الأربعاء، 30 نوفمبر 2016

John Kennedy leads in Louisiana’s Senate race



SINCE the morning of November 9th, Americans have known who would occupy 99 of the 100 seats in the Senate when the 115th Congress is seated in January. The only wild card left is in Louisiana. The state’s unusual system features a “jungle primary”—in which candidates from all parties square off in a sort of mad steeplechase—on November 8th. Assuming no one ..

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Just in: Xiaomi Mi Note 2 hands-on



In a sad year for Galaxy Notes, a Mi Note could shine brighter than it otherwise would have been allowed to – the Xiaomi Mi Note 2, that is. It"s easy to see the Xiaomi dual-curved flagship as a Galaxy Note7 clone, but for all the similarities, the Mi Note 2 is the natural evolution of the Xiaomi high-end lineup – Galaxies, or no Galaxies (the latter, as luck would have it).
Anyway, the Mi Note 2 is in the office, finally, and we"re wasting no time and sparing no effort to put it to the test. We figured we"d just share a few thoughts on the design, while that initial "new phone is here" hype hasn"t worn off.
The comparisons to a Note7 are inevitable, we"ve established that. If only we hadn"t promptly returned our review samples as instructed, we could have photographed the two side by side, but alas – we stood on principle on that one, as always.
The Mi Note 2 is marginally thinner than both the Note7 and the S7 edge, yet the difference feels ..

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Are you talkin" to me? Pope meets Scorsese



Video: Pope Francis grants Scorsese an audience Pope Francis has met film director Martin Scorsese at a special screening in Rome of the Oscar winner"s new film, Silence.
The film, about Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Japan where Christianity was banned at the time, has a special poignancy for both men.
Scorsese, 74, spent a year in a “minor semi..

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MPs reject Tony Blair Iraq investigation



Image copyright Getty Images MPs have rejected a call for an investigation into Tony Blair"s role in the build-up to the Iraq war.
The SNP"s motion said the former Labour prime minister had not given Parliament correct information on his dealings with US President George W Bush.
MP Alex Salmond said the push towards war in 2003 had been “very much a personal campaign” by Mr Blair.
But Labour"s shadow foreign office minister Fabian Hamilton warned against making him a “scapegoat”.
The current Conservative government also said there was no need for an investigation.
The US-led invasion of Iraq began in March 2003 and the UK, which lost 179 military personnel in the conflict, ended its combat role in 2009.
MPs rejected the SNP"s House of Commons motion, calling for an investigation into Mr Blair"s pre-Iraq war role by the Justice Committee, by 439 to 70 – a margin of 369 votes.
"Grievously misled"Mr Salmond, a former Scottish First Minister, said it wa..

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Southgate appointed England manager



© Getty Images Gareth Southgate has been appointed permanent England manager. The 46-year-old had assumed the role on a caretaker basis following the resignation of Sam Allardyce in September. Southgate guided the Three Lions to seven points from a possible nine in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ qualifying – results which left them two points clear at the Group F summit – and what was viewed as an encouraging 2-2 friendly draw with Spain.
“I am extremely proud to be appointed England manager,” Southgate said on The FA"s official website. “However, I"m also conscious that getting the job is one thing, now I want to do the job successfully.
“I"ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the players over these past four games and I think there"s huge potential. I"m determined to give everything I have to give the country a team that they"re proud of and one that they"re going to enjoy watching play and develop. For me, the hard work starts now.”
Southgate, who cap..

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PMQs: Fiona Bruce says Christians worried about faith



A Conservative MP said Christians were worried about talking in public about their faith.

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PMQs: Corbyn and May on home ownership and welfare



Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May talk home ownership and welfare at PMQs.

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PMQs: Corbyn and May on economic growth, borrowing and debt



Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May on growth, borrowing and debt in UK economy.

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The new £5 Churchill note contains beef suet



The polymer holding Winston Churchill together in the new £5 note contains beef.

