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Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces have arrested at least 14 Hamas members since the beginning of the month, further sharpening internal Palestinian tensions at a time when unrest is engulfing much of the occupied Palestinian territory, Hamas officials told Al Jazeera. Hamas accused PA security forces of arresting seven of the group's members - including students and former detainees in Israeli prisons - across the occupied West Bank on Thursday alone. The PA denies this claim. Ibrahim Salah, a former spokesman for the interior ministry of the Hamas-administered Gaza government, said the arrests mark a "dangerous escalation that damages the atmosphere of national unity on the ground [in the West Bank]". "We have been holding off on issuing any statements on the PA arrests so we don't detract from our people's uprising in Jerusalem," Salah told Al Jazeera. President Mahmoud Abbas has recently ordered his security chiefs to quash growing protests against Israel's occupation across the West Bank. The president's call came amid a spate of attacks by Palestinians, including stabbing incidents, which killed seven Israelis since October 1. RELATED: Detentions of Hamas-aligned students 'deeply worrying' At least 37 Palestinians have been killed this month as Israeli forces crack down on protests with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition. Among those killed were suspected attackers, unarmed protesters and bystanders. Last July, a wide-scale PA arrest campaign against Hamas began after the West Bank witnessed a similar series of armed Palestinian attacks. At least 120 members were detained at the time. "They [Hamas] are big liars," Adnan al-Damiri, the spokesman for the PA security forces, told Al Jazeera. "You see that we are in a new Intifada, and we did not arrest anyone for political reasons, or for their [political] thoughts or affiliations." Wasfi Kabha, a West Bank-based Hamas member, criticised the PA for upholding security coordination with Israel, accusing it of "attempting to cripple this latest Intifada [uprising]." "By coordinating with the Israeli security [forces], and arresting our West Bank members, the PA is trying to thwart efforts to widen the scope of this uprising," said Kabha, who served as a minister in the 2006 Hamas-led government. RELATED: Intifada or not, something powerful is going on "The PA and Israeli [authorities] are obviously in cahoots to stop demonstrators from reaching friction points in the West Bank," Kabha said, referring to frequent sites of clashes and protests. Despite the PA's arrest campaign and efforts to block protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Abbas of "incitement". The PA's crackdown comes at a time when Palestinians are growing increasingly frustrated with its leadership. As Israeli settlements spread throughout the West Bank at breakneck pace, little progress towards Palestinian national reconciliation has been made since Fatah and Hamas signed an agreement last year. At least 53 percent of Palestinians view the PA as a "burden", while 57 percent support "a return to an armed Intifada", according to a poll published last month by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research. In Gaza, the popularity of Hamas "decreased significantly" A delegation of officials from the West Bank is slated to arrive in Gaza next week to discuss ways to revive talks between the sparring factions. RELATED: Analysis: Is the Palestinian Authority still relevant? Meeting in Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinian political groups called for "unity" during heightened tensions in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank. "We held this meeting to reiterate [our] full support for the Intifada that rejects Israel's aggression and the division of al-Aqsa," Khalid al-Batsh, a leader in the Islamic Jihad party, told Al Jazeera. "We also reiterated our support for reaching national unity to create a strong front against the Israeli escalation." Security coordination between the PA with Israel has been a divisive issue for Palestinians, with many believing it makes the former a security contractor for the latter. "We call on PA to stop the security coordination with the Israelis and to free the Palestinian resistance [so it can] defend our people," Hamas official Ismael Radwan told Al Jazeera. | 5 | 95,900 | news |
Scientists speculated based on the first images that came back from New Horizons, but now the scientific data is confirming the hunches. | 8 | 95,901 | video |
Hungary has closed its border with Croatia in an effort to stem the flow of migrants through the country en route to western Europe. Croatia said it would begin directing migrants to Slovenia instead. Hungary has been a major transit country for migrants, many of whom aim to continue on to Austria and Germany. It announced the closure on Friday after EU leaders failed to agree a plan backed by Hungary to send a force to prevent migrants reaching Greece. The border, reinforced with a razor-wire fence, closed at midnight (22:00 GMT) on Friday. A group of several hundred migrants who arrived near the village of Zakany minutes before the deadline were the last to be allowed through. "Closure!" a soldier shouted after the last travellers had passed across. "We know that this is not the best, but only the second-best solution," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, announcing the closure earlier. Migrants could still apply for asylum in Hungary at two border transit zones, he added. The border posts at Beremend and Letenje are also open for anyone with valid documents. Hungary has already sealed its border with Serbia. There are fears in Slovenia that closure of the Croatia-Hungary border will channel many more migrants through Slovenia. Ranko Ostojic, Croatia's interior minister, said Croatia was "turning the route, the corridor, towards Slovenia". Croatia has not struck any agreement with Slovenia, according to Mr Ostojic. "This is (purely) a Croatian plan," he said. In response, Slovenia stopped all passenger rail transport from Croatia, the country's national railway company announced. Slovenia's Interior Minister, Vesna Gjorkos Znidar, said extra police had been deployed to the border with Croatia. But she said the country will keep accepting refugees as long as neighbouring Austria and Germany keep their borders open. Earlier on Friday, Turkish officials stressed that a plan agreed by EU officials for joint action with Turkey on the migrant crisis had not been finalised. EU leaders have agreed to speed up visa liberalisation talks for Turks if Turkey stems the influx, as well as to "re-energise" talks on Turkey joining the EU and supply more aid. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU states were considering a Turkish request for €3bn (£2.2bn, $3.4bn) in aid. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has heavily criticised Europe's reaction to the migrant crisis. "They announce they'll take in 30,000 to 40,000 refugees and then they are nominated for the Nobel for that. We are hosting two-and-a-half million refugees but nobody cares," he said. Nearly 600,000 migrants have reached the EU by sea so far this year, many of them travelling from Turkey. Read more Can deeds match words?: The challenges ahead for the EU and Turkey The pull of Europe: Five migrant stories Merkel under pressure: Chancellor's migrant policy faces criticism at home Focus on Turkey: Why the EU views Syria's northern neighbour as key Crisis in graphics: Migration numbers explained Ms Merkel is due to travel to Turkey at the weekend. "There is still a huge amount to do," she said, "but you cannot say that we've achieved nothing." EU sources had said several countries were cautious about coming to an agreement with Turkey too quickly, including Greece, Cyprus and France. Meanwhile, a migrant thought to be Afghan was shot dead by a Bulgarian border guard after entering the country from Turkey late on Thursday. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov left the Brussels talks on hearing the news. | 5 | 95,902 | news |
Lamar Odom (left) and Kevin Durant at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Garrett Ellwood NBAE In the summer of 2010, a 21-year-old Kevin Durant was tasked with leading the United States men's national basketball team to its first FIBA World Championship in over a decade. The Oklahoma City Thunder's budding star was just coming off his first playoff appearance a first-round loss to the eventual-champion Los Angeles Lakers. But one of the players Durant became closest with on that World Championship team just happened to be Laker Lamar Odom, a player of similar build and skill. Their bond is one Durant fondly recalls as Odom fights for his life in a Las Vegas hospital after being found unconscious in a Nevada brothel earlier this week. "It's so sad," Durant told The Daily Oklahoman . "I couldn't really sleep the last few days just thinking about him. I've still got faith everything will work out. It's a tough situation, but as brothers in the NBA we have to rally around him and send our prayers up and support him no matter what, and just pray everything goes well." When asked about what makes Odom special as a player and person, Durant reflected on his time with Odom at the FIBA World Championship. "From Day 1, he had just come off winning the title, and he walked into the gym as the most humble guy there," Durant said. "He took me under his wing as a little brother. I just tried to learn a lot from him professional-wise. As a person (he) has one of the biggest hearts I've ever been around." | 1 | 95,903 | sports |
The impasse in Congress caused by hard-line Republicans' refusal to raise the federal debt ceiling is becoming a real threat to the economy, and the market is simply not appreciating its potential severity, said Aaron Kohli, interest rate strategist at BMO. "If you get a situation where the debt ceiling is actually reached or breached, I think the amount of volatility in stocks and even in bonds to some extent will be very extreme," said Kohli. Kohli added that the worst part about this type of volatility is that it's difficult to predict the resulting winners and losers in the stock market. "Not only will the potential losses be random, you could have perfectly safe institutions suffer losses, but you may also have a situation where some equities do better and others do much worse depending on the cash positions and the safety of the securities versus the fact that the U.S. Treasury may actually not pay its debt," said Kohli. Kohli said the Federal Reserve will be forced to step in if Congress fails to resolve the debt ceiling situation. One potential result of a prolonged debt crisis could be a delay in the Fed rate hike until much later in 2016, which would ultimately send stocks higher. He said the Fed is ready to hike rates, but is fearful of exogenous events like a federal debt default. One idea suggests that capital markets have added much more debt than the Fed has removed via its QE program. Kohli said the absence of inflation means investors could be stuck in a trap where the markets add more debt than the Fed buys, leading to even more leverage after QE than before. And it's not just a problem here in the U.S., in his opinion. "Countries like China have massively increased debt over the last few years," said Kohli. "The real question you have to ask is what happens to these same borrowers when their rate of borrowing actually increases and the picture is clearly not pretty." With this debt ceiling debate on the horizon, Kohli said allocations to Treasuries and safer equities are the better path for investors. He added, however, that the important thing for Treasury buyers is to avoid those that have payments in the near future, because those are the ones that suffered most the last time this occurred. "Broadly, the Treasury market will do very well because of the secondary impact that it has on the economy, the negative effect that it will have," said Kohli. More From TheStreet: The Scars of 2008 Are Exaggerating Your View of Current Market Volatility | 3 | 95,904 | finance |
Kia has issued a recall for 2011-2013 Sorento crossovers over a shift lever problem. The Kia Sorento recall affects more than 377,000 units in the U.S. The Problem : If the driver applies excessive force to the gear shift lever, the car's brake-shift interlock mechanism may chip or crack. This may cause the vehicle to shift out of the "Park" position when the driver's foot isn't holding the brake pedal. Thus, the vehicles may roll away unexpectedly. Trouble started when Kia received a letter in August. The letter stated that a child was able to move the gear shift lever out of "Park" after his father opened the car doors remotely. Their attorney alleges the key was not in the ignition and the brakes were not applied. The child exited the Sorento and the vehicle rolled away, catching the child's leg as he stood between the Sorento and a stopped vehicle in a parking lot. When Kia made the decision to conduct a voluntary recall on September 28, a total of three injuries related to the gear shift problem had been reported. The Fix : Kia dealerships will replace the brake-shift interlock mechanism free of charge. The recall is expected to start on November 24, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In the meantime, customers can contact NHTSA at (888) 327-4236 or Kia customer service at (800) 333-4542 referencing recall number SC124. Number of Vehicles Potentially Affected : The recall involves an estimated 377,062 Kia Sorento crossovers in the U.S. The recall applies to 2011-2013 Sorentos manufactured between October 19, 2009 and January 31, 2013. Source: NHTSA | 9 | 95,905 | autos |
Red dots are dead bacteria, green dots are live bacteria. On the left are samples without the special salt, on the right are samples with the bacteria-killing salt. Lost a tooth? A new 3D-printed replacement might protect against future cavities. Published earlier this month by researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, "3D-Printable Antimicrobial Composite Resins" details a tooth made from materials that kill bacteria on contact. The researchers set out to create a tooth that bacteria wouldn't destroy, and created a dental guardian. Here's how it works. The replacement tooth is designed to match the gap in the person's mouth. A resin, made of safe materials combined with a special salt, is then printed into the shape of the tooth and then placed like a normal replacement into the person's mouth. The positive charge in the salts in the resin bursts negatively-charged bacterial membranes, leaving only dead colonies where once were festering feeding frenzies of microbial intruders. To test the work, they printed objects both with and without the microbial salts, and then put tooth decay-causing Streptococcus mutans on the samples. Without the salts, only about 1 percent of the bacteria on the items died. With the incorporated salts, over 99 percent of colonies vanished. The authors of the paper are enthusiastic about its success and future uses, writing: The antimicrobial properties were shown to be caused by bacterial contact killing with the material rather than the release of antimicrobial compounds from the resin. Having optimized the activity and stability of these materials, we have a prototype at hand that is suited for further testing in a clinical setting, including not only dental applications but also, for instance, orthopedic ones like spacers and other polymeric parts used in total hip or knee arthroplasties. Moreover, the approach to developing 3D printable antimicrobial polymers can easily be transferred to other nonmedical application areas, such as food packaging, water purification, or even toys for children. To the best of our knowledge, the resins we developed represent the first report of an antimicrobial, contact-killing 3D printable material. [ New Scientist ] | 7 | 95,906 | health |
WASHINGTON Several former senators have teamed up to create a national organization to elect more moderate Democrats and Republicans to force more compromise in Congress. Former Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu said losing centrists from both parties has stalled the legislative process in Congress. "Whether you're conservative or liberal you've got to move forward,'' Landrieu said in a interview. "You've got to solve problems and make decisions that are balanced. The word compromise is not a dirty word. It's an essential component of this democracy.'' Landrieu recently formed her own political action committee, "Hold the Center,'' to raise money to support moderate candidates. But she and former senator Mark Begich, D-Alaska, have also met with former Democratic Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas to talk about combining resources for an organization with the same mission. "There's a lot of need in this country for moderates that are not on extremes of either end of the equation,'' said Begich, president of Northern Compass Group, a consulting firm based in Anchorage. "You're seeing what's happening in Congress. They can't even figure out who to have as a speaker because of extremes on either end within one party.'' Begich said the nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization called "American Center'' is in the early stages of soliciting support and raising money. Such organizations can raise unlimited amounts of money, but don't have to disclose donors. It's not unusual for former lawmakers to support like-minded candidates, but experts say the effort comes in the midst of a bitterly divided Congress. "Given that there's virtually no center left in the Senate … it can help,'' said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "Republicans should be doing the same thing.'' Landrieu, Begich and Hagan were among the moderate Democratic senators to lose re-election bids in 2014, leading to Republicans taking control in the Senate. "It's getting harder and harder for the center to come together,'' said Landrieu, a senior adviser at the Washington lobbying firm Van Ness Feldman. "You got the right wing of the Republican party led by Donald Trump going a little crazy. And they got on our side the Sanders/Warren wing, who I respect a great deal, but I'm not sure that they have - just like the right wing of the Republican Party the ability to really excite and mobilize the center.'' Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a Democratic socialist seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are progressives. Joshua Stockley, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, said one challenge for the group will be deciding which candidate meets its definition of moderate. "If you truly want to see the middle ground restored in Congress, then you have to realistically acknowledge that there are Republicans and Democrats that can get you towards that goal,'' he said. Begich said the group will support Democrats or Republicans who have pro-growth and progressive positions on social issues, education and immigration. Most candidates are likely to be Democrats. Support is not limited to congressional candidates. "Sometimes I think the moderates' messages get lost because people say, 'Well, they're just a bunch of compromisers,'' he said. "Well, no. We're about getting things done.'' Duffy said the group is unlikely to have much impact this election cycle because most Democratic candidates have already been recruited and many aren't likely to be moderates. "It can be very helpful in the future (because) there isn't really a dedicated resource'' to help moderates, she said. Experts say former senators have clout and a donor list they can use to raise plenty of money. Landrieu's PAC had $41,581 by June 30, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. She contributed $10,000 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is up for re-election next year. Senate candidates need at least $10 million to be competitive, said Stockley. "If they are able to raise a significant amount of resources, they are absolutely in a position to be a significant influence in someone's electoral prospects,'' he said. Follow @dberrygannett on Twitter. | 5 | 95,907 | news |
Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter says he hopes to return to office in time to lead a special congress in February which will choose his successor | 1 | 95,908 | sports |
CNN's Brian Todd reports on the arrest of an ISIS hacker who reportedly stole U.S. military members' personal information. | 8 | 95,909 | video |
A radio personality who stumped the press with Donald Trump has now been fired. | 8 | 95,910 | video |
Panamanian authorities burn more than 11 tons of seized illicit drugs seized from various anti-narcotics operations from across the country. Nathan Frandino reports. | 8 | 95,911 | video |
Team North America, a World Cup team filled with American and Canadian stars under the age of 23, will have Edmonton Oilers' coach Todd McLellan at the helm. The NHL and the NHL's Players Association (NHLPA) appointed McLellan as the coach for the 2016 World Cup today. The announcement was made by Team North America general manager Peter Chiarelli, who also serves as McLellan's General Manager for the Oilers. "We are excited to name our head coach and management team for our World Cup squad," said Chiarelli. "They all know what it takes to win at the highest level and we're looking forward to working together for next September's competition." In addition to McLellan, Team North America also named Adam Graves, who has worked for the New York Rangers since 2005, as a Special Sssistant to Chiarelli. The two join Pat Verbeek, who serves as an assistant general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Paul Fenton, who currently works as the Assistant General Manager for the Nashville Predators. Verbeek and Fenton will serve for Team North America as Directors of Player Personnel. Ryan Jankowski, Hockey Canada's Director of Player Personnel, will serve as the Director of of Operations. Current General Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks will serve as an Associate General Manager for Team Canada. McLellan served as the head coach for Team Canada in this years' 2015 World Hockey Championship. Canada won its first gold medal since 2007, and powered through the tournament with a 10-0 record. McLellan, who is in his first year as the Oilers' head coach, previously coached the San Jose Sharks for seven seasons, leading them to six playoff appearances and three Pacific Division titles. Current Oiler Connor McDavid, who is eligible for Team North America next year, was happy to see his current head coach in the position. "That's awesome for Todd," McDavid said. "That's a great job. I know he's going to do a great job with it. If I'm lucky enough to be apart of that team, then there's no one I'd rather play for then him." The World Cup of Hockey will take place next September in Toronto. Eight teams, representing the United States, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Europe and the Under-23 Team North America, will compete in the tournament. The tournament is a joint effort between the NHL and the NHLPA with cooperation from the International Ice Hockey Federation. The preliminary round begins Sept. 17. | 1 | 95,912 | sports |
Jeb Bush quickly fired back at Trump, calling his comments 'pathetic.' | 8 | 95,913 | video |
NEW YORK (AP) Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Nikita Nesterov has been suspended for two games without pay for boarding Dallas Stars forward Curtis McKenzie. Nesterov was given a 5-minute penalty and a game misconduct for checking McKenzie from behind in Thursday's contest in Tampa. It came at 15:56 of the second period. The Stars beat Tampa 5-3. McKenzie needed assistance from the ice and appeared to be unable to put weight on his leg as he headed toward the locker room from the bench. The Stars said McKenzie had a game-ending lower body injury and was taken to an area hospital. The 22-year-old Nesterov will forfeit $7,983 in salary to go to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. | 1 | 95,914 | sports |
A pair of identical twins in Washington state could be born months apart. Their mother gave birth to Link on September 29th, and doctors are hoping to deliver his brother Logan in another 15 weeks or so. | 5 | 95,915 | news |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Edinson Volquez planned to pitch the Toronto Blue Jays inside in Game 1 of their American League Championship Series, just as he did during their contentious series earlier this season. Then, after chatting with Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, he changed his mind. "We know they got a lot of pull hitters over there, and power hitters, and he told me, `How you feel pitching down and away?' And I said, `I feel sexy tonight,'" Volquez recalled. "And he was like, `All right, we're changing the plan right now. We're pitching those guys away.'" They never touched him all night. Volquez combined with three relievers on a three-hitter, Perez hit a soaring home run off Toronto starter Marco Estrada, and Kansas City rolled to a 5-0 victory Friday to open the best-of-seven series. BOX SCORE: ROYALS 5, BLUE JAYS 0 "Tonight was the Volquez show. He was tremendous," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He shut down a good-hitting team, I know that. His ball was ducking and darting everywhere." Volquez (1-1) ramped up his fastball to 97 mph to slice through a potent Blue Jays offense, never allowing a runner past second base over six innings. His only trouble occurred when he walked the first two batters in the sixth, but he wiggled out of it without any damage. The Royals' bullpen finished off the club's eighth consecutive ALCS victory. "There was a lot of energy," said Volquez, who had been 0-3 with an 8.76 ERA in three career postseason starts. "I don't know. I was just making my pitches." Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain drove in runs off Estrada (1-1), while Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales tacked on two more off LaTroy Hawkins to put the game away. The Blue Jays' three hits were their fewest ever in a postseason game. They were shut out five times in the regular season. As if the outcome wasn't bad enough for them, designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion left in the eighth inning to get X-rays on the middle finger of his left hand. The initial report was a strain of the ligament and Encarnacion was listed as day-to-day. "He's been battling this thing," Gibbons said. "We'll see how it goes." The Royals will try to take a 2-0 series lead when they send Yordano Ventura to the mound on Saturday. Toronto will counter with former Cy Young Award winner David Price. "Hopefully things change to our favor tomorrow," Toronto catcher Dioner Navararo said. The teams entered the series with plenty of history. To start with, the defending AL champs beat Toronto in the 1985 league championship series, then beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the Royals' only World Series triumph. But far more recently were the tense, benches-clearing game that the teams played at Rogers Centre in August. Volquez was right in the thick of things. The veteran starter kept pitching the Blue Jays inside, finally hitting Josh Donaldson with a fastball. Tensions escalated as the game went on, with Toronto reliever Aaron Sanchez returning the favor by hitting Escobar to trigger the first of two benches-clearing scuffles. Afterward, Volquez said Donaldson was "crying like a baby" over his inside approach. And to nobody's surprise, Donaldson was booed lustily by the Kansas City crowd on Friday night. That was the only reason for the packed house to boo, though. After squandering a scoring chance in the first inning, the Royals jumped ahead in the third. Alex Gordon led off with a double, Escobar sent an RBI double down the right-field line, and Cain's two-out single helped Kansas City -- so accustomed to playing from behind -- to a 2-0 lead. Perez added his third homer of the postseason on the first pitch he saw in the fourth, the cheering of the throaty, flag-waving crowd reaching a crescendo as it passed over the wall. As shaky was Estrada was, Volquez was downright stoic as he circled the mound. He did not allow a hit until his 56th pitch, when Chris Colabello chopped a single up the middle with two outs in the fourth. It snapped a postseason hitless streak of 10 2-3 innings for the Royals, one out shy of matching the record set by the New York Yankees in 1939. The biggest of the Blue Jays' big bats made the quietest outs, too. Jose Bautista went down looking in the fourth inning, while Encarnacion struck out looking in the sixth. Donaldson managed a walk off Volquez but little else, while Tulowitzki -- one of the Blue Jays' big deadline acquisitions -- went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. "It is extremely important to win the opener," Hosmer said. "There's only so many crazy comebacks you can pull off in a postseason. It was nice to get out to a lead tonight." | 1 | 95,916 | sports |
A train carrying around a thousand migrants arrives at the Croatian border with Hungary less than an hour before its expected closure. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). | 8 | 95,917 | video |
