'Mad Max: Fury Road' also was a big winner, taking home three awards, including best director honors for George Miller.
'Spotlight' Named Top Film by D.C.-Area Film Critics
'Mad Max: Fury Road' also was a big winner, taking home three awards, including best director honors for George Miller.
President Obama calls on Congress to just do something on terrorism, gun violence
President Obama delivered just his third Oval Office address to the nation Sunday evening, exhorting Americans to "not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear" in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino. He explained his administration's approach to fighting ISIS and answered his critics' call for more war. He also addressed the epidemic in gun violence, calling for Congressional action on limiting access guns.
Obama explained the four elements of his administration's strategy to fight ISIS, which begins with taking out "terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure." The second element is providing "training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens." He pointed out that in both countries, the U.S. has deployed Special Operations Forces to "accelerate that offensive," and that the U.S. has "stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris." He discussed the third part of the strategy, "working with friends and allies to stop ISIL's operations—to disrupt plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting more fighters." And finally, he discussed the efforts of the international community "to establish a process—and timeline—to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war." That, he argued, will allow both the Syrian people, our allies, and Russia "to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL—a group that threatens us all."
Then he turned to what Congress needs to be doing to for both this fight against ISIS and for the gun violence epidemic. He called for Congress to "go ahead and vote to authorize the continued use of military force against these terrorists." Obama sent a war authorization to Congress back in February, but congressional leaders have ignored it. He also said that "Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun," legislation that Senate Republicans rejected last week, and to enact measures to "make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. […] What we can do -- and must do -- is make it harder for them to kill."
Then Obama answered the war-mongering among Republican presidential candidates:
We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups like ISIL want. They know they can't defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq. But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops, draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits.He was particularly strong in rejecting the racist rhetoric coming out of the Republican campaign:
Here's what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. […] [I]t is the responsibility of all Americans—of every faith—to reject discrimination. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country. It’s our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently. […] That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes—and, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that.He reminded viewers "that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law," and that "what makes us exceptional" is that the nation has always met challenges "by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people."
That's a particularly salient message for the coming week in which Congress is going to have to pass an omnibus spending bill to keep government functioning, a process that is going to show all the ugly the Republican party can bring to bear.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez hails Romelu Lukaku ahead of Crystal Palace clash
 |
| In-form Romelu Lukaku looks set to make his 100th appearance for Everton against Crystal Palace |
ROMELU LUKAKU will continue to take the strain for Everton as he prepares to make his 100th appearance for the club.
The
Belgium striker reaches the milestone against Crystal Palace tonight
having started every game this season and missed just 40 minutes of
action.
Lukaku is in a
rich vein of form having plundered 13 goals, including six in his last
five matches, but it is his durability that is proving a major asset for
Everton manager Roberto Martinez.
He
was unable to complete 90-minutes when he joined Everton on loan in
2013-14 – having managed to last a full game just nine times during
spells with Chelsea and West Brom.
But
his output is remarkable and stands out when compared to the likes of
Sergio Aguero and Daniel Sturridge, who are among the elite strikers he
is seeking to join.
“Any player who can stay fit and reliable gives you an incredible base to work on,” said Martinez.
“In terms of Rom’s journey, I would say that’s happening now for the first time this year.
“At
the start of last season, he was catching up after the World Cup. From
January, he’s been the mature Rom who can play 90 minutes, and there’s
everything that comes with that.”
Lukaku’s
value to Everton more than justifies his £28m permanent move to
Goodison Park in the summer of 2014, but Martinez has claimed they are
not over-reliant on the forward.
The
likes of Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley have also made impressive
contributions, while Everton have coped well in the absence of skipper
Phil Jagielka who has a knee injury.
“I
take your point about Rom and his importance, but, as a squad, you need
to cope with injuries. You need to cope with suspensions,” he said.
“We
have showed that to a very good degree as well. We showed we could lose
up to five defenders from that back four and be able to keep a clean
sheet and compete.
“We never said that today we couldn’t win because we had someone missing. That’s a good sign of a team.
“Rom
is in a great moment of form. Gerard is in a great moment of form. Ross
is in a great moment of form. But you feel that we’ve got a very good
group of experienced players who at the moment are not playing a big
role, and they’re ready to play that big role.
“It’s
not the case that our squad is 11 plus three or four young players
waiting to help. We’ve got Steven Naismith, Kevin Mirallas, Aaron
Lennon, Aiden McGeady, Darron Gibson, Mo Besic.
“You’re talking about players who are desperate to have a big role. So I’m delighted with the squad that we have.”
Above is the content the blog provided. If incomplete,
read the original here.
Jose Mourinho under pressure (again) ahead of Chelsea's £40m Champions League clash
 |
| Jose Mourinho is under huge pressure to get a result against Porto in the Champions League |
JOSE MOURINHO faces the task of lifting a shattered squad for the most important game of his Chelsea career on Wednesday.
Mourinho
took training yesterday as usual but is under huge pressure to get a
result on Wednesday, when Chelsea need a draw against his old club Porto
to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
If
Chelsea go out there would be enormous pressure on Mourinho, who saw
his side slip to a new low on Saturday as they crashed 1-0 at home to
newly promoted Bournemouth in their eighth loss of the season.
Missing
out on the later stages of the Champions League could cost the club
around £40million, and with Mourinho's admission that after the
Bournemouth result the top four may be out reach, owner Roman
Abramovich's patience would possibly be tested too far.
Chelsea will spend in January, despite Mourinho's insistence on Saturday that he will not go to the board and ask for reinforcements.
There
is recognition at Stamford Bridge that the squad does need to be
strengthened and two players high on Chelsea's radar are the £30million
Shakhtar Donetsk forward Alex Teixeira, and West Brom striker Saido
Berahino. Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain could also be an option.