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Samantha Cameron launches her first fashion label



Image copyright Getty Images Samantha Cameron has revealed she is launching her first fashion label named Cefinn.
The wife of former prime minister David Cameron has designed a 40-piece collection which will be sold from early next year.
Mrs Cameron said she was inspired to start the label as there were not many British brands that fit the “designer contemporary” bracket.
She currently serves as an ambassador for the British Fashion Council.
The brand name, Cefinn, is derived from her children"s names – Elwen, Florence, Ivan and Nancy.
Image copyright Emma Hardy Image caption The first photos of Samantha Cameron"s fashion line will appear in Vogue The first pictures of the collection will feature in the January issue of British Vogue ahead of its launch for spring/summer 2017.
In an interview with the magazine, Mrs Cameron said: “I felt that there was a lot of American and French brands out there that fit that bracket of designer contemporary with the right price point and ..

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Product Red Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 7 announced



Apple has announced a Product Red version of its Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 7. One of the few acceptable reasons to get the hump-back case, Apple will donate a portion of the proceeds from the case towards fighting AIDS in Africa.
Other than that, it"s nothing more than a red version of the case already available in either black or white. Price is the same – $99 in the US. It"s still not listed on the Apple website, but that"ll probably change in the coming days. Meanwhile, you can scroll through the other Product Red items.
Via | Product Red page at Apple.com

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Netflix enables downloads for offline playback



Netflix has introduced a much-requested feature on its mobile apps: the ability to download content for offline playback.
Currently being rolled out, the latest update for the iOS and Android app will let you download any of the supported movies or television shows from their catalogue. Not all of the content is available for download but from a cursory glance it seemed like most of it was there.
When a movie or TV show supports downloading, you will see the download button in the description of the movie or next to the episode title of the TV show.
In the settings, you can choose to enable the downloads only on Wi-Fi and also choose the quality. The quality settings available are "Standard" and "Higher", which doesn"t say much about resolution and bitrate and they may as well have named them "Meh" and "Wow" for all the difference it makes. You can also see the amount of storage the downloads are taking on your device and delete them all ..

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ASUS launches ZenFone 3 Deluxe and ZenFone 3 Ultra in India



After launching the ZenFone 3 and ZenFone 3 Max, ASUS is now launching the ZenFone 3 Deluxe and ZenFone 3 Ultra in India.
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe is the company"s flagship smartphone. The phone will be available in two configurations, with the Snapdragon 820 variant having 64GB storage and the Snapdragon 821 model having 256GB storage. Both models will have 6GB of RAM. Other common features include a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 23 megapixel Sony IMX318 rear camera with f2.0 6-element lens and 4-axis OIS (only for stills), 8 megapixel front camera with f2.0 lens, fingerprint sensor, dual SIM support, 3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0, and Android 6.0 with ZenUI 3.0.
The ZenFone 3 Ultra has a 6.8-inch 1080p IPS display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB expandable storage, 23 megapixel Sony IMX318 rear camera with f2.0 6-element lens and 4-axis OIS (only for stills), 8 megapixel front camera with f2.0 lens, fingerprint sensor, dual SIM support, 4600mAh bat..

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Richmond Park by-election: A snapshot



BBC Newsnight takes a snapshot of the mood and candidates in the upcoming Richmond Park by-election.

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Woodburn has a big future, predicts Liverpool team-mate Mane



Liverpool"s new youngest goalscorer Ben Woodburn can go on to be a great player, according to team-mate Sadio Mane.
The academy graduate, who at the age of 17 years and 45 days beat Michael Owen"s record by 98 days, was just 14 minutes into his senior career when he blasted home on front of the Kop.
His goal..

