Fox News GOP Debate Crushes Trump Event in Ratings
In the battle between Donald Trump and Fox News, the network just scored a big point in the ratings department.
Fox
News’ broadcast of the Republican presidential debate crushed Donald
Trump’s campaign rally in viewership from 9:15 to 10:15 p.m., when CNN
and MSNBC picked up coverage of the Trump event. During that hour, Fox
News averaged 12.8 million total viewers. CNN averaged 2 million. MSNBC
averaged 1.1 million.
In
the key 25-54 demographic, Fox News averaged 3.5 million against Trump,
while CNN averaged 616,000 and MSNBC averaged 260,000.
Fox
News’ debate coverage drew 12.5 million total viewers, according to
Nielsen live-plus-same day numbers. That’s down significantly from the
24 million total viewers that the network’s previous GOP debate drew
last August. But the Thursday night debate did outperform the one held
on Fox Business two weeks ago, which drew 11 million total viewers.
In the 25-54 demo, the total debate coverage averaged 3.5 million.
Trump
bowed out of Thursday night’s forensic following a public war of words
with Fox News and its CEO Roger Ailes. Trump had threatened for days
that he may not show up at the debate unless Megyn Kelly — the
moderator who questioned Trump regarding his derogatory comments about
women at last August’s debate — be removed.
Trump
announced Tuesday that he would not participate in the event after Fox
News released a statement, later revealed to have come directly from
Ailes, mocking Trump for being afraid of Kelly. Trump instead attended a
veterans-group benefit organized by his campaign
Jermiron Morris drove a truck for a living
but wanted to own his own business, so he got a degree from City
Colleges of Chicago and then won a scholarship to the Illinois Institute
of Technology.
Morris, 36, was returning to the campus early
Thursday when an acquaintance, also a student at the South Side school,
beat him to death near the Keating Sports Center in the Bronzeville
neighborhood, authorities said. The other student, 43, was taken into
custody at the scene. "(Morris) was very ambitious and a person who yearned to mentor
young men. He was a great guy,” said Kimberly Tubbs, who dated him for
eight years. “He was not only striving for himself, but also his family.
He wanted people to be proud of him and he wanted to reach back and
help other young men find their way in life.”
He was found around
5 a.m. in a parking lot in the 3000 block of South Wabash Avenue after
police got a call of a battery, said Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago
police spokeswoman. Morris was on the ground, bleeding from his face,
Pacheco said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead, she said.
Police said Morris and the other
student had been together earlier in the evening. The two got into an
argument in the parking lot, and the older man apparently beat Morris
with a tree branch, police said.
Morris was an undergraduate at
IIT majoring in industrial technology and management, according to the
school's website. He entered the school in 2013 after working as a
trucker and earning an associate's degree in logistics at Richard J.
Daley College in Chicago.
Morris
received a scholarship under a program that offers help to community
college students. In 2014, Morris received a scholarship from IIT to
study in Shanghai. “He wanted more in life and wanted to learn the
logistics of his trade so he could own his own business,” Tubbs said.
“He wanted to get involved in programs to show young black men there’s a
better way to live.”
From
China and Afghanistan to Turkey and Britain, human beings watching the
U.S. appear to finally agree on one single issue: The GOP frontrunner is
a frightening, loathsome candidate.
LONDON
— No doubt Donald Trump will be thrilled that the entire world is
mesmerized as he steamrolls over his Republican rivals for the
presidential nomination.
He
probably doesn’t care that most of the international publicity is bad
publicity—but even the master of ill-tempered putdowns and Twitter
vitriol will struggle to keep up with the sheer number of attacks and
jibes pouring in from every corner of the globe.
He
does have a select band of fans—more on those later—but they are being
drowned out by an incredulity that stretches from Europe’s capitals to
post-conflict Afghanistan; from the African deltas to Asia’s tiger
economies.
With
the Iowa caucuses just days away, people simply cannot understand how a
man like Donald Trump could run a successful presidential campaign in
the world’s most powerful nation.
“People
are in disbelief; they think he is borderline crazy,” Magnús Sveinn
Helgason, an Icelandic historian who worked on the national inquiry into
Iceland’s financial crash, told The Daily Beast. “People are kind of
scared about what it would be like to live in a world where he is one of
the most powerful leaders.”
The interest and hostility toward Trump peaked after his remarks about banning Muslims from the country.
A correspondent in Nigeria, a nation of more than 70 million Muslims,
says: “Trump was trending on social media and believe me, he was the one
man on earth Nigerians hated the most. He still is.”
Leaders
from France, Egypt, Canada, the United Nations, and Saudi Arabia were
among those to publicly criticize Trump for his proposed ban on entry to
America on religious grounds.
In London, politicians held an unprecedented debate in Parliament
about whether to introduce a tit-for-tat ban that would prevent Trump
from traveling to Britain. The debate was tabled by Labour’s Paul Flynn
after more than half a million members of the public signed a petition
backing a ban.
“He
does seem to be reckless, arrogant, impulsive—and those are his best
qualities,” Flynn told The Daily Beast. “He doesn’t fit the mold of
anyone’s idea of a statesman because of his rash statements, his flying
off the handle to abuse friend and foe. There are few politicians that
have been so obviously reckless in modern times; there were people like
that before the last war, of course.”
