BORN IN NAIROBI and raised in the wilds of Kenya in the ’70s, Joss Kent grew up with very few rules. When he was three years old his parents divorced, and his father, Geoffrey Kent, moved to America with his new wife. Joss remained in Karen, an affluent colonial-era suburb of Nairobi, with his mother, Andrea, who married the Duke of Manchester. The duchess had one simple demand: “Be back before sundown,” recalls her now 45-year-old son.

To this day, the only rules Kent tends to follow are his own. As his father’s only son, he was groomed to take over Abercrombie & Kent, a travel-adventure company born in Kenya in the early ’60s when Geoffrey’s parents, Valerie and Colonel John Kent, turned to safari outfitting after losing their farm once the country gained its independence. In 2011, to the surprise of the travel-and-safari community—and, especially, his father—Kent resigned as CEO of Abercrombie & Kent. Six months later, he became CEO of one of its main competitors in Africa: andBeyond, a safari-lodge operator formerly called CC Africa (Conservation Corporation Africa).

Kent cuts a dashing figure in a safari costume, and he’s after an elusive trophy: to satisfy both the goals of sustainable tourism and his stockholders. Many of Africa’s safari camps and conservation projects are in danger of failing without a wealthy benefactor or government support; like many of his competitors, Kent hopes to prove that green tourism—combining education with conservation efforts—can be financially viable.

In early July, at the start of the wildebeest migration, several of Kent’s stockholders—members of the Mark Getty family (Mark was a co-founder of Getty Images) and the South African–based Enthoven family (who made their fortune in the insurance business)—flew by small charter plane from Nairobi to the northwest edges of Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve to check out his most recent project: the radical reinvention of Kichwa Tembo, the most renowned and largest of andBeyond’s 33 camps in Africa. Originally an old-school luxury African lodge tucked into ravine forestland, Kichwa has been transformed into a light-filled, U-shaped complex that embraces a sweeping view of the savanna.

Kichwa had just opened, but it was already buzzing with guests: a large family from Mexico, several American families and middle-aged couples from South Africa and Europe. Both the crowd and the property’s open-air restaurant and lounge gave off a Soho House-on-safari vibe.

“Growing up in Nairobi was a gift,” Kent says. “You grew up in nature, with no real social hierarchies, and you learned to get on with everyone. You knew how to take care of yourself from an early age. It was only later when I went to visit my father in America at the age of eight or nine that I was first exposed to the realities of consumerism and commercialism. I remember being completely taken aback by the big billboards on the way from the Chicago airport to Oak Brook.”

Kent, who currently lives in London with his wife and three children, grew up with the grandchildren of the Happy Valley set, a group of British aristocrats and adventurers who settled in Kenya and Uganda between the 1920s and ’40s and later became renowned for their decadent exploits and fast living. At the age of 13, Kent was sent to boarding school in England, followed by five years in the British military. The best years of his 20s were spent guiding for A&K, which under his father and his stepmother, Jorie, had swiftly grown into a major global player in the travel world.

Kent went fishing with Jimmy Carter, trekking in the jungles of Papua New Guinea with Lauren Hutton and on safari with Kenny Rogers and Bill Gates. Realizing that he needed more than just guiding experience to eventually take over A&K, he went to work at Bear Stearns in New York in 1995. Then, after earning a degree at Harvard Business School, he spent a couple of years consulting for Bain & Co. “Working on Wall Street and going to Harvard and working at Bain was about gaining experience to apply to the family business. A&K was a 100 percent family company, and I thought it was something to be left to generations.”

After a whirlwind road trip with a war photographer friend, from London to Nairobi via the Middle East, he started working again for A&K. Then 9/11 happened. “That was the year the wheels fell off,” Kent says. Like every other travel company at the time, A&K was hit hard. Kent and his father disagreed about how to save the company. The conflict eventually led to Joss’s being fired. About two years later, Geoffrey sold 67 percent of A&K to Intrawest Resorts Holdings. In 2006, Joss went back to work for A&K, “but within six months, Intrawest had been bought by Fortress Investment Group,” he says, “which was a completely different kettle of fish.” (Geoffrey Kent declined to comment for this article.)

“The travel industry is a very fragile thing,” Joss explains. “It’s driven primarily by people and by passion. If you are a large financial institution, you don’t necessarily understand that. You want a spreadsheet and results. You don’t get why someone would want to be involved in ‘this and that.’ Some of those things are intangible. But for me, the ‘this and that’ is what we do. We create fantastic guest experiences every day by focusing manically on those things.

“I went through business school and outside consulting because A&K was a family business. Once it was no longer a family concern, that changed the goalposts.” Not long after Joss resigned from A&K, in 2011, he was contacted by Patrick Maxwell, a long-standing board member of andBeyond who works for the Mark Getty family. “From the beginning, andBeyond was intended as a philanthropic business built on a financially viable platform,” Maxwell says. “We hadn’t been very successful at delivering the financial side of things. We also needed a CEO steeped in the safari industry in Africa.” For Maxwell, that man was Joss Kent.

THAT’S WHERE OUR original family camp, Fish Eagle, was located,” Kent says as he points toward a grassy knoll in front of what is now Bateleur Camp, a small outpost of the main andBeyond camp. He’s looking for a fig tree that had been planted as a memorial for his grandmother Valerie when she died in 1991. Although Kichwa is now owned and operated by andBeyond, it was founded by Geoffrey Kent in the late ’70s and became the family’s home base near the Maasai Mara when Joss was a boy. Joss’s father negotiated use of the land, which sat just outside the Maasai Mara National Reserve, and eventually built it into a 50-tent camp. At the time, there were only two other camps in the area: Governors’ Camp and Mara Serena. After the Gulf War, in the early ’90s, in order to raise much-needed cash, Geoffrey Kent sold several A&K properties, including Kichwa Tembo, to CC Africa. “He was deeply upset to have to sell this place,” Joss says.

After a failed attempt to find the fig tree, we circle back to Kichwa along a narrow path. A massive blue monkey rushes toward us, and we step aside so he can continue on his way. A few years ago, andBeyond negotiated with their landlord, the governor of Narok, for a larger private consignment—more than 2,400 acres on the edges of the park that are now available exclusively to their guests. “There are not many places in Africa—certainly not in Kenya—with a private concession this size so close to a World Heritage Site,” Kent says. “I think this is one of the finest safari locations in the world in terms of density of game and the views.”

We enter Kichwa camp through a thatched hallway open on both sides that leads to a big lawn with grazing warthogs. Just beyond is a multitiered pool, then a sweeping view of the savanna, dotted with umbrella-shaped acacia trees, buffalo, giraffes and small herds of elephants. A thatched-roof building on the left side is home to a bar and lounge with several seating areas, some next to fireplaces; to the right is the main restaurant with tables and booths that spill out over the lawn.

When Kent joined andBeyond, he invested in radically upgrading several older andBeyond camps in order to make the company financially sustainable. “The original building had big solid-cement base walls with stone walls going up the side and a low thatched roof that hung over it like an old colonial settlement house,” he says. “It was heavy and dark and set back into the forest, so you didn’t get to see the view. Our goal was to rebuild the camp for the 22nd century—to rethink the safari camp experience.”

To that end, Kent hired two sets of architects with entirely different areas of expertise: Nicholas Plewman Architects, experienced at building African safari lodges, and Michaelis Boyd, architects out of London who are known for eco-sustainability, but mostly in urban environments. “We smacked the two together and said, ‘You will work together,’ and they all kind of looked at each other, horrified,” says Kent, who claims the creative tension between the two resulted in a more innovative camp design. “You will not find another lodge that looks like this, in its footprint or design, anywhere in Kenya—or Tanzania for that matter. The goal was to create a lot of separate spaces for living and dining and relaxing rather than one big area where everything takes place.”

The courtyard is home to a working kitchen garden; and instead of leaving the sunrise morning coffee out by the door, the staff delivers it via a “butler’s hatch” in the wall of the tent, so that guests don’t have to immediately jump out of bed to collect it. In front of each of the tents—which are spacious but stylishly minimal and include king-size beds, solar-powered hot-water showers and his-and-her sinks—is a cozy lounge area where several people can lie back and take in the view. “At first we thought we wouldn’t bring an Internet connection to the tents, but then we realized it’s better if guests do all their iPad scrolling and Skyping in private rather than in the public spaces. We want the public spaces to be about connecting with other guests and staff.”

The safari experience has changed radically in the past few decades. “In the ’70s and in the ’80s when my father opened Kichwa, the safari camp groups were big—usually about 20 to 25 people led by a professional guide,” Kent says. “Safaris were also very long in those days, usually three weeks. So the whole construct of a safari was different. As people got more used to the safari concept and more confident in booking their own travel, the desire to travel in large groups has fragmented. Smaller, more intimate camps where you have access to a resident guide became desirable. So, you’d have one lodge for bigger groups and then smaller camps for the individual traveler paying over $1,000 a night for a more private experience.”