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Brexit: May says Tusk letter justifies expat stance



Media captionPeter Lilley and Theresa May on rights of UK citizens living in EU nations after Brexit. Britons living around Europe would have been left “high and dry” if the rights of EU citizens to stay in the UK had been guaranteed, the PM has said.
Theresa May said EU leaders" remarks showed it was “absolutely right” for the UK not to have acted unilaterally.
EU Council president Donald Tusk has said there can be no “reciprocal” deal on expats until formal talks begin.
He was responding to criticism from Tory politicians who accused EU figures of “standing in the way” of a deal.
Replying to a question in the Commons from Conservative MP Peter Lilley, Mrs May said she hoped the issue would be examined early during the Brexit negotiations, which cannot begin until she has triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
The PM said it was “right” to give reassurance to both sets of citizens, adding: “But I think the reaction that we"ve seen shows why it was absolutely right for u..

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Katy Perry in tears after Clinton surprise



Video: Hillary roars back to honour Katy Katy Perry burst into tears as Hillary Clinton presented her with an award for her charity work at UNICEF"s annual Snowflake Ball.
The US singer was handed the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian prize by Mrs Clinton, who said she had “the spirit and the energy and the compassion that Audrey Hepburn brought to her work ..

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Debate over future of Afghanistan"s Buddhas



Image Caption: The Buddhas (large one pictured) had been in place for 1,800 years Experts are meeting to discuss whether two ancient statues of Buddha destroyed in Afghanistan in 2001 by the Taliban should be restored.
The monumental antiquities were carved into the cliffs of the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan and had stood watch over the population ..

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Life-size replica "Titanic" being built in China



Video: Life-size replica of the Titanic being built Construction of a life-size replica of the Titanic has begun at a Mediterranean-themed attraction in China.
The company behind it, Seven Star Energy Investment Group, said it should be completed by late next year.
The copy of the famous, doomed liner will be part of the Romandisea Seven Star International ..

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Brexit: May says Tusk letter shows EU expats delay "right"



Media captionPeter Lilley and Theresa May on rights of UK citizens living in EU nations after Brexit. Britons living around Europe would have been left “high and dry” if the rights of EU citizens to stay in the UK had been guaranteed, the PM has said.
Theresa May said EU leaders" remarks showed it was “absolutely right” for the UK not to have acted unilaterally.
EU Council president Donald Tusk has said there can be no “reciprocal” deal on expats until formal talks begin.
He was responding to criticism from Tory politicians who accused EU figures of “standing in the way” of a deal.
Replying to a question in the Commons from Conservative MP Peter Lilley, Mrs May said she hoped the issue would be examined early during the Brexit negotiations, which cannot begin until she has triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
The PM said it was “right” to give reassurance to both sets of citizens, adding: “But I think the reaction that we"ve seen shows why it was absolutely right for u..

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Coolpad launches Note 3S and Mega 3 in India



Coolpad has launched two new budget smartphones in India, the made for India Coolpad Note 3S and the triple-SIM Coolpad Mega 3.
The Coolpad Note 3S has a 5.5-inch 720p display with 2.5D glass, Qualcomm Snapdragon 415 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB expandable storage, 13 megapixel rear and 5 megapixel front camera, dual SIM, fingerprint sensor, 2500mAh battery, and Android 6.0 with Cool UI 8.0.
The Coolpad Mega 3 has a 5.5-inch 720p display, MediaTek MT6737 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB expandable storage, 8 megapixel front and rear cameras, triple SIM support, 3050mAh battery, and Android 6.0.
Coolpad has collaborated with Reliance for customers to get a Jio SIM card with every purchase.
The Coolpad Note 3S is priced at INR 9,999 ($146) and the Coolpad Mega 3 at INR 6,999 ($102) and will be available exclusively on Amazon.

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PMQs: Lilley and May on UK citizens living in EU states



Peter Lilley and Theresa May on rights of UK citizens living in EU nations after Brexit.

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Penalty queen Jon’s nerves of steel



© Getty Images
Taking a penalty is one of football’s most extreme situations, as it not only represents an excellent scoring opportunity but can also determine the outcome of the entire match. The fateful kick is taken just 12 yards from goal – close enough to give the penalty taker a distinct advantage over the opposing team’s goalkeeper.
“In Brazil we always say that penalties are so important that only the president should take them,” A Seleção’s 1994 FIFA World Cup-winning captain Carlos Dunga once said. While Jon So Yon does not consider the situation to be quite that dramatic, she is nonetheless well aware of its significance. “There’s no doubt that if the ball goes in, it can decide the entire match,” she said, “but it’s always a big responsibility, as the entire team is counting on one player.”
The defender knows exactly what she is talking about, having scored five times for Korea DPR in 11 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup encounters – each time from the spot. She first took on..

