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For those who think the Scion FR-S/Toyota GT86 is too big, Toyota is bringing the compact S-FR sports coupe concept to the Tokyo motor show. Other concepts making their world debuts include the Toyota KIKAI and FCV Plus concepts. Toyota S-FR Concept The Toyota S-FR concept features the same front-engine rear-drive setup as the larger Scion FR-S. With the engine mounted behind the front axle, the Toyota S-FR concept has a front-mid-engine design, which combined with a low curb weight, is said to "offer smooth, responsive, and direct handling that gives a real sense of communication between car and driver." At 157.1 inches long, the 2+2 Toyota S-FR is closer in overall length to the third-generation Mazda Miata (157.3 inches long) than the Scion FR-S (166.7 inches long). But the Toyota concept rides on a 97.6-inch wheelbase, which is closer to the Scion FR-S's 101.2-inch wheelbase than to the Miata's 91.7-inch wheelbase. In addition to its lightweight and compact size, the S-FR concept is an entry-level model with a simple and modern interior. Its rounded exterior styling, long dash-to-axle ratio, and wide stance give the S-FR concept a sporty look. Toyota says the concept's optimal weight distribution and four-wheel independent suspension give it "outstanding cornering performance." While Toyota didn't disclose any engine details, the S-FR concept features a six-speed manual transmission. Hopefully more details emerge at the reveal. See more news from the Tokyo Motor Show Toyota KIKAI If the S-FR concept seems at odds with the automaker's current stable of practical cars, the Toyota KIKAI concept takes the idea of fun to a whole new level. Toyota says the concept displays the "beauty, simplicity, and fascinating motion" of machines. We say the KIKAI concept reminds us of a modern Baja Bug . The KIKAI concept features an exposed rear-mounted engine as well as exposed front- and rear suspension, while the wheels feature small motorcycle-style fenders. The designs of the fuel tank, reserve tank, and exhaust pipes add to the car's decidedly mechanical appeal. Inside, the KIKAI concept features a 1+2 seating position similar to the McLaren F1. The dashboard features a set of simple analog gauges and switches. Small windows in the front firewall give the driver a view of the movement of the front suspension and wheels. Toyota FCV Plus Powered by compressed hydrogen, the Toyota FCV Plus concept hints at a future of sustainable energy. Toyota says that compressed hydrogen has a higher energy density than electricity, is easier to store, and can be generated in a number of ways. Fuel cell vehicles have the potential to go from eco-cars to energy-cars, according to the automaker. That's because the car's fuel cell stack can be used to create electricity for the local grid. The concept's fuel cell stack is mounted between the front tires, while the hydrogen tank is mounted behind the rear seat. Motivation for the car comes from four independent in-wheel motors mounted in each wheel. Toyota says the design enables a roomy interior in a compact body. Additionally, the all-new fourth-generation Toyota Prius and Toyota C-HR concept will make their Japanese debuts in Tokyo. Source: Toyota Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 94,500 | autos |
SHANGHAI (AP) Kei Nishikori overcame a stiff challenge from an emotional Nick Kyrgios to advance to the third round of the Shanghai Masters with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 win on Wednesday. After winning the first set in 30 minutes, Kyrgios began to unravel at the end of the second set when he smacked a ball in frustration toward the baseline, causing a line judge to bend to avoid being hit. The Australian was assessed a code violation and dropped his serve at love, losing the set. Kyrgios then saved three match points in the third set before Nishikori finally closed it out. Kyrgios was fined $1,500 for an ''audible obscenity'' in his first-round match in Shanghai. He faces suspension from the ATP tour if he reaches $5,000 in fines before February. | 1 | 94,501 | sports |
These doggy Halloween costumes will make you laugh out loud at first glance. They all look so miserable! Sean Dowling (@seandowlingtv) runs down some of the funniest ones. | 4 | 94,502 | lifestyle |
Remember the awkward photo of Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and LeBron James on a banana boat that surfaced over the summer? Yeah, you do! How you could forget it?! Who is to blame for it though? | 1 | 94,503 | sports |
The haze currently engulfing much of Southeast Asia is likely to be the costliest weather-related disaster of 2015. Much of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand have been affected by poor visibility in recent months. The haze is a direct result of forest fires raging in Indonesia. These are largely deliberately lit as a quick and easy method to clear land for agriculture. Peat forests, too wet to burn quickly, tend to smoulder, resulting in three times as much smoke as a typical forest fire. The haze occurs every year, but the atmospheric pollution is particularly bad this year because of the ongoing El Nino. During an El Nino, the warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean heats the air above. This air rises through the atmosphere, before spreading out at the stratosphere and descending over the tropics. Descending air warms and dries, and inhibits cloud formation. The lack of cloud negates any attempt at cloud seeding, for which some success has been claimed in recent years. In the last strong El Nino of 1997, the extra smoke in the atmosphere across Southeast Asia is known to have caused 10,800 deaths as a result of cardiovascular disease. The fires of 2015 are known to have put a comparable amount of smoke into the atmosphere. Indonesia's Centre for International Forestry Research estimates that the smog will cost $14bn in lost agricultural production, health, transport, tourism and forest degradation. The country's health ministry says that 20 million people are thought to have been affected by this year's haze with more than 120,000 of them having to seek medical help. After initially refusing assistance from other countries, Indonesia has begun to co-operate with Malaysia, Singapore and Australia in the fight to extinguish the fires. | 5 | 94,504 | news |
Australia rugby head coach Michael Cheika says replacements for the suspended Scottish players will still be good. | 8 | 94,505 | video |
Two-time winner Andy Murray avoided the fate of Roger Federer when he cantered through his Shanghai Masters opener against Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-4 to set up a meeting with John Isner. After Federer's shock loss to 70th-ranked Albert Ramos-Vinolas late on Tuesday, there were no banana-skins for the British world number two as he returned to action following a four-week break. Federer complained that he found it tough to adapt to the Shanghai conditions after his 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-3 to Ramos-Vinolas, but Murray said he had arrived early enough to acclimatise. "I think it's not so much that the conditions are really tricky here, it's that they're quite different to Beijing and Tokyo. All of the players say that," said the 2010 and 2011 champion. AFP | 1 | 94,506 | sports |
Stephen Fry is to step down as the host of BBC Two comedy quiz show QI after 13 years. The presenter said it was "one of the best jobs on television" but felt "it was time to move on". He will be replaced by Sandi Toksvig, who described it as her "dream job". Show creator John Lloyd said Toksvig would be "the first female host of a mainstream comedy panel show on British television - an appointment that is well overdue". Fry's departure would be the "end of an era", Lloyd added. He said: "Though we are all very sad he's decided to move on, I am confident that we have found the perfect person to occupy his gigantic shoes." Toksvig hosts Channel 4's Fifteen To One and stood down as chair of BBC Radio Four's The News Quiz earlier this year after a 10-year run. 'Lively minds' QI was first broadcast in 2003. Fry was originally hired to be a team captain opposite Alan Davies, but he agreed to host the show as a last-minute replacement for Michael Palin "just for the pilot [episode]". Fry said: "For 13 years I had one of the best jobs on television. Behind the camera squadrons of quite extraordinarily brilliant researchers, programme makers and uniquely curious (in both senses of the word) people making that job so much easier. "In front of the camera generations of lively minds and above all of course the wonder of nature that is Alan Davies." Davies will remain as resident panellist. The show covers topics under one letter per series, and Fry said "after passing the alphabetical halfway mark I thought it time to move on, but I will never cease to be grateful to John Lloyd for devising QI and for everyone else for making it such fun". The upcoming M series will be Fry's last. Toksvig said QI was her "favourite television programme both to watch and to be on, so this is absolutely my dream job". She said: "Stephen has been utterly brilliant with the first half of the alphabet. Now I look forward to picking up the baton, mixing my metaphors and sailing towards the Land of Nod (i.e. Z). "Who knows what lies ahead? It should all be quite interesting." Last year, Toksvig spoke out after the BBC announced a policy of having at least one woman on every panel show. Rather than recruiting more female panellists, she suggested having more female hosts would be a better way of ensuring more women were represented. "If you get more female hosts, you'll... have more women taking part," she said. | 6 | 94,507 | entertainment |
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee sparked backlash on social media during the Democratic presidential debate Tuesday night for a tweet alluding to dog meat. The Republican presidential candidate targeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-described democratic socialist and one of five candidates on the stage in Las Vegas. "I trust @BernieSanders with my tax dollars like I trust a North Korean chef with my labrador! #DemDebate," Huckabee said in his tweet, which was shared more than 6,000 times. I trust @BernieSanders with my tax dollars like I trust a North Korean chef with my labrador! #DemDebate Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) October 14, 2015 After a slew of responses slamming the "racist" note, Huckabee doubled down on his remark with another tweet knocking critics who "think it's racist to deplore a brutal dictatorship." Poor liberals think it's racist to deplore a brutal dictatorship. #DemDebate https://t.co/ItkrFfMYiL Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) October 14, 2015 The remarks were among a series of tweets sent by Huckabee's account during the course of the two-hour debate, which was discussed on social media by other candidates like Donald Trump. Another GOP rival, Sen Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), took a lighter note toward the end of the debate, tweeting, "Can't take it any longer. Wouldn't make Gitmo detainees watch all of this." Can't take it any longer. Wouldn't make Gitmo detainees watch all of this. Good luck @TheDemocrats , you're going to need it. #DemDebate Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 14, 2015 | 5 | 94,508 | news |
A small plane plunged into a Florida mobile home park, churning up flames and a column of black smoke. Authorities said there are an unknown number of victims. (Oct. 14) | 8 | 94,509 | video |
FIFA's presidential election should go ahead as planned on February 26 and not be delayed due to the suspensions of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, according to candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan. World football chief Blatter and UEFA boss Platini were suspended by FIFA's Ethics Committee last week, engulfed by a deepening corruption scandal as their sport faces criminal investigations in Switzerland and the US. FIFA's ruling executive committee will hold an emergency meeting on October 20 and the possibility of delaying the election of its next leader is likely to be on the agenda. "Delaying the scheduled election would only postpone needed change and create further instability," Ali said in a statement, his first since the suspension of Blatter and Platini. "It would tell the world that lessons haven't been learned, that the same backroom deals that have discredited FIFA in the first place continue." A 2011 payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.09m) from FIFA to Frenchman Platini is part of a Swiss criminal investigation into Blatter, in which the UEFA boss is considered as someone "between a witness and an accused person", according to Swiss judicial authorities. Platini has said the payment was for his work under contract for FIFA as an advisor to Swiss-born Blatter between 1999 and 2002, and the nine-year payment delay was due to FIFA's financial situation. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Without Platini in the field, Ali's chances of winning could rise significantly. As it stands, the deadline for nominations is October 26 and prospective candidates face a FIFA integrity check. "Candidates have had plenty of time to declare and still do. The rules should not be changed after the game has started." The prince, supported at the time by Platini, lost to Blatter in May's presidential election. But Blatter announced four days later that he would lay down his mandate as crisis engulfed FIFA. | 1 | 94,510 | sports |
As tempting as it may be to queue up one more episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, stealing that precious sleep time from yourself could be increasing your waistline . A study published in the journal Sleep shows a correlation between later bedtimes and higher body-mass index, according to the New York Times . Starting in 1996, researchers followed a control group of more than 3,300 individuals, all starting from adolescence, for 13 years. Even controlling for age, race, ethnicity, sex, and other factors, the results were surprising: Every extra hour shaved from sleep time correlated with an approximately two-point increase in body-mass index. Shockingly, neither amount of exercise nor time spent watching television seemed impact the effect though, unsurprisingly, fast-food intake did. Long story short: Consider shutting your lights off a bit earlier tonight. Your waist will thank you . . . and don't you have CrossFit in the morning, anyway? | 7 | 94,511 | health |
BETHESDA, Md. Park officials are warning of an aggressive owl that is believed to have attacked runners on a popular trail in Bethesda, a Maryland suburb of the nation's capital. At least three runners on the Capital Crescent Trail have reported being attacked by a large bird, one of them identified as a barred owl. The attacks occurred after nightfall or before dawn in the past two weeks. Officials say the runners suffered only minor scratches when the bird swooped down on their heads from behind. Montgomery Parks spokeswoman Melissa Chotiner says barred owls are typically active at night and are territorial. She suggests making noise as an owl approaches and tucking in any ponytails. Park staff put signs up on the trail Tuesday reading, "Caution! An aggressive owl lives here!" | 5 | 94,512 | news |
Eliaquim Mangala's transfer to Manchester City from Porto last year is being investigated by FIFA amid suggestions the switch contravened third-party ownership rules. Mangala moved to the Etihad Stadium from the Primeira Liga side in August last year - Porto receiving 30.5 million euros for 56.67 percent of the player's rights. While third-party ownership was banned by FIFA in May, private equity fund Doyen Sports had invested in Mangala prior to his departure for England. "We are looking into this," a FIFA spokesperson told Omnisport when asked about the transfer. Third-party ownership was particularly common in Portugal, with Doyen having also invested in Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo - formerly of Sporting CP. | 1 | 94,513 | sports |
Are you ready for Round Three? In less than a month, the federal Health Insurance Marketplace will swing open its virtual doors and let the masses in. Hopefully, this year will be much like last year rather than a repeat of the program's initial rocky start. I love Obamacare , but the first year's open enrollment process was a mess. Personally, it only took me four applications, three online profiles and two attempts to verify my income before it was all said and done. However, last year was a relative walk in the park. I'm still getting notifications to complete the three applications that never went through the first year, but other than that, all's well on the health insurance front in my house. Let's all hope this year will be smooth sailing as well. In the meantime, you can get ready for the open enrollment period by brushing up on these five facts about Obamacare. 1. Open enrollment window for 2016 coverage Before we get too much further into our discussion on Obamacare, take note that the upcoming open enrollmen period applies only to those who are buying their own insurance. If you're one of the 55.4 percent of Americans who get their insurance through their workplace (lucky dogs), you'll still have your normal open enrollment period through your employer. However, for the 14.6 percent of the population who buy their own medical insurance, open enrollment on the government Health Insurance Marketplace begins Nov. 1. You'll have until Jan. 31 to select your 2016 plan. However, to ensure your new plan kicks in on Jan. 1, the earliest date possible, you need to make your selection between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15. Outside this three-month window, the only way to buy health insurance on the marketplace is if you become eligible for a special enrollment period. These enrollment periods are open to those who have experienced certain events, such as: Loss of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage Marriage or divorce Birth or adoption of a child Relocation to outside the geographic area served by an individual's current medical insurance 2. Penalty for failing to sign up If you fail to sign up for health insurance coverage, you could be hit with a penalty at tax time. Back in 2014, when the health insurance mandate first went into effect, the fee wasn't too bad. It started as the greater of 1 percent of your income or a per-person assessment that was capped at $285 per family. For penalties based upon income, only the amount above the tax filing threshold, $10,150 for an individual, is used in the calculation. However, the fee has been steadily climbing. If you don't sign up for health insurance in 2016, expect to be paying the greater of: 2.5 percent of your income above the tax filing threshold $695 per adult and $347.50 per child for a maximum of $2,085 per family For those who lacked coverage for only part of the year, the fee will be prorated. For example, an individual who goes without health insurance for three months will be assessed only 25 percent of the fee. Those who owe a fee this year will have it assessed as part of their income taxes. Exemptions are available in certain situations, such as if you were without health insurance less than three months or the cost of the cheapest plan in your area exceeds 8 percent of your income. 3. Where to go for coverage Most states have opted to let the federal government run their health insurance exchanges. However, even if you live in a state with its own marketplace, you can head to the federal website to be directed to your own state exchange. The federal website is HealthCare.gov , and if you used the website last year, you should be able to log in to your account to shop for new coverage starting Nov. 1. You can also call 800-318-2596 (might want to brew some coffee and be prepared to be on hold) and have a representative complete your application over the phone. Finally, there may be local organizations that can help with the application and enrollment process. You can go to this page at HealthCare.gov to search for options in your area. 4. What to look for in a policy Assuming you're applying for health insurance on the marketplace for the first time, once you've completed your application, you should be presented with a number of health insurance plans from which to choose. These will be broken down into four tiers depending on the level of coverage they provide. Check out our overview of the tiers for more details. Don't forget that you may be eligible for tax credits to subsidize premiums if you earn less than 400 percent of the federal poverty limit. In addition, those selecting a silver plan may be eligible for cost-sharing reductions that may lower co-payment amounts. Of course, premiums are only part of the picture. You also need to consider these factors when picking a plan: Deductible: The amount you must pay out of pocket before insurance coverage will kick in for nonpreventive care. Co-payments: A flat amount you pay for certain services or items, such as office visits or prescription drugs. Coinsurance: Similar to co-pays, coinsurance is the percentage of a health care bill that is your responsibility. Network: Very few health insurance companies let you see any doctor you want nowadays. Most have a network of providers and facilities that participate with their health plans. Be sure your favorite doctors, hospitals and clinics are a part of a plan's network. Otherwise, you could be on the hook for your entire medical bill. 5. Advice for those who like the plan they chose last year If you already have a plan you like from the 2015 open enrollment period, there's no need to log in or complete a new application. The Health Insurance Marketplace will automatically re-enroll you in your existing plan if you do nothing. In the event your insurer discontinues your plan, you'll be shifted to a similar plan. But before you decide to put your health insurance on autopilot, it might be wise to at least check out your options. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation , health insurance tax credits are calculated using the second-lowest silver-tiered plan as a benchmark. Individuals with more expensive plans must pay the full cost of the difference between their plan and that of the benchmark plan; that amount is not subsidized. As a result, your premiums might go up significantly if your plan is no longer one of the cheapest options on the marketplace. To be safe, it might serve you to spend a little time to see if and how your premium will be changing in 2016 and whether a better option is available. For more information on all things Obamacare, MTN has you covered. Do a search for Obamacare for information about the law, health insurance plans and more. Or if you want to start with just the basics, read our articles on Obamacare facts , how to prepare for Obamacare and common Obamacare scams . | 3 | 94,514 | finance |
There's a reason people love the fall. After months of oppressive summer heat and humidity, autumn is the welcome relief: cool, crisp air and those colorful oft-changing landscapes. Anything pumpkin-flavored is a bonus too. But it's not just the cool weather and football season that you should be excited about. "House hunting in the fall can be very successful," says Patty Brockman , a licensed real estate broker at Windermere Stellar Real Estate in Portland, OR. Whether you're looking at homes for sale in Santa Fe, NM , or New York, NY, autumn can prove to be a great time to buy. That's not to say it doesn't have its challenges, though. Here are the ways in which buying a home this season can reward you with big dividends or prove to be somewhat difficult. Pro: Sellers are serious As in, serious about selling their homes this time of year. "Even though there typically is less inventory, the people that put their homes on the market this time of year are more serious about selling otherwise they would wait until spring," explains Brockman. "Motivated sellers equals more flexibility during negotiations. There is often less competition from other buyers because families don't like to move in the middle of a school year, people's lives are caught up in sports and holidays, and generally, there is a cocooning effect that takes place as the days grow colder and shorter." All of that means buyers are at a huge advantage when house hunting in the fall. Pro: Inventory is low So while sellers are likely to be more motivated to sell, when it comes to the amount of homes on the market, it's slim pickin's this time of year. However, the upside to low inventory is this: "Since the supply of listings shrinks this time of year, it's easier to narrow down the list of your top properties," says Justin Udy , a real estate agent with Century 21 Everest Realty Group in Midvale, UT. Con: Foul weather The same way snow and sleet and freezing rain can wreak havoc on your flight to the Caribbean for New Year's, it can also seriously impede your desire to get out of the car let alone get out of your sweatpants to go house hunting in the first place. "Who really wants to slosh around in the rain all day, looking at houses?" asks Brockman. Con: Daylight waning That whole "fall back" premise can be a little speed bump in the house-hunting process . "Buyers are faced with having to get out early from work to see properties or only look on weekends in order to fully 'see' a property," says Brockman. "If it's dark out, how can you get a thorough look at the exterior of the property? The neighborhood? Before making the decision to write an offer, you will have to see it in the daylight, so this can mean multiple trips to the same properties. In a competitive market, you could lose your window of opportunity." Pro: There's less competition While the bulk of buyers rushed to get into their homes before the first day of school , you're in luck as a small minority of buyers looking to purchase a home in the fall. "This means you have more time to look and the time necessary to properly negotiate a great deal in terms of price and terms that fit your needs," explains Udy. "This also means you're not up against as many multiple-offer situations." Con: There's more competition While locales such as New England and the Midwest see a dip in real estate activity come fall, other parts of the country such as Florida and Arizona where "snowbirds" flock during the cold winter months see an increase in potential buyers. "Differences in activity levels between seasons are very area-specific," says Alin Zdroba , president and managing broker of Propertio Real Estate in Hollywood, FL. "I can attest that in south Florida, such differences do not exist. While families go into a frenzy during the summer months, when schools are out and preparing for a new school year, October through April is our high season. Out-of-towners, or what we fondly call 'snowbirds,' pack our roads, restaurants, shops, and keep us, the ones in the real estate brokerage business, extremely busy during these months." Pro: Move-in dates are (likely) flexible You probably won't want to move on the eve of a holiday or the day after. Which means that instead of having to negotiate a 30-day close, sellers are more likely to work with you on a doable time frame, says Udy. "It makes it easier to negotiate delayed closings or extended occupancy dates. Most people do not want to move during the winter and the holidays and are more flexible with dates and deadlines." Pro: Negotiating is easier When a seller is motivated to sell, they're more likely to negotiate a bit more with a buyer. "A homeowner listing their home during the fall and winter months is more than likely a very motivated seller on a timeline," says Ross Anthony , a real estate agent with Willis Allen Real Estate in San Diego. "Listing a home and complying with showing times, open houses, and everything else that comes along with it can be stressful year-round but is even more amplified during the holidays. Buyers can capitalize on this urgency and use it to their advantage during negotiations." Do you think the fall is the best time to buy a house? Share your experiences in the comments below! | 3 | 94,515 | finance |
Oil eased further below $50 a barrel on Wednesday, falling for a third day, on concern a supply glut will persist and demand slow down as economic growth moderates in the world's second largest consumer China. Brent crude slid to $49.56 a barrel as of 1052 GMT and U.S. crude eased to $46.57. | 3 | 94,516 | finance |