Gawping
at Trump has become a national pastime in Britain, a nation that
usually pays little attention to international politics. The window in one barbershop in St. Paul’s, in central London, reads: “If Trump becomes President, there will be hell toupee.”
Flynn
said the public had turned against Trump not just over his harsh words
toward Muslims but for a number of offensive statements. “His remarks
about women, and against the disabled journalist
came pretty high up on the levels of revulsion against politicians.
There are very few countries in the world where mockery of women and the
disabled is acceptable.”
In
Muslim Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered a stinging
critique of Trump’s political acumen. “A successful politician would not
make such statement,” he said. Erdogan, who has been either prime
minister or president of Turkey since 2003, said Trump would face an
embarrassing situation if he ever got to the White House. “I don’t know
whether or not he’ll win, but let’s suppose he won. What will happen?
Will he set aside all relationships with Muslim countries? A politician shouldn’t talk like this.”
He
hasn’t only got flak from the government but also his business
partners, suggesting his fiery political rhetoric could have financial
implications. Bulent Kural, manager of a shopping mall at the Istanbul
Trump Towers, a twin high-rise commercial and residential building,
condemned what he said. “Such statements bear no value and are products
of a mind that does not understand Islam, a peace religion, at all,” Kural said.
The Trump Tower complex in Istanbul was developed by Turkish
billionaire Aydin Dogan, who pays Trump for the name. His global brand
could clearly suffer.
In
China, his business reputation is already compromised, despite repeated
bragging that he “knows China.” Over there, he is compared to the nutty
Chinese billionaire Chen Guangbiao, who once tried to buy The New York Times.
It
is well-known that in the ’80s and ’90s, he went to Hong Kong to look
for investors who could help bail him out of a tight spot. Some local
tycoons invited him to play golf for $1 million a hole, Trump realized
he was being outmuscled and declined. The investors did eventually buy
up part of Trump’s mortgage, for $82 million. When they cashed out for
$1.8 billion a decade later, Trump was so furious that he sued them.
The
average Chinese man on the street may not be following the American
election, but the Global Times, an uber-nationalistic state-run media
outlet, warned readers Thursday: “If you plan to visit New York sometime
this year, take my advice: Try to stay away from Fifth Avenue because
Donald Trump may be lurking there with a gun.”
Indeed, Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China and
Daily Beast contributor, said Beijing was paying close attention.
“China is obsessed with Trump, just as Trump is obsessed with China,” he
said. “State media takes his candidacy as proof that American democracy
is flawed, comparing him to a ‘celebrity potato,’ for instance. Chinese
netizens generally denigrate him as well, but in a country where
Communist Party leaders are highly scripted, you can be sure they
secretly admire someone who speaks his mind.”
On the other side of China’s mountainous border with Afghanistan, government officials in Kabul were equally unimpressed.
Zardasht
Shams, the deputy minister of information, said they were still waiting
to hear a real policy on how Trump would deal with the U.S. drawdown
and post-conflict resolution. “Sorry, I’m not well updated on this
fool’s policy or stand on Afghanistan,” he told The Daily Beast. “In
general, Afghanistan, being a conservative and radical Muslim society,
would hate and extremely dislike [Trump becoming president] and feel
uncomfortable because of his anti-Muslim statements.”
The
hostility toward Muslims has gone down better with some in Israel,
where the statements have resonated with a growing far-right movement,
which has called upon Israeli politicians to revoke Israeli Arabs’
citizenship and residency rights as a form of collective punishment.
These
extremists see Muslims and Arabs as a barbaric enemy that understand
only power and with whom the enlightened “Western” world cannot
negotiate, and some see parallels here in Trump’s own worldview.
Within
that far-right movement, a lot of Israelis see Trump’s brash racism as a
refreshing dose of truth. While Trump scares many in the Israeli left,
he has won credit among even the mainstream right for saying that the
world should recognize Jerusalem as the country’s capital and Israel’s
need for a separation wall, both of which President Obama and the
international community have criticized.
Another
potential friend is lounging on the other side of the Mediterranean
Sea. Silvio Berlusconi, now 79, has had a low profile in Italy since
being banned from public office in 2013 for tax fraud. He recently said
his party still needs him, so he is claiming that his ousting was
unconstitutional, and friendly words from Trump have been warmly
welcomed. “I love Italy,” Trump said. “Berlusconi? He’s a great guy. I
like him.”
Berlusconi
seems to think this will help him back into power. He has always
maintained close personal ties with Vladimir Putin and one might
envision the three of them in a sort of club of global misfits if Trump
is elected and Berlusconi is back in power.
In
the rest of Western Europe, mainstream politicians and the media have
been largely critical of the American property tycoon. In Germany, Der Spiegel
published an article explaining “Trump’s World.” They concluded: “You
can laugh about it, get angry about it—this man lives on his own
planet.”
The Dutch magazine Elsevier
tried harder to explain Trumps’ popularity in the polls. “Trump chooses
Fort America… he’s obsessed with national identity. It is a mistake to
dismiss him as a clown without ideology. He certainly has a nationalist
ideology, which is in tune with the international Zeitgeist.”