Lamar Odom, who has been fighting for his life in a Las Vegas hospital, regained consciousness Friday, but his condition remains guarded after he collapsed in a Nevada brothel following a weekend binge, according to sources familiar with the situation. Odom, a former Laker and reality television star, was brought to the hospital after he collapsed Tuesday at the Love Ranch brothel about 80 miles away in Crystal, Nevada. He has been desperately fighting for his life after ingesting what officials said was a deadly mix of cocaine, alcohol and an herbal sexual stimulant. His estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian, has been by the stricken star's bed side since his arrival at the hospital. "Lamar is conscious and was able to say hi to Khloe but his condition remains guarded," said a source close to the situation who asked to be unnamed. Alvina Alston, a spokeswoman for Odom's aunt, JaNean Mercer, told the Los Angeles Times by phone that Odom was able to open his mouth and speak on Friday. No other details were immediately available. RELATED: Odom story shows difficult road athletes face in retirement The improvement in Odom's condition was first reported by the entertainment journalism outlets, E! News and Entertainment Tonight. Khloe Kardashian, who married Odom amid Hollywood glitz and glamour that was faithfully recorded on television, and his aunt, who helped raise him in New York, separately called on his fans in the interlaced worlds of sports and entertainment to pray for his recovery. In a posting on her web page, Kardashian said she decided to put her social media presence on hold and will not post anything on her multitude of platforms while she deals with Odom's health needs. The rest of the clan, including Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner, released identical statements on their websites. "As a family, we've decided to hold off on publishing content across our apps while we continue to support and pray for Lamar," the family statement reads. "Thank you for your kindness and understanding during this difficult time." The electronic blackout lasted less than a day, In a tweet, Kylie Jenner posted a photo of Odom and Khole Kardashian ice skating and called on her 11.8 million followers to offer a morning prayer. With the hospital not saying how Odom was doing, reports have been rampant through the social media universe: Odom was initially on life support, he was intubated and he had dialysis. But none of those reports have been officially confirmed. Still all of parties agreed that Odom had shown some positive signs of recovery, according to a variety of sources. Khloe Kardashian, whose divorce from Odom is not final, has been making medical decisions about his treatment, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Times. Brothel owner Dennis Hof was not at the ranch when Odom collapsed, but he told The Times that he had interviewed the manager and the two female employees who found the former basketball star. Odom was picked up at his home in a gated community in the late afternoon on Saturday, Hof said, and arrived at the Love Ranch at 5 or 6 p.m. As soon as he arrived, Hof said, he added a $100 tip to his bill for the driver. Odom had initially planned to stay four or five days, he said, but wanted to know if Hof planned to drive down from northern Nevada. If so, Odom reportedly told the manager, he would stay longer. Hof says Odom racked up a bill of about $75,000 by Tuesday morning. He also said Odom appeared to have taken too much "herbal Viagra" during his stay "I was told he was not looking good," Hof said of the women who were with the hardscrabble basketball star. Witnesses who called 911 told dispatchers that Odom had also been using cocaine as early as Saturday, when he checked in. He also drank from a bottle of cognac he had ordered over the weekend. Law enforcement officials have sent blood samples to be analyzed. Odom began his NBA career in 1999 with the Los Angeles Clippers before going on to win the 2009 and 2010 NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Last year, he was waived by the New York Knicks as a free agent. In 2009, Odom married Kardashian and became a regular presence on the family's reality TV shows. Meanwhile, JaNean Mercer, Odom's maternal aunt and godmother, also called for prayers. Mercer is the sister of Odom's late mother and who helped raise him in New York, where the woman still lives, according to her publicist Alvin Alton. In a statement emailed to reporters, Mercer said: "No words can express the overwhelming gratitude we feel for the outpouring of support from around the world." Mercer went on to say that she was focused on Odom's recovery. "His complete healing is paramount and our primary focus," she said. Staff writer Christine Mai-Duc contributed to this report | 1 | 95,918 | sports |
TRIPOLI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Tripoli's government on Friday named the two new Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing investigation as Abdullah al-Senussi, the former spy chief of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, and a second man, Mohammed Abu Ejaila. Senussi is currently being held in a jail in Tripoli after he was sentenced for his role in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising against Gaddafi. No details were immediately available on the second suspect in the 1988 airline bombing that killed 270 people. But one person familiar with the case said Ejaila may also be known as Mohammed Abouajela Masud, a known bomb maker. Jamal Zubia, director of the media office of the Tripoli government, sent a message to journalists confirming the names but saying the Libyan attorney general's office had not been officially informed about the two suspects. Scottish and U.S. investigators said on Thursday they had identified two new Libyan suspects in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988, en route from London to New York. Scottish and U.S. authorities said they had informed Libya they wanted to send investigators to the North African country where rival governments and their armed backers are battling for control, four years after the revolt that ousted Gaddafi. In July, a Libyan court sentenced Gaddafi's most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, and eight others including Senussi to death over war crimes including killings of protesters in 2011. They were sentenced to die by firing squad, though rights activists questioned the trial proceedings. In 2001, Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was jailed for life and remains the only person to have been convicted over the bombing. A second Libyan accused of involvement, Lamin Fhima, was tried with Megrahi before a panel of Scottish judges sitting at a special court in the Netherlands but was found not guilty. A Scottish Crown Office spokesman did not name the two new suspects, but said they are now suspected of being involved with Megrahi in carrying out the attack. Masud, the bomb maker, was named in the original charge sheet against Megrahi, according to a person familiar with the case. "The Lord Advocate (Scotland's chief prosecutor) and the U.S. Attorney General are seeking the assistance of the Libyan judicial authorities for Scottish police officers and the FBI to interview the two named suspects in Tripoli," the spokesman said. In 2003, former Libyan leader Gaddafi accepted his country's responsibility for the bombing and paid compensation to the victims' families, but he did not admit personally ordering the attack. Megrahi, who protested his innocence, died in Libya in 2012. He was released three years earlier by Scotland's government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. His family and some relatives of the Scottish victims believe he was wrongly convicted. In December, Scotland's prosecutor said no new evidence had emerged to cast doubt on Megrahi's conviction but attempts to track down accomplices had been hampered by the violence in Libya since Gaddafi's fall. Sending investigators to Libya may be complicated. Most diplomats and foreign staff left the capital last year and closed their embassies after an armed faction called Libya Dawn took over the capital and set up its own government. The North African state has slipped steadily into chaos since the uprising, and now two rival factions have their own governments and parliaments, each backed by loose alliances of former rebels, tribal militias and ex-Gaddafi soldiers. The United Nations is trying to broker a peace agreement and form a unity government to end the crisis that has allowed Islamist militants and people smugglers to gain ground in the security vacuum. (Additional reporting by Kate Holton in London; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Richard Balmforth) | 5 | 95,919 | news |
As if a shot out of a pot bunker wasn't difficult enough, how about executing a gorgeous shot... from between your legs? RELATED: Alvaro Quiros gets rejected by cup on tap-in putt That's what Jonathan Day of Essex was able to pull off in this Instagram video: Trick shot Wednesday #trickshot #golftrickshot Impressive. h/t Geoff Shackelford | 1 | 95,920 | sports |
It takes two a terrorist and a hostage to tango. Jihadi John, the ISIS executioner who beheaded a series of western hostages on camera , once forced one of his prisoners to dance with him in a Syrian prison and talked about twisted torture tactics after the waltz. "He picked me up and I had to dance the tango, John and I," Daniel Rye told Danish broadcaster DR, according to CNN. "My head was down and afraid of being beaten. He led me around the prison." Rye, a 26-year-old Danish photographer who was held hostage in Syria between May 2013 and June 2014, said the ruthless fighter turned violent midway through the dance. "Suddenly, he changed and just pushed me down. They kicked and hit me. They finished by threatening to cut my nose off with pliers and things like that," he said. Rye said the tangoing terrorist was Jihadi John, who Western officials identified as London native Mohammed Emwazi earlier this year. He was introduced to the world last August when ISIS released a video of him severing the head of American freelance journalist James Foley. Foley's execution was followed by a series of equally gruesome videos of the same masked man beheading five other hostages, including Americans Steven Sotloff , 31, and Peter Kassig , 26. He has not appeared in a beheading video since January. His whereabouts are unknown. Rye was released last year after his family forked over a massive ransom. Experts said the twisted tango shows the terrorists' " '(A) Clockwork Orange' sense of sinister humor about torturing. "It's just another addition to the sick and twisted annals of the way ISIS treats human beings," Michael Weiss, co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror," told CNN. "The guys who run this organization, a lot of these guys who control their hostages, they're sadists." [email protected] | 5 | 95,921 | news |
Barbara Reinhard, Credit Suisse, and Jason Trennert, Strategas Research, share their outlook on the market and weigh in on how Fed policy is impacting investors. | 3 | 95,922 | finance |
Alibaba Group Holding said it wants to buy all of the shares of Youku Tudou that it does not already own in a deal valuing the Chinese video streaming company, known as "China's YouTube," at about $5.2 billion. The offer, a vote of confidence in China's economy by Alibaba's Jack Ma, is the latest in a string of U.S.-listed Chinese companies being taken private by big shareholders. The e-commerce giant already owns 18.3 percent of Youku Tudou, having bought into the company in mid 2014 as part of its push into online video. "Alibaba needs traffic. Online or mobile video is the number one place for that," said Tian Hou, an analyst at TH Capital in New York. About 30 U.S.-listed Chinese companies have received offers to go private this year, according to Hong Kong research firm MCM Partners, many in the belief that higher valuations are available back home. In the biggest proposed deal, a consortium offered to buy security software maker Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (QIHU.N) for about $10 billion in June. "Looking ahead, our opinion remains that with a relatively calm domestic market, the going private transaction looks increasingly attractive to founder/managers that have put forward bids," said Ryan Roberts, an analyst at MCM Partners said in a note on Friday. Chinese stocks have been rising recently after falling sharply from June on worries the economy was cooling. Alibaba said its all-cash offer of $26.60 per American Depositary Share represented a premium of 30.2 percent to Youku Tudou's closing price on Thursday. Youku Tudou's New York-listed stock was up 24 percent at$25.26 in premarket trading on Friday. Youku Tudou's chairman and chief executive, Victor Koo, supports Alibaba's offer, Youku Tudou said. Koo, a Bain & Co alumnus who holds an MBA from Stanford University, owns about 18 percent of Youku Tudou, according to a securities filing. Youku Tudou has formed a special committee comprising two independent directors to consider the offer. "Digital products, especially video, are just as important as physical goods in e-commerce," Alibaba Chief Executive Daniel Zhang said in a statement. "Youku's high-quality video content will be a core component of Alibaba's digital product offering in the future." The $5.2 billion valuation is based on Yukou Tudou's 194.47 million shares outstanding as of June 30. Taking into account the cash on Youku Tudou's books, Alibaba will need to pay about $3.6 billion to acquire the rest of the company, according to a source familiar with the matter. Alibaba, whose shares were up about 0.3 percent at $71.99 premarket, said it would fund the offer with cash on hand. | 3 | 95,923 | finance |
Yes, the image above shows the cratered surface of a moon, but it's not ours -- it's Saturn's ice-covered satellite, Enceladus. NASA has received the first batch of photos Cassini captured during its flyby close to the celestial body's north pole on October 14th. This is the first time we've seen that part of Enceladus up close, as it always seemed to be engulfed in wintry darkness those previous times the spacecraft passed by. Apparently, NASA expected its surface to be heavily cratered based on the low-res images taken by Voyager decades ago. While it turns out that it is indeed cratered, we now know that it's also covered in cobwebby cracks. "These thin cracks are ubiquitous on Enceladus," Cassini imaging team member Paul Helfenstein said, "and now we see that they extend across the northern terrains as well." The October 14th flyby was the first in a series of three -- the probe is scheduled to come within 30 miles of the moon's south pole on October 28. The final encounter will be on December 19th, and it might be the last time Cassini flies close to Enceladus , as it has other missions to accomplish within the remaining two years of its life. We've uploaded some of the photos the spacecraft sent back above, but you can see more raw images right here . NASA | 5 | 95,924 | news |
Peter Johnson Jr. weighs in on 'Fox & Friends' | 3 | 95,925 | finance |
NEW YORK -- A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that Google's massive effort to scan millions of books for an online library does not violate copyright law, rejecting claims from a group of authors that the project illegally deprives them of revenue. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected infringement claims from the Authors Guild and several individual writers, and found that the project provides a public service without violating intellectual property law. The authors sued Google, whose parent company is now named Alphabet Inc, in 2005, a year after the project was launched. They claimed that the scanning illegally deprived them of revenue. But Google argued that the effort would actually boost book sales by making it easier for readers to find works, while introducing them to books they might not otherwise have seen. A Google spokesman and a lawyer for the authors both did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google had said it could face billions of dollars in potential damages if the authors prevailed. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, who oversaw the case at the lower court level, dismissed the litigation in 2013, prompting the authors' appeal. Chin found Google's scanning of tens of millions of books and posting "snippets" online constituted "fair use" under U.S. copyright law. A unanimous three-judge appeals panel said the case "tests the boundaries of fair use," but found Google's practices were ultimately allowed under the law. "Google's division of the page into tiny snippets is designed to show the searcher just enough context surrounding the searched term to help her evaluate whether the book falls within the scope of her interest (without revealing so much as to threaten the author's copyright interests)," Circuit Judge Pierre Leval wrote for the court. The 2nd Circuit had previously rejected a similar lawsuit from the Authors Guild in June 2014 against a consortium of universities and research libraries that built a searchable online database of millions of scanned works. Google Books began after the company agreed with several major research libraries to digitize current and out-of-print books from their collections. The individual plaintiffs who filed the proposed class action against Google included former New York Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton, the author of the acclaimed memoir, "Ball Four." The case is Authors Guild v. Google Inc, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 13-4829. | 3 | 95,926 | finance |
If you're torn between making your Venti red eye coffee run before the gym, or after, opt for the former: Turns out that caffeine boost really can, well, boost your body's ability to get the most out of an exercise session. "Coffee mimics the effect of exercise and boosts fat burning during a workout," says Ori Hofmekler, founder of Defense Nutrition and author of The Warrior Diet. Indeed, a recent study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition found that athletes who consumed 4.5 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight before exercise burned about 15 percent more calories, for three hours post-exercise, than those who ingested a placebo. For a 185-pound man, that's comes out to about 378 mg of caffeine roughly the amount in about 16 ounces of brewed coffee. "That's a quantity you might already be sipping each morning," says Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian and New York Times bestselling author, who is also the sports nutrition consultant to the New York Yankees. Coffee provides what Hofmekler calls "fast energy," which is exactly what you need to get you out the door in the first place. Motivation to work out plus more fat-burning bang for your buck? That's enough to sell us on a pre-leg day dose of caffeine but, as it turns out, there are even more reasons why that jolt of java might be a good idea: Less Pain, More Gain Coffee, like good jeans and painkillers, is fundamental. It might therefore come as no surprise to learn that a 2008 study, conducted at the University of Illinois, found that consuming the amount of caffeine found in two to three cups of joe one hour before a 30-minute, high-powered workout actually reduced muscle pain. Less pain means a greater ability to push yourself, leading to better gains. Go With the Flow Not only does coffee get you moving, it also gets your blood flowing in the literal sense. A Japanese study from 2013 had participants drink five-ounce cups of either regular or decaf coffee, then tested blood flow (via the finger) to gauge the effect on small blood vessel function. Researchers found that the people who drank caffeinated coffee experienced a 30 percent increase in blood flow over a 75-minute period. When it comes to exercise, that's a significant advantage, because better blood flow means more oxygen for your muscles meaning, once again, an ability to get more out of your workout. Save Your Strength Depressing but true: As we age, our muscles lose strength. Less depressing: Sports scientists at Coventry University found that caffeine consumption can help to protect muscles from deteriorating which means it could also help to prevent age-related injuries while exercising. Power Play Feel the need for speed? Get your French Roast fix before you step on the treadmill or track: According to the results of a study published in Sports Medicine , caffeine has "been shown to increase speed and/or power output in simulated race conditions," and can be considered a "powerful ergogenic aid," (that is, it increases physical performance). Solid reasons all to stop for that cup of joe before you break a sweat. And, in case you're wondering whether or not caffeine supplements would have the same effect, well ... they might. But Sass says coffee is the safer (and possibly healthier) bet. "I think coffee is fairly predictable, meaning most people know how they feel after drinking coffee, whereas supplements that contain caffeine may be unpredictable, or may be mixed with other stimulants or substances that affect your mental and/or physical performance," she says. Plus, "coffee has also been shown to offer additional benefits, including a high dose of antioxidants." Bottoms up! | 7 | 95,927 | health |
This is the way the Viper's world could end: not with the bang of obsolescence or defeat at the hands of its megabuck Eurotrash competitors, but with the whimper of a union contract that just happens to close one small-scale manufacturing facility. The supposed end of the Conner Avenue plant in 2017 would also be the end of the Viper. There's just no case to be made for restarting production somewhere else. It might impact FCA's ability to turn out more crossovers or something like that. (Note: This was originally published on 10/15/2015, but with the news that you can no longer order a Viper , we thought it deserved a second look from you. - Ed.) There's still time for you to go out and buy a Dodge Viper. There's still time for me to go out and buy a Dodge Viper. Still time for all of us to save our pennies for a down payment. So we cannot say that we weren't given plenty of notice, plenty of warning. Because the day that Conner Avenue closes, it won't just be the Viper that growls off into that good night; it will be the idea of the Great American Car itself. I don't know if the Viper has ever been a terribly good car. The first-generation cars had the half-life of flerovium-289 and seemed to disintegrate while you were looking at them. The early coupes were rattle-trap affairs. The 500-horsepower SRT-10 seemed to have had its emotional rheostat turned halfway towards the setting marked "Corvette." It wasn't until the Viper got variable valve timing and some serious chassis tuning that it became the all-conquering track weapon that we know today. As of 2015, however, the Viper still has some cheap interior parts and it still smells weird when it gets hot and it still sounds like a UPS truck at a distance. What can I say? If you want a well-rounded sports-y vehicle, get yourself an M235i xDrive. No, the greatness of the Viper is in its very spirit, its very conception. It's the idea that supercars can be built in Detroit. It's the idea that the hyper-rich sheikhs and software moguls and Russian oligarchs out there don't get an exclusive monopoly on driving a six-hundred-plus-horsepower nightmare chariot with wings that wouldn't disgrace a Bleriot monoplane. It's the idea that a working-class man in Phoenix can save up most of his life and spend his hard-earned money on something built by other hard-working Americans in Michigan and that at no point do we require the approval of Enzo Ferrari or Ferdinand Piech to make that happen. It's the way the SRT guys set the "Nurburgring record" by using cars that were already in dealership inventory. It's the way that you could buy a Viper ACR-X and race heads-up against Ralph Gilles and have a good chance of beating him. It's the "1 of 1" program and all the wonderfully tacky ideas people have to make absolutely tasteless and trashy-looking Vipers that they earned the right to buy with the sweat of their own brows. And if you don't like it, friend, then I suggest you go to the Ferrari dealer and humbly petition to be permitted to buy a used 430 Scuderia at MSRP-plus. The Viper is the Harley-Davidson Ultra Glide of automobiles: unashamedly gauche, brilliantly satisfying, absolutely fit for purpose. Yes, the Corvette is a great car, and it's made in America, but from the very moment the first one appeared in 1953, there was always a sort of Euro-longing about it. Only the ridiculous Coke-bottle Vettes of the late Seventies ever really managed to wave two fingers in the direction of our Continental betters. The rest of the time the Corvette has been deliberately aimed at Porsche and Ferrari and BMW. Not so with the Viper. It's aimed at ... something else. Consider the fact that you can buy the ACR package and the full Laguna luxury package, all in one car. Porsche wouldn't let you do that, wouldn't let you have a GT3RS with puffy leather seats and the big sound system and all the useless trimmings, because Porsche knows what you need better than you do, and you should listen to Porsche when they tell you what to buy. The Dodge guys, on the other hand, will let you mix and match. Why not? So what if you make a bright-pink ACR with steel brakes and heated seats? What's it matter? This is America! You paid for the car, you should get what you want! Don't worry about the hype: You don't need to be a pro racer to drive a Viper on track, and you don't need a titanium spine to drive it off-track. These final-generation cars are surprisingly pleasant to operate. Owning one isn't a test of masculinity. The decision to buy one, on the other hand-well, to go out and buy the last stick-shift, non-turbo, ten-cylinder, big-wing, hot-cockpit, snake-shaped car on sale in the world today, that's a pretty manly thing to do. Which is why most Viper owners are men. But there are female Viper buyers, too. God bless those ladies. Please write me care of this website. So even if the sun is about to set on this splendid automobile, even if the tide of egg-shaped CUVs rolling out of FCA's union-approved factories exceeds in one hour the number of Vipers built for all time, even if every "supercar" you'll ever be able to buy from now on does everything from your differential adjustments to your laser cruise control for you, at least I can rest easy knowing that some of you will still pull the trigger before it's too late. As long as there are still Vipers in private garages somewhere out there, there is still hope for the renaissance of the truly American automobile. Don't let the Canadians who wrote "Red Barchetta" fool you: The last automobile to flee an "alloy aircar" at full throttle won't be a Ferrari. It will be a Viper. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook & Twitter | 9 | 95,928 | autos |