Mourinho
is involved in that planning at the moment, but Chelsea will still
spend even if he is gone before the January transfer window opens.
Another target is Everton's England defender John Stones, who they tried and failed to get several times in the summer.
One
boost for the beleaguered manager is that skipper John Terry should
have recovered from an ankle injury picked up in the Champions League
win against Maccabi Tel Aviv to play against Porto.
Soon all phones sold in India to have Indian language support
To catalyze the 'Digital India' vision and to bring E-Governance within easy reach of every Citizen, Department of Electronics & IT (DeitY), Government of India, is on the anvil of making it mandatory for all mobile handsets being manufactured or sold in India to come loaded with multi-language support feature, a press release issued by Indian Cellular Association claimed.
"The move would have a momentous impact on the speed of governance and the way utilities and services such as education, health, permissions, licenses etc accessed by citizens as only about 10 percent of Indians are supposedly conversant and comfortable in transacting in English language. Absence of multi-language support feature has been a major stumbling block in unleashing the full power of mobile handset and Digital India vision to utilize the power of mobile handsets as the "device of choice" for implementation for various E-Governance schemes," the press release added.
"I am very happy that our persistent efforts are going to bear fruits very soon. Provision of multi-language support in every mobile will catalyze Digital India program, make life of citizens convenient as accessibility to critical services and utilities will become extremely fast and transparent. In short, this is real empowerment of Citizens and I am happy that mobiles will become the new symbol of this new age empowerment," commented Pankaj Mohindroo, the president of ICA, the apex body of the mobile industry comprising manufacturers, brand owners, application & solution providers, distributors, retailers and eminent consumers of mobile handsets.
As per the press statement, DeitY has instructed the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to formally come out with an Indian Standard that could be used for implementation of the same. The final standard will be published soon after consultations with the Industry and other stakeholders as per the process followed at BIS.
Some features which are likely to be standard features of all future handsets will be to have a minimum 4MB of memory out of which 2MB would be reserved for official Indian Languages support; message readability in would be provided for all 14 scripts and 22 official Indian languages and inputting of text would be available in English, Hindi and at least one additional Indian Language.
December 20 deadline for both Ballan and Bayern Rundfahrt race
Alessandro Ballan has been on the sidelines since January of last year. He was handed a ban by the Italian Olympic Committee CONI, which had been examining his role in the Mantova anti-doping investigation.
CONI suspended him for two years for the use or attempted use of banned substances. Ballan denied the charges, saying that he had undergone ozone therapy to treat cytomegalovirus rather than to gain a competitive edge. He admitted to making a mistake, but said his punishment was too harsh.
With his ban set to end next month, he wants to return to the peloton but has been unable to find a team. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, he had some limited contact with the Southeast squad, but it came to nothing.
“I do not deserve to stop,” he said. “To do another season, or even six months would have been nice and between the other would have had a chance perhaps to better explain the absurd story that I was involved, as well as experience the feelings that I have missed.
“Above all, the regret is to depart not due to my own decision, but that of another.”
Ballan won the world championships in 2008, one year after taking the Tour of Flanders and the Vattenfall Cyclassics.
He has said that if he doesn’t find a squad by December 20, he will retire.
The same cutoff date has been named by the organisers of the Bayern Rundfahrt.
They stated on Monday that the 37th edition would only take place if the budget shortfall of 300,000 was overcome by that point in time.
“We stand in responsibility towards our partners, in particular with respect to the stage towns and the teams that need reliable planning for the coming year,” stated race director Ewald Strohmeier.
“Therefore we have to decide if the race can take place or not. With the planned stage cities, we have agreed that we will carry out as planned the itinerary if there are, by December 20, new options for financing it.
The 2016 edition is due to be held from May 24 to 29.
Meier said that the 2015 event was ‘perfect’, and that if the 2016 race proves impossible to stage, that he and others will look to the following season.
“We will fight in order to continue the Tour of Bavaria from 2017 as a successful and attractive race.”
Kendrick Lamar Tops Grammy Nominations; Full List
The nominations for the 58th annual Grammy Awards were announced on Monday morning.
Kendrick Lamar scored a leading 11 nominations, with Taylor Swift and The Weeknd each earning seven nominations. Drake scored five nominations. Lamar, Swift and The Weeknd will face off in the category of album of the year, going up against Alabama Shakes and Chris Stapleton.
Swift's "Blank Space" is also up for record of the year, as is The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face." They're up against D'Angelo and the Vanguard's "Really Love"; "Uptown Funk," from Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars; and Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud."
Lamar and Swift will also vie for the song of the year Grammy, with Lamar's "Alright" going up against Swift's "Blank Space." Other nominees in the category, which awards the songwriter, are Little Big Town's "Girl Crush," Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again" and Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud."
The best new artist nominees are Courtney Barnett, James Bay, Sam Hunt, Tori Kelly and Meghan Trainor.
Kendrick Lamar scored a leading 11 nominations, with Taylor Swift and The Weeknd each earning seven nominations. Drake scored five nominations. Lamar, Swift and The Weeknd will face off in the category of album of the year, going up against Alabama Shakes and Chris Stapleton.
Swift's "Blank Space" is also up for record of the year, as is The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face." They're up against D'Angelo and the Vanguard's "Really Love"; "Uptown Funk," from Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars; and Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud."
Lamar and Swift will also vie for the song of the year Grammy, with Lamar's "Alright" going up against Swift's "Blank Space." Other nominees in the category, which awards the songwriter, are Little Big Town's "Girl Crush," Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again" and Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud."
The best new artist nominees are Courtney Barnett, James Bay, Sam Hunt, Tori Kelly and Meghan Trainor.