Deeyah
Khan, a filmmaker born in Norway, said there had been a real effect on
Europe’s Muslim population, especially after Muslim and Sikh citizens
were thrown out of Trump events.
“The
Trump phenomenon shows us how much fear of Muslims there is out there,
and how easily it can be exploited,” she told The Daily Beast. “The
reaction of his followers to Rose Hamid and Arish Sing is deeply scary.”
When he announced his presidential run last summer, Le Monde described him in its headline, flatly but correctly, as an “eccentric billionaire.”
Since
then, people in France and Belgium have learned that he casts his
insults far and wide. At the beginning of the week, in an interview with
Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, she asked Trump about his plans to
stop Muslims from entering the United States. He cited Paris and
Brussels as places where Muslims were out of control and unassimilated:
“You go to Brussels —I was in Brussels a long time ago, 20 years ago, so
beautiful, everything is so beautiful—it’s like living in a hellhole
right now.”
When the Belgian press translated hellhole idiomatically, it came out as “trou à rats,” or, literally, rat hole.
Brussels Alderman Philippe Close,
responsible for the city’s tourism, called Trump “a totally vulgar
clown.” And people started posting beautiful images of the city with the
ironic hashtag #hellhole.
One
showed a beautiful shot of La Grand Place, the square at the heart of
Brussels, alongside Trump shouting: “WHERE is the #hellhole
@realDonaldTrump? Brussels or your mouth???”
Additional
reporting by Christopher Dickey in France, Philip Obaji Jr in Nigeria,
Barbie Latza Nadeau in Italy, Thomas Seibert in Turkey, Brendon Hong in
China, Sami Yousafzai in Afghanistan, Shira Rubin in Israel, and Nadette
De Visser in the Netherlands.
Slain
teen Quintonio LeGrier made three phone calls to 911 before a Chicago
officer shot him and a 55-year-old neighbor in their apartment building
in December. This new information is making the city reevaluate its
police force training and attention towards mental health.
Slain
teen Quintonio LeGrier made three phone calls to 911 before a Chicago
officer shot him and a 55-year-old neighbor in their apartment building
in December.
Originally,
law enforcement publicly acknowledged only one of the 19-year-old
engineering student’s dials with another from his father. This new
information is making the city reevaluate its police force training and
attention towards mental health, reports the Chicago Tribune.
And as the city’s first fatal police shooting since the video release
of LaQuan McDonald’s death, the controversies surrounding Chicago law
enforcement and Mayor Rahm Emanuel deepen.
“I
never once thought that when he entered that staircase, that his life
would be ended by someone who didn’t know what to do,” his father,
Antonio LeGrier, told CNN.
On-scene responders received the brunt of criticism for their inaction after the teen was shot. But new evidence
points additional fingers within LeGrier’s first cries for aid.
Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications turned over
the first two phone calls on Monday (Jan. 25) to the Independent Police Review Authority,
an organization that investigates police misconduct. For the OMEC, a
spokeswoman told the tribune, the calls bring the dispatcher’s actions
into question and cause city officials to find necessary punitive
action.
Something
occurring in his father’s West Garfield Park apartment on the morning
after Christmas (Dec. 26) drew concern to LeGrier. He dialed 911 for the
first time that day at 4:18 a.m., telling the dispatcher, “Someone’s
ruining my life.” The phone call went like this: LeGrier keeps saying he
needs an officer; and the dispatcher asks him questions about what is
happening, what the scene is like, and what is his name. When LeGrier
identified only himself as Q and then changed the subject, the
dispatcher got frustrated:
“There’s an emergency. Can you send an officer?” “Yeah as soon as you answer these questions. What’s your last name?” “There’s an emergency!” “Okay if you can’t answer the questions, I’m gonna hang up.” “I need the police!” “Terminating the call.”
In
a second call at 4:20 a.m., LeGrier repeated, “Can you please send the
police?” At 4:21 a.m., who LeGrier is speaking to got confusing for the
dispatcher. The teen said, “I have an emergency. Someone’s threatening
my life. They’re at the house.” As the conversation progress, there are
pauses, noises, and mumbling. The teen assured that there were no
weapons. Then LeGrier’s tone changed, and he used vulgarity. By the
recording and the dispatcher’s reaction, it is unclear whether he was
talking to the dispatcher or to another person in the background:
“Folk, stop f-cking playing with me.” “Hello?” “Stop f-cking playing with me.”
“Are you talking to me or someone else cause my name ain’t ‘folk?”
The
call ended there. This was the longest of three, and the one that was
known prior to the Independent Police Review Authority’s release. That
fact helps the argument of attorney Basileios J.Foutris, trusted by the
LeGriers in a lawsuit against the city. Foutris told the New York Times,
“You have a situation here—Quintonio is looking for help. He’s calling
for police assistance. The first time he does that, he’s hung up on. The
next two times, he’s met with rude, offensive, crude, inappropriate
dispatchers who basically treat him like trash.” A statement by Office
of Emergency Management and Communications noted that the protocol of
911 operators is to ask certain questions and “only terminate a call as a
last resort.”
Antonio
LeGrier added a fourth call from the house before a cop car pulled up.