Are there any bargains in the insurance sector? Today I'm looking at Prudential (LSE: PRU), Aviva (LSE: AV) and Chesnara (LSE: CSN). Are these firms cheap? If we look at a few valuation indicators, we might conclude that these three firms are reasonably priced we *might*. However, I'm cautious about Prudential, Aviva and Chesnara, but more about that later. Compared to the FTSE 100 's price-to-earnings rating (PER) of around 17.5 and its dividend yield of 3.8% or so, the valuation indicators for these three firms ostensibly stack up pretty well: Recent share price Forward PER Forward Dividend Yield Times forward earnings cover dividend Prudential 1497p 12.4 2.9% 2.8 Aviva 464p 9.2 5.3% 2 Chesnara 332p 16 5.9% 1 Those yields look tempting and the cost in PER terms seems reasonable, but I'm still not rushing to buy any of these firms' shares. City analysts following these three reckon earnings will grow in 2016 by around 9% for Prudential, 11% for Aviva, and they will decline by 14% for Chesnara. So two of the three offers forward growth, too. Surely, that's attractive. Not to me. Trading well, but… All three firms offer positive-sounding recent trading updates and outlook statements. However, the 'problem' with insurance-based operators is that their activities have a high level of cyclicality. As well as underwriting profits and fund management profits, which are cyclical in themselves, Prudential, Aviva and Chesnara also earn high proportions of their returns from investments. When the economy tanks, the profits and share prices of firms in the insurance sector can behave with even greater extremes than other financials, such as the banks. My pick of the bunch That said, Prudential's growth since the financial crisis has excelled its peers here, and the shares delivered the firm's investors a gain of around 430% since early 2009. However, the share price displayed some aggressive volatility recently, which underlines my point about cyclicality in the sector. Speculation that macro-economic growth could soon hit the skids is what probably drove the summer market wobbles. True to form, the cyclicals led the charge south. We currently have what we could describe as a maturing economic cycle, and that's not the best time to be in cyclical firms such as Prudential, Aviva and Chesnara, I'd argue. There could be further investor total returns to come, but there's also a lot of risk of profit and share-price reversal. With the cyclicals, share prices can behave oddly, too. Perhaps staying flat or declining as profits rise, due to things such as valuation-compression and other speculative effects. The market as a whole is always trying to anticipate what will happen next in the economic environment, and nowhere is such agonising more apparent than in the performance of the cyclical firms' share prices. Rather than going for low-rated and volatile cyclical firms such as Prudential, Aviva and Chesnara now, I'm looking at five superior large-cap firms each of which has a healthy balance sheet, a dominant market position, reliable cash flows, wide exposure to global markets and decent growth prospects. A special wealth report compiled by our analysts at the Motley Fool underlines why all five of them make strong candidates for income and capital growth. You can find out the identity of these five attractive firms right now, completely free and with no obligation , by clicking here. Kevin Godbold has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. | 3 | 94,517 | finance |
Swatch, the world's largest watchmaker, is partnering with Chinese state-run enterprises to launch its first pay-by-the-wrist watch, called Bellamy. Photo/Video: Menglin Huang/The Wall Street Journal | 8 | 94,518 | video |
Whether or not you think Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won Tuesday night's Democratic debate, it's clear his campaign's bank account did. Sanders raised $1.3 million dollars in the hours after the debate began, his campaign said in a statement. According to his campaign, they received at least 37,600 individual donations. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. During the debate, Bernie 2016 emailed supporters touting a joke he made about being sick of Hillary Clinton's "damn emails." "He got the biggest applause of the night," the email bragged. Watch the quip in the video above. Related: The Best Moments From The First Democratic Primary Debate GOP Candidates Mock Democratic Presidential Debate Hillary Clinton Says She's Not Ready To Take A Position On Marijuana Legalization Yet These Dem Candidates For President Are Proud Of Enemies They've Made Mike Huckabee Got Pretty Racist While Live-Tweeting The Dem Debate | 5 | 94,519 | news |
Bill Miller, LMM chairman & CIO, and Brian Rogers, T. Rowe Price chairman & CIO, share their thoughts on some of the biggest challenges ahead for the markets and money. | 3 | 94,520 | finance |
Retail sales edged up just slightly in September as a sharp drop in gasoline prices tempered purchases and consumers pulled back after opening their wallets in previous months. Purchases at stores and online rose 0.1%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists expected a 0.2% rise. . But even excluding volatile autos and gasoline, sales were virtually flat. Economists expected a 0.3% rise. And retail sales in July were revised from a 0.2% increase to unchanged. Sales rose a healthy 1.7% at car dealerships, which helped drive the modest increase in overall purchases. Sales also increased 0.6% at furniture stores, 0.7% at restaurants and bars, and 0.9% at both apparel and sporting good stores. But sales at gasoline station fell 3.2% because of tumbling prices. Sales also dropped 0.2% at electronics and appliance stores, 0.3% at building materials stores, 0.3% at grocery stores and 0.2% for online retailers. Consumer spending has been a bright spot in the economy in recent months, offsetting weakness overseas, a strong dollar and low oil prices, all of which have hampered factory output and business investment. Besides low gas prices and a labor market that has added more than 200,000 jobs a month until recently, consumers have benefited by paring down the debt they built the in the mid-2000's credit boom. The Federal Reserve is expected to scrutinize this and other key economic reports in coming weeks as it decides whether to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade by the end of 2015. "The softness of September's retail sales figures supports our view that the Fed probably isn't going to hike interest rates until early next year," economist Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics wrote in a note to clients. | 3 | 94,521 | finance |
Australia head coach Michael Cheika insists his team haven't achieved anything yet, ahead of their 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland on Sunday at Twickenham. | 8 | 94,522 | video |
USA TODAY Sports' Tom Pelissero explains why the Cowboys will start Matt Cassel in place of Brandon Weeden. | 1 | 94,523 | sports |
IBM's new consulting unit, Cognitive Business Solutions, which is based on its Watson artificial intelligence computer system, is the latest move by big blue to take what it has learned in working with big data to chart the course for the company's future. IBM's Senior Vice President of Global Business Services Bridget van Kralingen said, 'Cognitive is the future of IBM, very much powered by Watson.' The new business unit will have roughly 2,000 employees and will create 'a global center of competence…where we develop the capability of our people and that consists of data scientists, mathematicians, people with advanced analytics and then people with knowledge of the various industries and that is used to seed practices around the world.' Watson allows IBM's clients to analyze big quantities of data and provides answers based on evidence and discovering patterns that could be invisible to the human eye. van Kralingen said, 'what we're coming to understand is that this [Watson] is now getting that good where you can imagine a world where almost every process in an organization can be improved by the use of cognitive both from an external point of view and internal efficiency.' TheStreet's Rhonda Schaffler spoke with van Kralingen at Fortune's The Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington D.C. | 3 | 94,524 | finance |
The word less does not apply here. 16 Times When More Was More The guesthouse at Ralph Lauren executive Buffy Birrittella's Sundance, Utah home features Navajo weavings from the early 1900s throughout, with a mix of keepsakes lining the walls. Designer Victoria Borus created a whimsical blue-and-white breakfast nook for Aerin Lauder's family home in Manhattan. Deauville fabric covers the banquette and throw pillows, as well as the cushions on the Chinese Chippendale style chairs. For their French-inspired Hamptons retreat, Amy and Todd Hase relocated a Qing dynasty bed, which they've owned since they first married, to be used in a guest room. Antonello Radi chose warm orange hues and rich textures for the study of his 16th-century Umbrian escape. Antique mirrors and portraits hang above a 19th-century mantel. A vibrant green ottoman and sofa pop against a neutral backdrop in this Hamptons living room designed by Steven Gambrel. Matching floor lamps and obelisk-shape bookshelves stand on each side of the bright orange sofa in tastemaker Rena Abboud's dramatic London residence. Fashion designer Liza Bruce's sitting room at her home in Morocco home is a color lover's dream, with bright, hot pink walls that she calls a "passion plum" hue. A photograph of Gisele Bündchen hangs above the well-cushioned sofa in the living room of designer Sig Bergamin's Manhattan apartment. Antique furniture and art are paired with modern photography and area rugs in textile designer Susan Hable Smith's Victorian cottage. In Ken Fulk's Cape Cod library, a brass bed is covered with indigo fabrics and striped pillows made from old grain sacks. The parlor in textile designer Lisa Fine's Paris apartment housed in an early-19th-century building near the Musée d'Orsay is tented in a fabric she purchased on the street and reflects the designer's passion for the dramatic colors of Indian and Persian miniatures. In the dining room of writer and human-rights specialist Maryam Montague's Marrakech, Morocco home, a collection of African masks hangs on the wall with a pair of horn sconces. The space's custom-made dining chairs are inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Berber rug is vintage. Textile designer John Robshaw suspended a vintage cloth painting from the canopy of the bed in his New York City apartment; the ceramic lamps are by Christopher Spitzmiller, and the walls and ceilings are painted in Benjamin Moore's Kensington Blue and New Hope Gray. In the living room of Sig Bergamin's home in Bahia, Brazil, the sofa and ottomans are custom designs, the armchair at far left is African, and the Barcelona stools are by Mies van der Rohe. Brazilian magazine editor Fabrizio Rollo adorned the walls of his guest bedroom with framed Dior scarves and sketches for Meissen porcelain. The silk canopy above the bed is by Safira Sedas, and the ikat throw is from Istanbul's Grand Bazaar. For the master bedroom of her San Antonio, Texas, home, decorator Gwynn Griffith had her son paint a Persian landscape on the walls. Her eye-catching headboard is made from faux-marble pilasters and a pair of Indian pierced-wood doors. | 4 | 94,525 | lifestyle |
Iranian state television broadcast unprecedented footage Wednesday of a deep underground tunnel packed with missiles and launcher units, which officials said could be used if "enemies make a mistake". The pictures were released just three days after Iran tested a new long-range missile that the United States said may have breached a UN Security Council resolution. The footage also came a day after Iran's parliament approved the country's July 14 nuclear deal with six world powers. Iranian officials have said the nuclear agreement will not affect its military forces, particularly its ballistic missile programme. The missile launch and underground footage followed pressure from lawmakers to prove the military had not been weakened by the deal. The tunnel, hundreds of metres (yards) long and about 10 metres high, was filled with missiles and hardware. Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division, said numerous such tunnels exist across the country at a depth of 500 metres. "The Islamic republic's long-range missile bases are stationed and ready under the high mountains in all the country's provinces and cities," he said, according to the Guards' website. The commander said the missiles were ready to be launched from all over Iran, on the order of "the supreme commander-in-chief", Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "This is a sample of our massive missile bases," he said, adding that "a new and advanced generation of long-range liquid and solid fuel missiles" would start to replace the current weapons next year. The commander seemed to suggest the show of strength was in response to Western powers, especially the US, which despite the nuclear deal, have said options against Iran, including the military one, remain on the table. "Those who pin hope on options on the table, should only have a look at the Islamic republic's army options under the table." Hajizadeh said Iran would not start any war but "if enemies make a mistake, missile bases will erupt like a volcano from the depth of earth". The US on Tuesday said Tehran may have breached a Security Council resolution during Sunday's test of the new Imad missile. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there were "strong indications" that Tehran "did violate UN Security Council resolutions that pertain to Iran's ballistic missile activities". Under a resolution passed days after the nuclear deal was reached, Iran was barred by the Security Council from developing missiles "designed to carry nuclear warheads". However the White House insisted the launch would have no impact on the nuclear agreement which is due to be formally implemented by the end of this year. | 5 | 94,526 | news |
Controversial French comic Dieudonne should serve six months in jail for alleged racist and anti-Semitic comments he made during a show in Belgium, a prosecutor said Wednesday. "His show is filled with defamatory and insulting comments which would make anyone want to throw up," the Belga news agency quoted prosecutor Damien Leboutte as telling a court in the eastern city of Liege. Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, whose father is from Cameroon, was not in court. In March, a French court handed him a two months suspended sentence and fined him heavily for anti-Semitic remarks after he caused uproar by suggesting he sympathised with the attacks against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris. "I feel like Charlie Coulibaly," he wrote on Facebook, a play on the slogan "Je suis Charlie" that became a global rallying cry against extremism and Amedy Coulibaly, one of the attackers. The performer, who made his name in a double act with Jewish comedian Elie Semoun, is infamous for his trademark "quenelle" hand gesture that looks like an inverted Nazi salute but which he insists is merely anti-establishment. French courts have hauled him up over a string of comments which opponents say are bluntly racist while supporters champion his right to free speech, even if it makes for uncomfortable listening. He was due to appear in a French court Wednesday on charges of inciting racial hatred but that case was adjourned to February at the request of his lawyer. The Liege case relates to a Dieudonne show there in 2012, and will be heard again on November 25. | 5 | 94,527 | news |
Chopper Pictorial by Billy Childress Sure, what was is always great. And without the past there can never be a future. Mulling over history and waxing nostalgic with sights and sounds are all well and good, but what's going on right now is just as important. A man once told me "today is just a day away from being the past and tomorrow never knows what the hell it's doing." I guess what he really meant was that no matter what the next day brings, we as humans can always take comfort in being able to look to the past while simultaneously being able to control and enjoy the here and now. Street Chopper has always had a foothold in both the past and present. And by having some of the best photographers in the world shooting for us secures that we know where our future is headed. It takes a certain kind of person to be a professional photographer. Being able to arrest time and do it in a way that makes all the imagery, living or not, reveal exactly what you are trying to convey is an amazingly hard undertaking. Especially at a moments notice when the shutter clicks and the flash lights up the subject matter in a matter of milliseconds. Take for instance these mostly candid photos Billy Childress has captured. Each of these images tells a million words and garners even more feelings when you look at them at length. These photos are a testament that Billy has a keen eye and a sharp wit about him when it comes to accomplishing much more than just "getting the shot." Thanks for sharing Mr. Childress. Sure, what was is always great. And without the past there can never be a future. Mulling over history and waxing nostalgic with sights and sounds are all well and good, but what's going on right now is just as important. A man once told me "today is just a day away from being the past and tomorrow never knows what the hell it's doing." I guess what he really meant was that no matter what the next day brings, we as humans can always take comfort in being able to look to the past while simultaneously being able to control and enjoy the here and now. Street Chopper has always had a foothold in both the past and present. And by having some of the best photographers in the world shooting for us secures that we know where our future is headed. It takes a certain kind of person to be a professional photographer. Being able to arrest time and do it in a way that makes all the imagery, living or not, reveal exactly what you are trying to convey is an amazingly hard undertaking. Especially at a moments notice when the shutter clicks and the flash lights up the subject matter in a matter of milliseconds. Take for instance these mostly candid photos Billy Childress has captured. Each of these images tells a million words and garners even more feelings when you look at them at length. These photos are a testament that Billy has a keen eye and a sharp wit about him when it comes to accomplishing much more than just "getting the shot." Thanks for sharing Mr. Childress. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 94,528 | autos |
Feeling itchy? You may want to light a vanilla candle. 10 Skin Problems That Are Made Worse By Stress You know stress can make you snap at co-workers or devour the contents of your fridge. Turns out it can also mess with your skin, which is actually hard hard-wired to respond to stress, says Mark Mummert, Ph.D., a psychiatry professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Skin has a large number of nerve fibers and is interconnected with the nervous system and immune system. "Stress directly affects the release of substances from the nervous system that can trigger the immune response," says Mummert. Check out these 10 skin woes that are worsened by mental states and find a way to relax already! Acne You know acne is associated with stress, but research has also linked it with depression and anxiety. In a scientific review published in 2011 in the journal Gut Pathogens, experts suggest that emotional distress may mess with the balance of gut bacteria (a hot topic in recent years), leading to inflammation throughout the body, including you got it the skin. "Nature is a great way to reduce stress, and even looking outside or at a picture of a nature scene can help," explains Lombardo. So even when you can't get outside, you can still get a stress-busting nature fix. Wounds A 2012 study in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that people who listened to a relaxation CD before and after surgery had less stress and a speedier recovery than other patients. New findings show stress "can affect immune cells in the skin that are important in controlling wound healing," says study co-author Elizabeth Broadbent, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. "Listen to relaxing guided imagery on your smart phone to help boost healing," while recovering from a root canal or a bike fall, says Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D., bestselling author of Better than Perfect: 7 Strategies to Crush Your Inner Critic and Create a Life You Love. Pain When women in a 2013 study from the journal PLoS ONE underwent a social stress test before being exposed to pain-inducing hot or cold sensations on their skin, they perceived the pain as more intense. Stress triggers the release of inflammation-causing proteins called cytokines, which are involved in the immune response that can make the skin's nerve fibers more sensitive. Whether you're struggling with period cramps or a headache, "watching a funny video or movie can help distract you, and laughter can reduce stress and cause a release in feel-good endorphins, which can help decrease the pain," says Lombardo. Psoriasis Various studies have linked depression, anxiety and stress with symptoms of psoriasis. A 2012 review from the journal Dermatology Research and Practice reports that 44 percent of psoriasis patients had experienced stressful life events just prior to the appearance of the condition, and 88 percent had flare-ups triggered by stress. In a recent study by researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK, patients who learned mindfulness skills had less severe symptoms and better quality of life. Try a brief mindfulness meditation, says Lombardo. "Sitting with eyes closed, focus on your breath as it comes in and out. When thoughts distract you, simply refocus on your breath without judging yourself." Weak skin protection In a 2015 study, researchers at Iwate Medical University in Japan investigated the effects of psychological stress on the skin's protective barrier that keeps toxins out and holds moisture in. Their results show that stress weakened the barrier, making skin more vulnerable to infection and dehydration. Findings from the Journal of Investigative Dermatology suggest this may be caused by increased cytokines released during stress. "When you're more infection-prone, like when your child has a cold or you're visiting a friend in the hospital, make sure you are getting enough liquids and adequate sleep," says Lombardo. "Aim for 7 to 8 hours to help reduce stress and revamp your immune system." Eczema Though researchers are still unclear on how mental health and eczema are connected, they believe the key could be an overactive autonomic nervous system, which helps regulate stress. This may lead to an inflammatory immune response "thought to be important for disease flaring in psychologically stressed patients with atopic dermatitis," says Mummert, whose 2012 review covered this link. Substances related to inflammation have been found in the blood of patients during flare-ups. "Writing out your thoughts and feelings whether about what you're grateful for or upset about can reduce stress and even boost your immune system," says Lombardo. Hair loss A 2014 study in the Indian Journal of Dermatology found that 38 percent of patients with alopecia areata a skin disorder that causes hair loss had depression, while 62 percent had anxiety. While these could result from dealing with the disorder, findings suggest they may trigger the disease or its recurrence, and a 2012 study linked the condition to stressful life events especially those involving family relationships. For patients who struggle with alopecia, these might be valuable areas to explore with a therapist. "A good therapist can give you new tools to help reduce your stress, depression and anxiety," says Lombardo. Rash Lichen planus is a common rash that affects the inside of the mouth and other areas of the skin. Research published in 2014 in the Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research compared patients with the condition to a group of healthy participants. Patients had significantly higher anxiety and levels of cortisol (a stress-related hormone), and a 2015 study found similar results for people with canker sores. "Go jump on the bed, dance to your favorite tune or go for a walk," suggests Lombardo. "Any type of exercise can help reduce stress and anxiety." Itching Chronic stress can trigger or worsen itching, whether it's part of another skin condition or not. A review published in the journal Experimental Dermatology in April 2013 suggests that the autonomic nervous system is involved here, too, and that stress can cause changes in certain areas of the brain that can actually rewire the circuits involved in itch perception! Use the power of scent to help relieve stress," says Lombardo. "Vanilla and citrus scents have been shown to promote relaxation and a more positive mood, so light a vanilla candle or keep your orange peels out instead of throwing them away." Rosacea Stress is a common trigger for facial flushing in rosacea sufferers, and new study from the Journal of Neurophysiology suggests it may be due to an overactive fight-or-flight response (of the sympathetic nervous system). Researchers suggest that rosacea alters the sympathethic nervous system in a way that makes it more vulnerable to triggers like stress. Many patients manage flare-ups with stress-reduction techniques like deep breathing and visualization. "Just close your eyes and imagine a relaxing scene, like being on the beach or sitting by a cozy fire," suggests Lombardo. "Imagine yourself actually being there, experiencing the scents, sounds and sensations." | 7 | 94,529 | health |
Another close call for TCU and another uninspiring effort by Ohio State haven't yet dislodged the pair from the projected College Football Playoff field. But the Horned Frogs and Buckeyes aren't on solid ground with the meat of their schedule coming in the second half of the season. There are changes underneath the playoff field with Stanford moving into the Rose Bowl and Utah replacing USC in the Fiesta Bowl. Expect more changes to the field next week with another set of big games this weekend. A reminder: Some conferences may not fulfill their allotment. Asterisks denote a replacement pick. Date Bowl Affliations Projection Dec. 31 Orange CFP semifinal Ohio State vs. Clemson Dec. 31 Cotton CFP semifinal TCU vs. Alabama Jan. 11 CFP title game Semifinal winners Ohio State vs. TCU Dec. 31 Peach At-large vs. At-large Notre Dame vs. Florida State Jan. 1 Fiesta At-large vs. At-large Utah vs. Boise State Jan. 1 Rose Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Michigan State vs. Stanford Jan. 1 Sugar Big 12 vs. SEC Baylor vs. LSU Jan. 2 Cactus Big 12 vs. Pac-12 Texas Tech vs. Arizona Jan. 2 Alamo Big 12 vs. Pac-12 Oklahoma State vs. UCLA Jan. 2 Liberty Big 12 vs. SEC Kansas State vs. Missouri Jan. 2 TaxSlayer ACC/Big Ten/Notre Dame vs. SEC North Carolina vs. Texas A&M Jan. 1 Citrus Big Ten vs. SEC Michigan vs. Mississippi Jan. 1 Outback Big Ten vs. SEC Iowa vs. Florida Dec. 30 Holiday Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Wisconsin vs. California Dec. 30 Music City ACC/Notre Dame/Big Ten vs. SEC Penn State vs. Georgia Dec. 30 Belk ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC N.C. State vs. Kentucky Dec. 30 Birmingham American vs. SEC Temple vs. Auburn Dec. 29 Texas Big 12 vs. SEC West Virginia vs. Tennessee Dec. 29 Russell Athletic ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12 Duke vs. Oklahoma Dec. 29 Armed Forces Big Ten vs. Mountain West Indiana vs. San Diego State Dec. 29 Arizona Conference USA vs. Mountain West Middle Tenenssee vs. New Mexico Dec. 28 Military ACC/Notre Dame vs. American Miami (Fla.) vs. Navy Dec. 28 Quick Lane ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten Boston College vs. Minnesota Dec. 26 Foster Farms Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Northwestern vs. Oregon Dec. 26 Independence ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC Louisville vs. Mississippi State Dec. 26 Pinstripe ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten Virginia Tech vs. Wisconsin Dec. 26 Sun ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12 Pittsburgh vs. USC Dec. 26 St. Petersburg American vs. Conference USA Memphis vs. Western Kentucky Dec. 26 Heart of Dallas Big 12 vs. Conference USA *Indiana vs. Marshall Dec. 24 Hawaii American vs. Mountain West/BYU Houston vs. BYU Dec. 24 Bahamas Conference USA vs. MAC Louisiana Tech vs. Bowling Green Dec. 23 GoDaddy MAC vs. Sun Belt Toledo vs. Arkansas State Dec. 23 Poinsettia Mountain West vs. Army Utah State vs. *Washington Dec. 22 Boca Raton American vs. MAC Cincinnati vs. Northern Illinois Dec. 22 Idaho Potato MAC vs. Mountain West Akron vs. Air Force Dec. 21 Miami Beach American vs. Conference USA East Carolina vs. Fla. International Dec. 19 New Orleans Conference USA vs. Sun Belt Southern Miss vs. Georgia Southern Dec. 19 Cure American vs. Sun Belt Tulsa vs. Appalachian State Dec. 19 Camelia MAC vs. Sun Belt Ohio vs. South Alabama Dec. 19 Las Vegas Mountain West/BYU vs. Pac-12 San Diego State vs. Arizona State Dec. 19 New Mexico Conference USA vs. Mountain West Rice vs. Nevada | 1 | 94,530 | sports |