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November security update starts hitting Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)



Samsung has started rolling out the latest security update to its Galaxy J7 (2016) smartphone. Weighing in at under 190MB and currently hitting units in Europe (the Netherlands to be specific), the update brings along Android security fixes for the month of November. Some performance and stability-related improvements as well as generic bug fixes are included as well.
Given that the update – which arrives as firmware version XXU2APK2 – has just started rolling out, it may take time for the update notification to pop-up on your device"s screen. Meanwhile, if you feel impatient, you can manually check the update by heading to your handset"s Settings menu.
Via

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French musician held in row with Russian pop star



Image Caption: Didier Marouani claims Philipp Kirkorov stole some of his music Police in Moscow have arrested a French musician and his lawyer after a Russian pop star accused them of extorting a million euros from him in a plagiarism row.
French disco star Didier Marouani, who toured the Soviet Union in 1983, and his Russian Lawyer Igor Trunov, were detain..

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Trump to quit business empire for presidency



Donald Trump to leave business empire to avoid conflict of interest 12:29, UK, Wednesday 30 November 2016
Image Caption: Mr Trump says he will be legally removed from running his businesses Donald Trump will withdraw from running his businesses to avoid any perception of conflict of interest when he becomes president.
The President-elect tweeted that whil..

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Trump to leave business to focus on presidency



Trump to leave business to avoid conflict of interest as president 12:20, UK, Wednesday 30 November 2016
Image Caption: Donald Trump says legal papers will formally remove him from running his businesses Donald Trump will withdraw from running his business to avoid any perception of conflict of interest when he becomes president.
The President-elect annou..

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IDC"s forecast: Android"s 2016 market share to be 85%, iOS" 14.3%



In its latest report, market research firm IDC has revealed its numbers on the smartphone landscape in 2016. According to the firm, Android"s market share for this year will stand at 85%, after achieving an year-on-year growth of 5.2%. iOS, on the other hand, will claim 14.3% of the market, having seen its shipments decrease by 11%.
In total, Google"s and Apple"s mobile operating systems will claim over 99% of the market, leaving just 0.4% share for Windows Phone and 0.3% for others. The combined share for Android and iOS will reach nearly 100% by 2020, the report notes.
“It is no secret that Google"s Android OS has been and will remain the majority share platform in smartphones for the foreseeable future,” the report says. “It will also be at the core of the aforementioned 4G growth expected in emerging markets as low-cost Android players are not using newer, faster low-cost chips.”
“All signs point to 2016 being the first full year of declining shipments for Ap..

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Six held after 11 schoolgirls die in dorm fire



Image Caption: A fire engulfs the girls" school in Adana Six suspects have been arrested after 12 people – 11 schoolgirls and a teacher – died in a fire at a secondary school dormitory in southern Turkey.
Authorities are investigating the blaze which ripped through the sleeping quarters of the premises in Adana on Tuesday night.
The fire exit to the ro..

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Oil price lifts on prospect of OPEC deal



Image Caption: The oil price has more than halved since mid-2014 Oil prices have jumped 7% on hopes that OPEC ministers will agree a deal to limit production.
The cost of a barrel of Brent crude climbed close to $50 as members of the cartel met in the Austrian capital Vienna.
UK-based oil giants BP and Shell saw shares rise 2%.
A glut of supply on world mar..

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Refugees fleeing Aleppo "held by government"



Image Caption: Civilians have been fleeing from east Aleppo where fighting is intensifying Hundreds of civilians fleeing war-torn Aleppo are being detained and questioned by the Syrian government, say observers.
A spokesperson for the Syrian military immediately denied the claims made by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), insisting peo..