No executions will be scheduled in Oklahoma until at least next year as the attorney general's office investigates why the state used the wrong drug during a lethal injection in January and nearly did so again last month, the office said Friday. Attorney General Scott Pruitt made the disclosure when he and lawyers for death row inmates asked a federal judge to suspend a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol. The judge agreed after both sides said they wanted the case put on hold while Pruitt investigates how the state twice got the wrong drug. Executions have been delayed in a handful of states because of drug issues, including Arkansas, where state officials on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to allow lethal injections to resume. A judge put executions on hold last week, after inmates challenged an Arkansas law that allows prison officials not to disclose where they get execution drugs. Oklahoma has a similar law. The latest investigation in Oklahoma came after Gov. Mary Fallin called off the execution of Richard Glossip just hours before he was scheduled to die on Sept. 30. Prison officials discovered they had potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride, the specified final drug in Oklahoma's three-drug execution process. A week later, a newly released autopsy report showed the state had used potassium acetate to execute Charles Warner in January. Warner was originally scheduled to die in April 2014, the same night as Clayton Lockett, who writhed and moaned before dying 43 minutes after his initial injection. Lockett's botched execution, which was ultimately blamed on an improperly placed intravenous line, also prompted the state to delay executions as it investigated. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has issued indefinite stays for Glossip and two other inmates who were set for execution this year in Oklahoma. Friday's court filing said Pruitt won't request any execution dates until at least 150 days after his investigation is complete, the results are made public, and his office receives notice that the prisons department can comply with the state's execution protocol. "My office does not plan to ask the court to set an execution date until the conclusion of its investigation," Pruitt said in a statement. Dale Baich, an attorney for the inmates, said it would be difficult to pursue civil litigation amid an ongoing criminal investigation. "So putting the case on hold while the investigations play out is a prudent thing to do," Baich said. The autopsy report from Warner's execution on Jan. 15 said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner received two syringes labeled "potassium chloride," but that the vials used to fill the syringes were labeled "single dose Potassium Acetate Injection." The execution log said the state used potassium chloride to stop Warner's heart, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press. The next inmate scheduled to die was Glossip, but the governor stepped in after learning that a pharmacist whose identity is shielded by state law had given the prison potassium acetate. Experts on pharmaceuticals and chemistry told the AP that differences between the two forms could be relevant, because potassium chloride is more quickly absorbed by the body and more potassium acetate may be needed to achieve the same effect. Questions about execution drugs also prompted delays in Mississippi, where a federal judge in August blocked the state from using pentobarbital or midazolam in lethal injections and ordered the state to seek his approval before trying any other drug. The state and inmates' attorneys say the ruling has stopped executions. Executions have been on hold in Arizona since shortly after the nearly two-hour death of Joseph Rudolph Wood in July 2014. The state agreed to halt executions pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by inmates seeking more information about execution protocols. The Tennessee Supreme Court has put all executions on hold there while legal issues related to its lethal injection protocol are sorted out in court. Similar issues have blocked executions in Kentucky. ___ Associated Press writers contributing to this report included Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Jeff Amy in Jackson, Mississippi; Astrid Galvan in Tucson, Arizona; and Scott Stroud in Nashville, Tennessee. | 5 | 95,929 | news |
The winter season is littered with plenty of social traps to overeat and indulge, but to avoid winter weight gain, there are a few things to keep in mind. Krystin Goodwin (@krystingoodwin) has five tips to avoid the winter waistline bulge! | 8 | 95,930 | video |
Prince William is opening up about his two little royals! The dad of two is giving us a little bit of dish about his kid's personalities and we want more! During a visit at St. John's College in Cambridge, the Duke spoke candidly about his kids, saying little Prince George is very lively and Princess Charlotte is very lady-like. And the 33-year-old royal adds, they are both delightful, of course! Hey Will, if you're looking for another nanny, we're available! | 6 | 95,931 | entertainment |
Forbes contributor Jay McGregor continues his long-running buying guide with this iPhone 6S run-down and provides 5 reasons to consider an upgrade. | 3 | 95,932 | finance |
Members of a fraternity at New York City's Baruch College decided on Friday to waive their right to preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania on criminal charges related to the 2013 hazing death of a pledge at a rented house in the Pocono Mountains. Nine of the 37 fraternity members charged in connection with the death of Chun "Michael" Deng, 19, of Oakland Park, New York, appeared before Magisterial District Judge Richard Claypool in Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. At the last minute, eight of them opted to do without a hearing, and the ninth was granted a postponement. The hearing would have given prosecutors their first opportunity to outline their cases against the fraternity members. Now the cases will advance to Monroe County Court of Common Pleas in Stroudsburg. Deng died of brain and other injuries inflicted in December 2013 during a pledging ritual known as the "glass ceiling," police say. Blindfolded and wearing a 30-pound pack, he was tackled repeatedly and slammed to the ground, they say. The pack was supposed to represent the weight of Pi Delta Psi, which describes itself as an Asian-American cultural fraternity. The "glass ceiling" gauntlet is intended to symbolize the difficulties Asian-Americans experience in battling prejudice. Deng's death is one of four associated with hazing rituals at U.S. university fraternities over the last three years. The social organizations, usually identified by Greek letters, have come under fire for physical and mental initiations that have sometimes turned brutal and demeaning. The eight opting to forgo hearings are all from New York state: Allen Wong, 24, of Queens; Danny Chen, 23, of Maspeth; Theodore Sung, 20, of Valley Stream; Christopher Ly, 22, of Woodhaven; Benny Yan, 21, of Manhattan; Allen Chen, 21, of Flushing; Grant Chen, 24, of Flushing; and Curtis Chung, 20, of Elmhurst. None of them, prosecutors say, took part in the assault on Deng, but they are alleged to have lied to the Pocono Mountain Regional Police or helped hide evidence. Each is charged with four felonies and one misdemeanor. The ninth defendant, Andy Meng, 30, of Bayside, New York, asked for a postponement. Meng, who was national president of Pi Delta Psi at the time, is charged with starting the attempt to cover up the crimes with a phone call to fraternity members still at the house, which is about 96 miles west of New York City. He allegedly told them to hide anything that would connect the crimes to the fraternity. Twenty-eight other members, including five charged with third-degree murder and aggravated assault, will have preliminary hearings at later dates. (Reporting by David DeKok; Editing By Frank McGurty and Mohammad Zargham) | 5 | 95,933 | news |
The Stanford Cardinal took down the UCLA Bruins 56-35 on Thursday night, and Matt Brown joins us to weigh in on what the win means for Stanford's season. | 1 | 95,934 | sports |
By Tripfilms filmmaker CatchCarri. It's time for one of the most fun-inspired holidays of the year: Halloween! Whether you've got little kids that love fall activities, or you're a big kid yourself who wants a good scare, there's something for all ages at the Maize in the City, located just 15 minutes from Denver.Share your travel videos on Tripfilms.com! | 2 | 95,935 | travel |
9 Things I Tell My Patients as a Registered Dietitian I'm Jessica Jones. As a Registered Dietitian for a primary care clinic, I counsel hundreds of patients on medical nutrition therapy for weight management, hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Translation: I help people eat healthier. While no two nutrition counseling sessions are exactly alike (part of the reason why I love my job), there are a few things I tell most patients to improve their chances for success. Here they are: 1. Tell me why you're here in the first place Do me a favor and channel Patti Stanger for a moment remember her infamous "Why love now?" question? Now transfer that concept to nutrition. One of the first things I need to learn from every patient that steps into my office is, what is their motivation for change. I'll ask, "Why are you ready to improve your diet today?" or "What would losing 20 pounds mean for you?" It may seem simple, but discovering this motivation is everything. Times 10. It's important to find out what's driving you to make change, so you can stay focused in achieving your goals. For some of my patients, the answers may be, "I want to feel more confident about myself" or "I want to be in shape so I can play with my kids after school." Whatever it is, find it, tap into it, embrace it, and use it to light your fire. 2. Eating healthy tastes really good I hate canned vegetables. The fact of the matter is, vegetables were never meant to be mushy or dull, rather works of art that should be cooked to a crispy perfection. (Or eaten raw if that's your flavor.) Sometimes, when my patients think about eating more healthfully, they imagine lifeless canned string beans, soggy carrots 'n' peas, and rock hard brown rice. The reality is that the healthiest foods taste incredible. And anything less than incredible does not deserve a place at your dinner table. For example, if brown rice by itself doesn't "hit the spot" as my granddaddy would say, spice it up with cilantro, onions, garlic, and a teaspoon of EVOO for more flavor. If you need ideas for simple, healthy plant-based recipes, you can find tons on my website, Food Heaven Made Easy . 3. Planning is the key to success Planning is the pinnacle of healthy eating. But sometimes it feels like a drag. My patients have a lot going on in their lives, and spending an hour a week creating a meal plan may seem like more trouble than it's worth. It's not. An hour a week will save you time, money, calories, and even a little bit of inner-turmoil in the end. Think of it this way: without a plan, any one of us would choose to go to that not-so-healthy fast food joint when we're hungry. It doesn't make you a bad person or incapable of reaching your health goals, it just means you didn't have a strong enough plan in place that day. If you need more help with meal planning, watch my Meal Planning Made Easy video here . 4. It's all about baby steps My patients will often come to me with the goal of dropping 50 pounds in two months. I always smile inside. Goals are good. Realistic goals are better. Studies suggest that the average weight loss is 18 pounds in 6 months. Losing 50 pounds in two months is not impossible, but it's highly unlikely, and potentially unsafe. Not to mention that most people who lose weight fast typically gain it all back and then some. I totally understand that faster results can be more exciting, but it's the small changes that add up to big results over time. 5. Eat vegetables. Always and in all ways There are two ways to go about getting enough veggies in your daily diet. One is making ½ of your plate vegetables for most of your meals, also known as the MyPlate method for meal planning. It sounds so basic, but I promise you it works. My patients who are able to do this lose more weight, improve their blood sugar levels, reduce constipation, and lower their cholesterol levels. If the MyPlate method doesn't make sense for you (or if you have, say, a soup for dinner), the other way to ensure you are getting enough veggies is to eat at least three cups per day every day. It doesn't matter if they are with meals or as snacks, but three cups is the bottom line for optimal health. 6. For the love of fruit, step away from the juice You might hate me for this, but I'm just going to come out and say it: I don't recommend drinking fruit juice, or anything else that's loaded with sugar. My patients often rebuttal with, but what about "natural" fresh squeezed orange juice? And my answer is still, "I don't recommend it." In most cases, it's better to have seltzer water instead of soda, or eat your fruit rather than drink it. The whole fruit gives you all the vitamins and minerals, and is also loaded with fiber, which stabilizes blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, and helps you feel full. Instead of soda, energy drinks, or fruit juice, I always recommend water, unsweetened almond milk , my sugar free mocha freeze recipe , or fruit infused water . 7. Focus on making sustainable changes My patients often tell me that when their doctor diagnosed them with pre-diabetes, they cut out tortillas. And rice. And beans. And fruit. And corn. And almost everything in between. While the motivation to get their health on track is excellent and greatly appreciated (serious kudos), I probe them to explore whether or not this is something they can do long term. Healthy eating is about making sustainable lifestyle changes, one small step at a time. While cutting back on some of those simple carbohydrates can be a good thing, completely eliminating a food group that includes cultural foods that you love, may not be realistic for the long haul. (Who wants to live in a world without tacos? I'm not a monster!) We'll work together to find the happy, healthy, and sustainable path. 8. You're really the expert, not me When it comes to your health and diet, I may have a recommendation or two on potential room for improvement, but remember that you are the expert of your life. In fact, most of the time, during my visits, the patient is the one doing all of the talking. I am merely a supporting role in helping facilitate strategies for success. I always tell my patients that they are the ones who usually come up with the best blueprints for behavior change because they know themselves so well. 9. Don't let a slip become a fall One of my favorite professors in grad school used to tell us not to let a slip become a fall. These words have always stuck with me. Just like you, I too can have a bad day (or week), where I should have stopped at one cookie before bed and somehow ate three, or The Real Housewives marathon got the best of me and I didn't get to prep my lunch for the next day. Know that this is 100 percent normal. No one is perfect perfect is boring. When you have a slip, chalk it up to the game of life and just try to do better next time. Never give up. You're way too awesome. | 7 | 95,936 | health |
An inventor from Montreal, Canada invented a hoverboard that could actually fly. | 8 | 95,937 | video |
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In order to welcome the New England Patriots to town, Taylor's Bakery in Indianapolis baked up some epic "Deflategate" goodies to remind us all of some of the highlights of the scandalous investigation. Since Deflategate all started with under-inflated footballs (allegedly), here's an awesome cake replica of a squishy football, which sells for quite the bargain at $15. #DeflateCakes will be on sale Friday 10/16/15 for $15. #ColtsNation make sure to get one before the big #Colts game! pic.twitter.com/3fWQsN5fwk Taylor's Bakery (@TaylorsBakery) October 15, 2015 And, we cannot forget Tom Brady accidentally (or purposely) breaking his cell phone, which likely contained tons of super-secret and potentially incriminating evidence pertaining to his alleged involvement in the scandal. What does #coltsnation think about 'Broken Cell Phone' cookies? #colts #NEvsIND pic.twitter.com/XnBOq37FJ0 Taylor's Bakery (@TaylorsBakery) October 16, 2015 Another highlight of the investigation was that wretched picture of Brady that the sketch artist completely botched making the handsome quarterback look like a character in a horror film. Tom Brady "monster" cookies now available! #ColtsNation pic.twitter.com/nWTUIDf2Bz Taylor's Bakery (@TaylorsBakery) October 16, 2015 We can be sure there is probably a line a mile long heading to Taylor's bakery. Folks will be eager to get their hands on some souvenir Deflategate baked goods before Sunday evening's grudge matchup between the Colts and Pats. | 1 | 95,939 | sports |
As we've seen, some observers believe that Kirk Cousins is treated differently than Robert Griffin III. Turns out this issue is also a topic in Chicago, where a local radio host brought it up during an interview with NBC Sports' Rodney Harrison. [ Bomani Jones is the world's biggest Cousins skeptic ] "I was not a fan of Robert Griffin III the last year and a half, last couple years," Jason Goff said this week during the Spiegel and Goff show on 670 The Score . "He was hurt, he seemed like he was saying all the wrong things. But Kirk Cousins is bad. And it seems like all the grenades that everyone is trying to fall over because they were proved right that Robert Griffin III wouldn't be a lasting, viable option it seems like nobody is making the same comments about Kirk Cousins, who has been underwhelming at best, and who is getting to the point where he's going to start losing football games for the Washington Redskins." "Well first and foremost, we see every week that there's a lot of bad quarterback play, so I think we're used to that," Harrison replied. "What we don't see is guys being jerks at the quarterback position. And Robert Griffin III was a jerk. He was a flat-out jerk. And when you look at Kirk Cousins, he comes and he says all the right things. And he's trying, he's fighting, his team is out there supporting him, he's doing everything he can to win. "We understand that you're not going to be Tom Brady, you're not a future Hall of Famer," Harrison went on. "But I think we do respect that a guy's out there fighting. You look at [Josh] McCown for the Cleveland Browns; he didn't play particularly well a couple weeks ago, he comes back and throws for [457] yards or whatever it was. But I think we respect guys that work hard and try to do the right thing and stay humble. Robert Griffin didn't do that, and he lost the respect of his teammates, as well as the guys in the media." [ Aug. 31, 2015: Ryan Clark says RGIII lacks 'meaningful locker room relationships' ] As early as last November, Harrison was advocating the Redskins cut ties with Griffin, far before this became a mainstream opinion. "I've seen enough. I don't think he fits in the system. I think you have to get rid of him," Harrison said after Griffin's poor showing against the Buccaneers. "They've surrounded [Griffin] with great weapons. I just think it comes down to RGIII. I don't think he can read coverages. The offensive line is really bad. Defensively they gave up a lot of plays. They have a lot of issues on this team." By the way, you'll recall that a great many folks present company included suggested that Griffin would be an unbearable distraction if he remained on Washington's roster as the third quarterback this season. That seems to have been, um, incorrect. (Via @Bearsoutsider ) | 1 | 95,940 | sports |
An LA doctor flying home from her honeymoon on Oct. 7 ended up delivering a baby on the flight while 30,000 feet in the air when a passenger went into early labor. Dr. Angelica Zen, a resident physician at UCLA, was on the Air China flight from Taiwan to LA after spending her honeymoon in Bali. She told KABC-TV that the flight attendants acted as stand-in nurses, and most passengers were asleep until the cabin lights came on for the delivery. She said that the baby looked healthy and the mother was happy. | 2 | 95,941 | travel |
Whether it's no big deal or a perplexing affront to your vanity, gray hair is a fact of life and still a bit of a mystery. 1. How Hair Turns Gray Hair grows in a follicle, a bulb-like tube on your scalp. The average head has 100,000 to 150,000 follicles, each operating independently from the others. Hair in its basic, unpigmented state is white. It gets its color from melanin, a pigment that also determines skin color. Two types of melanin, eumelanin (dark brown or black) and phaeomelanin (reddish yellow), combine to make all the hair colors. One hypothesis for why hair goes gray is that aging slows or stops the hair from accessing the melanin, so it comes out gray, silver, or white instead. 2. Hair May Bleach Itself From The Inside Out New research reveals that graying may be from a build-up of hydrogen peroxide in the hair cell, which causes the hair to bleach itself on the inside. Cells naturally have a small amount of hydrogen peroxide in them, but it's kept in check by an enzyme called catalase, which converts the hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water. As we age, the body produces less catalase, so the hydrogen peroxide builds up and, according to theNew York Times, blocks "the normal synthesis of melanin, the natural pigment in hair." Thus the hair turns gray, giving new meaning to the phrase "peroxide blonde." 3. Graying Is Caused By Heredity When you're born, your genes are already hardwired for when and how your hair will turn gray. This includes premature graying people who gray before age 30 usually do so because it runs in the family. For most of us, graying starts in middle age. Dermatologists go by the 50/50/50 rule of thumb: by age 50, half the population will have at least 50 percent gray hair although a worldwide survey showed that number was much lower, with only 6 to 23 percent of people half gray by age 50. 4. Race Is Also A Factor In a related matter, race also determines when you're likely to gray. In general, Caucasians gray in their mid-30s, Asians in their late-30s, and African Americans in their 40s. 5. Plucking One Gray Hair Will Not Cause Three To Grow In Its Place This old wives' tale is a myth. Each follicle can contain only one hair, and plucking it won't make it able to produce multiple hairs. Furthermore, what you do to one follicle has no effect on the ones around it. That said, excessive plucking isn't a good idea it can damage the follicles and even stop hair production in that area altogether. 6. Stress Probably Plays A Role In Graying When President Obama went gray his first term in office, was it stress, age, or a combination of both? Scientists aren't sure. While some researchers say that your genes alone are responsible for gray hair, others say that there seems to be a connection between graying and stress, just no direct link to prove it. In 2011, a study by Nobel Prize winner Robert Lefkowitz discovered that long-term productions of the body's fight or flight response the instinctive ability to mobilize energy in response to a threatening situation can damage your DNA and cause premature aging, including graying hair. 7. Trauma Won't Make You Go Gray Overnight Another myth is that a major shock will cause your hair to suddenly turn gray. This is sometimes called the Marie Antoinette Syndrome because the French queen's hair supposedly turned white the night before she was beheaded. But hair, once grown, doesn't change color, so waking up with a head of white hair isn't going to happen. Although there is a very rare condition where all of the colored hairs can fall out, leaving only white hairs behind, the simpler answer is that Marie Antoinette probably just took off her wig. 8. Smoking May Cause You To Prematurely Gray Multiple studies have linked smoking with premature aging, which includes early graying. In 2013, a study found that there is a significant relationship between smoking and gray hair in people under 30. In fact, "smokers were two and half times more prone to develop PHG" or premature hair graying. 9. Body Hair Also Turns Gray All your body hair chest, nose, pubic, etc. can turn gray. Body hair tends to gray at a different rate than the hair on your head, which is why some men can have gray beards and brown hair, or visa versa. By the way, dyeing gray pubic hair is a thing. 10. Someday, Research May Lead To A Gray Hair Cure Scientists in Europe discovered a breakthrough with vitiligo, a disease where skin loses pigment and develops white patches. Like hair, vitiligo is caused by "massive oxidative stress via accumulation of hydrogen peroxide," causing the skin to bleach itself from the inside out. Researchers have successfully treated the discolored skin and eyelashes of vitiligo patients, which has led some to predict a potential cure for gray hair. But while the idea sounds promising, history is full of tonics and creams claiming to cure gray hair. As far as we know, none of them have worked yet. More on MSN: 7 Foods That Are Making You Bloated 7 Surprising Things You Didn't Know Vitamin D Could Do For You | 7 | 95,942 | health |
Researchers found that bees will ignore pretty much everything for some caffeine-filled nectar. | 8 | 95,943 | video |
The first product ever made by the tech behemoth Apple (AAPL) went up for auction on Thursday and is expected to fetch bids between £300,000 ($463,000) and £500,000 ($772,000). The Apple-1 computer, created in 1976 by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, helped put the company on its road to global prominence. The Apple-1 was superseded by the more advanced Apple-II in 1977, and the original PCs were discontinued and most of them returned to the California-based company. This makes the Apple-1 up for sale this week by Christie's auction house somewhat of a rarity. The auctioneers state that this example was last working in 2005, but hasn't been turned on in the last 10 years. "Of those Apple-1s that survived, fewer and fewer examples remain in private hands. Fifteen extant examples are in public collections, including the Smithsonian Museum of Art, Washington D.C. and other museums of technology or science worldwide," the auction house said in a statement on its website. The auction started Thursday with the opening bid set at £240,000. It's an online auction and will run until October 29 with interested parties able to place their bids through Christie's website. The estimated final price by Christie's is between £300,000 and £500,000. This item also comes with an "extremely rare" first manual issued by the Apple computer company. The Apple-1 personal computer carried a reported retail price of $666.66 in 1976. Other units have been sold at auction in recent years. In July 2013, Christie's auctioned off an early Apple-1 signed by Wozniak for $387,750. | 3 | 95,944 | finance |
This type of green tea offers more than a hundred times the antioxidant properties of just regular old green tea. It's an ancient beverage that contains some serious health benefits. | 7 | 95,945 | health |
Bernie Sanders has rejected a political donation from Martin Shkreli, the drug company boss who tried to rise the price of an Aids and cancer drug by 5,455%. Related: Turing boss Martin Shkreli says Daraprim price drop 'might curtail research for lethal diseases' "We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed," said the Democratic presidential hopeful's spokesman Michael Briggs. Shkreli's $2,700 donation the maximum individual contribution allowed will be handed over to the Whitman-Walker health clinic in Washington, which specialises in treating HIV/Aids patients in the LGBT community. The Turing Pharmaceutical CEO, who had announced an increase in the price of parasitic infection drug Daraprim to $750 a pill from $13.50 a pill, said he was "furious" that Sanders has publicly rejected his money without discussing his side of the story on drug pricing. Shkreli, 32, who made the donation last month, told the Boston Globe that he had made the donation in order to secure a private meeting with Sanders, a Vermont senator. "I think it's cheap to use one person's action as a platform without kind of talking to that person," Shkreli said. "He'll take my money, but he won't engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better." He said that if given the chance he would like to ask Sanders if he understood that drug companies sometimes need to charge high prices in order to pay for life-saving pharmaceutical developments. "Is he willing to sort of accept that there is a tradeoff, that to take risks for innovation, companies have to invest lots of money and they need some kind of return for that, and what does he think that should look like?" Shkreli said. "And quite frankly, what I'm worried [about] is that he doesn't have an answer for that, that he's appealing to the masses, that he's just kind of talking out of his rear end so that he gets some votes." Damn @BernieSanders is my boy with that Kosovo reference. Gets my full endorsement. I did donate to him... Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 14, 2015 Shkreli, who is chief executive of drug company Turing, made public his donation to Sanders during the Democratic debate earlier this week, when he tweeted: " Damn @BernieSanders is my boy with that Kosovo reference. Gets my full endorsement. I did donate to him…" During the debate, Sanders, the main rival to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, continued his fight against the drug industry saying: "I would lump Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry at the top of my list of people who do not like me." My work here is done. You can find me at the corner of "no comment" and "keep my name out of your mouth". Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 14, 2015 When Shkreli became aware that Sanders had rejected his donation, he said: "Instead of having an intelligent discussion on healthcare Bernie Sanders would rather hold his hands over his ears and be a demagogue." Sanders is not the only presidential candidate to have poured scorn of Shkreli. Clinton accused him of price gouging and Republican presidential poll leader Donald Trump reportedly said he looked like a "spoiled brat" . | 5 | 95,946 | news |
Heritage high school's Logan Pickett has been a huge part of the football team and he'll never forget this special moment. | 1 | 95,947 | sports |