The last several weeks have felt like an obstacle course. You shimmied up the knotted rope of your job search a slow, painstaking journey with stalls and starts (and re-starts). You snagged an interview and then hopped from tire to tire, nimbly answering rapid-fire questions. And finally, you landed a job. Congrats! Now that your hands are blistered and your legs are sore, here's one more challenge: Take on the exit interview a 10-foot wall standing between your old job and the next one. Scale it gracefully, and you'll move on with your career safe and sound and with a feeling of achievement as you land on the other side. Just like any challenge, it helps to know what you're getting into before taking it on. Start training for your final step by studying up on exit interviews: 1. You don't have to participate in an exit interview but you probably should For one, this meeting is the perfect opportunity to tie up loose ends about logistics, says Rebecca Mazin, human resources consultant and co-author of "The HR Answer Book." What will happen with your vacation days and benefits? What about your 401(k)? And a particularly important detail if you're moving does the employer have your correct mailing address? Prepare these questions before the interview, Mazin says, and then "get clarification on what to expect and what the next steps are." The exit interview is also an "invaluable tool" for your company, says Edward Yost, who focuses on employee relations as an HR business partner at the Society of Human Resources Management. Employers can learn why an employee is leaving, as well as what the company is doing well and what it can improve, he says. For example, if several employees cite a lack of training and development opportunities as their reason for leaving, their employer would likely look into fixing that issue. If employees typically quit because their salaries aren't competitive within the industry, their employer would likely focus on improving compensation packages. When you take the time to provide this insight, you leave a positive impression with your employer more on why that's important later. Plus, Yost says, "it gives [employees] the platform to be honest about their experience with the expectation that if they share that information with us as an employer, we're going to make the appropriate adjustments and improvements." 2. Confidentiality in these meetings is a gray area "[Confidentiality] can never be guaranteed if the person complains about harassment or discrimination," Mazin says. "An employer has the responsibility to investigate that claim." However, your comments are more likely to stay hush-hush if they're run-of-the-mill critiques about management that have nothing to do with an infringement of your legally protected rights. Or, at least, you'll probably have some anonymity no "Bethany said _______." In fact, Yost points out that HR professionals are unlikely to condemn a manager based on one isolated complaint. Rather, he says, they're "looking primarily for patterns regular or consistent information." So, if you're the first parting employee to claim that Greg regularly gives harsh feedback in front of team members, the interviewer may simply note it. If you're the third to make the same claim, he or she may take action by, say, corroborating your comment with current employees or providing coaching opportunities for Greg so he can become a better manager, Yost says. When approaching Greg, HR would likely say the complaint came from "several parting employees," Yost adds. 3. What you say in this interview will leave a lasting impression Before you start spilling about how your boss is a drunk or how the CEO is running the company into the ground, consider how small the world is. Is that really the last conversation you want to have before you leave? If so, imagine these cringe-worthy future phone calls with that HR professional: the one where you ask for a job reference; the one where a potential employer calls HR to confirm your employment; the one where you apply to a job at your former company you know, the one you left as a ranting lunatic. Between reference checks, networking needs and the uptick of boomerang employment, assume you'll cross paths with this HR professional and your co-workers again. As U.S. News Careers blogger Vicki Salemi puts it in a post about acing exit interviews: "Keep in mind that you're not shutting the door forever. You're just shutting it for now." Leave on a high note with these tips: Take a deep breath, and check your emotions at the door. "You wouldn't break down into tears or be overly exuberant during a job interview, would you? Treat this the same way," Salemi writes. "Be calm, cool and collected." Give constructive feedback. Yes, you want to be professional and positive in your exit interview. But that doesn't mean you have to pretend your job was all rainbows and unicorns and without any shortcomings. Otherwise, why would you leave? It's fine to give critiques remember, they're helpful to the employer as long as you keep them specific and factual rather than personal, Mazin says. Think: "I don't agree with the direction this company has taken with X program." Not: "Those executives at the top are morons and don't know what they're doing." Speaking of which … Avoid name-calling. "Throwing names out there although they may be 100 percent accurate is really not helpful," Yost says. So if your boss was a jerk, tell your partner, your dog or your shower head, but don't tell HR. After all, Mazin says, "[employees] should be building bridges not burning them." | 3 | 94,531 | finance |
Toronto FC star Sebastian Giovinco is "happy" in MLS amid reported interest from Barcelona. Spanish and European champion Barcelona is thought to be monitoring Giovinco, who has taken MLS by storm with 21 goals and 15 assists in his first season in Canada. The 28-year-old, however, is in no rush to leave Toronto, having only departed Juventus in February. "No, I'm happy where I am," Giovinco said when asked by Rai Sport about the link to Barcelona. "I only just changed club, so let me enjoy this adventure first." Giovinco was speaking after Italy's 2-1 come-from-behind win over Norway in Tuesday's final Euro 2016 qualifier. The second-half substitute played 28 minutes in Rome. | 1 | 94,532 | sports |
Back in 1990, as the debate over climate change was heating up, a dissident shareholder petitioned the board of Exxon, one of the world's largest oil companies, imploring it to develop a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its production plants and facilities. The board's response: Exxon had studied the science of global warming and concluded it was too murky to warrant action. The company's "examination of the issue supports the conclusions that the facts today and the projection of future effects are very unclear." Yet in the far northern regions of Canada's Arctic frontier, researchers and engineers at Exxon and Imperial Oil were quietly incorporating climate change projections into the company's planning and closely studying how to adapt the company's Arctic operations to a warming planet. Ken Croasdale, senior ice researcher for Exxon's Canadian subsidiary, was leading a Calgary-based team of researchers and engineers that was trying to determine how global warming could affect Exxon's Arctic operations and its bottom line. "Certainly any major development with a life span of, say, 30-40 years will need to assess the impacts of potential global warming," Croasdale told an engineering conference in 1991. "This is particularly true of Arctic and offshore projects in Canada, where warming will clearly affect sea ice, icebergs, permafrost and sea levels." Between 1986 and 1992, Croasdale's team looked at both the positive and negative effects that a warming Arctic would have on oil operations, reporting its findings to Exxon headquarters in Houston and New Jersey. The good news for Exxon, he told an audience of academics and government researchers in 1992, was that "potential global warming can only help lower exploration and development costs" in the Beaufort Sea. But, he added, it also posed hazards, including higher sea levels and bigger waves, which could damage the company's existing and future coastal and offshore infrastructure, including drilling platforms, artificial islands, processing plants and pump stations. And a thawing earth could be troublesome for those facilities as well as pipelines. As Croasdale's team was closely studying the impact of climate change on the company's operations, Exxon and its worldwide affiliates were crafting a public policy position that sought to downplay the certainty of global warming. The gulf between Exxon's internal and external approach to climate change from the 1980s through the early 2000s was evident in a review of hundreds of internal documents, decades of peer-reviewed published material and dozens of interviews conducted by Columbia University's Energy & Environmental Reporting Project and the Los Angeles Times. Documents were obtained from the Imperial Oil collection at Calgary's Glenbow Museum and the ExxonMobil Historical Collection at the University of Texas at Austin's Briscoe Center for American History. "We considered climate change in a number of operational and planning issues," said Brian Flannery, who was Exxon's in-house climate science adviser from 1980 to 2011. In a recent interview, he described the company's internal effort to study the effects of global warming as a competitive necessity: "If you don't do it, and your competitors do, you're at a loss." The Arctic holds about one-third of the world's untapped natural gas and roughly 13 percent of the planet's undiscovered oil, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. More than three-quarters of Arctic deposits are offshore. Imperial Oil, about 70 percent of which is owned by Exxon Mobil, began drilling in the frigid Arctic waters of the Canadian Beaufort Sea in the early 1970s. By the early 1990s, it had drilled two dozen exploratory wells. The exploration was expensive, due to bitter temperatures, wicked winds and thick sea ice. And when a worldwide oil slump drove petroleum prices down in the late 1980s, the company began scaling back those efforts. But with mounting evidence the planet was warming, company scientists, including Croasdale, wondered whether climate change might alter the economic equation. Could it make Arctic oil exploration and production easier and cheaper? "The issue of CO2 emissions was certainly well-known at that time in the late 1980s," Croasdale said in an interview. Since the late 1970s and into the 1980s, Exxon had been at the forefront of climate change research, funding its own internal science as well as research from outside experts at Columbia University and MIT. With company support, Croasdale spearheaded the company's efforts to understand climate change's effects on its operations. A company such as Exxon, he said, "should be a little bit ahead of the game trying to figure out what it was all about." Exxon Mobil describes its efforts in those years as standard operating procedure. "Our researchers considered a wide range of potential scenarios, of which potential climate change impacts such as rising sea levels was just one," said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil. The Arctic seemed an obvious region to study, Croasdale and other experts said, because it was likely to be most affected by global warming. That reasoning was backed by models built by Exxon scientists, including Flannery, as well as Marty Hoffert, a New York University physicist. Their work, published in 1984, showed that global warming would be most pronounced near the poles. Between 1986, when Croasdale took the reins of Imperial's frontier research team, until 1992, when he left the company, his team of engineers and scientists used the global circulation models developed by the Canadian Climate Centre and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies to anticipate how climate change could affect a variety of operations in the Arctic. These were the same models that for the next two decades Exxon's executives publicly dismissed as unreliable and based on uncertain science. As Chief Executive Lee Raymond explained at an annual meeting in 1999, future climate "projections are based on completely unproven climate models, or, more often, on sheer speculation." One of the first areas the company looked at was how the Beaufort Sea could respond to a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which the models predicted would happen by 2050. Greenhouse gases are rising "due to the burning of fossil fuels," Croasdale told an audience of engineers at a conference in 1991. "Nobody disputes this fact," he said, nor did anyone doubt those levels would double by the middle of the 21st century. Using the models and data from a climate change report issued by Environment Canada, Canada's environmental agency, the team concluded that the Beaufort Sea's open water season when drilling and exploration occurred would lengthen from two months to three and possibly five months. They were spot on. In the years following Croasdale's conclusions, the Beaufort Sea has experienced some of the largest losses in sea ice in the Arctic and its open water season has increased significantly, according to Mark Serreze, a senior researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. For instance, in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, west of the Beaufort, the season has been extended by 79 days since 1979, Serreze said. An extended open water season, Croasdale said in 1992, could potentially reduce exploratory drilling and construction costs by 30 percent to 50 percent. He did not recommend making investment decisions based on those scenarios, because he believed the science was still uncertain. However, he advised the company to consider and incorporate potential "negative outcomes," including a rise in the sea level, which could threaten onshore infrastructure; bigger waves, which could damage offshore drilling structures; and thawing permafrost, which could make the earth buckle and slide under buildings and pipelines. The most pressing concerns for the company centered on a 540-mile pipeline that crossed the Northwest Territories into Alberta, its riverside processing facilities in the remote town of Norman Wells, and a proposed natural gas facility and pipeline in the Mackenzie River Delta, on the shores of the Beaufort Sea. The company hired Stephen Lonergan, a Canadian geographer from McMaster University, to study the effect of climate change there. Lonergan used several climate models in his analysis, including the NASA model. They all concluded that things would get warmer and wetter and that those effects "cannot be ignored," he said in his report. As a result, the company should expect "maintenance and repair costs to roads, pipelines and other engineering structures" to be sizable in the future, he wrote. A warmer Arctic would threaten the stability of permafrost, he noted, potentially damaging the buildings, processing plants and pipelines that were built on the solid, frozen ground. In addition, the company should expect more flooding along its riverside facilities, an earlier spring breakup of the ice pack, and more-severe summer storms. But it was the increased variability and unpredictability of the weather that was going to be the company's biggest challenge, he said. Record-breaking droughts, floods and extreme heat the worst-case scenarios were now events that not only were likely to happen, but could occur at any time, making planning for such scenarios difficult, Lonergan warned the company in his report. Extreme temperatures and precipitation "should be of greatest concern," he wrote, "both in terms of future design and ... expected impacts." The fact that temperatures could rise above freezing on almost any day of the year got his superiors' attention. That "was probably one of the biggest results of the study and that shocked a lot of people," he said in a recent interview. Lonergan recalled that his report came as somewhat of a disappointment to Imperial's management, which wanted specific advice on what action it should take to protect its operations. After presenting his findings, he remembered, one engineer said: "Look, all I want to know is: Tell me what impact this is going to have on permafrost in Norman Wells and our pipelines." As it happened, J.F. "Derick" Nixon, a geotechnical engineer on Croasdale's team, was studying that question. He looked at historical temperature data and concluded Norman Wells could grow about 0.2 degrees warmer every year. How would that, he wondered, affect the frozen ground underneath buildings and pipelines? "Although future structures may incorporate some consideration of climatic warming in their design," he wrote in a technical paper delivered at a conference in Canada in 1991, "northern structures completed in the recent past do not have any allowance for climatic warming." The result, he said, could be significant settling. Nixon said the work was done in his spare time and not commissioned by the company. However, Imperial "was certainly aware of my work and the potential effects on their buildings." Exxon Mobil declined to respond to requests for comment on what steps it took as a result of its scientists' warnings. According to Flannery, the company's in-house climate expert, much of the work of shoring up support for the infrastructure was done as routine maintenance. "You build it into your ongoing system and it becomes a part of what you do," he said. Today, as Exxon's scientists predicted 25 years ago, Canada's Northwest Territories has experienced some of the most dramatic effects of global warming. While the rest of the planet has seen an average increase of roughly 1.5 degrees in the last 100 years, the northern reaches of the province have warmed by 5.4 degrees and temperatures in central regions have increased by 3.6 degrees. Since 2012, Exxon Mobil and Imperial have held the rights to more than 1 million acres in the Beaufort Sea, for which they bid $1.7 billion in a joint venture with BP. Although the companies have not begun drilling, they requested a lease extension until 2028 from the Canadian government a few months ago. Exxon Mobil declined to comment on its plans there. Croasdale, who still consults for Exxon, said the company could be "taking a gamble" the ice will break up soon, finally bringing about the day he predicted so long ago when the costs would become low enough to make Arctic exploration economical. ABOUT THIS STORY Over the last year, the Energy and Environmental Reporting Project at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, with the Los Angeles Times, has been researching the gap between Exxon Mobil's public position and its internal planning on the issue of climate change. As part of that effort, reporters reviewed hundreds of documents housed in archives in Calgary's Glenbow Museum and at the University of Texas. They also reviewed scientific journals and interviewed dozens of experts, including former ExxonMobil employees. This is the first in a series of occasional articles. Amy Lieberman and Elah Feder contributed to this report. | 3 | 94,533 | finance |
Israel began setting up checkpoints in Palestinian areas of annexed east Jerusalem on Wednesday as it struggled to stop a wave of attacks that have raised fears of a full-scale uprising. | 5 | 94,534 | news |
(Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc., known for snapping up bargain-priced single-aisle planes, is now shopping for used larger, long-haul jets. A glut of wide-body models coming off leases is creating an "aircraft bubble," Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said Wednesday. While no deal is imminent, he said Delta repeatedly gets offers to add twin-aisle jetliners such as Boeing Co.'s 777-200 and Airbus Group SE's A330-200. "The aircraft market is going to be ripe for Delta over the course of the next 12 to 36 months," Anderson said on a conference call after the airline's third-quarter earnings report. "Prices are going to get lower." Delta's secondhand-jet strategy is based on two pillars: Taking advantage of lower capital costs and keeping older planes flying efficiently with its in-house maintenance crews. The airline's fleet moves are closely watched, and often copied. An embrace of mid-life 777s may help shore up values and kindle more interest among rivals, just as Delta did with Boeing's narrow-body 717. "Delta has a relatively old fleet and a really good maintenance organization," said George Ferguson, senior air transport analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. "Richard is an opportunist when it comes to buying airplanes." Returned Models Prices for used 777-200ERs are being damped now by models from Malaysian Airline System Bhd, Kenya Airways Ltd. and TransAero Inc. coming back onto the market. The 777 family is Boeing's best-selling wide-body aircraft. A nine- or 10-year-old 777 now sells for as little as $10 million, and Singapore Airlines Ltd. has dozens of such wide- bodies coming off lease or retiring soon, Anderson said. Companies routinely approach Delta because there are only a handful of carriers in the world capable of taking a dozen or so of the long-haul jets, he said. Delta already operates 18 of Boeing's 777s. By taking on more, Delta could bolster its twin-aisle fleet while finding another replacement for the Boeing 747 jumbo jets that have served as workhorses on trans-Pacific routes for two decades. Delta has also ordered two types of Airbus wide-bodies, A350s and A330neos, worth $14 billion at list prices. Adding a 777-200ER would let Delta do more point-to-point flying in Asia and South America, without a stopover, Ferguson said by phone. The price that Anderson cited would make such a deal economical, even with the expense of retrofitting and upgrading cabins with lie-flat seats priced upward of $300,000, Ferguson said. Leases for 122 of the twin-aisle aircraft will expire over the next five years, with the majority of the 777s aged 12 years or younger, according to an Oct. 4 Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report. To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Sasso in Atlanta at [email protected]; Julie Johnsson in Chicago at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Dufner at [email protected] Bruce Rule | 3 | 94,535 | finance |
US President Barack Obama has announced that US armed forces have been deployed in Cameroon to help fight against the Islamist militants Boko Haram. The force, which will be 300 strong, will conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations in the region. Cameroon and Chad have been targeted by the Islamist militants from northern Nigeria. Mr Obama said they will remain in Cameroon until "no longer needed". BBC Africa Live: News updates Boko Haram at a glance: Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language Launched military operations in 2009 Joined Islamic State, now calls itself "West African province" Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate Regional force has retaken most territory this year Why Boko Haram remains a threat | 5 | 94,536 | news |
Israeli forces have begun a major security operation in Arab areas of occupied East Jerusalem, after a surge in attacks by Palestinians. Police blocked on Wednesday morning entrances to Jabal Mukaber, a district where three men accused of killing three Israelis on Tuesday came from. The Israeli military also deployed hundreds of soldiers to assist. Later, police said they shot dead a Palestinian who stabbed an Israeli woman at Jerusalem's main bus station. A Palestinian also attempted to stab a policeman at the Damascus Gate of the walled Old City, but was shot dead by police, they added. Is social media driving Israel-Palestinian violence? Can Israel and the Palestinians contain spiralling violence? Since the beginning of October, seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in shooting and stabbing attacks, the Israeli authorities say. At least 30 Palestinians have also been killed, including assailants, and hundreds have been injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 'Recipe for harassment' On Tuesday night, Israel's security cabinet authorised police to close or surround "centres of friction and incitement" in Jerusalem. It also announced that the homes of Palestinians who attacked Israelis would be demolished within days and never rebuilt, and that their families' right to live in Jerusalem would be taken away. On Wednesday morning, a police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency that checkpoints were being set up at "the exits of Palestinian villages and neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem". Israeli newspapers later reported that several entrances to Jabal Mukaber had been blocked by police, with neither people nor vehicles allowed in or out. Several more areas were expected to be closed off by the end of the day. At the scene: Jonny Dymond, BBC News, East Jerusalem Across some roads leading into Arab neighbourhoods, a police vehicle blocks access; at other points, heavily armed police keep guard; at one access point, what was a lightly-staffed police checkpoint has been beefed up. For years, Israel has tightly controlled access in and out of the West Bank and Gaza, where the vast majority of Palestinians live. East Jerusalem's checkpoints are not like the ones around the West Bank and Gaza; they are much more informal affairs. But they are, for the first time since 1967, restricting access to and from largely Arab East Jerusalem. How long they will last is difficult to call. East Jerusalem's residents have the right to move freely through the city and Israel. It doesn't seem feasible to cut off whole neighbourhoods for long. And the roadblocks and checkpoints strike at the idea promulgated by the Israeli right that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of the Israeli state. The checkpoints have the feel of short-term solution to an acute security problem. But with Israelis mourning their dead, and in fear of their lives, there is extraordinary pressure on the government to act. Human Rights Watch warned on Tuesday night that locking down parts of East Jerusalem would "infringe upon the freedom of movement of all Palestinian residents rather than being a narrowly tailored response to a specific concern". "The checkpoints are a recipe for harassment and abuse," said Sari Bashi, the group's Israel/Palestine country director, in a statement. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it was preparing to deploy six companies to assist police. Three hundred soldiers are already providing additional security under police command. The security cabinet's decisions were made after the bloodiest day in Jerusalem since the latest wave of unrest began in early October. In Tuesday's first attack, two Palestinian men boarded a bus and began shooting and stabbing passengers, killing two Israelis, police said. Police shot dead one of the assailants and wounded the other. Locations of Tuesday's attacks in Jerusalem Just a few minutes later, another Palestinian rammed his car into a bus stop before getting out and stabbing people. The attacker was fatally shot by a security guard. There were also two separate knife attacks in Raanana, a town in central Israel. Police identified the assailants as Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers meanwhile continued in the West Bank after Palestinian activists called for a "day of rage". Palestinian medics said one Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in Bethlehem. The BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem says the violence, coming at a time when peace prospects seem dim, has fuelled a sense of panic in Israel and raised fears of a new Palestinian uprising, or intifada. What is happening between Israelis and Palestinians? There has been a spate of stabbings of Israelis - several of them fatal - by Palestinians since early October, and one apparent revenge stabbing by an Israeli. The attackers have struck in Jerusalem and central and northern Israel, and in the occupied West Bank. Israel has tightened security and its security forces have clashed with rioting Palestinians, leading to deaths on the Palestinian side. The violence has also spread to the border with Gaza. What's behind the latest unrest? After a period of relative quiet, violence between the two communities has spiralled since clashes erupted at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site in mid-September. It was fuelled by rumours among Palestinians that Israel was attempting to alter a long-standing religious arrangement governing the site. Israel repeatedly dismissed the rumours as incitement. Soon afterwards, two Israelis were shot dead by Palestinians in the West Bank and the stabbing attacks began. Both Israel and the Palestinian authorities have accused one another of doing nothing to protect each other's communities. Is this a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising? There have been two organised uprisings by Palestinians against Israeli occupation, in the 1980s and early 2000s. With peace talks moribund, some observers have questioned whether we are now seeing a third. The stabbing attacks seem to be opportunistic and although they have been praised by militant groups, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said Palestinians are not interested in a further escalation. | 5 | 94,537 | news |
