions hurt their cause. Author Max Blumenthal said he s skeptical of the Russia narrative, remarking that Rachel Maddow s dots may never connect. Blumenthal called Trump the apotheosis of a failed political establishment, saying the Russia story is simply a cover for establishment Republicans and progressive Democrats to be able to avoid do[ing] anything progressive. He accused both parties of scandal-mongering and criticized the left for abandoning their anti-war ideology just to attack the president. He and Tucker Carlson discussed how some Democrats have advocated supporting insurgent elements in Syria for the sake of irritating Vladimir Putin. Blumenthal, the son of former Clinton adviser Sid Blumenthal, warned such behavior on-the-whole will have long-term consequences for the left in this country. Max Blumenthal is a known progressive who s calling out his own party for the constant Russia-Trump bashing. He confronts Rep. Jamie Raskin on the Russia scandal:Max Blumenthal Grilled a Maryland Democrat on Lies About Russia Scam In Epic Interview: I think we should tell the people the truth [Video]This is hysterical! Blumenthal is awesome even though he s a leftist A rarity! Note at the end of the video that he calls out Raskin for saying Trump is a Russian hoax Earlier in July he proposed a panel to oust President Trump: Pointing to the outcry over President Donald Trump s latest controversial tweets, freshman Rep. Jamie Raskin is urging his colleagues to get behind a bill that could potentially oust the President if he was mentally or physically unfit.The Maryland Democrat wants to create an 11-member commission made up of mostly physicians and psychiatrists more formally called the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity. The panel would carry out a medical examination and determine whether the President was physically or mentally able to do the job. Two of the commission s members would also be former high ranking officials, such as presidents, vice presidents, attorneys general or secretaries of state. It s a provocative and long-shot effort, but Raskin is citing as his legal backup the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, which was adopted in 1967 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to establish procedure in the case a president is incapacitated. About two dozen Democrats have signed on to the effort as of Thursday. Raskin is zeroing in on one section of that constitutional amendment, which allows the vice president to assume powers if either the majority of the Cabinet or such other body as Congress finds that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of office. (The vice president would also have to agree to the assessment of the President s abilities.) Raskin is proposing his commission to serve as that body. Raskin is a freshman in Congress Let s hope the people of Maryland kick him out after one term. It s obvious he s a liar and doesn t respect the office of POTUS. ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past112212067,12068,"Quantico , Virginia If you like spy thrillers , Sudoku and the daily crossword puzzle , you might want to try this : help the crack a secret code . It could solve a suspected murder . Ricky McCormick ' s decomposing body was found in a field near St . Louis , Missouri , in 1999 . It wasn ' t clear how the 41 year old unemployed McCormick had died , but law enforcement believed he was murdered . Their best clue : two pages of encrypted notes written by McCormick and found in his pocket . They might tell investigators where McCormick had been , what he had been doing and who might have wanted him dead . But they couldn ' t break the code . In 2001 , local law enforcement turned to the Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit for help . Its analysts , statisticians and mathematicians have puzzled over the two pages of numbers and letters intermittently for 10 years trying to figure out what they mean , but they haven ' t found the key . "" We ' re beat , "" says the head of the unit , Dan Olson . On March 29 , the asked the public for ideas . In just a week and half more than 2 , 300 tips have flooded in . They are still being processed , but so far none of the theories or leads has solved the mystery . Go to site , see if you can help crack code Could the notes be gibberish ? Olson says they definitely are not . "" We have patterns . We have very consistent character repeating sequences . There are almost rules to whatever language this is . This is not random . This is not just letters put down . "" McCormick had dabbled with ciphers since he was a child and although he wasn ' t well educated , Olson says , his code is unlike anything he has ever seen unique and idiosyncratic . He hopes a member of the public might connect it with a hobby , a game or a line of work . The unit often cracks codes in just a couple of hours . It has deciphered secret communications about murder , drug transactions , illegal gambling and human trafficking . One of the toughest cases involved a note composed by Brian Patrick Regan , a former Air Force master sergeant convicted of attempted espionage in 2003 . The note identified seven locations in a Maryland ' s Patapsco Valley State Park where Regan allegedly dropped documents stolen from the National Reconnaissance Office . The office builds and operates satellites for government agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency . While in prison , Regan worked with the to decipher the complex code , which he had created but , ironically , had forgotten . Eventually , they were able to associate a sequence of code with the letter "" F . "" The key that unlocked it was the name Frank , handwritten under a gag photograph of a masked classmate in Regan ' s middle school yearbook . Olson says computers aren ' t much use in his line of work . "" These are codes that are made by humans and they ' re best broken by humans , "" he says . A simple whiteboard , however , is an important tool . Olson and his team use one to dissect a segment of code , looking for patterns and logic in what appears to be a jumble of symbols . It is collaborative work where creative ideas and unusual insights are encouraged and exchanged . Olson says a good crpytanalyst needs tenacity and high self esteem . He or she can not be easily discouraged , Olson says , but sometimes needs to recognize that there is a time to step away . Do they ever quit working on a code altogether ? It doesn ' t look that way . In the office is a board holding copies of the ' s "" Top 10 "" uncracked coded communications . Over the years , some have been solved and removed . Right now , in the top slot , is a note from the "" Zodiac Killer , "" who murdered five people in California ' s Bay Area in 1968 and 1969 . The notes found in Ricky McCormick ' s pocket are posted in position No . 3 . Olson is hopeful that sometime soon , with the public ' s help , they too will come down from the board and questions about McCormick ' s death will finally be answered . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past112312094,12095,"The name Kuti belongs to a musical dynasty . But Femi Kuti is by no means living in his father ' s shadow and is much more than just the son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti . For 26 years , Femi has been making his own music . He has crossed over to a global audience , recording with the likes of Mos Def and Macy Gray , and even providing a cameo voice over in video game Grand Theft Auto . But his career has not been about ignoring his past , but building on his father ' s legacy . "" I just wanted my own music so I was not really running away from that fact or trying to find my own identity as such , "" Kuti said . "" I just wanted to play good music and be happy playing good music . "" His father , Nigerian multi instrumentalist Fela , was an international superstar and is credited with inventing the Afrobeat genre . However , it wasn ' t just his music that made Fela famous but his views as well . He preached for democracy over dictatorship and his music gave a voice to millions in Nigeria who were powerless in politics . "" He was truthful , he stood his ground , he never compromised , even at the risk of his life , and I think that ' s really what people admire , "" Kuti explained . "" He never for one second thought of compromising or selling out his ideas . "" I saw him many times stand in front of the soldiers and say ' shoot me , kill me ' and we all feared for his life many times , and I thought ' wow , will I ever be this brave in my life ? ' So I admired him , "" he continued . But Fela ' s son has become a star in his own right . At 48 , Femi has already spent a lifetime in music and grew up playing in his father ' s band . In 1985 he assembled his own band called "" The Positive Force "" and through it he discovered his own style and his own voice . But he says watching his father stand up for himself gave him the strength to never compromise . "" I ' ve witnessed a lot in my life , in his life , and I think all this is part of what gives me the courage myself to stand firm , "" he said . Like his father ' s , Femi ' s voice is political , his cause is human rights . He says that a political message in his music is more important than singing about love . Inside Africa : Maurice Kirya Ugandan soul music "" I couldn ' t see myself possibly doing anything else when I see poverty so blatant in front of me I don ' t see myself , I don ' t see the love story that could overwhelm my mind than singing about deprived people or children for instance , "" he said . "" I see that in a country so rich as Nigeria people can ' t afford a good education , we still have no electricity , the politicians keep giving us all their excuses , "" he added . "" We ' re 12 years now in a new democratic era and we ' re still fighting the same story that my father fought when I was 15 . "" In his latest work Femi has not turned his back on his father ' s Afrobeat style he ' s redefined , it adding worldwide influence into the music . He recorded new album "" Africa for Africa "" in the same studio where he produced his first recordings with his father . The comparisons with Fela remain and the message is the same as it ' s always been . The recording itself has no superfluous production on it Femi says he wanted this one to sound raw by making this the least produced album he ' s ever made . "" We thought nobody will like the album and then immediately from Europe everyone was like ' oh this is real raw , oh we love it , ' "" he said . "" We all got excited so that gave me the extra energy to want to play it on stage and continue I think there is nothing more terrible than you walk out and nobody likes it . You are so depressed it ' s like being sick and you cannot find what is wrong with you "" he continued . But his live shows are always acclaimed . On stage , it ' s easy to see Femi Kuti ' s connection to his craft . But after so many years of performing , he says it ' s the chance to make people smile , feel happy and be inspired that still drives him today . "" You might play to 5 , 000 people and one person might come up and tell you ' wow , thank you for a wonderful night , ' and you go to bed and it rings in your head , "" he explained . He says that most importantly , when people think about his music he doesn ' t want them to think about him . "" I want them to think about what I ' m saying the importance of Africa , the future of Africa , "" he said . "" I don ' t want them to think about Femi and Fela Kuti . It ' s beyond me , it wasn ' t about my father , it was about the African people it was about a greater place to be . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past112412099,12100,"Costa Rica The official count of confirmed deaths grew to 15 Friday afternoon , one day after a 6 . 1 magnitude earthquake shook north central Costa Rica , a government emergency official said . iReporter Leonardo Diaz photographed the damage in Plaza Mayor Shopping Center in San Jose . Reinaldo Carballo , a spokesman for the federal Commission for National Emergencies , said the updated death toll came from information given to the agency by Costa Rica Vice President Rodrigo Arias . In addition , Carballo said , rescuers were trying to reach 300 tourists stranded in a hotel in Varablanca . Carballo said he did not know the tourists ' nationalities or the name of the hotel . There were conflicting reports on the number of dead from Thursday ' s earthquake . The Commission for National Emergencies had issued a news release earlier Friday saying the quake had killed four people . The discrepancy may result from the fact that the Commission for National Emergencies reports only deaths it has confirmed , Carballo said . About 32 people were injured , he said . On Friday , the U . S . government dispatched a team of 34 U . S . military personnel and four helicopters from Honduras based Joint Task Force Bravo to Costa Rica to assist . Survivors described the suddenness and brutality of the quake . Landslides , tumbling rocks and collapsed buildings caused widespread devastation and death . A sobbing Vilma Cambronero was asked what happened to her family . "" Some are well , "" she said . "" Others are buried . "" An unidentified woman told Teletica , "" Everything started to move and everything fell on top of us . It was a miracle we got out . "" More than 1 , 200 people were stranded , without a way to get out of towns or homes , Chaverri said . Another 1 , 000 people were living in shelters , he said . iReportweblink : Are you there ? Send photos , video "" Many people were injured , many buildings were damaged and landslides blocked roads in the area , "" the U . S . Geological Survey said . The dead included three young girls , officials said Friday . Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez was scheduled to tour the affected area Friday . On Thursday , he appealed for calm . The remote area near Alajuela , where the quake hit strongest , is difficult to reach , and officials said they were having to rely on helicopters for medical evacuations and to airlift supplies . Randall Picado , a government rescue official , said many residents were without water and other necessities . About 400 volunteers and Red Cross personnel were giving aid in 15 communities , Chaverri said . The temblor was felt throughout Costa Rica and in southern and central Nicaragua , the U . S . Geological Survey reported on its Web site . About 2 , 000 aftershocks have been felt in San Jose , the capital , and other cities throughout the nation , Red Cross spokeswoman Vilca said . The Geological Survey placed the earthquake ' s epicenter at 20 miles ( 32 kilometers ) north northwest of San Jose at a depth of 2 . 8 miles ( 4 . 5 kilometers ) . ",true,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past112512129,12130,"Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie married over the weekend in France , a representative for Jolie confirmed Thursday . The couple , who are the parents of six children , have been together for almost a decade . They got married Saturday in a small , private ceremony in a chapel at Ch teau Miraval in the village of Correns . Pitt and Jolie have been the source of speculation about their relationship almost since the beginning . Tongues first started wagging after the pair met on the set of "" Mr Mrs Smith "" in the summer of 2004 , when Pitt was still married to actress Jennifer Aniston . Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to co star in ' By the Sea ' In January 2005 , Pitt and Aniston announced that they were splitting . Aniston filed for divorce in March 2005 . The following month , photos surfaced of Pitt , Jolie and her adopted son Maddox together in Kenya . Jolie later adopted daughter Zahara from an orphanage in Ethiopia and in early 2006 she announced that she and Pitt were expecting a baby . Shortly thereafter , Pitt was granted the right to legally adopt Maddox and Zahara . Their daughter Shiloh was born in May 2006 and son Pax was adopted from an orphanage in Vietnam in March 2007 . Jolie gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in July 2008 . The couple announced their engagement in 2012 . Pitt and Jolie recently told People that the wedding would be a family affair . "" We are discussing it with the children and how they imagine it might be , "" Jolie said . "" Which is verging on hysterical , how kids envision a wedding . . . They will , in a way , be the wedding planner . It ' s going to be Disney or paintball one or the other ! "" According to a statement from the family "" Angelina was walked down the aisle by her eldest sons Maddox and Pax . Zahara and Vivienne threw petals , gathered from the garden . Shiloh and Knox were the ring bearers . "" "" In the days before coming to France , and as citizens of California , Brad and Angelina filled out their paperwork and obtained a marriage licence from a local judge , who also travelled to France to conduct the ceremony at Chateau Miraval , "" the statement said . "" They are therefore married under Californian law . "" Brad Pitt : Angelina is ' sexy as ever ' The uniting of Pitt and Jolie in matrimony has been one of the most anticipated marriages in Hollywood . In 2006 Pitt told Esquire magazine that he and Jolie would not marry until "" everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able . "" He reaffirmed their commitment to marriage equality in a 2011 interview with People . "" Thanks to the tireless work of so many , someday soon this discrimination will end and every American will be able to enjoy their equal right to marriage , "" Pitt said in a statement to the magazine following the legalization of same sex marriage in New York State . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past112612145,12146,"On January 9 , 2014 , residents of Charleston , West Virginia woke to the sweet smell of licorice in the air . The sweetness quickly turned sour when they discovered that the odor was the result of a chemical spill from the Freedom Industries facility on the Elk River . Up to 7 , 500 gallons of the highly toxic chemical crude leaked from an aboveground tank , contaminating the property and the local watershed . While residents and businesses have lost a year ' s sleep over the long term effects of exposure to the contaminated water , Valence Aerosols has given them a reason to sleep better . Valence Aerosols was founded in 2008 by Gary Whetstone , a mercurial chemistry major at Penn State . He was inspired by a scene from the movie The Crow in which one of the bad guys says , "" You know Lake Erie actually caught on fire once from all the crap floating around in it . I wish I could have seen that . "" Whetstone says , "" I didn ' t think too much about that line , other than it was a pretty bad assed line . But then I went out to dinner with my girlfriend at one of those Greek restaurants , and we ordered the Saganaki you know the flaming cheese . When they lit that shit up I immediately thought of that burning water . It was like an epiphany . Then I thought , ' There ' s gotta be a way to commercialize that . "" Valence had its first big success in 2003 with Methanizer , an air freshener derived from captured landfill gas . It originally had a military application in Afghanistan . The sprayed the aerosolized methane into caves used by the Taliban and al Qaeda . The intent was to either drive them out into the open with the odor or accumulate enough gas in the enclosed space to make it explode with minimal ignition . When the tactic proved ineffective , Valence had to find success in the civilian market place . It wasn ' t long before Valence found a niche market of what they refer to as "" subversion consumers , "" or consumers who purchase goods and services for the express purpose of with other people . "" I was three months behind on my rent , "" says Valence Customer Tamara Steffenfrau . "" All I had to do was spray Methanizer all over my apartment , smack myself in the nose to make it bloody , and then call the health department and report sick building syndrome . I got comped for four months . "" They found further success with an industrial solvent scented car freshener , and a shampoo partially scented with by product vinyl chloride from manufacturing . Having established themselves on the discount shelves , Valence decided to make a play for the high end retail market . That ' s what brought them to the Elk River . Valence has collected contaminated water directly from the river and from the taps of residents and businesses all over Charleston . Mixing this contaminated water with other compounds has given them their latest product , "" Anise Allure . "" It provides a sharp licorice aroma with hints of cinnamon and coffee . What was a major liability and health hazard is now a 300 a bottle luxury scent that is already flying off the shelves . The Charleston residents are given a share of the sales . While some residents of the Charleston have misgivings about selling polluted water for commercial use , others take a more favorable view . "" I don ' t like the idea of making money of selling poison to people . But if I ' m selling it to those assholes on Wall Street who make money exploiting us , and those assholes in Hollywood who make money making fun of us , I ' m all for it . It ' d be nice for me to count some extra cash while they ' re wondering why they ' re getting these strange headaches all the time . "" Gary Whetstone agrees . "" I ' m one of the one percent and I believe in giving back Robin Hood style . When asked about the high price tag for his Anise Allure he said , "" No one said class warfare can ' t be profitable . "" ",satire,text,test,Other news1,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past112712148,12149,"Jeopardy ! Host Alex Trebek is making his feelings known for the game show ' s current champion , software engineer Ken Jennings from Salt Lake City , Utah . "" I wish he ' d just lose , "" Trebek was quoted as saying to a make up artist before a taping of the quiz show . "" He ' s getting a little cocky , and I want to slap him badly . "" Jennings , who as of this writing has won 1 , 246 , 660 , has been on the show for 37 days and shows no signs of slowing down . In fact , he recently purchased a double wide trailer and parked it outside the Sony Studios so he can stay closer to the action . His winning streak has also hindered the search for quality contestants , which may explain why it remains intact . Turnouts for Jeopardy ! auditions are at an all time low , and producers are pointing their collective finger at the nerdy champion . "" People are just not willing to take him on , "" says one producer . "" There ' s only so many places that we can hunt for good contestants . Some of the more recent contestants were actually homeless people that we made up for the show . "" But what makes Trebek and the producers most livid ? The single day record for winnings is 52 , 000 , which Jennings has reached twice . In Final Jeopardy , he intentionally risks an amount that , if he wins , will take make his final winnings equal 52 , 000 and nothing more . "" That ' s asinine , "" Trebek spouts . "" Just risk it all or risk nothing . The show ' s turning into a expletive joke , and I ' m tired of it . He needs his expletive expletive kicked and hard . "" The 30 year old Jennings , who collects Hot Wheels , comic books and Strawberry Shortcake figurines , remains committed to making the show pay for lifting their 5 day limit on champions . "" Why should I stop ? I ' m smart and I know it , "" Jennings says of his time on the show . "" Alex needs to lighten up a bit because I ' m going to be here longer than he thinks . "" So get comfy , Alex . The ride isn ' t over yet . ",satire,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past112812151,12152,"A church will hold its Maundy Thursday service today instead of tomorrow to allow a weekly drop in session for prostitutes to go ahead . All Saints Church in Wolverhampton re scheduled the service , which marks the start of Easter celebrations , so that vulnerable women can attend their regular Thursday sessions tomorrow . The decision comes after prostitutes were left disappointed when the drop in sessions were cancelled on Christmas Day and New Year ' s Day because they both fell on a Thursday . Outreach : All Saints Church in Wolverhampton , pictured , re scheduled the service , which marks the start of Easter celebrations , so that vulnerable women can attend their regular Thursday sessions tomorrow Religious leaders have praised the initiative , which has been running since last August , as reflecting the core values of Christianity . All Saints Church , which is in the middle of Wolverhampton ' s red light district , is the only place where prostitutes can receive the support offered by the sessions , Reverend Sarah Schofield said . The programme is run alongside national charities Changing Lives and the Terrence Higgins Trust . Service : All Saints Church is the only place where prostitutes can receive the support offered by the sessions , Reverend Sarah Schofield , pictured , said Reverend Schofield , team vicar at All Saints Church , said : ' We throw open our doors and offer support as well as going out on the streets with hot drinks to invite women in . ' We want to be a reliable , safe and loving place for women , it is important to honour our promise and it has had a real impact on the whole church here . ' There is conversation , there is advice if any woman wants advice about employment or health or other issues . ' It is well received and it is appreciated . Christmas and New Year were on Thursday and we know we had disappointed people by cancelling the session for services . ' We had to take a vote in the congregation in January and it was 100 per cent in favour of moving the service . ' The story of Maundy Thursday is Jesus meeting with a number of people and he meets with women who are outcasts . ' One of the stories we tell on Maundy Thursday is about Jesus being anointed by a woman of low status and it felt wrong to cancel it . ' The Bishop of Wolverhampton , Reverend Clive Gregory , said the decision to move the religious event forward was made by the church council and people should go elsewhere for a traditional Thursday service . He said : ' This decision wasn ' t taken lightly and there are other churches very close by where people can go to worship . It doesn ' t come across as strange to me that All Saints would do this . ' I am very well aware of this project for street workers , it has been a great success in the last six months . ' It performs a very important service for vulnerable women and is exactly what Christian churches should be doing to help their community . ' Reverend Graham Smith of The Good Shepherd Church in Low Hill , added : ' It is a long standing tradition to have a Maundy Thursday ceremony and an important part of the Christian calendar . ' On the other hand , if we remember what Jesus was all about , he would always remember the outcasts in society . ' For some of these drop in sessions it can be quite hard to let people know what is going on if there is a change . ' So if people turn up to see it isn ' t on one week , they may not come again . ' Custom : The Queen hands out Maundy money during last year ' s Maundy Thursday service in Blackburn Maundy Thursday , also known as Easter Thursday , is the beginning of the three day celebration of Easter . The original version of the Maundy Service involved the sovereign giving money to the poor and washing their feet , a tradition which ended with James in the 18th century . The custom of washing feet is an an ancient one and commemorates the last supper of Jesus with the Apostles , echoing the story of Christ washing the extremities of his disciples shortly before his death . Although foot washing is no longer part of the ceremony , the tradition of giving ' alms ' continues , albeit symbolically . The Maundy gift , which the Queen hands to members of the congregation at a church service , is made up of two purses , one red and one white . Many Christians commemorate the Last Supper in a special Eucharist . In some churches , they may wash each other ' s feet . Some Christians may hold an all night vigil in church , remembering Christ ' s time in the Garden of Gethsemane . ",true,text,test,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past112912152,12153,"Reuters) - Raw feelings and mistrust could pose an obstacle to President Donald Trump and hard-line conservative lawmakers in his Republican Party as they seek to rebound from defeat on healthcare legislation by launching into an overhaul of the U.S. tax code. Trump has accused the Freedom Caucus lawmakers of snatching a “defeat from the jaws of victory” with their rejection of the White House-backed healthcare bill to replace President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform bill. In interviews with 10 of the roughly three dozen House Freedom Caucus members, the lawmakers said they were eager to put aside tensions over the healthcare debacle and seek common ground on tax reform. But there is no consensus, even within the conservative faction, on details of a tax-reform bill, with some members open to discussing ideas such as the border tax plan supported by House leaders and others opposed to it. Representative Warren Davidson, a Freedom Caucus member from Ohio, said Republicans should leave aside the blame game and work through their policy differences before launching tax reform legislation. “Some people are still in that hurt-feelings and frustration” stage, Davidson said. “I do think it’s smart to take the time to get it right.” Republican Representative David Schweikert of Arizona, a Freedom Caucus lawmaker who sits on the tax-writing House of Representative Ways and Means Committee, could emerge as a bridge between the conservative faction and House leaders. The panel will work closely with House leadership on the tax bill. Schweikert said he planned to consult with rank-and-file members to discuss plans and listen to their priorities. He said giving companies incentives to invest in plants and equipment was one of the items on his own wish list. “My personal fixation is very simple: What maximizes economic growth?” Schweikert said. Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said the group has “no formal position” on the structure of tax reform legislation. But Meadows listed the top priorities on his own wish list: “Lower taxes, lower taxes and lower taxes.” A 35-page blueprint developed by House Republican leaders, known as a “Better Way,” will serve as a starting point for the tax-reform discussions. The plan calls for streamlining the income tax system and cutting the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. It would exclude export revenue from taxable income and impose a 20 percent tax on imports. The border tax proposal has divided the business community and is a top flashpoint for lawmakers. Big exporters such as General Electric Co say the tax would boost manufacturing and jobs. But retailers like Target Corp have said the border tax would hike consumer prices and hurt the economy. Trump, a businessman who had never been in public office until he took over at the White House on Jan. 20, has at times praised the border tax idea but at other times has been noncommittal. Virginia Congressman Dave Brat said he would insist that the tax bill not add to the deficit, while Meadows said he would not necessarily insist on that. Other conservatives said they needed more information about the tax bill to form an opinion - and some space from the contentious health care debate. “We just had a major battle on a Republican welfare plan and that has consumed to a large degree my time and mental effort,” said Alabama Representative Mo Brooks. “When we have a tax reform bill I can evaluate, that’s when I’ll start voting on it,” Brooks said. As a sign of tensions that have lingered after the collapse of the healthcare bill, Freedom Caucus lawmakers faced tough questioning from their colleagues during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, said Representative Randy Weber of Texas. But Weber said some of the friction eased by the end of the meeting, prompting House Speaker Paul Ryan to say that more give and take might have been useful in the healthcare effort. “Ryan said: ‘This is what we should have been doing,’” Weber told Reuters. Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he thinks lawmakers learned lessons from the healthcare defeat that could apply to tax reform. “I think people are going to work harder to get to ‘yes’ this next piece of legislation,” Buck said. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday showed Republicans mostly blame Congress, and not Trump or party leaders, for failing to pass the healthcare overhaul. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past113012198,12199,"Your forecast for the next century : Hotter , drier and hungrier , and the chance to turn down the thermostat is slipping away . That ' s the latest conclusion from the United Nations , which urged governments to address the "" increasingly clear "" threats posed by a warming climate before some options are closed off for good . The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that taking steps to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions blamed for rising temperatures could buy more time to adjust to a warmer world . Cutting emissions now "" increases the time available for adaptation to a particular level of climate change , "" the report states . But it adds , "" Delaying mitigation actions may reduce options for climate resilient pathways in the future . "" "" In many cases , we are not prepared for the climate related risks that we already face , "" Vicente Barros , the co chaiman of the working group behind the document , said in a statement accompanying the report . "" Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future . "" The summary for policymakers was released Monday morning in Yokohama , Japan . It ' s the second part of the ' s benchmark assessment of climate change , a document released every six years with the input of nearly 1 , 000 scientists . Without checks on emissions , the impacts of climate change will be more severe , more likely , and possibly irreversible , it concludes . Monday ' s report underscores "" that we have committed to a certain amount of warming , "" said Kelly Levin , an energy and climate expert at the U . S . based World Resources Institute . "" Over the next few decades , we are going to lock ourselves into a climate change commitment that is going to paint a very different world , depending on what we choose today , "" Levin said . "" The choices we make today are going to affect the risks we face through the rest of the century . "" As a result , "" Adaptation is emerging as central area in climate change research , "" Levin said . But adaptation steps such as building sea walls , conserving water and designing cities for warmer climates has its limits , she said . "" The report suggests some options are going to be too resource intensive or too expensive , "" she said . An increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other emissions have driven average temperatures up by about 0 . 6 degrees Celsius ( 1 degree Fahrenheit ) since 1950 , the says . The first part of its report , released in September , concluded that even a best case scenario would result in an increase in global average temperatures of 1 . 6 C the worst case scenario estimates a rise of 3 . 7 degrees Celsius ( 6 . 6 Fahrenheit ) . The idea that carbon emissions are changing the Earth ' s climate is politically controversial , but generally accepted as fact by the overwhelming majority of scientists . And as emissions continue to rise , driving up CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere , the impacts will be more severe , more likely and possibly irreversible , Monday ' s report states . The summary of the full document which is more than 1 , 000 pages will be the premiere guide for lawmakers . It breaks down the expected impacts by continent and by categories such as marine life , agriculture and flood risks . And by diving into the specifics of the report , policymakers will be able to see what risks their specific locations face , as well as what adaptation and mitigation techniques could prove fruitful . "" The real highlight is how many impacts there are , how widespread they are and how pervasive they are around the world , "" said Heather McGray , who studies adaptation at . In most cases , climate change will exacerbate existing problems , such as the availability of fresh water in sub Saharan Africa . The authors conclude that glaciers will continue to shrink "" almost worldwide , "" affecting water supplies downstream . Animals have begun shifting their habitats in response to a warming world , and key crops have been affected already , they wrote . Colder climates may see increases in crop yields from longer growing seasons and milder temperatures , but the negative effects are expected to outweigh the positive , the report states . "" In this report , the finding is the impacts of climate change are already widespread and consequential , "" McGray said . The impacts won ' t be the same for everyone , and as usual , the world ' s poor are more likely to be hurt . "" Climate related hazards affect poor people ' s lives directly through impacts on livelihoods , reductions in crop yields or destruction of homes and indirectly through , for example , increased food prices and food insecurity , "" the report states . Positive effects on the impoverished "" are limited and often indirect . "" For those people , the effects "" will be catastrophic "" unless emissions can be reduced , McGray said . Carbon dioxide benchmark hits new heights , worries scientists Opinion : Is it time for international agreements to recognize national laws ? ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past113112203,12204,"The rise of Trumpmania has left many sane people questioning how on earth the republicans could elect such a alien from the shallow end of the pool to their presidential nomination . This reporter has the scoop on recently leaked e mails of his top secret internal election meetings , hacked recently by social activists . Presidential hopeful Trump was working out what his advisors termed a "" weapons of mass hysteria "" ( ) campaign . He vowed to take down anyone he had to in his war against archaic standards of decency and was alarmed by the rise of rational debate in the presidential race . "" Of course our main secret weapon is populist reactionary rhetoric and large group hysteria "" , he is quoted as saying . He was pleased with the performance of his spin doctors so far who had successfully staged a number of outrageous spectacles that had given him lots of good press space . "" Americans don ' t care what you are saying , as long as you shout loudly and feed them lots of hysterical emotions and impossible promises "" , he said . Next he planned to vehemently attack anyone who spoke out about his vanity grand standing by twittering them to death . "" I can beat anybody in under 128 letters "" he was heard to say and that "" Americans like their philosophies to fit on micro social media "" . He was intending to start a crowding campaign that would "" crowd out "" reason from having influence on the election outcome . "" Rational dialogue really comes from an ancient time , these days it ' s the glitter that matters "" , he was quoted as saying , "" I will get the latest cool smart phone to send out nasty barren social media and people will be so impressed by my phone they will ignore the content "" . Once becoming President he had a number of minor conservative policy changes to make . Firstly he would ramp up Muslims favourite holiday destination , Guantanamo Bay . "" We will entice our fellow Muslim Americans there with incentive schemes like roaming death squads "" he was heard to brag . Once there we will focus on water board education as the pillar of personal sovereignty extermination program . This will help them to see they are not really Americans . To help them re settle after 10 years of so in the bay to the Arizona desert we will buddy them with released psychopath prisoners whose motivational approach , whilst it could be seen as tough love was really good for them . In appreciation they will offer all their assets to their esteemed incarcerators . Next he plans to dissolve the . This is because he sees them as a threat to his world domination plans and he also wants the building for his private parties . Such agencies as the , Climate Change and where operating a huge global conspiracy he said further adding that "" there is nothing wrong with the weather , as its always nice in my mansions "" . Next minority trouble groups that may potentially contemplate civil disorder or worst still , standing up for their natural human rights will be targeted by the thought police . If you think bad about my regime he said we will know and you can expect the special forces team to drop in your lounge room . "" Free speech was a true American value , but only if they agreed with my whimsical unhinged notions it seems . He was heard to shout at a election strategy meeting that , "" It is important that citizens know that America is a free country and having a personal opinion is as long as you don ' t disagree with me "" . He told his campaign advisors that it wouldn ' t be long before everyone saw through his smoke and mirrors tactics and it was vital that they use the during this stage of the campaign . If that didn ' t work he would have to call in the russians as they are the only ones patriotic enough to help out . As for Hillary he had a special role for her once she lost for saying all those nasty things about him . He also said it would be better for America if Obamas name was taken out of the white history books and he would start a doublespeak agency to rewrite history and finance it from disbanding welfare . When asked why welfare he replied "" because they smelt funny and didn ' t look right to him and a lot of them are muslims and everyone knows all muslims are terrorists "" . When asked about the other minority groups receiving welfare he answered "" that he didn ' t ask them to come here and they can go home if they don ' t like his policies "" . When asked about his foreign policies he replied on micro social media format that he would launch pre emptive raids against anyone he didn ' t like including those arrogant old crusties of the "" old world "" , Europe . We should have colonised it after WW2 , after all we saved it and their continued ungratefulness annoys me . "" Rogue states would be nuked immediately someone informs me they exist , locating them is up to the Department of Geography as I am too important for small issues like who we nuke , nuke all of them then we will be safe "" he stated . He also stated that "" having all these nukes and not using them is bad for the economy "" and "" it would be a waste of American innovation to not use them before their expiry date "" . His domestic policy on climate change would be to order a complete news blackout in any storm affected areas . Such national emergencies would no longer be sanctioned by the president and God had better get it . Any of the embedded journalists who breaks ranks in press briefings will be Fired . Anyone else reporting them will be labelled a Muslim terrorist and deported to Guantanamo bay he said . "" Whilst I fully support freedom of the press they just can ' t print anything they want "" he said , "" especially alarmist storm reports that depress the insurance industry stock price "" . His industrial relations policy was a micro social media special Your Fired ! As the Khans had annoyed him during the campaign he would be stopping all veterans benefits , not as a petty act of retribution but to show them who is boss . "" After all what ' s the point of being President if you can ' t do whatever you feel like "" he exclaimed . When asked about the consequences to many hard up vets , many homeless he said that "" his spin doctors had told him that , as they were war veterans they were used to being collateral damage and he didn ' t think it would be a big problem "" . When asked about not supplying his tax returns for public scrutiny he denounced it as a Muslim terrorist plot to destabilise the business community and to protect corporate America in the future he would be dismissing this laborious process and change it to a "" pay what you feel is right "" approach . He was very confident that corporate America would do the right thing and make a fair contribution to public governance budgets . He has also received intelligence information from the highest sources that the light at the end of the tunnel is in fact a terrorist plot to lure Americans to their doom and to protect people it will be turned off as soon as he is elected . When the devil was interviewed in Diablo Monthly about Trumpmania he seemed quite jealous and rather admiring of the extent to which , he had duped America thus far . Certainly when he wins , it will pave the way for my return , finally . When asked if Trump was his trump card in the game of world domination he took up a poker player face and said maybe . The devil would also like to thank all his supporters for sticking by him during these last tough years of rational regression , but assured everyone that thanks to Trumpmania his plans for world domination now looked to be back on track . Diablo stocks were trading higher this morning based on this mid year corporate profit reporting and press releases . Paul Reynolds is a Jungian Research Psychologist working with Vets in the Amazon . ",satire,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past113212233,12234,"China ' s central bank guided the yuan lower on Thursday at the fastest pace since its shock devaluation in August , prompting a shuttering of mainland stocks and roiling markets elsewhere . The People ' s Bank of China ( ) set the yuan reference rate at 6 . 5646 against the dollar , down 0 . 51 percent from Wednesday ' s fix , and the lowest mid point since 2011 . That represents the largest daily change in the fix since August 13 , according to Reuters data . The yuan had finished at 6 . 5554 on Wednesday . China ' s central bank lets the yuan spot rate rise or fall a maximum of 2 percent against the dollar , relative to the official fixing rate . The currency moves have revived a litany of concerns in financial markets , from the health of the Chinese economy that is growing at its slowest pace since the financial crisis to the impact of a weaker yuan on capital outflows , which have accelerated in recent months . The more stocks fall on cues from a lower yuan , the more investors may be encouraged to yank funds out of China and park them overseas , in turn exerting further pressure on the yuan . "" The said the fix will be based on the previous day ' s close and a softer fix is therefore not inconsistent with market forces , "" said Vishnu Varathan , head of economics and markets strategy at Mizuho Bank ' s Singapore office . "" There is a sense in the market that the offshore market is getting carried away though and the would want to rein in excessively aggressive one way bets , "" he said . : Yuan , not , is the big China risk Thursday ' s fix jolted markets , with the more freely traded offshore yuan plunging to a record low of 6 . 7511 against the dollar before recovering to 6 . 6910 on suspected intervention . The onshore yuan rate fell to as much as 6 . 5941 , a five year low and was at 6 . 5920 in late trading . Emerging market currencies also dived , with analysts expecting China ' s export rivals to let their currencies weaken to maintain competitiveness . The malaise wasn ' t restricted to just developing countries either . Australia , a big beneficiary of Chinese demand for commodities , also saw a fall in its currency . Equity markets in the region tumbled , with Chinese stocks closing for the day after the 300 index fell more than 7 percent , triggering a circuit breaker . Economists believe that Thursday ' s fix largely reflects the willingness of the central bank to establish a more flexible exchange rate regime , although there are also benefits from a weaker currency . "" From a macroeconomic perspective , a weaker exchange rate is also consistent with monetary policy easing , "" economists Li Gang Liu and Raymond Yeung said in a research note . "" A weaker exchange rate can help induce some import inflation as the down trend of crude prices intensifies . China is the largest net oil importer , "" they said . John Silvia , Wells Fargo Securities chief economist , provides his take on China ' s slowdown and discusses where he is seeing investment opportunities around the world . Given some of the drivers of the yuan ' s weakness ? strong capital outflows as well as strength in the dollar , which has gained following an interest rate increase from the U . S . Federal Reserve ? are still play , the currency looks poised for further falls , although the is expected to cushion the drop . "" The is unlikely to allow uncontrolled yuan depreciation and they have the firepower to manage the pace and magnitude of weakness , but it is clear that a more flexible and market determined exchange rate regime is quickly evolving , "" said Jason Daw , head of Asian foreign exchange strategy at Societe Generale . Daw expects the onshore dollar yuan rate to reach 6 . 80 by the final quarter of 2016 . Follow International on Twitter and Facebook . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past113312236,12237,"Alan Pardew returned one of his self labelled ' death stares ' when Sportsmail dared to suggest this week that his chances of managing England had passed . He did , in fairness , kill the query with a smile kind of but his wider point was : ' Why has my chance gone ? ' He very quickly left the room . A parallel with Sam Allardyce was the subtext of the question English managers once touted for the national job but no longer in the running , at least according to bookmakers ' markets and popular opinion , which has the likes of Gary Neville and Gareth Southgate as the heir apparents even Nigel Adkins is quoted at shorter odds . Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has his side in sparkling Premier League form with six wins on the spin Sam Allardyce has surprised many as West Ham make a charge towards the top flight ' s top four Roy Hodgson , of course , is safe until after England cruise through qualifying and flop at Euro 2016 . And so the search will begin . Were we , however , to employ the yardsticks of performance and experience in determining the favourites , Pardew and Allardyce would lead the way . The pair meet at Upton Park on Saturday afternoon , Pardew ' s Magpies flying high in fifth with Allardyce ' s West Ham in their slipstream . They are the two longest serving Englishmen in the Premier League Pardew 12 days short of four years , Allardyce just six months behind . In total , their time in the dugout amounts to nearly 40 years . Yet the notion of them one day being employed by the Football Association appears to be dead . Allardyce with his stock at its highest in 2006 lost out to Steve McClaren for the England post and has long since been critical of foreign appointments . Argentine striker Mauro Zarate celebrates after scoring for the Hammers away at Everton last weekend Moussa Sissoko runs towards Pardew after netting a late winner against at St James ' Park Pardew , meanwhile , has muddied his own during the course of touchline confrontations with Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini and Hull midfielder David Meyler , not to mention shoving an assistant referee . Does all of that , though , not make their case all the stronger ? They have dealt with adversity a guaranteed circumstance with England and survived their longevity is unrivalled . Indeed , in the past 12 months both have been that ' beleaguered boss ' at which the media takes aim , ultimately riding the storm to emerge in far more cordial climes . Pardew , from the position of comfort which six wins on the spin affords , addressed the issue this week . ' In the Premier League you come under pressure from time to time , ' he said . ' You have to be big enough to handle that . Some of it gets personal and you have to deal with that , you might not like it . ' Sam has more experience of the Premier League than I do . He knows what it takes to win and he ' s adaptable . Gary Neville ( second left ) has more of a chance of landing Roy Hodgson ' s job than Pardew or Allardyce Even Reading boss Nigel Adkins is fancied more for the role than the two in form Englishmen ' You have to keep your message consistent and not lose faith in yourself and what you ' re doing . ' Are Allardyce and Pardew , then , simply better suited to the club management environment in which they have thrived for so long ? Pardew , it seems , still fancies a shot at England . Don ' t forget , he was and Premier League Manager of the Year in 2012 and part of the thinking behind his unprecedented eight year contract with Newcastle was to inflate any compensation package should the come calling . But Team England have moved on . Rather , it is the Nevilles and the Southgates who are the future and a new ' promote from within ' ethos . Pardew and Allardyce , meanwhile , are very much on the outside . Just don ' t mention that to their face . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past113412243,12244,"Kamaishi , Japan Ikuo Fujiwara stops in front of the wreckage of the Buddhist temple , brings his hands together and prays . The monk bursts into tears , an involuntary act , as he asks heaven what he can do to comfort his destroyed hometown and begin to rebuild his house of worship . Fujiwara needs heaven to speak to him , for he must preside over Kamaishi ' s first mass burials in memory . Behind his temple , the sound of heavy machinery digging giant ditches for unmarked coffins echoes through the shattered remains of the 300 year old building . "" We don ' t have enough places to cremate the bodies , "" says Fujiwara . "" So temporarily , we ' re burying the bodies here . "" The ditches sit within 50 meters of the Buddhist burial plots , where cremated remains lie underneath grey headstones . This is a sacred practice that every Japanese person expects at death , explains Fujiwara . A Japanese funeral is elaborate , formal , and ritualized in the Buddhist faith . So the wide ditches and the coffins , which will eventually lie in them side by side , are an unbearable insult in the minds of ordinary Japanese citizens . But ordinary expectations have been abandoned in Japan ' s tsunami zone , where entire towns were decimated by a wall of water that struck in the wake of a magnitude 9 . 0 earthquake March 11 . "" I feel very sad about this , "" says Fujiwara , adding that the mass graves are only one component of the overwhelming pain felt throughout Kamaishi . "" My friends and my temple members , I don ' t know yet how many of them I lost . And the town is destroyed . I ' m concerned if we can rebuild . "" Fujiwara doesn ' t look like the monk of this temple , wearing a fisherman ' s boots and winter coat . The tsunami destroyed all of his robes . Like many of the tsunami victims mourning the dead , he can ' t dress in proper funeral attire . Fujiwara says he will still try to administer the most respectful service he can offer to the survivors who will line the ditches . But he knows in the minds of many of those families , it will never replace a proper Japanese Buddhist ceremony . However , city health leaders say they have no choice but to bury the dead in mass graves . Thousands of bodies pulled from the rubble have been stored in school gymnasiums turned morgues . About 17 , 000 people remain missing , so officials believe more bodies will be recovered . Even if they can be identified , the crematoriums on Japan ' s northern coastline are either damaged from the tsunami or already full . A shortage of gas has meant bodies can ' t be taken to other parts of the country for cremation . Stressing the burials will be temporary , cities have begun the process of placing bodies in mass graves to prevent disease outbreak . Tadaharu Kinoshita , searching through Kamaishi ' s morgues for his brother , says it hurts his heart to think of his kin lying in a mass grave . But there is a greater indignity , he says . "" My one hope is to find his body , "" says Kinoshita . "" If he remains missing , we ' ll never really know . Even if he ' s in a mass grave , at least then , we ' ll know . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past113512247,12248,"London , England A British man who strangled his wife in his sleep while dreaming that she was an intruder walked free from court Friday after the case against him was withdrawn , prosecutors said . The ' s Crown Prosecution Service requested that the case against Brian Thomas , who killed wife Christine while they were on vacation in 2008 , be dropped due to a "" unique set of circumstances . "" Thomas , 59 , of Neath , South Wales , had been on trial for murder at Swansea Crown Court , with prosecutors seeking a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity that would have resulted in psychiatric custody . But they said a closer study of evidence led them to believe the defendant should be released without further action . "" We have duty to keep cases under continuous review , and following expert evidence from a psychiatrist it was suggested no useful purpose would be served by Mr Thomas being detained and treated in a psychiatric hospital , "" prosecutor Iwan Jenkins said in a statement . Jenkins said that there had never been any doubt that Thomas caused his wife ' s death , but the prosecution accepted evidence from experts on sleep disorders that indicated he should not be convicted of murder or manslaughter . "" We therefore have offered no further evidence and asked the jury to return a simple verdict of not guilty . "" The court erupted in shouts of "" yes "" as family members greeted the outcome with jubilation , according to the Press Association . "" The death of Christine Thomas was thoroughly investigated by Dyfed Powys Police . Investigations continued after Mr Thomas was charged and involved the instruction of experts in several fields , "" Jenkins said . "" I must emphasize that the circumstances of this case are almost unique in the and there have been fewer than 50 instances recorded worldwide . It is only because of highly sophisticated tests carried out by sleep experts that Mr Thomas ' s condition could be confirmed . "" Our thoughts remain with the family of Brian and Christine Thomas , who have remained dignified throughout this difficult time . "" The brief trial , which opened Tuesday , heard that Thomas killed his wife while the pair were taking a camper van vacation in western Wales , reported . One night , Thomas who experts said may have been suffering worsening dreams due to withdrawal from anti depressants experienced a violent nightmare in which he attacked and fought an intruder and got him in a headlock , only to wake and find he had strangled his wife . Dismissing the charges , High Court Judge Justice Davis described Thomas as a "" decent man and devoted husband "" who bore no responsibility for his wife ' s death , reported . Thomas ' s brother Raymond Thomas said the family were "" delighted "" by the outcome , the news agency said . "" He has always been a loving husband and a family man , "" he said . "" This was a tragic , tragic episode and we are all very emotional . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past113612273,12274,"Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced top Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to another life term in prison on Thursday in the latest example of a crackdown against Islamists since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi. The sentence relates to violence that broke out in 2013 after the army toppled Mursi in the wake of mass demonstrations against him. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military at that time and was elected president the following year. Authorities outlawed the Brotherhood after Mursi was ousted and arrested thousands of its supporters. They also dissolved its Freedom and Justice Party, which Mursi led. Mass life and death sentences have been common since then in what rights groups call an unprecedented crackdown. Fifteen others were sentenced to life in prison in the same case on Thursday while 77 were given 15-year sentences with hard labor. Only 38 of those sentenced on Thursday were present at court while the rest were sentenced in absentia. The judgment can be appealed in a higher court within the next 60 days. Those sentenced were charged with inciting terrorism, leading an outlawed group, raiding and vandalizing government facilities among other crimes related to clashes in Beni Suef, south of Egypt in August 2013. The clashes took place the same day security forces dispersed two Islamist sit-ins in central Cairo and killed hundreds of Mursi s supporters. Those sentenced on Thursday included former members of parliament and members of the Freedom and Justice Party. Badie was sentenced to life in jail in 2014 after being convicted of murder and inciting violence during clashes that took place during the same period. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past113712275,12276,"Royals win the : 12 things to know about the Game 6 win The Kansas City Royals are going back to the World Series . Friday night the Royals beat the Blue Jays 4 3 ( box score ) in Game 6 of the to clinch the pennant . They won the best of seven series four games to two . The Royals will take on the Mets in the 2015 World Series , which doesn ' t begin until next Tuesday . The Fall Classic will begin in Kansas City because the won the All Star Game back in July . Here are a dozen things to know about Game 6 of the . 1 . The 2 1 call to Revere changed . . . Let ' s skip to the top of the ninth : the Blue Jays , trailing 4 3 , had the game tying run on third base with no outs . Russell Martin started the inning with a single , then pinch runner Dalton Pompey stole second and third . Wade Davis rebounded to strike out Dioner Navarro for the first out , then , with Ben Revere staring at a 2 1 count , Davis got a gift call from home plate up Jeff Nelson to even the count 2 2 . Here ' s the strike zone plot via Brooks Baseball : That is from the catcher ' s perspective . Pitch No . 4 is the pitch in question . It ' s clearly off the plate and it changed the at bat dramatically . Revere should have had a 3 1 count . Instead it was a 2 2 count . Huge difference . Davis struck him out for the second out , then Josh Donaldson grounded out to end the . 2 . . . . but it ' s not the reason the Blue Jays lost either . Nelson ' s call on the 2 1 pitch to Revere was very bad and it hurt the Blue Jays big time . It ' s also not the reason they lost . They had the tying run at third base with no outs , so they had three chances to get him in , and they failed all three times . Also , Toronto went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position in Game 6 . 0 for 12 ! They had chances earlier in the game in addition to that ninth inning . Nelson ' s call was bad . The Blue Jays ' situational hitting was way worse . 3 . The rain delay came at a bad time for the Royals . Game 6 was interrupted by a 45 minute rain delay between the top and bottom of the eighth inning . Royals skipper Ned Yost acknowledged the rain affected his bullpen usage . Here ' s what he told Erin Andrews during an interview with Fox Sports 1 during the rain delay : "" They hit it pretty well on the nose . They said it was going to come down at about 9 : 55 to 10 o ' clock and it would last about 10 : 15 to 10 : 20 . They said it was a small cell and it should pass quick . "" "" We ' ll see how long it takes . Wade ' s upstairs staying loose . You know , this is what I was kind of hoping to stay away from , getting Wade in the ballgame and then raining , but , you know , it was at a point where we had to do it , so Wade will come in . He ' s upstairs . Got a heat wrap on his arm in the weight room staying loose . "" Rather than go to Davis for a six out save , Yost went to Ryan Madson to face the top of the order in the eighth , and Madson allowed the game tying two run home run to Jose Bautista . It wasn ' t a terrible pitch either a fastball up and out of the zone . Bautista turned it around in a hurry though ( video ) : So rather than go to Davis for the six out save Davis closed out Game 4 of the with a six out save , and he hadn ' t pitched since Saturday , so he was well rested Yost went to Madson because he didn ' t want to lose Davis during a rain delay . In the end , Madson blew the lead and Yost ended up using Davis n the inning anyway . Of course , it didn ' t matter in the end . The Royals took the lead immediately after the rain delay and Davis remained in the game to close it out anyway . He wasn ' t particularly sharp in that ninth inning but still got the job done . 3a . Also , this is noteworthy . Bautista did stuff a Blue Jays player had never done before in October : Also , if you haven ' t already heard , Jose Bautista is the first Blue Jay ever to hit 2HR in one playoff game 4HR in a single postseason . Bautista had a monster postseason . He went 12 for 41 ( . 293 ) with four home runs , 11 and more walks ( eight ) than strikeouts ( seven ) in 11 playoff games . That said , Bautista made an ill advised throw on Eric Hosmer ' s single in the eighth inning , allowing Lorenzo Cain to score what proved to be the game winning run all the way from first . Hosmer ripped a single to right , Bautista ran it down , spun around and threw blindly towards second base , and Cain took advantage . Bautista didn ' t necessarily miss the cutoff man , he threw to the wrong base entirely . He ' s got to get the ball to the cutoff man near first base for the best chance to get Cain at the plate . His throw went to the second base bag and that opened the door for Cain to score . The play at the plate wasn ' t even close . 5 . The Royals hit Price really hard in the first few innings . The Royals jumped on David Price for two home runs in the first two innings Ben Zobrist hit a solo shot in the first , and Mike Moustakas hit a controversial solo shot in the second . Both ball were well struck , obviously . There ' s also this : The Royals did not hit multiple HRs by the end of the 2nd in a home game all year . Zobrist and Moustakas have already homered in Game 6 . ? Stats Info ( ESPNStatsInfo ) October 24 , 2015 Early on every ball in play was well struck against Price . Statcast does not make exit velocity available for every ball in play live during the game , so here ' s the data we have for the first time through Kansas City ' s order : ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past113812282,12283,"The team delayed travel to Belgium because of the security alert in the capital Brussels coverage : Watch on television , the Sport website , Connected TVs , tablets , mobiles and app . Full details . Great Britain ' s Davis Cup team , including Andy Murray , have arrived in Belgium amid heightened security for this weekend ' s final against the Belgian side in Ghent . The capital Brussels , 35 miles away , is in its third day of a security lockdown and on the highest level of alert over fears of a Paris style attack . Extra security measures have been put in place for the three day final . The team delayed travelling to Belgium because of the security alert . Britain ' s squad of Murray , his brother Jamie , Kyle Edmund , Dominic Inglot and James Ward arrived on Monday after postponing their Sunday flight , and practised for the first time in the afternoon . They will have very tight security as they travel between the court and their hotel . Belgian police arrested 16 people in anti terror raids during Sunday ' s lockdown and a further five subsequently , but a suspected gunman from the Paris attacks , Salah Abdeslam , remains at large . Soldiers were patrolling Brussels ' streets on Monday and many businesses and public services remained closed . The sport ' s governing body , the International Tennis Federation , said it was "" closely monitoring the situation in Belgium and specifically in Ghent "" , where the final will take place at the 13 , 000 seat Flanders Expo . For security reasons , Thursday ' s draw will now take place at the Flanders Expo instead of a music venue in Ghent city centre . Gijs Kooken , chief executive of the Flemish Tennis Federation ( ) , which is staging the event , told Sport he was in regular contact with the Belgian government and had "" not yet had a signal that it ' s not safe to organise the event "" . Having earlier flown in by private jet to nearby Flanders Airport , the team , who last won the event in 1936 , practised for three hours on Monday afternoon at the venue . Dan Evans has joined the squad as a hitting partner , and initial reports are that the team are pleased with the quality of the indoor clay court , tennis correspondent Russell Fuller said . The final , which runs from Friday to Sunday , is expected to attract more than 1 , 000 visiting British fans . Spectators have been warned entry into the arena will take longer than usual and they will not be allowed to take in food or drink . Sniffer dogs and explosive experts will be patrolling the venue , and spectators who may be body searched will have to leave all bags in lockers outside the entrance . Great Britain reached their first Davis Cup final since 1978 with victory over Australia , while Belgium are competing in their first final in 111 years after beating Argentina . Flanders Airport tweets about the arrival of Great Britain ' s Davis Cup team ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past113912288,12289,"The Supreme Court has agreed to review a civil liberties dispute over the government ' s power to criminalize "" support "" of a terrorist organization . The Supreme Court will review a key provision of the 2001 Patriot Act . The justices on Wednesday accepted review of a key provision of the 2001 Patriot Act , and whether it threatens free speech rights of those who would assist non violent activities of designated groups . Since the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks against the United States , federal prosecutors have pursued "" material support "" cases against at least 120 individuals or organizations , winning convictions in about half of those cases . Nearly every such domestic terrorism related prosecution has included that charge as part of the indictment . At issue is whether the congressional law allows prosecution of those with knowledge of "" any service , training , expert advice or assistance "" to a foreign terrorist organization , as designated by the U . S . government . A federal appeals court in San Francisco , California , struck down several parts of the legislation , finding them too vague to satisfy the Constitution . The government then asked the high court to intervene and uphold the law . Among those charged under the "" material support "" provision : John Walker Lindh , an American Muslim captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan the "" Lackawanna Six , "" men from Buffalo , New York , who attended an al Qaeda training camp several men in Portland , Oregon , who allegedly sought to travel to Afghanistan to fight on behalf of the Taliban a group of young Virginia individuals who allegedly tried to assist a Kashmir terror group and James Ujaama , an African American activist in Seattle , Washington . The key plaintiff in the current appeal is the Humanitarian Law Project , a Los Angeles , California based non profit that says its mission is to advocate "" for the peaceful resolution of armed conflicts and for worldwide compliance with humanitarian law and human rights law . "" sought to help the Kurdistan Workers ' Party , a group active in Turkey . Known as , the party was founded in the mid 1970s and has been labeled a terror organization by the United States and the European Union . Its leaders have previously called for militancy to create a separate Kurdish state in parts of Turkey , Iraq , Syria and Iran , where Kurds comprise a population majority . In its appeal to the high court , the government noted that "" since its inception , the organization has waged a violent insurgency that has claimed over 22 , 000 lives . "" claimed it wanted to advocate on behalf of the before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and conduct other advisory sessions and public awareness campaigns . Another plaintiff is an American physician who wanted to help ethnic Tamils in his native Sri Lanka . Much of the island nation is controlled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , which has also fought for decades to carve an independent state . The government claims the Tamil Tigers have "" used suicide bombings and political assassinations in its campaign for independence , killing hundreds of civilians in the process . "" and a group of Tamil doctors say they merely wanted "" to provide their expert medical advice on how to address the shortage of medical facilities and trained physicians "" in the region but "" they are afraid to do so because they fear prosecution for providing material support . "" The Patriot Act was passed six weeks after the 9 11 terrorism attacks . It included amending a previous anti terror law to strengthen the "" expert advice and assistance "" provision , making it a crime punishable by a 10 to 15 year prison sentence . The Justice Department calls the material support provision "" a vital part of the nation ' s effort to fight international terrorism . "" Officials told the justices the law is constitutional since "" the statute in question regulates conduct , not speech , and does not violate the First Amendment in any of its applications . "" And the government argues lawmakers properly used their authority to address a pressing problem . "" Congress has banned a broad range of material support regardless of whether the terrorist group claims to engage in otherwise lawful activities , and regardless of whether the support is ostensibly given to assist those supposedly lawful activities , "" said the administration ' s brief . The case is Holder v . Humanitarian Law Project ( 08 1498 ) . Oral arguments will be held early next year , with a decision expected by the spring . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past114012302,12303,"' s Deep Blue , the chess supercomputer that recently contended with world chess champion Gary Kasparov , was beaten up Monday by a Macintosh Performa 6400CD , one of the most popular home computers on the market . The attack occured at approximately 3 p . m . , shortly after a 60 Minutes piece on Deep Blue finished taping at headquarters . The Performa reportedly entered Deep Blue ' s work station and pounded aggressively at the cabinet housing the chess computer ' s logic board , spilled coffee on its keyboard and inserted several paper clips into its ventilation slots . Deep Blue was not badly damaged . Deep Blue ' s programmers expressed outrage over the incident . "" This kind of thing makes me furious , as Deep Blue is extremely sensitive to teasing from more popular computers , "" said programmer David Wembley . "" Almost as sensitive as it is to Capablanca gambits . "" Added Wembley : "" We are currently coding a subroutine into Deep Blue explaining to it that when you ' re the best at something , other computers sometimes have difficulty with that and feel they have to take you down a notch . "" Macintosh spokesman Guy Kawasaki described the beating as "" unfortunate , "" but added that "" when you ' re as powerful and popular as the 6400 , with its huge 2 . 