But this time, the teen was being reported as the threat. The
Independent Police Review Authority added the father’s call in its
public release. At 4:24 a.m., Antonio called 911 after feeling
endangered by his son, whom he mentioned was armed with a baseball bat
and forcing himself into Antonio’s bedroom. The father was trying to
catch his breath as he spoke.
Officers
approached the residence on West Erie Street in response to a domestic
disturbance. Both father and son told dispatchers the address and
specified in their calls that they lived in a house. The two LeGriers
live in the second-floor apartment of a house. The first floor is
another apartment owned by Bettie Jones, the second shooting victim. The
entire residence shares the same front door. It is reported that
Officer Robert Rialmo “accidently” shot Jones when the 55-year-old
mother and activist opened the door. Quintonio LeGrier was shot six to
seven times.
Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid each separately announced Friday that
their transfer bans had been temporarily lifted pending the outcome of
their appeal.
Each club had received a transfer registration ban handed down by
FIFA for improper signing and treatment of youth players, but with both
teams on appeal, they are at the moment eligible to sign players this
upcoming summer. Before the announcement, neither team was allowed to
register new players during the summer transfer window plus the January
2017 window.
The clubs are following the same path that Barcelona did back in
2014. The club received a similar ban for a similar violation, but upon
appeal the club was able to delay the punishment long enough to sign six
players, including Luis Suarez, in the summer of 2014.
However, not all is set in stone. If their appeals are rejected
before the summer transfer window opens, the punishment will hold firm
for that window. The Press Association is reporting that the appeal will be heard before the summer.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(CNN)-ISIS has executed 3,895 people, more than half of them civilians, since announcing the establishment of a "caliphate state" in June 2014, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.
Of the 2,114 civilians killed, 78 were children and 116 were women, the SORH said in a press release. Civilians were killed by firing squad, beheaded, stoned, thrown off high buildings or burned, SOHR said.
The
other people executed included fighters for the Syrian regime,
militiamen loyal to the regime and rebel groups like al-Qaeda in Levant,
SOHR said.
ISIS
even executed 422 of its own members for offenses such as trying to
defect, spying for foreign counties and acts of "extremism" against
Islam, such as ascribing divine characteristics to Islamic figures or
another person, SOHR said.
SOHR
said people were killed for apostasy, cursing Allah, adultery,
espionage, being a member of the national defense, contacting the
Al-Nusra Front and homosexuality. A woman was killed for escaping from
her husband.
Civilians were massacred
in several places: 939 Arab Sunni civilians were killed in the eastern
countryside of Deir Ezzor; 223 Kurdish civilians were killed in Kobani
and the nearby village of Barkh Botan; and 46 were killed in the village
of Al-Mab'oujeh.
During the period of
December 29 to January 29, ISIS killed 188 people, including 113
civilians, the release said. Sixty-four were Syrian regime forces or
militiamen loyal to the regime, the release said.
The
extremist group announced the establishment of a "caliphate," an
Islamic state stretching across the western and northern Iraq, in June
2014.
The leader of the caliphate is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al Samarrai, more commonly known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea completed the loan signing of Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato until the end of the season.
The 26-year-old Pato joins from Corinthians following previous spells with Internacional, Sao Paulo and AC Milan.
"I
am so happy to sign for Chelsea. It is a dream for me. I am looking
forward to meeting and getting to know my new team-mates and cannot wait
to play," Pato said Friday after completing his move.
"I thank Chelsea for their support and hope I can repay this faith to the club and its fans," Pato added.
Defending
Premier League champion Chelsea has struggled for form this season and
is currently 13th in the standings with Jose Mourinho having been sacked
in December, seven months after he led them to the title.
Interim
manager Guus Hiddink does not think Pato's arrival is a risk, with the
Brazilian international joining a forward line alongside Diego Costa,
Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao.
"It's not a gamble. Coming on loan makes it possible to view if he can adapt to the league," Hiddink said.
Pato could make his debut away to Watford in the Premier League on Wednesday. Copyright
2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
“GIVE me lucky generals,” Napoleon is supposed to have said,
preferring them to talented ones.
Muhammadu Buhari, a former general,
has not had much luck when it comes to the oil price. Between 1983 and
1985 he was Nigeria’s military ruler. Just before he took over, oil
prices began a lengthy collapse; the country’s export earnings fell by
more than half. The economy went into a deep recession and Mr Buhari,
unable to cope, was overthrown in a coup. Now he is president again. (He won a fair election last year against a woeful opponent; The Economist
endorsed him.) And once again, oil prices have slumped, from $64 a
barrel on the day he was sworn in to $32 eight months later. Growth
probably fell by half in 2015, from 6.3% to little more than 3% (see article).
Oil accounts for 70% of the government’s revenues and 95% of export
earnings. The government deficit will widen this year to about 3.5% of
GDP. The currency, the naira, is under pressure. The central bank
insists on an exchange rate of 197-199 naira to the dollar. On the black
market, dollars sell for 300 naira or more. Instead of letting the naira depreciate to reflect the country’s loss
of purchasing power, Mr Buhari’s government is trying to keep it aloft.
The central bank has restricted the supply of dollars and banned the
import of a long list of goods, from shovels and rice to toothpicks. It
hopes that this will maintain reserves and stimulate domestic
production. When the currency is devalued, all imports become more expensive. But
under Mr Buhari’s system the restrictions on imports are by government
fiat. Factory bosses complain they cannot import raw materials such as
chemicals and fret that, if this continues, they may have to shut down.