ROME (AP) -- After 80 years at the historic Foro Italico, the Italian Open tennis tournament could be headed to Milan. Italian tennis federation president Angelo Binaghi threatened to make the move Wednesday, changing his tune after suggesting earlier this year that organizers were considering a new location near Rome's main airport. The Foro Italico near the center of Rome has hosted the tournament since 1935. However, with attendance soaring and no more room for outer courts, Binaghi is getting fed up with a lack of support from city authorities - accentuated by the resignation of Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino last week. ''On one side we would be crazy to leave this location but on the other hand we have to realize that the center of Italian tennis is Milan,'' Binaghi said, citing research that shows many more northerners in Italy play tennis than southerners. ''The tournament is here merely due to its history and tradition. ''I hope it doesn't happen and that we can find a solution to expand here,'' Binaghi added. ''But in Milan it would be much easier to expand rapidly.'' The tournament, a combined men's and women's event, is held each May - the last big warmup before the French Open. Organizers are hoping the event can be expanded to a 10-day ''mini slam'' by 2019. Over the last decade, ticket sales increased by 375 percent. ''We're bursting at the seams here,'' Binaghi said. ''The tournament has grown exponentially over the last decade. We don't have any more room.'' The tournament could use a larger main stadium than the 10,500-seat arena that was inaugurated only five years ago. Binaghi also wants a retractable roof built for the main stadium. Lined with neoclassical statues, the secondary Nicola Pietrangeli stadium is considered one of the most beautiful venues in tennis. The federation's budget is expected to surpass 50 million euros ($57 million) this year. But the federation and the Italian Olympic Committee, the tournament's co-organizer, need the city's help to alleviate serious parking and transport problems. Another big factor is Rome's candidacy for the 2024 Olympics. Under the bid plan, the Foro Italico would be used for athletics and aquatics. ''They are going to have to find an alternative venue,'' said Francesco Ricci Bitti, the president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations. ''Anything can happen but I think Binaghi is just sending a message.'' With Paris, Los Angeles, Hamburg and Budapest also bidding, the host of the 2024 Games will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee in 2017. ''The Foro is OK for now but it's at the limit,'' added Ricci Bitti, who recently ended his term as president of the International Tennis Federation. ''It's a victim of its success over the last 10 years.'' Earlier this year, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova voiced player support for keeping the event at the Foro. ''Nothing is going to happen over the next months,'' Binaghi said. ''This is a long-term decision.'' --- Andrew Dampf can be followed at www.twitter.com/asdampf | 1 | 94,538 | sports |
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Yerdle : You know what's better than cheap? Free! People give away all kinds of stuff on Yerdle, and all you pay for is the shipping. Dealigg : This community site is run by the shoppers themselves. Post deals you find, check out other users' deals, and vote on whether or not those buys are totally worth it. TaskRabbit : Have an errand or task that you're unable to do? This online app will connect you with people in your area that are willing to take care of your chores for cheap. Zilok : Need to rent something? Odds are Zilok has it waiting for you to borrow for a small price. Rent your stuff out to others as well and make some money. Anything and Everything RetailMeNot : It's the world's largest coupon marketplace, so they have you covered on every deal imaginable. ShopStyle : Whether you are looking for home goods or a new outfit, ShopStyle has you covered with awesome deals and discounts that are hard to find anywhere else. 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Whether you are looking to buy or sell just about anything on the planet, this site is the ultimate place to do it. | 4 | 94,539 | lifestyle |
Mortgage application fell 27.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending October 9, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. | 3 | 94,540 | finance |
Wednesday's Just Ridiculous plays feature Kyle Schwarber hitting a long home run, Jason Spezza scoring a hat trick, and Henrik Lundqvist making an absurd save. | 1 | 94,541 | sports |
Celebrity news for Oct. 14, 2015 Martha Stewart still thinks Blake Lively should stick to acting Preserve, the "curated lifestyle" website venture Blake Lively launched last summer , is no more . But lifestyle guru Martha Stewart -- who initially wondered why Blake would "want to be me if you could be an actress" -- apparently has Blake's back as she returns to career No. 1. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know she made a big effort," Martha told Us Weekly , apologizing, we assume, for the comments she made about Blake's foray into lifestyle curating. "Sometimes shuttering is good. Listen, she's a movie actress. Why bother with commerce right now? She's at the top of her career," Martha said. "I'm totally supportive, but you know what? Maybe you can't do everything at the same time." Vanilla Ice's debate tweet is made of magic During the first Democratic presidential debate on Oct. 13, Hollywood chimed in on Twitter to express their pro and con sentiments about the candidates. And while Us Weekly reports stars like Rosie O'Donnell and Chloe Grace Moretz stood behind Hillary Clinton and Mark Ruffalo praised Bernie Sanders, the winning celebrity debate tweet probably goes to Vanilla Ice: "I think all candidates Democrat Republican or Independent need to all just stop collaborate and listen," he tweeted before adding, "HeeHee." T.I. doesn't think a woman should be president Enlightened human and convicted felon T.I. had some open-minded things to say about the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming president during a chat with DJ Whoo Kid on YouTube (via Celebitchy ) recently. "Not to be sexist," he began, "but I can't vote for the leader of the free world to be a woman." He continued: "Just because, every other position that exists, I think a woman could do well. But the president? It's kinda like, I just know that women make rash decisions emotionally they make very permanent, cemented decisions and then later, it's kind of like it didn't happen, or they didn't mean for it to happen. And I sure would hate to just set off a nuke." He went on to express concern that it would be too challenging for the former Secretary of State to handle working with other world leaders due to her lack of a Y chromosome. "[Global heads of state] will not be able to negotiate the right kinds of foreign policy; the world ain't ready yet," he said, before unleashing one final zinger: "I think you might be able to the Loch Ness Monster elected before you could [elect a woman]." "Not to be sexist" indeed. Samantha Bee reacts to Vanity Fair's all-male late night cover " Daily Show " veteran Samantha Bee is headed to late night TV in January with her own TBS show, "Full Frontal." So when she Vanity Fair ran an all-male cover with the headline "all of the titans of late night television," she -- like many viewers -- was frustrated. Her response? Pure centaurian Photoshop power, baby. "I got so mad I literally sat over by the cider donuts and sent that tweet," Bee later told the Daily Mail (via Jezebel ) about her reaction to the cover. "I was like, 'I WON'T BE IGNORED!'" Yaaas queen, yas. Wendy Williams: Taylor Swift's 'got her girl army hypnotized' Taylor Swift was recently named the most followed person on Instagram . And while Tay-Tay credits the win with the cute overload factor of her cats, Wendy Williams has a different take."I think that she is probably meaner than Beyonce and Kim put together," Wendy dished on her Oct. 12 show, according to Celebitchy . "She's got her girl army hypnotized to think she's the bee's knees … Here's the thing, she's trying to trick us into thinking she's a good woman because she bakes and cooks and it's actually working right now on Instagram," she continued."For Kim and Beyoncé, if you weren't so obvious about your thing and a little more covert, you two will be back on top of Instagram. But for right now, it's all about Taylor Swift." Marcus Mumford babysits during Carey Mulligan's premiere The Hollywood promo machine stops for nothing -- including stork visits. Luckily for new mom Carey Mulligan, her husband is happy to take on daddy duty for their 3-week-old daughter, Evelyn. The New York Post reports rocker Marcus Mumford stayed at the hotel with his little girl while Carey hit the red carpet this week for the New York premiere of "Suffragette." Jillian Michaels: There's no 'magic bullet' for fitness On celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels' new reality show, "Sweat, Inc.," entrepreneurs will try to sway Michaels and her team to support their idea for the next big thing in fitness. And while Michaels isn't sharing many details about the show ahead of its Oct. 20 premiere, she did fill Jezebel in this week on what works -- and what doesn't -- when it comes to diet and exercise fads. "Most people who try those bizarre trends are looking for magic bullets," she said. "There's usually a sexy promise attached to these trends related to diet or fitness that many people find too tempting to resist. The reality is that most of the time, the more bizarre the trend, the more bogus the results. At its core, health is simple: eat the right amount for your body, don't ingest chemicals or fake foods, and move more. When you do hit the gym, you should push yourself. This is what makes fitness phenomena so interesting. They aren't just tapping into people's athleticism, they're tapping into their psyche." Whoopi Goldberg takes issue with Viola Davis' Emmys speech After Viola Davis pointed out in a passionate Emmy acceptance speech that "the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity," she was praised for sounding off on an issue that's often swept under the rug. Whoopi Goldberg, however, told BET in a recent interview she didn't understand Viola's point. "I'm not sure what it means," Whoopi said, according to Jezebel . "Opportunity to do what? The truth of the matter is there's been plenty of opportunity. I mean, 'Scandal.' Let's just start with that. Kerry Washington is there and she's working her booty off, OK? But they didn't vote for her. So, maybe the question is, 'What do you have to do to get voted on?' That's the thing. … It's not that the opportunity is not there, because we've had lots of opportunities." As Jezebel recently reported, Whoopi's a little off. A recent study determined that of the top 100 films from last year, "Only three of the female actors in lead or co-lead roles were from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds." Quentin Tarantino: 'This is the best time to push buttons' about race Quentin Tarantino has a realistic understanding of how and why he gets criticized for the way his films deal with race. He also has a healthy response to the haters. Speaking to T magazine, Tarantino, whose latest film is the post-Civil War drama " The Hateful Eight ," explained his perspective on critics. "If you've made money being a critic in black culture in the last 20 years you have to deal with me. You must have an opinion of me. You must deal with what I'm saying and deal with the consequences," he said (via Celebitchy ), "If you sift through the criticism, you'll see it's pretty evenly divided between pros and cons. But when the black critics came out with savage think pieces about ' Django ,' I couldn't have cared less. If people don't like my movies, they don't like my movies, and if they don't get it, it doesn't matter. The bad taste that was left in my mouth had to do with this: It's been a long time since the subject of a writer's skin was mentioned as often as mine. You wouldn't think the color of a writer's skin should have any effect on the words themselves. In a lot of the more ugly pieces my motives were really brought to bear in the most negative way." Still, he added, "This is the best time to push buttons. This is the best time to get out there because there actually is a genuine platform. Now it's being talked about.'' Tom Brady: 'I should listen to' Gisele more When he's not on the field, Tom Brady clocks in some time as the ambassador for TAG Heuer watches. But as he told People at a launch for the new Carrera Heuer 01, his wife, Gisele Bundchen, has more skills to pay the bills when it comes to promotional events. "She's a lot better at this than I am," the football star admitted. "She should give me more advice. I should listen to her more often! That would probably be the best advice I could give myself." | 6 | 94,542 | entertainment |
Trying to woo prospective parents-in-law with gifts and dinners might be a waste of money, according to a study. A new study, published in the journal Human Nature , shows that tactic is one of the least effective ways for people to convince the parents of their boyfriend, girlfriend or fiance that they are the right spouse for the parents' child. The three-part study was led by Menelaos Apostolou, assistant professor at the University of Nicosia, which has campuses in Greece and Cyprus. He is author of the book "Sexual Selection Under Parental Choice: The Evolution of Human Mating Behavior." Apostolou explains the basis for his study in a news release : "Parents do not always find their children's mate choices to comply with their own preferences and engage in manipulation in order to drive away undesirable boyfriends and girlfriends. To avoid this situation, individuals engage in counter-manipulation in order to change their prospective parents-in-law's minds to accept them as mates for their children." The study aimed to identify the counter-manipulation tactics adults use to try to win over their prospective in-laws, which of those tactics are most commonly used, and which are most effective. Hundreds of Greek and Cypriot adults and parents were interviewed in the process. Watch the video of 'Science Reveals the Best Ways to Win Over the In-Laws' on MoneyTalksNews.com. Out of 41 tactics identified, the most effective were: The "I am right for your child" tactic, which involves one member of a couple demonstrating to prospective parents-in-law how good he or she is as a mate for the parents' child. The "No confrontation" tactic, which involves a person in a couple avoiding disagreements between his or her mate and the mate's parents by not replying to or making any negative comments. The least effective were: The "Approach" tactic, which involves a man or woman trying to grow closer to prospective parents-in-law by inviting them for dinner and buying them gifts. The "Tell them I am good!" tactic, which involves asking one's mate to persuade the mate's parents that he or she is a worthy suitor. The study findings also reveal that mothers are more likely to be influenced by some of these counter-manipulation tactics than fathers. The study's limitations include that it's based on a single culture, however, and the publisher notes that the results might not readily apply to other cultures. | 4 | 94,543 | lifestyle |
Icky fact: Your work space harbors 400 times more bacteria than your toilet. In the Kitchen Buy paper towels. Ditch reusable rags, which can spread the flu virus around your countertops and give germs a moist place to camp out. Throw the sink sponge in the dishwasher at the end of each day, too. Use disinfectant. Nearly 60% of refrigerator handles, drawer knobs and light switches test positive for the flu virus in a home where one person is sick and the virus can live for up to three days. Wipe down these hot spots and other frequently touched kitchen surfaces daily. In the Bedroom Keep linens clean. Relegating an under-the-weather spouse to a separate bed may feel unkind, but it's your best defense against the flu. To keep germs from spreading, wash your bedding daily and dry on high heat (it's okay to put it in with the rest of your family's laundry). In the Bathroom Put a lid on it. Gross, but true: When you have a viral infection, the organisms are in your stool. That means that when you flush, the germs are spit into the air, potentially contaminating nearby bathroom countertops, hand towels and toothbrushes. Stay safe by putting the toilet lid down before you flush and stowing toothbrushes in clean drawers or cabinets. In the Dining Room Serve cranberry juice. People who sipped about 8 ounces of the drink daily for 10 days saw a boost in their immune cells that helped to diminish cold and flu symptoms, thanks to powerful polyphenols in the fruit, a study in the Nutrition Journal reports. Bonus: These polyphenols have been shown to support a healthy heart, too. In the Foyer Keep sanitizer on display. Place hand sanitizer on your entryway table as a reminder to clean your hands when you walk through the door. Eighty percent of common infections are spread through contaminated hands, so using an alcohol-based sanitizer just once a day can seriously reduce your risk of getting sick. Crack open a window. Airing out a room is always good for your home, but it's especially important when someone in your home is sick. Opening your window just a few inches for an hour or so will help cleanse the environment it will let the stagnant air our and let fresh oxygen in, which will make you feel much better. In the Home Office Schedule your flu vaccine. "As many as thirty thousand people die every year from the flu related illness," says Peter Katona, M.D. clinical professor of infectious diseases at UCLA. While it's true that some year's vaccines are less effective than experts would like, any protection is better than no protection at all. "There are virtually no downsides to getting the vaccine and everyone should get it, both young and old," says Katona. Scared of shots? The vaccine can now be administered via nasal spray. Wipe down your desk. Icky fact: Your work space harbors 400 times more bacteria than your toilet. Use a disinfectant wipe to clean your desk and high touch areas, like your phone and keyboard, at least once a week. Your health will thank you! | 7 | 94,544 | health |
Is this bear scratching or dancing? Meteorologist Danielle Banks explains. | 8 | 94,545 | video |
Days after supermodel Chrissy Teigen and hubby John Legend announced that they are expecting, the mom-to-be is already showing off her bump. The 29-year-old was glowing on her first red carpet since announcing she's gonna be a mom! From her hair to the makeup, Chrissy is stunning. The supermodel was an absolute vision in white, but if you think you are going to get a glimpse at a bump, you are going to need a microscope. Check out the video to get the first look at her bump. | 6 | 94,546 | entertainment |
Scotland back row Josh Strauss will use "anger" at the suspension of team mates Ross Ford and Jonny Gray as motivation for the quarter-final against Australia. | 8 | 94,547 | video |
Putin: 'Our partners have mush for brains in understanding Syria fight' | 8 | 94,548 | video |
WASHINGTON Volkswagen has disclosed to U.S. regulators that there is additional suspect software in its 2016 diesel models that would potentially help their exhaust systems run cleaner during government tests. Volkswagen confirmed to The Associated Press that the "auxiliary emissions control device" at issue operates differently from the "defeat" device software included in the company's 2009 to 2015 models disclosed last month. That disclosure triggered the worldwide cheating scandal engulfing the world's largest automaker. The newly revealed software makes a pollution control catalyst heat up faster, improving performance of the device that separates smog-causing nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen gases. VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the new issue with the 2016 diesel models, known as an auxiliary emissions control device, was first revealed last week to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California regulators. "This has the function of a warmup strategy which is subject to approval by the agencies," Ginivan said. "The agencies are currently evaluating this and Volkswagen is submitting additional information." Automakers routinely place auxiliary emissions control devices on cars, though they are required by law to disclose them as part of the process to receive clean emissions certifications required to sell cars in the country. AP first reported Oct. 7 that the EPA and California Air Resources Board are investigating "the nature and purpose" of additional software on the new VW models. Regulators have not yet determined whether the code is a defeat device installed specifically to cheat on emissions tests, said Janet McCabe, acting assistant EPA administrator for air quality. "We have a long list of questions for VW about this," she said Tuesday at a dedication ceremony for a new heavy-duty truck testing lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "We're getting some answers from them, but we do not have all the answers yet." McCabe wouldn't say if VW's failure to disclose the software in its 2016 application for emissions certification was illegal. "I don't want to speak to any potential subjects of an enforcement activity," she said. The delay is bad news for Volkswagen dealers, who had been anticipating delivery of the new models to replace older inventory which they can no longer offer to customers. Thousands of 2016 Beetles, Golfs and Jettas will remain quarantined in U.S. ports until a fix can be developed, approved and carried out. Diesel versions of the Passat sedan manufactured at the company's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also are on hold. Volkswagen already faced an ongoing criminal investigation and billions in fines for violating the Clean Air Act for its earlier emissions cheat, as well as a raft of state investigations and class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of customers. If it is determined the new issue is a second defeat device, that would call into question recent assertions by top VW executives that responsibility for the cheating scheme lay with a handful of rogue software developers who wrote the original code installed with the company's diesel engines starting with the 2009 model year. The separate device included in the redesigned 2016 cars would appear to suggest a multi-year effort by the company to influence U.S. emissions tests that continued even after regulators began pressing the company last year about irregularities with the emissions produced by the older cars. A congressional staffer briefed on the issue last week told AP that VW probably didn't need the additional software to meet government emissions standards, but that the device appears intended to ensure the 2016 cars would pass by wider margins. The staffer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about the ongoing investigation. The company's most senior U.S.-based executive announced in congressional testimony last week that the German automaker had withdrawn applications seeking certification of its 2016 diesels because of on-board software that hadn't been disclosed to regulators. However, the statement by Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn left unclear whether the issue with the 2016 models was the same as that in the earlier models, or whether it potentially constituted a new violation. VW is now working with regulators to continue the certification process needed to sell the 2016 diesel cars. ___ Matthew Daly contributed from Washington. Krisher reported from Ann Arbor, Michigan. ___ Follow Biesecker at http://Twitter.com/mbieseck and Krisher at http://Twitter.com/tkrisher | 3 | 94,549 | finance |
WASHINGTON The Army needs more female recruiters over the next several years as it gears up for the end of the ban on women serving in tens of thousands of combat-related jobs, according to a top recruiting official. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, in an Oct. 4 memo to the top Army personnel officer, has requested an annual boost in the percentage of women recruiters by 1% per year until 2018 "to improve the recruitment of females for Army service." Women, Snow said, are 23% better at recruiting women than men. "Increasing the number of females on recruiting duty will improve the effectiveness of recruiting women," he wrote. The request comes as the Pentagon moves to open all its frontline combat units, including special operations forces, to women by year's end. The services may request an exemption for a combat specialty if they can document that women cannot perform the required tasks. Thus far, no such waiver requests have been made public. However, the Marine Corps released a study last month showing that all-male units outperformed those that included women, suggesting that the service may seek a waiver for its ground combat forces. "Regardless of the final decision, a number will be open," Snow said in an interview. "It's going to be important." Snow, who leads the Army's recruiting command, also wants more female recruiters because they're underrepresented compared with the rest of the Army. Women make up about 9% of the Army's recruiters, while they are 15% of its nearly 500,000 soldiers. "I am concerned that as a recruiting force I don't have the same number of women that exist out in the operational Army," Snow said. The Army should be less concerned about the gender of its recruiters than policies that could make military careers more attractive to women, said Todd Harrison, a military budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Expanded maternity leave and greater predictability in geographic moves are among the family-friendly policies that the Pentagon is studying, Harrison said. "The bigger issue is not who you are using as the face of the recruiter but what are you offering women in terms of pay and benefits and quality of life," Harrison said. The Army struggled to meet its quota of 59,000 recruits for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Signing up more women will help meet its goal of 62,500 for the current year. Young women make up 50% of those eligible to join the service, according to Snow. Unless the Army seeks waivers for 13 combat specialties such as infantry and its elite Green Berets, tens of thousands of jobs will be open to women starting Jan. 1. Since 2012, the ban on women soldiers already has been lifted for 55,000 jobs, including combat engineers. Currently, 145,000 positions remain closed to women. "As the Army expands (military occupational specialty) availability to women, a large, qualified and under-recruited segment of the population will become more available and likely more interested in service," Snow wrote. "The Army needs to provide more role models to assist in relaying Army opportunities to qualified females." | 5 | 94,550 | news |