MMA fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller was once again arrested Friday morning, this time on suspicion of assaulting a police officer after a domestic disturbance at his home in Mission Viejo, Calif. Orange County Sheriff's Department officials told TMZ that police responded to calls about an altercation between Miller and two women . When officers arrived, the former UFC star was "aggressive and uncooperative" and attacked police. Miller allegedly threw a ceramic tile and threatened to use a fire extinguisher and metal pole as weapons. When Miller refused to calm down, officers broke out a taser and struggled for eight minutes to get him under control. He was eventually subdued and booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. The women who were arguing with Miller were reportedly refusing to cooperate with investigators. Anyone who has kept tabs on Miller knows he lives up to his Mayhem nickname for all the wrong reasons. This is already the second time this year he has gotten into a fight with police officers, and you can see a video of the last incident here . Miller, who is 28-9 and last fought in 2012, was arrested in 2012 after an infamous naked church romp , though he did get the charges dropped. He was arrested twice in Aug. 2013 on separate domestic violence charges . He was also arrested in Oct. after a standoff with a SWAT team. | 1 | 95,948 | sports |
Chef Gerard Viverito creates a healthy Malaysian chicken dish for The Daily Meal viewers. | 8 | 95,949 | video |
Metabolism. It's the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of living organisms. It's such a big concept that it's understandable to feel as if it's beyond your control. Not true! There are a bunch of quick and easy diet and lifestyle changes you can make to boost your metabolism, make your body run more efficiently, and reach your weight-loss and fitness goals faster. Just follow this checklist. 1. Eat ENOUGH If you want to weigh less, you've got to eat less, right? Well, if you take in too few calories, it can cause your body to lose muscle mass, which will decrease the rate of your metabolism . Plus, when you skimp on calories, your body slows the rate at which is burns calories to conserve the fuel it's got. "Under-fueling is just as risky as over-fueling," explains Carolyn Brown, MS RD at Foodtrainers in Manhattan. Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN agrees: "In an attempt for quick, noticeable weight loss, many people wrongfully believe that eating as few calories as possible is the best solution. Not only can this lead to numerous nutritional deficiencies as the body is getting less food overall, it can actually have the opposite effect on weight loss." Instead of cutting calories like crazy, use the simple diet and exercise hacks below that can help you slim down quickly and safely without screwing up your metabolism. 2. Have an egg yolk or two! Although it's true that egg whites are low in calories, fat free and contain most of the protein found in an egg, eating the entire egg is beneficial to your metabolism . The yolk contains many metabolism-stoking nutrients, including fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids and most significantly choline, a powerful compound that attacks the gene mechanism that triggers your body to store fat around your liver. Worried about cholesterol? New studies have found that moderate consumption of two whole eggs per day has no negative effect of a person's lipid (fat) profile and may actually improve it. 3. Kick things up a notch When it comes to the best workouts for weight loss , neither weights nor cardio can completely move the needle on their own. Interval training is the best way to shed pounds, increase your metabolism, improve your cholesterol profile, and improve insulin sensitivity. At the gym, sign up for a HIIT class, or turn your favorite aerobic exercise, (running, biking, even walking) into an interval workout by adding periods of intense speed (start with 30 to 60 seconds) followed by periods of rest (normal speed) for the same amount of time. Do this six to 10 times to complete a fat-slashing workout. As you get better, slowly increase the amount of time of increased intensity. 4. Use extra virgin olive oil Our bodies need dietary fat particularly healthy oils in order to lose weight and function properly. The right kinds of fats and oils help quash hunger, maximize your metabolism, and speed nutrients through your body. Healthy monounsaturated fats like olive oil can actually help the body to burn calories. Extra virgin olive oil may also increase blood levels of serotonin, a hormone associated with satiety. Plus, olive oil is also loaded with polyphenols, antioxidants that help battle many diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis and brain deterioration. 5. Put on some muscle Even when you're at rest, your body is constantly burning calories. In fact, 75% of the calories that you burn each day are being used up just keeping you alive. "Resting metabolic rate" is much higher in people with more muscle, because every pound of muscle uses about 6 calories a day just to sustain itself. If you can pack on just five pounds of muscle and sustain it, you'll burn the caloric equivalent of three pounds of fat over the course of a year. 6. Drink green tea If you always opt for coffee over tea , you could be missing out on a major metabolism boost. In a recent 12-week study, participants who drank 4-5 cups of green tea daily, then did a 25-minute workout, lost an average of two more pounds and more belly fat than the non tea-drinking exercisers. What's its magic? The brew contains catechins, a type of antioxidant that triggers the release of fat from fat cells and helps speed the liver's capacity for turning fat into energy. 7. Eat carbs at night The theory makes sense: Your body burns carbs for energy, but if you eat them before you go to sleep, your body just stores them as fat. But the pastanomics of weight loss aren't so simple. One study in the European Journal of Nutrition put two groups of men on identical weight loss diets. The only difference? Half of the group ate their carbs throughout the day while the second group reserved carbohydrates for nighttime. The result? The nighttime carb group showed a significantly higher diet-induced thermogenesis (meaning they burned more calories digesting their food the next day). Moreover, the daytime-carb group showed increased blood sugar levels. Another study in the journal Obesity saw similar results. Nighttime carb eaters lost 27 percent more body fat and felt 13.7 percent fuller than those on the standard diet. 8. Drink full-fat milk Studies conducted at The Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee suggest that consuming calcium which milk has plenty of may help your body metabolize fat more efficiently. Other studies have shown that increased calcium intake from dairy products (though not from supplemental calcium carbonate) caused study participants to poop out more fat as opposed to it sticking around on the body. See more of our picks for the 20 best full-fat foods for weight loss . 9. Eat enough protein daily The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn no matter what you're doing. Hitting the gym helps you build muscle to begin with, but eating protein keeps it from breaking down and slowing your metabolic rate as a result. Protein needs differ by individual, but typically consuming 0.8 to one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day should be sufficient enough to fuel weight loss, says Leah Kaufman, MS, RD, CDN, a New York City-based Dietitian. For a 130-pound (58 kilogram) person, that would equal between 46 and 58 grams of protein. Research has found that because protein is more difficult for the body to break down and digest than other nutrients, it can increase post-meal calorie burn by as much as 35 percent. Aim to incorporate some protein into every meal and snack throughout the day. Stock up on these 29 best-ever proteins for weight loss . 10. Choose whole grains It takes the body extra effort to break down whole grains than more refined and processed grains, like the flour ordinarily used to make bread and pasta. You can help keep your metabolic rate elevated by consuming foods that the body has to work harder to digest. Your go-tos are whole foods that are also rich in fiber. We're talking brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, sprouted grain breads and more of the best complex carbs for weight loss . 11. Stand at work three hours a day Ideally, we sleep about eight hours for every 24. Most people spend another seven to ten hours sitting at their desk. That means most of us spend the overwhelming majority of our time sedentary. Our bodies weren't designed for this level of inactivity most of humans' evolutionary history involved being active, searching for food and fuel. Nutritionist Lisa Jubilee says that one way to burn more calories daily is to stand more and sit less. She cites a British study which found that standing at work burned 50 more calories per hour than sitting. If that doesn't sound like a lot, consider this: If you stand for just three hours of your day, in one year you'd expend more than 30,000 extra calories which amounts to about 8 lbs of fat! 12. Eat garlic Recent studies have shown that garlic supports blood-sugar metabolism and helps control lipid (fat) levels in the blood. Adding garlic to foods that are rich in fats and carbohydrates may keep those substances from doing the damage they're known to do. What's more, eating garlic can help boost your immune system, help ward off heart disease, fight inflammation and lower blood pressure to name a few. 13. Skip diet soda Yeah, yeah, it has zero calories, but drinking diet soda may yet play havoc with your goal of having a flat belly. Research published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism shows that artificially sweetened beverages may screw up the body's normal metabolic response to sugar, actually increasing appetite! Increasingly, diet drinks are being linked with weight gain, metabolic syndrome and a host of other ills. (Check out what happens to your body when you give up soda .) Best to give them a wide berth. But if you really crave something sweet… 14. Nibble on chocolate In a study by Swiss and German researchers, lucky participants ate about 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate daily for two weeks. Ultimately, these chocolate nibblers had lower stress-hormone levels and a more regulated metabolism than a control group. Scientists speculate that chemicals in cocoa, such as flavonoids, play a role in regulating metabolism by alleviating stress that can cause your fat-burning engines to go on the fritz. Should you think this is a license to go wild, take heed: We're talking small amounts of high-quality dark chocolate. Researchers say 1.5 ounces is enough. 15. Drink oolong tea This antioxidant-rich traditional Chinese tea not only helps keep cholesterol levels in check and aids digestion, it can also help rev up your metabolism. Like green tea, oolong is packed with catechins, which boost weight loss efforts by improving the body's ability to metabolize fat. A study in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine found that participants who regularly sipped oolong tea lost six pounds over the course of the six-week time period. That's a pound a week! Oolong tea is just one of the 22 best teas for weight loss . 16. Eat lentils daily Iron deficiency affects more than 1 in 5 women in the US. Being deficient in essential minerals can show up in all kinds of ways but an iron deficiency can also be a blow for getting into your skinny jeans with relative ease. See, your body can't work as efficiently to burn calories when it doesn't have what it needs to work properly. A cup of lentils, it turns out, provides over a third of your daily iron needs. Legumes like lentils also have been shown to drive down bad cholesterol and blood pressure. That's why they're one of the 7 best foods to eat for rapid weight loss . 17. Eat full-fat foods A new report from the Credit Suisse Research Institute found that more and more of us are choosing whole-fat foods over skim, lite, fat-free or other modern monikers of leanness. And while many health organizations like the American Heart Association still want us to cut down on fat particularly saturated fat this full-fat trend may be a healthy rebellion against those decades-old credos, according to recent studies. In fact, people who eat a lot of high-fat dairy products actually have the lowest incidence of diabetes, according to a 2015 study of 26,930 people in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . Those who ate a lot of low-fat dairy products, on the other hand, had the highest incidence. The researchers speculated that while calcium, protein, vitamin D and other nutrients in yogurt are indeed good for us, we need the fat that goes along with them in order to get their protective effects. These are some of the 20 best full-fat foods for weight loss . 18. Sometimes, feel like a nut A 2003 study demonstrated that a low calorie diet that is rich in almonds could help increase weight loss. Not only do the good monounsaturated fats in almonds have an effect on insulin levels, say scientists, but also give dieters a full feeling, meaning that they are less likely to overeat. So stock your pantry with almonds, walnuts and these other best nuts for weight loss , as well as nut butters . 19. Eat whole foods The smoothie revolution is here, and lots of people are swilling down bushels of leafy greens. Believe it or not, there's a downside to this ingenious delivery method. A big part of the body's job breaking down food so that the body can absorb nutrients has been outsourced to our Nutribullets and Vitamixes. That means that the body is expending much less energy than it would if we were eating kale, spinach and bananas in their solid form. Smoothies are great for weight loss, but by prioritizing lean meats, fish, fibrous vegetables and fruit, you are driving up TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) and expending more calories on digestion. 20. Eat salmon There are plenty of fish in the sea, but salmon may be the best one for your metabolism. That's because most cases of underactive thyroid are due to inflammation of the gland, and salmon boasts significant anti-inflammatory properties thanks to its rich omega-3 fatty acid content. In fact, one study that looked at the effects of weight loss and seafood consumption showed salmon to be the most effective at reducing inflammation better than cod, fish oil and a no-fish diet. The fishy fatty acids may also signal thyroid cells in the liver to burn more fat, a recent study published in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry suggests. 21. Drink kola nut tea Clocking in at caffeine counts higher than a cup of coffee, kola nut teas are sure to zap any morning drowsiness and set your metabolism up for a hotter burn. In a study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior , a 3-4 percent increase in metabolic rate was measured in both lean and obese subjects after a single 100 mg dose of caffeine. Look for teas made from this caffeine-containing fruit; if you want to skip the label-reading, just grab a box of Celestial Seasoning's Fast Lane, which clocks in 20 mg above your daily cup of coffee at 110 mg caffeine. Kola nut tea is just one of the 22 best teas for weight loss . 22. Grab an apple Eating an apple each day can help prevent metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with abdominal fat, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. They'll keep the doctor away and your muffin tops at bay because apples are a low-calorie, nutrient dense source of fiber, which studies have proven to be integral to reducing visceral fat. A recent study at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber eaten per day, visceral fat was reduced by 3.7 percent over five years! That's just one reason why apples are one of the best fruits for fat loss ! 23. Start your day with lean protein Contrary to popular belief, researchers now say breakfast doesn't kickstart the metabolism and may not be the most important meal of the day. A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition had more than 300 overweight participants consume diets that included either eating or skipping breakfast. At the end of 16 weeks, dieters who ate breakfast lost no more weight than the breakfast skippers. And a second study in the same journal found eating breakfast had zero impact on resting metabolism. Breakfast is an ideal place to squeeze protein, fiber and other nutrients into your day, but if the choice is a doughnut or nothing, opt for the nothing. Start your day with lean protein, which burns twice as many calories during digestion as fat or carbs. But don't stress about squeezing it in before 9 am. 24. Eat three square meals, not more Bodybuilders have long sworn by eating every few hours to keep their muscles fueled, but don't discount the weight loss potential of three squares a day. A study in the journal Hepatology put two groups of men on weight-gain diets. One group divided the calories among three small meals with snacks in between while the second group ate the same number of calories in three square meals. While both groups gained weight, researchers found that belly fat the dangerous kind that increases heart-disease risk only increased in the high-meal frequency group. 25. REDUCE booze to boost fat burn 73%! While drinking in moderation every so often won't do too much harm to your waistline, making it a habit can slow down your metabolic rate. Why? When your body has a cocktail to break down, it takes precedence over any food that you've already eaten that's waiting to be digested. This slows down the entire metabolic process. In fact, some researchers claim boozing can decrease the body's fat-burning ability by up to 73 percent! On the occasions that you decided to indulge, stick to low-calorie drinks. Alternate your alcohol with water to slow your pace, and cut yourself off after two drinks. Avoid ordering high-cal bar food like fries and burgers. An important note: Wine in moderation can have numerous benefits, including weight loss! Seek out these 16 wines for weight loss . 26. Snack on yogurt Probiotics in products like yogurt and fermented foods like pickles and sauerkraut help good bacteria in the gut process food more efficiently. Not only is yogurt a great source of protein and calcium, studies have shown that eating it as part of a reduced-calorie diet can increase metabolism. And you can incorporate it into dishes throughout the day. Here are 20 delicious yogurt-based recipes for weight loss . 27. Eat oysters Shuck one for your metabolism. Heck, make it a half dozen. After all, oysters are one of the best dietary sources zinc a mineral that's critical, and complementary, to a healthy thyroid. In fact, the body needs enough zinc to activate production of thyroid hormone. And, in turn, we need enough thyroid hormone to absorb zinc. Any way you look at it, deficiencies are likely to result in a sluggish metabolism, and supplementing with the mineral has shown to get weight loss back on track. One study found that obese people who consumed 30 mg of zinc per day the equivalent of just six raw oysters had improved body mass indices, lost weight and showed improvements in blood cholesterol levels. Get shucking! 28. Dim the lights Want to have a faster metabolism? Install apps like f.lux or twilight on your devices. They reduce certain parts of the light spectrum as your bedtime approaches. Studies have shown that LED lights in phones disturb production of sleep hormone melanin. A purring metabolism is greatly helped by a good night's sleep. So take your late night sexting down a notch or two…at least in terms of screen brightness. 29. Eat avocado It's like butter that grows on trees. But instead of cholesterol, trans and saturated fats in butter, avocado contains metabolism-enhancing monounsaturated fat. But that's not all. Each one is also packed with fiber and free-radical-killing antioxidants. Free radicals are destructive rogue oxygen molecules natural byproducts of metabolism that trigger various chain reactions in the body that destroy cells and DNA, causing all kinds of health problems. Antioxidants in fresh fruits and vegetables can help neutralize some free radicals, but they can't reach the mitochondria base camp for the free radical army. And that's a problem; when your mitochondria aren't working properly, your metabolism runs less efficiently. Enter: Avocado. New research conducted in Mexico found that monounsaturated-rich oil pressed from the fruit can help mitochondria survive attack. Researchers say the results jive with low-disease rates in Mediterranean countries where olive oil nutritionally similar to the avocado is a diet staple. 30. Eat cheese You might want to think twice before ditching dairy if you're trying to lose weight, despite what your Paleo-preaching CrossFit friends tell you. Cheese is a satisfying, portable and inexpensive food that's packed with calcium, vitamin D and protein. "Calcium can also promote weight loss because it helps maintain muscle mass, which boosts and helps maintain metabolism, helping you burn calories more efficiently throughout the day," says Tanya Zuckerbrot, RD, author of The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories & Fat Disappear with Fiber! That doesn't mean you can help yourself to a cheese-drenched casserole, though. Work cheese into fiber-rich snacks to make them more satiating. 31. Eat beans Not only are they a great source of non-animal derived protein, they're also packed with both soluble and insoluble fiber. The process of digesting the fiber and proteins in beans burns extra calories, and both types of fiber help lower insulin levels after digestion and cause your body to store less fat. Those are just a few of the reasons that beans are one of the 8 superfoods you should eat every day . 32. Eat organic beef, eggs and dairy "Hormones dictate how our body utilizes the energy we give it," says nutrionist Lisa Jubilee. "Between our reproductive, thyroid and growth hormones, appetite, insulin and hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin our bodies have to perform a tricky balancing act to keep us lean, energized and viable reproductive beings." Those tasks have become much more difficult because of the hormone residues we consume via cage-raised foods. If you want to give your metabolism a leg up, Jubilee says, switch to organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised beef, eggs and dairy products, thereby avoiding those nasty hormones at mealtime. 33. Eat broccoli Calcium and vitamin C team up well to boost metabolism. Broccoli contains both nutrients, not to mention the kind of fiber that's been shown to increase TEF (the Thermic Effect of Food, or your metabolic rate after eating). What's more: Broccoli contains a compound that works on a genetic level to effectively "switch off" cancer genes, leading to the targeted death of cancer cells and slowing of disease progression. One study found men who ate three or more half-cup servings of broccoli per week had a 41 percent decreased risk for prostate cancer compared to men who ate fewer than one serving per week! 34. Laugh more It's no joke: genuine laughter may cause a 10 20 percent increase in basal energy expenditure and resting heart-rate, according to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity . That means a 10-15 minute giggle fest could burn up 40 to 170 calories. Let us hear you lol! 35. Lower your bedroom temperature A striking new study published in the journal Diabetes suggests that simply turning on the AC may subtly transform a person's stores of brown fat "good" fat, stimulated by cold temperatures, that serves to keep us warm by burning through "bad" fat stores. Participants spent a few weeks sleeping in bedrooms with varying temperatures: a neutral 75 degrees, a cool 66 degrees, and a balmy 81 degrees. After four weeks of sleeping at 66 degrees, the men had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat. Cool! (In fact, your bedroom is an often-overlooked weight loss booster. We found 20 surprising ways to lose weight while you sleep .) 36. Eat peppers It's well reported that fiery capsaicin (think: hot sauce, cayenne, chilies) can rev up the metabolism, but study findings presented at the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, California, showed similar weight loss potential in dihydrocapsiate (DCT), the non-spicy cousin of hot peppers. Participants who ate the most DCT experienced a metabolic boost that was nearly double the placebo group! Bottom line: pile on the poblanos! 37. Drink more water Weight loss doesn't get easier than this: Simply drinking more water may increase the rate at which healthy people burn calories, according to a study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism . After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water (about 2 tall glasses), participants' metabolic rates increased by 30 percent. The researchers estimate that increasing water intake by 1.5 liters a day (about 6 cups) would burn an extra 17,400 calories over the course of the year a weight loss of approximately five pounds! 38. Brew a cup of coffee … In addition to green tea, coffee is one of the best drinks for weight loss because it boosts your metabolism. The average metabolic rate of people who drank caffeinated coffee was 16 percent higher than that of those who drank decaf, according to a study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior . A cup of black coffee is a good choice for a pre-workout beverage, too: Researchers found that cyclists who took a caffeine supplement were able to ride about a mile farther than those who took a placebo. Make yours a venti and skip the sweeteners. 39. … But not 10 Have a few cups of java for a metabolism boost, but if you're never seen without a mug at your lips, that could work against you, says nutritionist Amy Shapiro. Caffeine is a natural appetite suppressant. If you're constantly consuming it, you may not eat much or realize how hungry you really are until you get home for dinner. "Not eating enough throughout the day can make your metabolism sluggish," she says. "By the time you eat dinner, instead of immediately using that food for energy, your body is aggressively storing it as fat, just in case it will be deprived again." 40. Add mustard Add mustard to your meal, and feel the burn literally! Scientists at England's Oxford Polytechnic Institute found that by eating 1 tsp of mustard (about 5 calories) can boost the metabolism by up to 25 percent for several hours after eating. The benefits, researchers say, may be attributed to capsaicin and allyl isothiocyanates, phytochemicals that give the mustard its characteristic flavor. 41. Move for 2.5 minutes Forget slogging on the treadmill for hours, research printed in the journal Physiological Reports showed that people who did five 30-second bursts of max-effort cycling, followed by 4 minutes of rest, burned 200 extra calories that day. That's just 2.5 minutes of work for a resting metabolism boost that will last 24-48 hours! 42. Eat lean meat Deficiencies in the mineral iron can slow metabolism . Know what's got plenty of it? Lean meat. Eating three to four daily servings of iron-rich foods will help keep your inner furnace burning. Fortified cereals, dried fruit and dark leafy greens will get you some of the way to meeting your iron goals, but lean meat with its muscle-building protein content will be doubly useful in revving up your metabolism. 43. Give up sugary drinks Caffeine may provide a bit of a boost to the metabolism, especially when ingested before exercise, but no amount of metabolic boost can burn off the empty calories that energy drinks supply. According to one study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings , a typical energy drink serves up a quarter cup of sugar calories that hit your body all at once and trigger fat storage. If you want to burn calories, try the brand-new miracle beverage known as…tap water. According to a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism , after drinking two tall glasses of water (17 ounces), participants' metabolic rates increased by 30 percent. 44. Add vinegar to your meals Great on salad and now shown to "switch on" genes that release proteins which break down fat. In a study of 175 overweight Japanese men and women, researchers found that participants who drank 1 or 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar daily for 12 weeks significantly lowered their body weight, BMI, visceral fat and waist circumference. 45. Plan a weekly cheat meal Experts agree that having a weekly cheat meal can actually help you reach your weight loss goals. Having a strategy is key. "By planning your cheat meal, you know what you'll be eating and can cut a few extra calories earlier in the day," says Jim White, RD, ACSM Health Fitness Specialist and owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios. This also allows you to really pick a favorite food instead of wasting calories on something you didn't enjoy." Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, Real Nutrition NYC, gives similar advice. "Pick your poison. If you're going out, pick your splurge. Are you going to dig into carbs like a bread basket or pasta or dessert? Or are you planning on tossing back a few cocktails?" She urges cheaters to avoid consuming all three of those common categories at once sitting. "Focus only on one," she says, adding that by saving the others for another time you can "enjoy without going overboard." 