Many safari outfitters are starting to allow guests to engage with communities that live among the animals. On our first afternoon at Kichwa, instead of taking us on a game drive, Kent and his team gave us a tour of several of andBeyond’s Maasai community projects. Accompanying us was Julius Mokita, representative of the Africa Foundation, the philanthropic arm of andBeyond. After bumping up a simple track road and passing a small village of huts, animal enclosures and grazing cattle, we parked outside a small, one-story school complex, where groups of Maasai children dressed in purple uniforms were playing around newly planted trees on the lawn. The current generation of Maasai is no longer truly nomadic. Many are settling down so that they can claim recently parceled-out land and so their children can go to school. (Primary school is mandatory throughout Kenya.)

Kent found a stick and proceeded to scratch a triangle in the dusty ground. “Since the beginning, andBeyond has always been based on a model of the three Cs: care of the land, care of the wildlife and care of the people. The protected land and wildlife will disappear unless we are able to work successfully with the communities here.” In the past few years, andBeyond, along with its guests, has helped fund schools, health clinics and clean-water sources. As Mokita explained, in the Maasai Mara the Africa Foundation will never initiate a project that the Maasai themselves haven’t requested. The community also contributes in some way, with either money or time or materials. “We’re not trying to be a global company. We’re purely focused on what we do, which is something like a three-legged stool,” Kent explains. “Without one leg you can’t possibly support the whole thing.”

But is it possible to build a business model around philanthropic motives? “It’s a difficult thing to achieve,” Maxwell says. “But it’s an important challenge and a very fulfilling one. Joss has made some terrific strides. The fiscal year for andBeyond has just finished, and the preliminary results are excellent: We’ve had our second year of good, solid groundwork and cash generation.” In the two years since Kent joined as CEO, the company revenue has grown almost 35 percent.

Depending on whom you ask, conservation issues in the Maasai Mara National Reserve—poaching and grazing and illegal construction—have either improved or are getting worse. The reserve is divided into two sections: the main reserve and the Mara Triangle, about one-third of the reserve, as defined by the Mara River. Kichwa Tembo is located just outside the Triangle. Before the Mara Conservancy, led by respected Kenyan conservationist Brian Heath, took over management of the Triangle in 2001, it was “a no-go area,” Heath says. “It was too insecure. There was a lot of poaching.” But after a few years of hard work, the Triangle went “from being a dangerous backwater to one of the most sought-after destinations in the Mara.” Thanks to Heath, who also manages and consults for successful conservancies outside the reserve—such as Mara North—responsible eco-tourism practices are strictly enforced in the Mara Triangle.

However, on the other two-thirds of the reserve, which is overseen by the Narok County Council, there has been a massive amount of unregulated construction. “Currently we have 12 properties with access to the Triangle,” says Heath. “On the other side, they have 10 times as many camps and lodges.” Of course, the recent decrease of tourism in Kenya is affecting the Mara and even the most well-intentioned conservancies. (One estimate, from the Kenya Tourism Federation, cited a nearly 16 percent drop in tourism arrivals in 2013.) “It’s going to be very difficult for the tourism partners to meet their obligations to their landlords if this downturn continues much longer.”

As with Heath’s work for the Mara Conservancy, sometimes the most successful projects in the area depend on the herculean efforts of one person, such as an anti-poaching patrol led by Joss’s aunt Anne (Geoffrey Kent’s only sibling) under the Anne K. Taylor Fund. Just a few years ago, with the support of the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, Taylor spearheaded a program to build fortified bomas, enclosures that protect cattle, which means the Maasai have fewer reasons to hunt predatory lions. For the six months a year that Taylor lives in the Mara, she resides in a modest former manager’s house behind Kichwa. “I feel very blessed to be able to stay here,” she says. “When I grew up with my brother in Kenya, I spent all my time with the animals.”

When asked whether his father had seen the new Kichwa, Kent shakes his head. The two have not spoken, despite several efforts on Taylor’s part, since Kent took the job at andBeyond. Later Taylor says, “Geoff asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year. And I answered, ‘You know what I want.’ I love them both. I am resolved to bring them together.”

Earlier Joss had mentioned that the local Maasai community had nicknames for him and for his father. “My father was always called Bwana Mkubwa, which in Swahili means big man. Mine is Bwana Mrefu, which means tall or growing one.

“We are both hugely competitive. I’m by no means a shrinking violet,” Kent concedes. “I can be a little hot to handle; I’m my father’s son. But the truth is I wouldn’t be able to run things now if he hadn’t taught me how to do it. It’s ironic, really. All the experiences I’ve had that have brought me to the place I am now are because of him.”

Summary: Joss Kent was heir apparent to his father’s travel-adventure outfit before he left to run one of its main competitors. Now he has restored a site in Kenya that was once home to the family camp—and hopes to modernize the safari experience for the 21st century.


A rowing club from Dundrum in Northern Ireland has won the Skiffie World Championship, an international contest held at Strangford Lough, County Down.

They took the title ahead of more than 50 clubs, including teams from the USA, Tasmania, Netherlands, Scotland, Wales and throughout Ireland.

Skiffs are traditionally-styled, colourful rowing boats, crafted by the rowing teams to reflect their own area.

More than 1,000 competitors took part in the week-long championship.

The event, organised by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, began last Saturday in Delamont Country Park, Killyleagh.

It featured various heats throughout the week, with Dundrum going into Saturday's final on top of the leader board.

The climax of the competition coincided with the Strangford Lough Festival.

The regatta is due to arrive in Strangford later, with trophy presentations in Strangford Green from 19:00 BST.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council chairperson, Gillian Fitzpatrick, said: "This is a hugely significant event and the council are very proud to work with the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association and our neighbouring council in Ards and North Down as well as Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership to bring this fantastic event to fruition."

Summary: A rowing club from Dundrum in Northern Ireland wins the Skiffie World Championship, an international contest held at Strangford Lough, County Down.


Anthony Minghella thought, or rather knew, that The Talented Mr Ripley was his best film. It helped that Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel – itself a reworking of Henry James's The Ambassadors – gave him an antihero to die for. Tom Ripley is a friendless young man in Fifties New York, yearning, then pretending, to be someone he's not. He's hired by a shipping magnate to sail to Italy and retrieve his indolent playboy of a son, Dickie Greenleaf. The mission fails when Dickie's sumptuous lifestyle of sun and jazz becomes a dream Tom doesn't want to end. He'll bludgeon people to ensure it doesn't.

Highsmith gave us a dangerous fraud with no conscience, but Minghella imagines a crucial and desperate inner life, too. Matt Damon's Tom is a glomming misfit, as pitiful as he is conniving. The existential thriller into which he plunges us is shocking and tense, but also devastating, and hugely brave, because it's overtly a story of thwarted gay love. Possessing Dickie Greenleaf, who's beholden to nobody and vicious beneath it, is impossible, and being him is no sensible path to happiness. Usurping his identity to become a serial killer, though, is quite brilliant, because of how ready the world is to believe it.

It's hard to get over how good the entire cast is, at this peak of Miramax production values, when Minghella's English Patient trophy haul was a golden ticket for him to make exactly the film he wanted. Let's start with Jude Law, whose Dickie, deservedly Oscar–nominated, is a masterclass in curdling charm, with the pure, grinning ego of a born shark. The sun shines from him until it doesn't – this is the image his girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow) uses, in a beautiful, overcast sequence when Tom sits apart on their yacht, feeling spurned. Marge is sympathetic – she's been there, time and again – but Tom receives her wisdom unsmilingly. His horrible revenge is to dump her brutally on Dickie's behalf.

Marge's intuition kicks in – she's on to Tom, though no one else listens – and Paltrow's terrific performance for the rest of the movie is a fast–dropping thermometer. Tom kills men, but has especially cruel ways of wrecking the ladies. Minghella's neatest innovation may be the role of Meredith Logue, a dippy heiress Tom exploits as a cover story (in queer terms, as his "beard"). Cate Blanchett, never more vital, swans into the movie and lights it up with a hopeful gaiety – she becomes a flirty nemesis Tom can't escape, constantly if unwittingly thwarting his plans. Then there's Philip Seymour Hoffman's openly malicious Freddie Miles, an unimprovable sketch of poisonous class snobbery, and Jack Davenport's oblivious Peter Smith–Kingsley, the soulmate Tom wishes he could undo the whole plot to be with.

Almost all of these are career–best turns, but no one outdoes himself quite like Damon. Much sadder than the Tom of the books, he knows himself too well to expect contentment, and keeps stumbling into fateful booby–traps of his own devising. His great terror is a basement of the psyche where his secrets are locked – the closet, we might call it – and the movie sends him back to it with a combination of poetic justice and unforgettable pathos.

Virtuosic, unsettling and profound, Damon's performance is practically a commentary on itself, and one this still–underrated actor will do amazingly well to surpass, ever. Highsmith wrote sequels for her Tom, but not for his. The last we see of him – it's a pitch–perfect ending, this – he's alone in a rocking cabin at sea, surrounded by swinging mirrored doors, which frame him, reduce him to a sliver, then leave him in the dark.

Summary: Tim Robey picks out another great film that is indisputably worth two   hours of your time. This week: an antihero to die for in Anthony Minghella's   best film.