Iranian state television broadcast unprecedented footage Wednesday of a deep underground tunnel packed with missiles and launcher units, which officials said could be used if "enemies make a mistake". | 5 | 94,551 | news |
Sometimes fall isn't pretty, but a few cold weather drinks can warm you up, and sweep you off your frozen feet. Krystin Goodwin (@krystingoodwin) has six tasty beverages to sip this season! | 8 | 94,552 | video |
It has been, by all accounts, a good year for FIFA. Or, to be more specific, it has been a very bad year for the power structure at FIFA, and as a result a very good year for everyone else. After nearly two decades, FIFA president Sepp Blatter's stranglehold on the organization has been loosened. In June, in response to an on-going corruption scandal and FBI investigation, Blatter announced he would be resigning as president. And last Thursday , Blatter, along with UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke, was suspended for 90 days from all football-related activities. This news is of course very encouraging for anyone with the interests of the global game in mind. But if the suspensions represent a positive step for FIFA, the reaction to them from FIFA's member nations also indicates how far the organization still has to go to really clean up its act. In other, more depressing words, FIFA is still a profoundly corrupt organization, and it is beginning to feel as though no amount of suspensions or arrests or elections is going to change that fact. In particular, the reaction to Platini's involvement in this latest turn of events has been troubling. Until Thursday, Platini had been the favorite to win FIFA's upcoming presidential election (scheduled for February of next year). Then came the suspension; FIFA's ethics committee announced it was investigating a payment (of $2.07m) Platini received from Blatter in 2011, shortly before Blatter was reelected for his fourth term as FIFA president and…nothing seemed to change. The French Football Federation, unsurprisingly, was the first to back Platini, promising to support him in the upcoming elections regardless of the findings of the ethics committee. CONMEBOL, the South American Football Confederation, quickly followed suit, while the rest of the world has been suspiciously non-committal throughout the whole affair. The English FA, for example, has taken a wait-and-see approach to the allegations. If the ethics committee finds Platini guilty, the English FA will retract its support; if the ethics committee finds him innocent, it will continue to back the Frenchman. On the face of it, this sounds like a perfectly reasonable approach; it would seem unfair to retract support for Platini if he has done nothing wrong. The problem with this approach is that it ignores the question of why anyone with the best interests of FIFA in mind would support Platini in the first place. Indeed, whether Platini turns out to be innocent or not is almost beside the point here. This is a man, after all, who, in an attempt to defend himself, freely admitted to working as a special adviser to Sepp Blatter, who is currently being hounded out of FIFA as its most corrupt president since, well, the previous one, João Havelange . And this is perhaps the real measure of FIFA's exquisite ridiculousness. As far as FIFA presidents go, Blatter might not even be that bad . For all his comic-book villainy, for all the corruption and the lies, he has also made some genuinely positive contributions to the global game, taking the world cup to Africa and East Asia for the first time, and generally bringing an end to the Euro-South American power axis that has held sway over the game for most of its history. This being the case, the recent indictments and FBI investigation are nothing if not an opportunity. An opportunity, finally, for FIFA to make a clean break from its past. And if Blatter ends up taking an unfair share of the blame for the many fundamental structural problems at FIFA, it might not be such a terrible price to pay. If this year has taught us anything, it must surely be that the standard for what is deemed acceptable behavior for FIFA officials can no longer be the same standard as that of the courts. That is, what FIFA needs now is not simply innocent representatives, legally speaking, but representatives who can legitimately claim no involvement in the corruption that has plagued FIFA throughout its history. And so not only would a Platini-led FIFA fail in the most spectacular way to do this it would also represent a step back into those Euro-centric dark ages in which the idea of an African World Cup was about as ludicrous as the idea of a winter World Cup (wait, what?). What FIFA needs now is to wash its hands of the Blatter regime and everyone who was involved in it. Admittedly, this sort of wholesale overhaul is going to take a long time, and it would be foolish to think FIFA can clean up its act entirely in only one election cycle. But it is not unreasonable to hope that FIFA's members particularly those UEFA nations, like England, who would most obviously benefit from a European president might find the courage to look elsewhere, to someone outside the current establishment, to someone who may not represent their country's best interests in the short term, but who might actually be capable of getting FIFA on the right track in the long term. There is currently no obvious candidate who fits this mold. Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, who lost to Blatter in the presidential election held earlier this year, is probably the most obvious choice. He is not a total outsider, but he has very little connection to Blatter or any of the other FIFA officials embroiled in the recent corruption scandal, and he has a stated commitment to improving the profile of FIFAs lesser nations. Former Real Madrid midfielder, Luis Figo, is another option. Figo withdrew from this year's presidential race, complaining that "this process is anything but an election. This process is a plebiscite for the delivery of absolute power to one man something I refuse to go along with." So he certainly has the anti-Blatter box ticked and his exploits as a player will surely endear him to most fans outside of Barcelona. He is inexperienced, and probably lacks some political acumen, but FIFA could benefit from fewer politicians among its ranks and a few more people who really love the game. Then again, Platini was a great player too. The fact is that there are no easy solutions here. Prince Ali is not perfect. Figo is not perfect. And no left-field candidate that might emerge in the coming months will be perfect either. Still, electing someone like Prince Ali or Figo would be a huge step for FIFA an acknowledgement of the need for real change. A lot of serious structural problems will remain, and they will not be solved overnight. But electing a president in this mold will at least send a message, a message someone like Platini simply can't deliver. | 1 | 94,553 | sports |
Wal-Mart Stores is known for rolling back prices, but a rollback in its stock price Wednesday hammered the fortunes of the Walton family . The retailer's stock tanked on a dim outlook issued at the company's annual investor meeting, costing the family more than $9 billion on paper. Jim, Alice and Rob Walton, children of founder Sam Walton, saw their fortunes fall by $2.4 billion each. Their sister-in-law Christy Walton, wife of deceased brother John, saw $2 billion knocked off her net worth. Wal-Mart shares took an ugly nosedive in the moments after the outlook was issued and looked poised to have their worst day in 15 years, plunging nearly 9% and knocking some $20 billion off the company's market cap. The reason investors were running for the exits was because of warnings that sales would be flat in the next fiscal year and hefty investments would eat into earnings. In particular, the company predicted that its spending on higher wages for half a million employees and a better digital presence would result in a per-share earnings decline of 6% to 12% in fiscal 2017. Wal-Mart also said that currency exchange rate fluctuations have been a bigger headwind than expected. The outlook comes during a time when Wal-Mart is struggling to combat stagnant sales and pressures to its bottom line. The year hasn't been a kind one for Wal-Mart investors, the Walton's included. Thanks to Wal-Mart's sliding stock, down 29% this year, the Walton fortunes have been passed by billionaires including Jeff Bezos , Mark Zuckerberg the Google guys Larry Page and Sergey Brin and former NYC major Mike Bloomberg, among others. Wal-Mart's stock slide means that for the first time since 2007, no Walton would qualify for a top 10 ranking among America's richest on the Forbes 400. | 3 | 94,554 | finance |
Former NBA star Lamar Odom was hospitalized on Tuesday after he was found unresponsive at a Nevada brothel. Jane Witherspoon reports | 1 | 94,555 | sports |
As a fashion-loving woman on the verge of 30, I've thought long and hard about the style advice given to me by friends and family, all the things you have to give up at a certain age, the limits on trends, heel heights, and hemlines. But I'm not buying it. I don't believe in rules; I just believe in good sense and dressing for the body you have. With that in mind, I'm not limiting the list of looks I'll wear, but I am making an extra effort to embrace the ones I've been too timid to try in my 20s. Here's to embracing the next decade with confidence and style - and 12 killer outfits to keep in your arsenal. Cheers! Going Off-the-Shoulder Your 30-year-old self may have tossed the over-exposed halters hanging in your closet, but that means there's plenty of room to add a chic off-the-shoulder top. Displaying just a sexy sliver of skin, it's the piece you'll rely on again and again for something elevated to wear to an evening out - and it works every time. Culottes Sure, there may be a few trends you decide to sit out, but culottes shouldn't be one of them. The flattering cut and go-anywhere style is perfect for showing off a great pair of heels. Start wearing them and you might just forget how much you used to love your jeans (and that's perfectly fine). Flares If you missed out on flares the first time they made a comeback, you don't want to regret missing them this time around. They're the trend that works for basically every body and happen to look sophisticated and smart, unlike so many other denim trends (cutoffs, anyone?) that seem to find their way back into fashion. Sparkle by Day Outsmart the typical way to sparkle by adding sequins to something sophisticated, like a blazer and tights or a slouchy turtleneck instead of just the going-out tops from your youth. A Full Skirt Full skirts were made to flatter a woman's shape, nipped at the waist to create a classic hourglass silhouette. If you ever felt like you were playing dress up when you slipped them on in college, you'll feel like a total woman when you try one on now. Just finish with a wide belt and a sweater to take it to the office or a pair of great heels for a date. A Suit With Personality Your first foray into corporate-world dressing may have included a blah suit your mom helped pick out post college. No offense, Mom, but suits come in so many playful fabrics and modern cuts that were made for shaking up your workwear routine. Embrace the look with a subtle print or an unexpected color and watch the compliments roll in - in and out of the boardroom. Monochrome Remember when you tried to make your outfits pop with notice-me prints and bold bright colors? You were totally underestimating just how chic subtle colors look when they're worn in different shades of the same hue. Now, you'll get noticed for all the right reasons. A Sophisticated, Plunging Neckline Showing skin doesn't have to mean tube top or a flimsy tank; go the unexpected route with a long-sleeved button-up, undone to show just the right measure of cleavage. It'll surprise you just how sexy this elegant approach can be. Bold Outerwear Now that you've outfitted your closets with the basic outerwear necessities, it's time to upgrade with a coat in a standout print, special sheen, or your favorite color. It just might be the easiest way to perk up your outfit without even trying. A Slit Skirt So thigh-grazing minis might be better suited for your 21-year-old cousin, and that's fine. Doesn't mean the 20-somethings are having all the fun. Show a little leg with a sexy, albeit grown-up, twist. A slit skirt flashes just a hint of your stems as you walk, revealing just the right amount of leg and a glimpse of your statement pumps. Pajama Dressing You may have outgrown your sweats (at least in public), but pajama-inspired pieces are the on-trend alternative that look sophisticated and stylish. Just remember to add heels, not slippers, for the right effect. Caped Outerwear When you were younger, you might have lacked the confidence or the know-how - to pull off a bold look like this. Not anymore. Embrace the ultradistinguished feel of caped outerwear to complete everything from skinny jeans and a tee to that sheath you wear religiously to work. In every case, you'll look like the seasoned fashion pro that you've become in your 30s. | 4 | 94,556 | lifestyle |
Intel (INTC) beat Wall Street's bottom- and top-line estimates, but there was still nothing in the earnings release to change the thesis on the stock. Better-than-expected results are always a good thing during earnings season, but Intel earnings were still lackluster on an absolute basis and an in-line forecast isn't enough to be a spark for the stock. As expected, earnings and revenue declined, hurt by a strong dollar, weak global economy and especially slumping shipments of the personal computers that use INTC chips. Indeed, the market knew PCs were going to be a problem heading into the Intel earnings release. Third-quarter PC shipments fell 7.7% year-over-year, according to market researcher Gartner. In better news, INTC's data-center group showed robust growth. Having missed out on mobile the most important market of the day INTC is going to need is data center business to drive the stock in a world of shrinking PC sales. 6 Consumer Staples You Should Already Be Buying All in all, Intel earnings fell to $3.11 billion, or 64 cents per share, down from $3.32 billion, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 59 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. Revenue dipped slightly to$14.47 billion from $14.55 billion. The Street was looking for top-line results of $14.22 billion. INTC Slowly Swapping PCs vs. the Cloud As mentioned, INTC's big weakness continues to be the slowly melting iceberg of the PC market. The company's client computing group the segment that makes chips for personal computers saw revenue fall 7% year-over-year to $8.5 billion. However, the data center group which serves the cloud-computing industry posted a 12% jump in revenue to $4.1 billion. In another area of growth, INTC's Internet of Things Group which makes chips for everything except PCs chipped in revenue growth of 10% to $581 million. All things considered, the part of INTC that makes chips for PCs did pretty well given that the entire industry is a wreck these days. Shipments are forecast to fall nearly 9% in 2015 with more weakness seen next year. But that's a story that's adequately discounted in the INTC stock price by now. By the same token, the data group earnings didn't move the needle on INTC stock much, either. True, INTC says the data center business can be good for a compound annual growth rate of 15% per year and it's already half as large as the chip-making segment but this is a slow-motion handoff that's well understood by the market. That's probably why the stock barely budged after the closing bell, despite the earnings beat. This was just the same-old report from the world's largest chipmaker. After all, the big picture remains the same. INTC is a massive and mature business that missed out on mobile and can't become something other than a PC supplier fast enough. As of this writing, Dan Burrows did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace The Top 10 S&P 500 Dividend Stocks for October 5 Stocks That Could Be 30%-Plus Winners 7 Blue-Chip Stocks for a Santa Claus Rally The post Intel Earnings Offer No Reason to Buy INTC Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace . | 3 | 94,557 | finance |
Oct 14, 2015; 8:35 AM ET Check out this timelapse from the NWA showing the seasons changing from October 2014 to October 2015 from space. | 8 | 94,558 | video |
Mornings are hard. With the memory of sleep mere moments ago, our set-in-stone a.m. routine is sometimes all that keeps us from dropping back into the sheets. Face washed, teeth brushed, deodorant on? There's no turning back now, this day's officially a go. While we're not ones to question the zombie-to-person transformation that happens every morning, we recently learned that we've been applying deodorant all wrong or at least not at the optimal time. And because we are all about the most efficient way to do things , brace yourself for change: It turns out antiperspirants actually work much better if they're applied at night. "Remarkably, this gives the best possible result, but almost no one does it," says Jeffrey Dover , M.D., a Boston-based dermatologist. Technically, deodorants and antiperspirants are two separate beasts. Deodorant is basically a fragrance fixer-upper: It covers up body odor with scents like "shower fresh" or "dark temptation," and wears off after a few hours. Antiperspirants, on the other hand, target sweat production with aluminum compounds, temporarily plugging your sweat ducts to keep things dry. Confusingly, many of the products we call deodorant are actually hybrids with antiperspirant qualities just look at the label and see if aluminum is one of the active ingredients. It's better to apply antiperspirants at night because our natural sweating rate is decreased, says A. Yasmine Kirkorian , M.D., a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at George Washington University's School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Using it in the morning is like trying to plug a dam as water rushes in; applying at night builds a stronger dam before the storm hits. Some products, like Secret Clinical, include directions to use before bedtime, but this advice goes for any antiperspirant on the market, says Soheil Simzar , M.D., a dermatologist in Santa Clara, CA. And if you want to bump up your sweat protection a notch above that, you can apply again in the morning, Simzar says. The Takeaway Night is right. If you want your antiperspirant to work at full capacity, try applying it at bedtime, either instead of (or in addition to) the morning swipe. But for the good of everyone, keep the deodorant going. There's no downside to frequent application, although antiperspirants can last for several days, Kirkorian says. And now that your morning routine is a bit shorter, you can get to work a few minutes earlier or just sleep in. Probably just sleep in. | 7 | 94,559 | health |
Once vilified by the authorities and threatened with jail, Taiwan's graffiti artists are now being encouraged to get out their spray cans to revive urban areas. | 5 | 94,560 | news |
Through six weeks we've seen a little bit of awesome. Two words: Leonard Fournette . Spectacular games: Did you see how TCU beat Texas Tech ? Great individual performance: Pick a Big 12 QB. MORE: Week 7 Power Rankings | Spurrier, expert troller | SN's Dirty Dozen But not everything has been sunshine. Teams have disappointed and coaches are getting closer to being unemployed each week. Here's our Midseason Awards, handed out by SN writers Bill Bender and Matt Hayes. Best team Bender: Baylor. Ohio State still has the belt, but Baylor has been the better first-half-of-the-season team. The Bears haven't been tested yet, and this might be the best offense in college football history given the prolific run-pass balance. The Bears haven't been tested yet. Hayes: Utah. Funny now how the narrative is that Michigan wasn't the same Michigan team in the season opener. And Oregon isn't any good. And Cal hasn't been good for years. Basically, anything that can be said to negate Utah's spot as the best team in the nation. MORE: This week's SN Power Rankings Top 20 Halfway Heisman Bender: Leonard Fournette, LSU. With 1,022 rushing yards and 12 TDs and countless highlights in just five games. It's not really close. Hayes: Fournette. Every defense knows he's getting the ball. Hell, everyone in the stadium knows it. And he hasn't been stopped yet. LINEMAKERS: Who will be USC's next coach? Best QB Bender: Trevone Boykin, TCU. The Horned Frogs are going to be in a lot of shootouts because of injuries to the defense, and Boykin has already stepped up to that challenge against Texas Tech and Kansas State. Hayes: Seth Russell, Baylor. Of all the elite quarterbacks Art Briles has had at Baylor, Russell might just be the best. Leads the nation in pass efficiency and has accounted for 26 TDs (22 pass). MORE: Ranking the best one-loss teams Best RB Bender: Leonard Fournette, LSU. Again, rushing yards, TDs, highlights. Florida State's Dalvin Cook isn't that far behind. Hayes: Fournette. He's averaging more yards per game (204) than 99 teams in FBS, and has already passed 1,000 yards this season despite LSU having to cancel its season opener against an FCS rent-a-victim because of bad weather. MORE: Top 15 programs since 2000 Best WR Bender: Corey Coleman, Baylor. We'll give the edge to the home-run hitter over TCU's Josh Doctson, USC's Juju Smith-Schuster and Notre Dame's Will Fuller. Hayes: Josh Doctson, TCU. The microcosm of Gary Patterson's time at TCU: taking a lower-tier recruit and developing him into a megastar. Doctson is averaging 146 yards per game and has 10 TDs. DIRTY DOZEN: 12 players you wish were on your team Best defensive player Bender: Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame. There isn't a better side-to-side linebacker in college football. Texas A&M's Myles Garrett also has to be in this conversation. Hayes: Carl Nassib, Penn State. We hear very little of Nassib because Penn State hasn't hit the meat of its schedule. But 10 sacks against anyone is tremendous. MORE: College football's most impactful suspensions Best true freshman Bender: Malik Jefferson, Texas. He's a piece Charlie Strong can build a nasty defense around given more time. No matter what, Jefferson is only getting better. Hayes: Josh Rosen, UCLA. Any time a quarterback makes a significant impact as a true freshmen, it's impressive. Rosen has played so well, UCLA will be a major player for the Pac-12 title over the next two months. MORE: Seven things to know about playoff selection Best game Bender: Clemson 26, Notre Dame 24. The TCU-Texas Tech game had the better finish, but Notre Dame's near rally and two-point conversion attempt might be the difference in which one of these teams makes the College Football Playoff. Hayes: TCU 55, Texas Tech 52: It's what we have come to expect from the Big 12 in big games. It was spectacular, nonetheless. TCU wins in the final seconds on a tipped touchdown pass. It's just so Big 12. Best coach Bender: Dabo Swinney, Clemson. Love that Swinney put the "Clemsoning" thing to rest. The Tigers have a coach who tells it like it us, so let us do the same. Clemson is a playoff-ready team. Hayes: Jim MCElwain, Florida. A program that was lost and without direction the last two years is unbeaten after six games. Now comes his biggest test: responding to QB Will Grier's suspension and winning again with new QB Treon Harris. Best coordinator Bender: He's helped turn a good statistical defense into a great defense in Ann Arbor, and that has the Wolverines in the hunt for the Big Ten championship. Hayes: D.J. Durkin, defensive coordinator, Michigan. Three straight shutouts in this age of offense-first philosophies -- and with rules favoring offenses -- is nearly unheard of Biggest (good) surprise Bender: Utah. The Utes are taking the same path they took as a BCS buster to become a national championship contender. Nobody had a better first half of the season. Hayes: The rise of Michigan. If the Wolverines can beat rival Michigan State this weekend, the path is clear for a monster showdown of Harbaugh vs. Meyer (or, really Michigan vs. Ohio State). Biggest (bad) surprise Bender: USC. The Trojans should be a national championship contender given the talent they have on both sides. Instead they have two losses and Steve Sarkisian is out. Hayes: The fall of Oregon. Now we know why Oregon so desperately wanted transfer QB Vernon Adams (who as injured in Week 1). Still, how can Oregon of all programs not have a quarterback or two? Coach most likely to be fired Bender: Mike London, Virginia. The nonconference schedule was ridiculous, but the Cavaliers are still near the bottom of the ACC. Hayes: Al Golden, Miami. A good guy who has cleaned up a mess at Miami, but he's still not winning games that matter. That, more than anything, will be his undoing. | 1 | 94,561 | sports |