46. Drink goji tea Dried goji berries might be a staple of every health food store, but it's worth looking for them a couple aisles over in the tea section. Lycium barbarum, the plant from which gojis are harvested, is a traditional Asian medicinal therapy for diabetes and other diseases, but it also boasts a slimming effect. In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition , participants were either given a single dose of L. barbarum or a placebo after a meal. The researchers found that one hour after the dose, the goji group was burning calories at a rate 10 percent higher than the placebo group. The effects lasted up to 4 hours. Bonus: Most goji teas are mixed with green tea, further boosting your calorie burn. Goji tea is just one of the 22 best teas for weight loss . 47. Quit stressing Stress can actually cause the body to metabolize food more slowly, according to research published in the journal Biological Psychiatry . To make matters worse, the food we crave when we're stressed out tends to be fatty and full of sugar. Researchers say that the combination of high-cal cravings and a stress-induced, snail-paced metabolic rate can result in significant weight gain. To keep your metabolism running strong, fight stress with laughter. Research shows that smiling and laughing causes levels of stress hormones to diminish. 48. Stop napping Research has found that people burn fewer calories when they sleep during the day and log their waking hours after the sun's gone down. To come to this finding, University of Colorado at Boulder researchers studied 14 healthy adults for six days. For two days, study participants slept at night and stayed awake during the day, then they reversed their routines to mimic the schedules of night owls. When participants slept during the day, researchers found that they burned 52 to 59 fewer calories than they did while catching their zzz's in the evening likely because the schedule messed with their circadian rhythm, the body's internal clock that plays a major role in metabolism function. If you have no choice but to sleep during the day, aim to cut 50-60 calories from your daily diet. 49. Drink yerba maté This tea is known for its powerful thermogenic effects meaning it turns up your body's calorie-burning mechanism and can also promote weight loss by improving insulin sensitivity. In a recent study, participants were divided into two groups. One group took a placebo 60 minutes prior to exercising, while the other group ingested 1000 mg capsule of yerba maté. Researchers found that those who consumed the herb increased the beneficial effects their workout had on their metabolism. Yerba maté is just one of the 22 best teas for weight loss . 50. Order chili Think of every bean as a little weight-loss pill. One study found that people who ate ¾ cup of beans daily weighed 6.6 pounds less than those who didn't even though the bean eaters consumed, on average, 199 calories more per day. The magic is in the perfect combination of protein and fiber: studies show that those who eat the most fiber gain the least weight over time, and that eating fiber can rev your fat burn by as much as 30 percent. Aim for about 25 g a day the amount in about three servings each of fruits and vegetables. 51. Take a Vitamin D supplement If there's one supplement most Americans should be taking, it's vitamin D. It's essential for preserving metabolism-revving muscle tissue, but researchers estimate that a measly 20 percent of Americans take in enough through their diet. While you can nail 90 percent of your recommended daily value (400 IU) in a 3.5-ounce serving of salmon, a daily supplement makes a lot of sense. Other good dietary sources: tuna, fortified milk and cereal, and eggs. 52. Drink water when you wake up For nutritionist Lisa Jubilee, one of the best and cheapest ways to give your metabolism a jolt is to drink water (she suggests 20 to 32 ounces) shortly after waking. Why? During sleep, your body's metabolic function slowed, and unless you woke up in the middle of the night to swig some water, it didn't receive any fluids. Jubilee suggests completely rehydrating before stressing your body with any other food or drink. "My clients who have implemented this report less bloating, more energy and a smaller appetite," she says. Her motto for getting your inner furnace stoked and ready for the day: "Rehydrate, then caffeinate!" 53. Pack snacks "Always be prepared for a busy or unpredictable day by keeping healthy snacks on you, at your desk, in your car," says nutritionist Amy Shapiro. She suggests having almonds or other unsalted nuts, apples, bananas, chia bars, protein bars, or other fruit and nut bars close at hand. Shapiro says that if you have to skip breakfast, lunch, or even dinner during your quest to look your best, you can keep your energy levels up while making healthy choices. "You'll have no reason to run to the vending machine for chips or stick your hand in the candy bowl," she says. For the healthiest ideas on the planet, check out our list of the 50 best snack ideas for weight loss . 54. Drink matcha Derived from the Japanese tencha leaf and then stone ground into a bright-green fine powder, matcha literally means "powdered tea," and it's incredibly good for you. Research shows the concentration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in matcha to be 137 times greater than the amount you'll find in most store-bought green tea. EGCG is a dieter's best friend: studies have shown the compound can simultaneously boost the breakdown of fat and block the formation of belly-fat cells. One study found men who drank green tea containing 136 mg EGCG what you'll find in a single 4 gram serving of matcha lost twice as much weight than a placebo group and four times as much visceral (belly) fat over the course of 3 months. Need one more reason for tea-time? A single serving sneaks in 4 grams of protein that's more than an egg white! Matcha is just one of the 22 best teas for weight loss . 55. Go to bed earlier Stephen Colbert's doing great, but now it's time to DVR him and start getting to bed earlier. A study in Finland looked at sets of identical twins and discovered that in each set of siblings, the twin who slept less had more visceral fat. If you do nothing else differently, just getting an extra half hour of shuteye will make all the difference. If you're chronically sleep deprived, don't be surprised if you gain a few pounds without eating a morsel of extra food. "A lack of sleep can cause several metabolic problems," says nutritionist Seth Santoro. "It can cause you to burn fewer calories, lack appetite control and experience an increase in cortisol levels, which stores fat." Lack of sufficient sleep which experts say is 7 to 9 hours a night for most people also leads to impaired glucose tolerance, a.k.a. your body's ability to utilize sugar for fuel. "We all have those less-than-adequate nights of sleep," says nutritionist Lisa Jubilee. "But if it's a regular thing, you're better off lengthening your night's sleep than working out, if fat loss or weight maintenance is your goal." More on MSN: 7 Foods That Are Making You Bloated 5 Foods That Will Put You in a Rotten Mood 30 Ways to Lose Weight if You're a Milennial | 7 | 95,950 | health |
Barrons.com Stocks Editor Ben Levisohn previews the new issue of Barron's looking at the bears, the bulls and a possible interest-rate increase. | 3 | 95,951 | finance |
LOS ANGELES Sammy Sosa endorsed Manny Ramirez's idea that Sosa should be asked to throw out a first pitch in the World Series if the Cubs make it that far. Before Game 4 of the NLDS on Tuesday, I asked Ramirez, now a Cubs' hitting consultant, if he thought Sosa would return to Wrigley Field one day. "Why not?" Ramirez replied. "Sammy is a great person, an awesome guy. Why not just give him a chance to come. I was talking to (Jonathan) Herrera and I told him, 'Man, how sweet it would be if Sammy comes and throws the first pitch in the World Series. I think it would be awesome." Sosa and the Cubs have been estranged since he left on bad terms after the 2004 season, and was traded to Baltimore that winter. The Cubs have talked about a reunion over the years, but nothing has ever come of it. The Cubs reportedly want Sosa to apologize before allowing him to return. Sosa, through a spokesperson, sent an email to the Chicago Tribune Thursday night saying he likes Ramirez's idea. "I want to thank Manny for thinking of me and I would be honored in throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley for a Cubs World Series," he wrote. "I want to send my best wishes to Manager Joe Madden (sic), the coaches and all the players on their win (Tuesday) night! I am very excited for the current team members to experience this journey! "I remember how exciting it was for the 2003 team. Now it's YOUR TURN and you are making us all proud. This is YOUR TIME. Enjoy it and take us all the way to the World Series. GO CUBS." The Cubs did not return a message when asked to comment on Sosa's plea. Kerry Wood, Sosa's old teammate, has said he thinks it's time for the Cubs to welcome him back to the organization with no conditions. First baseman Anthony Rizzo met Sosa last winter at a restaurant in Miami and also believes he should be able to return. "I just went over and said hello," Rizzo said. "I introduced myself and tried to campaign for him to come back. I just said 'We'd love to have you.' Nothing crazy. He was really, really nice. It was really cool. He knew who I was, which was surprising. But he still follows us." Is it time for Sosa to return to the fold? "Of course," Rizzo said. "One of the best hitters who ever lived." | 1 | 95,952 | sports |
Betrayal, last-minute reprieves, fearless heroes and a doomed relationship between a powerful man and woman -- Brazilians get this every day in their beloved telenovelas. Now they're getting it for real in the battle to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, a political soap opera threatening to plunge Latin America's biggest country into severe crisis. "It's like a telenovela, always with new personalities that appear, new subplots -- it's a saga," said David Fleischer, a politics professor at the University of Brasilia. Impeachment in Brazil is a constitutional process, regulated through a system of parliamentary committees, votes and legal hurdles, complete with inevitable court challenges that could easily extend the affair beyond six months. But there's nothing dry or academic about Rousseff's tortuous relationship with Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress and the man who decides whether an impeachment petition should be shelved or acted upon. Until July, Cunha was ostensibly Rousseff's ally in the coalition government. Then overnight he became her mortal enemy, and on Tuesday, following weeks of dark hints about launching impeachment, he was expected to pull the trigger. Except he didn't and -- as of Thursday -- still hadn't even hinted when he might. The initial reason for the delay was a technical challenge brought by Rousseff loyalists at the Supreme Court. Yet as with anything involving Cunha -- a man seen as the Brazilian version of Frank Underwood, the Machiavellian politician from the Netflix series "House of Cards" -- a more twisted plotline soon emerged. - Mutually assured destruction - Rousseff has a 10 percent approval as Brazil endures a steep recession, spiraling inflation, mounting unemployment, and the worst corruption scandal in its history involving the state-oil company Petrobras. Impeachment proponents have homed in on two main areas: Rousseff's manipulation of government accounts to cover budget holes ahead of her 2014 re-election, and allegations that her campaign took dirty money from the Petrobras case. But Rousseff is not the only one in hot water. Cunha, a high-profile member of Brazil's rising evangelical wing, is alleged to have taken $5 million in Petrobras bribes and hidden cash in Swiss bank accounts. Long untouchable, he faces growing calls for his ouster as speaker -- and possibly worse. So he could use help. And this is where it gets weird. With strong representation on the lower house ethics committee, Rousseff's Workers' Party could make or break any vote on Cunha's fate. In other words, the beleaguered president could, in theory, protect her nemesis. In return, this theory goes, Cunha could shelve those impeachment petitions and the allies-turned-enemies would transform into frenemies. The G1 news site ran a Cold War-era photo of a nuclear bomb test on Thursday. "Dilma and Cunha's mutual destruction," the headline read. - Ray of light - Joining those reported negotiations in the capital Brasilia was Rousseff's mentor and presidential predecessor, Workers' Party hero Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, who "arrived in secret," O Estado de S. Paulo said. According to the daily, Cunha was clear about what he wants from Rousseff. "If I am treated well, maybe I'll have good will toward the government," he was quoted as saying. But there's unlikely to be any neat ending to the episode, observers say. Ministers describe Cunha as "a wounded wild beast" who remains dangerously unpredictable, O Estado reported. For Brazilians, the Rousseff impeachment saga is a painful reminder of how their giant country -- the world's seventh biggest economy and the host of next year's Rio Olympics -- seems unable to escape corruption and chaos. Brazil only returned to democracy in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship, during which Rousseff was tortured as a young leftist guerrilla. If impeached, Rousseff would be the second president to suffer that fate: in 1992, Fernando Collor de Mello was impeached on corruption charges and forced to resign. Collor resurrected as a senator, only to face new charges this August -- for Petrobras-related corruption. Fleischer says the sole ray of light is the fearless conduct of prosecutors and federal police running that Petrobras probe, known as Operation Car Wash. Car Wash "is the first time in the history of Brazil that the corruptors... were put in jail. This never happened before," the professor said. "They're cleaning up things and correcting things. That may be a positive." | 5 | 95,953 | news |
A grown-up version of a children's push car is up for auction on eBay. Chances are you've seen toddlers riding around or being pushed by their mothers in Little Tikes cars. The traditionally yellow and red plastic vehicles cost around fifty dollars and come in themes ranging from police cars to princess vehicles. John Bitmead of the United Kingdom decided to create an adult-size replica of a Little Tikes car, which runs on gas and goes 70 miles per hour, the BBC reported. PHOTOS: 2nd annual Electric Car Show at the Planetarium So, how much does a slice of childhood cost these days? The car's price on eBay, is listed as £21,500 or a little over $33,000. Bitmead created the vehicle by modifying a Daewoo Matiz vehicle in 2013, with the help of his brother Geoff. "What a wonderful idea to make something like that [Little Tikes car], but real," he told BBC. It was important for him to maintain the look of the original car, with the same color scheme, and no windows, BBC reported. So, probably not the best vehicle to drive in the rain. | 5 | 95,954 | news |
The leaders of the world's top oil and gas companies meet in Paris ahead of the December climate change conference, as the CEO of Total says "the bad guys are part of the solution." But as Kirsty Basset reports, they failed to agree on a carbon pricing system. | 3 | 95,955 | finance |
Find out more about Hyperloop, the transit system that could change the way we think of transportation, using vacuum technology. | 2 | 95,956 | travel |
The final US Airways flight has begun its roundtrip journey between Philadelphia and San Francisco. The plane is Flight 1939, named for the airline's founding year. (Oct. 16) | 2 | 95,957 | travel |
BROOKLINE, Mass. A cockatoo with the screech of a dinosaur is vexing residents of a tony Boston suburb. The white bird, named Dino because of his annoying call, flew away from his owner in July and into the trees of Brookline. He's been gnawing on the woodwork of the Nancy Gertner's historic home. Gertner is a retired federal judge and senior lecturer at Harvard Law School. The Boston Globe reports animal control officials were called and no one will trap the bird. She left food in a cage and a string to close the door. Dino refused the bait and squirrels ate the food. Loud rock 'n' roll music and a blaring house alarm failed to chase Dino away. Gertner may have to make peace with Dino; she's run out of ideas to get rid of him. | 5 | 95,958 | news |
If you can get through this video without looking at your phone or checking your notifications, then you'll understand the meaning of this photographer's eerie photo series about the digital age. | 8 | 95,959 | video |
@bggmjames wants to know who to look for in an NBA fantasy league with the 7th pick of a 12-team league and @carloscorcuera needs receiver help. | 1 | 95,960 | sports |
When the massive Anheuser-Busch InBev-SABMiller merger is complete, the resulting company will own over 400 beer labels, including 8 out of America's top 10 brands. Right away, the new Bud-Coors-Miller-Stella-Molson conglomerate will be responsible for producing roughly 30% of all the suds on earth. And if the corporate overlords have their way, the company will gain even more market share down the line. To do so, it'll have to expand into more regions and/or reverse the trend that's most visible in the U.S.: the rise of small, independent craft labels. According to the Brewers Association, which represents the craft segment, the number of breweries and craft beer's portion of overall beer sales have both doubled over the past five years. At the same time, sales of "macro" beers like Budweiser and Miller have gone flat or declined. While the $104 billion merger of the world's No. 1 and No. 1 beer companies is intended to assure Big Beer's dominance in the global marketplace, it's actually but one of several strategies being employed to put the pesky craft category in its place or even destroy it, if possible. Click ahead for a handful of tactics Big Beer is using to try to keep its brands on top. No. 1. Create your own quasi-craft brands. Read Blue Moon Brewing's history on the brand's website and you'll learn that the Belgian-style wheat ale was created by beer-loving visionaries two decades ago in Denver. What you won't see there, nor at the Blue Moon Brewery at the Sandlot, where the Colorado Rockies play, nor on a bottle of Blue Moon, is mention of the fact that the brand has always fallen under the domain of Coors, the Colorado-based brewer that's now owned by MillerCoors, which is itself a subsidiary of SABMiller. Blue Moon was ahead of its time in what's become known as the "crafty" beer category brands that seem like small indie labels that are actually owned by the world's biggest beer companies. Shock Top is Anheuser-Busch InBev's best-known faux craft beer, and according to one source, "75% of consumers believe Shock Top is from a small/unknown brewer." Clearly, these brands hope to win sales by creating the appearance of indie craft authenticity, all while using the production and marketing advantages of a global corporation. But they might not be able to blur the lines indefinitely. Earlier this year, a class-action lawsuit was filed against MillerCoors because it presents Blue Moon as a craft beer when it is not at least not in terms of the commonly accepted Brewers Association definition that a craft brewer is small and independently owned. No. 2. Snatch up craft brews that'll sell out. If you can't beat them, buy them. That seems to be the philosophy behind Anheuser-Busch's strategy for purchasing popular craft labels such as Goose Island, Elysian, 10 Barrel, Golden Road, and Blue Point. Generally speaking, these brands vigorously proclaim that their quality and dedication to customers won't diminish after the change in ownership, and they say they still deserve to call themselves craft beers . Purists who believe only small, independently owned operations merit the "craft" label obviously disagree. In any event, according to the Brewers Association, America is now home to over 4,000 breweries, roughly double the number just five years ago. Even the new, ultra-powerful AB InBev-SABMiller super conglomerate can't buy them all out, one would think. But the global beer behemoth can strategically purchase key craft brewers and use them to make it extremely difficult for independent little guys to be successful in the marketplace. Read next: This Graphic Shows How a Massive Beer Merger Will Affect America's Top Brews No. 3. Defend macro brews, bash craft snobs This part of the plan is probably the most bizarre, and perhaps has backfired on Big Beer. On the one hand, the beer giants have purchased several prominent craft labels and created their own faux craft brands. On the other, Anheuser-Busch InBev decided it was wise to run with an ad campaign mocking craft beer that theoretically supports its struggling Budweiser label. The commercial, first aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, called Bud "Proudly a Macro Beer," while making fun of hipsters who "fussed over" flavors like pumpkin peach ale. (Budweiser sales, it should be noted, have been falling for roughly a quarter of a century as drinkers increasingly turn to light beers and craft brews.) For what it's worth, after the Budweiser commercial aired MillerCoors released a statement defending all kinds of beer, including the craft category: "We believe each and every style of beer is worth fussing over … Quality isn't something that belongs to a single style of beer or a single brewer." No. 4. Control distribution For better or worse, America's alcohol selection is the result of three-tier system, in which brewers and importers (tier #1) must use distributors (tier #2) to place their beverages in the stores and restaurants that ultimately sell them (tier #3). "Independent beer distributors," the National Beer Wholesalers Association states, "work to help new brands get to market and to ensure that consumers can choose from a vast selection of beer." The problem is that not all distributors are independent. Anheuser-Busch InBev has been purchasing distributors around the country including two recently in Colorado , one of the nation's craft beer strongholds. Critics say that there's an imbalance when one company owns two of the three tiers for distribution, and point to the history of AB-owned distributors only selling AB products, thereby shutting out craft brands and forcing them to find other means of distribution. Reuters reported this week that the U.S. Justice Department is currently conducting an investigation into allegations claiming that Anheuser-Busch InBev is violating antitrust regulations by purchasing distributors and only distributing its own products, while simultaneously using its size and power to pressure independent distributors to stay away from craft labels. After all, if it's difficult or impossible for consumers to find craft beer in stores and restaurants, they'll have little choice but to drink mass-produced brews. No. 5. Merge and overwhelm the marketplace. "At some point, weak growth prospects can't be concealed or offset," Tara Lachapelle wrote this week in a Bloomberg column about why megamergers happen. "Mainstream brands such as AB InBev's Bud Light and Coors Light, part of a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors, have been losing share in the U.S. as the craft names gain." Because increasing sales of Budweiser and Coors Light seems impossible given changing consumer tastes, the companies seem to be trying to please shareholders by choosing consolidation which at least looks like growth on paper. There are many competitive advantages to creating one gigantic beer company too. Namely, advertising. According to a Marketplace report, AB InBev and SABMiller spend a total of $500 billion annually on sports sponsorships. But now that they're not competing with each other for partnerships with, say, the Milwaukee Brewers or the Olympics, they'll have more negotiating power and probably will be able to save some of that cash. "They will have a lot more leverage in the marketplace," Chris Pearlman, executive vice president with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment, explained. "Ultimately [they will] spend less than they would have had they remained separate." SPONSORED: Get smart advice on picking a college and paying for it, check out MONEY's best college value rankings, and find the school that best fits your student, all at the MONEY College Planner . Read next: These Are All the Beers a Combined AB Inbev SABMiller Would Brew | 3 | 95,961 | finance |
You don't need a magic wand to cast an eerie spell over your house for Halloween. These clever crafts will do the trick. 7 Halloween Decorations That Will Make Your House the Most Boo-tiful on the Block You don't need a magic wand to cast an eerie spell over your house for Halloween. These clever crafts will do the trick. Cast a Ghostly Glow Decorate plain glass votives with spooky images and sayings and set them on your front table to greet visitors if they dare to enter. Here's How: Measure the circumference (plus 1 inch) and height of each votive. Cut 1 piece of vellum paper to that size, and a second, shorter piece in a contrasting color for a layered look. Stamp silver and black Halloween images like spiders and webs onto the shorter vellum. For a sparkly effect, sprinkle glitter onto the stamped image while ink is still wet; tap off excess glitter. Wrap vellum around each votive, using double-sided tape to close the seam. For spiderweb votives (back row, left), wind silver thread around votive and hot-glue at seams. DIY Movable Mummies Use flexible wire, clippers, and muslin to build your own miniature mummies perfect for hanging in every room of the house. Get the tutorial here. String Up Spooky Spiders Hang spider garland from doorways, loop it around banisters, and dangle it off your mantel or table. Then feel free to cackle when people jump as they brush against the creepy crawlies! Here's How: With a small brush, apply Elmer's glue on the top side of each plastic spider, then shake on black or silver glitter to cover spider (plan to use 4 spiders per foot of garland). When the glue's dried, flip over the spiders and glitter their undersides. When spiders are dry, glue them to a silver cord using a hot-glue gun, spacing them about 3 inches apart. Halloween Table Runner This entire masterpiece can be thrown together in five minutes for less than five bucks. Yes, this is a treat not a trick. Get the tutorial here. Decorate Your Pumpkins Carve scary bat, spider, and cat silhouettes into your pumpkins so that they really stand out from the street. For entertaining, place the glowing pumpkins in your fireplace to set the mood. Here's How: Print out the silhouette templates below. Cut an opening in your pumpkin and scoop out the "guts"; scrape the inside walls too, until they're about 1-inch thick. Pin paper template onto pumpkin and transfer pattern using a plastic poking tool or pushpins. Remove your template and begin carving the poked-hole pattern with a pumpkin-carving saw. Place a votive candle inside. Bat Silhouette Spider Silhouette Cat Silhouette Sugar Skull Wreath Who said wreaths were just for Christmas? Share your love for the haunted holiday with all your neighbors by spray painting a regular grapevine wreath, then adding metallic velvet flowers and a fun skull . The end result is festive, but not over-the-top or cheesy. Get the tutorial here. Create Tangled Webs Set glitter webs on your table and under snack bowls to serve as trivets and sparkly decorations , all in one. Here's How: Tape 2 sheets of wax paper together and lay them flat. Begin drawing your spiderweb with Elmer's glue (refrigerate for a few hours first so it's less runny) by making an asterisk with 4 lines. Starting at the center, cast a single line connecting each asterisk spoke; continue until the web is the size you want. Pour glitter on top of glue web and let it sit overnight. Shake off excess glitter and let the web sit for another 2 days to completely dry and harden. Using a spatula, gently peel the web off the wax paper. | 4 | 95,962 | lifestyle |