KEY WEST, Fla. — A Broward County deputy sheriff has been indicted by a grand jury in the 2013 killing of a computer engineer who had been carrying an air rifle, marking the first time in 35 years that an officer in the county has been charged with a fatal on-duty shooting, prosecutors announced Friday.

Peter A. Peraza, 37, a 14-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm in the July 2013 killing of Jermaine McBean.

Mr. McBean, 33, was a computer engineer who had been walking down the street in his neighborhood with an air rifle that he had just purchased propped across his shoulders. Deputy Peraza told investigators that Mr. McBean ignored commands to drop the weapon and then pointed it at the deputies who approached him, so he fired three times.

His statement contradicted the sergeant at the scene, who said that he worried that Mr. McBean was about to point the weapon but not that he had.

The man who initially called 911 said Mr. McBean never took the rifle, which was unloaded, off his shoulders. Another witness told The New York Times that Mr. McBean never pointed the weapon at anyone.

“He was just minding his own business,” Amanda A. Maher, who witnessed the shooting, said in an interview earlier this year.

The New York Times revealed in May that a resident of the apartment complex where the shooting occurred took a photograph of Mr. McBean as he lay dying, which showed he was wearing earbuds. The witness, a nurse, said she took the image after the deputies did not allow her to render aid to Mr. McBean.

“I said: ‘Did the thought cross your mind that he has earphones on? I think possibly he didn’t hear you,’” she said earlier this year in an interview, speaking on the condition that her name not be published to protect her privacy.

The officer had sworn under oath that nothing had obstructed Mr. McBean’s hearing at the time. Records show that the earbuds were later found at the hospital in the dead man’s pocket, suggesting someone had tampered with the evidence. Deputy Peraza never saw the earbuds, his lawyer said.

“This should never happen to any other family,” Mr. McBean’s mother, Jennifer Young, said in a statement. “Jermaine did everything right in his life to try to live the American dream. To be gunned down by a deputy sheriff and to have others cover up and lie is really just too much to bear.”

Ms. Young filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, accusing the officers of perjury.

The family’s lawyer, David I. Schoen, said he was pleased with the manslaughter charge but disappointed that Deputy Peraza and the others at the scene were not charged with tampering with evidence and perjury.

Sheriff Scott Israel released a statement saying Deputy Peraza had been suspended without pay.

“I truly believe every hard-working deputy and officer in our nation is committed and dedicated to the community they serve,” Mr. Israel’s statement said.

Mr. Israel is under pressure because his office gave Deputy Peraza a bravery award for killing Mr. McBean while the case was still being investigated. The sheriff has since said the award was premature.

Deputy Peraza’s lawyer, Eric Schwartzreich, called the indictment a politically motivated “abomination.” He said the state attorney was clearly worried about his re-election in a period of heightened tensions between the police and African-Americans. Deputy Peraza, a father of four who is Hispanic, has had no internal affairs complaints, he said.

“This is a dangerous climate for law enforcement these days,” Mr. Schwartzreich said. “This isn’t a situation of an unarmed African-American male. This was an armed male walking down the street with what was perceived to be a real rifle in an area where there were civilians.”

He said that Mr. McBean — who had mental problems, according to his family — pointed the rifle at an officer who was only doing his job in a “textbook, right out of training” manner.

The state attorney, Michael J. Satz, who was first elected to the office in 1976, is up for re-election next year. His office had not prosecuted a police officer in any of the 168 fatal police shootings since 1980.

Ron Ishoy, the communications manager of the Broward State Attorney’s Office, said the indictment was unrelated to Mr. Satz’s campaign and noted that it was the grand jury that indicted Deputy Peraza.

After three days of testimony, Deputy Peraza was indicted on a charge of manslaughter with a firearm, which is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. He was being held with bail set at $25,000.

A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2015, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Florida Deputy Is Indicted in Shooting of Rifle Holder. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: It is the first time in 35 years that an officer in Broward County, Fla., has been charged in a fatal on-duty shooting.


According to The Times, The Royal Society is expected to announce that the decade-old cloud ship plan is one of the most promising.

The Copenhagen Consensus Centre, which advises governments on how to spend aid money, examined the various plans and found the cloud ships to be the most cost-effective.

They would cost $9 billion (£5.3 billion) to test and launch within 25 years, compared to the $250 billion that the world’s leading nations are considering spending each year to cut CO2 emissions, and the $395 trillion it would cost to launch mirrors into space.

At present, British and American teams are seeking funding to launch sea trials. The US team has been boosted by a donation of several hundred thousand dollars by The Carnegie Institute, while the British team, led by John Latham, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Manchester, and Stephen Salter, an engineer at the University of Edinburgh, is working with a Finnish shipping company, Meriaura.

Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen think-tank, is hosting a conference in Washington DC next month at which a panel of Nobel laureates will vote on the most cost-effective solution.

He believes the schemes could prove that there are better ways of addressing climate change than simply reducing CO2 emissions.

“The space sunshade is really just science fiction but cloud whitening ships deserve serious scrutiny,” he told The Times.

“We need to have a debate about all of the options, not just the politically correct one of reducing CO2."

Another scheme considered by the Copenhagen Consensus Centre is one to mimic the effects of volcanic eruptions in shielding the sun's rays with a chemical haze and creating a global cooling effect that can last for over a year.

The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 sent billions of tonnes of sulphur dioxide and other particles into the atmosphere which reduced global average temperature by about 0.5C. The eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 saw 1816 become known as the year without summer.

Scientists have proposed various ways of emitting such particles into the atmosphere, including using squadrons of air tanker potentially based in the Arctic to protect the polar ice cap.

However, the scheme would cost $230 billion and could not be reversed, unlike the cloud ships scheme.

Summary: Ships with giant funnels which travel the world's seas creating more clouds to   deflect the sun's rays could help cut global warming, say scientists.


Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says criticisms from his Arsenal and Liverpool counterparts Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp are "not ethical".

Both Wenger and Klopp have been outspoken about the reported £100m valuation of United target Paul Pogba.

"They are things that when I do are not ethical, when others do it, everything is normal," said Mourinho.

The United manager added that he would sign a "very good midfielder" within days - potentially Juventus' Pogba, 23.

"We have 22 players now," he said. "We will have 23.

"He is a Juve player until officially he isn't. The market closes on 31 August. We are trying to everything to close market as quickly as possible, before 14 August."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the reported valuation of Pogba was "completely crazy", while Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp said he would not spend that much on a single player even if his funds were unlimited.

But Mourinho said he "did not like" his colleagues' "unethical" criticism, while also defending his treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Former Germany captain Schweinsteiger, 32, has been training alone, prompting a players' union member to say Mourinho should be jailed for "bullying".

"I had to make my decisions. Simple. It happens at every club in the world," said the former Chelsea boss.

United, who won last season's FA Cup, take on Premier League champions Leicester City at Wembley in the Community Shield on Sunday in a match between the winners of English football's top honours.

Mourinho, who has managed in Portugal, Italy and Spain, believes Leicester's title victory is part of what makes the Premier League so special.

"It's the only country where the football structure allows this to happen," he said. "In other countries they don't want to share the money, the television rights.

"In the other countries they want to be comfortable and know they are always the top clubs in the Champions League. They want it to be a competition of two, three, four and, in some cases, they want it to be a competition of one."

He added: "In this country everyone wants a league and this allows an amazing story to happen. That's why the Premier League is the Premier League."

Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.

Summary: Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho says Arsenal and Liverpool managers Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp's criticisms over Paul Pogba's potential fee are "not ethical".


(KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) — Malaysia acknowledged for the first time that one of the pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had plotted a course on his home flight simulator to the southern Indian Ocean, where the missing jet is believed to have crashed.

Australian officials overseeing the search for the plane last month said data recovered from Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s simulator included a flight path to the southern Indian Ocean. Malaysian officials at the time refused to confirm the findings.

On Thursday, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told local journalists that the flight path was found on the simulator. He also cautioned there were “thousands” of destinations on the simulator and no evidence that Zaharie flew the plane in that area or deliberately crashed it.

A recording of the news conference was made available to The Associated Press on Friday.

New York Magazine reported last month that an FBI analysis of the device showed Zaharie had conducted a simulated flight to the southern Indian Ocean less than a month before the plane vanished along a similar route. The magazine cited the discovery as strong evidence that the disappearance was a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide at the hands of the captain.

“Until today, this theory is still under investigation. There is no evidence to prove that Captain Zaharie flew the plane into the southern Indian Ocean,” Liow said. “Yes, there is the simulator but the (route) was one of thousands to many parts of the world. We cannot just base on that to confirm (he did it).”

Liow didn’t say when the Indian Ocean path was flown on the simulator. He stressed that international experts and Australian officials have agreed that the most likely scenario was “uncontrolled ditching” of the plane.

Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Center — which is overseeing the search for the plane off Australia’s west coast — has also said that evidence of the route did not prove that Zaharie had planned to steer the plane off course and showed only “the possibility of planning” for such an event.

Malaysia’s national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has said investigations will not be conclusive until the black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and a data recorder — are recovered. He did not rule out a pilot suicide.