Sometimes you can't sell the house you want to sell. You have to sell the house you have . Perhaps you're broke or rushed, and you don't have the time or money to make home improvements, like finishing the basement or painting the house. Maybe even hiring a cleaning crew to scrub down your home seems like a financial reach. You simply need to sell your not-so-awesome house. What do you do? Money talks. If your house is something of an eyesore, you can still sell it. But you'll almost certainly have to sell it for less than you could have otherwise. "Price solves all problems," says Bruce Ailion, a real estate agent and attorney in Atlanta. In addition to selling homes, Ailion manages a hedge fund that buys and rehabs properties to rent or flip . So he has purchased a few dumps in his day. "I've sold all sorts of difficult homes, cracked foundations, a side ripped off by strong winds, mold," Alison says. He adds that he was able to sell another home, which had a resident who was something of a dog hoarder. "The pet stains had pet stains, and the smell opening the door was overpowering," he says. So as bad as your home may seem, it's probably not unsellable. But you will have to lower the price. By how much? Bill Golden, a real estate agent in Atlanta for almost 30 years, has a simple formula. If you have repairs, and you can calculate what it would cost to repair your roof or paint the walls, "simply subtract the cost of the repairs from what the value of the home would be if the repairs were not needed," he says. Even there, it isn't quite that simple. Golden adds that buyers will still want enough of a discount to cover what he calls "the hassle factor." Those buyers, after all, are going to have to spend time finding the right painter or flooring company or roofer or whatever contractor they need, and the buyer doesn't know if there will be additional, unexpected costs related to the repairs. "The fine line to walk in pricing is to list it low enough that those repairs are taken into account, but with enough wiggle room to offer a further discount so the buyer will feel that it's worth taking on the project," Golden says. Don't assume the worst. You may feel like you would never buy your home in its current state, and therefore, nobody else would either. But your real estate agent may not see this as a big deal. For instance, Kella McCaskill, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Tampa Central, in Tampa, Florida, lists some minor issues that may feel major to you: 1. Your house is outdated. 2. Your flooring isn't very good. 3. You have no air-conditioning. 4. The exterior of the house looks shabby . 5. There's junk everywhere. 6. You have minor mold and mildew issues. Of course, you may wonder what a major issue would be, and McCaskell cites a few items like structural damage, water damage and drywall problems. So if the house isn't falling apart, you're probably going to get a decent price relative to the area just not top dollar. Focus on the best. So your house looks shabby in some areas. Work on making the best parts of your home even better. McCaskell says she once sold a home with interior fire damage. "The only thing that remained intact was the exterior … the entire inside was destroyed," she says. So what did she do? "We made sure the grass was cut. The outside was at its best. I wanted anyone interested in buying this home to see the possibilities. I would encourage a seller to do the same. Make the home great in the areas you can make an impact," she says. Be transparent. If you're giving your buyer a tour, don't deny the obvious. "Never attempt to pretend the horrible smell is not there. Yes, everyone can smell it. They can also see the trash piled to the sky in the backyard," says Chantay Bridges, a real estate agent in Los Angeles. Trying to downplay it makes you look shifty, and now you have two problems. Who wants to buy a house that smells or is trashy from a dishonest homebuyer? But you can turn a negative into a positive, Bridges says. "Be creative," she suggests. "Say something like, 'It's great that there's a little bit of a mess. It gives you negotiation room, and you can get a great deal because of it.'" Clean. OK, maybe you can't hire a professional cleaner, but you can push up your sleeves and try to clean it yourself. Here's a checklist of things to buy and tackle, according to Bridges: Buy some bleach. "Get rid of smells and odors," she advises; you can add bleach to cups and set them in each room to neutralize smells. Bridges also recommends going all out with your cleaning. "Shampoo the carpets," she says. "Wash the walls. Ajax. Windex. Do everything you can to present the home in the best condition possible." Buy some garbage bags. "Get rid of clutter, trash, excess of any kind," Bridges says. "Buyers want to imagine themselves living in the home, which is tough to do with mountains of garbage everywhere." Go outside. Everything you can do to make the yard look better , do. "Trim trees and landscaping yourself," Bridges says. "Spruce up the yard, mow the grass, pick up dead leaves, sweep, wash down [the house]. Straighten out the exterior. Clean up the garage." Check the cabinets and organize the drawers . "Wipe down cabinets, spruce up closets, fold up towels," Bridges says. And why bother? "Buyers open cabinets and look through drawers," she says. Remove a lot of furniture. It may improve how everything looks, according to Brad Chandler, CEO of Express Homebuyers, a real estate investment company in Springfield, Virginia. "I'd advise the homeowner to get rid of all the clutter, knickknacks and excess," he says. "Leave only the essential pieces of furniture in each room. Then clean and scrub everything from top to bottom. Even if the place isn't in great condition, if it's at least spotlessly clean, it will be more attractive to a buyer." Mike Minihan agrees. Minihan, managing broker of Terrace 24 Realty in Atlanta, says, "Dumpy houses are usually filled with dumpy furniture and decorations, so it's best to move everything out. This runs counter to advice an agent would give to most sellers, because a staged house usually shows much better than an empty house." Minihan says staged homes usually work better because buyers don't have much imagination, and an empty room forces buyers to work hard to imagine their furniture and belongings in the room. "But with the dumpy house, you are in search of a buyer with imagination, and that couch from 1981 with cigarette burns all over it is probably going impede this visionary buyer's creative process more than it will help it," he says. And try to be confident. Almost any house, as long as it's safe to live in, is likely to be sold . "The worst home I was able to sell had dogs living in the bedrooms, with mushrooms coming through the floors and odors that you could smell a mile away," Bridges says. She was still able to sell it, to investors who planned to renovate it and they paid for the house in cash. | 3 | 94,562 | finance |
Watch how the Syrian civil war became the mess it is today | 8 | 94,563 | video |
Novak Djokovic on Wednesday said taking out Roger Federer's record of 17 Grand Slam titles was one of his main motivations as he looks to prolong his stay at the top of men's tennis. "Nothing is impossible. I have that kind of mindset. I know that it's still a long way to break his record," Djokovic, 28, and who has ten Slams said at the Shanghai Masters, after cruising past Martin Klizan 6-2, 6-1. "But people even mentioning and talking about it, obviously it flatters me. I'm honored to have such compliments." Pete Sampras' record of 14 majors stood for seven years before Federer surpassed it in 2009. AFP | 1 | 94,564 | sports |
NEW YORK (AP) Villanova is the unanimous pick of the Big East coaches in their preseason poll for the second straight year. The Wildcats lived up to the billing last season, winning their second straight regular-season title with a 16-2 record, and then won the Big East Tournament. They finished 33-3 and were No. 2 in the final AP poll. Two starters return - seniors Daniel Ochefu and Ryan Arcidiacono, last season's conference co-player of the year. They will be joined by a recruiting class that includes guard Jalen Brunson, the preseason rookie of the year. Georgetown is second in the preseason poll, followed by Butler, Xavier, Providence, Marquette, Seton Hall, DePaul, Creighton and St. John's. Providence junior guard Kris Dunn is the preseason player of the year. He was the first guard in Big East history to earn player and defensive player of the year awards in the same season. He was a co-winner of both. The preseason first team is Butler's Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones, Georgetown's D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Xavier's Jalen Reynolds and Arcidiacono. | 1 | 94,565 | sports |
Dover Group Founder Butch Yamali and Smart Hustle Magazine Publisher Ramon Ray discuss the Democratic debate and the biggest pressures facing small business. | 3 | 94,566 | finance |
A haze of tear gas blankets the streets of Bethlehem as Israeli forces crack down on Palestinian protesters during a period of escalating tension between the two sides in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). | 8 | 94,567 | video |
Euro zone industrial production declined in line with expectations in August, as the energy sector reversed gains made in July. As David Pollard reports, China remains a big worry for Europe. | 3 | 94,568 | finance |
Could the iconic, but slow-selling, Dodge Viper be headed for its final off-ramp? That's the implication buried in the proposed FCA/UAW contract, which has the boisterous muscle car's Detroit assembly plant shutting down in 2017. The news about the Conner Avenue facility, where the Viper is largely hand-built, comes from the obsessive Mopar watchers at Allpar . Conner Avenue has been the home of the Viper since its launch in 1992 and also built the Plymouth Prowler. The Viper went away once before , in 2010, only to return for 2013 . Not long after, however, in the fall of 2013, Chrysler was already having to slow production; the company halted production for two months the following spring, to let demand catch up with supply. Then came a $15,000 MSRP haircut, which dropped the base price of the 2015 car from just over $100,000 to closer to $85,000. For 2016, Dodge rolled out the fearsome, race-ready Viper ACR, which, although awesome, is obviously not a volume proposition. All of which is to say that, while we love the Viper, we would not be surprised if this latest rumor proves to be true. We also suspect, however, that anyone who wants to snag this snake before it slithers into the sunset will have ample opportunity and, we'd bet, more than one special edition to pick from between now and 2017. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 94,569 | autos |
When a Clay County, Missouri sheriff's deputy came upon a burning van in a field, he went in search of its owner. A short time later, he came upon a man watching the fire. This man was the van's owner, and a series of unfortunate events had led him to that moment. Some time earlier, the man had been setting garbage on fire in a field the first bad decision. The fire started getting out of hand, so the man hopped in his van and drove "back and forth over the flames" in an effort to put it out. That's bad decision number two. The mother of bad decisions happened next, when the man remembered he had both a full tank of gas AND firearms ammunition in the vehicle. The burning smell started getting stronger and the man realized his tires were on fire. The man bailed on the vehicle and ran off to safety. The sheriff's deputy reported he heard the sound of the ammo going off inside the van. No one was harmed, but the people who pick the Darwin Awards winners were probably just a tiny bit disappointed. Firefighters put out the blaze, and the Kansas City Star reports that the man was not immediately cited. He did, however, have the grace to not make a report for an insurance claim. "It seems like he's just going to have to take a loss on that vehicle because I don't think they're going to cover it," Clay County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jon Bazzano told the Star. | 5 | 94,570 | news |
Matthew Rycroft, Britain's ambassador to the UN, had strong words for Khartoum on Wednesay, accusing the government of blocking essential supplies from going to the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, also known as UNAMID. "It has been going on for weeks and weeks and it needs to stop," Rycroft said. The envoy told reporters he will raise the issue during a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, insisting that if the shipments don't resume soon, monthly costs for the supplies will jump from $3 million (2.63 million euros) to $13 million. Rycroft said the Sudanese government has denied any knowledge of the supplies being withheld. Fraught relations Khartoum doesn't have the best relations with UNAMID, having ordered the aid organization out of Sudan last year after UNAMID said it would investigate mass rapes allegedly committed by Sudanese troops in Darfur. UNAMID was established in 2007 to provide security and humanitarian aid to the people of Darfur, where a conflict has been waged for more than ten years between the Sudanese government and rebel groups. According to UNAMID's website, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, while nearly two million have been displaced. blc/msh (Reuters, AP) | 5 | 94,571 | news |
Defense officials from the US and Russia will hold military-to-military talks on Wednesday in a bid to establish "basic safety procedures" over Syria. Both the US and Russia are flying combat missions over Syria, the first time since World War II that Moscow and Washington engage in aerial military maneuvers over the same country. "Even as we continue to disagree on Syria policy, we should be able to at least agree on making sure our airmen are as safe as possible," US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a press briefing Tuesday, following talks with his Australian counterpart. Russia's entrance into the Syrian conflict this September raised concerns from the international community on Moscow's intentions, with several Western officials describing the move as a ploy to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. 'Dangerous right?' US and Kremlin officials announced on Wednesday that a Russian aircraft approached an American warplane over Syrian airspace in order to visually identify an "unidentified aircraft." "Visual identification took place. All pilots conducted themselves appropriately and everyone went about their business," Warren said. "But this is dangerous right?...There's always going to be some risk if there are uncoordinated actors in the battle space," Warren added. Iran deploys troops Meanwhile, Iran has sent hundreds of troops to participate in an upcoming mass ground offensive by the Syrian army, according to rebel groups and regional officials in Syria. "Sending more troops from Hezbollah, and Iran only increases the shelf life of the Syrian regime, which is destined to end," Major Jamil Salef of the Tajammu Alezzah, a Free Syrian Army faction backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), told AP news agency. "It will only add more destruction and displacement," Salef added. The Syrian conflict has displaced millions and left more than 250,000 people dead since it erupted in 2011, following a government crackdown on people protesting President Assad's regime. ls/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters) | 5 | 94,572 | news |
Margaret Cho is using comedy to heal old old wounds. Growing up in San Francisco, the comedian, 46, endured years of abuse at the hands of a family friend who molested her for more than seven years, beginning when she was just 5 years old. At 14, she was raped by a different acquaintance. "Some kids at school found out and bullied me over it they were animals," Cho tells PEOPLE. "It is very painful and disturbing when you realize the depth of apathy out there toward the suffering of victims." Now as she embarks on her 38-date PsyCHO stand-up tour , the comedian is hoping that talking about those issues on stage will help empower other victims. "People don't realize the power they have. They don't realize that if you've had this happen to you, you can help other people," she says. "You really are no longer a victim. You are a survivor." For years, Cho kept her childhood traumas a secret, hiding the abuse from her conservative Korean parents until years later. When, at age 17, Cho dropped out of high school where in addition to bullying Cho, fellow students had joked after the murder of one of her favorite teachers, who was killed for being gay her parents thought she was just being a rebellious teen who wanted to pursue stand-up. When Cho finally opened up to them about her trauma, they encouraged her not to talk about it. Cho has not publicly identified the person who abused her, saying "there are complications," because there are other possible victims she knows from childhood who "may not be aware that it happened," because they were too young. "If they don't remember, I would prefer they didn't remember. I would prefer that stay buried, because I don't want the responsibility of bringing that back," Cho says. Cho says she is "tortured" by the knowledge that the statute of limitations for the crimes has run out, as they happened decades ago. "A lot of victims don't come forward because they are afraid to. And when they do find the strength to finally press charges, they can't." When Cho began touring as a comic at 17, she found solace in the creative outlet comedy gave her. During her current tour, Cho closes the show with two musical numbers, one of which is called "I want to Kill My Rapist." "When I've performed it live, women in the audience were screaming and crying and singing along,' she says. "They felt unburdened by it. Sharing the suffering alleviates the burden. And that's what I'm trying to do.' For more on how Margaret Cho is using comedy to work through her childhood trauma and help other abuse survivors, pick up this week's PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday | 6 | 94,573 | entertainment |
That hour on the table reveals a lot more than just the stress we've asked them to soothe. 12 Things A Massage Therapist Knows About You After An Hour Sure, we expect massage therapists to ease muscle tension and help us work through injuries. But that hour on the table reveals a lot more than just the stress we've asked them to soothe. We talked to a few massage therapists to find out just how much they can tell about us and our health. 1. You Love Big Purses If your body is tighter on one side, a therapist knows that you shift more onto one leg while standing (this happens with women who carry purses predominantly on one shoulder). Glutes, hamstrings, and quads will be tight, and you'll also have an unnatural pelvic tilt. 2. You Have A Desk Job The signs? A weak lower back, as evidenced by one hip being higher than the other. People who sit in front of a computer all day also have tight glutes and legs. 3. You're A Stomach Sleeper This sleep position leads to extra strain on the neck, and massage therapists can feel the tightness. 4. You Do A Lot Of Driving Sitting behind the wheel leads to a far-forward posture. People who spend a significant amount of time commuting by car will often exhibit hunched shoulders because of this. 5. You're Injured If you have an acute injury, therapists can feel heat and inflammation. Chronic injuries show themselves in the form of dehydrated muscles that feel tight. And with repetitive injuries, tendons and muscles will feel wiry like guitar strings. 6. You're Constipated Bet you never guessed a massage therapist would be able to tell, but they can feel it if your stomach is firm to the touch. 7. You Text Too Much Chronic texters will find it painful when a massage therapist rubs their shoulders. The cause? The downward position of your head when texting creates an imbalance in the shoulders. 8. You're Dehydrated Trigger points in the upper back will be tender if you haven't had your recommended eight glasses of water each day. 9. You're Cold All The Time It's instinct to hunch up our shoulders to our ears when we're cold. So it's no surprise that clients come in with stress in their necks and the tops of their shoulders during winter months. 10. You're A Runner Hips and the low back will feel tight, and you might also complain about tension in the bottom of the foot. 11. Your Allergies Are Acting Up Pet dander getting to you? The tissue around your eyes, forehead, cheeks, and jaw will feel tender and inflamed. Same goes for lymph nodes in the chest, neck, and underarms. 12. You're A Frequent Backpacker Heavy backpack straps cut across the shoulder blades, and the muscles in your scapula become tight in response to the pressure. | 7 | 94,574 | health |
Beauty may be only skin-deep, but aging goes all the way down into our very cells. That, at least, has been the consensus of scientists studying the reasons we all grow older. But now two groundbreaking studies hint at radical new ways in which we might slow down and even stop the march of time. Restoring Youth The problem begins with the fact that our cells, like our selves, have a finite life span. After dividing about 50 times, many types of cells reach what's called the Hayflick limit, where they simply run out of gas and quit multiplying. This, it's long been thought, is why we lose our youthful ability to regenerate and heal: Things sag, bag, and go kaput. But more recently scientists have realized that the real problem is what those cells do after they're done dividing. At that point, they can enter a so-called senescent state, where they're basically retired but not dead. Rather than just sit there quietly, however, senescent cells can spew out a toxic brew of inflammatory factors that poisons the cells around them, like the ultimate bad neighbors. Some researchers believe they could be partly responsible for some of the worst aspects of aging-everything from cataracts to cancer. "Senescent cells are clearly bad and clearly contribute to the aging process," says Laura Niedernhofer, a DNA researcher at the Scripps Institute in Jupiter, Florida. "So there's been a race to find drugs that can target them." In March, that race took a huge leap forward. A study co-authored by Niedernhofer showed that two relatively well-known compounds appeared to kill senescent cells in mice while leaving normal cells intact. Previously, senescent cells had been thought to be hard to isolate and purge. But in mice whose muscles had been prematurely aged by radiation, the combination was shown to restore their youthful spring. Elderly mice on the same treatment experienced improved heart function. Even better, both compounds have already been cleared for other uses: Dasatinib is an FDA-approved leukemia drug, and quercetin is a common antioxidant flavonoid sold as a supplement that is found in, among other things, cilantro, onions, capers, and, of course, kale. In other studies, zapping senescent cells has also been shown to stem the loss of subcutaneous fat, a "good" kind of fat that makes skin appear smooth but that we lose with age. "We hope that clearing senescent cells will have widespread health benefits," says Judith Campisi, a cell and molecular biologist at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Marin County, California, who has studied cell senescence for more than two decades. According to Cam pisi, those benefits may include preventing atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, some cancers, and Parkinson's disease-and several other senescent-clearing drugs are being studied. Clinical trials are already being planned for the dasatinib quercetin combination, but study senior author James Kirkland, director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, warns that it's too soon for people to use them. "I think it's really dangerous for people to take these drugs before we know what all the side effects could be," he says. Exercise in a pill? Another trouble spot in our cells is the mitochondria, the tiny cellular energy plants that convert nutrients to fuel. As we get older, mitochondria lose their ability to function-perhaps contributing to cell senescence-but scientists have long noted that exercising seems to help keep them in tune. A team at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology identified a peptide produced in the mitochondria that appears to mimic many of the benefits of exercise, such as improved metabolism and increased insulin sensitivity; mice who were injected did not become obese, despite eating all they wanted. "It acts like exercise; that's very clear," says study senior author Pinchas Cohen of the peptide, called MOTS-c. "It increases energy expenditure, which is what we measured." MOTS-c is one of four mitochondrial peptides being researched by CohBar , a biotechnology company cofounded by Cohen. But, he cautions, any "exercise pill" is at least five years away-which means you still have to hit the gym, for now. This article originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of Harper's BAZAAR. | 4 | 94,575 | lifestyle |
7 in 10 college students don't buy textbooks, citing the crushingly high costs. | 8 | 94,576 | video |
Stephen Colbert and Sarah Silverman read jokes that weren't funny enough to make it onto the Bad Kids Jokes Tumblr page. | 8 | 94,577 | video |
Kobe Bryant didn't stick around after the Lakers' 107-100 preseason loss to the Kings on Tuesday night despite exiting the game in the third quarter with a knee contusion after colliding with Kings center Kosta Koufos. Instead, the former MVP, along with general manager Mitch Kupchak, reportedly left the MGM Grand Garden Arena in order to visit former teammate Lamar Odom, who was admitted to Desert View Hospital on Tuesday after being found uncoscious and unresponsive at a Las Vegas brothel . MORE: 2015-16 award predictions | Can Marcelo Huertas revitalize "Showtime" Lakers? Kobe Bryant left the arena, Lakers cited personal reasons Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 14, 2015 Crazy night. I'm told Lakers had 2 hour delay on their flight amid Lamar Odom's situation. Kobe and Mitch among those who visited him Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 14, 2015 Bryant who played with Odom from 2004 until 2010, along with Metta World Peace, who was on the Lakers' 2010 championship team with both Bryant and Odom, were floored by the news of Odom's condition, according to the Los Angeles Daily News . "I saw it on Kobe and Metta's face. They've been through wars with him and know him well," said Lakers guard Nick Young. "There's nothing I can say. I don't even know what to say," said World Peace, who, aside from playing with Odom for two seasons, grew up with him in New York. "There's not one word I can say right now that would make sense." Odom last appeared in the NBA in 2014 as a member of the Knicks but has been out of basketball since being waived on July 11, 2014. | 1 | 94,578 | sports |
The NCAA has reached out to a former AAU coach of Kentucky freshman Skal Labissiere and questioned him in regards to concerns about the player's guardian, according to CBSSports.com. Former Memphis AAU coach Keith Easterwood received a call from Jack Britton, the NCAA's Assistant Director of Amateurism, Complex Case Review, and was asked questions about Gerald Hamilton, Labissiere's guardian since he moved to the United States in 2010 following the Haiti earthquake. Britton also asked Easterwood questions by email, two of which he provided to CBSSports.com: "Has Mr. Hamilton ever texted you asking for your help in finding someone that could advance Mr. Hamilton a sum of money related to Skal Labissiere?" "Did Mr. Hamilton ever inquire to you about how he could procure a 'shoe' deal for Skal Labissiere?" The questions come as Labissiere awaits clearance from the NCAA to play his freshman season with just 20 days before Kentucky's first exhibition game. The concerns stem from claims that Hamilton has looked to secure funds for a prep school he founded, called Reach Your Dream Prep, in exchange for recruiting Labissiere. Hamilton founded the school, which is essentially a team built around Labissiere, after he transferred the player from Evangelical Christian School to Lausanne Collegiate School before his senior year, making him ineligible. Labissiere, rated the No. 1 player in the 2015 class by Rivals.com, has been practicing with the team. The 6'11" center is in the early conversation for the No. 1 pick in next year's NBA Draft. • After the quake: Skal Labissiere's incredible journey to Kentucky | 1 | 94,579 | sports |
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings after the markets close on Wednesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $0.08 in earnings per share (EPS) on $1.75 billion in revenue. In the same period of the previous year, Netflix posted EPS of $0.14 and $1.41 billion in revenue. In the second-quarter earnings report, Netflix forecast 1.15 million net adds in the United States and 2.4 million international net adds, making a combined estimate of 3.55 million net adds. The company recently announced a price increase of $1 a month for its online streaming service, which will take place on November 9. The $1 price hike may not seem much. Under the new Netflix "standard" plan, which will have a price of $9.99, the user gets two things that the $7.99 "basic" plan does not give. The standard plan has HD and can be viewed on two screens at once. The basic plan subscriber can only use one screen. Some people will opt for the $7.99, but it will take several quarters for the results to be posted, if they ever are. This stock also was absolutely hammered on the open Monday, briefly touching an incredible $85, when there were no bids. Netflix continues to be a top media play on Wall Street, and many are now starting to anticipate a stock split in the streaming content giant. Analysts by and large feel that Netflix likely will continue to benefit from a materially stronger original content launch. With many consumers tired of rising cable and carrier content prices, the streaming leader may have a big rest 2015 and 2016. Investor sentiment continues to stay positive on the stock as streaming hours and time spent continues to rise. In fact, the company recently noted that it logged 10 billion streaming hours in the first quarter, up 20% year over year. We searched for the second-quarter streaming hours but they were unavailable. Netflix posted solid second-quarter earnings and strong subscriber additions. It also has announced a deal with Softbank to get Netflix into Japan. Mobile provider SoftBank will allow customers to sign up for Netflix at its shops, major electronics retailers, website and call centers, adding the service fee to their monthly bill. So far in 2015, Netflix has absolutely outperformed the broad markets, with shares up nearly 125% year to date. Although, in past 52 weeks, shares are up only 75%. Shares of Netflix were up 1.5% Wednesday morning to $111.42. The consensus analyst price target is $121.12, and the 52-week trading range is $45.08 to $129.29. ALSO READ: 8 Fresh Analyst Stock Picks With 50% to 100% Upside | 3 | 94,580 | finance |