If you've spent any amount of time driving, you know by now that the road is full of idiots and jerks. Half of drivers are going to be below average, and that's something you pretty much have to accept if you're going to avoid giving up or going insane. Sometimes, though, you witness certain behaviors that can't be ignored. Merging into highway traffic at 35 miles per hour, for example, is the kind of idiotic behavior that deserves to be ridiculed. Likewise, doing donuts with other cars present is idiocy at its finest. What I'd like to address today, though, is a phenomenon that I never noticed until I moved to Boston. For a while, I thought it was a Boston specific behavior, but after talking with other people who have witnessed it in other cities, we appear to have an epidemic on our hands. The problem? People who get upset with other drivers for nothing more than parking their cars. If you're driving along, minding your own business, and suddenly another driver disobeys a traffic law or does something wildly unexpected, I understand getting frustrated. For example, drivers who pull out into traffic without making sure they have enough time to get up to speed put themselves and others in danger. That's something legitimately frustrating. It's not an excuse to run them off the road, but it's certainly an excuse to remind your passenger that drivers these days are all idiots. The thing about street parking a car in the city is that it's an activity that any normal human being would find acceptable under the overwhelming majority of conditions. You may have an example of that one time someone did something completely ridiculous in the process of parallel parking that warranted a horn honk, and I'm sure you'll be gracious enough to point it out in the comments, but those are exceptions, not the rule. The rule is that if you're driving your car on a city street, you have to accept not being able to drive as quickly as you would on a highway or rural country road. As long as you don't live in Atlanta, where I'm from, there are plenty of public transportation options available for you to use instead, and if something as minor as a car being parked is enough to rustle your jimmies, it's time for you to hang up your keys for good. After all, what's the point? You're only going 25 or 30 miles per hour, so it's not like you're losing much time slowing down for a second to let the car in front of you park. It's not like one person parking is going to be the reason you're 30 minutes late to Sunday dinner with your mom. The fact that you left your house late is the reason you'll be late. Whose fault is that? Yours. Not theirs. It's also not like you're stuck behind a slow driver on a two lane road that's too curvy to pass them on. In those situations, we've all pounded on our steering wheels and shouted, "How do you have nowhere to be right now?" When people are parking, they definitely have somewhere to be. It's the place they are. They're parking because they had somewhere to be, drove there, and are now parking because they arrived. Honking at them for reaching their destination and doing what drivers in the city do when they reach their destinations just makes you look like a big jerk. I mean, what are you going to do when you reach your destination? Push a button, fold your car up, and put it in one of your cargo pockets? No. You're going to park it too, and when you do, are you going to want some guy laying on his horn for 45 seconds while you're doing so? No, you won't. Part of what's so hard for me to understand about this is what the goal is when you do this. Do you want the other driver to stop what they're doing and drive off without doing what they drove there to do? Are you so self-centered that you think everyone is obligated to experience your displeasure any time they mildly inconvenience you? Are you a toddler who got older but never matured? Is it really that hard to behave like a responsible adult in society? People who honk at other drivers for parking their cars are probably the same kind of people who blame Oisin Tymon for getting Top Gear canceled because he had the nerve to not move his face out of the way of Jeremy Clarkson's fist. Sorry, y'all, but you're responsible for your own behavior exactly the same way Clarkson is responsible for his. Unlike Clarkson, though, you can't get fired from driving just for behaving like a turd. I wish you could, but sadly, that's not how driving works. If you ever feel the need to lay on the horn just because someone is parking their car, maybe consider that you're the one being unreasonable in the situation. Street parking is an entirely reasonable activity, and if you can't handle that, maybe it's time you start taking the train everywhere instead. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 95,963 | autos |
In "Back to the Future II," Marty McFly travels to October 21, 2015, and in celebration of this, automakers have been releasing teasers of their future vehicles. Mercedes-Benz has just released three videos showcasing its "Luxury in Motion" F 015 concept. In the videos, Mercedes pays tribute to some of the more memorable scenes from the film, from hoverboards to autonomous dog-walkers to actual time machines. Mercedes-Benz leaves each video with this message: Thanks for inspiring our engineers, Doc. Also featured in the three teaser videos is the Mercedes-Benz F 015 concept from earlier this year, which previews the automaker's vision of autonomous driving. See the futuristic vehicle in action in the three videos below in celebration of "Back to the Future" Day, which will take place next Wednesday. Toyota has also released a number of videos in anticipation for "Back to the Future" Day, and the automaker was even able to get Marty McFly and Doc Brown back together to help out. The Japanese automaker teased a Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and a special Tacoma pickup in the short video, but won't show them off fully until October 21. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 95,964 | autos |
In his unyielding effort to be perceived as a college sports visionary, Pac-12 Conference commissioner Larry Scott has identified a solution in search of a problem. This week, he advocated for shifting the college basketball season to start a month later, so that it would be contained as a "one-semester sport." MORE: Don't expect a shift anytime soon According to ESPN's Myron Medcalf , Scott told those gathered at Pac-12 Media Day this suggestion would help college basketball because the "overlap can be a challenge" the overlap referencing November activity in the NBA, NFL, NFL, college football and, so he says, the Major League Baseball playoffs. A 2015 World Series Game 7 would be Wednesday, Nov. 4. The first college basketball game of the 2015-16 season is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 13. But as Boon said to Otter, "Forget it, he's rolling." The supposed problem with college basketball starting in mid-November is that early season games are lost in the supposed crush of attention given during that period to college football. This is complete and utter nonsense. By Dec. 5, three weekends into college basketball, the college football season is down to seven scheduled games plus a few conference championship games. The overlap barely exists. For this, Scott wants to forfeit college basketball's ownership of a month March that is worth $771 million to the NCAA before anyone even has sold a ticket (or a hot dog, or a corporate hospitality event, or a sponsorship). And Scott would gamble that the NCAA Tournament could sustain that value against competition from the NBA playoffs, the Stanley Cup playoffs, the start of the Major League Baseball season and spring weather. MORE: Final Four records that will never be broken For what, exactly? Problems attracting viewers to early college basketball games? Is that the issue? Are we sure about that? Because it's not a problem at Kansas (drew 16,300 last season for Rider) or Kentucky (22,175 for Buffalo) or Arizona (14,655 for Northridge). It is not a problem in places that care deeply about college basketball in general and are eager to watch their beloved teams develop against whatever competition they face. It is a problem in places that are not as connected to college hoops. Here's the catch: Moving games to December is not going to change that. The only way to even have a chance it is to dramatically change the product. That would require more teams playing more competitive games and playing more of them on campus. You're not going to get Texas fans to show up in great numbers for Appalachian State whether that game is played in November, December or June. And when the Horns do play a game this season their fans would do anything to see, against latent rival Texas A&M, it will occur 1,300 miles from Austin in the Bahamas. MORE: The latest on Lamar Odom's condition So many of the most appealing college basketball games are outsourced to neutral courts because coaches construct the majority of schedules and find non-league road games undesirable. There is a reason for that: They're hard. They're hard to play, hard to win, hard to survive. There's a value for high-major teams to play mid-majors. I covered a Pitt team in 1991-92 Arizona coach Sean Miller was its point guard that played 27 of its 32 regular-season games against major opponents. By the time the Big East season was over, that group was finished. But it's also hard to sell tickets in many places especially upper-deck tickets with compromised views far below the standard provided by one's 55-inch high-def flat screen to games that figure not to be events. That is college basketball's reality. Shifting the schedule would not change it. It would, instead, damage the sport's greatest asset: March Madness. Remember "New Coke?" That's what Larry Scott is selling here. And if you don't remember "New Coke," well, isn't that even worse? | 1 | 95,965 | sports |
New talent is always something to admire. Take a look at some of the best rookies throughout the PGA Tour's history from Robert Gamez to Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. | 1 | 95,966 | sports |
Researchers have developed a new test capable of identifying which patients are at greatest risk of suffering a relapse from testicular cancer. The test, which involves assessing three features of a testicular cancer tumor, could be used to help clinicians decide on the proper form of follow-up care. "Our research has led to the development of a test that can detect patients that will benefit from treatment up front and spare those who are at lower risk from the side effects of chemotherapy," said Janet Shipley, professor of cancer molecular pathology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in a press release. Even if there is no evidence of a tumor spreading, the test can give patients a score that tells them how likely they are to relapse within two years. It's highly unusual to suffer a relapse outside of this time frame. Researchers tested levels of CXCL12, an antimicrobial gene; the percentage of the tumor showing cancer stem cells; and whether or not blood vessels were present in the tumor. After scoring 177 tumor samples, the team divided up the patients into three different risk groups. The majority of the patients tested were in the low-risk group, where 94.3 percent of patients did not relapse within two years. The moderate risk group saw 65.9 percent of patients stay relapse-free within the same time, while the high-risk group only had a dismal 30 percent of patients remain relapse-free. The researchers validated the test with an additional 80 patients after the initial study. Testicular germ cell tumors are the most common solid malignant tumor in young Caucasian men. Properly identifying who would benefit from chemotherapy is a huge step forward in the treatment of these tumors. "Chemotherapy is extremely effective in treating testicular cancer, but it can have long-term consequences for a patient's health and wellbeing," Shipley said. "Patients deemed at low risk of relapse could simply be monitored, and potentially could avoid chemotherapy. " Shipley said avoiding chemotherapy (if possible) is particularly important for cancers like this, since they would affect young adults who would have to live with chemotherapy side effects for many years after treatment. Robert Huddart, professor of urological cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and a consultant at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation trust, said patients with this kind of germ cell tumor have to make a difficult choice between being monitored or receiving chemotherapy to reduce the risk of relapse. "Our study may help men make this decision as among the three groups of patients identified, we have found one with a very low risk of relapse where surveillance would seem the best choice, and a small group of men who have a very high risk of relapse, who could be targeted with chemotherapy," he said. "We now need to test this prognostic index in larger groups of men in the clinic." Source: Gilbert D, Al-Saadi R, Thway K, Chandler I, Berney D, Shipley J, et al. Defining a New Prognostic index for Stage I Non-seminomatous Germ Cell Tumors using CXCL12 Expression and Proportion of Embyronal Carcinoma. Clinical Cancer Research. 2015. | 7 | 95,967 | health |
Just two days after the third and final part of filmmaker Ken Dornstein's documentary ' My Brother's Bomb er ' aired, Scottish prosecutors announced that they had identified two Libyans as suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, better known as the Lockerbie bombing. Coincidence? Dornstein thinks not. "Obviously I don't know what I don't know about what governments collect and what their investigation has amounted to," Dornstein says. "But my strong suspicion is we wouldn't be hearing anything about it without the work that I've done in the Frontline film. The timing is probably not a coincidence." It's entirely possible in fact it's probable that Dornstein has followed the nearly 30 year investigation into the Lockerbie bombing more closely than anyone, minus the prosecutors themselves. That's because he has a personal connection to the case. Dornstein was 19 years old and visiting home for the holidays on December 21, 1988, when Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb over the small town of Lockerbie, Scotland. All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground. His 25-year-old brother was on board. Dornstein grew up and became a documentary filmmaker, and spent years verifying key details and tracking down anyone who might know anything. In 2011, shortly after a coup ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Dornstein traveled to Libya and began knocking on doors. "I saw an opportunity after many years of unresolved questions to slip over the border into Libya and actually, with a list of names, go talk to people instead of just getting a story that existed on paper that you could never verify ... There was nothing about it that was easy, and there's nothing about it that I could've expected other reporters or even governments to do if they didn't have real skin in the game as I did." From the outside, it may be easy to paint the journalist as a man obsessed with solving a decades-old mystery. But Dorstein says there's more to the story. "It turns out that my work has veered in the direction of doing international reporting and doing this kind of journalism. Obviously it had been in my mind to pursue it and I never could drop it, because, unlike other journalists, I did have this personal connection. But when the moment came, I wanted to use the tools of journalism, and I wanted to film the process. I wanted to be transparent. I wanted to come face to face with someone. I wanted them to be seen on camera because I wanted the story the simple truth of who did what to be recorded in a way that people couldn't deny and that would put to rest whatever remaining questions there were." 'My Brother's Bomber' is centered around the second of the two suspects Dornstein says were identified by the Scottish prosecutors yesterday: Abu Agila Mas'ud. Mas'ud, Dornstein believes, was the bomb expert behind the attack. Dornstein thinks that if the investigators got any information from him, it was Mas'ud's name. But as for the next step, Dornstein says it's out of his hands. "I went as far as I could as a filmmaker, as a brother as a journalist. I think now it's in the hands of states, and what they can make out of it." Listen to our full interview above, and watch the trailer for ' My Brother's Bomber ' : | 5 | 95,968 | news |
Another day, another Hyundai SEMA concept. The Korean automaker is well-known for bringing a whole fleet of highly-modified concepts to the auto show, and this year is no exception. We have previously seen high-performance street cars, like a 700-hp Bisimoto Tucson , a 500 hp Blood Type Racing Veloster Turbo , and a supercharged Genesis Coupe . Now, Hyundai revealed an off-road-ready Tucson bound for the Las Vegas show. Hyundai teamed up with Rockstar Performance Garage (RPG) to create this chunky 2016 Hyundai Tucson . RPG is well known for creating wild off-road builds from Jeeps and trucks. To kick things off, Rockstar crammed a heavy-duty off-road suspension under the crossover, with an increase of six inches over the stock ride height, using a fully adjustable King Shocks system. Grip comes from massive 32-inch Mickey Thompson MTZ P3 tires, requiring a complete redesign of the wheel wells. Under the hood, the 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from the standard Tucson gets a boost with an upgraded Magnaflow exhaust, K&N intake, modified turbo piping, and a Mishimoto intercooler. Visually, the Tucson gets a blacked-out treatment with yellow and gray accents. Special rugged bumpers and rockers have been fitted to help the Tuscon brush off any dings and impacts that occur off-road. The Rockstar Performance Garage Hyundai Tucson makes its official debut later this year at the upcoming 2015 SEMA auto show. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 95,969 | autos |
A Florida couple refused to end a police standoff until they could have sex "one last time". Mara Montalbano (@maramontalbano) has more on this tragic love story. | 8 | 95,970 | video |
Kate Hudson has been killing it in New York. The actress was spotted looking flawless all over the Big Apple and was spotted turning up at the same hotel as rumored boyfriend Nick Jonas. | 8 | 95,971 | video |
New rumors suggest Nintendo is moving quickly to get its next-gen console out, but it doesn't sound like it's cutting corners either. | 3 | 95,972 | finance |
ICYMI: Celeb news for Oct. 11-17 The past week in celebrity news was dominated by the most somber of stories. Lamar Odom was on life support for several days while his organs were failing. Now, though, it appears he's on the road to recovering after waking up from a comatose state. The former NBA star and estranged husband of Khloe Kardashian was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel this week with fluid coming out of his nose and mouth. After being transported to a Las Vegas hospital, Khloe and other members of her family and Lamar's family rushed to be by his side. It was reported that he woke up, said "Hey, baby" to Khloe, and went back to sleep. Preggo! Baby on board! Chrissy Teigen and John Legend will soon hear the sound of little feet running around their home, as Chrissy is ex pecting! "John and I are so happy to announce that we are pregnant :)," he announced on Instagram. "As many of you know, we've been trying to have a baby for a while now. It hasn't been easy, but we kept trying because we can't wait to bring our first child into the world and grow our family. We're so excited that it's finally happening. Thank you for all your love and well wishes. I look forward to all the belly touching! Xx" Rehab Scott Disick is back in rehab again . The troubled reality star entered a Southern California treatment facility in hopes of scoring a victory in his custody battle with his ex Kourtney Kardashian, with whom he shares three children. He's reportedly even cut his party friends out of his life. Treatment Hayden Panettiere checked into a treatment facility to help with her postpartum depression battle. Just last month, Hayden opened up about her struggles with postpartum. Hayden had a daughter last December. Banned Cover Justin Bieber needs to put on a shirt if he wants to sell his newest album in the Middle East. The Biebs' album cover is being banned in the region because he is shirtless and displays a tattooed crucifix on his chest -- both no-nos if he wants his album, "Purpose," to be seen on shelves. He is now scrambling to find an alternative cover. Blasting Rumors Calvin Harris came to his own defense this week after several media outlets claimed Taylor Swift dumped him. The reports all centered on photographs that showed him leaving a Thai massage parlor (insert joke here). Calvin tweeted that he was thinking of suing the outlets for defamation of character. Dating Off the market! Ronda Rousey is dating fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Travis Browne. He revealed the relationship while on a radio show, saying they'd been together for months and that it was pretty serious. Ronda, the face of UFC and rising Hollywood star, confirmed the relationship . Indicted " Dance Moms" star Abby Lee Miller is reportedly trying to waltz her way out of a bankruptcy fraud charge . According to a federal indictment, Abby hid $750,000 of income from creditors after filing for bankruptcy in 2010. The indictment lists 20 counts related to the alleged scheme. Married From the "it's about time" department, Victor Garber and his partner of 16 years finally tied the knot ! Rainer Andreesen announced the news on his Instagram. Victor is a fairly private person, but he has acknowledged his longtime partner in interviews in the past. Refunds, Please One thing after another. Jill Dillard and Derick Dillard are now offering refunds to individuals who donated money to their mission trip to El Salvador, which some critics have labeled as a glorified family vacation. On the couple's website donation page, a "request refund" button has been added. For all the people who want the Duggars back on TV, it seems that just as many people just want their money back! | 6 | 95,973 | entertainment |
Hillary Clinton's long-time confidante testified Friday before US lawmakers investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Libya, as Democrats slammed the Republican-led actions as efforts to "derail" the ex-secretary of state's White House bid. Huma Abedin, a trusted advisor to Clinton during her State Department years and now a vice chairwoman of her presidential campaign, appeared composed as she entered a closed-door session of the House Committee on Benghazi. She was expected to spend hours focused on the attacks of September 11, 2012 that killed four Americans, including ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. The panel's chairman, Trey Gowdy, did not attend. Top Democrat Elijah Cummings emerged to question why Republicans demanded Abedin testify when "she had no policy responsibilities, no operational responsibilities, (and) was not with secretary Clinton on the night of this phenomenal tragedy." The special investigation faces fresh scrutiny 17 months after it was empanelled, with Democrats charging it is more interested in ruining Clinton's presidential bid than reaching conclusions about how the executive branch handled the attack and its aftermath. Number two House Republican Kevin McCarthy inadvertently suggested last month that such an outcome was an unstated goal of the panel. This week another congressional Republican, Richard Hanna, admitted the probe was designed in part to "go after" Clinton, who testifies before the committee next Thursday. "When you have the number two person in the Republican Party who comes forward... who was one step away from becoming speaker, to tell you that this is all about a taxpayer-funded political effort to derail the campaign of Hillary Clinton, ladies and gentlemen, that is a problem," Cummings said. Gowdy took the unusual step Thursday of publicly criticizing Hanna, issuing a statement saying the remarks were "unfortunate" and ill-informed. Hanna is not on the Benghazi committee. Clinton aides noted Abedin has been "nothing but entirely cooperative" with the committee, but like Cummings, they too were questioning the rationale for grilling her. "The committee's focus on Huma (as opposed to numerous intelligence and defense community officials still outstanding) is additional evidence that the actual attack in Benghazi, and its lessons about how we might better protect diplomats serving in dangerous places, are the last things on the committee's mind," Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement. Cummings told MSNBC that the questioning of Abedin "was overall fair" but he described the process, particularly of committee sources leaking to reporters the time and place of the closed-door hearing, as a "spectacle." Clinton's Republican critics accuse the Obama administration of not doing enough to provide security for the Benghazi mission in the months leading up to the violence, and then of failing to adequately respond to the attack. Republican committee member Lynn Westmoreland defended questioning Abedin, telling CNN: "If you look at what her job was, you would think she would have some knowledge of some of the events." | 5 | 95,974 | news |
WASHINGTON Waking up hundreds of miles above the Himalayas, astronaut Scott Kelly broke the U.S. record Friday for the most time spent in space with 383 days. Kelly is more than halfway through a yearlong mission at the International Space Station and will eventually set a record for the longest single U.S. space mission. Kelly tweeted back to Earth that he hopes that his eventual 500 plus days in orbit will be exceeded by someone visiting Mars. He tweeted that his day began with a strikingly beautiful view of the Himalayas and vowed to visit them. Kelly and his ex-astronaut twin Mark, on the ground, are part of an experiment on the long-term effects of space. Russia's Gennady Padalka holds the record with 879 days in space. | 5 | 95,975 | news |
Studies show there are many benefits of exercising during and after pregnancy. Yet, despite the growing research, many women are still unsure about what's safe and what isn't. Dr. Manny sits down with Dr. Denise Jagroo to debunk some of the most common pregnancy exercise myths | 7 | 95,976 | health |
The Kardashian-Jenner family has suspended updating their apps in order to focus on the health of Lamar Odom. | 8 | 95,977 | video |