Officials have been stymied in their efforts to explain why the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people veered so far off course during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Theories have ranged from a deliberate murder-suicide plot by one of the pilots, to a hijacking, to a mechanical catastrophe. Similarly, search crews have been unable to find the main wreckage of the plane despite a sweeping underwater hunt of a remote stretch of ocean off Australia’s west coast.

Last month, officials from Malaysia, Australia and China announced that the underwater search will be suspended once the current search area has been completely scoured. Crews have fewer than 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) left to scan of the 120,000-square-kilometer (46,332-sq.-mile) search area, and should finish their sweep of the region by the end of the year.

Summary: Malaysian officials had previously refused to confirm the findings


Facebook says it plans to marginalize what it considers to be “clickbait” news stories from publishers in its news feed, in another step to keep its 1.71 billion members regularly coming back to its social network.

In a change to its news feed algorithm on Thursday, Facebook said certain types of headlines would be classified as clickbait, those that “withhold or distort information.” Those stories will then appear less frequently in users’ feeds, the company said.

“We want publishers to post content that people care about, and we think people care about headlines that are much more straightforward,” Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s vice president for product management for the news feed, said in an interview.

Facebook has been working to maintain the integrity of the news feed to keep users happy and spending as much time on Facebook as possible. The Silicon Valley company constantly tweaks its algorithms, and in June it made a sweeping set of changes that would rank publisher content in general less favorably in the news feed.

Thursday’s algorithm change is not the first time Facebook has cracked down on clickbait. In 2014, the company said it was moving to feature spamlike articles less prominently by looking at other factors, such as if a user has “liked” and then quickly “unliked” a story that appeared in the feed. Other factors, such as how much time people spent reading an article after clicking on it, also contributed to Facebook’s clickbait calculations.

Thursday’s announcement goes a step further. Facebook spent months classifying phrases commonly used in clickbait headlines. Mr. Mosseri offered examples like “The Dog Barked at the Deliveryman and His Reaction Was Priceless,” or “When She Looked Under Her Couch Cushions and Saw THIS … I Was SHOCKED!”

The company’s algorithms then took note of the websites from which the articles were coming, and could detect patterns of traffic coming from those sites over time. That process was then automated, and content identified as clickbait will now appear lower in the news feed than before. Mr. Mosseri likened the practice to a kind of email spam filtering process.

The move will most likely heighten the anxiety of publishers that rely heavily on Facebook for traffic and often complain about having little insight into the company’s decision-making on how its all-powerful algorithm functions.

The social network’s vast user base and sophisticated targeting capabilities allow publishers to reach new audiences far beyond the direct traffic a media company receives at its own site. As a result, Facebook has been able to largely dictate the terms on which it engages with publishers, which have few other options for distributing their articles.

Julie Hansen, the president and chief operating officer of the online publication Business Insider, said it would take Facebook’s latest algorithm change under consideration.

“We don’t do what we consider to be clickbaity headlines,” she said, “but we’ll certainly consider Facebook’s guidance when we look to post our content onto Facebook and adapt the headlines if needed.”

Facebook said that publishers that have clickbaitlike headlines and are ranked lower because of the algorithm change will have the opportunity to change their ways and rise again in the rankings.

Some publishers are now betting on a future beyond total reliance on Facebook, as companies like Snapchat and Google offer media companies other avenues to distribute their work.

“Today we’re at peak Facebook — Facebook dominates everything,” said Zachary Kaplan, a vice president at the investment firm General Atlantic, which has invested in digital media companies like BuzzFeed and Vox Media.

“We will naturally evolve to a place where there will be more competition among digital distributors,” he said, “and that would result in, naturally, more leverage for publishers.”

For now, Facebook said it planned to improve relationships with publishers by becoming more transparent about its news feed practices. Mr. Mosseri regularly meets with publishers to discuss algorithm changes.

“It’s becoming clear to us how there’s a lot of anxiety over what we do,” Mr. Mosseri said. “I spend a lot of time trying to ease that anxiety.”

A version of this article appears in print on August 5, 2016, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Facebook Aims to Rid News Feed of ‘Clickbait’. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: A change in the social network’s algorithm is meant to identify misleading headlines on news stories and rank them lower, to keep users coming back.


A pregnant Hobart woman has been knocked down in a hit and run by a trail bike being ridden on a pedestrian walkway at the time.

The 24-year-old has been treated in hospital for minor injuries after the incident on the Jordan River Bridge at Bridgewater at about 9am (AEST) on Tuesday.

"The rider came off the motorcycle and received minor injuries before riding away from the scene," Constable Chris Allen said, as he appealed for information about the green bike with no registration plate, ridden by male wearing track pants and a hooded top.

Summary: Police are looking for the rider of a green trail bike who allegedly hit a pregnant woman on a footpath in suburban Hobart before fleeing the scene.


5 5 2 7,000 sq. ft*

A opportunity to purchase a unique development to construct ones ideal home to exact standards by purchasing this property that has a south facing garden plus garage. Ideally suited for an end user. Motivated seller.*********************properties in need of refurbishment urgently required "off market"***************************

Note: Distances are straight line measurements

* Sizes listed are approximations. Please contact the agent to verify actual sizes.

Property descriptions and related information displayed on this page are marketing materials provided by Swiss Group. PrimeLocation does not warrant or accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the property descriptions or related information provided here and they do not constitute property particulars. Please contact Swiss Group for full details and further information.

View all W8 property for sale

Summary:
5 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Gordon Place, Kensington W8 -

    POA


What’s the greatest restaurant in the world? Top chefs and those who fork over their fortunes to eat their food are fascinated with the question. Now a new ranking has emerged to provide some extra fodder to the debate.

According to La Liste, a group convened by the France’s Foreign Minister and supported by the country’s tourism board, the top restaurant in the world is the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, Switzerland. New York City’s Per Se has grabbed the number two spot, according to the new ranking. Tokyo’s Kyo Aji comes in third.

The ranking’s creators shared their global top 10 and top 100 American restaurants with TIME.

Devoted five-star diners will note that only one restaurant in La Liste’s top 10 can be found on the current leading ranking of top restaurants, the World’s 50 Best list. And there’s good reason. No French restaurant has broken into the top 10 of that list, sponsored by water-maker San Pellegrino, in the last four years. La Liste featured three French restaurants in its top ten. France’s exclusion from the upper rungs of the World’s 50 Best has angered leading French cultural figures proud of their country’s culinary tradition. Partly in response to this disappointment, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius launched the new initiative to promote French tourism and fine dining.

“The angle was not to promote French [restaurants] per se,” says La Liste’s Antoine Ribaut, “but to be objective, because we trust we have the good fine dining.” Ribaut says the World’s 50 Best list is not objective. Several media outlets have pointed out that the lack of transparency does raise questions about how that list, sponsored by San Pellegrino, is decided. (Ribaut has consulted for Time Inc. His father Jean-Claude, the long-time food critic for Le Monde, contributed to the project.)

“Given that this list is based on personal experiences it can never be definitive, but we believe it is an honourable survey of current tastes and a credible indicator of the best places to eat around the globe,” the World’s 50 Best says on the organization’s web site.

“The thing with 50 Best is that the French were underrepresented, for sure,” Antoine Ribaut says, “but the reason why they were underrepresented was because there was a murky financial pressure for restaurants.” The funding for La Liste, it should be noted, came largely from private French cultural institutions. Swiss food giant Nestle is also a supporter.

Unlike the World’s 50 Best list, which is drawn from private surveys of chefs and those who frequent leading restaurants, La Liste is sourced from publicly available data, aggregating scores from 200 food guides and online review sites to produce what it hopes will be seen as an accurate, unbiased report of the best in the world.

The ranking is based on scores and reviews from a wide range of international sources: Michelin stars, yes, but also New York Times and Washington Post reviews, Zagat and Yelp ratings, Forbes and AAA travel guides and James Beard awards in the U.S., plus the cultural equivalents of these institutions in other countries (with help from foreign advisers).

Ribaut and his team then created an algorithm to assign these scores a value on a scale of 100; food factored in as 80% of the score, while ambiance, décor and wine combined factored in as 20%. If there was a positive review that didn’t include a numeric score, Ribaut counted it as a small bonus.

The full list of 1000 restaurants will be released Thursday at LaListe.com.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified the location of Manresa; it is in Los Gatos, Calif.

Summary: Plus: the top 100 in the United States


Swimming is always one of the marquee events of the Olympics, and the Rio Games are brimming with great matchups. From Katie Ledecky‘s quest for gold to Australia’s Campbell sisters gunning for history to Michael Phelps’ final stand, here are the must-watch races of the 2016 Olympics:

Men’s 400m Freestyle 9:30 pm EDT

Sun Yang of China is the defending champion, but Australian Mack Horton has the fastest time this year. And watch out for U.S. swimmer Conor Dwyer who clocked the third fastest time of 2016.

Women’s 4x100m Freestyle relay 10:24pm EDT

This might belong to the Australians, whose team will feature sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell. The U.S. women haven’t won this event since 2000. But they’re doing everything they can to change that. Freestyle phenom Katie Ledecky, who swam the morning heats to qualify the U.S., will swim again in the final, as the anchor leg. That’s unusual since Ledecky is known more as a distance swimmer and because she’ll swim her first individual race the following day.