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Chelsea appoint law firm to investigate child sexual abuse allegations



Chelsea have appointed a law firm to investigate an individual employed by the club in the 1970s who is alleged.

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Refugees fleeing Aleppo "detained by govt"



Image Caption: Civilians have been fleeing from east Aleppo where fighting is intensifying Hundreds of civilians fleeing war-torn Aleppo are being detained and questioned by the Syrian government, say observers.
A spokesperson for the Syrian military immediately denied the claims made by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, insisting people fle..

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Romney praises Trump after frog-legs soup



Video: Romney"s posh dinner date with Trump Former Donald Trump critic Mitt Romney has said the President-elect is the “man who can lead us” after the pair met for an “enlightening” dinner at an upmarket restaurant.
Mr Trump is considering him for the post of Secretary of State, America"s top diplomat.
Mr Romney fiercely criticised Mr Trump during..

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Title fight for Nigeria & Cameroon as EURO contenders limber up



© Getty Images As the best young players in the world battle it out for U-20 glory in Papua New Guinea, their senior counterparts have also been involved in some high-quality encounters. FIFA.com rounds up the latest from the women’s international matches taking place across the world.
Mouth-watering decider in Africa
The most significant games of recent weeks have been taking place in Cameroon, where packed stadiums have been a feature of the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations. The football on show has justified those impressive attendances, with yesterday’s semi-finals emphasising both the rising standards and narrowing gap between the Mother Continent’s top sides.
Nigeria, the competition’s record seven-time champions, will be there again but only after the tightest of 1-0 victories over South Africa. Striker Desire Oparanozie grabbed the only goal of the game on 54 minutes, crashing home a free-kick after Faith Ikidi had been brought down on the edge of the box by Bambanani Mbane..

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France visit Fisherman"s island



Photo GalleryFrance visit Fisherman"s Island infoinfo1 / 25 © Getty Images Full screenShareLouise Fleury of France takes a selfie with locals during a visit to Fisherman"s Island Wednesday, 30 November 2016 PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA – NOVEMBER 30: Louise Fleury of France takes a selfie with locals during a visit to Fisherman"s Island during the FIFA U-20 Women"s World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016 on November 30, 2016 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. (Photo by Matthew Lewis – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Having already sampled the delights of Nature Park and the Port Moresby museum, France ventured out on a third expedition since arriving at the FIFA U-20 Women"s World Cup with a trip to Fisherman"s Island, an island paradise off the coast of Papua New Guinea"s capital.
Spirits were high as the squad set out by bus and boat, with the volume turned up on their favourite tunes as they sang and joked together, clearly still euphoric following their se..

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RBS biggest failure in Bank of England stress test



Image copyright Getty Images RBS is the worst prepared of the UK"s biggest lenders to cope with another financial crisis, Bank of England (BoE) stress tests have found.
The results forced RBS to devise plans to bolster its balance sheet by £2bn through cost cuts and shedding assets.
Under the “very severe” tests, banks had to be able to handle a house price crash in the UK and a global recession.
The BoE found Barclays and Standard Chartered also missed key hurdles but had already taken steps to cope.
RBS, which is still 73% owned by the government after its bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, said it had “agreed a revised capital plan… to improve its stress resilience”.
It said the change came “in light of the various challenges and uncertainties facing both the bank and the wider economy highlighted by the concurrent stress testing process”.
"Action taken"RBS submitted the new plan to the Bank after running its own internal tests and finding its balance sheet ..

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Chelsea"s Victor Moses named Premier League PFA Fans" Player of the Month for November



A resurgent Victor Moses under new boss Antonio Conte has been voted the Premier League PFA Fans" Player of the Month for November by a clear margin over fellow nominees Sergio Aguero, Matt Phillips, Victor Anichebe, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Nordin Amrobat.
The award represents a second in succession for Chelsea play..