Week 5 of the NFL season displayed a few different under-the-radar players performing at a high level. From Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls putting up 169 yards in Marshawn Lynch's stead to San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aaron Lynch pressuring Eli Manning on nearly every drop back, previously unknown players stepped up big time. This week won't be any different. Whether it's due to injuries to starters or just a lack of production from veterans, here are 10 unheralded players set to step up and make major impacts in Week 6. 1. Marcus Cannon, offensive tackle, New England Patriots Whether his impact is going to be good or bad remains to be seen. Cannon, a mid-round pick back in 2011, is a great story. Overcoming cancer, the former Texas Christian standout has stuck on the Patriots for five years. He's now going to be given an extended opportunity to prove he's starter-worthy with Nate Solder lost for the season. Cannon will either protect Tom Brady's blindside or slide in as the starting right tackle against the Indianapolis Colts this weekend. With 11 career starts under his belt and mixed success on the field, he's definitely a downgrade from Solder in the lineup. How big of a downgrade he is could very well determine the Patriots success moving forward this season. In 144 offensive snaps this year, Cannon has allowed one sack. 2. Allen Hurns, wide receiver, Jacksonville Jaguars Blake Bortles may very well be on the verge of finding himself throwing to one of the top wide receiver tandems in the league. Allen Robinson, a more-heralded player than Hurns, has put up 402 yards and four touchdowns thus far this season. Meanwhile, Hurns actually leads the team in receptions (27) and yards (430) while scoring three touchdowns. In fact, this second-year player from Miami ranks in the top 10 in the NFL in receiving. Nursing a hamstring injury, it will be interesting to see how much Hurns can provide against the Tennessee Titans in a battle for last place in the AFC South. If he's able to continue his stellar play, it will lead to another tremendous outing from the up-and-coming Bortles. It will also give the Jaguars' offense some identity moving forward this year. 3. Brian Robison, defensive end, Minnesota Vikings Robison is one of those players you hear about during a game multiple times, but never really think twice about. He's just out there doing his job doing it quite well. A five-year starter for the Vikings, Robison is playing his best football this season. Equally as good against the run as he is rushing the passer, the former Texas standout has recorded a whopping 16 quarterback hurries in just four games. To put that into perspective, he's hurrying the quarterback about 15 percent of the time. Going up against a Kansas City Chiefs offensive line that has allowed 21 sacks this season, Robison should have a field day on Sunday. The one positive here for Kansas City is that Eric Fisher has performed well in recent games an indication that he may be able to hold down the fort against Robison. 4. Brandon Williams, defensive tackle, Baltimore Ravens In just his third season out of Missouri Southern, Williams is already one of the most dominating interior defensive linemen in the NFL. As more of a run-stuffing nose tackle in Baltimore's 3-4 defense, he's the primary reason that unit is allowing just 3.8 yards per attempt to running backs. Going up against one of the league's best young running backs in Carlos Hyde, it's going to be important for Baltimore to stop the run. If it's able to do that, the San Francisco 49ers will have to win with Colin Kaepernick through the air. This is where Williams comes into play. He'll be lining up against an interior of the 49ers offensive line that has been a downright travesty this season. Though, a Pro Bowl caliber left guard in Alex Boone might be able to find a way to open up holes for Hyde. That's going to be an important aspect of this game. 5. Jamison Crowder, wide receiver, Washington Redskins Of the receivers that have hauled in 20-plus catches this season, Crowder boasts the highest reception percentage of the group. Through five weeks, this rookie from Duke has caught 23 of the 27 passes thrown in his direction. Interestingly, Crowder started seeing ample playing time when DeSean Jackson went down with a hamstring injury. The rookie has caught 21 of his 23 passes in the past three games. With Jackson apparently suffering a setback on Thursday, there's a decent chance Crowder will find himself playing an important role against the New York Jets on Sunday. If so, expect another solid performance from the rookie. 6. Shaquil Barrett, linebacker, Denver Broncos With DeMarcus Ware out for the next two weeks due to a back injury, the Broncos have named Barrett the starter. A practice squad player after going undrafted out of Colorado State last year, Barrett earned a spot on the 53-man roster with a strong preseason performance this year. More than that, he earned an important role in Denver's pass-rush rotation a group that also includes first-round picks Von Miller and Shane Ray. This season alone, Barrett has recorded two sacks and four quarterback hurries in limited playing time (less than 20 snaps per game). With him slated to take on a darn good Cleveland Browns offensive line, it's going to be important for the youngster to provide a solid pass rush opposite Miller. If that happens, the Broncos stand a good chance of remaining undefeated. 7. Ross Cockrell, cornerback, Pittsburgh Steelers Probably Pittsburgh's best defensive back through five weeks, Cockrell's early-season performance has been somewhat stunning. A fourth-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2014, this Duke product was actually released after seeing limited playing time as a rookie. Catching on with Pittsburgh, he's now gone up against the opposing team's No. 1 receiver first Steve Smith in Week 4, and then Keenan Allen on Monday night in the past two games. Cockrell will face an equally difficult task of lining up against Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on Sunday. The 32-year-old receiver is having one heck of a comeback campaign after failing to put up 1,000 yards in each of the past three seasons. Through five games, Fitzgerald ranks in the top-10 of the NFL in receptions (35), receiving yards (490) and leads the league with six touchdown catches. For his part, Cockrell, held Smith an Allen to a combined 10 receptions for 78 yards. Though, Smith did leave the game against Pittsburgh with a back injury. It will definitely be interesting to see if this second-year corner can find a way to slow Fitzgerald down. If that happens, Pittsburgh could be looking at a 4-2 record following Sunday's action. 8. Mario Addison, defensive end, Carolina Panthers We included Addison in this article heading into Week 4. He responded by tallying seven quarterback hurries against Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was one of the primary reasons Carolina was able to pick off the rookie quarterback four times in a blowout win. This week against the worst offensive line in the NFL, Addison should find himself in Russell Wilson's face all game. The Seattle Seahawks quarterback is being pressured on 46 percent of his drop backs and is on pace to be sacked more than any other player in the history of the NFL. It's going to be imperative that Carolina takes advantage of Seattle's biggest weakness. Equally as important, Addison will need to hold contain when protection breaks down in front of Wilson. If these two things happen, Carolina may very well remain undefeated. 9. Charcandrick West, running back, Kansas City Chiefs It's pretty clear that Andy Reid and company are planning on West taking over the primary ball-carrier duties for Jamaal Charles, who was lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL last week. Without much regular season sample size, West is a true wild card here. Reid is said to be fond of his receiving ability something that will come in handy with Mr. check down himself, Alex Smith, under center. With only preseason action to go on here, West did perform extremely well over the summer. He averaged 4.9 yards per rush on 28 attempts while catching all six of the passes thrown in his direction. While the preseason matters little when it comes to stats, it's important to note that West was going up against first-team defenses a majority of the time with Charles playing a total of 23 snaps in four games. Now taking on a Vikings defense that has had its struggles against the run, West could very well have a big game. And in reality, he will need to in order for the Chiefs to avoid a fifth consecutive loss. 10. EJ Manuel, quarterback, Buffalo Bills While everything seems to be pointing to Tyrod Taylor playing on Sunday, Bills head coach Rex Ryan remains cautious heading into an important game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The way Buffalo has been conservative with injuries this year, it wouldn't be surprising to see Taylor sit after he suffered a sprained MCL last week. If so, Manuel will get the start against a stout Bengals defense. Pretty much a lost cause after a 2014 campaign that saw him benched in favor of Kyle Orton, this former first-round pick impressed enough in camp and during the preseason to beat out Matt Cassel as Taylor's primary backup. Preseason stats may amount to a hill of beans, but Manuel did perform at a high level when called on during the summer. He completed 67 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and zero picks. In order for Buffalo to move to 4-2 on the season, it will need solid quarterback play against Cincinnati. If Manuel is indeed the guy under center, it will be up to him to provide that. Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL . | 1 | 95,978 | sports |
Israeli and Palestinian officials exchange blame at the United Nations for ongoing violence at holy sites in the region. Rough Cut - subtitled (no reporter narration). | 8 | 95,979 | video |
Blonde beauties Paris and Nicky Hilton are great-granddaughters to the Hilton hotel founder. The fashionable socialites recently spent time together in London during the lead up to Nicky's wedding. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were the original girly twosome, with younger sister Elizabeth now stepping into the spotlight. Beyoncé Knowles became a household name years before sister Solange came onto the scene, but a great voice runs in the family with Solange now also having a successful singing career. Model beauties Gigi and Bella Hadid can easily be told apart by their contrasting hair colours, and a few inches help differentiate between Elle and Dakota Fanning. Reality star Nicole Richie's sister Sofia Richie is pegged for stardom with a blossoming modelling career. | 6 | 95,980 | entertainment |
Organizing your closet can seem like a daunting task, especially when you consider how expensive store-bought organizing solutions can be. Keep your space streamlined and clutter-free with these amazingly easy tips that utilize items you already own. Tab Team Expand your usable hanging space for (basically) free by slipping a soda can tab over a hanger, and then inserting a second hanger through the bottom hole of the tab. In addition to doubling your storage opportunities, you can also take this clever hack to the next level by using it to assemble your outfits for the week buying you some extra R&R time in the mornings . Clever Cardboard Think twice before you recycle those moving or shipping boxes they can be upcycled and used to organize your shoes. Fold a few pieces of cardboard into strips, creating triangular compartments that are the perfect size for flats, sandals, and all of your favorite footwear. Plus, the cool geometric design will also add a punch of personality to a standard closet setup. Clothes Catchall We've all had the bad habit of tossing our worn clothes onto the floor after a hard day's work. Prevent this clutter from taking over your closet by repurposing an extra basket into a dirty clothes bin. Having a designated spot to toss your used outfit is such a simple way to keep things organized, plus it makes transporting clothes on laundry day a cinch. Step Up A ladder is a decorative and functional solution for streamlining footwear. Each rung provides a spot for multiple shoes to sit, and the open display allows you to quickly identify and grab the pair you need when running out the door. Hip Hanger Scarves and belts can quickly get out of hand without a proper storage solution . But with a simple wooden hanger, some thick cardstock, and a few plastic snaps, you can create a functional system that will corral all of your accessories in one place making it so much easier for you to see what you have and locate what you need. If you don't have cardstock on hand, simply weave your colorful accessories through the bottom of the hanger. Photo-Op Don't toss those old shoeboxes! They can make great stackable storage for accessories like hats, scarves, out-of-season clothing, and more. Cover the boxes with decorative fabric or paper, then attach a picture of the item that's inside. Not only will this be a pretty addition to your closet, but also a functional one as you'll always know exactly where your little extras are hiding and where to return them to when you're finished. Shelf Help If you have a spare shelf lying around in storage, put it to good use by installing it in your closet or simply setting it on the floor. This extra space is ideal for baskets, shoes, or other oddly shaped extras that take up space and are difficult to stack or arrange with your other items. Good Grips Shockingly enough, no-slip hangers don't always come cheap. Here's a tip that could save you bundles: Wrap rubber bands around the edges of your inexpensive hangers to create a nonslip grip for your favorite sweaters, dresses, and other hard-to-hang clothing items. Pipe cleaners wrapped around the edge, or hot glue applied to the top can also do the trick. Dainty Display Pegboard is a versatile material, making itself at home in the garage, basement , and even in the closet. Create instant wall-mount jewelry storage by attaching a piece of painted pegboard with inserted hooks to your wall. Not only will your necklaces remain organized and tangle-free, but they'll also be displayed openly so you can easily navigate your entire inventory. Molding Moment Attach crown molding horizontally to the wall for an instant high heel rack that makes a colorful statement. This will free up loads of floor space , plus it will give you a better view of your shoe collection so you can quickly pick the perfect pair every morning. Stand Tall Leather boots can be tricky to store properly, as you don't want their legs to become droopy. Forget spending on store-bought boot shapers, and instead use rolled-up magazines secured with rubber bands. Insert one roll of paper into each boot to keep the pair standing tall and looking like new . | 4 | 95,981 | lifestyle |
Unlike the 162-game marathon of a regular season, a hot streak or a slump in a postseason series is magnified and scrutinized. That said, it's a time for new heroes to be made and unfortunate failures to be singled out. Here are those who fit each side of the ledger during the Division Series. Winners 5. Kendrys Morales, Royals Admittedly, there were plenty of Kansas City heroes, especially those who contributed to the Game 4 comeback. Ironically, that was the only game in which Morales didn't record a hit. He was pretty good in all the others, though. Morales book-ended the five-game series with Houston by homering twice in the opener and putting the finishing touches on the clincher with a three-run blast in the eighth. 4. Daniel Murphy, Mets Whoever said Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw were invincible never relayed that message to the Mets second baseman. All three of Murphy's home runs came against Los Angeles' two aces. The first (off Kershaw) opened the scoring in New York's Game 1 victory. The last (off Greinke) put the Mets on top to stay in the sixth inning of Game 5, a night in which he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a nifty piece of baserunning that caught the Dodgers napping and led to him scoring the tying run. 3. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs It's possible no one will ever retrieve the moonshot he fired off against Kevin Siegrest. That round-tripper finished off the Game 4 offense and all but finished off the Cardinals. At just 22, Schwarber is one of many Cubs who doesn't seem fazed by postseason pressure. Carrying the momentum generated from his three-RBI effort in the Wild Card victory, he torched St. Louis pitching with a .500 batting average including a Game 3 homer, as well. 2. Jacob deGrom, Mets His 13-strikeout performance in the opener put him in the Mets playoff record books alongside Tom Seaver. But deGrom showed the makings of a true ace during Thursday's winner-take-all affair at Dodger Stadium. Clearly lacking his best stuff, relying mostly on guile and determination, the 2014 Rookie of the Year overcame two early runs and battled through six innings deftly escaping potential trouble in most of them. 1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays Joe Carter may forever have the greatest home run in Toronto Blue Jays history, but the long ball from "Joey Bats" was not without its share of drama and context. Capping off the wildest seventh inning in recent memory, Bautista launched one over the left-center field fence (and hurled his bat halfway to Ottawa) to provide the difference in a win that sent Toronto to the ALCS for the first time since the 1993 championship season. Losers 5 . Michael Wacha, Cardinals The dawning of the postseason didn't result in any change of fortune. After struggling mightily during September (7.88 ERA over five starts), Wacha stumbled again in the pivotal Game 3 at Wrigley Field allowing four runs (and three homers) in 4.1 innings. Even though the Cardinals made Jake Arrieta look human, Wacha's poor outing put St. Louis in too deep of a hole to recover. Coming into tonight, Michael Wacha had pitched in 70 games in his career. Never before had he allowed three home runs in one game. Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 12, 2015 4. Lucas Duda, Mets Just because his team prevailed doesn't mean he gets off the hook so easily. Duda's feast-or-famine tendency is leaning heavily in the wrong direction right now with the weight of 11 strikeouts and just two singles in 15 at-bats bringing him down. Only a solid glove at first base and the unwavering faith of his manager has kept him in the starting lineup. 3. Prince Fielder, Rangers His 3-for-20 effort in the loss to Toronto won't completely erase the fact that Fielder revived his career after an injury-plagued 2014. There were no extra base hits on Prince's 2015 playoff record, and the lone RBI he produced came in Game 5. This was quite the surprise, considering he batted nearly .400 over the final month of the regular season. 2. Jose Altuve, Astros He's usually the spark plug for the Houston offense. However, in the Division Series versus Kansas City, he failed to ignite. Altuve managed to hit a measly .133 in the five-game set. All three of his hits were singles and all three of his hits came in the opener. Altuve and the Astros will have many more opportunities, but this was an auspicious beginning to his postseason career. 1. Elvis Andrus, Rangers The normally sure-handed shortstop picked the worst time to have the worst half-inning of his life . He began gifting the Blue Jays in Game 5 with a botched grounder to start the bottom of the seventh. Then, he couldn't handle a potential force play at second (on a bounced throw by first baseman Mitch Moreland, who got the error). No sooner did he follow by dropping a potential force at third on a bunt. Three batters later, when Jose Bautista went deep, it simultaneously earned the Blue Jays slugger heroes laurels while also squarely placing the goat horns on Andrus. | 1 | 95,982 | sports |
On their websites, next to glossy pictures of babies, some fertility clinics and egg-donor agencies refer to eggs as a "priceless gift" from caring young women who want to help people with fertility problems. There is a price tag for eggs, though, and it is now the subject of a legal battle. In a federal lawsuit, a group of women are challenging industry guidelines that say it is "inappropriate" to pay a woman more than $10,000 for her eggs. The women say the $10,000 limit amounts to illegal price-fixing, and point out that there is no price restriction on the sale of human sperm. A federal judge has certified the claim as a class action, which will most likely go to trial next year. The guidelines do not have the force of law, though they have been widely followed. But demand for eggs has increased and put pressure on their price. So some high-end fertility clinics and egg-donor agencies are ignoring the guidelines and paying far more on rare occasions in the six figures while donors are shopping around to get the best price. The case could shake up the $80 million egg-donor market by spurring more negotiation. It is a potent reminder that egg donation is a big business, though one with many more inherent ethical issues than others. "The lawsuit is raising awareness of the commodification of the whole thing, and that's good," said Sierra Poulson, 28, a lawyer in Nebraska not involved with the case, and a founder of the online forum We Are Egg Donors . "The guidelines are skewed toward the intended parents, toward the industry making more money and business," Ms. Poulson said. "We're in America the market would take care of itself, without guidelines." Ms. Poulson, a three-time donor, is an example of how the market works. She was paid $3,000 for each of her first two donations, in Kansas, but $10,000 in Chicago for the last. "The third time I donated, the only reason was for the money," she said. As women wait longer to start their families, and find their fertility has waned, the demand for eggs from young donors typically, donors are in their 20s has risen rapidly. Women trying to get pregnant, along with surrogates hired by gay men to carry their children, used donor eggs in nearly 20,000 monthly cycles in 2012, compared with fewer than 12,000 a decade earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which collects statistics on assisted reproduction. While many other countries limit egg donation, and the compensation that is allowed, egg donation is essentially unregulated in the United States. But in 2000, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine established the guidelines for how much women should be paid. They say that compensation over $5,000 requires "justification," and that more than $10,000 is "beyond what is appropriate." The amounts have never been adjusted. The society argues that capping the price ensures that low-income young women are not drawn to donate by a huge payout without considering how it may affect their lives. "If the compensation became too high, there is a concern that it might be incentive for donors to lie about their medical history," said Tripp Monts, a lawyer representing the society. "And it could induce young women to donate without thinking too far down the road." He also took issue with the idea that the guidelines represented price-fixing. "The guidelines are just that, guidelines," he said. "They're not a cap as has been portrayed." The whole question of compensation for eggs is uncomfortable, raising issues of exploitation of low-income young women by affluent older women whose own eggs are past their prime, and by gay men, in their quest for children. Many cancer survivors also need eggs after their treatment leaves them infertile. Reflecting a distaste in the United States for the idea of selling body parts, the women providing the eggs are referred to as donors, and at least theoretically are paid not for their eggs, but for the inconvenience, discomfort and health risks involved in the process of harvesting. That process requires weeks of hormone injections to stimulate the ovaries, and endurance of ultrasounds and surgery. Many egg donors and women's health advocates say there is a pressing need for more research on whether the high doses of hormones that women must take increase the risk of cancer or infertility, especially among repeat donors. Some advocate the creation of a database to track donors' health history; others suggest urging them to freeze some of the eggs to use themselves should they later develop cancer or become infertile. But it is intrinsic to the process that doctors, clinics and agencies who recruit donors and harvest the eggs focus less on worrying about the donor's interests than on getting what the recipients paid for. "Our whole system makes no sense," said Debora L. Spar, the president of Barnard College and the author of a book on the assisted reproduction industry. "We cap the price because of the yuck factor of commodifying human eggs, when we should either say, 'Egg-selling is bad and we forbid it,' as some countries do, or 'Egg-selling is O.K., and the horse is out of the barn, but we're going to regulate the market for safety.'" Currently, most first-time donors in California, New York and Chicago are paid $4,000 to $7,000, more than in other parts of the country. (The price generally includes all eggs harvested in a cycle, whether used fresh or frozen.) The pay can rise significantly for repeat donors whose first set of eggs led to a birth. But donors are becoming more savvy in seeking compensation. And mindful of the booming market, a growing number of fertility clinics have started their own in-house egg programs. "The market has exploded and become much more competitive, and you see the same donor listed on several different sites," said Lesa A. Slaughter, a reproductive lawyer in Los Angeles. Some high-end fertility clinics and egg-donor agencies ignore the guidelines and pay more for eggs from particularly attractive donors: actresses, models, Asians, Jewish women and Ivy League students with high SAT scores. "For us, a first-time Asian donor might get $10,000-25,000, and a repeat donor might get to $40,000, occasionally $50,000," said Darlene Pinkerton, a founder of A Perfect Match, an agency in Southern California. "Maybe twice, it's been $75,000. It's gotten much more competitive now that there's a new agency opening almost every week." Andrew Vorzimer, a lawyer in Woodland Hills, Calif., who specializes in reproductive law and formerly owned an egg-donation business, said, "I've drafted contracts for egg donors in the six figures." "The guidelines are a joke," he said. "There's no teeth." Mr. Vorzimer said he believed that some guidelines were necessary both to prevent exploitation of younger women, and to prevent prices from rising so high that only the richest families would have access to donor eggs. Sperm donors typically receive $75 to $100 for their comparatively carefree contribution: There is no shortage of attractive, educated donors. According to the complaint in the egg donors' lawsuit, Kamahaki v. American Society for Reproductive Medicine , the women's pay rates were originally set by taking the sperm donor compensation, calculating the amount of time men had to spend in a medical setting, and multiplying it by the much longer time women spent when donating eggs. "Since the process of donating eggs is far more painful and risky than is the process for donating sperm, a price paid for donor services that does not account for those differences must be artificially low," the complaint said. Neither the egg donors named as plaintiffs in the case nor their lawyers would discuss the case, which could affect potentially thousands of women who have donated eggs since April 2007 at any fertility clinic or egg donation business that followed the guidelines. Ms. Poulson, the egg donor in Nebraska and co-founder of the online forum, said the experience of donating was often very isolating. "We support the lawsuit because the world of egg donation is opaque,"' a statement from the forum says. "We need transparent discussions about how, exactly, the professionalization of egg donation continues to impact the transaction and care we receive. The fertility industry is keenly interested in recruiting new and healthy donors, but generally gives little regard to what happens to us when the eggs are gone." Maggie Eastman, 34, of Puyallup, Wash., donated her eggs 10 times before being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in January 2014. Each time a doctor called requesting her eggs, she said, she felt uncomfortable turning down someone who needed her help to have a baby and, she said, no one ever told her that six donations was the recommended limit. Ms. Eastman said she was paid $1,600 the first time she donated, and $2,000 each time after."It paid off my undergraduate student loans, almost,'' she said. "I didn't know how much other people were getting. There was no one to ask.'' | 5 | 95,983 | news |
The FIFA scandals keep on multiplying, and today's latest developments suggest that it's not just the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes that are under suspicion. German news magazine Der Spiegel have today alleged that the committee in charge of organising the German bid for the 2006 World Cup, a bid that was eventually successful, set up a multi-million dollar slush fund with the express purpose of purchasing votes. According to their information, former Adidas boss Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who died in 2009, operated the 10.3 million Swiss franc fund in a private capacity. This money did not appear on the budget of either the committee who organised the bid or the committee that organised the World Cup. Der Spiegel claim that the money was used to secure the votes of four representatives on the FIFA's 24-member executive committee ahead of the vote, which took place in 2000 and which Germany eventually won by one vote after a surprise abstention in the final round. The story also claims that in 2005, Louis-Dreyfus called in the loan, by this point worth €6.7m. They allege that Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern Munich legend and then-chief of the organising committee, and Wolfgang Niersbach, current president of the German football association, were instrumental in ensuring that the money was repaid. They also allege that FIFA was used to facilitate this payment: Germany made a donation of €6.7m for a planned gala ceremony, which was then cancelled, and the money was passed on to Louis-Dreyfus. The full story in English is here . This is not the first time that allegations of impropriety have been levelled at Germany over the bidding process for the 2006 World Cup. In June, newspaper Die Zeit alleged that German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder had authorised the sale of arms to the Saudi Arabian government in an attempt to influence the vote of the Saudi committee member. More bizarrely, at the time the bid was held, a satirical magazine faxed hoax bribes to various committee members, offering them sausages, cuckoo clocks and Black Forest ham. | 1 | 95,984 | sports |