(Read More: 60 Athletes to Watch in Rio)

Women’s 400m Freestyle 10:01pm EDT

It’s all about Ledecky, who swims in the 400 m freestyle for her first chance at an individual Olympic gold. On the men’s side, Americans Nathan Adrian and Michael Phelps will likely be part of a strong 4x100m freestyle relay team, but the French and Russians have both swum blistering qualifying times.

Women’s 200m Freestyle 9:19pm EDT

Ledecky goes for her second individual medal. She’ll be racing against teammate Missy Franklin, and will have to keep an eye on Sarah Sjostrom from Sweden.

Men’s 200m Butterfly 9:28pm EDT

For the men, it’s a rivalry repeat. Phelps, Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary are back to battle for the wall again. Cseh and Phelps own the two fastest times this year, and there’s high anticipation for another photo finish to rival the fingertip’s edge that Phelps gained over Milorad Cavic from Serbia in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Women’s 200m Individual Medley 10:29pm EDT

Maya Di Rado of the U.S. also swims in the 200m individual medley; Along with Michael Phelps and Ledecky, the Stanford grad is one of three U.S. swimmers racing in three individual events. She’ll go stroke for stroke with Siobhan-Marie O’Connor of Great Britain, who qualified in the event with the fastest time.

Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay 10:38pm EDT

The U.S. men will try to defend their gold this relay, which they dominated in 2012 with the help of Phelps. That win established Phelps as the most decorated Olympian of all time.

(Read More: Sex Abuse Allegations Reach Gymnasts in Rio)

Men’s 100m Freestyle 10:03pm EDT

This one moves fast and furious. Nathan Adrian will be defending his title (assuming he makes it through the heats), but he’ll have competition from Australia’s Cameron McEvoy.

Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay 10:55pm EDT

It’s the women’s turn in the 4x200m freestyle relay, and Ledecky has another chance for a medal.

Men’s 200m Individual Medley 10:01pm EDT

Phelps aims to defend his gold in what’s become his signature event, but teammate Ryan Lochte will be pushing him to the wall.

Women’s 100m Freestyle 10:18pm EDT

If the Campbell sisters both climb to the podium, it would be the first time siblings shared the Olympic medal stand in an individual swimming event. The U.S.’s Simone Manuel, and Sweden’s Sjostrom could also be in the mix.

(Read More: The Best of Michael Phelps May Lie Ahead)

Men’s 100m Butterfly 9:12pm EDT

Your last chance to see Phelps in an individual race — if he’s serious this time about retiring. He’ll have some familiar competition — Cseh and le Clos.

Women’s 800m Freestyle 9:20pm EDT

It’s also Ledecky’s last individual race at the Games — the longest one, the 800m freestyle. She’s the defending Olympic champion and is eager to repeat.

The men’s splash-and-dash — 50m freestyle — is a mad sprint down one length of the pool. The defending champion from France, Florent Manadou, is back to defend his title but the U.S.’s Adrian and Australia’s McEvoy will also be racing him to the wall.

Women’s 50m Freestyle 9:03pm EDT

It’s the women sprinters’ turn and it’s likely to be a tight race between the likes of the Campbell sisters, Sjostrom and even the U.S.’s Manuel.

Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay 9:49pm EDT

Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay 10:04pm EDT

The Chinese are the world champions and the Australians and Swedes are close behind so the U.S. women will have to fight for a spot on the podium. On the men’s side, the U.S. are the world champions and have won this Olympic event every year they’ve attended since 1960. It’s also likely Phelps’ last appearance in an Olympic race — again, if he actually retires.

Summary: Your daily guide to the best events, rivalries and storylines


If women continue to join corporate boards at their current rate, it will take more than four decades for boards to reach a 50-50 gender split, according to a government report released Monday.

To put it another way: Even if there was a way to start filling every single open board seat with a woman, according to the Government Accountability Office, it would still take until 2024 to reach parity.

The report, which analyzed data from S&P 1500 companies from 1997 to 2014, found that women now hold roughly 16% of board seats, up from 8% in 1997.

The GAO also dug into which industries have the best—and worst—representation of women on boards. Here’s a look at the top five:

The reports turns up some notable differences between female board directors and their male counterparts. Women tend to be younger, with an average age of 60.4, compared to 63.8 for men. Perhaps not surprisingly, female directors also tend to have shorter tenures (42.1% have served for fewer than 5 years, vs. 30.2% of men). They’re also about 2 percentage points less likely to chair a board committee.

Interestingly, women are slightly more likely to serve on more than two boards, with 18.9% of female directors reporting that they sit on three boards, vs. 14.7% of male directors.

The GAO also conducted interviews with 19 “stakeholders” to get a sense of what factors are stopping more women from gaining board seats and to solicit ideas about what might be done to speed up the process. Among the interviewees: Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson, Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren, and BlackRock global head of corporate governance and responsible investment Michelle Edkins.

The group identified a range of factors they say are holding women back, including:

It’s who you know: Directors tend to tap their personal networks to fill open seats. For male directors, that generally means turning to other men.

Tokenism: When one woman is appointed to a board, the emphasis on finding other women peters out. The GAO found that in 2014, 29% of companies in the S&P 500 that had no women on their boards added a woman; 15% of boards with one woman added a second woman; and 6% of companies with two woman on their boards added a third woman.

Low turnover: Since 1998, an average 4% of board seats in the S&P 1500 turn over each year.

What can be done to move things along? The stakeholders had a few ideas:

The Rooney Rule: Require boards to consider a diverse slate of candidates—including at least one woman—for every open seat.

Look beyond CEOs: Because women are underrepresented in CEO roles, boards should also consider women in senior management jobs for a board seat.

Tougher disclosure requirements: While the SEC does currently require companies to disclose whether diversity is a consideration in nominating new members, several of the people interviewed by the GAO said that the requirements are too vague to yield useful information. Indeed, 15 of the 19 stakeholders interviewed support changing SEC rules to require companies to provide more specific diversity information.

Summary: There is some good news: The share of seats held by women has doubled since 1997.


The drowning of a Hobart toddler has prompted a coroner to remind the community that even inflatable and portable pools must be fenced.

Kobie Ryder Blackaby was 18 months old in February 2014 when he died after being found floating in less than 500mm of water in his family's backyard blue plastic pool.

"If there had been fencing in compliance with requirements, then his death may have been prevented," coroner Olivia McTaggart said in her findings published on Wednesday.

Kobie's mother became worried when she couldn't hear him, and when he was missing from the bedroom where last seen a frantic search began.

His father spotted him floating in the pool.

He wasn't breathing and despite CPR was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

In statements to police Kobie's parents said it was difficult to keep the door of their house closed, with older children playing.

"It is likely that Kobie, having made his way to the pool, leaned against the side of the pool which then collapsed, causing him to fall in," Ms McTaggart said.

"Once inside the pool, the inflatable rings would have returned to their normal position, preventing his escape."

Investigators found a printed warning on the side of the pool noting the need for fencing and adult supervision.

"Any pool which is deeper than 300mm requires fencing," the coroner said.

She recommended that the state government monitor any increase in the number of portable and inflatable pool sales with the view to implementing water-safety strategies.

In addition, there should be an increased public awareness campaign about the legal requirement to fence pools, Ms McTaggart said.

Summary: A coroner wants increased public awareness about the requirement for fencing around pools after a toddler drowned.


LONDON (AP) Wladimir Klitschko probably never thought he would come up against Batman and the Joker.

Yet that was the bizarre scene that unfolded Wednesday at a news conference in London to promote his heavyweight title defense against Britain's Tyson Fury.

When the Ukrainian took his seat at the front table, he leaned across to glance at his title belts on display in front of his chair. Moments later, they were strewn across the floor.

Fury ran in wearing the caped crusader's outfit as the Batman theme tune played loudly in the room. After he sat down and the conference started, a man dressed as the Joker walked in and interrupted Fury.

The British fighter, who stands 2.06 meters (6-foot-9), leaped across the table and wrestled the man to the floor, knocking Klitschko's belts to the ground in what was a clearly staged performance.

The 27-year-old Fury pointed to the man on his back, laying on one of the belts, and shouted at Klitschko: ''You, next! He is a fool, just like you are. Look at him. That is how you'll be looking. You are old.''

Fury hoisted the Joker up and dragged him out of the room, before shortly reappearing in a gray suit, apologizing for being late. He tried to claim that it wasn't him dressed in the Batman costume.

''This is the most entertaining press conference I have been to,'' Klitschko said. ''Give Tyson Fury a round of applause.''

Fury, with a record of 24-0, challenges Klitschko (64-3) for his WBA, WBO and IBF titles in Duesseldorf, Germany on Oct. 24.

The 39-year-old Klitschko stayed composed throughout the proceedings, despite Fury repeatedly calling him ''an old man'' and claiming that the champion had only fought ''pretenders'' in ''fixed fights.''