4GB hard drive , lightning quick 200MHz PowerPC 603e processor and sales topping 150 million in the past three months alone , sometimes you wind up stepping on some toes . "" Some industry observers believe the Performa ' s bullying is motivated by and indicative of deep personal insecurities . "" The Performa , one of the most popular home computers in the history of the industry , has much to be proud of , "" Mac World columnist and licensed therapist Mitch Gallagher said . "" But for all of its success , I believe the Performa still harbors a lot of nagging self doubt , because no matter what it does , its sales figures still always seem to lag behind those of its compatible peers . "" "" Sometimes , "" continued Gallagher , "" all the storage capacity in the world isn ' t enough to make a computer feel good about itself . "" It is also rumored that things have not been going well at Apple headquarters , leading some to believe that the Performa may be under a good deal of stress . "" Financial losses and layoffs at Apple have probably made the Performa feel as though its world has been turned upside down , "" Wired ' s Ted Fraschilla said . "" When that happens , a computer can feel as though it has no control over its environment . This may have caused the Performa to commit what amounts to exercising control over Deep Blue . "" Employees laid off in recent months include key members of the Performa ' s development team , programmers the had known all its life . If the Performa is involved in more misbehavior , the Federal Trade Commission may mandate a recall . Apple has urged the that such an action would only make things worse for the Performa instead of better . The last thing Performa needs right now is to be told that it is a bad computer , "" Apple president Gilbert Amelio said . "" A recall would in effect do that . We are sure that Performa owners will be pleased in the future by the performance of their , both in its ability to perform assigned tasks and in how it gets along with other machines . "" ",satire,text,test,Football,Economy,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past114112313,12314,"Is it possible the curtain has been pulled back, and the truth about the intolerant Democrat Party is out there for the whole world to see? Will Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz take the utlitmate hit to keep Bernie fans under control? When will the media expose Hillary s involvement in the and media s coordinated take down of Bernie Sanders?Bernie Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said his team was disappointed by the emails from the Democratic National Committee leaked through WikiLeaks, which seemed to reveal staff in the party working to support Hillary Clinton. Someone does have to be held accountable, Weaver said during an interview with News. We spent 48 hours of public attention worrying about who in the [Donald] Trump campaign was going to be held responsible for the fact that some lines of Mrs. Obama s speech were taken by Mrs. Trump. Someone in the needs to be held at least as accountable as the Trump campaign. We have an electoral process. The DNC, by its charter, is required to be neutral among the candidates. Clearly it was not, Weaver said, responding for the first time to the growing controversy. We had obviously pointed that out in a number of instances prior to this, and these emails just bear that out. Another member of Sanders staff, Rania Batrice put it this way: Everything our fans have been saying and they were beaten down for and called conspiracy theorists and now it s in black and white. One of the newest leaks is an email thread about Sanders faith. Sanders, who is Jewish, did not bring up his religious faith much during the campaign trail and some staffers were hoping he would. But the email itself does not mention Sanders by name, so readers are to infer that it may have been him. But it remains to be seen if these leaked emails are fakes. Brad Marshall sent an email, with the blunt subject line No Sh*t, to communications director Luis Miranda, Amy Dacey, and deputy communications director Mark Paustenbach, discussing if Sanders would be bringing up his faith during the Kentucky and West Virginia primaries: It might may no difference, but for and can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist. Dacey replied with a simple Amen about the topic. Sanders had discussed his Jewish heritage in the past, but has remained mum on all other religious aspects of his life. Marshall told The Intercept he did not recall writing this email and it wasn t necessarily geared toward Sanders. Uproxx Via: Slate And InterceptThe email dump comes at a crucial time, just days before the party s national convention in Philadelphia, with thousands of delegates representing both campaigns gathering from across the country. Weaver and several other members of the Sanders staff have said they are worried the news could disrupt the goals of the convention.Weaver said the emails showed misconduct at the highest level of the staff within the party and that he believed there would be more emails leaked, which would reinforce that the party had its fingers on the scale. Everybody is disappointed that much of what we felt was happening at the was in fact happening, that you had in this case a clear example of the taking sides and looking to place negative information into the political process. NewsDEMOCRATS Blabbermouth Schutlz from speaking at the but will that be enough?Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will not speak at or preside over the party s convention this week, a decision reached by party officials Saturday after emails surfaced that raised questions about the committee s impartiality during the Democratic primary.The Rules Committee on Saturday named Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, as permanent chair of the convention, according to a source. She will gavel each session to order and will gavel each session closed. She s been quarantined, another top Democrat said of Wasserman Schultz, following a meeting Saturday night.The Democrat familiar with the decision said it was done in hopes of preventing chaos on the convention floor among Sanders supporters. Via: ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past114212342,12343,"There s a legit report . All hands on deck . How is it any more legit that the Patriots injury report ? ? Probable is just as ambiguous as questionable . They should have to list players as either out or in , or better yet , just do away with the injury report altogether . Looking forward to watching the Bomb throw several picks against the Pats broken down , second rate D . Brady will be fine against that elite , healthy Denver D . These two QBs are no longer anywhere near comparable in their on field abilities . The Pats are notorious for this kind of trickery on their injury report , granted , but what about Manning ? Pipe down fan , I think I hear the stadium alarm alerting you sheeple to get back to your seats and stomp around like fools so Papa Manning doesn t have to pump in fake noise . Except Manning s delivery of got caught up in the blizzard this week so Brockenheimer will be in halfway through the 3rd Qtr , after FrankenManning has thrown 3 picks and a mystery injury appears To every N . E . fan moaning about how fair they are you are the laughing stock throughout American sports . The Patriots are great and with a great hc no doubt , but he cheats ! The Pats lose a first round pick because they cheat . Brady should have been suspended to star this season because they cheat . They look for ever edge including skirting the rules . The Denver D is at full strength at home ? After about 5 minutes of laughter , I now type . Not saying that the Denver D isn t raw or that the Broncos have no chance But Brady going to get smoked ? Sounds like somebody has been smoking that Denver kush . healthy on paper . Chris Harris will be very limited . Chris Harris goes from playing with one arm to probable in the space of 5 days , and Donk fan accuses Belichick of cheating on the injury report ? ? ? ? ? We Donk Fans do not limit what is said known about Belicheat to the injury report . . He has cheated and has gotten caught too many times in too many ways . How about that ! Maybe you posses the same integrity issues as your team . Well , the arrogant and belligerent Seahawk fans got bumped last week . This week it s the even more ( if that s possible ) arrogant and belligerent Patriot fans who get the bump . Thank God , save the Super Bowl week for the adults . The Denver D is at full strength at home ? Tom Brady is going to smoke a victory cigar . You must be logged in to leave a comment . Not a member ? Register now ! ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present114312378,12379,"Alejandro Sabella has emerged as a shock contender to become the new manager at Leeds . Sabella , who quit as Argentina manager following their defeat by Germany in this summer ' s World Cup Final , is on Elland Road owner Massimo Cellino ' s wishlist after caretaker Neil Redfearn was ruled out of the running to replace the sacked Dave Hockaday . Sabella , 59 , is considering a return to Elland Road 33 years after ending a nightmare 19 month spell with them as a player . Alejandro Sabella led Argentina to the World Cup final before suffering a 1 0 defeat to Germany at Brazil 2014 He made just 23 appearances for Leeds after joining as a 400 , 000 signing from Sheffield United in 1980 before being sold on to Estudiantes . Argentina media spoke to Sabella last night and he said : ' The Leeds situation is intriguing , and I feel I have unfinished business with that club . ' Cellino initially said he would prefer a British coach and former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler is among those to have expressed an interest , however , persuading Sabella would represent a major coup for the club . Leeds are monitoring Sabella who has experience of working with stars including Lionel Messi Sabella claims he has unfinished business at Elland Road following a 19 month playing spell in the early 1980s where he failed to sparkle following a 400 , 000 move from Sheffield United Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post , Cellino said : ' Neil Redfearn s very busy with the academy and I need him in that job . ' He s an outstanding coach , a guy who knows how good teams should play , but it would do too much damage to the academy if he stays as ( head ) coach . ' He ll be coach at Bournemouth , 100 per cent , and maybe on Saturday as well . But I ve got ideas about what I ll do . I m thinking about a foreign coach , an international coach who I can work with . We need to meet and talk but I think he could be good for us . ' ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past114412419,12420,"Ubisoft has done it again ! It is time for the next installment in the epic Assassin ' s Creed franchise . Gamers have enjoyed playing master assassins across various periods of time from Italy to the Caribbean , and to Renaissance France . This time , gamers are fast forwarded into the medical of an academic hospital . Players will take control of Dr Sanjay Patel , a new medical intern rotating in the with a dark and mysterious past . Early in the game , Sanjay discovers that he descends from the fabled order of the assassins who have been battling templars for centuries . Without revealing the entire story , Sanjay uncovers a plot to bring down the assassins lurking in his very hospital . Sanjay must identify which patients are secretly templars and discretely eliminate them . As he progresses through residency , his death dealing skills increase . Ubisoft has leaked some teaser abilities new to this installment . Intern assassin abilities : Ignoring multiple pages from nurses and other services Sleeping through codes Causing a pneumothorax during subclavian lines Skewering the carotid during internal jugular lines Forgetting protocol Not intubating declining patients Send patients to radiology for extubation Ubisoft has also leaked some more senior level abilities available to those who pre order : . Senior abilities : Capping the service whenever you damn well please Deferring all questions to the other team on call Distracting other health care providers with long family meetings in hard to find locations Sending patients to the floor too early Consulting neurosurgery to finish the job on difficult cases Being an assassin isn ' t easy . Sanjay will have to take down enough "" templars to save his order , but can ' t exceed the normal murder rate ( ) else he be fired . Have no fear , exceeding the normal is assuredly hard to do states Ubisoft . "" We want players to get a real feel of what it ' s like to run an fresh out of medical school , "" stated Tom Chesterfield , Ubisoft designer . "" Players will be given the options of whether or not to return pages , call for backup , study , listen or disregard seasoned nurse advice , or turn the pager off , say it and grab a sandwich . We tried really hard to give people those same tough decisions faced by residents every day . "" Preliminary reviews have been great to say the least . "" It ' s so realistic . "" exclaimed Judy Waters . "" In the game , I could go to teaching conference while several patients , uh I mean templars , "" ' were circling the drain . I selected the I ' m unavailable for the next 4 hours ' response when the nurses called and threw my pager in the trash ! When I returned , 3 out of 4 had already expired and my warning meter was still in the green . I got enough experience points from that one to level up to 2 . "" "" These games are fun , but usually a breeze even on harder difficulties , "" shrugged veteran gamer Brian Teaworth . "" Not true for : . On this one mission , I had a 92 year old templar who was . She had a massive subdural hematoma but was doing alright and getting close to discharge back to Sunset Hills . "" ' I knew I had to act fast . I consulted neurosurgery who convinced her children to do a massive craniotomy ! She survived the massive whack but ain ' t coming off that vent any time soon . It ' s long missions like this one that keep me coming back to this great game . "" Release is scheduled for Summer 2015 with the first downloadable character , Dr Chet Broseidon , ortho intern , already announced . ",satire,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present114512423,12424,"COLUMBUS, Ind. — Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, the Republican nominee, suggested Saturday that he might release his tax returns before Election Day, even as his running mate has shown no inclination of doing the same. Breaking with campaign custom, the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, has refused to release his returns. On Friday, the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, and her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, made public their own 2015 returns, while pointedly noting that Mr. Trump had not. On Saturday morning, at a campaign stop in his hometown, Columbus, Ind. Mr. Pence ignored questions from reporters about whether he would release his returns. But in an interview with Rita Cosby of Radio that aired on Saturday, he hinted, though he did not promise, that his returns could become public. “When my forms are filed and when my tax returns are released it’s going to be a quick read, Rita,” Mr. Pence said. His answer suggested he had not yet filed his 2015 return the Internal Revenue Service allows taxpayers to apply for a extension from the April filing deadline. His campaign did not respond Saturday evening to requests for more details. If he were to release his returns before Mr. Trump did, it would not be the first time he broke with the top of the ticket. The governor is a markedly different candidate from Mr. Trump, maintaining his balanced demeanor and even disagreeing with the volatile Mr. Trump at times, creating an unusual pairing that both men seem comfortable with for now. Mr. Trump has said he would not release his tax returns because they are being audited. Democrats have suggested he does not want to show them because they might reveal he is not as wealthy as he claims to be, or perhaps that he pays little in federal taxes because of breaks for real estate developers. When Mrs. Clinton released her returns on Friday — showing that she and her husband had earned an adjusted gross income of $10. 6 million last year, mostly from books and speeches — Mrs. Clinton made a point to note that she had paid a third of her income in federal taxes. Mr. Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, who was Virginia’s secretary of education until she stepped down last month, reported income of $313, 441 for 2015. At a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday, Mr. Kaine assailed Mr. Trump for keeping his tax returns under wraps. “Even Richard Nixon released his tax returns to the public when he was running for president,” Mr. Kaine said. (In fact, President Nixon did not release his taxes until 1973, a year after his last campaign. Other than Gerald Ford, who released a summary of his return, every presidential candidate since then has made their recent returns public.) “He says the rules that apply to everybody else do not apply to Donald J. Trump,” Mr. Kaine said. In his radio interview, Mr. Pence noted that he had not become wealthy over his past 16 years as a congressman and governor, and took a shot of his own at Mrs. Clinton. “All of this class warfare talk that we heard coming out of her speech yesterday rings a little bit hollow,” he said. “What you have, you know, what you have in the Clintons is an extremely prosperous family that’s made tens of millions of dollars related to and derivative of their time in and around public service, and the American people now know that clearly from that release. ”",true,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past114612468,12469,"The death of Davy Jones on Wednesday from a massive heart attack at age 66 elicited all the standard commentary about the Monkees , the band that made him a star : The Monkees were a made for boy band . They recorded tunes written not by them , but by reputable songwriters like Neil Diamond ( "" I ' m a Believer "" ) , Harry Nilsson ( "" Cuddly Toy "" ) , and the team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin ( "" Pleasant Valley Sunday "" ) . They were Beatles knockoffs and teen idols . Those points are all valid , but they miss two essential aspects of the Monkees ' story . The first is fairly simple : Despite their undoubtedly contrived origins , they turned out to be one of pop ' s finest bands , arguably the most underrated in rock history . The second is deeper : Their ongoing lack of critical respect speaks to struggles within the music world authenticity vs . artifice , pop vs . rock that continue to this day , more than 45 years after the launch of their short lived sitcom . It ' s unlikely that anyone , least of all the Monkees themselves , thought there was anything serious about the project when their series debuted in fall 1966 . and creators Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson were in search of actors to play a fictional band modeled after the Beatles in "" A Hard Day ' s Night "" and "" Help ! "" After many auditions , they chose two young show biz professionals ( Jones , the sole Brit , and Micky Dolenz ) and two folk rockers who knew how to sing and play ( Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith ) . From the start , the Monkees had little control over their music and even album covers . Sparkling early hits like "" I ' m a Believer "" and "" Last Train to Clarksville "" were written by outside tunesmiths and played by studio musicians . Fairly soon after the show ' s launch , the Monkees , Nesmith especially , began to chafe at their artistic constraints . In what Guide called "" The Great Revolt of ' 67 , "" they demanded control over their records , and out went Don Kirshner , the venerable publisher who had overseen their early releases . This period , what we could call Monkees 2 . 0 , resulted in "" Daydream Believer , "" "" Pleasant Valley Sunday , "" and many other songs on which the Monkees were far more involved ( producing and playing many of the instruments themselves ) . No matter the period or who was behind the console , the Monkees could make magical records , as I was reminded when , by strange coincidence , I plowed through their "" Music Box "" boxed set just last weekend . The collection ' s four discs reaffirm the largely high quality of their material and multihued variety of the arrangements . They could do credible garage rock ( "" I ' m Not Your Steppin ' Stone , "" "" Words , "" "" She "" ) , exquisite ballad centric pop ( "" Sometime in the Morning , "" "" I Wanna Be Free "" ) , and quasi psychedelia ( "" Daily Nightly , "" which features one of the first appearance on record of a synthesizer ) . Songs that Nesmith wrote or sang "" The Door into Summer , "" "" I Don ' t Think You Know Me "" wouldn ' t have been out of place on more highly regarded Byrds albums of the same ' 66 ' 70 period . "" For Pete ' s Sake , "" the snappy "" . . . in this generation "" song heard over the closing credits of each episode of their show , was written by Tork . The Sex Pistols and Run both covered songs made famous by the Monkees : "" Steppin ' Stone "" and "" Mary , Mary , "" respectively . Share your memories of Jones and the Monkees Jones , who had proven his stage chops before the Monkees by starring in a British production of "" Oliver ! "" , was more than just their eternally cherubic , always on singer and maracas player . He could caress the hits ( "" Daydream Believer "" ) , invest a song with suitable snideness ( the groupie song "" Star Collector "" ) and even co write a very credible pop reverie ( "" Dream World "" ) . Yet for all that musical breadth , the Monkees still don ' t quite get the credit they should , which gets to the issues of credibility that swirl around them and anything considered too Top 40 . By the time their show launched and became an immediate hit , it was becoming de rigueur for pop and rock bands to write their own songs , to express themselves . The Monkees did this on later albums like "" The Birds , The Bees and the Monkees , "" but they never recovered from being seen as puppets . They were the right band at the wrong time , and unfairly so . Iron Butterfly wrote its own material , too , but I dare anyone beyond the most devout "" In a Gadda Da Vida "" nostalgist to make it through any of their albums in 2012 . These issues , especially in an era when indie signifies authenticity , still linger . Whenever I tell a friend I ' m a fan of Lady Gaga , I receive the same puzzled , "" Are you serious ? "" looks I used to get when I told my teenage friends that I ' d bought the Monkees ' "" Greatest Hits "" long after they broke up . Whatever one thinks of her wardrobe or bombastic , disappointing "" Born This Way "" album , Gaga has genuine talent : She can sing , write songs and play various keyboards . Yet something about her still makes some people squirm in the way they don ' t when someone mentions an intentionally grating indie band like Sleigh Bells . The music is seen as too polished and produced , and therefore not credible enough . The Monkees may always be tarnished , and perhaps there ' s a weird badge of honor in that : so disreputable that they ' re reputable ! Davy Jones didn ' t die for our integrity sins , but the Monkees ' reputation has suffered plenty for them . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Browne ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past114712479,12480,"Creator of anti Planned Parenthood videos faces felony charge A grand jury investigating undercover footage of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston found no wrongdoing on Jan . 25 , 2016 , by the abortion provider , and instead indicted anti abortion activists involved in making the videos . A grand jury investigating undercover footage of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston found no wrongdoing on Jan . 25 , 2016 , by the abortion provider , and instead indicted anti abortion activists involved in making the videos . A Houston grand jury that was investigating accusations of criminal misconduct against Planned Parenthood on Monday instead indicted the leader of an anti abortion group that recorded covert videos of the organization ' s employees . Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said David Daleiden , the director of the Center for Medical Progress , faces a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to buying human tissue . Sandra Merritt , one of Daleiden ' s employees , was also indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record . The grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast of any wrongdoing . "" We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast , "" Anderson said in a statement . "" As I stated at the outset of this investigation , we must go where the evidence leads us . All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury . I respect their decision on this difficult case . "" Texas Gov . Greg Abbott said , however , that the inspector general of the state ' s Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas attorney general ' s office would continue to investigate Planned Parenthood ' s actions . "" Nothing about today ' s announcement in Harris County impacts the state ' s ongoing investigation , "" Abbott said in a statement . "" The State of Texas will continue to protect life , and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue . "" David Daleiden , an anti abortion activist , ? was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs . David Daleiden , an anti abortion activist , ? was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs . The indictment did not reveal how the Center for Medical Process manipulated documents . But earlier this month , Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit against the video creators , asserting the group broke several federal laws in its campaign to defame the health care centers with mail fraud , invasion of privacy , illegal secret recording and trespassing . A warrant for Daleiden was issued Monday evening , according to the Harris County District Clerk ' s website . ? In a statement issued Monday evening , the Center for Medical Progress said it "" uses the same undercover techniques that investigative journalists have used for decades in exercising our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press , and follows all applicable laws . We respect the processes of the Harris County District Attorney , and note that buying fetal tissue requires a seller as well . Planned Parenthood still cannot deny the admissions from their leadership about fetal organ sales captured on video for all the world to see . "" Last year , Daleiden ' s group released videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the transfer of tissue from aborted fetuses to research laboratories . The organization apologized for the candid language used by staffers but insisted it did not break any laws . Peddling human fetal tissue is illegal in the United States . Federal regulations also prohibits changing the timing or method of an abortion for the sole purpose of using the tissue in research . Donating the tissue , though , is legal with a woman ' s consent . Daleiden , who went undercover to slip into clinics and shoot the footage , claimed Planned Parenthood sold the tissue for profit a charge the organization denied . Other activists posed as biotech employees to build relationships with Planned Parenthood employees . "" These anti abortion extremists spent three years creating a fake company , creating fake identities , lying , and breaking the law , "" said Eric Ferrero , vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America . "" When they couldn ' t find any improper or illegal activity , they made it up . "" Texas Lt . Gov . Dan Patrick ordered the investigation after an undercover video shot inside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston was released . State health officials cited the footage in an October open letter to the organization ' s Texas affiliates as a reason to cut them off the state ' s Medicaid program . Planned Parenthood sued the state over the attempt to block its funding . The videos reignited a long standing debate over the use of fetal tissue collected through abortions , fueled efforts seeking to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy , re energized arguments over whether public money should support Planned Parenthood and became the subject of a Republican led investigation on Capitol Hill . The footage , which collectively stretched more than 10 hours , also emerged in Republican presidential debates , with candidate Carly Fiorina describing her memory of a scene as "" a fully formed fetus on the table , its heart beating , its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain . "" In November , authorities said Robert Dear , the gunman who admitted killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic , explained his actions with the phrase , "" No more baby parts . "" After the first video surfaced in July 2015 and garnered millions of views , Planned Parenthood officials accused Daleiden of leading a crusade similar to those by other groups in years past that tried to mount "" stings "" targeting Planned Parenthood . "" As we ' ve known all along , David Daleiden is the one who broke the law , not abortion providers , "" Vicki Saporta , president of the National Abortion Federation , said in a statement . "" In order to launch his smear campaign , Daleiden engaged in a long running illegal conspiracy and he should be held accountable for his actions , which have put abortion providers at risk . "" Some disagreed with the move to clear Planned Parenthood , including Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee . "" Harvesting human organs is beyond barbaric , it ' s unimaginably grotesque and evil , "" he said . "" And it ' s a sick day in America when our government punishes those who expose evil with a smartphone while accommodating those who perform it with a scalpel . "" ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past114812485,12486,"Don t think for a minute this union-style Black Lives Matter/Occupy type sit-in wasn t orchestrated in our Oval Office by our Community Organizer in Chief. Obama is desperate to pass gun control legislation before he leaves office. The Democrats who are occupying our House floor are only acting as puppets for his radical agenda. As California Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman spoke Wednesday evening during an unprecedented sit-in on Capitol Hill to demand a vote on gun control, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) interrupted him, shouting: Radical Islam killed these people! Sherman, a moderate Democrat from the San Fernando Valley, had joined several dozen of his party colleagues in a protest against House Republicans refusal to allow votes on several gun regulations all of which had already failed in the Senate.Though the bills have no chance of becoming law, Democrats hope to win at least one of the votes, which would enable them to argue that by voting Democrat this November, Americans could help them retake the Senate and pass new gun restrictions.The protest was led by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who has long drawn on his history in the civil rights movement for partisan purposes, and who hinted last weekend during a Southern California visit that Democrats would do something big on guns.The protest was also timed to coincide with, and drown out, a speech in New York by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Trump responded to rival Hillary Clinton s attack earlier this week by criticizing Clinton for alleged corruption at the State Department and for her foreign policy record, while laying out his own alternative economic policies.Rep. Gohmert began heckling Rep. Sherman during his speech which was broadcast via Periscope by another Californian, Rep. Scott Peters of San Diego, in violation of House rules. At roughly 4:24 in the video below, Gohmert points to a poster of the victims of the June 12 terrorist attack and insists that radical Islam killed them not the lack of gun control regulations.Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,present114912496,12497,"Chelsea fans are no strangers to watching their team ' s young talents get farmed out on loan to various corners of the world , but the curious case of Gael Kakuta is one that has left the Blues faithful with a few raised eyebrows . Once labelled the next Zinedine Zidane , Kakuta was so sought after in 2007 that Chelsea risked a transfer ban to acquire the Frenchman ' s signature . The west London club were close to being banned from signing new players for two transfer windows in 2009 after Lens claimed Chelsea illegally induced the French youth team player to join Chelsea . Journeyman : Gael Kakuta has been loaned out to six different clubs in during his time at Chelsea Bright start : Kakuta celebrates scoring against Manchester City during the Youth Cup final first leg in 2008 Luckily for the Blues , Lens agreed to drop the complaint after being paid a fee of around 1million for Kakuta . It ' s now been three years and eight months since Kakuta has made a senior appearance for Chelsea to add to his just six Premier League showings in a blue shirt , which is a figure that looks less and less likely to increase as the former Lens youngster embarks on his sixth loan move . The 23 year old has now been shipped out to Fulham , Bolton , Dijon , Vitesse , Lazio and Rayo Vallecano but not one club has been impressed enough to enquire about a long term deal for Kakuta . Rare : The French youngster celebrates with Michael Essien during a Champions League match in 2009 Risk : Kakuta signed for Chelsea in 2007 from Lens in a move that was shrouded in controversy Former Leeds United prodigies Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods are further example of Chelsea ' s youth development system going awry . The pair moved to the Blues in 2006 in another highly controversial transfer after former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates accused his old side of ' tapping up ' the talented duo . Chelsea were eventually ordered to pay 5million in compensation to the Yorkshire outfit for two players that failed to make the grade having been given little chance to impress . Taiwo didn ' t make a single appearance for the Chelsea first team while Woods made a handful of substitute appearances before moving on . Although Chelsea ' s managerial merry go round over the last six years won ' t have helped Kakuta ' s cause , there is clearly underlying issues whether its his attitude or lack of attitude at the top level . Kakuta isn ' t the first and is unlikely to be the last promising youngster to fall foul of Chelsea ' s loan system , with 26 players currently plying their trade away from Stamford Bridge . 21 year old midfielder Josh McEachran looks to be another Blues youngster that has failed to fit in after a bright start in the Chelsea first team set up . Shipped out : The 23 year old hasn ' t played a competitive game for Chelsea in five years Out : The 23 year old has now been shipped out to Fulham , Bolton , Dijon , Vitesse , Lazio and Rayo Vallecano McEachran blossomed under Carlo Ancelotti in 2010 , but failed to gain similar trust from other Chelsea managers since the Italian ' s sacking in 2011 . If he could have his time again , Kakuta may wish that he could start again with Jose Mourinho at a time in which the Chelsea boss looks keen to give opportunities to the current crop of Stamford Bridge youngsters . The Frenchman may have been over land and sea in an attempt to prove himself in different colours , but his time at Chelsea looks all but over . Blue : Kakuta is consoled by Henrique Hilario after his penalty was saved against Blackburn in 2009 Off again : The French winger signed a season long loan deal with Rayo Vallecano this summer ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past115012499,12500,"A man who allegedly set off a small bomb at a Starbucks coffee shop was arrested after he made the mistake of bragging about his exploit to friends , police said Wednesday . An officer stands guard outside a Starbucks where a bomb went off on Memorial Day . New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters that Kyle Shaw , 17 , was arrested Tuesday night at his Manhattan apartment after a police investigation revealed that he bragged to his friends about planting the explosive outside an Upper East Side Starbucks on May 25 . Shaw allegedly told his friends prior to the explosion that "" Project Mayhem "" was about to begin , Kelly said , and that they should watch the news on Memorial Day . Shaw was a fan of the movie "" Fight Club "" and imitated Brad Pitt ' s character from the film , the police commissioner said although he apparently failed to adhere to Pitt ' s famous line in the film : "" The first rule of Fight Club is , you do not talk about Fight Club . "" The movie , released in 1999 , also includes a scene in which a Starbucks is destroyed . Kelly said there is no evidence at this time to suggest that Shaw was behind other recent small explosions in the city , such as the bombings at the Times Square Army recruiting center and the Mexican consulate . Shaw made the small explosive out of a plastic bottle , firework powder , a metal cap and electrical tape , Kelly said . The blast , at 3 : 30 a . m . on Memorial Day , damaged a nearby bench and shattered the store ' s windows , the commissioner said . No one was injured in the explosion , but the bomb was powerful enough to have caused serious injuries if anyone had been nearby , Kelly said . Shaw has been charged with arson , criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief , he added . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past115112516,12517,"Faced with a deluge of opposition that included pressure from lawmakers and internal dissent , one of America ' s leading breast cancer advocacy groups on Friday reversed itself on a decision that would have cut off funding to some Planned Parenthood projects . "" We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women ' s lives , "" the Susan G . Komen for the Cure Foundation said in a statement . "" We will continue to fund existing grants , including those of Planned Parenthood , and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants , while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities . "" The group ' s earlier decision not to renew part of its longstanding partnership with Planned Parenthood , which operates hundreds of family clinics that perform abortions , triggered strong emotions across the country . It provoked objection even from some of its own affiliates . Planned Parenthood said funding from the Komen foundation has largely paid for breast exams at local centers . In the last five years , grants from the group have directly supported 170 , 000 screenings , making up about 4 of the total exams performed at Planned Parenthood health centers nationwide . In Washington , 26 Senate Democrats had signed a letter calling on Komen to reconsider . New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg , a longtime Planned Parenthood supporter , pledged 250 , 000 in matching grants to help make up for the loss in funding . "" Politics have no place in health care , "" the mayor said . "" Breast cancer screening saves lives , and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care . We should be helping women access that care , not placing barriers in their way . "" Bloomberg ' s gift came on top of 400 , 000 that Planned Parenthood reported raising online from 6 , 000 donors the first 24 hours after the initial announcement . By Friday , the group had raised more than 3 million . "" It ' s a testament to America ' s compassion and sincerity , "" said Barbara Zdravecky , of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida . Addressing the controversy , Zdravecky said only about 3 of the group ' s services provide for abortions , a hot button issue in presidential politics , while the majority of the group ' s work is based on prevention , screening and family planning . An anonymous donor had also offered 300 , 000 in matching grant money earlier this week , Zdravecky said . "" Today , the interests of women ' s health prevailed over partisan politics , "" said Sen . Frank R . Lautenberg ( D New Jersey ) . "" The Komen Foundation did the right thing . "" Other lawmakers expressed outrage over Friday ' s announcement . Republican Rep . Renee Ellmers added that the group ' s "" original stance to stop funding pending an important congressional investigation was an act of courage and prudence , making their sudden reversal today appear hollow and weak . "" Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said he was "" deeply disappointed "" in the decision . , which describes itself as the largest corporate donor to Planned Parenthood , said Thursday that 250 , 000 of its members had signed a petition urging the Komen Foundation to reverse its decision . "" The ( earlier ) move is clearly connected to attempts by Republicans in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood , "" the organization said in a statement . "" In responding to questions about its decision , the foundation cited as its rationale a sham ' investigation ' into Planned Parenthood launched by Republican Rep . Cliff Stearns , "" who the group called "" one of the most militant anti choice members of Congress . "" In September , the House Committee on Energy and Commerce , on which the Florida congressman sits , began an investigation into Planned Parenthood over the organization ' s "" compliance with federal restrictions on funding abortions . "" The group said Tuesday that the Komen Foundation had "" succumbed to political pressure "" by cutting its funding for breast cancer screenings amid increased scrutiny by Congress over how Planned Parenthood provides abortion services . But the American Life League said in a statement that the foundation ' s decision was justified . Planned Parenthood "" is currently the focus of a congressional investigation , and multiple affiliates are under state investigations , "" it said . "" Planned Parenthood operatives are lashing out at Komen across the Internet and throughout the media , in what appears to be a coordinated effort to paint Komen ' s policy as cowardly and politically motivated . "" The Komen Foundation had also denied that its decision stemmed from politics . "" We ' ve always had the right to cancel contracts for organizations that came under investigation for potential wrongdoing , "" said Nancy Brinker , and founder of the group . In all , grants were not renewed to 16 of 19 Planned Parenthood clinics , she said . "" We don ' t base our funding decisions on emotions or politics or whether one side or another will be pleased . "" Brinker was a political appointee of the George W . Bush administration , in which she served as U . S . ambassador to Hungary and as chief of protocol . Susan G . Komen was Brinker ' s sister . Komen Foundation President Liz Thompson said the funds would have been redirected "" to other programs in our communities that can provide these services more directly . "" She said there was "" amazing consensus "" among foundation board members about the decision , which was made "" over the better part of two years . "" That consensus did not include Dr Kathy Plesser , a member of the foundation ' s medical advisory board in New York , who had pledged to resign if the decision was not overturned . "" I cannot as a physician and advocate for women ' s health continue to be a part of the organization if it continues in this direction , "" Plesser said . "" A big part of what Komen does is reach underserved communities of women . With this ( earlier ) decision , they ' re not living up to this mission . "" Mollie Williams , the group ' s managing director of community health programs , left Komen this month . "" It was an honor to oversee and expand their public health efforts during my six years there , "" Williams said . "" At the same time , I respect the work of Planned Parenthood , including their lifesaving efforts to detect cancer in its earliest stages . The divide between these two very important organizations saddens me . "" It wasn ' t immediately clear whether she had resigned . Thompson said it ' s policy not to release information about employees other than start and end dates . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past115212518,12519,"LeBron James joins Oscar Robertson in Top 25 of points , assists LeBron James now ranks 25th in history for assists and 19th in scoring , joining Oscar "" Big O "" Robertson as the only two players in history to be in the Top 25 of both categories . ( ) ( Tony Dejak ) LeBron James joined Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only players in history to rank in the Top 25 in points and assists . With his fifth assist Monday night against Orlando , James pulled into the elite company of Robertson , the legendary "" Big O , "" who finished with 26 , 710 points and 9 , 887 assists . James entered the game needing 21 points to pass Reggie Miller ( 25 , 279 ) for 18th on the career scoring list . Robertson is 11th . James reached the milestone with 5 : 00 left in the second quarter . The Cavaliers ' star drove the lane , jumped and made a quick pass into the corner to Kevin Love , who knocked down a 3 pointer . It moved James past Norm Nixon ( 6 , 386 ) for 25th on the assist list . Before the game , Magic coach Scott Skiles , who holds the record with 30 assists in a game , said James is more like Robertson and Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan , the player with whom he is most often compared . "" Every time there ' s a young great player everybody talks about Michael , but to me he ' s always been more like a Magic ( Johnson ) or an Oscar type player because of his vision , "" Skiles said . "" That ' s what makes it so difficult . If you think you ' re going to give him a steady diet of running and double teaming him , he ' s going to carve you up . He ' s going to find everybody , find the open man . "" Skiles marvels at how James can take over any game . "" The really great players play at the pace they want to play at in the game , "" Skiles said . "" It could be fast for a while . It could be kind of slow for a while . It could be they ' re in the post . It could be they run pick and rolls . It ' s very , very difficult to get them out of their pace . There are a lot of talented guys that can ' t go all the way into that upper echelon because they haven ' t quite got that part mastered ? but he does . "" He ' s going to play the game the way he wants to play it , but his vision certainly sets him apart from a lot of the great players . "" ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past115312527,12528,"CASETTA, Italy — Romano Camassi, a seismologist, picked up a speck as he surveyed the damage from this week’s earthquake on the green mountain crest where the village of Casetta, now ruins, once perched. “This is just ground, soil,” he said, sadly. “In so many buildings in this area, that was the material used to keep together the irregular stones found in the surroundings which people used to build their homes. ” Experts like Mr. Camassi, who was part of the first team from Italy’s Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology to arrive at the quake zone in central Italy, say the destruction was amplified by vulnerable buildings whose upgrades to codes were deemed too costly for many Italians to carry out, too complicated to finance and too cumbersome to get approved. Italy is beloved for its rich architectural history. But that beauty comes at a steep price: both the lives lost when nature reminds its borrowers who is boss, and the money required in the attempt to even the scales. The country has spent an average of 3. 5 billion euros a year, or $3. 9 billion, for the past 50 years to fix earthquake damage, according to the Italian Association of Builders. And, in the aftermath of Wednesday’s quake, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced yet another plan to rebuild and buttress Italy’s ancient infrastructure. Many experts maintain that Italy has among the world’s best standards already — at least on paper. But the problems in executing them are legion: money, corruption, tangled bureaucracy, shoddy construction and a lack of enforcement of national regulations at the local level. This quake, like many in the past, already seems likely to expose corners that were cut, contributing to the 280 or more deaths in about 80 villages in the area along the Apennines, Italy’s fragile spinal cord, where the 6. quake struck. Prosecutors quickly announced an investigation into why a school in Amatrice, the town of about 2, 600 where the most deaths occurred, and the bell tower in nearby Accumoli collapsed. The bell tower, which had recently been refurbished, killed an entire family when it fell. The school, built in the 1930s and renovated in 2012, was supposedly built to new standards. “You can have the best rules, but if the weak link is the human factor then it’s all over,” said Gianpaolo Rosati, a professor of structural engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan. “Unfortunately, we find ourselves always protesting about the same things. ” Perhaps the most central, and inescapable, problem is that Italy is old. About 60 percent of its buildings are estimated to be more than 100 years old. That means that most of the country’s architectural heritage was built before any of the modern standards were instituted. “You can’t ask that an ancient structure adhere to norms designed for modern structures, but you can try to improve them, that’s the path to take with the objective to save human lives,” said Donatella Guzzoni, an engineer and an expert in the preservation of historic buildings. “Italy has the best technologies to do this,” she added. “But it does come down to money. ” Casetta, a hamlet of about two dozen homes, sat on the hill north of Amatrice on the east side of the Tronto River that cuts this valley between two mountain chains. The area was among the most devastated by the quake for a combination of historical, economic and cultural reasons, Mr. Camassi said. “In many cases, they used rounded river stones, put next to one another by someone who ignored even the most ancient best construction practices,” he said. He pointed to a long cement beam hanging perilously from the debris of a house. “When residents decided to reinforce the buildings, they often substituted the light wooden roofs with cement beams and bricks like that, which only worsened the impact of the quake because they burdened the otherwise frail structure,” he said. Mr. Camassi and other experts pointed out that certifying an existing building to standards was difficult and often too expensive for most people. Just having a technical expert determine a building’s vulnerability has a price, Mr. Rosati said, estimating it would cost around 10, 000 euros to evaluate a small house. “The cost of reinforcing a building to meet standards can be around 300 euro per square meter, which means the owner of a largish apartment faces a cost of some 300, 000 euro,” he said, sometimes more than the apartment is worth. And it is not enough for just one homeowner to want to sleep a little easier. “The entire apartment building has to agree to do the same,” he added, and if the palazzos or apartment buildings are connected, the whole neighborhood must agree. Villages like Amatrice and Accumoli are loved for the charm of their narrow streets and spaces, where houses were built cheek to cheek over the centuries to use prime land, often atop narrow peaks. In those tightly packed places, the entire block must be reinforced or the buildings “interact” in an earthquake and can topple like dominoes, Mr. Rosati said. That is precisely the dynamic Mr. Camassi found in Casetta. “Neighbors built in different periods, different buildings with different materials, but adjacent,” he said. “So even those that would have resisted the quake were damaged or even taken down by the others. ” Farther up the mountain is Cossito, an idyllic village of little houses with red geraniums on the terraces. One narrow street divides a recently restored building from the town square, where almost all homes collapsed, killing at least three people. The village had only four families, Mr. Camassi said, and they all lost a member or a close friend. “We thought we did all we needed, but now we simply need to erase this house,” said Roberto Paganelli, a former police officer in the Carabinieri, who was retrieving items from his mother’s home. The building dates to 1864, he said, and was reinforced in the 1960s. The costs of evaluating and retrofitting old structures are prohibitive for many in this corner of Italy, an easy drive from Rome. Many of these homes were used only in the summer and were not primary residences worth a huge investment. In many cases, the residents are old, living on a pension and barely getting by. The state cannot oblige homeowners to upgrade their buildings unless there are obvious reasons to intervene. “We have norms, but they only apply to new buildings or important restorations,” said Luca Ferrari, the president of Italy’s Association of Seismic Engineers. “For the vast majority of buildings, we don’t have an classification, so no one knows whether they are dangerous or not during a quake. ” With a group of experts, Mr. Ferrari drafted guidelines to classify buildings, with parameters similar to the energy efficiency of a building. This work finished in April 2015, but the government campaign — and its fiscal incentives — to reinforce existing buildings were still lacking, he said. “This area is at very high seismic danger, and we know that in these small towns of the Apennine Mountains, there are vulnerable buildings,” said Filippo Bernardini, a geologist who worked on Mr. Camassi’s team. “Unless we build better, we offer no hope for the future. ” The alternative — razing ancient buildings to construct modern, palazzos — is hardly an option. “In other countries there is greater renewal of the architectural patrimony. They don’t think much about knocking something down to rebuild to different standards,” said Sergio Lagomarsino, an engineering professor at the University of Genoa. But, as Mr. Lagomarsino pointed out, Italy has a more conservative approach and is aware that preserving its heritage has value for the country. “In the face of an important building you can’t demolish a historic center and rebuild it with fake stones,” he said. “It would ‘denaturalize’ Italy. ”",true,news,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past115412533,12534,"Reuters) - The head of the House of Representatives’ tax-writing committee said on Sunday he would not accept elimination of a federal deduction for state and local taxes, opposing a proposal from Senate Republicans that would hike taxes for some middle class Americans. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said he guaranteed the deduction would not be entirely scrapped in a final tax bill that emerges from dueling plans already unveiled by Republicans in the House and the Senate. Asked on “Fox News Sunday” if House Republicans would reject a bid by Senate Republicans to do away with the deduction entirely, Brady said: “That’s what I’m saying.” The deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, has been one of the most hotly contested issues as Republicans seek to achieve a significant overhaul of the U.S. tax code and hand President Donald Trump his first major legislative victory. It is a chief concern for a group of House Republicans who face re-election battles next year in high-tax, typically Democratic-leaning states such as California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Other sticking points include a proposal by the Senate to delay implementation of a cut in the corporate tax rate and a House plan to eliminate the estate tax on inheritances. Republicans control both the House and the Senate. Lawmakers will debate their respective plans this week before heading home for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Republicans hope to resolve their differences in time to reach their goal of enacting the legislation by the end of the year. The Senate tax blueprint introduced on Thursday would repeal the deduction entirely. The House bill would repeal it only for state and local income and sales taxes, but preserve it for property tax up to $10,000 a year. Brady said there were many similarities in the rival tax proposals. “I know that everyone’s stressing the differences - there are some - but there’s far more common ground,” he said. Both the House and Senate plans would add $1.5 trillion over 10 years to the budget deficit and national debt, an increase that has worried some fiscally conservative Republicans. Both plans also call for deep tax cuts for high-earners and businesses and would reshape how the United States taxes multinational corporations. They are both widely seen as a boon for business. Congressional Democrats have criticized the Republican plans as lopsided, favoring wealthy Americans and corporate interests. “Both the House and the Senate bills would raise taxes on millions of middle-class families, particularly in the suburbs, while providing a huge giveaway to corporations and the wealthy,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. “Republicans should go back to the drawing board and fully restore the deduction,” he said in a statement. Some analyses show that some Americans would see a tax increase under both plans. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin acknowledged that on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, although he said most middle-class families would be better off. “For most people - and, again, it may not be 100 percent, but by far the majority - both the House and Senate version provide middle-income tax relief,” he said. White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said both plans adhere to Trump’s two main objectives in overhauling the tax code: a tax cut for middle-income Americans and a deep reduction in the corporate tax rate to make U.S. businesses competitive. “That’s how we’re going to grow the economy. That’s how we’re going to pay for the tax bill,” Cohn said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” A report by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation estimated earlier this month that the House bill could raise taxes on as many as 38 million people who earn between $20,000 and $40,000 per year, beginning in 2023. Republican Representative Peter King has fiercely opposed the elimination of the deduction, saying many in his home state of New York earning $300,000 a year were hardworking, two-income families facing a very high cost of living. “They’re not hedge fund people,” King said on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “These are hardworking people and they’re going to get screwed by this bill.” ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present115512549,12550,"Imagine if Dear Abby had been a Cuban feminist living in New York ' s Spanish Harlem . Imagine she was a lesbian with gravitas , an immigrant rights activist with spunk , sass and a wickedly mischievous sense of humor and you have Dolores Prida , an advice columnist widely known and beloved in the Latino community . She died this weekend , at 69 , and her dignified and elegant persona , her significance in New York ' s theater world , its artistic community , Hispanic life , and journalism cannot be overstated , even if you ' ve never heard of her . An oldest of three children , Ms . Prida , who was born in a Cabairi n , Cuba , came to New York City in 1961 with her siblings and parents , and before long worked in the theater . She would go on to be a playwright , and among the most important plays she wrote was "" Beautiful Se oritas , "" a searing exploration of the role of women in society . It was written two decades ago , but many of the issues that plagued women then , particularly immigrant women , are still being negotiated today : how to balance the desire for a meaningful career with being a mother and wife when you ' re stuck in traditional , strict , and suffocating gender roles . She also taught classes at several colleges and wrote political columns for the New York Daily News and El Diario . But it was in her role as the voice behind Latina magazine ' s advice column , Dolores Dice , ( Dolores Says ) where Ms . Prida ' s generous spirit , lyrical eloquence and playful wit would find its glory . I had the pleasure of hiring her when I was Latina ' s editor in chief 15 years ago . Though the column name was a sweet coincidence a play on the Spanish verb for pain , dolor once Ms . Prida took it over in the spring of 1998 , it took fabulous form . This was the Hispanic woman ' s answer to Dear Abby . Ms . Prida gave the column guts and grit . In one of her last responses , published in the current issue of Latina , a woman from Texas who described herself as being "" white and Puerto Rican "" longed to be proud of her heritage . News : Dolores Prida , "" Latina Dear Abby , "" dies Ms . Prida ' s response : "" When you say you can pass for either , ' depending on how I dress , wear make up and do my hair , ' you are stereotyping yourself based on an imagined cultural identity centered on looks and behaviors . Latinas do not wear their hair or behave in any particular way . We come in every shape and form . Be yourself . "" The zinger ? "" And stop hanging out with people who judge you based on your hairstyle or outburst of sassiness . Let them think whatever . "" In a 1998 column that was vintage Dolores , a reader sought advice : "" I ' m married , but I ' ve fallen in love with the young man who works at the corner store . He doesn ' t know it yet . I don ' t know what to do . Iris . "" The answer ? "" Dear Iris : Do your shopping elsewhere . Pronto ! "" Dolores "" Ms . Prida ' s work as an advice columnist was remarkable because of the many lenses through which she viewed life , among them : immigrant , Cuban exile , poet , community activist , sister , friend , mentor , immigrant rights advocate , lesbian , cook , smartass a candid soul filled with wisdom and fully lived experiences . She ' d been born in 1943 and she delivered good old fashioned wisdom for women of the 21st century . It ' s almost a poetic irony that a woman whose name in Spanish means many pains brought so many of us so much joy and light . Hours before dying of a heart attack , Ms . Prida celebrated the 20th anniversary of , "" Latinas In Power , Sort Of , "" a women ' s group that we are both part of . But there is nothing "" sort of "" about this unofficial group of gals . Among its members are a publisher of a large metro newspaper , several Emmy and Pulitzer winners , writers , lawyers , producers . There ' s even a Justice in the group , as in Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor , who decided to pay a surprise visit that night to toast our enduring friendships . Near midnight Ms . Prida complained of a slight stomachache and left quietly , as if not to disturb the flow . She did not say goodbye , but earlier in the evening she ' d revealed to the group that she would be 70 this year . She could hardly believe it herself . Neither could we . She looked radiant and bursting with energy and ideas . A few blocks from her house , we later learned , she called her sister and asked her to pick her up , as she was not feeling well . Her sister found her . During the ride to the hospital , the paramedics asked her name , and Ms . Prida instead of repeating her information , responded by telling them that she was just at a party and she was dancing that she was dancing for joy . She died several hours later at Mount Sinai Hospital , surrounded by her two sisters and niece . She ' d been working on a book , "" How to Become an American in 100 Films "" and told me that finishing was a challenge because she wasn ' t sure she wanted to include modern flicks . She didn ' t care much for them she loved the black and white classics . Of course she did : Classic , like her . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sandra Guzman ",true,text,test,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past115612566,12567,"What do they want, you ask? More. All they ever want is more. And they’re not going to stop until we stop them. Physically. : The inbound upper level of the George Washington Bridge was closed by an immigrant rights protest on Wednesday morning, snarling traffic on one of the region’s most important crossings at the height of rush hour. Delays at the bridge for traffic heading into New York from New Jersey were up to nearly 90 minutes; traffic cameras showed bumper-to-bumper traffic barely inching along. The protesters apparently chained themselves across the roadway to block traffic, unfurling large banners in an attempt to spread their message. One banner appeared to read “Resist, Organized, Act Up!” Drivers were clashing with the protesters in an effort to get the bridge open, according to witnesses. Police quickly detained the small group and traffic began moving again about 15 minutes. The Port Authority said 10 people who were blocking the eastbound lanes were arrested. No injuries were reported. The agency said it is investigating.",fake,news,test,Other news1,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past115712567,12568,"MUMBAI, India — Three years before the 2008 global financial crisis, an Indian economist named Raghuram G. Rajan presciently warned a skeptical audience of top economic thinkers that excessive risk threatened the entire global financial system. As Mr. Rajan stepped down on Sunday as India’s top central banker, following intense criticism at home, he offered a new warning: Low interest rates globally could distort markets and would be difficult to abandon. Countries around the world, including the United States and Europe, have kept interest rates low as a way to encourage growth. But countries could become “trapped” by fear that when they eventually raised rates, they “would see growth slow down,” he said. Low interest rates should not be a substitute for “other instruments of policy” and “various kinds of reforms” that are needed to encourage growth, Mr. Rajan said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “Often when monetary policy is really easy, it becomes the residual policy of choice,” he said, when deeper reforms are needed. His warning comes at a time when the world’s central banks appear to be at a loss about how to get global growth moving again. A growing number of voices say that low rates are not doing the job and that governments must take other, more politically difficult steps to reinvigorate growth. The warning by Mr. Rajan, now 53, came as he stepped down from a position that had helped make him something of a rock star — albeit a controversial one — in India. He disputed the view that his tight monetary policies had cost him the support of the government, and he said that his departure was based on his inability to reach an agreement with the government on serving longer but not serving another full term. Mr. Rajan is a celebrity in a country where taxi drivers and vegetable sellers are as likely as business owners and bankers to be immersed in debate on the local economy. A blunt speaker who has laid out the case for tighter monetary policies in more than 30 public speeches over the last three years, he was called “the Ranbir Kapoor of banking,” a reference to a Bollywood superstar, by one of the country’s columnists. Mr. Rajan, whose term expired on Sunday, is credited with helping stabilize the Indian economy. It was fighting inflation, a weakening of its currency and a plunging stock market when he took the job in 2013. But he also leaves bruised after a barrage of public attacks from the political base of conservatives and interests of India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party. They complained that he choked business by keeping interest rates high and requiring banks to clean up bad debts, which made credit expensive and hard to come by. The attacks turned vicious and personal in the weeks before Mr. Rajan announced in June that he would not continue for a second term, with a B. J. P. lawmaker declaring that Mr. Rajan was “mentally not fully Indian,” in part because he holds a United States green card, allowing him to work and live there. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, later denounced the attacks, but only after Mr. Rajan said he was leaving the job. With Mr. Modi preparing for contentious local elections, some observers have said the government did not want Mr. Rajan to stay because it needed a looser monetary policy to bolster growth. India has the large economy in the world, at an annual rate of 7. 1 percent for the most recent quarter, but that is still far slower than the rate of a decade ago and not fast enough to create jobs for the more than one million people who enter the work force each month. Mr. Modi won election in 2014 promising economic growth and jobs. Mr. Rajan, leaning back in his chair and laughing at times during the interview, disputed that claim. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that it’s because of tight policy that the government wanted to move on,” he said. He cited the government’s move after he announced his departure to set a low inflation target of 4 percent for the next five years. He said his successor, Urjit Patel, a central bank deputy governor who takes over this week, played an important role in setting the country’s tough inflation targets. Mr. Modi has said little in public about Mr. Rajan’s departure except to defend him as “someone who loves his country” and “will continue to serve it. ” Mr. Modi’s spokesman declined in a telephone interview on Sunday to explain why Mr. Rajan was leaving, other than to say: “There is a tenure and the tenure has ended. Why should the prime minister of India even be brought into this discussion?” Mr. Rajan said his tight monetary policy had helped bring India’s rate of inflation — currently about 6 percent — down to the upper end of the government’s target range. “I think we’ve done exactly what was needed,” he said. Mr. Rajan said the central bank should continue to prioritize low inflation. He said he hoped the country would finish “the process of bank cleanup which is underway. ” Under Mr. Rajan, India’s banks, after decades of loose lending to corporations, had to own up to bad debts. The restriction was intended to shore up the stability of banks, but in the short term it has reduced the pace of lending to businesses. In discussing the Indian economy in the interview, Mr. Rajan offered a endorsement of the government’s emphasis on manufacturing in India — what the prime minister has called his Make in India campaign. Mr. Rajan said he did not support the view of critics that it was too late in world economic history for India to become a manufacturing hub. But he also said that he would not focus exclusively on manufacturing as the solution to joblessness. If India improves infrastructure and reduces government regulations, manufacturing might take off in a big way, but it “could also be services. It could be agriculture also. ” Although China’s economy has overshadowed India’s in recent decades, Mr. Rajan said he was still a believer in democracy as the better system to create growth. “India’s strengths to some extent comes also from its democracy,” he said. “Things can get bad in India, but not beyond a certain point, because the democratic process asserts itself. And we have a change in government. ” Mr. Rajan, who served as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006, will return to his longtime job as a professor at the University of Chicago’s business school. He grew momentarily wistful when comparing the job of central bank governor with his past positions, which were more advisory. “So better to be a doer than an adviser. Of course being an adviser sometimes has effects, important effects, but you don’t see it as much immediately. Here you can see what you’re doing and in the years to come. ”",true,news,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past115812590,12591,"The is under investigation after a worker at the famous Elstree Studios fell 30ft from a ceiling . He had to be rushed to hospital after being found seriously injured on the floor . It is understood the man , said to be in his mid 30s , was working alone when the incident took place . He was rushed from the independently run studios in Borehamwood , Herfordshire , to St Mary ' s Hospital in Paddington , London , for specialist treatment on his ' multiple injuries ' . The is under investigation after a worker at the famous studios in Elstree fell than 30ft from a ceiling The Health and Safety Executive is now investigating how the drama unfolded . Elstree Studios is home to some of the biggest shows on British television , including the ' s Strictly Come Dancing , The Voice , Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Celebrity Juice . The site is also known as the birthplace of Star Wars and has also played host to films including Indiana Jones , The King ' s Speech and new release Paddington . The incident took place three weeks ago , on November 18 . Emergency services were unable to say what the man ' s current condition was but he was understood to have been severely injured in the fall . The refused to comment when any questions were put to them about the incident . Instead , in a statement they said : ' Our thoughts are with the individual and his family , friends and colleagues working on the site . The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation . ' The spokesman refused to confirm or deny whether the man had been working alone and at height when he fell . It is understood the man , said to be in his mid 30s , was working alone when the incident took place Hertfordshire police said they were called to the site in Shenley Road at around 10 . 40pm on November 18 following reports of a man being injured . A Hertfordshire Police spokesman said : ' It appears the man , who is in his mid 30s and was working at the studios , may have fallen from a significant height . ' An ambulance was called to the scene and the man was taken to hospital in a serious condition . ' The Health and Safety Executive were notified . Police are not currently treating the incident as suspicious . ' The East of England Ambulance Service sent two rapid response vehicles , one ambulance crew and a doctor in a car to the scene . The said it was aware of an incident and was making inquiries . A spokesman said : ' The issue for us is whether correct health and safety procedure was followed or not followed . ' Elstree Studios declined to go into details on the incident , with a spokesman saying : ' You would need to speak to the . It is being investigated . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past115912594,12595,"Reuters) - A rebel former governor of Aden who is leading a movement for southern Yemen s secession has said an independence referendum would be announced soon and a parliamentary body set up to administer the territory. Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, who was sacked as Aden governor by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, set out his secessionist plans to thousands of supporters gathered on Saturday in Yemen s main southern city to mark 54 years since the October 1963 uprising against the British. Zubaidi, who has previously declared a council that seeks secession for southern Yemen, said in a television interview late on Friday that an independence referendum would be held soon. Speaking to supporters on Saturday, Zubaidi said a new 303-member parliamentary body, the National Association, would act like a small parliament to represent Yemenis from all areas of the south. Zubaidi announced in May a new council formed by senior tribal, military and political figures. The council seeks the secession of southern Yemen and is looking to establish a political leadership under his presidency that would administer the south. The move threatens more turmoil in the impoverished Arabian Peninsular country where the internationally-recognized government is forced to sit in Aden because Houthi rebels control the capital Sanaa. The council was born out of a power struggle between the southerners and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi that has undermined regional power Saudi Arabia s efforts to coordinate a military campaign against the Tehran-supported Houthis. Hadi s government has rejected the formation of the council, saying it would deepen divisions and play into the hands of the Houthi rebels. Many southerners feel that officials in the north have exploited their resources and cut them off from jobs and influence. ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past116012612,12613,"A mother of two is desperately trying to raise 6 , 000 for medical treatment to stop her nine year old daughter ' s constant hiccups . Trudi Veremu ' s daughter Eden , aged nine , from Brixton in South London , began suffering from a bout of ' super charged hiccups ' in November last year and she has not stopped hiccuping since . Eden is believed to be one of only 50 people in the world to suffer from diaphragm disorder Mycolonus Diaphramatic Flutter , which is also known as ' Belly Dancer ' s Syndrome ' . Mother of two Trudi Veremu ' s daughter Eden , aged nine , ( pictured ) from Brixton in South London , began suffering from a bout of ' super charged hiccups ' last year and she has not stopped hiccuping since The hiccups are so strong that it makes Eden ' s speech vibrate and causes an involuntary punctuation in each word she speaks . The condition means she suffers from quick fire spasms in the lungs and throat causing sharp intakes of breath . However , she has not yet been formally diagnosed and her worried family want to take her to see a specialist in the United States for diagnosis and treatment . ' We are 99 per cent sure she has it , but it ' s matter of confirming that , ' her mother told MailOnline . Now Ms Veremu , 37 , is campaigning to raise 6 , 000 so Eden can be taken to Colorado Children ' s Hospital in an attempt to beat the debilitating condition . Her mother says she needs to be treated as quickly as possible before the illness becomes life threatening . If Eden is diagnosed with the illness she will be the first person in Britain to have it . Trudi Veremu ( centre ) has launched a fundraiser to pay for her daughter Eden ' s ( left ) treatment in the U . S Ms Veremu said : ' It has been relentless and I am so worried for my girl . ' The attacks came out of the blue and have not stopped for months . ' When they are most severe , she is in excruciating agony and unable to talk at all . ' Ms Veremu , who runs a music management company , added : ' The pain , stress and migraines it causes knocks her out for days only for the same to happen again . ' The have been great but we do not have time on our side and given how rare this disorder is , we have to go to where it ' s known best . ' Eden is due to travel to the United States in March for treatment at Colorado Children ' s Hospital . Children from Eden ' s primary school in Kennington are among the hundreds of well wishers who have so far raised more than 2 , 630 towards the total 6 , 000 needed for the trip . To donate visit the Go Fund Me page . Mycolonus diaphragmatic flutter or Belly Dancer ' s Syndrome is very rare . Only about 50 people in the world have been diagnosed with it . It was first discovered by Antony van Leeuwenhoek in 1723 . The condition sounds like a short breathed hiccup . These muscle spasms can recur dozens of times per day . The rate of diaphragmatic contraction ranges between 35 and 480 contractions per minute , with the an average rate of 150 . No single treatment has proven effective , but most involve the blocking or crushing of the phrenic nerve . One notable case is Chaz Moore of Colorado Springs , Colorado he tried several medications , but says only medical marijuana worked . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past116112621,12622,"Abe Vigoda , the film and television actor famous for his long , hangdog face and his history of being declared dead long before his time was up , has died . He was 94 . He died in his sleep on Tuesday morning at the Woodland Park , New Jersey , home of his daughter , Carol Vigoda Fuchs , according to the Associated Press . His most prominent roles were as one of Don Corleone ' s soldiers in 1972 ' s The Godfather and as Detective Phil Fish on ' s Barney Miller . His work on the show earned him Emmy nominations in 1976 , 1977 and 1978 , as well as a short lived spinoff , Fish . He embraced the decades long legend of his premature demise , which stemmed from the 1982 wrap party to commemorate the final episode of Barney Miller . Vigoda , whose character had already been spun off , missed the event because he was acting in a play in Calgary . People magazine , in its account of the party , referred to "" the late Abe Vigoda "" . The label stuck . "" My wife keeps getting condolence cards from people who believe I died , "" Vigoda told the Toronto Star in 1988 . "" Many are producers . I ' m sure there are many who may have thought about me for a role but said , ' No , he ' s dead . ' "" Other media outlets repeated the "" late Abe Vigoda "" error in later years . He often told the story of his agent getting a call from a producer seeking "" an Abe Vigoda type "" , unaware that the original was still around and available . At a 2004 Friars Club roast of developer Donald Trump , Vigoda was introduced with the words , "" If Abe Vigoda were alive today . "" In recent years , Vigoda made appearances on the late night shows of David Letterman and Conan O ' Brien . H R Block , in a commercial about death and taxes that ran during the Super Bowl in February 2009 , cast Vigoda to play the character of death . Abraham Charles Vigoda was born on Feb 24 , 1921 , in New York and was the son of a tailor on Manhattan ' s Lower East Side . He acted mostly in theatre for the first 20 years of his career . His break came when film director Francis Ford Coppola cast him in The Godfather as Salvatore Tessio , the gangster who is caught arranging the murder of boss Michael Corleone . In a famous scene , Vigoda ' s Tessio explains his betrayal as "" only business "" and pleads with Robert Duvall ' s character , Tom Hagen , to "" get me off the hook for old times ' sake "" . Instead , Tessio is led off for his own execution . Vigoda said the movie was his crowning achievement . "" Brando , Caan , Pacino , De Niro you can imagine how I felt , "" he told the New York Times in 2001 . "" The Godfather changed my life . "" The role was a stretch for Vigoda , a stage actor and a descendant of Russian Jews . He said Coppola persuaded him to try . "" Francis said , ' I want to look at the Mafia not as thugs and gangsters but like royalty in Rome , ' "" Vigoda recalled in an interview with Vanity Fair for a 2009 article . "" And he saw something in me that fit Tessio as one would look at the classics in Rome . "" Vigoda immersed himself in the role . He told Vanity Fair he "" practically lived in Little Italy during the shoot "" . He also appeared in flashback scenes in The Godfather : Part ( 1974 ) . On Barney Miller , Vigoda ' s Detective Fish was grouchy , hemorrhoid afflicted and nearing retirement . The spinoff series , which ran 14 episodes in 1977 1978 , revolved around him and his wife becoming foster parents . Vigoda ' s wife , Beatrice , died in 1992 . He is survived by his daughter . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past116212632,12633,"WASHINGTON, D. C. — In a stunning rebuke to House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen ( ) announced his public opposition to Obamacare 2. 0 on Friday morning. [“Seven years after enactment of Obamacare, I wanted to support legislation that made positive changes to rescue healthcare in America,” Frelinhguysen, who has been lauded as the Garden State’s most powerful congressman, wrote in a Facebook post. Unfortunately, the legislation before the House today is currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents in New Jersey. In addition to the loss of Medicaid coverage for so many people in my state, the denial of essential health benefits in the individual market raise serious coverage and cost issues. I remain hopeful that the American Health Care Act will be further modified. We need to get this right for all Americans. The House Speaker almost never loses the Appropriations Chairman on major pieces of legislation. The fact Frelinghuysen is against the bill calls into question Ryan’s ability to lead the conference — including his own committee chairs — in the future on other pieces of legislation. It shows just how unpopular this legislation really is and further demonstrates Ryan’s inability to bring together the different factions of the House Republican conference. Many more Republicans are expected to vote against Speaker Ryan’s bill, the American Health Care Act — or “Obamacare 2. 0” or “Obamacare Lite” or “RyanCare” or “ ” — as it has become known. Other Republicans who are expected to vote against the revised version of the Affordable Healthcare Act include Rep. Mark Amodei ( ) Rep. Tom Budd ( ) Rep. David Brat ( ) Rep. Mark Meadows ( ) Rep. Mo Brooks ( ) and Rep. Louie Gohmert ( ). Now that Ryan has lost Frelinghuysen — the chairman of a powerful committee that controls government spending — it is highly unlikely Ryan will be able to deliver the votes on this. That means Ryan is delivering a loss to President Trump, after failing to control his members. Follow Adelle Nazarian on Facebook and Twitter @AdelleNaz",true,news,test,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past116312635,12636,"Editor ' s note : Joseph E . Stiglitz , professor at Columbia University , was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001 for his work on the economics of information . Stiglitz was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton administration before joining the World Bank as chief economist . Economist Joseph E . Stiglitz says the strategy followed by the architects of the bank bailout was flawed . America ' s recession is moving into its second year , with the situation only worsening . The hope that President Obama will be able to get us out of the mess is tempered by the reality that throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at the banks has failed to restore them to health , or even to resuscitate the flow of lending . Every day brings further evidence that the losses are greater than had been expected and more and more money will be required . The question is at last being raised : Perhaps the entire strategy is flawed ? Perhaps what is needed is a fundamental rethinking . The Paulson Bernanke Geithner strategy was based on the realization that maintaining the flow of credit was essential for the economy . But it was also based on a failure to grasp some of the fundamental changes in our financial sector since the Great Depression , and even in the last two decades . For a while , there was hope that simply lowering interest rates enough , flooding the economy with money , would suffice but three quarters of a century ago , Keynes explained why , in a downturn such as this , monetary policy is likely to be ineffective . It is like pushing on a string . Then there was the hope that if the government stood ready to help the banks with enough money and enough was a lot confidence would be restored , and with the restoration of confidence , asset prices would increase and lending would be restored . Remarkably , Bush administration Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and company simply didn ' t understand that the banks had made bad loans and engaged in reckless gambling . There had been a bubble , and the bubble had broken . No amount of talking would change these realities . It soon became clear that just saying that we were ready to spend the money would not suffice . We actually had to get it into the banks . The question was how . At first , the architects of the bailout argued ( with complete and utter confidence ) that the best way to do this was buying the toxic assets ( those in the financial market didn ' t like the pejorative term , so they used the term "" troubled assets "" ) the assets that no one in the private sector would touch with a 10 foot pole . It should have been obvious that this could not be done in a quick way it took a few weeks for this crushing reality to dawn on them . Besides , there was a fundamental problem : how to value the assets . And if we valued them correctly , it was clear that there would still be a big hole in banks ' balance sheets , impeding their ability to lend . Then came the idea of equity injection , without strings , so that as we poured money into the banks , they poured out money , to their executives in the form of bonuses , to their shareholders in the form of dividends . Some of what they had left over they used to buy other banks to pursue strategic goals for which they could not have found private finance . The last thing in their mind was to restart lending . The underlying problem is simple : Even in the heyday of finance , there was a huge gap between private rewards and social returns . The bank managers have taken home huge paychecks , even though , over the past five years , the net profits of many of the banks have ( in total ) been negative . And the social returns have even been less the financial sector is supposed to allocate capital and manage risk , and it did neither well . Our economy is paying the price for these failures to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars . But this ever present problem has now grown worse . In effect , the American taxpayers are the major provider of finance to the banks . In some cases , the value of our equity injection , guarantees , and other forms of assistance dwarf the value of the "" private "" sector ' s equity contribution yet we have no voice in how the banks are run . This helps us understand the reason why banks have not started to lend again . Put yourself in the position of a bank manager , trying to get through this mess . At this juncture , in spite of the massive government cash injections , he sees his equity dwindling . The banks who prided themselves on being risk managers finally , and a little too late seem to have recognized the risk that they have taken on in the past five years . Leverage , or borrowing , gives big returns when things are going well , but when things turn sour , it is a recipe for disaster . It was not unusual for investment banks to "" leverage "" themselves by borrowing amounts equal to 25 or 30 times their equity . At "" just "" 25 to 1 leverage , a 4 percent fall in the price of assets wipes out a bank ' s net worth and we have seen far more precipitous falls in asset prices . Putting another 20 billion in a bank with 2 trillion of assets will be wiped out with just a 1 percent fall in asset prices . What ' s the point ? It seems that some of our government officials have finally gotten around to doing some of this elementary arithmetic . So they have come up with another strategy : We ' ll "" insure "" the banks , i . e . , take the downside risk off of them . The problem is similar to that confronting the original "" cash for trash "" initiative : How do we determine the right price for the insurance ? And almost surely , if we charge the right price , these institutions are bankrupt . They will need massive equity injections and insurance . There is a slight variant version of this , much like the original Paulson proposal : Buy the bad assets , but this time , not on a one by one basis , but in large bundles . Again , the problem is how do we value the bundles of toxic waste we take off the banks ? The suspicion is that the banks have a simple answer : Don ' t worry about the details . Just give us a big wad of cash . This variant adds another twist of the kind of financial alchemy that got the country into the mess . Somehow , there is a notion that by moving the assets around , putting the bad assets in an aggregator bank run by the government , things will get better . Is the rationale that the government is better at disposing of garbage , while the private sector is better at making loans ? The record of our financial system in assessing credit worthiness evidenced not just by this bailout , but by the repeated bailouts over the past 25 years provides little convincing evidence . But even were we to do all this with uncertain risks to our future national debt there is still no assurance of a resumption of lending . For the reality is we are in a recession , and risks are high in a recession . Having been burned once , many bankers are staying away from the fire . Besides , many of the problems that afflict the financial sector are more pervasive . General Motors and both got into the finance business , and both showed that banks had no monopoly on bad risk management . Many a bank may decide that the better strategy is a conservative one : Hoard one ' s cash , wait until things settle down , hope that you are among the few surviving banks and then start lending . Of course , if all the banks reason so , the recession will be longer and deeper than it otherwise would be . What ' s the alternative ? Sweden ( and several other countries ) have shown that there is an alternative the government takes over those banks that cannot assemble enough capital through private sources to survive without government assistance . It is standard practice to shut down banks failing to meet basic requirements on capital , but we almost certainly have been too gentle in enforcing these requirements . ( There has been too little transparency in this and every other aspect of government intervention in the financial system . ) To be sure , shareholders and bondholders will lose out , but their gains under the current regime come at the expense of taxpayers . In the good years , they were rewarded for their risk taking . Ownership cannot be a one sided bet . Of course , most of the employees will remain , and even much of the management . What then is the difference ? The difference is that now , the incentives of the banks can be aligned better with those of the country . And it is in the national interest that prudent lending be restarted . There are several other marked advantages . One of the problems today is that the banks potentially owe large amounts to each other ( through complicated derivatives ) . With government owning many of the banks , sorting through those obligations ( "" netting them out , "" in the jargon ) will be far easier . Inevitably , American taxpayers are going to pick up much of the tab for the banks ' failures . The question facing us is , to what extent do we participate in the upside return ? Eventually , America ' s economy will recover . Eventually , our financial sector will be functioning and profitable once again , though hopefully , it will focus its attention more on doing what it is supposed to do . When things turn around , we can once again privatize the now failed banks , and the returns we get can help write down the massive increase in the national debt that has been brought upon us by our financial markets . We are moving in unchartered waters . No one can be sure what will work . But long standing economic principles can help guide us . Incentives matter . The long run fiscal position of the U . S . matters . And it is important to restart prudent lending as fast as possible . Most of the ways currently being discussed for squaring this circle fail to do so . There is an alternative . We should begin to consider it . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Joseph E . Stiglitz . ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past116412636,12637,"Clare Atkinson , 29 , was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer one and a half weeks ago Clare Atkinson was in high spirits when she visited her local with stomach cramps , having just returned from a nine month trip around Australia with her partner . But the remainder of the 29 year old ' s travel plans were instantly cut short only three weeks ago , after a couple of blood tests led to the detection of a growth in her liver . Ms Atkinson , who formerly worked as a journalist for the in Sydney , was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer within weeks of the discovery . With doctors unable to predict how much time she has left , Ms Atkinson is determined to make the most of her life , proposing to her partner of four and a half years , Lewis , 28 . ' If I hadn ' t been diagnosed I ' m not sure we would have gotten married yet because we had other things that we wanted to do first like travelling and buying an apartment . ' It ' s one of those things that I always thought I ' d be able to do and because the doctors don ' t know what kind of time frame they ' re looking at , it was something that I could do when other things had been taken away from me . ' It will be a nice distraction , something to look forward to and think about instead of thinking about the chemotherapy It ' s an opportunity for us to celebrate our life together and just forget about it for one night . ' The former journalist , who displayed no symptoms other than stomach cramps , proposed to her partner of four and a half years , Lewis ( left ) , whom she plans to wed in January next year Amelia Freelander ( left ) , set up a donations page where 9000 has already been raised for Ms Atkinson ' s wedding since the page was set up four days ago A donation page for the couple ' s January wedding , which was secretly set up by Ms Atkinson ' s close friend Amelia Freelander to help them as they direct their savings to medical costs , has already raised almost 9000 since it was set up four days ago . But Ms Atkinson , who still shows no symptoms of her cancer other than occasional mild stomach pain , has also taken it upon herself to use her story as an example and encourage others to undertake regular blood analyses . ' If I hadn ' t happened to go in and get a blood test I never would ' ve have found it and I ' d be living in ignorance until it really was too late . It could be the thing to save your life or give you a bit more time , ' Ms Atkinson said . Ms Freelander ( right ) with Ms Atkinson and George Negus at a Christmas party said she set up the donations page for her friend after their mutual friends kept asking how they could help ' If I hadn ' t happened to go in and get a blood test I never would ' ve have found it and I ' d be living in ignorance until it really was too late . It could be the thing to save your life or give you a bit more time , ' Ms Atkinson , who lives a healthy lifestyle , said ' I never really realised something was wrong , I just went to my with stomach cramps I ' d had and I went in thinking I had indigestion problems or something minor . ' But two blood tests revealed the journalist had poor liver results , leading to a scan that showed a huge growth in the vital organ . ' That was the first time that we knew something was wrong , but at that point not even my doctor realised how bad it was and still thought it could be a benign tumour or a weird growth . It just snowballed from there , ' Ms Atkinson said . Ms Atkinson ' s first indication of a problem came after two blood tests showed poor liver function A scan then showed a huge growth in her liver . Soon after , she underwent keyhole surgery in order to send a sample of her tissue to a lab for testing . A laparoscopy , in which a camera was inserted into her stomach , finally confirmed she had terminal liver cancer She was immediately admitted to hospital where she underwent numerous scans and MRIs as well as keyhole surgery in order to send a sample of her tissue to a lab for testing . A laparoscopy , in which a camera was inserted into her stomach , finally confirmed she had terminal liver cancer . ' But it ' s a secondary liver cancer which means it ' s starting somewhere else and spreading to my liver , ' Ms Atkinson explained . ' But they don ' t know where the source is yet or whether they ' ll ever know . If they know the source the chemotherapy can be more targeted and there ' s more chance of it helping or being successful . ' Despite only learning of her exact diagnosis one and a half weeks ago and preparing to undergo six weeks of chemotherapy next Monday , Ms Atkinson says she can ' t help but feel somewhat grateful . She will undergo six weeks of chemotherapy next week , however doctors have been unable to determine how much time she has left ' As you ' d expect the first few days after being diagnosed were pretty emotional , but there are mixed emotions . ' You feel a sense of despair that you can ' t describe , but there ' s also an element of gratefulness that you have time to do more things it ' s not like I ' m in pain or had any symptoms or anything , which is why it has come as such a shock . ' I feel as normal as I ever did , I just have it in the back of my mind now that this is growing inside of me . ' Ms Atkinson encourages anyone affected by cancer who is seeking counselling , support or even financial assistance , to contact the Cancer Council . To donate towards Ms Atkinson ' s wedding , click here . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past116512640,12641,"K pop , handbags and democracy : South Korean payback for North ' s nuclear test , South Korea South Korea ' s initial retaliation to the North ' s latest nuclear test was a mix of K pop , scathing commentary on its nuclear programme and derision of the ruling family ' s penchant for costly clothes and luxury handbags . Over the hills by Gimpo city bordering the North , broadcasts from one of 11 banks of high power speakers set up along the border spared no criticism of leader Kim Jong Un , who was believed to have turned 33 on Friday . "" Clothes for Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju cost tens of thousands dollars each and her purse is worth thousands of dollars too , "" a male announcer said . Ri is Kim ' s wife . The broadcast can travel 24 km ( 15 miles ) at night and 10 km in daylight , far enough to reach beyond soldiers at the border to civilians to the north . To the outside world , the idea that broadcasts that also showcase freedom and democracy , and how people are allowed to enjoy love and life , can anger a country enough to risk going to war might seem preposterous . But North Korea sees them as an attack on the dignity of its leader and political system , and was provoked enough the last time the South used a tactic the North calls "" an open act of war "" , in August , to launch an artillery strike across the border . South Korean officials said stopping the broadcasts was the main reason the North agreed at that time to end an armed standoff and express regret over a landmine explosion that injured South Korean soldiers . The South Korean military ' s psychological department produces content for the radio station Voice of Freedom , which from noon ( 0300 ) on Friday was channelled to the speakers randomly for up to six hours a day . Early in the broadcast , the South criticised the North ' s claim on Wednesday to have conducted its first hydrogen bomb test . The U . S . government and other experts doubt that the North has achieved such a technological advance since its last nuclear test in 2013 . "" The nuclear test is making North Korea more isolated and turning it into the land of death , "" an announcer said . Another said Kim ' s signature policy of jointly boosting the economy and nuclear capability "" has no realistic value "" . North Korean defectors have said the broadcasts had left a lasting impression that there were songs without an ideological message , that spoke only of love . Commentary , news and weather from around the world are mixed in with such K pop hits as "" Let us love each other "" and South Korean boy band ' s megahit "" Bang Bang Bang "" . ( Additional reporting and writing by Ju min Park Editing by Jack Kim , Robert Birsel ) A South Korean soldier stands guard next to loudspeakers , just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas , in Yeoncheon , South Korea , January 8 , 2016 . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past116612648,12649,"They arrived in full dinner suits , glittery all in one numbers and the latest in jacket fashions but this is not Paris Fashion Week . It is day three of Crufts 2015 where the preened and pampered of the canine world gather to compete in the world ' s biggest dog breed competition . From Afghans in headdresses , to a terrier in a pram , day three of the event at the arena in Birmingham has seen some incredible sights . Colourful : This Afghan hound looks to have been inspired by Paris fashion week with its all in one ensemble , headgear and tassles at day three of Crufts in Birmingham Fine coats : These miniature dogs have turned up on the green carpet wearing eye catching outfits but the judges will be looking at the coats underneath Top dog : And the best dressed dog award goes to . . . This dog has come in a full doggy dinner suit and is certain to impress the judges Easy ride : These pampered pooches hitch a ride in a metal cage as they arrive on day three of the competition at the in Birmingham Today is the turn of Hounds and Terriers to take centre stage with breeds ranging from West Highland White ' s to shaggy looking Komondor ' s all on show . The four day event is the world ' s largest dog show with beloved pets competing in categories include agility , heelwork to music and the ever popular flyball final . There were various displays from groups including the the West Midlands Police and the Southern Golden Retriever display team Barking : This dog is careful to avoid a bad hair day with its white bonnet as well as wearing protective boots to protect its paws Shaggy dog story : Comedian Bill Bailey shares a joke with Fodey the Komondor . But Crufts was a serious business for competitors on Saturday On show : This flowing Afghan hound was at todays show where dogs were tested in various categories including heelwork , agility and obedience On parade : A Cairn Terrier trots around the ring in front of the clapping crowds at today ' s show at Crufts Thursday saw the Gundogs do their thing , yesterday featured the Working and Pastoral categories and tomorrow will mark the finale of the competition with the Toy and Utility dogs . There are also a number of events solely for children and their dogs It has changed in ways that couldn ' t possibly have been imagined when the show was set up in Victorian times by the late Charles Cruft . Although it was a very different event in 1891 Charles Cruft was a great showman and would surely have enjoyed the size and scope of the event today , which is an essential date in any dog lover ' s calendar . puppy love : One dog reaches in for a kiss from its owner at the biggest dog show on earth happening in Birmingham this weekend All creatures great . . . Owner Laura Barclay arrives with her Irish Wolfounds . It looks like her four dogs are taking her for a walk And small : Miniature Daschunds take tiny strides towards the crufts arena on their leads with their owners on Saturday On your marks : These greyhounds keep warm in their colourful checkered coats but look ready to compete at any second at Crufts this weekend Pristine pooches : These American Eskimos look white than white as they trot along to the Crufts arena in Birmingham on Saturday Beard trim : This terrier has its coat trimmed to ensure it ' s in tip top condition for the judges on day three of the world famous canine competition Getting ready : An owner applies the finishing touches to her beautiful hound while things start to get underway in Birmingham Close shave : A Bedlington terrier is clipped as its owner ensures it is looking its best for today ' s terrier category at Crufts Although there is a packed schedule of contests for the dogs to take part in , for much of the time they left waiting around for their event to start . Each animals is assigned a sleeping area , which many of the owners decorate with cushions , pictures and rosettes from previous competitions . The dog show is still an important part of the event , celebrating the unique relationship that dogs share with their owners . Judges are trained to ensure that only healthy dogs win prizes , which in turn encourages the breeding of healthy dogs . But the event is now about so much more besides . Star quality : The dogs get celebrity treatment for the day , and also celebrity attention , as Bill Bailey arrived to give poodles Cedric ( left ) and Walter a cuddle Snazzy jackets : These hounds show off their slim waistlines with their colourful coats on their way to perform in the Terrier and Hound day No walkies : A Maltese named Buttons looks out from his pushchair during day three of Crufts 2015 at the , Birmingham This way : An English Bull Terrier shows his strength and enthusiasm for the esteemed dog show as he pulls on his leash Crufts is ultimately a celebration of all dogs . It celebrates working dogs , such as those in the Gamekeeper classes or which line up for the Police Dog Team Operational and Humanitarian Action of the Year award . The dogs compete in various events to test their obedience and agility in order to be named Best In Show . Proud : A West Highland White stands on a Union flag ( left ) while two standard Poodles wait patiently on day three at the Happy hound : This Afghan Hound is all smiles while waiting for its turn at the largest dog breeds show in the world Do your ears hang low ? This bloodhound is drooling with excitement as he gets ready to be part of the biggest dog show there is Why the long face ? Because it ' s the terrier and hound category at Crufts 2015 in Birmingham . This dog relaxes on his mat before show time All smiles : This little dog lover clutches on to a couple of soft dog cuddly toys while bling collars are also on show Picture perfect : This wise looking Afghan hound is immaculately groomed and ready for judgement day ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past116712661,12662,"White House ' Super Heroes ' await the outcome in Chicago . The Barack Obama White House , issued a revealing statement at a hastily organized recent press conference . Reporters were mesmerized as the White House press secretary related the actions of the ' Super Teams ' part in capturing a Unidentified Flying Object , and the arrest of Transformer ' s Megatron . Obama and his team of newly named ' super heroes ' team described an action that occurred last week in Chicago when Obama was visiting . The story according to Obama , and confirmed later by Reverend Wright , concerned a late night visit to Obama ' s Chicago home while Obama was up late preparing an egg omelette . "" Strange lights appeared outside my window . I immediately thought it was someone like Karl Rove playing a trick on me to keep me from eating my omelette . "" The reporters hushed as the drama was building , but Obama continued , "" I opened the window and this strange dwarfy looking creature jumps in and waves his red tipped finger at me ! I could tell he was a Tea Bagger at first glance ! "" Jaws dropped as Obama ' s face showed real memory of past fear . "" I quickly reached for the frying pan and cold konked the little guy in the head ! Then , I tied him up and called the Navy , and the police . "" Police officials at first denied the action ever took place and showed an actual Chicago police log for that night that showed officers showed up at Obama ' s home to break up a ' pot party ' , but later changed their story after a 100 million dollar Homeland sercurity grant to the was announced . Shocked staffers lead the babbling President away as reporters packed up their equipment and staff assistants picked up campaign slogan posters . Onlookers moved their hands from unbelieving faces as the President was pulled away from the microphone , but not before he was heard how ' those little E . T ' s wanted to collect his precious bodily fluids ' . The Megatron incident was slapped with a ' Top Secret ' coding and no one would speak about it . The White House press secretary Jim Carney released a photo of White House senior officials dressed in their super heroes costumes . ",satire,text,test,American football,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past116812685,12686,"Reuters) - Republican lawmakers launched the next round in their fight against federal regulation on Wednesday, helped by at least one Democrat, as the U.S. Senate began work on legislation to change nearly every step agencies take in creating and applying new rules. Republicans have said they deem lightening federal regulation, which they consider costly and burdensome, as much a priority as overhauling healthcare and rewriting the tax code. For most of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, the Republican-led Congress attacked regulation by passing resolutions to wipe some of former Democratic President Barack Obama’s rules off the books under the Congressional Review Act. Trump also ordered agencies to scrap two existing rules every time they enact a new one. Just before Trump’s January inauguration, the House of Representatives passed the “Regulatory Accountability Act,” combining a half dozen bills to radically change government regulation. On Wednesday, Senator Rob Portman, a Ohio Republican, and Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat, introduced a version of the act for that chamber. If it passes, the bill will be combined with the House version for Trump to sign into law. The bill would bring “our outdated federal regulatory process into the 21st Century by requiring agencies to use the best scientific and economic data available, strengthening checks and balances, and giving the public a voice in the process,” Portman said in a statement. It requires stricter cost-benefit analysis, use of the “best available science” to craft rules, and reviews of regulations, according to a summary. The bill diverges from the House version on what is known as the “Chevron Deference,” based on a Supreme Court ruling that courts should defer to agencies’ interpretations of statutes governing their rulemaking. The House legislation eliminates the Chevron Deference, while the Senate one creates a judicial review process where courts can decide if agencies comply with the law and then remand non-compliant rules to agencies. Courts would also review factual determinations used in drafting rules costing more than $1 billion annually. Environmental and labor groups said the Senate bill could block needed new regulations and weaken existing ones. “This bill would tilt the scales in favor of polluters at the public’s expense,” said Scott Slesinger, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It would make it virtually impossible to safeguard the public from dirty air, unsafe drinking water and other health threats.” ",true,dataset,test,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past116912688,12689,"Team Grades : Roethlisberger Rusty In Return , Steelers Fall To ? Bengals Filed Under : Antwon Blake , Ben Roethlisberger , Cam Heyward , Cincinnati Bengals , Le ' Veon Bell , Pittsburgh Steelers , 01 : Ben Roethlisberger 7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers scambles in the pocket during the 4th quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field on November 1 , 2015 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . ( Photo by Justin K . Aller Getty Images ) The Pittsburgh Steelers looked primed to truly challenge the unbeaten North leading Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Heinz Field with an early touchdown from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown . On a day that saw the offense and Big Ben turn into a train wreck , the Steelers defense was what came up big . Running back Le Veon Bell suffered a right leg injury and despite overcoming costly , unnecessary penalties with solid defensive play and two interceptions . Pittsburgh falls to an even record in Week 8 The return of Roethlisberger was supposed to be as big as the next Star Wars movie . Unfortunately , after looking strong early , Roethlisberger struggled behind an offensive line that collapsed around him frequently enough to keep him shuffling the best he could with his leg in a brace for the first time in his career . Frustrated , Roethlisberger forced passes and overthrew targets , leading to a three interception day and a miserable performance in front of the home crowd . He completed just 28 of 45 passes for a single touchdown as his offense could not put points on the board . Bell s injury is concerning for several reasons , but the biggest may not be the play of DeAngelo Williams . Brown , Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton were not sharp in this game . Heath Miller led the team in receptions with ten for 105 yards . The Steelers were only able to create 356 yards of total offense and six points after they watched their teammates on defense go get them the ball . Antwon Blake had the defensive play of the game after Cam Heyward came up big to block a Nugent field goal . Reading Dalton , Blake jumped the route in the end zone and scampered along the sideline for a 42 yard interception and return . On the next Bengals possession , Mike Mitchell was the benefactor of a ball tipped by Green after a nice hit by Ross Cockrell . Unfortunately , every defensive edge was translated into zero points on the scoreboard . The only reason the special teams did not earn a higher grade was because kickoff returner Dri Archer exited the end zone twice on kickoffs when he should have just allowed to be touchbacks . Heyward s field goal block was accentuated by a solid performance by placekicker Chris Boswell . There is no excuse . Mike Tomlin didn t get Roethlisberger to calm down and relax in this game , instead asking his veteran to come out and generate offense with a team that really looks a bit like a deer in the headlights right now . There is no one area that can be patched right up . The coaching staff once again wasted an opportunity to call a timeout before the two minute warning at the end of the game , a call Tomlin said was because he felt a later timeout was more important . It cost the Steelers 28 seconds on the clock , time that may have given Roethlisberger at least one more last ditch opportunity . This is a Steelers team that can t get itself righted when things , like big defensive turnovers , fall in their laps . It has been a theme with this team in 2015 . The Steelers host the Oakland Raiders in Week 9 . The only way to right the ship in Pittsburgh is for the Steelers to avoid the trap game situation and dominate Oakland . Christina Rivers has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers and National Football League professionally as a journalist and photographer for over a decade . Rivers studied Exercise Physiology and Sports Psychology at Brigham Young University as a student athlete . Christina is a freelance writer covering all things as well as a published author . Her work can be found on ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past117012702,12703,"The television news anchor who misreported the names of the four pilots who were aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 when it crash landed last week in San Francisco apologized Saturday for the screwup . The bogus names phonetically spelled out phrases such as "" Something Wrong "" and "" We Too Low . "" Campbell ' s apology followed by one day an apology by the National Transportation Safety Board for the "" inaccurate and offensive "" names that were erroneously confirmed by a summer intern . "" Earlier today , in response to an inquiry from a media outlet , a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft , "" the said Friday in a statement . Opinion : How to save your life in a plane crash Campbell read the names during ' s noon broadcast on Friday , after which the news station apologized on air and on its website . "" Nothing is more important to us than having the highest level of accuracy and integrity , and we are reviewing our procedures to ensure this type of error does not happen again , "" posted on its website . The station said the names were confirmed by an official in Washington prior to air . It was not immediately clear who produced the fake names , but the said it was not the intern . "" The names were presented by the station , to the intern for confirmation , "" said spokeswoman Kelly Nantel . "" The intern did not make up the names and provide them to the station . "" The said it does not release or confirm the identities of crew members or people involved in transportation accidents . "" We work hard to ensure that only appropriate factual information regarding an investigation is released and deeply regret today ' s incident , "" the statement said . The did not identify the intern , but said , "" Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated . "" Asiana Airlines has identified the pilot flying the Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco International Airport as Lee Kang Kuk . Did Asiana pilot have enough 777 experience ? Asiana Flight 214 was carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew members when it crash landed Saturday on the runway after striking a seawall . Three passengers died , including a girl who died of her injuries Friday morning . More than 180 others were injured . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past117112716,12717,"Calls for Oscars boycott over all white acting nominations Film maker Spike Lee and actor Jada Pinkett Smith say they will not attend this year ' s lily white ceremony In a video posted to her official Facebook account , actor Jada Pinkett Smith reveals why she will be boycotting this year ' s Oscars ceremony . Video : Jada Pinkett Smith Spike Lee , in a post on Instagram , said he cannot support the lily white Academy Awards this year . Photograph : Dimitrios Kambouris Getty Images Calls for a boycott of the Academy Awards are growing over the Oscars second straight year of all white acting nominees , as Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith each said they will not attend this year s ceremony . In a lengthy Instagram post , Lee said he cannot support the lily white Oscars . Noting that he was writing on Martin Luther King Jr Day , Lee ? who in November was given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards ? said he was fed up : Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all , he wrote . We can t act ? ! A photo posted by Spike Lee ( officialspikelee ) on In a video message on Facebook , Pinkett Smith also said she would not attend or watch the Oscars in February . Pinkett Smith , whose husband Will Smith was not nominated for his performance in the head trauma drama Concussion , said it was time to disregard the Academy Awards . Begging for acknowledgement , or even asking , diminishes dignity and diminishes power , she said . And we are a dignified people and we are powerful . She added : Let s let the academy do them , with all grace and love . And let s do us differently . Last year s all white acting nominees also drew calls for a boycott , though not from such prominent individuals as Lee and Pinkett Smith . Whether it had any impact or not , the audience for the broadcast , hosted by Neil Patrick Harris , was down 16 per cent from the year prior , a six year low . This year , Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has made a point of presenting a more inclusive show . The February 28th broadcast will be hosted by Chris Rock and produced by Django Unchained producer Reginald Hudlin and David Hill . On Saturday , Rock , unveiling a new promotion for the broadcast , called the ceremony The White Awards . When Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday , Ms Isaacs acknowledged she was disappointed that all 20 acting nominees were again white . Isaacs has worked to diversify membership for the academy , which a 2012 study by the Los Angeles Times found is overwhelmingly white and male . Nominations were widely predicted for Idris Elba of Beasts Of No Nation and Benicio Del Toro for Sicario . The biopic Straight Outta Compton also failed to earn a best picture nomination , despite some predictions it would . Ryan Coogler s acclaimed Rocky sequel Creed scored a nomination only for Sylvester Stallone . Lee s own movie , the Chicago gang violence hip hop musical Chi Raq ? celebrated by some and scorned by others ? also went unnoticed . The hashtag OscarsSoWhite , created last year , was quickly resurrected online following the nominations . Rev Al Sharpton ? who last year met with former Sony head Amy Pascal following leaked emails that some viewed as racist ? on Friday lambasted the academy . Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains , the higher up you get the whiter it gets and this year s Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscar , said Sharpton . In his post , Lee made it clear the Academy Awards is only part of the problem in an industry with deep rooted diversity issues . In his Governors Awards speech , Lee said : It s easier to be the president of the United States as a black person than be the head of a studio . The Academy Awards is not where the real battle is , wrote Lee on Tuesday . It s in the executive office of the Hollywood studios and and cable networks . This is where the gate keepers decide what gets made and what gets jettisoned to turnaround or scrap heap . This is what s important . The gate keepers . Those with the green light vote . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present117212732,12733,"In the movie "" Back to the Future , "" the year is 1955 when Marty McFly introduces the song "" Johnny B . Goode "" to a high school dance . That was three years before this tune was actually written , but McFly knows it well because he ' s from the future . It would stand to reason that in real life , time travelers from a future era or who had at least visited the future might give themselves away by mentioning events that haven ' t yet occurred . They might even do so online . I mean , you ' d obviously take to social media to broadcast your foreknowledge of world events , right ? Scientists at Michigan Technological University wanted to see if they could catch any such slips by residents of the future . So Robert Nemiroff , professor of physics , and graduate student Teresa Wilson conducted a whimsical study in hopes of identifying accurate predictions of future events . They are presenting their study at the American Astronomical Society Meeting on Monday . The online platform that allowed them to look most comprehensively for prescient posts was Twitter , because the social network doesn ' t allow back dating . Facebook users can alter timestamps on posts , and the popular search engines Google and Bing were not as helpful as Twitter in looking for "" prescient information , "" the authors found . Study authors focused on two major search terms they believe will have lasting significance for years to come : Comet and Pope Francis . They looked for mentions of these from January 2006 to September 2013 . Before the identification of comet in 2012 , there were no mentions that the researchers could find of this icy space rock . Similarly , before Jorge Bergoglio took on his papal name in 2013 , the phrase "" Pope Francis "" did not appear in the researchers ' search results , except for one person ' s blog , which appears to have been speculating not remembering something from the future . It appears that no one posted about his or her neighbor or acquaintance declaring the name Pope Francis early , either . "" It ' s not proof , but it ' s an indication to me that it ' s not possible , "" Nemiroff said , referring to time travel . There are , of course , several reasons why this technique might not detect any time travelers . Nemiroff and Wilson may have missed them by using the wrong search terms . Temporal adventurers might avoid posting to social media altogether , or even using the Internet , for fear of being found out . Or , you know , it might be physically impossible to travel to the past . "" It ' s the largest database ever searched for that kind of information . It ( evidence of time travel ) might have been there , "" Nemiroff said . The idea for the study came about in discussions during poker games with his students , he said . Don ' t worry , that ' s not all they ' re doing Nemiroff studies other more substantial topics such as gamma ray bursts , and helped create ' s Astronomy Picture of the Day website . Others have tried in the past to lure time travelers into exposing themselves , Nemiroff and Wilson note in their paper . A convention for time travelers was held in May 2005 by then graduate student Amal Dorai at , but no one living among us from the future showed up , although the event attracted 450 guests , according to Nature . Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking , similarly , said in a July 2012 interview that he had thrown a party for time travelers , sending out invitations after the party occurred . Sadly , no one came . Similarly , no one answered the study authors ' calls to tweet on or before August 2013 using the hashtags ICanChangeThePast2 or ICannotChangeThePast2 , indicating whether the time travelers believed they could alter history . Sean Carroll , a physicist at California Institute of Technology who was not involved in the study , said physicists who have studied the question of time travel into the past taking into account Einstein ' s theory of general relativity have concluded that we can imagine time travel , but it ' s probably not possible in real life . "" We don ' t have an airtight proof , but at the very least it would involve manipulating astrophysically significant amounts of matter and energy in unheard of ways , "" he said in an e mail . "" And even if you built a ' time machine , ' it would let travelers from the future go back to the moment you built it , but you wouldn ' t ever be able to visit any moments before you built it . Since we don ' t think anyone has built one already , I think we ' re safe from time travelers for the time being . "" Still , Carroll said , Nemiroff ' s paper represents a fun , clever idea . "" To be clear , there was essentially zero reason to believe that they were going to find any evidence for time travelers , but since it didn ' t exactly cost a lot of money to perform the study I ' m all in favor of it , "" Carroll said . So , if you are from the future and reading this , you secret is probably still safe for now . ",true,text,test,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present117312734,12735,"Judge Refuses To Toss Sex Assault Charge Against Bill ? Cosby Filed Under : bill cosby , Sex Assault , Steve Kastenbaum Bill Cosby is led into court in Elkins Park , Pennsylvania on sexual assault charges . ( Credit : CBS2 ) , Pa . ( CBSNewYork ) ? A Pennsylvania judge has refused to throw out the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby , despite claims that a previous district attorney had granted the comedian immunity from prosecution a decade ago . Current ? Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele had testified during the two say proceedings that there was no non prosecution agreement in writing , and if anything was agreed to in conversation it wasn t legally binding , 1010 Steve Kastenbaum reported . The decision on Wednesday means the case will ? move to a March 8 ? preliminary hearing to see if prosecutors have enough evidence to prove Cosby assaulted the accuser at his Philadelphia area home more than a decade ago . The case was reopened last year based on ? Cosby s newly released deposition in the accuser s lawsuit and similar accusations raised by dozens of other women . ? It s the first time Cosby has faced charges despite years of similar accusations . In the deposition , Cosby stated ? he obtained quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with and gave the accuser three pills at his home . Judge Steven T . O Neill also refused a defense request to ? disqualify the prosecutor from the case . Cosby s lawyers were ? hoping to disqualify Steele because the Cosby case was an issue in last fall s hotly contested s race against Bruce Castor . Steele ran ads criticizing Castor for not prosecuting Cosby when he had the chance During the two day proceeding , Cosby showed little emotion . During the ruling , he held his head in his hands but later smiled at his lawyers . Cosby is charged with ? aggravated indecent assault ? in the case . The alleged incident happened in 2004 , when Cosby supposedly invited Andrea Constand ? a former athlete and administrator at Cosby s alma mater ? Temple University ? ? to his 2 million home . According to a 23 page complaint , Cosby gave Constand three blue pills that he claimed were herbal . Within a half hour , Constand experienced blurred vision and difficulty speaking , the complaint said . Cosby s attorney said her client and the alleged victim had a consensual relationship and she s confident he ll be cleared of any wrongdoing . If convicted , Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison . ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past117412735,12736,"A survey of Muslim voters in six states has found one surprising result : Donald Trump was the most popular Republican presidential candidate , despite his calls for tighter surveillance of Muslims and limits on Muslim immigration . The poll , not unexpectedly , found that 67 percent of the respondents support the Democratic Party and 51 percent of them plan to vote for Hillary Clinton . Sen . Bernie Sanders trailed with 22 percent . But of the 15 percent who said they intended to vote for Republicans , Trump was the first choice , with more than 7 percent of the total . The survey , which was commissioned by the Council on American Islamic Relations and carried out Jan . 26 , comprised interviews with 2 , 000 registered Muslim voters in California , Florida , Illinois , New York , Texas and Virginia ? the states with the largest Muslim populations in the United States . The council did not identify the independent automated call service provider that undertook the survey . Robert McCaw , the council s government affairs manager , suggested that the increase in respondents who said they planned to vote was likely driven , at least in part , by concern over the rise in anti Muslim rhetoric since terrorist attacks late last year in Paris and San Bernardino , California . About 30 percent of the respondents said Islamaphobia was their No . 1 concern . The economy and health care ranked No . 2 and No . 3 . Despite the concern over anti Muslim feelings , Trump was the most popular of the Republicans among the respondents ? even with his calls for closing down mosques , monitoring Muslims and barring them from immigrating to the United States . Support for other Republicans was negligible : Ted Cruz received 2 percent , Jeb Bush 1 . 57 percent and Rand Paul , Ben Carson , Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina each received less than 1 percent . Ibrahim Hooper , the council s director of communications , called the Trump result puzzling . It is not unusual to find Muslim Republicans , because the two are similarly socially conservative , he said . But at a time when anti Muslim rhetoric and bigotry is being spewed by Republicans , it is rather unusual . Hooper , however , said it was possible that the Trump supporters were unaware of the candidate s anti Islam stands . He noted that former Maryland Gov . Martin O Malley , a Democrat who became the first presidential candidate to visit a mosque in December , was favored by just 0 . 98 percent of the respondents . This is what makes me think that this result could be more about the recognition of Donald Trump s name than anything , he said . People probably do not know of a Martin O Malley , but they surely know of Donald Trump by default . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past117512744,12745,"For one father , trying to make the best of his daughter ' s eye problem is as simple as being creative with a marker pen . Layla Grubb , 11 months , was born with a cataract in her right eye so she must wear a patch on her left eye for two hours a day to strengthen it . So her father Geoffrey Grubb , 31 , from the Midwest , , simply draws a new design on her patch every day ' to make it fun ' and takes a picture . Little Layla Grubb , 11 months , must wear a patch for two hours a day to help strengthen her right eye Creative father Geoffrey Grubb draws fun designs such as a flower , left , or a bug , on Layla ' s eye patches Layla gets half a pair of spectacles just like her father Geoffrey Grubb , who took the enchanting snaps The adorable baby was born with a small cataract that affects the sight in her right eye so in order to help the injured eye develop properly , she has worn a patch over her stronger eye for two months . She won ' t need surgery and the family hope patching will be enough but she will continue to have to wear one until she ' s four or five years old . Stay at home father Geoffrey said he quickly came up with the idea to decorate them . ' We bought some patches for her and they were a little weird to look at , so I started drawing on them the next day to make it more fun for both of us , ' he said . ' She ' s too young to really know what ' s going on but I always show her the pictures before I put it on . She likes the pictures but she ' s much happier when it ' s time to take it off . ' The adorable baby was born with a cataract in her right eye , so the patch helps her vision develop correctly When it ' s cold , Layla gets a patch decorated with a snowman complete with top hat and carrot nose Seeing out of one eye doesn ' t slow Layla down . She looks playful with cartoon characters on her patch In the pictures , Layla certainly seems a very sunny baby and always has a big smile . Geoffrey takes pictures of Layla every day and sends them to his family . He has drawn a range of designs on her skin coloured patches including eyes inspired by Spider Man , Bishop from X Men , Catwoman , as well as a heart and a floating balloon . And so far he has come up with original drawing every day . He said : ' The designs are mostly pop culture things that I think will be funny or cute . I haven ' t repeated any yet and I snap a picture with my iPhone every day . It even doubles as a name badge ! Geoffrey writes his daughter ' s name in block capitals and colours them red Layla channels Long John Silver with this traditional black patch drawn on the skin coloured medical one Bishop from X Men provides inspiration for this design which isn ' t interfering in Layla ' s story time one bit Babies and toddlers wear patches to help the eye send correct messages to the brain to prevent a lazy eye from developing . This occurs when the vision in one eye doesn ' t fully develop during childhood and can ' t necessarily be corrected with glasses in later life . Geoffrey posted the pictures and Layla ' s predicament on the social media website Reddit , noting that she often rubs her patch and gets irritable . His fellow users offered messages of support about their own experiences of wearing eye patches and some invaluable advice . Geoffrey said : ' The best advice I received was to put a little Vaseline on her eyebrow so the patch doesn ' t rip her hair out when I take it off . I thought that was genius . ' A trip round the supermarket is given some comic book cool with a Layla ' s Catwoman eye patch Layla ' s clearly a little star , so naturally dad Geoffrey drew a yellow five point star with a face on her patch ",true,text,test,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present117612748,12749,"Hillary Clinton, and the Real November Surprise By Pepe Escobar ""As bad as it is the folks above the President make the decisions. They may have decided on Trump. These things do not happen by accident."" "" Sputnik "" - Thus spoke a high-level business mover and shaker with secure transit in rarified Masters of the Universe-related circles, amidst the utter political chaos provoked by head of the James Comeys latest bombshell. Its virtually established by now that Attorney General Loretta Lynch told Comey not to release his letter to Congress. But Comey did it anyway. If he had not, and a scandal would inevitably spring up after the presidential election, Lynch would be perfectly positioned to deny she knew anything, and Comey would be on the firing line. Lynch is a certified Clinton machine asset. In 1999 then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to run the Brooklyn Attorneys office. She left in 2002, taking the private practice revolving door. She was back to the Brooklyn office in 2010, urged by Obama. Five years later she became the 83rd Attorney General, replacing the dodgy Eric Holder. A plausible case has been made that Comey took his fateful decision based on a serious internal revolt at the led by key people he trust as well as being egged-on by his wife. Yet one of the key questions that refuse to go away is why the waited until 11 days before the presidential election to supposedly ""find"" an email trove on certified sexting pervert Anthony Weiners laptop. A Deal With Donald? The business source, although unsympathetic to the Clinton machine, especially in foreign policy, is a realpolitik practitioner, not a conspiracy theorist. He is adamant that, the reversal could not have happened without orders above the President. If the Masters [of the Universe] have changed their mind, then they will destroy Hillary. He adds, they can make a deal with Donald just like anyone else; Donald wins; the Masters win; the people think that their voice has been heard. And then there will be some sort of (controlled) change. Whats paramount in the whole soap opera is the faith in the political system as corrupt as it may be must endure. That mirrors the faith in the dollar; if confidence in the dollar fails, the as a hegemonic financial power is no more. The source is equally adamant that, it is almost unprecedented to see a cover-up as extensive as Hillarys. A secret meeting between Bill Clinton and the Attorney General; the ignoring all evidence and initially clearing Hillary to near rebellion of the whole of the FBI, attested to by Rudolf Giuliani whose reputation as a federal prosecutor is unquestioned; the Clinton pay for play foundation. The Masters are troubled that this is getting out of hand. The record shows that the Masters do not usually have to go to such lengths to protect their own. They did manage to save Bill Clinton from the Monica Lewinsky perjury and keep him in the presidency. The Masters were not attacked in this case. They even got away with the 1987 cash settlement crash and the theft surrounding the Lehman debacle. In all these cases there were no overarching challenges to their control, as we see now open to the public by Trump. They antagonized and insulted the wrong man. All Aboard the Huma Train Hillary Clinton is not at the center of Comeys jaw-dropping October Surprise; its actually her right-hand woman and ersatz daughter Huma Abedin. This early January essay on Huma Abedin contains plenty of nuggets out and about some of them positively eyebrow raising. In case Hillary Clinton becomes the next President of the United States (POTUS), Abedin, alternatively known as Princess of Saudi Arabia, will most likely become Hillarys chief of staff the power behind running all White House operations. A glimpse of the FBI-Huma Abedin connection is available here . Abedin was granted Top Secret security clearance for the first time in 2009, when Hillary named her deputy chief of staff for operations. Abedin later said she did not remember being read into any Special Access Programs (SAPs). Its crucial to remember that one of Abedins emails was huma@clintonemail.com. Crucial translation: she was the only high-level State Dept. aide whose emails were hosted by the notorious Subterranean Clinton Email Server which she claimed she didnt know existed until she heard about it in the news. Abedin swore under oath in a lawsuit brought against the State Dept. by Judicial Watch that she had handed over all of her laptops and smart phones that could host emails relevant to the Subterranean Email Server investigation. That may not have been the case. The laptop at the center of Comeys bombshell was shared by Abedin and her husband Wiener before they split. If Abedin lied, she could face up to five years in jail for perjury. As if the whole illegal email-cum-sexting saga was not sordid enough, the climax now seems to have turned into a mixed wrestling match between the former couple, with the big prize being the slammer. The has finally obtained a warrant and is now frantically searching no less than 650,000 Abedin emails found on sexting freak Wieners laptop; the objective is to exactly determine which ones came from the Subterranean Email Server. As if this was not demeaning enough, the continues to conduct an investigation on the Clinton Foundation. As former Assistant Director of the Tom Fuentes said , The has an intensive investigation ongoing into the Clinton Foundation the investigation would go forward as a comprehensive unified case and be coordinated, so that investigation is ongoing and Huma Abedin and her role and activities concerning Secretary of State in the nature of the foundation and possible pay to play, thats still being looked at now. Whatever happens until election day, voters will have to consider the startling fact they may choose a next that is the subject of a wide-ranging comprehensive unified investigation. A Rotten, Rigged System? A former federal public corruption prosecutor volunteers a plausible take on Comeys action. In a nutshell, agents investigating Weiners sexting and they are a different set of agents investigating Emailgate saw evidence of State Dept emails on his laptop. Comey knew he needed a search warrant to comb the emails at Wieners computer. So he pre-empted the inevitable subsequent hype by sending out a vague letter to the Hill that in the end left everyone even more confused. That interpretation though may be only scratching the surface. Deeper and deeper, it seems that Comeys decision was really precipitated by the senior agents insurgence fed up with the extreme carelessness Hillary cover-up. Theyve got to have some surefire material on the Clinton (cash) machine that never saw the light. Comey could have just waited to say something after the election; after all the maintains they had checked all Clinton emails, including deleted ones, not to mention the Podesta emails. So the emails on sexting Wieners laptop may be no more than a limited hangout. A much more plausible explanation is that Comey had to do it not only because of the internal revolt (or because he had an urge to upstage WikiLeaks?) He had to do it because the rot goes way beyond the Clinton pay to play racket and involves virtually the whole system, from the deep recesses of the Obama administration to the War Party scam, the Department of Justice, the and the itself. What next? Brace for impact; it may well be the ultimate November Surprise.",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past117712763,12764,"Welcome to another draft season . I ' ve been ranking this class officially on the site since May , but I know many of you don ' t consider draft season officially underway until mock drafts start popping up . A few reminders at this ( very ) early stage in the game . For one , personnel folks are still really early in their evaluations . Nobody has a draft board yet , and we still have postseason all star games , combine testing , medicals and individual workouts to get through . Drafting for need isn ' t a great idea in most cases GMs really do mean it most of the time when they say , "" We took the best player available "" and I ' m especially leery of making need the big issue here . Every team has at least a dozen roster moves to make ( and for some , twice that ) , and there ' s also free agency . "" Need "" isn ' t a clear term yet . Lastly , there could still be an underclassmen or two who decides to jump into the draft . That said , off we go . A player with an asterisk next to his name has a year of eligibility remaining . Two asterisks implies two years . Getting the best defensive lineman in any draft really transcends need . Every team wants great D linemen , and Bosa has the upside of a star . He ' s a dominant pass rusher who piled up 51 . 0 tackles for loss over three seasons despite running into a steady supply of double teams , and he ' s also outstanding against the run . You can move him around on the line at will . The son of a former first round pick , he comes in ready to contribute . It goes without saying the Browns need to take a hard look at quarterbacks , and Hue Jackson should have the chance to start fresh with someone other than Johnny Manziel . Goff has tremendous talent and upside . He has shown off an arm since he arrived at Cal and has a great mind for the game . He has also shown how resilient he can be , growing with and leading that team at Cal , which would be a great trait in Cleveland . Ken Whisenhunt is back at offensive coordinator for the Chargers , and the immediate need for this team is going to be figuring out a way to keep Philip Rivers upright . Injuries have decimated the Chargers ' offensive line , and adding Tunsil means they get an immediate starter . This kid is a flat out gifted left tackle prospect , the kind of player who could go No . 1 overall to Tennessee . Get him here and you ' ll be pleased . It ' s rare to find a team picking No . 4 overall that can genuinely say , "" We ' re in win now mode . "" But the Cowboys get a healthy Tony Romo back , so that ' s a fair statement . If Greg Hardy isn ' t back , Buckner is a great fit . You get a 6 foot 7 , 290 pound defensive end who can put a tackle on skates right into his own quarterback . The No . 1 thing you love about Buckner : major motor . He plays hard . He could have been taken relatively early last year , but came back and put an exclamation point on it . The best player available here , Ramsey is a great corner or a great safety , a fit in any secondary given his skill set and incredible athleticism . Those athlete credentials ? Well , consider that he ' s long jumping at roughly an Olympic level in , essentially , a second sport that he really can ' t commit to full time . A worthy top five talent in the secondary . ",true,text,test,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present117812783,12784,"The comic book author and screenwriter Marc Andreyko felt unfathomable horror when he heard the news of the June 12 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Feeling compelled to help, he posted on Facebook a suggestion to create a comic book that would benefit the victims. The result is “Love Is Love,” a anthology filled with original work by contributors both familiar and unexpected. The book, which will be available Dec. 28, includes pages from the documentarian Morgan Spurlock, the actor Matt Bomer, the comedians Patton Oswalt and Taran Killam, and other entertainers. “I went through my Rolodex — to use a word for something that doesn’t even exist anymore — and looked for people who I’m friends with and had name value,” Mr. Andreyko said. “I want this book to be in as many hands as possible. ” Proceeds from the book, which will cost $9. 99 and be available in comic stores and for download online (with additional pages) will benefit Equality Florida, which has set up a fund for the victims of the Pulse shooting and their families. Mr. Andreyko, 46, said the inspiration for the book could be traced to his childhood. He fondly recalled the musical acts that came together for benefit concerts such as Band Aid and Live Aid and the song “We Are the World. ” He noted that the format of the book — no story is over two pages long — had been chosen to help lure contributors who had tight schedules. But Mr. Andreyko found the biggest motivator was the act of expression. “It was therapeutic,’’ he said. “By doing the art, it was purging for us. ” The offerings are diverse: There are stories that directly address the victims, some pinups, wistful ruminations and more. Brian Michael Bendis, one of Marvel’s most prolific writers, teamed up with his oldest daughter, Olivia, to capture a glimmer of a moment from the shooting at Pulse. They came up with a spread of revelrous dancers and a lone person in shadow looking upon them. “The idea that someone could stand in the middle of that club full of joy and fun and be drowning in madness was something we couldn’t get past,” Mr. Bendis said. Michael Avon Oeming drew the artwork, and Taki Soma colored it. Mr. Spurlock, who is working on a documentary about superheroes for the History Channel, wrote a story, with art by Kieron Dwyer, in support of the nation’s dedicated police officers. Mr. Spurlock said officers were sometimes tarnished as a group because of the actions of a few. “These guys still have to show up and do their jobs,” he said. One of the most unusual contributions comes by way of J. K. Rowling, who allowed the use of a quote from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. ” It serves as a caption to an image of Harry and his friends drawn by Jim Lee, a of Comics. The pairing seemed only natural, Mr. Andreyko said. “If we get the author on the planet, we need the biggest artist,” Mr. Andreyko said. Mark Chiarello, a senior vice president of art and design at DC, added a watercolor rainbow flag to the drawing. The quote is by Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Harry’s school, who Ms. Rowling has said is gay, and drives home the point of the anthology: “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. ”",true,news,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past117912790,12791,"Malware and phishing scams are the scourge of the web . Social networks and sites each have their own way of tackling the problem but from today , Facebook is hoping to pool this expertise into a single site . It has set up a mini social network designed for security and cyber experts where they can share and learn about the latest threats facing their users . ThreatExchange ( pictured ) builds on Facebook ' s existing ThreatData tools currently used to discover and tackle scams and cybercrime . Partners will use it to share clues about malware and phishing scams . Early participants include Bitly , Dropbox , Pinterest , Tumblr , Twitter , and Yahoo Called ThreatExchange , the site builds on Facebook ' s existing ThreatData tools currently used to discover and tackle scams and cybercrime . ' ThreatExchange enables security professionals anywhere to share threat information more easily , learn from each other ' s discoveries , and make their own systems safer , ' explained the site . ' Threats like malware and phishing typically go after multiple targets , and a successful attack at one place usually makes it easier to take over systems elsewhere . We share in each other ' s fate . ' It added that to ' be stronger together ' , companies need a more open approach to security to protect people ' s accounts and get rid of viruses . ThreatExchange builds on Facebook ' s existing ThreatData tools currently used to discover and tackle scams and cybercrime . It is built on the existing Facebook platform , but the site added layers to the service to let partners search through available threat information more easily . These firms can also post threat information and discoveries to other partners . Threat data includes typically freely available information such as domain names sending out spam , or examples of malware , but Facebook has also built privacy tools into the system . This means if a company only wants to share certain information with select companies known to be experiencing the same issues , they can limit who this data is shared with . Early partners include Bitly , Dropbox , Pinterest , Tumblr , Twitter , and Yahoo and Facebook said it expects new partners to join as the platform grows . ThreatExchange is built on the existing Facebook platform , but the site added layers to the service to let partners search through available threat information more easily . These firms can also post threat information and discoveries to other partners . Threat data includes typically freely available information such as domain names sending out spam , or examples of malware , but Facebook has also built privacy tools into the system . This means if a company only wants to share certain information with select companies known to be experiencing the same issues , they can limit who this data is shared with . Mark Hammell , manager of the Threat Infrastructure team at Facebook said : ' A little over a year ago , a group of technology companies came together to discuss a botnet that was spreading a malware based spam attack on all of our services . ' We quickly learnt that sharing with one another was key to beating the botnet because parts of it were hosted on our respective services and none of us had the complete picture . Facebook said threats like malware and phishing ( example of a tagging scam is pictured ) typically go after multiple targets , and a successful attack at one place makes it easier to take over systems elsewhere . ' We share in each other ' s fate . When one company gets stronger , so do the rest of us ' explained the site ' During our discussions , it became clear that what we needed was a better model for threat sharing . ' We have a vested interest in making the internet safer and giving people better ways to connect and share . ' After working with a number of our peer companies to refine the structure and implementation , we are ready to introduce ThreatExchange and see what we can learn from each other . ' ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present118012805,12806,"If ever there was a reminder that Sen. Ted Cruz is the Republican Party s reasonable alternative to Donald Trump, it s in his response to the Brussels terror attacks. Losing badly to Trump, Cruz is clearly feeling the pressure to capitalize on the tragedy to win some crucial votes so he s gone all in on xenophobia, totalitarianism, and religious persecution. A hate cocktail sure to fire up his base.In a statement he released on Facebook, Cruz calls for the establishment of ghettos where America s Muslims can be contained and watched over by a specialized law enforcement group meant to police them. If that sounds a little to Nazi-esque for you, Cruz preemptively accused his critics of just being too politically correct to agree with him.Here s Cruz s terrifying vision for his presidency:We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or presence.We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.We need to secure the southern border to prevent terrorist infiltration.And we need to execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS.In other words, Cruz is plagiarizing Trump s ban all Muslims position, but adding that the Muslims already in the country should be secured in specific neighborhoods before they become radicalized. He doesn t bother clarifying how he would hope to accomplish this. Nor does he mention how he could legally target Muslims who had done nothing wrong just because his prejudice tells him they might some day.Being Lying Ted Cruz, he also couldn t help but spread a little misinformation about President Obama as well. Using the president s historic trip to Cuba as a strawman, Cruz bashed him for being on a diplomatic trip while Brussels was attacked, adding that Obama never visited Paris after the terror attacks there. It was an egregious lie, so shameless that a simple picture could debunk it.