Wall Street is still betting on Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, fundraising reports released Thursday show, despite a precipitous slide in the polls that cost him his front-running status. But in a sign of how Mr. Bush's fundraising pace has slowed down, he raised less from the financial industry in the last three months than he did in the first 15 days of his campaign alone. Of the top 10 employers listed by Mr. Bush's donors, half are financial firms: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Neuberger Berman and Barclays, where Mr. Bush previously worked as a consultant making about $2 million a year. In the three months that ended Sept. 30, Mr. Bush raised about $200,000 from the employees of 11 major financial firms, less than 60% of what he raised from those firms in the first 15 days of his campaign, in June. That is roughly seven times the amount collected apiece by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and 11 times the amount collected by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, whose wife is on leave from her job as a managing director at Goldman Sachs. In contrast, 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney raised nearly $375,000 in the third quarter of 2011 from the same 11 firms. Although Mr. Romney was knocked out of first place in the polls several times during the primary, his numbers never dipped into the single digits like Mr. Bush's. Democrat Hillary Clinton raised less than $130,000 from the firms. She raised roughly $400,000 from those companies in the second fundraising quarter. While the Wall Street money has helped Mr. Bush outgun most of his Republican rivals in the past three months, his close ties to the financial industry, kinship to two former occupants of the White House, and business-friendly agenda appear to be muddling his efforts to pitch himself as a "disrupter" of the political establishment. Over the summer, candidates such as Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina surpassed Mr. Bush in the polls. More than half of Americans are "angry because our political system seems to only be working for the insiders with money and power, like those on Wall Street or in Washington," according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted Sept. 20-24. "The tea party movement sees Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce as corrupting influences on politics, and I think that hurts Jeb Bush because of the perception that he's the candidate the financiers of the party like," said Erick Erickson of the conservative Red State blog. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, a global investment firm, recently joined Mr. Bush's team after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped out of the race. He said the financial industry has been unfairly targeted by other presidential candidates. "I don't like seeing these attacks on hardworking people. Some of the anger is justified but you have to get the policy right," Mr. Scaramucci said. "The guys on Wall Street are not ideological as much as they are practical and looking for someone who can solve problems, and they think Jeb Bush has the wisdom and credibility to pull it off." Mr. Bush's tax plan would reduce corporate and individual tax rates, as well as lower taxes paid on investments. The plan's biggest beneficiaries: the top 1% of earners, according to an analysis by the business-backed Tax Foundation. Like many conservatives, Mr. Bush opposes the new Dodd-Frank regulations on the financial industry. Mr. Bush is targeting two tax breaks popular on Wall Street: the deduction of interest on debt and "carried interest," which allows investment-fund managers to pay lower taxes on much of what they earn. But it is unclear if closing those loopholes would mean Wall Street executives would pay more in taxes because of the lower corporate and individual rates. Democrats have called for sweeping changes on Wall Street that wouldn't only hold the banks accountable for abuses but also the executives, who have largely managed to avoid legal trouble. In the recent Democratic debate, Mrs. Clinton said, "My plan would have the potential of actually sending the executives to jail. Nobody went to jail after $100 billion in fines were paid." Mr. Bush doesn't appear to have addressed this issue on the campaign trail, and his campaign didn't respond to inquiries this week about it. Tea Party leader Mark Meckler, president of Citizens for Self-Governance, noted that Wall Street which typically gets behind candidates viewed as likely winners isn't lurching toward the candidates at the top of the polls. Instead, the financial industry is spreading its money around the GOP field, with the most going to Mr. Bush. "Jeb's chunk is interesting because these are bettors, and you wonder what they're betting on,'' he said. "They are emotionally invested in a Jeb Bush win because he's the status quo and one of the only people who's not talking about blowing up Wall Street." Write to Beth Reinhard at [email protected] and Christopher S. Stewart at [email protected] | 3 | 95,985 | finance |
PORTLAND, Ore. Portland State University librarians in Oregon finally got their hands on two overdue books -- a half century after they were checked out. The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/1RMoPct ) that someone put two books checked out in 1963 into a book drop, accompanied by an anonymous, handwritten note. University librarian Joan Petit says the books are so old that staff members don't know what to do with them. In the time since they were borrowed for a high-school speech class, card catalogs have been digitized and classification methods have changed. But the librarians, who no longer charge late fees, say they are thankful that someone returned "Basic Principles of Speech" and "Preface to Critical Reading." The anonymous note acknowledges that the books are "outdated -- yes -- but I'll let you decide their fate now." ___ Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com | 5 | 95,986 | news |
CHIHUAHUA, Mexico -- We've had something of a love/hate relationship with the current-generation BMW 3 Series since it debuted for the 2012 model year. We tested a 328i luxury line model as a Four Seasons car and appreciated the power and pace from its turbocharged 2.0-liter four-banger. But we couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing -- that this 3 Series was lacking the magical fun-to-drive quotient that has traditionally secured its status as the gold standard of the compact sport sedan class. Then we drove a sport line variant of the 328i equipped with BMW's optional adaptive M suspension. Now this was more like it. The steering and chassis response, the grip, the controlled ride -- they were all present and accounted for. We simply did it wrong. The correct option boxes were left unchecked, and this made all the difference between a sport sedan and a luxury sedan. The "new" 2016 BMW 3 Series (refreshed is a more accurate term) continues to have this split personality. Fill out the options form incorrectly and you risk winding up with a 3 Series your mom will love, but you'll regret. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook A cursory look at the exterior of 2016 3 Series reveals the expected nip/tuck treatment at each end. The nose gets new LED headlights spaced farther apart, along with larger air intakes in the front valance. The rear end is similarly revised with new LED taillights, dual exhaust tips, and a sportier looking rear apron. Inside the cabin, new ambient lighting and various trim bits further jazz up BMW's bread-and-butter model. BMW has also decided to make certain sport line trim elements -- including black exterior trim, sport seats, and the sport instrument cluster -- standard equipment for the 320i and 328i. BMW has also tuned up a few key mechanical and chassis elements, including revising the electric-assist steering system, strengthening the mounting points of the front suspension struts, and firming up the rear dampers for better dynamic response. The standard eight-speed automatic transmission is claimed to be more fuel-efficient with a wider spread of gear ratios and reduced torque converter slip between shifts. Hello, 340i But the big news for the 2016 BMW 3 Series lineup centers on waving goodbye to the 335i model and saying hello to the new 340i. What's this BMW 340i all about? A new engine, primarily. The 340i's all-new inline-six (B58 for you BMW code geeks) shares its 3.0-liter displacement with the outgoing N55 engine from the 335i, but little else. The all-aluminum mill is part of BMW's new EfficientDynamics engine family. Its closed-deck design and thermally joined, specially coated cylinder liners will eventually be shared with other BMW four- and six-cylinder engines. The newly designed twin-scroll turbocharger helps boost output to 320 horsepower (up 20 hp over the 335i) and torque to some 330 lb-ft that's available from just 1,380 rpm. If you prefer (and you probably do), a six-speed manual transmission is a no-cost option and features a new dual-mass flywheel with an available rev-match function for downshifts. Like the 320i and 328i, the 340i comes standard with the sport line package and is available in either rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive (xDrive in BMW speak) configurations. But here's the really special part. BMW's new track handling package is available on all gas-powered 3 Series models for 2016 and includes a number of options that would-be hot shoes will crave. Variable-ratio sport steering, adaptive M suspension and M Sport brakes with high-temperature pads are all part of the group, along with 18-inch cast-aluminum wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sports (one of our favorite street/track tires). Feeling the difference And so it was that BMW turned us loose in a fleet of gleaming new 340i sedans to attack the scenic switchbacks in the majestic Copper Canyon region outside of Chihuahua, Mexico. The first of two cars we drove was an automatic-equipped, rear-drive 340i with the standard suspension, brakes, and tires. The new 3.0-liter inline-six is a sweetheart of an engine, though with a faint hint of initial turbo lag. But the pull from 3,000 rpm to redline is ferocious, and the engine sounds just as happy to rev as we were to rev it, with BMW's silky smooth straight-six delighting us at full growl. The revised eight-speed auto was also a pleasure to use, with speedy manual shifts with the paddles, though the upshifts could have been a bit smoother. Built-in harshness designed to elicit a sportier feeling? Wouldn't be the first time. Still, there was something amiss with the first BMW 340i we drove, that same feeling we had with our long-term 328i. It wasn't until we'd sampled a manual-equipped car with the track pack that we figured it out. In the track pack version, the steering feels sharper and better weighted; the car turns in more eagerly on the Super Sport tires (and dare we say it, rode even better); brake pedal feel is significantly firmer and more responsive. This 340i was also equipped with xDrive all-wheel drive, which helped put power down coming out of corners. At quick-but-sane speeds, the setup allows for a bit of rotation toward the apex in the corners and virtually no push. While the standard 340i felt oddly disjointed and uncoordinated, the track pack-equipped car felt dynamically fluid and completely of a single piece. Later in the day, after the BMWs were shut down and stashed away, engines softly ticking as they cooled, a BMW engineer asked us for our impressions of his latest baby. As we emphasized how much fun the track pack car had been to drive and that we were left a little cold by the standard model, he nodded slowly and smiled a knowing smile. Most 3 Series buyers won't care a lick about brake or steering feel, or the way their car turns in and takes a set through a series of S curves. But for prospective 2016 BMW 3 Series buyers who think like us, bliss is just a $1,700 option package away. 2016 BMW 340i Specifications On Sale: Now Base Price: $46,795 ($48,795 xDrive) Engine: 3.0L turbocharged DOHC 24-valve I-6/320 hp @ 5,500-6,500 rpm, 332 lb-ft @ 1,380-5,000 rpm Transmissions: 8-speed automatic, 6-speed manual Layout: 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, RWD/AWD sedan EPA Mileage: 20-22/29-33 mpg (city/hwy) Suspension F/R: Strut-type, coil springs/multilink, coil springs Brakes F/R: Strut-type, coil springs/multilink, coil springs Tires F/R: 225/45R-18 Michelin Pilot All-Season run-flat (225/45R-18/255/35R-18 Michelin Pilot Super Sport) L x W x H: 182.8 x 71.3 x 56.3-56.5 in Wheelbase: 110.6 in Headroom: 40.3/37.7 in (front/second) Legroom: 42.0/35.1 in (front/second) Shoulder Room: 55.1/55.1 in (front/second) Cargo Volume: 17.0 cu ft Towing: N/A Weight: 3,665-3,820 lb Weight Dist. F/R: N/A 0-60 MPH: 4.6-4.9 sec 1/4-Mile: N/A Top Speed: 130/149-155 mph (base/optional) | 9 | 95,987 | autos |
Looking to land a rewarding and exciting job at a startup? It can be difficult, but here are some tips to help you out. | 3 | 95,988 | finance |
OAKLAND, Calif. The city of Oakland, California, sent a letter warning a church that it could be fined after a neighbor complained that choir practice was causing unbearable night-time noise. The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1G9tDr2 ) that the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church has served residents in West Oakland for 65 years. Pastor Thomas A. Harris III says he was surprised to learn he could face an initial fine of $3,529, followed by $500-per-day penalties, for the "joyful noise" of choir practice. Harris says rehearsal ends at 9 p.m., but the complaint sent to the city says the loud music sometimes lasts until 2 a.m. City spokeswoman Karen Boyd says the letter was a courtesy notice and that she hasn't received any more complaints. She says she doesn't intend to fine the church. ___ Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com | 5 | 95,989 | news |
The impact of Apple's ad blocking technology on the future of the Internet came faster than we might have expected. On Thursday, the Internet Advertising Bureau acknowledged it had failed Internet users, pursuing automation and optimization t hat made money but that ultimately cost the industry consumer loyalty. "We messed up," wrote Scott Cunningham , senior vice president of technology and ad operations at the Internet Advertising Bureau, the industry organization that represents over 650 different organizations, including many of the biggest global media outlets. "As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience." The explosion in ad-blocking apps over the last month has shown how much pent-up consumer demand there was for removing ugly, invasive, memory-hogging and insecure ads from our mobile devices and computers. While ad-supported publishers depend upon advertising revenue -- including The Huffington Post and its parent company, AOL, which makes advertising technology -- the consumer experience on today's Internet is often dreadful. Right now, in fact, you may be annoyed by the ads that overlay or surround this story. Beyond frustration about busy pages, however, ads can eat up limited data plans and drain precious battery life -- or, even worse, " malvertising " can infect unprotected devices with viruses and rootkits, which can give unauthorized users remote access to your computer. Now, the ad industry's tech lab is promising to do better, developing "L.E.A.N." ads for hundreds of IAB member companies around world. L.E.A.N. stands for "Light, Encrypted , Ad choice-supported, Non-invasive" ads. But it's unclear whether the industry can successfully deliver ads that require less bandwidth, are more secure and actually honor our choices about what kinds of ads we want to see and where. If the ad industry doesn't succeed, the odds are good that more consumers will use ad blocking technology to block all ads, which could be disastrous for online publishers and media companies -- particularly smaller, independent media outlets . A study released in August by Adobe and PageFair, an Ireland-based firm that tries to recover ad-blocked revenue, estimated that almost 200 million people worldwide have installed ad blocking software in their Web browsers, which could cost publishers $22 billion in 2015 alone . There's also another factor driving this response from consumers: Facebook, Google and Apple are developing their own approaches to hosting " Instant Articles " and news inside their own platforms and sharing revenue with news organizations (including HuffPost), moving some media output away from the open Web entirely. Here's hoping we all find a better balance between the needs of commerce and content, and creators and readers, soon. | 3 | 95,990 | finance |
They are mostly wealthier than their fellow Republican lawmakers, overwhelmingly white, middle-aged and male, and have minimal legislative experience despite often having been high achievers in their careers before Washington. The members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus represent a small slice of America, but they have attained outsized influence as central players in a congressional leadership vacuum that has consumed the Republican Party. The group, sometimes known as the "hell no caucus" for its refusal to compromise, does not disclose its membership roster but appears to number about three dozen, according to a Reuters tally, media reports and counts by political research firms. Reuters has independently confirmed 33 of the members. Their defining creed: to ensure that Republican leaders carry out what they say is a conservative mandate from voters even if that disrupts normal congressional business. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, a former wrestling coach who chairs the bare-knuckled caucus, told Reuters his secretive group is sometimes unfairly blamed by leaders who are "not doing what voters sent them here to do." "Our leadership has consistently failed to make the argument for conservative principles and ceded the field" to President Barack Obama on key issues, Jordan wrote in an emailed response to criticism that the group was actually hurting Republicans. (Map showing Freedom Caucus districts: http://reut.rs/1OFmWOJ) Jordan's blunt assertion was true to form for the group, which formed in January as the latest - and most potent - offshoot of the Tea Party movement. The caucus was seen as central to House Speaker John Boehner's decision last month to step down, and to the sudden withdrawal last week by No. 2 House Republican Kevin McCarthy from the race to replace him. It is now a key variable in whether Paul Ryan, a former Republican vice presidential nominee, will make a bid for the speaker's job. Some Republicans say the group is effectively killing their party's ability to run the House, and damaging Republican electoral prospects next year with counter-productive tactics that end up helping the Democrats. "The Freedom Caucus has shattered the long-standing precedent that the majority party selects the speaker and decides which bills will be voted on," said California Republican Tom McClintock, who quit the caucus last month. The effect may well be "to move the political center of gravity in the House dramatically to the left," he told Reuters. "That could be very damaging for Republican prospects in the next election." Caucus members have asked speaker candidates whether they would commit to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen and ensure that House bills do not contain funding for the women's health organization Planned Parenthood, Obamacare, the Iran nuclear deal or Obama's immigration reforms. They also have asked candidates to link any increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to reforms in "entitlement" programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, setting the stage for a possible showdown with Obama in the coming weeks. WEALTHY, RURAL, MALE Though small in number, the caucus punches above its weight by controlling enough votes to make the difference between Republicans carrying a majority, or not, in the House. There are 247 members of the House Republican majority. Subtract some three dozen Freedom Caucus members and Republicans are short of the 218 votes needed to pass legislation in the 435-member chamber -- or to elect a speaker. Nearly all of the members are middle-aged white men and most come from rural districts, though some are from the suburbs and "exurbs" of cities such as Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix. None come from New England or the West Coast. As a Midwesterner, Jordan stands out in the caucus. Of the roughly three dozen members, 80 percent are Southerners or Westerners, with South Carolina, Florida and Arizona heavily represented. Four out of every five of them were first elected in 2008 or more recently. So most have never served with any president other than Obama, a Democrat with whom they are constantly at odds. Only one of the known caucus members is a woman: Wyoming's Cynthia Lummis, a 61-year-old multi-millionaire rancher who has been involved in state and national politics since 1979. The group's members on average are wealthier than their congressional colleagues, according to 2013 estimates compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Caucus members had an average 2013 net worth of more than $5 million each, though that figure was skewed by just six members who have amassed fortunes ranging from $14 million to $36 million, according to the Center. A few had negative net worth. The average net worth of members of Congress is about $1 million, including the House and Senate, the Center reported. More than a dozen caucus members are career politicians; 10 are lawyers; six made careers in real estate; six in business; and six in medicine. The group includes three former military pilots, an economics professor, a farmer, a judge, a pastor and a veterinarian. Three are Latinos. Brookings Institution senior fellow Sarah Binder said the caucus members' relative inexperience provided one clue to their frustration at being hemmed in by traditional House voting rules that favor higher-ranking lawmakers. "They do seem to be quite a frustrated group of lawmakers, who found themselves with their hands around the neck of the next speaker," she said. (Additional reporting by Megan Cassella, Richard Cowan, David Lawder and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Stuart Grudgings) | 5 | 95,991 | news |
Weird science: surprising conclusions from research Did you know you stand a better chance of winning a Nobel Prize if you eat more chocolates? Or that investment banking is bad for your health? Click on to read more about such other surprising facts. Beer guards you against cold In December 2012, a Japanese brewery claimed that consuming a key ingredient of beer in large quantities can protect youngsters against cold as well as serious illness such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Citing a study, Sapporo Breweries said that a chemical compound in hops, the plant used for adding a bitter taste in the beer, prevents the spreading of the respiratory syncytial (RS) virus. Eat more chocolate to win a Nobel Prize U.S. scientist Dr. Franz H. Messerli came up with a study in 2012 that suggested a direct correlation between a country's level of chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prize winners hailing from it. Chocolate apparently improves an individual's cognitive function. Power walking reduces chances of heart attack Danish scientists revealed in a 2012 study that a brisk walk daily can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 40%. Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Jogging or walking briskly makes the heart beat faster exercising the heart muscle and we should all try to do activities each day which get the blood pumping." Investment banking is dangerous for health A research revealed that many entry-level investment bankers suffered from insomnia, heart palpitations and explosive tempers, among other things. It also found that most of the experienced investment bankers had stress-related problems. The research was conducted by a University of Southern California researcher. Eating egg yolk is as bad as smoking In a 2012 study, researchers at University of Western Ontario claimed that eating egg yolks is almost as unhealthy as smoking a cigarette for people vulnerable to heart diseases. Reportedly, egg yolks increase the risk of the hardening of the arteries, known as atherosclerosis. Six or more cups of coffee per day reduces skin cancer risk According to a 2011 research, women can reduce the risk of skin cancer by drinking six or more cups of coffee every day. The researchers claimed that antioxidants in coffee may protect skin cells, reducing the chances of skin cancer in women. Rich people cheat and lie more In 2012, psychologists trying to understand the effect of social status on ethical behavior claimed that people from higher income groups may be more inclined to cheat, lie or involve in other unethical activities than those belonging to the lower classes of society. The study was conducted by psychologists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Toronto. Pupil dilation indicates sexual orientation A 2012 study claimed that a person's sexual orientation can be gauged by tracking his/her pupil dilation. The research was done on 325 participants, including gays, bisexuals and straight people. Dieting can lead to weight gain A research in 2012 suggested that dieting can actually lead to increase in weight. The researchers claimed that dieting can alter hormones, metabolism and brain, turning food craving into an obsession. Elephants can recognize their reflection in a mirror American researchers placed a large mirror in front of three elephants to see if they can recognize themselves. One of the elephants repeatedly tried to touch the white mark painted on her forehead when she saw herself in the mirror. The elephants also made movements in front of the mirror to see how their reflection responded. Sheep can recognize other sheep The researchers from Babraham Institute, UK, came up with a study that suggested a sheep can recognize and remember faces of up to 50 other sheep. According to the study, sheep can form mental images of other sheep in their absence. Married couple begin to look alike Robert Zajonc, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, claimed in 1987 that married couples begin to resemble each other with passage of time. Zajonc compared the photos of newlywed couples and compared them with their photos taken after 25 years of marriage. The results showed that they had started to look similar. Curvy women are more intelligent A study in 2007 claimed that women having a curvy figure is more intelligent than their skinny counterparts. The scientists compared waist-to-hip ratio (waist size divided by hip size) with cognitive test scores during the study. They found out that women having bigger differences between the waist and hip measurements scored high on intelligence tests. Women are more attractive in red Psychologists at Central China Normal University conducted a study that revealed that men found women wearing red more attractive, competent and warm. The researchers claimed that the colour increased women's sex appeal and made them more approachable. | 7 | 95,992 | health |
Lamar Odom is showing signs of improvement and has begun breathing on his own, according to a report. On the heels of earlier reports that Odom has opened his eyes and started to communicate , WABC-TV in Las Vegas cites sources who claim Odom said "good morning" on Friday and was able to give doctors a thumbs up. He is also reportedly no longer relying on a machine to breathe . It appeared Odom's condition was worsening less than 24 hours ago, but we now have various media outlets who are providing reasons for optimism. Several of Odom's vital organs were said to be failing after he was admitted to the hospital Tuesday, but his heart is reportedly starting to show signs of responsiveness . Though things appear to be looking up, Odom still faces a long and challenging road to recovery. It is believed that he overdosed on a combination of illegal drugs and multiple sexual enhancement pills. There is some fear that Odom could have suffered brain damage . An employee from Dennis Hof's Love Ranch South told 911 dispatchers that the former NBA star had been seen using cocaine over the weekend. You can listen to the audio from the frightening 911 call here . Our thoughts are with Odom, and we're certainly happy to hear positive reports about his health. Let's hope the situation continues to trend in that direction. | 1 | 95,993 | sports |
Jennifer Grey told The Guardian that the famous lift in Dirty Dancing was unrehearsed. Patrick Jones (@Patrick_E_Jones) says that's what you can do when you've got Patrick Swazye involved. | 8 | 95,994 | video |
AMHERST, Mass. A Massachusetts college has changed all the speed limit signs on campus to honor a retired mathematics professor who spent his career fascinated by the number 17. The speed limit change from 15 mph to 17 mph at Hampshire College was made at the request of the professor, David Kelly. He didn't want a retirement party when he stepped down after 45 years on the faculty at the college in Amherst. Kelly knows countless facts about 17, the seventh prime number. He says it has had broad applications in mathematics and other disciplines. There are many fun facts about 17, including that there are 17 columns on the long side of the Parthenon in Greece. Kelly says the tribute "captures Hampshire's uniqueness." | 5 | 95,995 | news |
Cancel the election. Babies For Bernie has already won. | 8 | 95,996 | video |
Twitter (TWTR) 's stock rose on Friday after a Bloomberg report said former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took a 4 percent stake in the company. Earlier on Friday, an unverified Twitter account claiming to be Ballmer said he had taken the stake in the company. CNBC later confirmed the report, the authenticity of Ballmer's account and his stake in Twitter. Ballmer's 4 percent stake makes him a bigger shareholder than CEO Jack Dorsey, who owns 3.2 percent of Twitter's shares outstanding. Ballmer was Microsoft (MSFT) 's chief executive for over a decade and is currently the owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. CNBC's Jessica Golden and Robert Hum contributed to this report. | 3 | 95,997 | finance |
Mercedez-Benz has taken a suprise turn into the London property market, opening a set of luxury apartments with decor inspired by its vehicle interiors. Ivor Bennett reports. | 9 | 95,998 | autos |
Everyone has an off day where anger gets the best of them. These animals are no exception. From house pets, zoo animals, and wild safari animals, these dogs, cats, monkeys, goats, ducks and many more, show their dark side. Check out these hilariously angry animals to turn your frown upside down! | 8 | 95,999 | video |
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