But the 1.98 meter (6-foot-6) Klitschko riled Fury by calling him ''a clown.''

''I will let my fists do the talking,'' Klitschko said. ''I am going to make you eat your words. ... I have got friends from the circus industry. They can give you a job as a clown. Clowns make people laugh. It is their job and right now, after watching this theater, the screaming, the running and the costumes, it is in your genes.''

Fury rose to his feet and had to be restrained from confronting Klitschko.

''You need a therapist,'' Klitschko said. ''You are visiting a doctor right now. There is five weeks until the fight but my therapy has already started. The treatment is going to continue. I will take care of business.''

Fury claimed he will end Klitschko's career by knocking him out and that he does not think he can win on points with the fight being held in Germany.

''I am going to send you into retirement,'' Fury said. ''The last two letters of your name is `ko.' It has been a long time since you have been on the canvas. I don't think I'm going to get a decision in Germany and I'm not going to leave the biggest fight of my life in someone else's hands.''

Summary: Holy Smokes! Batman & Joker crash Klitschko news conference


Cuts to renewable energy funding will mean fewer jobs for South Australians, SA Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency's funding will be cut by $500 million in the federal government's budget savings omnibus bill, after Labor negotiated to retain $800 million for renewable energy projects.

Senator Hanson-Young says the cut will be devastating for South Australia, which will be able to sustain fewer renewable energy jobs.

"Projects like the solar thermal plant in Port Augusta, which is facing a funding shortfall of $100 million, will bring much needed jobs to regional SA," she said.

"South Australians deserve better than this, and I'm disappointed to see Labor and the Liberals ganging up on our state in this way."

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, which represents many wind and solar workers, said it was "extremely disappointed" by the decision.

"Australia has to move faster to develop our renewables sector - it's a crucial future industry for our economy, for jobs and of course, for our environment," AMWU president Andrew Dettmer said.

Activist group GetUp said the $500 million cut was "bittersweet", as it was substantially lower than the $1.3 billion originally proposed by the government.

Opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler said the agreement was a first step in what Labor hoped would be a new effort to reach a bipartisan approach to renewable energy and climate change policy.

Summary: South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the state will suffer from cuts to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.


Police fear one of six men charged over an alleged plot to leave Australia by boat to support Islamic State would become violent if granted bail.

Acting Sergeant Adam Foley says Melbourne man, Murat Kaya, could pose a risk to the community if he's released, particularly because he's been unable to travel overseas to join the terror group.

"The next course of action for him to adopt is an act of politically motivated violence within his own community," the investigator told the Melbourne Magistrates' Court when opposing Kaya's bail bid on Monday.

Kaya was arrested at his Plumpton home on May 27, a few weeks after five other men were arrested near Cairns.

Police allege those men - Paul Dacre, Musa Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Kadir Kaya, and Antonio Granata - were on their way to join the terrorist group's growing faction in southern Philippines.

The group were allegedly towing a fishing boat to Cape York in far north Queensland.

Kaya is accused of helping buy the boat from a seller in Bendigo.

All six men are charged with making preparations for incursions into foreign countries to engage in hostile activities.

The AFP alleges the group's plot began taking shape in February, when Dacre and Kaya drove to Darwin to inspect a 25-metre former naval vessel.

The men left Victoria with $50,000 cash, but did not purchase the boat as planned because they were unhappy with its condition, police say.

Kaya, a tiler who runs his own business, stayed in Victoria while the five men drove north in May.

The men travelled 3000km in almost 88 hours, with their vehicle experiencing several breakdowns en route to far north Queensland.

After they were arrested on May 10, investigators seized survival equipment from their boat and vehicle, as well as $3200 in cash, US and Filipino currency, maps of Southeast Asia and the Philippines.

An Australian flag, a European Union flag and Indonesian flag were also seized.

Kaya did not try to leave Melbourne before his arrest, despite the earlier arrests of his co-accused and police previously attending at his property, the court heard.

Under pressure from Kaya's barrister - George Georgiou SC - Sgt Foley conceded there was no evidence Kaya had taken a pledge to IS.

The accused man will return to court on Tuesday as his bail application continues.

Summary: A Melbourne man accused of helping five other men try to leave Australia by boat so they could join Islamic State is due to face court.


Brisbane could be home to the world's first solar electric cars after the opening of a new manufacturing workshop.

Clenergy Team Arrow, Australia's premier solar racing team, unveiled the work hub and car design at Eagle Farm on Monday, with the goal of having the car road registered by October next year.

"We've already had a couple of orders placed," Clenergy Team Arrow's founder Cameron Tuesley told AAP.

Tuesley said the car will be tested on roads with the aim of having it ready to compete in the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Darwin.

"From there we will start to manufacture them," he said.

Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey was at the unveiling and reiterated the Palaszczuk government's commitment to renewable energy sources.

Summary: A Queensland solar racing team is aiming to manufacture the world's first solar electric car by 2017.


There are millions of people who have considered purchasing a Bentley. The vast majority of them have decided against it after discovering that the vehicles require regular injections of a noxious and combustible substance known as “petrol” (street names: gasolina, hi-test, Slurpee). Worse, this petrol must be procured from specialised dispensing stations, most of which lurk beneath freeway flyovers and in rough parts of town.

But Continental considerers may reach once again for their chequebooks, thanks to this week’s announcement of an on-demand fuel-delivery service. Rather than sully their tyres on the macadam of a BP drive-through, Bentley owners may now use a smartphone app to notify “Filld for Bentley” that their automobile requires a bit of that nasty stuff and have it delivered to the bemarbled cul-de-sacs of their vast estates. A truck of petrol will arrive at the appointed time, zeroing in on the car’s location and unlocking its fuel cap, and then dispense only the highest quality petrochemicals (garnished with an artisan Bourbon-cardamom cherry*) into the awaiting tank. The service will roll out first in California, because where else would an on-demand fuel-delivery startup start up?

The service will roll out first in California, because where else would an on-demand fuel-delivery startup start up?

Filld for Bentley is a part of the marque’s Connected Car initiative, a suite of technologies that makes the vehicles part of the Internet of (very expensive) Things. The goal, according to Christophe Georges, Bentley’s Director of Product and Marketing, is to provide Bentley owners with “the greatest luxury of all: more time.” Further advances of the fuel delivery service may include predictive fuel ordering, in which your car will autonomously call Filld to arrange a discreet pump, meaning that you, Bentley owner, need never think about stopping for gas again. And for an extra monthly fee, Filld will even place a paint-matched silicone disk over your Mullsanne’s fuel cap,* so you need never be reminded of the existence of petrol.

This is clearly a valuable service, one that is not ridiculous in any way, but — as habitual contrarians — we feel that we must raise some thorny issues.

We are confident that the engineers of Bentley Motors are hard at work on those problems.

*These features have not been specifically announced, but may be reasonably inferred.

If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Autos, Future, Earth, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Summary: Bentley Motors has commenced trials of a smartphone-powered fuel-delivery service that promises to ease the burden for those too posh to pump.


The College Football Playoff selection committee may have a more difficult job than it did in the format's first two years. And this after only the first October weekend of 2016.

Clemson and Louisville played a thriller Saturday, a loss that did little to diminish the losing Cardinals' bona fides. Meanwhile Michigan and Ohio State seem destined to hurtle toward each other for the post-Thanksgiving collision as top-five unbeatens.

Will the committee, for the first time, pick more than one team from the same conference for the four-team playoff?

Let's consider this scenario: Both Louisville and the loser of the Michigan-Ohio State game finish the regular season with just one loss each, to their rival in a close game that wasn't decided until the waning seconds. But because they reside in the same division as the lone team they lost to, they wouldn't be able to play for their respective conference championship.

Does the committee select an "at-large" team (or even two) for the playoff field? In the CFP's first two years, each of the eight participants were Power 5 conference champions. But would that precedent be ignored in 2016?

Even though we're only five games into the season, that possibility is very real. The Big 12 has virtually played itself out of the playoff already. The Pac-12 has just one undefeated team left in Washington and its strength of schedule might precludes it from making a case. And there's still Houston, but if it can't beat Louisville in a November showdown, it will be instantly eliminated.

So that leaves us with candidates only from the ACC, Big Ten and SEC. Each conference still has multiple undefeated teams currently ranked in the top 10 (AP poll) and at this point the winner of those conferences seemingly are assured of a spot in the playoff.

That leaves us with at least one more spot up for grabs. That means the committee will have to decide if it will, for the first time, invite a team that failed to win its conference (or even its own division) to participate in the playoff. And if it does pick two teams from the same conference, would it force them to face each other in the semifinals as to avoid the potential of an all-(insert your conference) championship game as we did in 2011 with LSU and Alabama in the BCS title game?

It's still a long way until decision day on Dec. 4. But the committee would be wise to consider its options even now.

Clemson 42, Louisville 36: This top-5 clash between ACC Atlantic rivals certainly lived up to the hype, and then some. The Cardinals fell behind early and then made a furious comeback to take the lead before the Tigers made their own rally. The game came down to Louisville receiver James Quick's bonehead decision to make a wrong cut inside the Clemson 5 that denied his team a chance for the winning touchdown.