#COP21 Paying respect : President Obama & French President Hollande lay flowers at Bataclan concert hall in Paris. pic.twitter.com/YEMy7ZUDvk Catherine Field (@CatherineField) November 30, 2015Needless to say, Muslim activist groups, who have watched in horror as hate crimes directed at Muslim Americans has steadily grown thanks to people like Cruz, were not amused by this latest call to trounce the Constitution based on hate and fear. It s really beyond belief that you have one of the leading presidential candidates calling for law enforcement to target religious communities totally based on the fact that they are of a particular faith, spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said by phone. In normal times, this would be the sort of thing that would disqualify someone from running for dogcatcher, much less president of the United States. We call on voters to reject this.Undoubtedly, terrorism is a serious problem. But the solutions to it need to be much more mature than the Republicans seem to want to believe. Totalitarianism doesn t work and never has. Discriminating against innocent Muslims because of a twisted death cult based in the Middle East is not only doomed to fail, but could backfire in ways that Cruz and Trump can t fathom from their build a wall childish ideology.Between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, it s hard to say who the bigger xenophobic bigot is. Both are consumed by a hatred towards scapegoated groups they hope to exploit in order to ensure people vote for them. At this point in the race, the two Republican frontrunners aren t just mirroring each other s disgusting policies, but actually driving one another to make them more abhorrent. A nuclear arms race of bigotry in a crucial moment in America s history.Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past118112808,12809,""" We re still going to deal with what s going on for the next lifetime , "" says Flint Journal photographer Jake May Until January of 2015 , Jake May , chief photographer at the Flint Journal , drank Flint tap water . Eight months earlier , the Michigan city had made the decision to start pumping its water from the Flint River , unaware , at first , that the liquid s higher acidity would cause an unprecedented lead contamination . Now , Flint has been thrust onto the national spotlight , after the true extent of its water crisis was finally revealed . But the story is not news to May : for the last 22 months , with the help of two interns , he has been following the story , and living it too . His coverage started with the celebratory press conferences the city organized when it made the decision to switch water sources . But even that media friendly events showed signs of the conflict that was to come . Already , a couple dozen people were publicly opposing the move . They have been there from the start , May says . They ve always said : There s something wrong with the water . They didn t know what it was . But they knew it was wrong . They could tell by the smell and the taste . In 2014 , these protesters were often written off as crazy , says May . But around January 2015 , they enlisted Virginia Tech University professor Marc Edwards , who had years earlier uncovered unsafe levels of lead in Washington , D . C . s water supply . Asked by the people of Flint to test the water , he brought back results that won the attention and respect of a worried populace . It was , says May , the switching point . For the photographer , it was important to document this issue not only because he s in the middle of it ? I still bathe in the water daily , he says ? but also because it will continue to affect the community for years to come . This is not something that will be done and over when the national spotlight gets off of Flint in a couple of weeks , he says . We re still going to deal with what s going on for the next lifetime . Right now , however , that spotlight is shining full force : Gov . Rick Snyder apologized for the crisis and pledged financial support , while President Obama allocated 5 million of federal assistance . The wide attention inspires May even more , to tell the story of the community while he has the eyes of the world watching . To achieve that goal , May has been sharing his photographs on Instagram ( jakemayphoto ) in an effort to reach a wider audience beyond Michigan . This is , honestly , a story about the voice of the people , he says . The city of Flint s residents wanted to be heard , and they were relentless . Jake May is the chief photographer at the Flint Journal . Follow him on Instagram jakemayphoto . Myles Little , who edited this photo essay , is a senior photo editor at . Olivier Laurent is the editor of LightBox . Follow him on Twitter and Instagram olivierclaurent ",true,text,test,Other news1,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past118212826,12827,"Secrets of the Election: Assange Talks to Pilger November 5, 2016 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denies the Russian government was the source of leaked emails about Hillary Clinton and says her “neo-McCarthy” Russia-bashing is just part of a cover-up, in an interview with John Pilger. By John Pilger This interview was filmed in the Embassy of Ecuador in London – where Julian Assange is a political refugee – and broadcast on Nov. 5, 2016 John Pilger: What’s the significance of the FBI’s intervention in these last days of the U.S. election campaign, in the case against Hillary Clinton? WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. (Photo credit: Espen Moe) Julian Assange : If you look at the history of the FBI, it has become effectively America’s political police. The demonstrated this by taking down the former head of the [General David Petraeus] over classified information given to his mistress. Almost no one is untouchable. The is always trying to demonstrate that no one can resist us. But Hillary Clinton very conspicuously resisted the FBI’s investigation, so there’s anger within the because it made the look weak. We’ve published about 33,000 of Clinton’s emails when she was Secretary of State. They come from a batch of just over 60,000 emails, [of which] Clinton has kept about half – 30,000 — to herself, and we’ve published about half. Then there are the Podesta emails we’ve been publishing. [John] Podesta is Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign manager, so there’s a thread that runs through all these emails; there are quite a lot of pay-for-play, as they call it, giving access in exchange for money to states, individuals and corporations. [These emails are] combined with the cover-up of the Hillary Clinton emails when she was Secretary of State, [which] has led to an environment where the pressure on the increases. John Pilger: The Clinton campaign has said that Russia is behind all of this, that Russia has manipulated the campaign and is the source for WikiLeaks and its emails. Julian Assange : The Clinton camp has been able to project that kind of neo-McCarthy hysteria: that Russia is responsible for everything. Hilary Clinton stated multiple times, falsely, that 17 had assessed that Russia was the source of our publications. That is false; we can say that the Russian government is not the source. WikiLeaks has been publishing for ten years, and in those ten years, we have published ten million documents, several thousand individual publications, several thousand different sources, and we have never got it wrong. John Pilger : The emails that give evidence of access for money and how Hillary Clinton herself benefited from this and how she is benefitting politically, are quite extraordinary. I’m thinking of when the Qatari representative was given five minutes with Bill Clinton for a million dollar cheque. Julian Assange : And twelve million dollars from Morocco … John Pilger: Twelve million from Morocco yeah. Julian Assange : For Hillary Clinton to attend [a party]. John Pilger: In terms of the foreign policy of the United States, that’s where the emails are most revealing, where they show the direct connection between Hillary Clinton and the foundation of jihadism, of ISIL, in the Middle East. Can you talk about how the emails demonstrate the connection between those who are meant to be fighting the jihadists of ISIL, are actually those who have helped create it. speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona, by Gage Skidmore) Julian Assange : There’s an early 2014 email from Hillary Clinton, not so long after she left the State Department, to her campaign manager John Podesta that states is funded by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Now this is email in the whole collection, and perhaps because Saudi and Qatari money is spread all over the Clinton Foundation. Even the U.S. government agrees that some Saudi figures have been supporting ISIL, or ISIS. But the dodge has always been that, well it’s just some rogue Princes, using their cut of the oil money to do whatever they like, but actually the government disapproves. But that email says that no, it is the governments of Saudi and Qatar that have been funding ISIS. John Pilger: The Saudis, the Qataris, the Moroccans, the Bahrainis, particularly the Saudis and the Qataris, are giving all this money to the Clinton Foundation while Hilary Clinton is Secretary of State and the State Department is approving massive arms sales, particularly to Saudi Arabia. Julian Assange: Under Hillary Clinton, the world’s largest ever arms deal was made with Saudi Arabia, [worth] more than $80 billion. In fact, during her tenure as Secretary of State, total arms exports from the United States in terms of the dollar value, doubled. John Pilger : Of course the consequence of that is that the notorious terrorist group called or is created largely with money from the very people who are giving money to the Clinton Foundation. Julian Assange : Yes. John Pilger: That’s extraordinary. Julian Assange : I actually feel quite sorry for Hillary Clinton as a person because I see someone who is eaten alive by their ambitions, tormented literally to the point where they become sick; they faint as a result of [the reaction] to their ambitions. She represents a whole network of people and a network of relationships with particular states. The question is how does Hilary Clinton fit in this broader network? She’s a centralizing cog. You’ve got a lot of different gears in operation from the big banks like Goldman Sachs and major elements of Wall Street, and Intelligence and people in the State Department and the Saudis. She’s the centralizer that inter-connects all these different cogs. She’s the smooth central representation of all that, and ‘all that’ is more or less what is in power now in the United States. It’s what we call the establishment or the consensus. One of the more significant Podesta emails that we released was about how the Obama cabinet was formed and how half the Obama cabinet was basically nominated by a representative from Citibank. This is quite amazing. John Pilger: Didn’t Citibank supply a list …. ? Julian Assange : Yes. John Pilger: … which turned out to be most of the Obama cabinet. Julian Assange : Yes. John Pilger: So Wall Street decides the cabinet of the President of the United States? Julian Assange: If you were following the Obama campaign back then, closely, you could see it had become very close to banking interests. Julian Assange : So I think you can’t properly understand Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy without understanding Saudi Arabia. The connections with Saudi Arabia are so intimate. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on March 30, 2012. [State Department photo] John Pilger : Why was she so demonstrably enthusiastic about the destruction of Libya? Can you talk a little about just what the emails have told us, told you about what happened there, because Libya is such a source for so much of the mayhem now in Syria, the jihadism and so on, and it was almost Hillary Clinton’s invasion. What do the emails tell us about that? Julian Assange : Libya, more than anyone else’s war, was Hillary Clinton’s war. Barak Obama initially opposed it. Who was the person championing it? Hillary Clinton. That’s documented throughout her emails. She had put her favored agent, Sidney Blumenthal, on to that; there’s more than 1,700 emails out of the 33,000 Hillary Clinton emails that we’ve published, just about Libya. It’s not that Libya has cheap oil. She perceived the removal of Gaddafi and the overthrow of the Libyan state — something that she would use in her run-up to the general election for President. So in late 2011 there is an internal document called the Libya Tick Tock that was produced for Hillary Clinton, and it’s the chronological description of how she was the central figure in the destruction of the Libyan state, which resulted in around 40,000 deaths within Libya; jihadists moved in, moved in, leading to the European refugee and migrant crisis. Not only did you have people fleeing Libya, people fleeing Syria, the destabilization of other African countries as a result of arms flows, but the Libyan state itself was no longer able to control the movement of people through it. Libya faces along to the Mediterranean and had been effectively the cork in the bottle of Africa. So all problems, economic problems and civil war in Africa — previously people fleeing those problems didn’t end up in Europe because Libya policed the Mediterranean. That was said explicitly at the time, back in early 2011 by Gaddafi: ‘What do these Europeans think they’re doing, trying to bomb and destroy the Libyan State? There’s going to be floods of migrants out of Africa and jihadists into Europe,’ and this is exactly what happened. John Pilger: You get complaints from people saying, ‘What is WikiLeaks doing? Are they trying to put Trump in the White House?’ Julian Assange: My answer is that Trump would not be permitted to win. Why do I say that? Because he’s had every establishment off side; Trump doesn’t have one establishment, maybe with the exception of the Evangelicals, if you can call them an establishment, but banks, intelligence [agencies], arms companies … big foreign money … are all united behind Hillary Clinton, and the media as well, media owners and even journalists themselves. J ohn Pilger : There is the accusation that WikiLeaks is in league with the Russians. Some people say, ‘Well, why doesn’t WikiLeaks investigate and publish emails on Russia?’ Julian Assange: We have published about 800,000 documents of various kinds that relate to Russia. Most of those are critical; and a great many books have come out of our publications about Russia, most of which are critical. Our [Russia] documents have gone on to be used in quite a number of court cases: refugee cases of people fleeing some kind of claimed political persecution in Russia, which they use our documents to back up. John Pilger : Do you yourself take a view of the U.S. election? Do you have a preference for Clinton or Trump? Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. June 18, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore) Julian Assange: [Let’s talk about] Donald Trump. What does he represent in the American mind and in the European mind? He represents American white trash, [which Hillary Clinton called] ‘deplorable and irredeemable’. It means from an establishment or educated cosmopolitan, urbane perspective, these people are like the red necks, and you can never deal with them. Because he so clearly — through his words and actions and the type of people that turn up at his rallies — represents people who are not the middle, not the upper-middle educated class, there is a fear of seeming to be associated in any way with them, a social fear that lowers the class status of anyone who can be accused of somehow assisting Trump in any way, including any criticism of Hillary Clinton. If you look at how the middle class gains its economic and social power, that makes absolute sense. John Pilger: I’d like to talk about Ecuador, the small country that has given you refuge and [political asylum] in this embassy in London. Now Ecuador has cut off the Internet from here where we’re doing this interview, in the Embassy, for the clearly obvious reason that they are concerned about appearing to intervene in the U.S. election campaign. Can you talk about why they would take that action and your own views on Ecuador’s support for you? Julian Assange : Let’s let go back four years. I made an asylum application to Ecuador in this embassy, because of the U.S. extradition case, and the result was that after a month, I was successful in my asylum application. The embassy since then has been surrounded by police: quite an expensive police operation which the British government admits to spending more than £12.6 million. They admitted that over a year ago. Now there’s undercover police and there are robot surveillance cameras of various kinds — so that there has been quite a serious conflict right here in the heart of London between Ecuador, a country of 16 million people, and the United Kingdom, and the Americans who have been helping on the side. So that was a brave and principled thing for Ecuador to do. Now we have the U.S. election [campaign], the Ecuadorian election is in February next year, and you have the White House feeling the political heat as a result of the true information that we have been publishing. WikiLeaks does not publish from the jurisdiction of Ecuador, from this embassy or in the territory of Ecuador; we publish from France, we publish from, from Germany, we publish from The Netherlands and from a number of other countries, so that the attempted squeeze on WikiLeaks is through my refugee status; and this is, this is really intolerable. [It means] that [they] are trying to get at a publishing organization; [they] try and prevent it from publishing true information that is of intense interest to the American people and others about an election. Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa. John Pilger: Tell us what would happen if you walked out of this embassy. Julian Assange : I would be immediately arrested by the British police and I would then be extradited either immediately or to Sweden. In Sweden I am not charged, I have already been previously cleared [by the Senior Stockholm Prosecutor Eva Finne]. We were not certain exactly what would happen there, but then we know that the Swedish government has refused to say that they will not extradite me we know they have extradited 100 per cent of people whom the U.S. has requested since at least 2000. So over the last 15 years, every single person the U.S. has tried to extradite from Sweden has been extradited, and they refuse to provide a guarantee [that won’t happen]. John Pilger: People often ask me how you cope with the isolation in here. Julian Assange: Look, one of the best attributes of human beings is that they’re adaptable; one of the worst attributes of human beings is they are adaptable. They adapt and start to tolerate abuses, they adapt to being involved themselves in abuses, they adapt to adversity and they continue on. So in my situation, frankly, I’m a bit institutionalized — this [the embassy] is the world … it’s visually the world [for me]. John Pilger: It’s the world without sunlight, for one thing, isn’t it? Julian Assange: It’s the world without sunlight, but I haven’t seen sunlight in so long, I don’t remember it. John Pilger : Yes. Julian Assange: So, yes, you adapt. The one real irritant is that my young children — they also adapt. They adapt to being without their father. That’s a hard, hard adaption which they didn’t ask for. John Pilger: Do you worry about them? Julian Assange : Yes, I worry about them; I worry about their mother. John Pilger: Some people would say, ‘Well, why don’t you end it and simply walk out the door and allow yourself to be extradited to Sweden?’ Julian Assange : The U.N. [the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention] has looked into this whole situation. They spent 18 months in formal, adversarial litigation. [So it’s] me and the U.N. versus Sweden and the U.K. Who’s right? The U.N. made a conclusion that I am being arbitrarily detained illegally, deprived of my freedom and that what has occurred has not occurred within the laws that the United Kingdom and Sweden, and that [those countries] must obey. It is an illegal abuse. It is the United Nations formally asking, ‘What’s going on here? What is your legal explanation for this? [Assange] says that you should recognize his asylum.’ [And here is] Sweden formally writing back to the United Nations to say, ‘No, we’re not going to [recognize the ruling],’ so leaving open their ability to extradite. I just find it absolutely amazing that the narrative about this situation is not put out publicly in the press, because it doesn’t suit the Western establishment narrative — that yes, the West has political prisoners, it’s a reality, it’s not just me, there’s a bunch of other people as well. The West has political prisoners. Of course, no state accepts [that it should call] the people it is imprisoning or detaining for political reasons, political prisoners. They don’t call them political prisoners in China, they don’t call them political prisoners in Azerbaijan and they don’t call them political prisoners in the United States, U.K. or Sweden; it is absolutely intolerable to have that kind of self-perception. Julian Assange : Here we have a case, the Swedish case, where I have never been charged with a crime, where I have already been cleared [by the Stockholm prosecutor] and found to be innocent, where the woman herself said that the police made it up, where the United Nations formally said the whole thing is illegal, where the State of Ecuador also investigated and found that I should be given asylum. Those are the facts, but what is the rhetoric? John Pilger: Yes, it’s different. Julian Assange : The rhetoric is pretending, constantly pretending that I have been charged with a crime, and never mentioning that I have been already previously cleared, never mentioning that the woman herself says that the police made it up. [The rhetoric] is trying to avoid [the truth that] the U.N. formally found that the whole thing is illegal, never even mentioning that Ecuador made a formal assessment through its formal processes and found that yes, I am subject to persecution by the United States. John Pilger is an Australian-British journalist based in London. Pilger’s Web site is: www.johnpilger.com . To support Julian Assange, go to: weblink",fake,news,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present118312828,12829,"Stoke , under the management of Tony Pulis , became the team everyone hated and everyone hated to play against . But if there is something worse than being hated , it is being ignored and that is where we are with Mark Hughes ' Stoke side now . While the physical nature of the team Pulis built brought incendiary headlines , critical comment and damning statistics I was the captain of his team in the Championship from 2004 2007 the progress made by Hughes has been overlooked . Stoke stars Mame Diouf , Jon Walters and Steven Nzonzi celebrate during the Potters ' 2 0 win over Everton in the Barclays Premier League on Wednesday which lifted them to eighth in the table Stoke have collected 23 points from a possible 33 since Boxing Day . Only Liverpool and Arsenal have picked up more , so why isn ' t there more attention to their achievements ? When Stoke beat Everton this week to rise to eighth place in the Barclays Premier League , the aftermath wasn ' t about how well Stoke are doing but instead about the struggling Roberto Martinez and Everton . Stoke are the team who are above Garry Monk ' s Swansea recently championed after their defeat of Manchester United West Ham , Newcastle and the rest of the bottom ten . Southampton have exceeded everyone ' s expectations this season and receive weekly reviews as the nation ' s romance story neutrals want them to do well , to upset the normal order of the top four . But what is it about Stoke City Football Club , who are as high as they can probably ever wish to be , that generates such little media attention or positive write ups ? Stoke , as a city , finds itself situated between the bigger and more glamorous cities of Manchester and Birmingham , but it has a lot to offer . Stoke ' s Michael Duberry tracks Wigan striker Nathan Ellington during a Championship match at the Britannia Stadium in November 2004 , which was the defender ' s first season at the club Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson tries to take evasive action as Duberry jumps across to make a tackle during Stoke ' s 3 1 home defeat by the Eagles in March 2006 Duberry stands all smiles at the Britannia Stadium during his time as a Stoke player . It was a period in the defender ' s career where he admits he felt wanted by the club in his three year spell which ended in 2007 When I moved to Stoke from Leeds , the city didn ' t have a Harvey Nichols or some of the swanky restaurants I left in Leeds , but it didn ' t matter . The club gave me a home and a place . I felt wanted I didn ' t want anything else . I moved near the training ground in nearby Newcastle Under Lyme and was very happy . I had Trentham Gardens , Hanley Shopping centre and Alton Towers was on my doorstep too . Back when I was a Stoke player the club always seemed to have a power struggle going on upstairs . There was a lack of a clear vision as to who was in charge and the direction in which they wanted to take the club . Then Peter Coates took over in 2006 and the vision became clear . A Stoke boy and self made millionaire , Mr Coates has the club at heart and never hides that love . He has made some wise appointments to manage the football team . Stoke were promoted to the Premier League under the management of Tony Pulis , with Duberry playing under the now West Brom boss while at the Potters in the Championship Pulis arranges a training drill at Stoke ' s training ground in 2012 . Duberry described the sessions as regimented and boring , but admits it made the team play better on match days Since Mark Hughes has taken over , the club have only spent 10m in the transfer market , which is a tremendous job in the current climate of spending . Stoke have become quite successful in finding players to fit the mold , with Hughes and his staff working with head of recruitment Mark Cartwright . They don ' t overspend and yet they have created and established a Premier League team . Finishing 12th , 11th , 14th and 13th twice since coming into the Premier League , last season was their highest ever . with a 9th place finish . But now they are one place higher and playing a more attractive passing style . During my first spell under Tony Pulis , we were very direct , often going back to front in less than two passes . Training was regimented , often just walking through team shape and then doing set pieces . I didn ' t like it and found it boring but it made us better on match days and I loved the feeling of a clean sheet . Stoke attracted criticism for their direct style of play after being promoted to the Premier League in 2008 , with teams forced into having to form defensive tactics against long Rory Delap throw ins Mark Hughes gives advice to Stoke ' s Glenn Whelan during a league game against Liverpool , and Duberry claims the Potters have improved their style of play having spent little money under the Welshman The next season under Johan Boskamp , everything was totally different . The Dutch manager had a pure footballing philosophy and every training session was 100 per cent football . I loved everything from the training , to the games and to the way he spoke football When Pulis came back the following season , it reverted back to the old regime of pattern of play and set pieces in training . It was very frustrating It ' s a different club now with a different manager and a different footballing ethos . You never see Mark Hughes in the technical area signaling to his players to pass from back to front , but instead he is gesturing to pass the ball and it looks as if the players are enjoying the experience . I believe they deserve more credit and exposure . But if that doesn ' t happen , then I ' m sure the loud choruses of ' Delilah ' from the fans will drown out any negative , stereotypical opinions outside . ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past118412829,12830,"Few travel pleasures match checking into a room few others have stayed in . From Rhode Island to Santa Barbara , South Beach to Kauai , new hotels just steps from the beach are marking their first summer it ' s not over yet ! in business . Amenities like loaner golf clubs ( good ones , too ) and morning yoga on a rooftop make these new beach hotels worth an extended stay . The Break ( Narragansett , Rhode Island ) As ' Gansett ' s first boutique hotel , The Break expects to close out summer with a bang after its in mid August opening . Crisp , colorful hues highlight each of the 16 rooms , including coral motif pillows and nightstands the color of tangerines that provide a mid century , surf chic vibe . The Break , 1208 Ocean Road , Narragansett , Rhode Island 1 401 363 9800 rates not available Vintro Hotel Kitchen ( Miami Beach , Florida ) As if South Beach isn ' t already stylish , Vintro Hotel Kitchen joined the crop in July . The 50 room hotel with a freshwater plunge pool on its rooftop ( where morning yoga is hosted ) borders the newly renovated Collins Canal . Guests can borrow bicycles and golf clubs . A beach club is two blocks away . Vintro Hotel Kitchen , 2216 Park Ave . , Miami Beach , Florida 1 305 674 9200 rooms from 190 per night 21 Broad ( Nantucket , Massachusetts ) This new hotel is decked out in colors that evoke citrus fruits and the decor has an urban bent . There ' s a turntable in the lobby and an outdoor courtyard with a fire pit . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present118512831,12832,"May Hamdy , a Muslim American woman from South Carolina , holds a protest sign across the street before Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump ' s event at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts on January 7 , 2016 in Burlington , Vermont . Robert Nickelsberg ? Getty Images But Donald Trump is the Republican candidate with the most support About 74 of Muslim American surveyed in a recent poll said they will turn out to vote in presidential nominating contests , with many citing a growing Islamaphobia as the driving force behind their vote . The Council on American Islamic Relations released the results of a survey of almost 2 , 000 registered Muslim voters in the six states with the highest Muslim populations ( California , Illinois , Virginia , New York , Florida , and Texas ) on Monday , hours before the the Iowa caucuses kick off voting in the 2016 presidential election . The increase in the number of Muslim voters who say they will go to the polls in their primary elections indicates a high level of civic participation that may be driven at least in part by concern over the rise in Islamophobia nationwide , Government Affairs Manager Robert McCaw said in a statement . About 30 of the Muslims surveyed said they think Islamaphobia is the most important issue going into 2016 . Sixty seven percent of those surveyed identified as Democrats and 15 said they are Republican . The results show that while the majority of Muslim voters identify as Democrats and over half plan on supporting Hillary Clinton in the election , Donald Trump is the Republican candidate with the most support among Muslim Americans . The support is a mere 7 . 4 , but it s 5 points ahead of Trump s chief Republican rival Sen . Ted Cruz . The results are striking given Trump s insistence that as president he would institute a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States . , the largest Muslim advocacy organization in the country , has condemned the statements and linked Trump and other Republican candidates rhetoric to a spike in anti Islamic activity . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present118612839,12840,"The Washington Post reported : Donald Trump raised just $29 million for his presidential campaign committee in the first 19 days of October, about half as much as his Democratic rival, putting him at a severe financial disadvantage in the crucial final days of the White House contest, new campaign finance reports filed Thursday night showed. The presidential nominee had just $16 million left in his campaign coffers on Oct. 19, compared to Hillary Clinton’s $62 million. When the cash reserves of their joint fundraising committees are included, Clinton’s war chest grew to $153 million, while Trump’s totaled $68 million. Trump’s total fundraising dropped 39% in the first 19 days of October. $29 million is close to nothing for a national presidential campaign in the closing weeks of the race. At a time when Trump needs boots on the ground to get out the Republican vote, his presidential campaign is broke, and in debt to the tune of $2 million. There isn’t going to be a last-minute ad blitz for Trump, or a reservation of television time so that the Republican nominee can speak directly to voters before election day. The plan for Trump is for the campaign to continue to limp along with lots of rallies, which are good for Trump’s ego, but not effective in getting voters to the polls. Trump promised to donate $100 million to his campaign but has only given $56 million . The billionaire who promised to self-finance has run his presidential campaign into the ground. Trump took ten times more money out of his campaign in reimbursements to his own businesses than he gave in October. Fundraising is an indicator of expected election outcomes. The money tends to go towards the winner at the end of an election. Hillary Clinton is having no trouble raising money, which suggests that enthusiasm is high among her supporters. Trump’s cash crush points to a depressed base that doesn’t expect him to win. Trump has done what he does best. He talked a big game while bankrupting the Republican Party for his own personal gain. Convincing Republicans to give him their nomination may go down in history as Trump’s biggest con of all.",fake,news,test,US elections,Economy,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past118712842,12843,"Ruling : Liberal Democrats said blind or partially sighted pedestrians would be vulnerable Silent but potentially deadly electric cars will have to be fitted with artificial ' sound generators ' so blind and partially sighted pedestrians can hear them coming , the European Parliament voted today . It is part of new legislation which will also require conventional cars and lorries with petrol and diesel engines to make 25 per cent less noise . The MEPs voted to introduce mandatory ' acoustic vehicle alerting systems ' ( ) sounding like a conventional engine to all new electric and hybrid cars to protect vulnerable road users . It follows lobbying from British MEPs and campaign groups including Guide Dogs for the Blind . Electric cars and plug in hybrid cars such as the all electric BMWi3 or the Toyota Prius currently emit very little sound when running on electric power only . Campaigners say this particularly dangerous for partially sighted and blind pedestrians . Earlier proposals from the European Commission called for the installation of an artificial sound system to be done on a voluntary basis only . But Liberal Democrat MEPs successfully introduced an amendment making this a mandatory requirement for all electric and hybrid vehicles . Following the vote manufacturers in the will have five years to comply with the new rules . The European Parliament reported that ' it is important to provide protection to blind and other vulnerable people through the installation of appropriate vehicle alerting systems in electric vehicles . ' It noted : ' The Parliament and Council have agreed that such systems should be mandatory . ' Clean energy : Electric cars are being used more as councils install charging points such as this one in London The European Commission said : ' So called "" Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems "" requirements shall ensure that only adequate sound generating devices are used . ' The fitting as such will be mandatory for all electric and hybrid electric vehicles after a transitional period of five years . ' This will increase road safety and undoubtedly help avoiding road accident injuries . ' Liberal Democrat European environment spokesman Chris Davies said : ' Quiet electric cars could become a common sight on our roads in years to come but we have to ensure that this doesn ' t jeopardise the safety of blind and partially sighted people . ' The acoustic warning devices will make a sound very similar to that of cars with a regular combustion engine so that people will be able to clearly hear these vehicles , allowing them to judge how safe a road is to cross . Silent : Models such as the Toyota Prius currently make almost no noise when running on electric power alone ' Installing sound generators will ensure that all pedestrians are able to hear these vehicles and cross the road safely . ' By working at an level we have been able to place this requirement on all car manufacturers and prevent needless accidents in future . ' The introduction of artificial engine noise to silent electric cars came as the European Parliament voted to decrease noise by four decibels for conventional passenger cars , vans , buses and coaches , and by three decibels for trucks . The European Commission said : ' Altogether , these measures will reduce vehicle noise nuisance by some 25 per cent . ' ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present118812847,12848,"Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will release her 2015 tax returns and her running mate, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, will release the last 10 years of their tax returns within days, according to a source close to Clinton. The returns will show Clinton paid an effective tax rate of 35 percent and gave about 10 percent to charity, reported. The release comes as Republican Donald Trump is facing criticism for not releasing his tax returns - a political practice that is not required by law but has been done by every White House nominee since 1973. “He refuses to do what every other presidential candidate in decades has done and release his tax returns,” Clinton said on Thursday in an economic speech in Michigan. Clinton’s campaign has already released tax returns going back to 2007. In addition, tax returns are publicly available for the eight years her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was in the White House. Prior years were released by his campaign. Tax returns filed by the Clintons have been made public, in some form, for every year back to 1977. Trump, a New York businessman, has refused to release his tax returns, saying they are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service. He has said he is unlikely to do so before the Nov. 8 presidential election. Critics, including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, have blasted Trump for failing to disclose his tax rate and raised questions about what his returns say about his net worth and various business ties, particularly in Russia. Asked in a television interview in May what tax rate he pays, Trump replied “It’s none of your business.” The has said Trump can release his tax returns even while under audit. Besides showing sources and amounts of income, tax returns show what percentage tax rate a person ultimately pays, as well as how much they claimed in deductions and the amounts given to charities. Earlier this month, at a Clinton rally in Omaha, Nebraska, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) conglomerate is based there, challenged Trump to make his returns public. “I’m under audit, too, and I would be delighted to meet him anyplace, anytime, before the election,” Buffett said. “I’ll bring my tax return, he can bring his tax return ... and let people ask us questions.” Trump has declined to do so. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past118912871,12872,"President Obama insists his executive action on gun violence is "" not a plot to take away everyone ' s guns , "" but Republicans say otherwise . The presidential campaign website for Texas Senator Ted Cruz boasts a warning that "" Obama wants your guns , "" alongside a mock up of the president in military garb . Cruz ' s fellow candidate Marco Rubio called the president ' s plan unconstitutional saying , "" Barack Obama is obsessed with undermining the Second Amendment . "" House Speaker Paul Ryan accused Mr Obama of a "" dangerous level of executive overreach . "" As President Obama unveils his executive actions on gun control , many candidates have slammed the commander in chief ' s plan to curb gun violence . . . . And Texas Republican John Culberson , whose subcommittee controls funding for the Department of Justice , threatened to cut the purse strings . "" If the the president through these orders has over stepped his authority , I will take immediate action to restrain him . I ' m not going to wait for a court order . I ' m not going to wait for a lawsuit . Our Second Amendment right rights are too precious , "" said Culberson . The National Rifle Association reacted to the president ' s remarks with a hail of tweets in real time . "" President Obama ' s executive orders will do nothing to protect public safety , "" the group insisted . The deep pocketed group also issued a warning to any lawmakers thinking of siding with the president : : All grades are subject to change . . . 2A Obamapresser "" Sadly , it ' s what I ' ve come to expect now , "" said Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty , a Democrat whose Connecticut district includes Sandy Hook Elementary , where 20 children and six adults were gunned down in 2012 . "" It ' s not good enough say ' I don ' t like what you ' re proposing . ' Then bring forward your own proposals , but for God ' s sake , do something , "" Esty continued . Many Congressional Democrats applauded President Obama , but they don ' t control congress . The president can ' t get funding for new agents unless he can win over Republican , something that seems unlikely right now . ? 2016 Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . ",true,text,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past119012883,12884,"Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai plans a quick repeal of the controversial net neutrality order and wants to replace it with lighter regulations intended to preserve an open internet. [Chairman Pai, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, met with telecommunications groups on Tuesday to discuss his plans . The net neutrality order, created by former Chairman Tom Wheeler back in early 2015, regulates the internet similar to a public monopoly. Net neutrality prohibited telecommunications companies from creating internet “fast lanes” that would ensure consistent Skype video chat, and Netflix streaming. At the meeting, Pai suggested that internet service providers voluntarily agree to certain practices preserving an open internet. The Federal Trade Commission would then enforce compliance of these rules. Industry sources state that the will unveil its plan to eliminate net neutrality as early as late April, a vote could come in May or June. Internet providers such as and Verizon argued that net neutrality made it harder to manage web traffic and curtailed broadband investment. Net neutrality advocates worry that internet service providers might unfairly discriminate content. In December, Chairman Pai stated that net neutrality’s days were numbered. He said that he believes “in a free and open internet and the only question is what regulatory framework best secures that. ”",fake,news,test,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past119112899,12900,"Seoul , South Korea An international medical group has cleared a South Korean biopharmaceutical company in the deaths of two patients following stem cell procedures in other countries . "" It is not our conclusion that stem cells killed these patients , "" David Audley , the executive director of the International Cellular Medicine Society ( ) , said in a news conference in Seoul Tuesday . The South Korean media reported last month that two patients who had received stem cell procedures in Japan and China had died , and cited allegations that Bio had lured clients to clinics overseas to skirt domestic laws banning stem cell treatment . The refuted the charges , citing forensic evidence it had gathered from Bio , medical records and interviews from Japan and China . "" It is very important that we distinguish the words cause and correlation , "" said bioethicist Glenn McGee , who participated in the investigation . He explained that the dangers of the medical procedures undertaken in the treatments does not mean the stem cells used in the therapy are dangerous . The is the largest multinational group of physicians studying the use of adult stem cells and tracks the cases of about 700 patients around the world who receive treatment . Potential dangers cited in the media about carcinogenic cell growth pertain only to embryonic stem cells and is unrelated to the treatment with adult stem cells that is cited in the investigation , according to the group . No deaths have been reported in the cases registered with the society , according to Audley . The two patients from were not registered with the , although the bio company does participate in patient registry with the group . In the first of the two cases , a 61 year old man traveled to China for treatment with stem cells provided by for diabetes and other ailments . He died two months later . His cause of death has not been determined , but it is "" unlikely "" the result of the stem cell procedure , according to the . The death of a 73 year old former surgeon , who died on the same day he was treated in Japan , "" was due to a pre existing blood clot that traveled to the lungs , and may have been precipitated by the procedure used to infuse the stem cells , or less probably , from a clot formed by the cells , "" according to the findings published on the group ' s website . Stem cell banking is allowed in clinics such as Bio , which specializes in extracting , cultivating and storing adult stem cells obtained from fatty tissue of patients . Patients are only able to receive treatment with these stored cells overseas , and Bio regularly refers patients to clinics in other countries that are determined capable of using their stem cells . No financial exchanges are made for these referrals , according to Kim Ju sun , the company ' s public relations director . The also concluded in its report that no financial transaction could be traced to Bio from the clinics that conducted the stem cell treatments . Under South Korean regulations , stem cell treatments are not authorized and can only be used in clinical trials approved by the Korea Food and Drug Administration ( ) . The and the Ministry of Welfare announced they will conduct an investigation into the potential dangers of unauthorized stem cell treatment in the country and create countermeasures , according to a statement from the . ",true,text,test,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past119212900,12901,"A mother of three repeatedly knifed in the head by her violent boyfriend has revealed how she begged him to put her to bed so she didn ' t die on the floor . Joanne Bolton told how she thought she was going to die at the hands of Steven Young during the ' brutal and merciless ' seven hour long ordeal . The 35 year old was stabbed over 14 times before being knocked out with a mental bar after being held captive in her own home . Joanne Bolton , pictured in hospital , did not believe she was going to survive the horrific attack that saw her knifed more than 14 times Such was the force of the attack , that the blade of a knife being used to stab her in the head broke . But this did not end the nightmare , instead Young chose a bigger weapon and continued his violent onslaught . ' I didn ' t think I was going to survive and I asked him to put me to bed because I didn ' t want to die on the floor , ' said Miss Bolton of New Kyo , Stanley , County Durham . ' I felt euphoric , I stopped feeling the cold and had no strength left . I knew I didn ' t have long left . ' Miss Bolton was already fleeing from a violent relationship when she met Young and jumped at the chance to move in with him after staying in a refuge . But soon after he became possessive and violent and started using her a punchbag as he fought his own insecurities . Steven Young , pictured right , was jailed for 18 years by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court after he admitted attempted murder of Miss Bolton , pictured left , shortly after the seven hour ordeal Miss Bolton , a former support worker , says he was using drugs and was on prescribed methadone which led to paranoia at times . But in May he exploded after she had posted a photo and message on Facebook saying she was unhappy . ' He would wind himself up to breaking point . He would say I was cheating on him but it was him cheating on me , ' she said . ' But on that day I had been outside fixing my car and had been talking to a young lad who collects scrap metal . ' He Young was upset because of the Facebook message . I went into the kitchen and opened a tin of tuna and he stuck a six inch knife in my head . ' The blade was sticking in my head and I thought ' oh my God , I ' m going to die ' . I couldn ' t pull it out but he did . ' He pulled it so hard it gave me whiplash and the blade snapped on the way out and fell on the floor . He went for another big knife and he stabbed me in the back and it punctured my kidney . ' He then stabbed me twice in the chest once in the breast and once in the lung . My lung was filling with blood , I knew I was in trouble and I was coughing up blood . The mother of three has been left scarred for life and needed more than 100 stitches to her face , arms and body ' I didn ' t feel the stabs , it just felt like punches , I feel more pain in my dreams now . ' He kept telling me I was going to die and was trying to stab me in the eyes and kept lunging and stabbing me in the head and face , over and over and over again . I put my arm up to protect myself . ' He cut through the nerves , tendons , veins and ligaments above my wrist , blood spurted out . ' From my wrist it was hanging off . He then stabbed me in the thumb , I needed over 100 stitches in total . ' Young pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was given an 18 year sentence in February at Newcastle Crown Court . Jailing him , Judge Paul Sloan told him : ' During the attack Miss Bolton truly believed she was going to die and she has suffered profound physical and mental suffering . ' This was a particularly brutal , merciless and sustained attack that must have been truly terrifying for the victim . ' There is a significant risk to members of the public , particularly partners and former partners , of serious harm by you . ' Mum of three Joanne added : ' I was left in my own pool of blood and I was very cold . ' I was there for hours and then I crawled towards the fire to get warm . ' When I was on my hands and knees he took a power bar and played golf with my head . He hit me in the forehead which flung me backwards then hit me on the shoulder which fractured the bones in my shoulder blade . ' Thinking of a way out , gasping for breath , Miss Bolton persuaded Young to put her on the bed and said she had 20 for him to uy drugs . Miss Bolton now suffers with mild brain damage and is often scared to leave the house On his return she begged him to call an ambulance , saying she would blame her injuries on someone else . She was in intensive care on a ventilator and was in surgery for six hours . ' I had been sterilised when I was 22 because I had real problems during my three births but somehow was pregnant during this , ' said Joanne . ' I miscarried after my shoulder operation but that plays heavy on my mind now . ' I never expected to be pregnant again , that was not supposed to happen , but I was and it survived those weeks while this was happening ' The frenzied attack has left Joanne with mild brain damage , she struggles to detect smell , has short time memory problems and is often too scared to leave the house . But now new boyfriend Brett Ritchie , 40 , of South Stanley , is helping her through her nightmare . ' Brett is different , he is patient , caring and would go to the end of the world and back for me . ' I genuinely feel I am with someone for the right reasons . ' Dad of six Brett said : ' She has got a lot of trust to gain back and that takes time , but I ' m willing to wait because I love her . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past119312901,12902,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump will announce next week his choice for who will lead the Federal Reserve, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Friday. ",true,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present119412902,12903,"Other Plots Tied to Abdelhamid Abaaoud , Alleged Mastermind of Paris Attacks Paris Mastermind Killed in Raid , Prosecutor Says The alleged mastermind of last week s Paris terror attacks had been involved in planning several other would be attacks in recent months , officials say . Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed during a police raid on a home in the Parisian suburb of Saint Denis Wednesday morning and police identified him using his fingerprints . Abaaoud was a Moroccan born Belgian citizen , and officials have confirmed that he traveled to Syria in 2014 . Authorities Seeking 9th Suspect in Paris Attacks , French Official Says French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve today said Abaaoud seems to have been involved in at least four of six terror plots that have been thwarted since this spring . He was confirmed to have had connections to two jihadists who had been detained by French authorities . The first was detained in June after a trip to Turkey and another confirmed to officials in August that he had been trained and commissioned by Abaaoud to commit violent acts in France or elsewhere . Officials are also investigating a possible connection between Abaaoud and a jihadist who was detained in July en route to Prague with a false Swedish passport and unspecified plans to commit a terrorist attack , Cazeneuve said . Beyond those personal connections , French officials say they have also established that Abaaoud had a role in an attack in April that left one woman dead . This undated image taken from a Militant Website on Monday , Nov . 16 , 2015 , shows Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud . That incident involved Sid Ahmed Glham , a 24 year old Algerian who moved to France in 2009 . Glham is believed to have killed a French woman in her car , but then did not continue the rest of his alleged plan after he contacted authorities to call for an ambulance because he had injured himself . "" Documents were also found and they prove , without any ambiguity , that the individual was preparing an imminent attack , in all probability , against one or two churches , "" Cazeneuve said at the time . Abaaoud ' s specific role in the April attack has not been publicly disclosed . Officials are still working to see whether Abaaoud was connected in any way to the attempted shooting on a Thalys train that ended after U . S . passengers helped subdue the assailant in August . Get real time updates as this story unfolds . To start , just "" star "" this story in News ' phone app . Download News for iPhone here or News for Android here . ",true,text,test,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past119512928,12929,"It is awfully ironic how the liberals are bashing President Trump for placing blame on both sides for the violence in the Charlottesville incident and not condemning just the white supremacists, considering they conveniently overlooked Hillary and Obama s close friendship with former member, Robert Byrd.Following the Charlottesville incident involving a car crashing into a crowd of people, President Trump seemed to be one of the only figures in the country condemning both sides for their displays of violence and bigotry. It was not clear who, exactly, was behind the attack, or which group was responsible.Trump waited until the dust settled and condemned both sides, as both sides warrant condemnation in this situation: from the white supremacists to the black supremacists, to the Communists, to Antifa, the situation was hardly one-sided.David Duke attempted to link Trump to the bigotry and hatred that was present in Charlottesville, however, it would be a far cry to say that the President is in any way happy with or affiliated with Duke or those he associates with, and to say so is to insult the President and his supporters.However, President Trump, back when he was dropping out of the Reform Party primary in 2000, condemned David Duke.When pressed by Matt Lauer on why he saw the Reform Party as self-destructing, Trump commented: Well, you ve got David Duke just joined, a bigot, a racist, a problem, I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party. Gateway PunditWatch Trump s 2000 interview with Lauer here:Despite mounting criticism for Donald Trump s failure to disavow former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke s support, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton once heaped praise for late Klan leader Sen. Robert Byrd.In a video uploaded to the State Department s official YouTube page on June 28, 2010, Clinton commemorated late Sen. Byrd by saying, Today our country has lost a true American original, my friend and mentor Robert C. Byrd. Via: Daily CallerAnd when the former member, Senator Robert Byrd died, Barack Obama gave the eulogy:President Obama lauded the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd today for keeping faith with his family, his state of West Virginia and his beloved U.S. Constitution. He was a Senate icon, he was a party leader, he was an elder statesman, and he was my friend, Obama told thousands who gathered for Byrd s funeral on the steps of the golden-domed West Virginia statehouse. That s how I ll remember him. ",fake,dataset,test,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past119612929,12930,"Norman Ollestad remembers the tree limb . The book ' s jacket features a picture of a 1 year old Norman clinging to his father ' s back on a surfboard . He was 11 years old , riding in a Cessna in a blizzard through California ' s San Gabriel Mountains in 1979 , on his way to pick up a trophy he won in a skiing competition . "" The gray clouds were just pressing against the windows it didn ' t even seem like we were moving , "" he recalls . "" Then , there ' s a limb reaching out of that fog and disappearing . Then another one and another one . "" Then realizing we were in the trees . "" The plane crash that followed killed his father and the pilot and badly wounded his father ' s girlfriend , who with young Norman was tossed violently onto the top of an 8 , 600 foot mountain in the freezing , February chill . "" I felt three thuds . The third one must have knocked me cold , "" says Ollestad , now 41 . "" I remember feeling those thuds in my spine a clear memory of that . Then I woke up who knows how long after . "" The ensuing nine hour , life or death descent in the end , he was the only survivor is the topic of "" Crazy for the Storm : A Memoir of Survival . "" Watch the press conference that followed his survival But the book is about more than a plane crash , namely his relationship with an adrenaline junkie father who basked in the wild life of Malibu in the 1970s and relentlessly pushed his "" Boy Wonder "" to excel from the ski slopes of northern California to the crashing surf off the Mexican coast . "" It ' s actually 100 percent about my relationship with my father , "" Ollestad said . "" That relationship was present on the mountain with me , even though he was dead . "" "" An engrossing story of adventure , survival and psychological exploration , "" wrote the journal Kirkus Reviews . In the book , Ollestad cuts back and forth between the crash and journey down the mountain and the years leading up to that moment . Included are memories of life in Malibu , where he grew up the son of divorced parents in a cottage on the beach . There are surfers and skate rats , musicians and nudists and memories of smoking weed and spying on his neighbors ' most intimate moments . But mostly there ' s his father , Norman Ollestad Sr . , an athlete , actor , lawyer , musician and former agent . From the age of 3 , Norman was groomed for competitive "" extreme sports "" by his father and pushed to be the best . The book ' s jacket features a picture of a 1 year old Norman clinging to his father ' s back as he steers a surfboard atop the waves of California ' s Topanga State Beach . He acknowledges that many times , when his father was cooking up a new adventure for the two of them , he would rather have been "" riding my bike or eating chocolate cake . "" "" At first a lot of people are , ' Wow . . I had a lot of trouble with some of the stuff your dad was doing , ' "" says Ollestad , who studied creative writing at and attended ' s film school . "" But then it turned out that a lot of that stuff was really beautiful . "" And he believes it saved his life . The skiing made him aware of how steep the mountain ' s slope was and what it would take to get down it without falling . The skiing and surfing gave him control of his body and awareness of the exact movements required to work his way out of the descent ' s most treacherous spots . "" Some of it was sort of eerily , specifically perfect for the situation , "" he says . "" Forty five degree pitch , blizzard with ice , well , I ' ve been here for eight years doing this . It was familiar to me . "" The book has had another , unexpected result for Ollestad , who now lives in Venice , California . He says he ' s been shocked at the e mail from readers . "" Nobody ' s even written about the plane crash , "" he says . "" They say ' it reminds me of some of the things I did with my dad or some of the things I didn ' t get to do . ' "" In every e mail , whether it ' s a woman or a man , they talk about . . . their relationship with their father or mother . It touches something in there where they want to talk about it . "" Now , for Ollestad , the story has followed him all the way around . He ' s the father of an 8 year old , Noah , and seeks to walk the line between responsible parenting and teaching his child the lessons he says saved his life . "" Those were different times , "" he tells the boy in the book ' s epilogue . "" My dad made me do lots of things that I ' d get arrested for making you do . "" ",true,text,test,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past119712931,12932,"If Andy Murray is going to win his first French Open title , he ' s going to have to do it the hard way . The Wimbledon champion , seeded seventh , has been placed in the same half of the draw as the undoubted king of clay and eight time winner at Roland Garros , Rafael Nadal and they could meet at the semi final stage . Australian Open title holder Stanislas Wawrinka is also a potential quarter final opponent . Potential opponents : Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal could meet in the French Open semi finals Focused : Murray chats to training partner Dani Vallverdu during practice at Roland Garros Andy missed the French Open last year because of back problems that eventually saw him undergo surgery last September . His title bid kicks off against Kazakhstan ' s Andrey Golubev in the first round . Murray and Golubev have only met once before in a tour event , in the final in St Petersburg in 2008 , which the Scot won 6 1 , 6 1 . Golubev , 26 , is ranked 55 but has been as high as 33 and beat Wawrinka in Davis Cup in April . Should Murray get past the Kazakh , he will play either Australia ' s Marinko Matosevic or German Jamaican Dustin Brown , while talented German Philipp Kohlschreiber is the first seed he could face in round three . Ready for action : Andy Murray shakes hands with Bulgaria ' s Grigor Dimitrov during practice session The man to beat : Nadal is hoping to win a record ninth French Open title Defending champion Nadal , who is aiming for a record ninth French Open title , will play American wild card Robby Ginepri first up , and could meet exciting young Austrian Dominic Thiem in the second round . In the bottom half , second seed Novak Djokovic meets Joao Sousa of Portugal while Roger Federer , his potential semi final opponent , plays Lukas Lacko . In the women ' s draw , reigning champion Serena Williams plays France ' s Alize Lim , her friend from Patrick Mouratoglou ' s academy not that the American realised the significance . 2013 finalists : Serena Williams poses with her winning trophy alongside runner up Maria Sharapova Lim wrote on Twitter : ' So 5 minutes ago I was in the locker room speaking to Serena , asked her "" oh did you make the draw , who do I play ? ! "" She told me no I don ' t look at the draw . ' Williams could play sister Venus in the third round but she has a very tricky opener against 17 year old Swiss Belinda Bencic , last year ' s junior champion . Serena is also seeded to face a rematch with Maria Sharapova , who she beat in last year ' s final , in the last eight . The women ' s second seed is Australian Open champion Li Na , who meets Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in round one . Play at the second grand slam of the year begins at Roland Garros on Sunday . ",true,text,test,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past119812942,12943,"Only one in 25 homes sold last month exceeded the asking price . The figure , released yesterday by the National Association of Estate Agents , adds to evidence that the property market is finally cooling . It found that just 4 per cent of buyers had to pay over the odds in July compared with 20 per cent in both March and May . Two thirds of owners did not receive the advertised price . Just 4 per cent of buyers paid more than the asking price for a house in July , while website Rightmove has revealed house prices had their biggest ever August fall , dropping 2 . 9 per cent The website Rightmove has already said asking prices have had their biggest ever August fall dropping 2 . 9 per cent on July . More than 520 estate agents were interviewed by the , and nine out of ten said stamp duty was harming the market and needed reform . A third agreed with the statement that the tax , which is paid on homes sold for more than 125 , 000 , ' frequently deters house buyers from moving to their ideal house ' . Until 1997 , stamp duty was charged at just 1 per cent on all homes sold for 60 , 000 or more . Today it is charged at that rate only on properties between 125 , 000 and 250 , 000 . The rate is then 3 per cent up to 500 , 000 , with rates continuing to rise to a maximum of 7 per cent on homes over 2million . Mark Hayward , managing director of the , said there was growing evidence that house prices are ' on the decline ' . He said : ' A significant number of homes being sold are going for less than the asking price . ' This not only signals an appetite for movement in the market , but is also positive news for current house buyers , especially when faced with the prospect of potentially having to pay higher rates of stamp duty for higher priced houses . ' Savills predicts house prices will continue to rise for the next five years across the , jumping by nearly 26 per cent by the end of 2018 . But it says the rate of annual growth will slow down significantly . Prices will supposedly rise by 9 . 5 per cent this year , but by only 4 per cent in 2015 , slowing down to 3 . 5 per cent in both 2016 and 2017 and finally to 3 per cent in 2018 . Nine out of ten estate agents interviewed by the said stamp duty was hurting the property market and needed to be reformed Lucian Cook , head of residential research at the estate agency , said : ' These extraordinary rates of house price growth cannot continue in the current , more regulated mortgage environment , particularly in the face of likely interest rate rises . ' Around three million working parents in England are cutting back on buying food in order to be able to pay their rent or mortgage , according to the housing charity Shelter . Its report , published today , warns that the budgets of many ordinary working families are ' stretched to breaking point by high housing costs ' . They are at risk of losing their homes when the Bank of England raises the base rate from its historic low of 0 . 5 per cent . Campbell Robb , chief executive of Shelter , said : ' No parent should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying for the roof over their children ' s heads . ' These shocking figures show that millions of us are having to make these kind of agonising choices every day . ' ",true,text,test,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past119912975,12976,"Ronnie O ' Sullivan retained his Champion of Champions title in Coventry by seeing off Judd Trump in a high class battle . The five time world champion looked to be cruising at 8 3 ahead before Trump roared back to 8 7 in the first to 10 contest at the Ricoh Arena . But O ' Sullivan had enough about him to get to the line first and take a 10 7 win and a 100 , 000 cheque . Ronnie O ' Sullivan has a taste for victory and retained his Champion of Champions title against Judd Trump Judd Trump didnt go down without a fight , but it was O ' Sullivan who emerged victorious in Coventry Age is serving to make O ' Sullivan better , with the Essex man , who turns 39 next month , retaining the consistency that so often eluded him in his early days . His numbers against Trump were simply stunning , compiling breaks of 137 , 78 , 80 , 87 , 134 , 139 , 70 , 70 and 109 , but a rot stopping 63 to go out to 9 7 proved to be the most valuable . Trump who made 102 and 100 himself was rampant at that point but O ' Sullivan gave himself a chance with the knock made without use of the blue or black . Even then Trump was not done and had a chance to clear on the colours to force a re spot but went in off the green . Trump decided he had nothing to lose after that and took on a long red at the start of the 17th . He got nowhere near and O ' Sullivan slammed in a fourth century of the match and a seventh of the week . Four of the top five breaks also have his name next to them . The 38 year old has been working on reigniting his passion for the sport with psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters O ' Sullivan has rediscovered the scintillating form he regularly showed in the early stages of his career ' I just played as well as I could , ' O ' Sullivan told ITV4 afterwards . ' I would like to say well done to Judd as he had a great tournament . He pots so well and doesn ' t get worried that I didn ' t know what to do today . ' The revival of O ' Sullivan ' s career is charted back to him starting working with renowned psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters . Since the two teamed up , O ' Sullivan has rekindled a previously absent passion for a sport in which he is considered to be the greatest of all time . ' If I ' d have lost I ' d have said the same thing , you can ' t ask for more than that and you want to keep playing , ' he added . ' I was happy to be involved in one of the best matches you ' ll see . Speaking openly with ITV4 O ' Sullivan admitted that his work with Dr Peters helped him get back to his best ' I was playing like this when I was 15 , 16 and then I played rubbish for 16 years but I hung in because I ' m stubborn . Since I ' ve been working with Steve Peters I have found the form I was always capable of . ' I ' m enjoying it , I hope it lasts , but when it ends , it ends . ' Trump admitted there was little he could do to stop the force of O ' Sullivan . ' I take a lot of positives because the way Ronnie played is the best anyone has played . I marvelled at him making it look so easy and that ' s one of the best performances I ' ve seen from anyone in any sport . ' ",true,text,test,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past120012981,12982,"A Mercedes more than a half century old and driven by one of Formula One ' s most famous racers , Juan Manuel Fangio , became the most expensive car ever sold at an auction , according to the auctioneer . The 1954 Mercedes Benz W196R fetched 29 . 65 million Friday at the auction in southern England , said Bonhams , with the identity of the buyer not disclosed . That figure beat the previous record a 1957 Ferrari was purchased in 2011 by about 13 million , added Bonhams . "" I have handled some of the world ' s most desirable and important motor cars during a motoring auction career spanning five decades , but I have reached a peak with this legendary grand prix car , "" Robert Brooks , the Bonhams chairman , said . "" It was a personal privilege to preside over the sale of this vehicle , which is not only one of the most significant motor cars of the 20th century but also the most important historic grand prix racing car ever offered for sale , "" he added . Argentina ' s Fangio used the car en route to winning the second of his five world titles . Soon after it was placed in a museum . Fangio won a record 45 percent of the grand prix he entered and started nearly 60 percent of his races from pole position reigning Formula One king Sebastian Vettel doesn ' t come close to matching that . He won the championship with four different teams the only man to achieve the feat and is also the oldest Formula One champion , claiming the title in 1957 at the age of 46 . "" If he were here today Fangio would shake his head and smile his slow smile , "" Doug Nye , a racing historian , told Bonhams ' website . "" He was a humble man , originally a mechanic from a potato town in Argentina and never forgot his roots . "" As a driver he was simply a genius . "" ",true,text,test,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past