Many have turned to the black market to obtain dollars, and are
doubtless smuggling in some of the goods that have been banned.
In charts: Explore Nigeria’s economy and politics
Nigerians have heard this tune before. Indeed, Mr Buhari tried
something similar the last time he was president. Then, as now, he
resisted what he called the “bitter pill” of devaluation. When, as a
result, foreign currency ran short, he rationed it and slashed imports
by more than half. When Nigerians turned to the black market he sealed
the country’s borders. When unemployment surged he expelled 700,000
migrants. Barking orders at markets did not work then, and it will not work
now. Mr Buhari is right that devaluation will lead to inflation—as it
has in other commodity exporters. But Nigeria’s policy of limiting
imports and creating scarcity will be even more inflationary. A weaker
currency would spur domestic production more than import bans can and,
in the long run, hurt consumers less. The country needs foreign capital
to finance its deficits but, under today’s policies, it will struggle to
get any. Foreign investors assume that any Nigerian asset they buy in
naira now will cost less later, after the currency has devalued. So they
wait.
Those who fail to learn from history...
Mr Buhari’s tenure has in some ways been impressive. He has restored a
semblance of security to swathes of northern Nigeria that were overrun
by schoolgirl-abducting jihadists. He has won some early battles against
corruption. Some of his economic policies are sound, too. He has
indicated that he will stop subsidising fuel and selling it at
below-market prices. This is brave, since the subsidies are popular,
even though they have been a disaster (the cheap fuel was often sold
abroad and petrol stations frequently ran dry). If Mr Buhari can find
the courage to let fuel cost what the market says it should, why not the
currency, too? You can forgive the general for being unlucky; but not
for failing to learn from past mistakes
Matthieu Ricard, a 69-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monk, has been called the "world's happiest man."
That's because he
participated in part of a 12-year brain study on meditation and
compassion led by University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard
Davidson. And Davidson found his brain waves and activity to be off the
happiness charts.
In 2008, Davidson had a group of expert meditators (including Ricard)
and a group of controls (people who were not experienced in
meditation) meditate on compassion, he reported in Scientific American.
Then he had them listen to the
sounds of several stressed-out voices. Davidson found that two brain
areas known to be involved in empathy showed more activity for the
meditators than for the non-meditators, suggesting that people like
Ricard have an enhanced ability to respond to the feelings of others and
empathize without feeling overwhelmed.
He also noted that when he exposed Ricard to an outside stimulus meant to startle him
— like an alarm going off unexpectedly or a stranger accosting you in
the street — while he was meditating, he was far less put-off by the
stimulus compared with someone who was not meditating.
We spoke with Ricard at the
World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last Thursday. He says
feeling happy comes down to being altruistic and benevolent. He also
believes the mind can be trained to be happy through meditation.
And as for dealing with stress? Ricard says the key is let things go.
Most things you think are problems aren't actually problems
Ricard admits that sometimes,
feeling stressed is warranted. "Sometimes there's legitimate stress,
like if a rhinoceros is running behind you, it is maximum stress," he
says.
Sometimes there's legitimate stress, like if a rhinoceros is running behind you, it is maximum stress.
"Or if you are in a situation that is really oppressing and there's a
sense you can't move out of that and you feel so powerless — mentally
and physically it's not very pleasant."
Most other kinds of stress — ones that don't cause actual physical or mental harm, Ricard says — should be shrugged off.
"This
idea of constantly feeling like there's a rhinoceros running behind you
is very unhealthy," Ricard explains. "It will destroy your neurons, it
destroys your immune system. Basically it happens when we put too much
emphasis on our outer condition. 'If I don't have that I can't be
happy.' 'If that thing remains, it's just like hell breaking on me.' So
it's underestimating that we can say to those things, 'Oh, you know,
okay — no big deal.'"
Living a stress-free life just comes down to the way you deal with perceived problems.
Don't worry about things you can't change or control
Ricard
admits that of course, problems pop up in life. The trick is to not
worry about the ones you can't control, and to focus on solutions for
the ones you can.
"Having some
kind of inner resources to deal with the ups and downs of life, whether
that's resilience or inner strength — that's a huge advantage against
stress," Ricard says.
"If
something unpleasant happens, just say: 'First, it won't last. Second, I
can deal with that because I know I can keep my balance. And after all,
it's not such a big deal so okay, no problem.' Or if people criticize
you just say, 'So what? Why is this going to prevent me from being
healthy and from sleeping?'
"The
stress doubles the problem. First you have the worry, then you have to
worry about the problem, which is totally unnecessary because if there
is a solution then just do it. If there is no solution, then why worry?
That's just adding to your problems."
Am encourage you to tell affected readers, that if they use a non-Google Account to follow my blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow my blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.
Arsene Wenger has ruled out
managing another club once he leaves Arsenal, while he is not interested
in taking charge of FIFA either.
Arsene Wenger has made it clear that he is not open to managing another club when he leaves Arsenal, but is keen to remain active in the game in another role.
The
Frenchman has been in charge or Arsenal since September 1996 and he is
determined to end his reign on a high before moving into another role.