TOKYO Toyota Motor Corp. is plotting a road to near extinction for its conventionally fueled cars as the industry grapples with the fallout of Volkswagen AG's diesel-emissions scandal. The world's best-selling auto maker said Wednesday that by 2050, gas-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel-cell cars and electric vehicles will account for most of its global vehicle sales, without giving a detailed breakdown. That means gasoline- and diesel-engine powered cars, currently accounting for roughly 85% of Toyota global vehicle sales, would be near zero, Senior Managing Officer Kiyotaka Ise said. "It wouldn't be easy for gasoline and diesel cars to survive," Mr. Ise told a media briefing in Tokyo. "With such massive decline in engine-powered cars, it's like the world is turning upside down and Toyota has to change its ways." Toyota's vision highlights its bet on hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles as pollution concerns grow and auto makers compete to identify what could be the dominant next-generation technology to power cars. It also comes as the automotive industry grapples with meeting tough emissions regulations and scrutinizes diesel technology after Volkswagen admitted it cheated on certain emissions tests. This week, the German auto maker said it is accelerating plans to develop battery-driven and hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota isn't quitting gasoline and diesel engines entirely. Some regions will still have to rely on gasoline or diesel cars because of limited infrastructure such as charging for electric or hydrogen vehicles, Mr. Ise said. Also, hybrid vehicles like Toyota's Prius carry conventional engines along with motors and batteries. Such a massive shift in technology won't happen quickly. There is widespread consensus in the industry that gasoline and diesel vehicles will gradually be replaced by alternatively powered vehicles, but consumers haven't adopted them on a large scale, partly due to charging infrastructure hurdles. Toyota, which has focused on hybrids, last year started selling fuel-cell cars that run on hydrogen and emit only water from the tailpipe. Fuel-cell cars, which can be charged in minutes and have a longer driving range than electric vehicles, are more suited for long-distance driving than electric cars, Toyota has said. Toyota's Mirai fuel-cell car can run 312 miles with a full-tank of hydrogen based on U.S. testing standards. Rival Nissan Motor Co.'s Leaf electric car has an average range of 84 miles with a fully charged battery, while U.S. startup Tesla Motors Inc.'s Model S electric car has a range of 230-270 miles. Nissan is betting on electric vehicles, while German auto makers such as Volkswagen have been more focused on plug-in hybrids. Yet for now, Toyota is still highly reliant on gasoline- and diesel-powered cars. Last year, around 14% of Toyota's global sales were hybrid vehicles, including plug-ins. Most of the remaining sales were vehicles powered by gasoline and some diesel, though a detailed breakdown wasn't available. Toyota has posted record profits in recent years, partly thanks to growing sales of profitable but gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks in the U.S., backed by lower fuel prices. The vision to eliminate gasoline- and diesel-powered cars was a part of Toyota's wider green car strategy unveiled Wednesday. By 2020, Toyota aims to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from new vehicles by more than 22% compared with its 2010 global average. It ultimately hopes to take that to a 90% reduction by 2050, the auto maker said. To do so, Toyota plans to sell roughly 7 million gas-electric hybrid vehicles world-wide over the next five years, it said. Toyota has sold around 8 million hybrids since it started selling them 18 years ago. Toyota also plans to sell at least 30,000 fuel-cell vehicles a year world-wide by around 2020, it said. Write to Yoko Kubota at [email protected] | 3 | 94,581 | finance |
Halloween is coming, and with it the inevitable wave of tasteless costumes with no value beyond the shock that anyone would consider them at all. They can be generically awful (see: any form of blackface), or they can hinge on timely news events that will lend them credibility until everyone forgets the reference a couple months later. And really, what better way is there to parse this turbulent year in news than through "sexy" Halloween costume interpretations? 1) "The Dress" confuses the entire internet (February 2015) For one glorious and utterly strange day, the whole internet was captivated by collective confusion at this picture of A Dress. People fell into two camps, namely, "white and gold!" and "blue and black!" Co-workers became enemies. Celebrities became people. Friendships dissolved. It was a very confusing time. Flash forward several months, and of course, you can now purchase The Dress to have for your very own: The Dress, Halloween edition. (Yandy.com) (Note: Hanging on to The Dress much past Halloween will leave you with a blatantly ugly item of clothing.) 2) Rachel Dolezal is revealed to be of white heritage (June 2015) When Spokane's NAACP president admitted that she was of white heritage, after saying otherwise for years, it set off a firestorm of controversy, debate, and panicked visions of Halloween, which already has a bad track record with Afro wigs. No one has been foolish enough to sell a DIY Dolezal costume kit quite yet. Until that ill-advised day, we have Fashion Police panelist Kelly Osbourne demonstrating the folly of trying: #CallMeRachel #MyCasualLook A photo posted by Kelly Osbourne (@kellyosbourne) on Jun 18, 2015 at 9:07am PDT At the very least, though, Osbourne's "Call Me Rachel" caption gives me the perfect segue to our next costume. 3) Caitlyn Jenner comes out as transgender on the cover of Vanity Fair (June 2015) The following is not a joke: My first reaction to Caitlyn Jenner's stunning, historic Vanity Fair cover was the creeping horror at the Halloween Industrial Complex's eventual interpretations. Sure enough, it delivered, and then some. The first entry comes courtesy of Spirit Halloween, which sells a white corset and a flowing wig for 50 American dollars. Caitlyn Corset, via Spirit Halloween. There's currently a Change.org petition calling for the costume's removal. Then there's a contender from Costumeish's "Hot Takes" section, a horrifying phrase in and of itself: "Bruce Gender," via Costumeish.com. Fifty bucks for a tank top, a ratty wig, and a picture you could print out from online. Nice. And you know someone at Costumeish was thrilled to pieces at the "Bruce Gender" pun, which is about all you need to know about the "Hot Takes" section. 4) Donald Trump announces his candidacy for president (June 2015) As Donald J. Trump descended the escalator, hair swooping, jaw set in determination, costume shops across the nation perked up. Something was rustling in the political sphere, and the possibility of creating a novelty costume out of it was in reach. Surely this at least meant an opportunity to use those orange wigs people rarely buy, because dressing as "black and orange" for Halloween is so pointless that you might as well do nothing at all. And since, as discussed, Halloween costumes are 75 terrible, there was just no way a Donald Trump costume would come into being without a sexed-up version following closely behind. Cue "Donna T. Rumpshaker," an impressive entry in the fiercely competitive Worst Sexy Costumes race from consistent frontrunner Yandy.com: Donna T. Rumpshaker. (Screenshot via Yandy.com) For just $70 no, wait, the hat's an extra $8, and the (unrealistically luxurious) combover wig is another $10. Okay, so for just $88 you, too, can beat a dead campaign horse into the cold October ground. 5) Minions captures hearts and minds with merch and fart jokes (July 2015) A Despicable Me spinoff starring Gru's squeaky yellow Minions sounded like a joke, until, very suddenly, it wasn't. The movie made $115 million in its first weekend, making it the second-highest-grossing animation debut in history (just behind Shrek the Third 's $121 million). By August, it had hit $1 billion worldwide. So you can make fun of the Minions all you like, but with that kind of money, the sneaky jerks are here to stay. This, of course, extends to Halloween. There will undoubtedly be a rash of tiny children bopping about in overalls, and that should be adorable and then there's "Desirable Me." "Desirable Me," via Forplay.com. Okay. 6) Donald Trump blames Megyn Kelly's aggressive debate moderating on "blood coming out of her ... wherever" (August 2015) I wrestled with including this costume, because it's yet another entry from Costumeish's "Hot Takes" section which, again, I would set on fire if I could. But there just isn't a better example of how dumb topical Halloween costumes can be when people try to get "shocking" with it, because look at it: UGH. (Costumeish.com) A couple of questions about this costume: Is this implying that Megan Kelly is a bloody tampon? Dear god, why ?! 7) A Minnesotan dentist takes down Cecil the lion (August/September 2015) Another "hot take" costume I'm loath to include, because again, Yandy knows what it's doing with these things. But such was Cecil the lion's impact that leaving him off this list would be a noticeable omission. Here is Yandy's entrant, modeled by Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson: She later apologized and changed the caption to "lion costume," but just look at that catsuit. Have you ever seen anything more Cecil? Not to be outdone, Costumeish's Hot Takes section spit out this little number: Costumeish Stay classy, Costumeish. 8) A rodent drags pizza down stairs, is dubbed Pizza Rat, is probably our new overlord unless he was all along? (September 2015) I don't get Pizza Rat. Rats have accomplished much more impressive feats than transporting one measly slice of pizza down a staircase like, for instance, wiping out millions of people with a plague. But I have to say that I might get this Pizza Rat costume. As in, I might have to buy it. Sexy Pizza Rat. (Yandy.com) Don't get me wrong: It is awful. It's an affront to costumes, and creativity, and even that dumb rat that got more fame than it knew what to do with. But if there's any terrible sexy costume to hitch your wagon to, it should probably be the one with pizza pockets, and Well played, Yandy. See you next year. 9) And finally: Burger King introduces a black burger for Halloween (October 2015) Burger King's black burger seemed like just another harmless corporate holiday gambit. Then it started turning human waste green, and lo, a novelty costume was born. (Halloweencostumes.com) Of course, this is just a DIY idea, because if you're going to do this to the world, you better take responsibility for yourself. [Costumes are not hyperlinked because Vox does not endorse purchasing any of these costumes, except possibly Pizza Rat. ed.] | 5 | 94,582 | news |
Stocks were mixed in the wee-hours of futures trading Wednesday, but they have since decided to turn positive. A trend that just will not die is that investors step up and buy value stocks when they are sold off. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Wednesday's top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations. Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $66.00 price target (versus a $56.05 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets. Analog Devices has a consensus analyst price target of $67.48 and a 52-week trading range of $42.59 to $68.97. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy and its $39 price target was maintained as well at Canaccord Genuity. The firm is introducing its 2017 estimates calling for mid-single digit revenue and earnings growth. Intel has a consensus analyst price target of $33.90 and a 52-week range of $24.87 to $37.90. Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was downgraded to Market Underperform from Market Perform and was given a $31.00 price target (versus a $37.82 close) at JMP Securities. Oracle's consensus price target is $44.71 and the software giant has a 52-week range of $35.14 to $46.71. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) was raised to Buy with a $73.00 price target (versus a $54.13 close) at Argus. Shell has a 52-week range of $45.81 to $72.20. The firm expects Shell's underperformance against the S&P and the energy sector in the past five years to reverse as Shell cuts costs, improves its return on capital and maintains adequate liquidity. Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities. Twitter closed at $29.06, has a consensus price target of $38.23 and has a 52-week range of $21.01 to $53.49. Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was reiterated as Buy at Canaccord Genuity, but the firm raised its price target up to $130 from $105 (versus a $101.28 close). The firm said that apparel will drive solid third-quarter sales growth. This ties for the street-high analyst target price. Under Armour's consensus price target is $106.78, and its 52-week range is $60.00 to $105.89. Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $23.00 price target, lowered from $29.00 and versus a $19.27 close, at Deutsche Bank. Whiting has a consensus analyst price target of $30.03 and has a 52-week range of $13.50 to $64.39. ALSO READ: 8 Fresh Analyst Stock Picks With 50% to 100% Upside Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Wednesday morning were seen in the following: Ameresco Inc. (NYSE: AMRC) was started as Outperform at Oppenheimer. American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. (NYSE: AEL) was started as Buy with a $29.00 price target (versus a $24.37 close) at Citigroup. Arthur J. Gallagher& Co. (NYSE: AJG) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE: AXTA) was started as Outperform with a price target of $34.00 (versus a $26.66 close) at RBC Capital Markets. Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) was started as Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets. Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. Diplomat Pharmacy Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) was started as Outperform with an $88.00 price target (versus a $70.89 close) at RBC Capital Markets. Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) was started as Buy and was assigned a $12.00 price target (versus an $8.39 close) at Deutsche Bank. ALSO READ: Jefferies Franchise Pick Stocks to Buy That Also Pay Big Dividends Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was maintained as Buy at Janney Capital Markets, but the firm lowered its earnings estimates and lowered its fair value estimate to $23 from $24 in the call. Heartware International Inc. (NASDAQ: HTWR) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs, but the price target was cut to $42.00 from $67.00 (versus a $35.21 close). Key Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: KEG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird. This is already a $0.69 stock, so interest has faded considering its 52-week range of $0.42 to $4.13. Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE: MNK) was started as Outperform and was assigned an initial $92.00 price target (versus a $64.99 close) at Northland. Microsemi Corp. (NASDAQ: MSCC) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $42.00 price target (versus a $34.59 close) at Mizuho Securities. Prima Biomed Ltd. (NASDAQ: PBMD) was started as Buy with a $3.00 price target (versus a $1.22 close) at H.C. Wainwright. RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM) was started as Sector Perform with a $47.00 (versus a $44.00 close) at RBC Capital Markets. SAP A.G. (NYSE: SAP) was raised to Buy from Hold at HSBC Securities. Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $95.00 price target (versus a $72.50 prior target and a $73.44 close) at Cowen. ALSO READ: 5 Dividend-Paying Blue Chip Stocks Trading Under 15 Times Forward Earnings WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE: WPX) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $14.00 price target (versus an $8.34 close) at Imperial Capital. In case you missed Tuesday's top analyst upgrades and downgrades , they included CenturyLink, JetBlue AIrways, Level 3 Communications, Netflix, PulteGroup, United Technologies, VMware and Whiting Petroleum. | 3 | 94,583 | finance |
You know those ugly gray privacy protectors that only weird people put on their computers? Well, HP thinks it has found a way to offer similar protection without the huge nerd factor that comes with using such a screen today. By teaming up with 3M (which also makes the ugly things), HP plans to build similar privacy protection directly into a new line of mainstream business laptops that debuts next year. With all the hacking out there, you would think that the risk of people stealing information from looking at a screen is low, but HP insists it is a big problem and even has a fear-inducing name for it: "Visual hacking." The issue is of increasing importance as millennials do more of their work in communal places such as coffee shops, planes and buses, says Mike Nash, a former head of Microsoft's security efforts and now a VP in HP's computer business. Go to any cafe in Silicon Valley, he says, and you can see business plans, partnership agreements and other sensitive data. "You don't have to have a photographic memory to [remember] that A is partnering with B," Nash said. The new laptop privacy protection, which restricts viewing to the person looking at the screen head-on, will be able to be turned on and off. That means that the same worker who wants to avoid unwanted eyes at the cafe can still show a movie on Netflix to her three roommates when she gets home. HP, which is in the process of spinning out its computer business as a separate company, will be under pressure to show it can produce enough innovation to stand out from rivals and thrive in a very price-sensitive business. HP isn't saying how much the technology adds to the cost of a computer, but the company said it is looking to hit the mainstream part of the market, so it's clearly nothing too pricey and exotic. "We don't see this as a niche," said Alex Cho, VP and general manager of HP's commercial PC division. | 3 | 94,584 | finance |
On Wednesday, JetBlue announced progress in making free in-flight Wi-Fi available on all of its planes. JetBlue's vice president of brand and product development Jamie Perry said in a statement, "Our Fly-Fi model has proven that there is a way to offer customers more without adding extra costs to their travel." The airline announced it has already installed Wi-Fi on more than 150 aircrafts, and the entire JetBlue fleet should have a connection by fall of 2016. | 2 | 94,585 | travel |
If anyone can successfully abolish the hospitality industry's long tradition of tipping and transform the financial future of restaurants, it's Danny Meyer. In an interview with Eater's Ryan Sutton , Meyer outlines his plan to eliminate tipping at every single one of his Union Square Hospitality concepts, over the course of one year, and raise his menu prices as part of a system that he's calling "hospitality included." The first restaurant to implement the change will be the Modern : The cost of each dish will go up 30 to 35 percent (to account for what Meyer calls a "labor of wrong"), there will be a note on the menu about the new policy, and, unlike Per Se , there will be no space for guests to write in additional tips. And since adding a "service charge" has tripped up restaurateurs Keller got slapped with a $500,000 fine "hospitality included" will benefit every single staffer employed by his company. It will allow Meyer to properly pay low-earning cooks, who won't benefit much at all by New York's increase of the minimum wage . The new starting salaries for Meyer's employees are as follows: At least $11 per hour for back-of-the-house staffers, $14 per hour for cooks, $9 per hour for dining-room staff and, writes Sutton, "all staffers who are currently tipped will see their base income fortified by a revenue share program." Eventually, salaried employees will receive more money, too, and overall, payment will better reflect merit and seniority. Meyer realizes that, psychologically, diners might feel stripped of their sense of autonomy. He muses that, down the road, there will be some kind of online-feedback system that will allow customers to praise, or bemoan, an experience more effectively. ( Nick Kokonas should take note.) "Fundamentally, the cost of going out to a fine-dining restaurant is false," Meyer says. "I feel that the prices on menus, for a restaurant that's really trying to offer good value, don't accurately express the true picture of what it costs for the people to make that happen." [ Eater ] | 0 | 94,586 | foodanddrink |
Getty Images Bradley Cooper has co-stared alongside Jennifer Lawrence in multiple films such as "Silver Lining Playbook" and "American Hustle." In "American Hustle," Cooper was able to negotiate a higher salary than Lawrence, raking in 9% of proceeds from the film versus 7%, according to an email leaked during the cyber attack on Sony Entertainment. Lawrence penned an essay about the wage disparity between men and women in Hollywood. "When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with dicks, I didn't get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself," Lawrence wrote. "I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn't want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don't need." Lawrence wondered if her struggle to negotiate a higher salary with the studios was because she was young, because of her personality and desire to be liked, or because she was a woman. Cooper commented on Lawrence's essay before he had a chance to read it while doing press for his new movie, "Burnt." The actor told E! News , "If you think that you only deserve a certain amount and that's not correct, it's about changing that mindset and sticking up for yourself the way that [Burnt co-star] Sienna [Miller] did." Miller told the outlet that she once turned down a role in a play because she was only being offered half of her male co-star's salary. Cooper also acknowledged that there is a double standard in terms of pay in Hollywood and encouraged women like Lawrence and Miller to speak out about it to help spark change. NOW WATCH: The most expensive and extravagant vacations in the world | 6 | 94,587 | entertainment |
NASA reveals new HD imagery of Jupiter captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. | 5 | 94,588 | news |
Unless you're showing up at the salon *on a mission* with a well-researched Pinterest pic for your next appointment, you're probably hemming and hawing over whether to go the easy route with a trim (because us = creatures of habit) or say screw it, throw caution to the wind, and go with a full hair transformation . To save you some anxiety while you're in the chair, consult this soul-searching flowchart for fall styling inspiration first. Blunt strands for the lob trend that won't quit ? A chopped pixie ? Patience, young one, your hair future is soon to be revealed. P.S. Once you've found your style of the season, see our guide for the best fall colors to take your new look one step further. Follow Marie Claire on F acebook for the latest celeb news, beauty tips, fascinating reads, livestream video, and more. | 4 | 94,589 | lifestyle |
Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin was oddly a no-show at practice on Tuesday. His head coach, Barry Trotz, said that he wasn't at practice due to a "personal reason" and that he would be a game-time decision for that night's game against the San Jose Sharks. Ovechkin was later held out of the game, reportedly because of "personal reasons." #Caps Alex Ovechkin (personal reasons) will not play tonight vs San Jose CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 13, 2015 Ovechkin returned to practice on Wednesday. So, why was he out of the lineup due to personal reasons? He apparently slept in a little too long. Alex Ovechkin missed morning skate yesterday because he set his alarm for p.m. instead of a.m. Because he missed practice, couldn't play. Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) October 14, 2015 "It was an honest mistake," Trotz told reporters following Tuesday's morning practice. "We have certain accountability rules." Guess hockey players need their beauty sleep, too. | 1 | 94,590 | sports |
LOS ANGELES "We got nobody backing us up here. Nothing." If things go by the script, that line will soon be spoken by the actor John Krasinski in Michael Bay's movie version of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. But Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was secretary of state when the United States ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, was killed in the assault, may be the one feeling exposed. Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter Set for release by Paramount Pictures on Jan. 15, Mr. Bay's film called "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" will land just two weeks before party caucuses in Iowa. For audiences across the country, it recalls the most controversial episode of Mrs. Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, and one her campaign aides have been trying to put behind them, just before the most critical contest in the Democratic presidential contest. An unabashed action movie, "13 Hours" will focus on the heroics of real-life Central Intelligence Agency security contractors who defied orders, and two of whom died, in an attempt to defend a State Department compound and nearby C.I.A. annex in Benghazi. Republican critics of Mrs. Clinton have for years tried to tie what they say was her mismanagement at the State Department to the attack, but that argument has largely been relegated to conservative news media, not a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster. In the new film, Mr. Krasinski, best known for his role in "The Office" television series, plays contractor Jack Silva, who survived the attack. James Badge Dale, from "World War Z," plays Tyrone S. Woods, another contractor, who did not. Scenes in the film's trailer align with a draft, from late last year, of a script by Chuck Hogan, based on a book by Mitchell Zuckoff. In it, Mr. Hogan does not mention Mrs. Clinton, or, for that matter, President Obama, or almost any other identifiable Washington official. The film, which is still being edited, is faithful to Mr. Zuckoff's account, and strains to avoid political tilt, according to people briefed on its progress who spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality strictures. "While the events have been the subject of continuous heated debate, few have heard or seen the story told from the perspective of these brave men because it has been largely lost amidst the political back and forth," Erwin Stoff, a producer of the film, said in a statement. In any case, "13 Hours" promises to leave millions of viewers with his "Tranformers" series, Mr. Bay has become one of the world's most popular filmmakers pondering uncomfortable questions about Benghazi precisely when the Clinton campaign will be working to put the issue away. "We're reminders of the sacrifice they're not prepared to make," says Mr. Dale's character, "Rone" Woods. It is one of several biting lines about the gap between officialdom and those mired in ground truth, this one delivered in a military bull session just before the attack. The Republican-led congressional investigation into the attack in Benghazi led to Mrs. Clinton's current headaches about her use of a private email server at the State Department, after the committee discovered she had conducted official business exclusively with a private email account. During Tuesday's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Mrs. Clinton's closest competitor for the party's nomination, stood up for her by saying, "The American people are sick and tired about hearing about your damn emails." Democrats are pushing to shut down the Select Committee on Benghazi, before which Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to testify on Oct. 22. Last week, Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, implied that the purpose of diving into the 2012 attacks on the compound in Libya had been to damage Mrs. Clinton politically. "Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?" Mr. McCarthy said in a striking moment of candor the Clinton campaign promptly seized on. "We put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today?" But in the coming months, at least some issues that have figured in the congressional investigation particularly, whether the State Department provided insufficient protection for Mr. Stevens during a visit to the Benghazi diplomatic compound on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will come alive on the silver screen. "Republicans have already made clear they will use this movie to revive theories discredited by their own party's investigators to continue their admittedly partisan attacks against Hillary Clinton," said David Brock, the author of "The Benghazi Hoax" and the founder of Correct the Record , an outside group that defends Mrs. Clinton. "Maybe Hollywood will have better luck creating a conservative fantasy" than congressional Republicans have, he added. A spokesman for the campaign did not respond to requests for comment. One stinging tag line at the end of the script points out that a C.I.A. base chief who tried to delay the security contractors from aiding Mr. Stevens was nonetheless awarded an agency medal. (American officials have said that the C.I.A. security team paused to try to get support from Libyan militia allies.) It fulfills a sarcastic soldierly prediction in the script, made at the height of the action, that the base chief would be rewarded for his poor decisions. Mr. Bay, whose films are known more for heat than enlightenment, has been publicly coy about his own political leanings. "I don't feel the need to go out and tell people what to believe politically," he once told an interviewer, who tried to build a case , in Mother Jones, that Bay films like "Armageddon" and "Bad Boys II" carried conservative messaging. Whether "13 Hours" makes an impression will depend partly on whether it can "jump the theaters," said Christopher Lehane, a political consultant who has worked with the Clintons and helped promote Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11." A political film with impact has to generate "questions from the press and public" and circulate information beyond theatrical viewers, Mr. Lehane said in an email last week. As for the January release of "13 Hours," the date may have less to do with presidential politics than an attempt by Paramount to capitalize on a seasonal market that has been good to action films in recent years. This year, the big January hit was "Taken 3," with Liam Neeson; last year, it was "Ride Along," with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. Though released in late December 2014, Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper," which took in $350 million at the domestic box office, similarly prospered through January with its action-oriented, patriotic message. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday "has been a historically great date as evidence by the success of 'American Sniper' and 'Lone Survivor,'" a Paramount spokeswoman said. According to one person briefed on the film's scheduling, Paramount executives briefly considered bumping the release to a date after the Iowa caucuses, but concluded that any delay would simply push it closer to primaries and the general election. To date, Mrs. Clinton has managed to sidestep any damage from several potentially threatening Hollywood projects . An indie biopic about her youthful work on the Watergate investigation and love affair with Bill Clinton stalled, and a pair of Clinton documentaries were put aside by HBO and CNN. David Gordon Green's "Our Brand Is Crisis," a Warner film loosely based on the antics of some old Clinton political consultants who went to work in (and on) Bolivia, changed all the names, and airbrushed out the Clinton associations. But that leaves "13 Hours," a film whose heroes find themselves puzzling over what Mr. Stevens was doing in Benghazi, why his State Department protection was so thin, and where American might was hiding when he, and they, were under fire. "Air support?" says the contractor Kris Paranto, played by Pablo Schreiber, who has appeared in shows like "The Brink" and "Orange Is the New Black." "That'd be too easy." Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook , Twitter and the First Draft newsletter . | 5 | 94,591 | news |