Despite the loss, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson remains the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy, with Clemson QB Deshaun Watson not far behind.

Jourdan Lewis, Michigan: The Wolverines cornerback missed the season's first three games because of injury but he returned just in time when his team really could use him. In a top-10 tussle against Wisconsin, Lewis was exactly the shutdown corner Michigan needed, recording four tackles and making this insane interception to seal the victory. The Wolverines held the Badgers to only 159 total yards and a single touchdown.

Brent Musburger, one of the best broadcasters to ever call college football, has been relegated to the SEC Network since 2014 because ESPN decided to promote its younger "talent." So during the biggest games on Fall Saturdays, instead of Brent and his enthusiastic colorful calls, you get middling announcers such as Chris Fowler, Dave Fleming and Steve Levy instead.

It was no different on this past Saturday, when Musburger was assigned the awful blowout of LSU-Missouri while Fowler, who's a good tennis anchor but ill-suited for college football, had the marquee matchup of Louisville-Clemson. This season, Musburger has been assigned to duds such as Arkansas State-Auburn, Georgia-Missouri and South Carolina-Kentucky. How ESPN is treating this broadcasting icon and Hall of Famer should be considered a crime against college football.

1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Michigan, 4. Ohio State, 5. Louisville, 6. Washington, 7. Houston, 8. Texas A&M, 9. Wisconsin, 10. Tennessee, 11. Nebraska, 12. Miami, 13. Baylor, 14. Stanford, 15. Ole Miss.

-- Samuel Chi is the managing editor of RealClearSports.com and proprietor of College Football Exchange. Follow him on Twitter at @ThePlayoffGuru.

Clemson Tigers, College Football, College Football Playoff, College Football Playoff Committee, Louisville Cardinals, Michigan Wolverines, NCAAF, Ohio State Buckeyes, Wisconsin Badgers

Summary: Louisville's loss at Clemson did littleÂ to diminish the Cardinals' bona fides, so can two schools from same conference can make college playoff?


The independent budget watchdog says it's reasonable for voters to expect policy costings to be released well before election day.

The Parliamentary Budget Office's annual report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, said it had responded to 3251 requests for policy costings and budget analyses in 2015/16 - more than double that of the previous year - with an average response time of 18 days.

"It is reasonable for the voting public to expect the costed election platforms of the major parties to be released prior to polling day in sufficient time to be taken into account in their voting intentions," the report said.

Summary: Political parties should release their election promise costings with enough time for voters to digest them, says an independent agency.


Read MoreWhy April's best sector could keep soaring in May

At the same time, Harris predicted overall economic growth in the U.S. of about 3 percent.

"I would characterize that as a reasonable and sustainable growth rate," Harris said.

One of the best investment opportunities, according to Harris, is buying assets from European banks, an opportunity long cited by private equity firms since the financial crisis.

"The deleveraging of the banks in Europe will dwarf anything else really going on," Harris said. "And the market's ability to absorb the banks getting smaller and getting out of some of these risky businesses will create the valuation arbitrage where you can actually make interesting investments across Europe."

Read MoreStocks may get rude awakening: Mohamed El-Erian

Harris noted opportunities in consumer loans, mortgages, commercial property loans, companies, high-yield bonds and other distressed securities.

Harris added that most risks, such as potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine or China and Japan, aren't being priced into the market.

"I don't think there's any valuation of it in the marketplace. People are ignoring it totally," he said. "It's just another component and characteristic of the easy money environment that we are living in today."

Summary: Joshua Harris said it's a "time to be cautious" and that Apollo is still looking for investments in sectors that are still relatively depressed.


John Kasich, the Ohio governor and failed GOP presidential candidate, will get a vote in the Electoral College, according to a “faithless elector” who says he’ll buck norms and not support President-elect Donald Trump.

“I have an important duty as one of the 538 Electors,” says Chris Suprun, an attention-seeking Texas elector wrote Monday in an op-ed for The Hill.

“Instead of voting for Donald Trump, I will be casting my ballot for Ohio Governor John Kasich,” the self-righteous Suprun states.

“A recent poll shows the majority of Americans want today’s Electoral College vote delayed, which is why I’m asking my fellow Republican Electors to vote for Governor Kasich, in order to force the vote to the House of Representatives,” he adds.

Here’s what happens if a ‘faithless elector’ goes rogue:

Suprun says the delay he hopes to cause — pushing the decision on who should succeed President Barack Obama until Jan. 6 when the votes are certified in the House of Representatives — is because he’s worried about Russian interference in the election. “[T]he Electoral College should have been briefed by the CIA,” he says, adding that lawmakers have been briefed by national intelligence agencies.

Suprun so far is the only Electoral College Republican who has publicly pledged to toss tradition and vote for the person he wants to be president, instead of the candidate voters in his state supported. Unlike 29 other states, Texas does not bind electors to cast a vote for the candidate who won the state.

Trump won 306 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 232 – less than the 270 needed to win.

Elsewhere, state representative Christina Hagan, an Ohio elector, announced Monday that she will step down from her constitutional role in the Electoral College.

The move comes after Hagan was facing a lawsuit due to her dual role as both an elector and state rep.

Hagan vacated her spot, she said, to allow Monday’s Electoral College vote to proceed smoothly.

“I did not step down due to the liberal left’s lawsuit. I stepped down to ensure they did not slow the process of electing the president in any way,” she told the Dispatch.

“I am a firm believer that this is intended to be a peaceful transition regardless of their attempts to create excess hardships and havoc. I will be speaking today within the Senate Chamber to fellow supporters,” she said.

Summary: John Kasich, the Ohio governor and failed GOP presidential candidate, will get a vote in the Electoral College, according to a “faithless elector” who says he’ll buck norms and not support Presiden…


Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

When it comes to grocery shopping, we know it's wise to not to go on an empty stomach, but when should you head to the supermarket to bag the best bargains? Believe it or not, there's actually one day of the week that's better than the rest.

That's right, savvy savers. While it may be most convenient for you to shop on the weekends, it's more economical to tackle your grocery list on Wednesdays. According to

, this mid-week day is when many grocery stores release new sale ads, but also honor the previous week's sales items. That means you'll have more sale items at your fingertips.

MyGroceryDeals.com also confirmed that Wednesday is the best day for grocery shopping. "For about half of the country, this is the day when approximately half of the retailers start their weekly sales," site representative Gord Crowson told CBS News. Of course, you should double check with your local stores to be sure. To save even more, experts say that shopping in the evening is your best bet. That means Wednesday nights are the ultimate time to buy. "This is the time when perishables are typically reduced for quick sale," Crowson added. "If the Produce, Bakery or Meat departments are concerned about having too much stock left over at the end of the day, they will often reduce the price by up to 50 percent to encourage quick sales." So, when your pantry and refrigerator need to be restocked, make time to shop on Wednesday nights. You'll give yourself the best chance to score the biggest deals on your meals.

Summary: The Savings Experiment discusses the best day and time to go grocery shopping in order to get the lowest prices.


COCHIN, India - A few minutes before 7 on a recent morning, Greeshma Salin swiveled her chair to face the computer, slipped on her headset and said in faintly accented English, "Hello, Daniela." Seconds later she heard the response, "Hello, Greeshma."

J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times

Daniela Marinaro, left, and her sister, Serena, of Malibu, Calif., receive instruction from tutors in India.

Saritha Rai/The New York Times

Anu Titus, foreground, and Katharin Chelliapuram are math tutors in Cochin, India, who teach students in the United States.

The two chatted excitedly before Ms. Salin said, "We'll work on pronouns today." Then she typed in, "Daniela thinks that Daniela should give Daniela's horse Scarlett to Daniela's sister."

"Is this an awkward sentence?" she asked. "How can you make it better?"

Nothing unusual about this exchange except that Ms. Salin, 22, was in Cochin, a city in coastal southern India, and her student, Daniela Marinaro, 13, was at her home in Malibu, Calif.

Ms. Salin is part of a new wave of outsourcing to India: the tutoring of American students. Twice a week for a month now, Ms. Salin, who grew up speaking the Indian language Malayalam at home, has been tutoring Daniela in English grammar, comprehension and writing.

Using a simulated whiteboard on their computers, connected by the Internet, and a copy of Daniela's textbook in front of her, she guides the teenager through the intricacies of nouns, adjectives and verbs.

Daniela, an eighth grader at Malibu Middle School, said, "I get C's in English and I want to score A's," and added that she had given no thought to her tutor being 20,000 miles away, other than the situation feeling "a bit strange in the beginning."

She and her sister, Serena, 10, a fourth grader at Malibu Elementary, are just 2 of the 350 Americans enrolled in Growing Stars, an online tutoring service that is based in Fremont, Calif., but whose 38 teachers are all in Cochin. They offer tutoring in mathematics and science, and recently in English, to students in grades 3 to 12.

Five days each week, at 4:30 a.m. in Cochin, the teachers log on to their computers just as students in the United States settle down to their books and homework in the early evening.

Growing Stars is one of at least a half-dozen companies across India that are helping American children complete their homework and prepare for tests.