Wenger's deal expires at the end of next season - which will be his 21st in charge of Arsenal .
"There's
18 months left on my current contract, that's an eternity in football.
I'm committed to this club and completely focused on doing well," he
said at a news conference.
"I want to give absolutely everything until the end of the season. Then I want to go through the next season.
"I
don't see myself managing another club. Not really, no. I completely
commit to this club and I don't imagine managing anywhere else at the
moment.
"Will I stop working once I stop managing on a competitive
level? No. I will always try to work if I have hands and try to be
useful at some stage and some level. Maybe it will be a different level
but I will always work.
"I
don't know whether that will be as a director of football. I could be
managing kids, developing young players, it can be all kinds of roles.
"But I will not run for FIFA, you can count on that!"
I am not saying Spanish football officials should just hand
Barcelona the Copa del Rey trophy right now, before the field for the
semifinal round is even set, but I am not saying they shouldn’t,
either. The Blaugrana survived a bit of a scare in the quarterfinals
on Wednesday — as much as a side possessing the three-headed monster of
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez can be given, at least — when they
fell behind 1-0 (level at 2-2 on aggregate) to a very game Athletic
Bilbao side that already hammered the reigning Spanish, Spanish cup and European champions once this season. With three-quarters of the quarterfinal tie in the books, Barca’s
standing was tenuous; one more goal from Bilbao would put the underdogs
in the driver’s seat for a place in the semifinals. What happened next was predictable: Suarez restored the aggregate in
the 53rd minute; Gerard Pique made it 4-2 on aggregate in the 81st
minute; Neymar rounded out the scoring in the 90th. Now past perhaps the trickiest remaining opponent, it’s hard to see
anything other than a red and blue coronation on May 21, much of which
they have to think their biggest, richest Spanish oppositions, the
Madrid clubs — Real, who were forced to withdraw last
month, and Atletico, who were knocked out on Wednesday — for making
Barca’s path to a 28th Copa del Rey trophy that much easier. Los Rojiblancos fell behind Celta Vigo, who for half of the
league season put together a real push for a top-four place in La Liga,
after 22 minutes, when Pablo Hernandez opened the scoring. Antoine
Griezmann fired Atlti level on the day, but behind on away goals in the
aggregate (0-0 first leg). Not long after halftime, former Manchester City youngster John Guidetti
made it 2-1, and Hernandez made it 3-1 just past the hour mark. Angel
Correa pulled one back late for Atleti, but the damage was done and two
more goals were still needed, none of which would come. And with that, Barca’s path to another domestic cup goes through two
of Celta, Mirandes and Sevilla, who play Thursday, and Las Palamas and
Valencia, who also play Thursday.
Reports have emerged that Chelsea and England defender Gary Cahill could make a shock move. Cahill, 30, has lost his starting spot in Chelsea’s central defense to young French international Kurt Zouma
and ahead of the 2016 European Championships this summer England’s
vice-captain is concerned that a lack of minutes for the Blues will
compromise his starting spot with the Three Lions. After arriving from Bolton Wanderers in January 2012 for $12 million
Cahill has been a regular at Stamford Bridge but despite signing a new
four-year deal in December he has only started one Premier League game
since interim boss Guus Hiddink arrived. Cahill was a favorite of Jose Mourinho’s but now he appears to be questioning his Chelsea future and multiple outlets in the UK
are reporting that Liverpool is leading the race for the powerful
defender if the Blues decide to let him leave. That’s a big if, but
bookmakers have slashed odds on Cahill’s next club being Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp has been linked with moves for Schalke’s Joel
Matip and Borussia Dortmund’s Neven Subotic so far during this window
as a string of injuries to central defenders has left the German coach
short. If Cahill was to switch Stamford Bridge for Anfield he’d be a
regular starter, probably alongside either Mamadou Sakho or Martin Skrtel, and he’d add real stability to the Reds’ shaky defensive unit. Chelsea selling an experienced defender to a PL rival would seem a
little odd but given Cahill’s age and eagerness to play regularly during
the prime years of his career, perhaps this would be a good fit as he’d
certainly be a key player for Liverpool. Let’s see where this one goes, but I like the move for Liverpool if they can pull it off.
A
Biafra supporter cries during a rally in support of Nnamdi Kanu in
Abuja, December 1, 2015. Dutch lawyers have filed a case against
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari for alleged crimes against humanity
against pro-Biafran activists.
The pro-Biafran
activist group led by the imprisoned Nnamdi Kanu has filed a complaint
against Muhammadu Buhari in The Hague, accusing the Nigerian president
of war crimes. Thousands of people in southeast Nigeria have demonstrated in recent months, demanding independence for Biafra. Kanu, the leader of one of the most prominent activist groups—the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)—was arrested by Nigerian security forces in October 2015 on charges of ethnic incitement and sedition. He remains in detention and was refused bail by a federal high court in the capital Abuja on Friday. Goran
Sluiter, a lawyer at Dutch human rights legal firm Prakken d’Oliveira,
filed the complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague
on Friday. Sluiter tells Newsweek that there has been “an
intensification of violence and crimes committed against Biafrans since
Mr Buhari became the Nigerian president.” There have been numerous reports of pro-Biafran protesters being killed in clashes with Nigerian security forces during demonstrations. More than 20 protesters and two police officers have been killed since October 2015, AP reported, with about 200 people detained across the country. Inspector General Solomon Arase, Nigeria’s chief of police, warned protesters in December to stop their activities or face “the full weight of the law.” “Nigeria
is already a long time on the agenda of the [ICC] prosecutor and
Nigerian courts are not dealing at all with these crimes. The time
really has come for the ICC to act,” says Sluiter. The complaint
was filed on behalf of 17 unnamed victims and alleges to set out
evidence of crimes against humanity—including torture and
murder—committed by Nigerian security forces against pro-Biafran
protesters.