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Meizu takes the wrapper off Flyme OS 6



Just as previously promised, Meizu held a conference today and announced a pair of new devices. The Chinese OEM also officially released the new 6th version of its Flyme OS.
That all sounds great, however, there is still shockingly little info on the new software. Even the basics, like the underlying Android version are still unclear. However, judging by the “Make 6 great again” slogan and a few leaked screenshots, we can only assume Marshmallow is running under the hood.
What we do know, however, is that Flyme OS 6 comes with a refreshed aesthetic, that users will be able to experience first-hand on the new Pro 6 Plus and M3X handsets. The update will be coming to some existing Meizu devices as well. The OEM just tweeted a full list of supported devices, which will coincide with the models eligible for the public release as well.
Flyme OS 6 will come to all of these devices! pic.twitter.com/8SF2vJkerx
— MEIZU (@MEIZU) November 30, 2016 For said users, or at least the most impatient..

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Leipzig coach on shortlist to replace Wenger, Juve in for Chelsea defender - Transfer News



The latest gossip and rumours from the newspapers and online:
Crystal Palace manager ALAN PARDEW is facing crunch talks with chairman Steve Parish over his future, according to the Evening Standard.
Chelsea defender BRANISLAV IVANOVIC is a target for Juventus, with his contract at Stamford Bridge up at the end of the s..

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Romney gushes over Trump after frog-legs soup



Video: Romney"s posh dinner date with Trump Former Donald Trump critic Mitt Romney has said the President-elect is the “man who can lead us” after the pair met for an “enlightening” dinner at an upmarket restaurant.
Mr Trump is considering him for the post of Secretary of State, America"s top diplomat.
Mr Romney fiercely criticised Mr Trump during..

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Skrabb"s scorpion kick finds the top corner



Are you familiar with the "scorpion kick"? You may not know the term itself but you will certainly remember the outrageous save made by former Colombia international goalkeeper Rene Higuita, who kept out a Jamie Redknapp cross-shot during a friendly with England at Wembley in September 1995 with a "scorpion kick". Flinging himself forwards and flicking his legs up over his head behind him, Higuita cleared the ball with his heels.
The technique can also be used at the opposite end of the pitch, and a few players have already scored goals with it. One particularly eye-catching effort was recently achieved by Simon Skrabb, whose version was at least as spectacular as Higuita"s save and justifiably earned him a FIFA Puskás Award nomination for the best goal of the year.
It happened on 31 October 2015 and Gefle IF were at home against already-relegated Atvidabergs FF on the final matchday of the Swedish first division season. Skrabb, who was 20 at the time, was pl..

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Meizu Pro 6 Plus and M3X unveiled: 12MP Sony camera, Flyme 6



Meizu unveiled both the Pro 6 Plus and the Meizu M3X – a flagship and an upscale mid-ranger, both running the new Flyme 6.0.
Meizu Pro 6 Plus Bigger than both the Pro 6 and 6s, the Meizu Pro 6 Plus is like a Galaxy S7 that Samsung never gave us. Meizu crafted a metal body and filled it with 5.7 inches of flat Super AMOLED goodness – complete with QHD resolution (1,440 x 2,560px) and Always On functionality. It aims for 430nits of brightness and is pressure sensitive (Meizu calls it 3D Press) to boot!
All this requires plenty of power, so the phone uses the Exynos 8890 (same as S7 and S7 edge). There are two versions – 64GB and 128GB – which have different clockspeeds for the processor (2GHz and 2.3GHz respectively). Note that this is fast UFS 2.0 storage and in both cases you get 4GB of RAM.
The Meizu Pro 6 Plus packs a 12MP camera with a Sony IMX386 sensor (1/2.9” big, 1.25µm pixels). It’s optically stabilized and has an f/2.0 aperture – not the brightest, but Meizu put a 10-LED ri..