USC fired head coach Steve Sarkisian for cause, leaving the school under the impression that it will not have to pay the remaining three years of his five-year deal, according to ESPN's Joe Schad. USC fired Sarkisian after he left the team to reportedly seek alcohol treatment. The dismissal came after more details of Sarkisian's history of alcohol abuse were revealed. Sarkisian learned of his firing from emails and texts from friends, Schad reports . USC athletic director Pat Haden attempted to reach Sarkisian over the phone, but the coach was traveling to an out-of-state treatment facility, where he is expected to spent at least 30 days. The Los Angeles Daily News reported on Sunday that Sarkisian was clearly intoxicated at a recent team meeting. The Los Angeles Times subsequently reported that Sarkisian's problems with alcohol dated back to his time as the head coach at Washington. Several former Huskies players told The Los Angeles Times that they could smell alcohol on Sarkisian's breath during team meetings. • USC president Max Nikias backs athletic director Pat Haden The Los Angeles Times also reviewed hundreds of pages of expense reports from Sarkisian's time at Washington, including a receipt from January 2013 that showed Sarkisian and three of his assistants ordered eight shots of hard liquor and five beers before noon. In August, after he appeared to be intoxicated at a booster event, Sarkisian told reporters he would seek treatment for his alcohol consumption but that he did not have a drinking problem. He said his actions at the event were the result of mixing alcohol with an unspecified medication. Sarkisian also said in August he would "without a doubt" swear off alcohol for the rest of the season. Sarkisian's recent mishap violated a recent agreement that was made after the coach's incident in August. Offensive coordinator Clay Helton is set to assume the team's interim head coaching duties as the Trojans face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. • ROSENBERG: Sarkisian saga just latest example of USC mismanagement - Christopher Chavez | 1 | 94,592 | sports |
Thousands of people continue to flee misery and death in Syria, risking their lives at sea and making arduous land journeys to reach safety and make a fresh start. The world can no longer ignore the Syrian conflict, which will be one of the central topics on the international agenda this month, as Spain takes over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council. It assumes the task at a time of increased tension, following Russia's recent intervention in Syria. Europe is beginning to confront the effects of the war in Syria after the photograph of the lifeless body of Alan Kurdi galvanized the public and brought home the magnitude of the conflict. Many voiced their grief and outrage, including the president of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes. The Spanish politician posted the Syrian toddler's photo on Twitter accompanied by a single word: "Shame." #Vergüenza 😢 pic.twitter.com/HJl2S8JEbQ Cristina Cifuentes (@ccifuentes) September 2, 2015 The satirical cartoon below, which portrays Cifuentes carrying a box of weapons labeled "For Syria," was one of the most widely shared responses to her tweet. @Barbijaputa Creo que el gran @r4six lo resumió a la perfección: pic.twitter.com/81HUTI4cPO Nacho González (@Swinxy) September 3, 2015 Is the response to Cifuentes justified? Spain hasn't sold arms directly to Syria since 2009, according to the 2014 Delàs Center of Studies for Peace report " Spanish Weapons Exports 2004-2013 ," which uses data from the Spanish Defense Ministry. And the country sold only small quantities of weapons between 2006 and 2009, which were exported for civilian as well as military use. But Spain's weapons sales are increasing. In the most recent legislative term, arms sales have skyrocketed, according to the 2014 report " Playing with Fire " by FundiPau, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Oxfam, which uses Defense Ministry data. One of the principal buyers of Spanish weapons is Saudi Arabia, a country that bought more than 406 million euros ($460 million) worth of defense materials from the Spanish government in 2013. The four NGOs responsible for the report noted that they received "unconfirmed reports that arms shipments have been sent from Saudi Arabia to non-state actors in Syria and Yemen, which were used in turn to commit serious abuses." Alberto Estévez, a weapons trade specialist and author of the 2015 Amnesty International, FundiPau, Greenpeace and Oxfam report " Weapons 'Made in Spain,' '" told HuffPost Spain that there is an "obvious relationship between weapons exports and the creation of refugees." However, he downplays Spain's "responsibility" in the Syrian conflict in comparison with countries such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom. "To our knowledge, Spain did not sell weapons to Syria in pre-war years, it only exported dual-use materials in small quantities," said Estévez. But he remains critical of Spanish government officials who say to take action in countries where the conflicts originate. "It's too little, too late. If you want to invest in conflict resolution, words have to be accompanied with resources, so that you don't end up complaining. If you sell arms to a coalition headed by Saudi Arabia that bombs Yemen, then you can't complain when there are Yemenis fleeing their country," he said. Estévez's report also notes that there's little control over the final destinations of Spanish weapons. For example, he mentions an ammunition sale authorized in 2014 that was intended for Cameroon, but ended up going to the Central African Republic in the midst of an armed conflict. A Lack Of Transparency In Saudi Arabia's case, NGOs say the key question to ask is this: Where does all this defense material end up, and is it used for Saudi attacks in Yemen, for example? "The Spanish government is obligated to adopt measures so that weapons exported to these countries aren't used to commit war crimes or other violations of international rights," the 2015 report says. The report also notes that the Spanish government is not transparent. Although Estévez recognizes Spain's recent improvements, he believes that country should look to places like the United Kingdom and Finland for inspiration. "Here [in Spain], there is a system of a posteriori information, in which it is very difficult to react to exportations made a year and a half ago. It would be very easy to imitate the United Kingdom, where authorized licenses are published online three times a year, or like Finland, which does it every month," he explained. Interestingly, the most transparent country in this regard is the United States, the biggest weapons exporter in the world, where lawmakers can obtain information on the type of weapons sold and the destination countries. "This refutes the argument that if we are more transparent, we won't sell weapons," said Estévez. Secret Proceedings If transparency were to increase, it would be easier to understand the consequences of a process in which the Spanish government acts as an "arbitrator" that only focuses on granting authorizations to businesses that want to sell weapons, according to Estévez. "[The government] often issues authorizations without taking into account the countries involved," he said. It's impossible to know for sure, however, because former Prime Minister Felipe González's government decided in 1987 to classify the decisions of the Inter-Ministerial Regulatory Board on Foreign Trade in Defense and Dual-Use Material, the body that grants these authorizations. "The only way to know what they're doing would be through the Commission of Official Classified Information, to which only a few lawmakers have access. And this option has never been exercised in Spain," explained Estévez, who says such proceedings should no longer be secret. The public would then be able to find out if the government is implementing the recommendations in the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty , which Spain signed in 2013 and ratified last year. "Another problem is that some of the provisions of that treaty aren't binding, which sometimes generates complaints from the weapons industry," Estévez said. Companies are finding that some countries uphold the restrictions, while others lift them. A Growing Industry Data shows that Spain's weapons sales have multiplied exponentially in the last decade, soaring from 400 million euros ($457 million) in 2004 to almost 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) in 2013. "We have already warned them that they're playing with fire, because the said they weren't going to increase controls even though they would increase exports" said Estévez, who believes this "has something to do" with the fact that current Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenés was an executive of a weapons company until 2011. Amnesty International, GreenPeace, Oxfam and FundiPau continue to advocate for alternative ways to resolve conflicts causing mass displacement. Estévez mentions, for example, that Europe proposed a program to transition the weapons industry to civilian industry, but no Spanish company was receptive. "This is very revealing. If you want to reduce the size of an industry like this, you have to offer resources," he said. Estévez also mentioned that one of the report's recommendations is to give "constitutional status" to the obligation to refrain from exporting weapons that will be used to commit atrocities. This story originally appeared on HuffPost Spain . It has been translated into English and edited for clarity . | 5 | 94,593 | news |
US President Barack Obama will deploy up to 300 military personnel to Cameroon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against militant Boko Haram insurgents, he informed Congress on Wednesday. In a letter released by the White House, Obama said 90 personnel had already been deployed, marking a modest but significant escalation of US involvement in the fight against the Islamic State-allied group. Washington has largely shied away from engaging its vast military assets to combat Boko Haram, with policymakers wary of fueling militant recruitment or fusing the group's ties with Middle Eastern Islamists. In making Wednesday's announcement, the White House was at pains to stress that personnel would not take part in combat operations and would be armed only for self-defense. The onus, US officials said, would still be on a regional coalition that has tried to keep a once regional Muslim anti-colonial movement from metastasizing into a regional jihadist threat. "It will be part of a broader regional effort to stop the spread of Boko Haram and other violent extremist organizations in West Africa," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. The mission will last "until their support is no longer needed," Obama's letter said. The White House decision comes as Boko Haram steadily expands operations beyond its traditional base in northern Nigeria. An uptick in violence is expected in the coming weeks with the end of the rainy season and amid growing resistance to a nascent multi-national joint task force. Cameroon has been among those coalition countries hit. Twin suicide blasts on Sunday killed at least nine people and injured 29 in far northern Cameroon. Nine people died when one of two suicide bombers detonated a device in a tiny milk and donut restaurant in the village of Kangaleri. The second suicide bomber killed only herself, a local authority official said. "Like northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon is predominantly Muslim and it is also a part of the country that has historically been somewhat marginalized," said John Campbell, a former US ambassador to Nigeria, now with the Council on Foreign Relations. The dual suicide attack came a day after triple explosions in Chad left 41 dead. Both countries are part of a regional coalition that has been fighting the militants. Nonetheless, Campbell described the White House decision as "surprising." "We are not talking about a very large force, but I do think that the American appetite for involvement in yet another Muslim civil war in a part of the world that is pretty remote from American concern is surprising." It may also come as a surprise in Abuja, where successive Nigerian governments have asked for US assistance in fighting Boko Haram. Recently elected President Muhammadu Buhari has been feted by the White House, but has not received significant US military support amid concerns about military abuses, including the alleged use of cluster munitions. | 5 | 94,594 | news |
"People's obsession with that baby the anti-Christ baby. We haven't committed to it but he might show up at that hotel," says 'American Horror Story: Hotel' creator Ryan Murphy. | 8 | 94,595 | video |
Lisa Tomasetti/Sony Pictures Classics With five Oscar nominations (and three wins) between them, Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford are two of Hollywood's most iconic figures with the ability to play any character put in front of them. But even they need a little guidance, and while making their new movie " Truth, " which looks back on one of CBS News' most infamous moments, they went to the people who were there. The film looks back on the 2004 "60 Minutes" investigation Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes did that brought to question President George W. Bush's military service. Rather was a legend in the field, reporting at CBS for over 40 years and the anchor of the "CBS Evening News." Mapes was his no-nonsense "60 Minutes" producer who had recently done a piece on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal , which she received a Peabody for. After the Bush piece aired the blogshpere blew up, alleging that the documents in the piece were not authentic and questioning Rather and Mapes' reporting, leading to a media firestorm known as " Rathergate. " Mapes went through a grueling internal investigation which led to her being fired. Rather was forced to step down as anchor of "CBS Evening News" after the scandal died down. Lisa Tomasetti/Sony Pictures Classics"Truth" delves into the backstory of the scandal with Redford playing Rather and Blanchett as Mapes. Though the two say they were familiar with "Rathergate," they needed more to play the roles. Redford met Rather back in the 1970s at an event about the environment but hadn't interacted with him since. However, he did call Rather before filming started. "I said, 'I'm going to be playing you,'" Redford told Business Insider. "He was very gracious and said, 'Well, I'm really honored that you're playing me,'" and I said, 'You might want to wait and see the film before you say that.'" Redford said he didn't talk a long time with the news legend. He simply asking him if there was anything he should know about "Rathergate" before making the film. "He said, 'It's about loyalty,'" Rather recalled. "Loyalty between he and Mary. Because they needed that loyalty with each other because they were against the odds. So I took that to heart." Lisa Tomasetti/Sony Pictures ClassicsThough Redford and Blanchett didn't meet until they were in the make-up room before their first scene, that loyalty became an unspoken bond between the two actors. As Blanchett said about Redford, "He has this uncanny ability to just jump in like he's in a three-year relationship, we skipped the hellos and went right to the heart of the conversation." But Blanchett admits she needed more from Mapes compared to what Redford needed from Rather. "I didn't even know what she looked like, " she told Business Insider. Lisa Tomasetti/Sony Pictures ClassicsSo the actress invited Mapes to a play she was doing in New York last August for their first meeting. That then evolved to Blachett communicating with Mapes via Skype during filming. But it was less about what was going on in the scenes and more capturing the personality of Mapes. "She's a vivacious, curious, sensitive woman," Blanchett said. "I just wanted to hear her, we would talk about the dog she was sitting. As an actor you have to present the character warts and all. I found Mary remarkably open to an actor doing that." "Truth" opens in limited release on Friday. Watch the trailer: Youtube Embed: http://www.youtube.com/embed/MqOz8-Sto1g Width: 560px Height: 315px NOW WATCH: How Elon Musk can tell if job applicants are lying about their experience | 6 | 94,596 | entertainment |
Kendall Jenner is breaking the Kardashian social media silence on Lamar Odom's critical condition with one simple, yet heartbreaking tweet. The reality star posted "please don't go." No official word on Lamar's updated condition after being rushed to a Las Vegas hospital after being found unconscious in a Nevada brothel, but reports have said he is in critical condition and his organs are failing. Khloe Kardashian, sister Kim and Kris Jenner are said to be at his bedside. We'll keep you posted on this developing story. | 6 | 94,597 | entertainment |
August, the San Francisco-based maker of smart door locks that can be controlled from a mobile phone , said today that it's expanding its products to include an accessory keypad for its locks and a new doorbell that's equipped with a video camera. But going beyond just hardware updates is a plan to offer a platform for managing all kinds of home maintenance and delivery services, from dry cleaning drop-offs to pet sitters to basic shipping. It's an ambitious goal for startup August, which only launched its first hardware product a year ago, but one that puts it deeper into the software and services industry rather than just hardware. First, the new hardware. The second-generation August smart lock, which is designed by industrial designer (and August co-founder) Yves Behar, doesn't look much different from the previous version, with the exception of a metal ridge that indicates whether it's in a locked or unlocked position. But it has new internals: it's now Apple HomeKit-enabled through a new Broadcom chip, so if you're an iOS user, you can command Siri to lock and unlock your door for you (we all are headed toward a WALL-E-like human meatball existence, don't even bother to get up and lock your door at night, resistance is futile). The August lock does work with Android devices, just as the first lock did, but there's no voice control option yet if you're using the August Android app. The price of the lock has also dropped $50 from last year's model to $249, due mostly to the fact that the lock is now assembled in China. One of the features that August frequently heard users wanted was a way to access the Bluetooth lock without having to download the August app (and without having to use a physical key). An example would be if you rent out your home to visitors who don't have a smartphone, or who don't have the August app installed. So August is now shipping a $79 accessory keypad that you can stick next to your external door knob, letting you send SMS messages with unique keypad codes directly from the August app. The third new gadget from August is a Wi-Fi-equipped doorbell camera that wires to an existing doorbell plate and captures HD video clips of people approaching the door. It uses motion sensors to detect the movement August says the camera is supposed to know the difference between humans approaching the door and animals or other objects passing by and then sends a notification to your smartphone. The $199 doorbell cam also comes with a triangle plate, to help you angle the camera if your doorbell happens to be off to the side. It's not the first doorbell camera out there products like Ring and SkyBell offer similar feature sets but part of August's pitch is that it offers control of both the high-tech doorbell and the Bluetooth door lock in the same app. So if someone drops a package off at your door while you're out of the house, not only are you alerted to the activity, but you could theoretically open the door to allow them to drop the package inside. There is a small catch: August plans to offer cloud playback for the doorbell video clips, but hasn't specified how much this will cost yet. Books your cleaning service and your pet sitter more directly through August Speaking of software services, that's perhaps the most interesting area that August is getting into, through something called August Access. Co-founder and CEO Jason Johnson described this as a "third-party access management system," which basically means that August is aggregating a bunch of partner apps into its own app to give you one-stop shopping for home services. Services like Postmates, Shyp, Handy, Envoy, Pillow, Rinse, and even Sears home repair services will tap into August's API, making it possible to schedule appointments directly from the August app and unlock the door for people arriving at your home. Provided that people actually use it, it may be a smart move for August, not only because it consolidates a bunch of apps into the same place, but because it's an opportunity to generate revenue through partnerships. Johnson also hinted that August could get deeper into tracking package shipments, to help mitigate misplaced packages or at least avoid that annoying "You weren't home" tag on the door. August hasn't said how many locks it has sold since it began shipping the product a year ago, but Johnson did say that it sees over 5 million "lock operations" per month, which refers to how many times its users are locking and unlocking doors through the August app. This app engagement is more important than unit sales, the company claims, because of the partnerships it is trying to build. The new August lock is available for preorder today, along with the keypad accessory and video doorbell. They'll begin shipping in four to eight weeks, the company says. | 3 | 94,598 | finance |
Whether it's fabulous, Beyonce Animated GIF or out of this world, Space Animated GIF hair matters to humans. Really, to all mammals. Hair and fur bind us all together from the adorable... Dog Animated GIF ...all the way down the cuteness food chain to pizza rat . As much as we might not like thinking about the ties that bind us to our rodent relatives, our flowing locks and their fur have the same tangled roots. Scientists announced today that they found evidence of hair on a fossilized, 125 million year old rat-like animal. While fossilized evidence of fur had previously been found in older fossils, this well-preserved hair represents the earliest fossil found with defined, individual hair structures, the researchers say. In a paper published today in Nature , researchers detail the find of the fossilized remains of a creature called Spinolestes xenarthrosus . Spinolestes was about the size of a small possum, or a large rat, and lived in a wetland in what is now the Las Hoyas Quarry in Spain. Spinolestes lived in the ground, ate insects, and probably did its best to avoid the dinosaurs that were tromping around in the area. This particular specimen was incredibly well-preserved, with far more than just fossilized bones surviving the intervening 125 million years between death and discovery. It also had the remains of an external ear, internal organs, and evidence of hair and hair follicles. Usually such delicate structures don't survive millions of years under rock and dirt, but occasionally a dead animal will be preserved in such a way that impressions of fur or feathers survive. Often, these aren't much more than impressions , or textures baked into the rock by time, but in the case of the Spinolestes , individual hairs were fossilized into place by the surrounding rock, and remained preserved overtime. The next oldest (well-preserved) hair remains are 60 million years younger than these. "With the complex structural features and variation identified in this fossil, we now have conclusive evidence that many fundamental mammalian characteristics were already well-established some 125 million years, in the age of dinosaurs," co-author of the paper Zhe-Xi Luo said in a statement. In addition to softer, more fur-like hairs identified in other parts of the body, the researchers found that Spinolestes had a layer of spikes along its back, similar to a hedgehog's protective spines. They also found, based on the pattern of a section of the fur, that Spinolestes probably had a fungal infection called dermatophytosis, an infection that affects many mammals today. You probably know it as ringworm. | 5 | 94,599 | news |
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