Ndubuisi Osuala, the coordinator of IPOB’s branch in
the Netherlands—which he says numbers around 200 official members—says
the group wishes to see Kanu released and Buhari prosecuted for
overseeing crimes against Biafrans. “What every IPOB member, every
Biafran citizen wants is the release of our great leader, Nnamdi Kanu,
who is a freedom fighter,” says Osuala. “Secondly, we need the
International Criminal Court to bring justice and equity to our
case…[President Buhari] has to be prosecuted and face the justice for
what he did.” Osuala also says that his group wants independence
for Biafra but is seeking it by peaceful means. “We need to get freedom
by peace and that is why we are protesting,” he says. “We are not
terrorists, we are not killing people.”
Buhari has previously
refused calls for Kanu to be released, describing the activist—who is
based in the U.K. and runs the underground media outlet Radio Biafra— as a flight risk. Femi Adesina, a media advisor to Buhari, declined to comment on the ICC case and told Newsweek that while Kanu’s case was ongoing, the Nigerian presidency would rather not comment on the matter.
The ICC was not immediately available to confirm that the complaint had been filed. Once a complaint is filed at the ICC, the prosecutor can decide to open
an investigation if there is a reasonable basis for believing that
crimes against humanity have been committed. Nigeria is a signatory to
the Rome Statute, upon which the ICC’s jurisdiction in based.
A report in the Daily Express says that both Manchester United and Leicester City is tracking Nigerian striker Ahmed Musa.
The CSKA Moscow attacker, 23, is said to be valued at around $28
million by the Russian outfit and the lightning-quick forward would add
something Leicester has plenty of and United lacks a lot of in attack:
pace. The report claims that the Foxes have already had a $22 million
bid for Musa rejected. He has scored 10 goals for CSKA this season and
can operate out wide or up top. Musa has scored 46 goals in 153 games for CSKA over the past
four years following his move from Dutch side VVV-Venlo, while he also
has 11 in 56 appearances for the Nigerian national team. If United don’t
want to fork out upwards of $60 million for Sadio Mane
then Musa could be their man to add pace and trickery to their
faltering attacking. Alternatively Sky Italia is reporting that
Leicester have made a $16 million bid for AC Milan’s French forward
M’Baye Niang. The 21-year-old has scored twice in eight games for Milan
this season. Does this interest mean United are in the driving seat for
Musa? The Daily Mirror claims
that Liverpool is lining up a $16 million move for Polish midfielder
Piotr Zielinski. The Udinese midfielder, 21, is currently on loan at
Empoli and has had Juventus, Napoli and Roma all sniffing around him.
The Mirror reckons that Zielinski wants to wait after EURO 2016 before
making a move as he doesn’t want to jeopardize his spot in Poland’s
squad. That said, is a central midfielder really what Liverpool needs
right now? With Jordan Henderson, Lucas and Emre Can holding things down and Joe Allen in reserve, you’d think Jurgen Klopp would be focusing on reinforcements up front and at the back. According to Bordeaux their playmaker Wahbi Khazri is heading to
Sunderland for $14 million. A statement on the Ligue 1 club’s website
stated he is heading to the Black Cats for talks and outlets in France
suggested he will sign a four-and-a-half-year deal. Khaziri, 24, has
scored six goals in 13 appearances for Tunisia and has played a key role
for Bordeaux in the past two seasons, scoring 14 times in 48 games. His
arrival would certainly help relegation haunted Sunderland create more
chances as Sam Allardyce‘s side continue to languish in the bottom three with just 15 games of the season to go. QPR midfielder Sandro,
26, is set to join West Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the
season with a view to a permanent deal. Sandro was said to be agreeing
terms at the Hawthorns on Friday and could even play in their FA Cup
fourth round tie this weekend. The destructive Brazilian midfielder
formerly played for Tottenham Hotspur but moved to QPR in
September 2014. He certainly seems like he’s a Tony Pulis type player and is capable of providing a driving force from the center of the pitch.
According to journalist Ben Jacobs, who works with ESPNFC, BeIN
Sports, and talkSPORT, Leicester City has completed a deal to sign
Chelsea striker Loic Remy on a permanent transfer. According to Jacobs, the transfer will be worth $16.3 million, a
transfer record for the club. The report also states that the transfer
fee will be paid in full immediately, a rarity in the game these days
with many high fees being deferred across several months or years. Leicester apparently wanted a loan for the rest of the season with an
option to buy, but Chelsea insisted on a permanent transfer, and the
Foxes obliged.