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Samsung Pay"s UK launch pushed back to next year



For those in the UK who are eagerly waiting for Samsung to release its Samsung Pay mobile payments service in the country, there"s bad news: the service"s launch has been pushed back to next year.
“Following successful launches of Samsung Pay around the world, we are planning to launch the service in the UK in 2017,” the South Korean tech giant said.
Samsung had earlier said that the service will be launched in the UK this year. As for the reason behind the delay, while there"s no official word on it, reports say it"s due to negotiations with banks, which is taking longer than expected.
It"s worth mentioning that similar offerings by Google and Apple have already made it to the UK – Apple Pay in July 2015 and Android Pay in May 2015.
Via

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UK tops list of most traffic-congested EU cities



Image copyright PA British roads are the most congested in Europe, a study of traffic in more than 100 EU cities suggests.
Data company Inrix monitored traffic on every road in 123 cities, including London, Cardiff, Paris and Hamburg.
It found more than 20,300 so-called “traffic hotspots” in UK cities – well over double the number in Germany and twice that of France.
The government recently pledged to spend an extra £1.3bn on targeting congestion on roads.
In Inrix"s analysis, a road becomes a “traffic hotspot” once congestion forces drivers to drop their speed by 65% for at least two minutes.
Inrix collected traffic information from car sat-navs, mobile phones and road sensors throughout September 2016.
It covered individual cities with populations of 250,000 or more, rather than whole countries, but found pinch points in:
UK: 21 cities with 20,375 traffic hotspots Germany: 27 cities with 8,517 traffic hotspots Italy: 12 cities with 5,069 traffic hotspots France: nine cities wi..

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Government starts review of "gig" economy



Image copyright Reuters A team of four experts is preparing to tour the UK to explore how the “gig” economy is affecting workers" rights.
Mathew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Arts, was appointed last month to lead the review into the impact of “disruptive” businesses such as Uber and Deliveroo.
New technology combined with new business models has led to a rise in workers doing short-term, casual work.
Many are not eligible for the minimum wage, sickness or maternity pay.
The review will address questions of job-security, pension, holiday and parental leave rights. It will also look at “employer freedoms and obligations”.
Mr Taylor will be joined by the entrepreneur, Greg Marsh, who founded onefinestay, a company which helps upmarket home-owners let their properties to visitors, Paul Broadbent chief executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority and employment lawyer, Diane Nicol.
The team will be talking to businesses and workers across the UK, includi..

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RBS worst hit in Bank of England stress test



Image copyright Getty Images RBS has missed key hurdles in a Bank of England stress test, forcing it to devise new plans in case of a financial crisis.
The toughest stress test yet measured the UK"s seven biggest lenders against a global economic crash.
RBS performed the worst and was forced to draw up a new capital plan, which has been accepted.
The bank said it had “agreed a revised capital plan… to improve its stress resilience”.
It said the change came “in light of the various challenges and uncertainties facing both the bank and the wider economy highlighted by the concurrent stress testing process”.
"Action taken"RBS, which is still 73% owned by the government after its bailout in 2008, submitted the new plan to the Bank of England (BoE) after running its own internal tests and finding its balance sheet would fall short.
The bank said the test applied a hypothetical adverse scenario to the group"s balance sheet as at 31 December 2015, and that it had taken..

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Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool teenager Ben Woodburn has to be handled carefully



Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits teenager Ben Woodburn has to be handled carefully after he became the club"s youngest goalscorer.
The academy graduate, at 17 years and 45 days, beat Michael Owen"s record by 98 days to write his name into Anfield history books with an emphatic 81st-minute finish in the 2..

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Footballers have surgery following plane crash



Video: Chapecoense fans mourn the loss of their heros One of the footballers who survived a plane crash in Colombia has undergone surgery to have his right leg amputated, doctors have said.
Goalkeeper Jackson Follmann is now recovering following the procedure.
Defender Helio Neto is being treated in intensive care after suffering severe trauma to his skul..

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Players have surgery following plane crash



Video: Chapecoense fans mourn the loss of their heros One of the footballers who survived a plane crash in Colombia has undergone surgery to have his right leg amputated, doctors have said.
Goalkeeper Jackson Follmann is now recovering following the procedure.
Defender Helio Neto is being treated in intensive care after suffering severe trauma to his skul..

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