Remy has seen just 177 minutes this season at Chelsea, scoring one goal. The former Newcastle striker is stuck behind both Diego Costa and Pedro up front, and thus has been the center of many rumors this winter.
Leicester City, meanwhile, are looking to bolster their already strong attack for a title run. The Foxes have Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez,
both of whom have been prolific this season, but injuries have forced
Vardy off the field in recent weeks, and the club knows should either of
them go down, the season could be in jeopardy. Bolstering a part of the
squad that is already a strength is not an unheard of transfer tactic. The Foxes currently sit three points atop the Premier League table, ahead of both Arsenal and Manchester City.
Arsene Wenger has confirmed Arsenal are on the verge of signing Nigerian midfielders Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze.
Arsene Wenger is confident Arsenal
can complete the signing of Nigerian youngsters Kelechi Nwakali and
Samuel Chukwueze before the end of the January transfer window.
The duo impressed at the Under-17 World Cup last
year as they guided Nigeria to the title and they have since been linked
with a number of high-profile clubs, including Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Wenger
believes Arsenal are set to win the race for the 17-year-old Nwakali
and the 16-year-old Chukwueze, though, and expects to see both Diamond
Football Academy midfielders to arrive in London shortly.
"The deal for the Nigerian youngsters is progressing well," Wenger said at a news conference. "I expect it to be done. There are work permit issues and we have to sort medicals. But things are going well.
"We identified Nwakali as a top player, he was the best player at the Under-17 World Cup.
"We will see if we can get it over the line this transfer period."
Arsenal
have already brought in Mohamed Elneny from Basel this transfer window
and they have also been linked with former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez.
Nevertheless, Wenger has made it clear there will not be any more arrivals apart from Nwakali and Chukwueze.
"Hernandez? Unless people go out, we are not on the verge of bringing anyone in," he added.
"[Danny] Welbeck is coming back. Alexis [Sanchez] is back. We have the number of players we need up front."
Francis Coquelin could make his
Arsenal comeback in this weekend's FA Cup match versus Burnley after a
two-month spell on the sidelines.
Arsene Wenger has confirmed Francis Coquelin is ready to make his comeback for Arsenal after a two-month spell on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
The
French midfielder sustained the knock in Arsenal's defeat at the hands
of West Brom on November 21 and has since been out of action.
He recently returned to the training ground, though, and could be involved when Arsenal host Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday.
"Francis is available to play now because he has passed two weeks of full training," Wenger told the club's official website.
"[Per] Mertesacker is out because of the red card, and everybody else is available, apart from Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Danny Welbeck. Tomas [Rosicky] is also available for selection.
"After that it is just a question of selection and decision-making, that is the key." Wilshere and Welbeck still need a few weeks before returning to the match squad, but the latter is expected to return shortly.
"Jack
and Santi are progressing well but they are at least a few weeks away.
But these two apart, it is just about competitiveness and match
fitness," Wenger added.
"Danny
is not completely ready but he is not far. He needs a game or two
because he's been out since last April. The Stoke [under-21] game is too
soon because he only had one session with the team, and that is too
short."
Sevdet
Ramadan Besim, 19, discussed plans to set an explosive-laden kangaroo
on police in Australia. This image was posted on his Twitter account and
was picked up by Australian media outlets on 18 April, 2015
An Australian
teenager allegedly discussed an elaborate extremist plot in which a
kangaroo would be stuffed with explosives, painted with an Islamic State
(ISIS) militant group symbol and set loose among police officers, a
Melbourne court heard on Thursday. Sevdet Ramadan Besim, a
19-year-old arrested in police raids last April, pleaded not guilty to
four charges related to extremism. He is accused of planning an ISIS-inspired attack on ANZAC Day in the cities of Melbourne or neighboring Dandenong last year. The
day commemorates all Australians who have served in conflict, on the
anniversary of the 1915 landings at Gallipoli to battle the Ottoman
Empire in World War I. Prosecutors described Besim’s conversation about the kangaroo bomb in a document released by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “The
conversation continues with Besim detailing what he did that day and
they have a general discussion around animals and wildlife in Australia
including a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with C4
explosive, painted with the ISIS symbol and set loose on police
officers,” the document said. Besim discussed the plot with a British accomplice, a 15-year-old boy from the Lancashire town of Blackburn who was sentenced to life in prison in October.
He had sent thousands of messages to Besim planning a “massacre” and to
behead an Australian police officer. The pair were connected by the
Australian ISIS recruiter Abu Khaled al-Cambodi. Besim wrote to
the teenager that he would “love to take out some cops,” the court
heard. “I was gonna meet with them then take some heads ahaha.” He is
accused of planning to run over then behead a police officer. The teenager, whose identity cannot be revealed because of his age, suggested in one message that Besim get his “first taste of beheading” by attacking “a proper lonely person.” Authorities
allege that Besim was influenced by radical Islamist ideologies and had
pledged support to ISIS. He faces the charges of searching the
Internet, engaging in communications and creating a memo with the intent
to plan an extremist attack, BBC News reported.
Fox News GOP Debate Crushes Trump Event in Ratings
Slain
teen Quintonio LeGrier made three phone calls to 911 before a Chicago
officer shot him and a 55-year-old neighbor in their apartment building
in December. This new information is making the city reevaluate its
police force training and attention towards mental health.