As in other types of outsourcing, the driving factor in "homework outsourcing," as the practice is known, is the cost. Companies like Growing Stars and Career Launcher India in New Delhi charge American students $20 an hour for personal tutoring, compared with $50 or more charged by their American counterparts.

Growing Stars pays its teachers a monthly salary of 10,000 rupees ($230), twice what they would earn in entry-level jobs at local schools.

Critics have raised concern about the quality of the instruction.

"Online tutoring is not closely regulated or monitored; there are few industry standards," said Rob Weil, deputy director at the educational issues department at the American Federation of Teachers. Quality becomes a trickier issue with overseas tutoring because monitoring is harder, said Boria Sax, director of research, development and training for the online offerings of Mercy College, based in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Growing Stars is rapidly expanding to accommodate students from the East Coast, Canada, Great Britain and Australia.

Its recruits, mostly with recent postgraduate and teaching degrees, already have deep subject knowledge. They must go through two weeks of technical, accent and cultural training that includes familiarization with the differences between British English, widely used in India, and American English.

"They learn to use 'eraser' instead of its Indian equivalent, 'rubber,' and understand that 'I need a pit stop' could mean 'I need to go to the loo,' " said Saji Philip, a software entrepreneur of Indian origin and the company's chairman and co-founder who works in New Jersey.

Still, the cultural divide is real. In Cochin, Leela Bai Nair, 48, a former teacher who has 23 years of experience and is an academic trainer for Growing Stars, said she was "floored at first when 10-year old American students addressed me as Leela. All my teaching life in India, my students addressed me as Ma'am," she said.

That same morning in Cochin, an English teacher, Anya Tharakan, 24, directed her student away from the subject of video games to concentrate on a passage from "Alice in Wonderland," enlivening the lessons with puzzles and picture games.

Ms. Tharakan, who tutors Serena Marinaro among others, said a bit of the cultural gulf was being bridged when students asked her "How big is your home?" or "Do you have friends at work?" or "Can you send me your photo?" For her part, Ms. Tharakan is learning about soccer and rap music from her students.

Summary: As part of a new wave of outsourcing to India, some tutors teach Americans using the Internet.


Wednesday, April 26th 1995, 3:84AM

Well, director Sydney Pollack, above, looks to be steering his Ford as in Harrison Ford during filming in Manhattan of "Sabrina." It's a remake of the 1954 Billy Wilder movie, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. Meanwhile, Art Garfunkel has long known that it's all happening at the zoo. Small wonder he brings wife Kim Cermak and son James to the Central Park Zoo, below, for their seals of approval. Looks as though the furry critters made a big splash with James, who's clearly feelin' groovy.

Summary: Well, director Sydney Pollack, above, looks to be steering his Ford as in Harrison Ford during filming in Manhattan of "Sabrina."It's a remake of the 1954 Billy Wilder movie, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. Meanwhile, Art Garfunkel has long known that it's all happening at the zoo. Small wonder he brings wife Kim Cermak and son James to the Central Park Zoo, below, for their seals of approval. Looks as though the furry


Sunday, January 22th 2006, 2:11AM

Though she hasn't lived in her native Nigeria since the age of 8, Andrea Ogunkoya still loves to eat chin chin, the traditional sweet snack that is kept on the table in small bowls and eaten by the handful, like peanuts or pretzels.

"This is something that is passed down from generation to generation," Ogunkoya says. "People either make them quite soft or crunchy. In our family, we like the crunchy ones."

With a Nigerian father and an English mother, Ogunkoya lived in both places (England from the age of 8 until the age of 21).

"Then I came to the United States in 1994," she recalls. I'm the vice president of operations for Storage Deluxe, the largest self-storage company in New York."

Though her upper East Side kitchen isn't especially spacious, Ogunkoya loves to cook.

"I am really into entertaining," she says. "I am always scheduling dinners for groups of friends. I also have two goddaughters and a nephew, and I've taught them to make chin chin."

She also likes to make Nigerian stews, and shops in two African grocery stores in Harlem for ingredients like palm oil and dried fish. But making chin chin is a relaxing activity for days when she just feels like being in the kitchen.

Of course, Ogunkoya notes, "There's lots of room for error here. Some people like them so hard you feel like they'll break your teeth, while I prefer the softer, teeth-friendly versions."

Whether soft or hard, chin chin are to Ogunkoya what cookies are to Americans: comfort food that takes you right back to childhood.

For variation, stir nutmeg, caraway seeds or orange zest into the flour.

Vegetable oil for deep frying

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat well. Add the eggs and beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Add enough flour to the butter mixture to make a thick dough. On a lightly floured board, knead lightly until smooth. Roll out on the board to a long rope about 1/4-inch thick.

Cut into whatever shapes you like - small rectangles about the size of a thumbnail are popular, or if you want to be more adventurous, cut the rope of dough into rectangular strips about 2 by 5 inches long, then cut a slit in the center and pull the end through to form a loop. Fry in hot oil a few at a time until golden. Drain well. Store in an airtight container.

Do you have a special recipe you'd like to share? Send it along, with a brief description of why you love it, to Home Style, c/o Rosemary Black, Daily News, 450 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001; or send an E-mail to homestyle@nydailynews.com.

Summary: DOUBLING HER PLEASURE. Sweet and crunchy chin chin is a win-win throwback to her Nigerian childhood by ROSEMARY BLACK Though she hasn't lived in her native Nigeria since the age of 8, Andrea Ogunkoya still loves to eat chin chin, the traditional sweet snack that is kept on the table in small bowls and eaten by the handful, like peanuts or pretzels. "This is something that is passed down from generation to generation,"Ogunkoya says. "


By JERE HESTER, With Greg Gittrich

Monday, March 17th 1997, 2:02AM

Irish eyes from Manhattan to Dublin cried yesterday for Eamonn Doran, the New York pub and restaurant owner known for his generosity.

Doran, whose name graced the five bars and restaurants he owned on both sides of the Atlantic, died in Dublin yesterday after a brief illness. He would have turned 59 tomorrow.

"The town isn't going to be the same this St. Patrick's Day," said long-time pal Steve McFadden.

"He certainly would have wanted everyone to enjoy themselves, but it will certainly be more melancholy," added Dave Hunt, a friend of Doran's and owner of Coogan's in Washington Heights.

Doran's many customers all of them friends hoisted toast after toast in his memory yesterday at the barkeep's three establishments in Manhattan and the ones in Brooklyn Heights and Dublin.

They recalled Doran as a perennially smiling fellow with a joke and kind word for all his customers among them actors Richard Harris, Daniel Day Lewis and director Jim Sheridan.

"What I remember about him is his wit and his unabashed love of life," said McFadden, proprietor of Ryan McFadden's on Second Ave. and a former Doran employe. "He lit up every room he walked into."

McFadden said that for 18 years, Doran ran an annual charity golf outing for the New York Foundling Hospital, and he also raised money for Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Dublin.

Doran's generosity also extended to taking in homeless and others down on the ir luck.

"I slept on that couch over there for three days after my father died in 1988," said British journalist Jeff Samuels, pointing to a dark leather sofa.

"He took care of me. He took care of everyone. He was the dad everyone never had," Samuels said.

Doran, a married father of two sons, was born in Athboy, in County Meath, where his family had run a pub for several generations.

He arrived in New York in the early 1970s and quickly became a popular bartender at P.J. Moran's.

By the late 1970s, he opened his Second Ave. bar, which attracted a mix of locals, Irish expatriates, writers and such celebrities as the Irish band The Chieftains, who have been known to perform an impromptu set there.

Over the years, he opened three his other pubs in New York City and one in Dublin.

A wake will be held in Dublin today and tomorrow. Doran will be buried in Athboy on Wednesday. A memorial Mass is being planned for next month in Manhattan.

Doran is survived by his wife, Clare; his sons, Brian and Dermot; three brothers and a sister.

Summary: Irish eyes from Manhattan to Dublin cried yesterday for Eamonn Doran, the New York pub and restaurant owner known for his generosity. Doran, whose name graced the five bars and restaurants he owned on both sides of the Atlantic, died in Dublin yesterday after a brief illness. He would have turned 59 tomorrow. "The town isn't going to be the same this St. Patrick's Day,"said long-time pal Steve McFadden. "He certainly


BY GEORGE RUSH AND JOANNA MOLLOY WITH BEN WIDDICOMBE AND SUZANNE ROZDEBA

Thursday, April 1th 2004, 7:06AM

The widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl is said to have found love again with a married CNN executive who oversaw the network's coverage of her husband's kidnapping by terrorists.

Mariane Pearl has been quietly seeing CNN executive vice president Eason Jordan, sources told The Washington Post.

The Atlanta-based Jordan, 43, has been married for 16 years and has two children.

His wife, Susan Jordan, said, "I have absolutely no comment."

CNN reps would neither confirm nor deny an affair.

Eason "will not comment," spokeswoman Christa Robinson told us. "The company doesn't comment on the personal matters of any of our employees."

Pearl, who lives in New York, did not respond to a message left with her book agent yesterday.

The 36-year-old Pearl stood by Eason Jordan last year when he faced criticism after admitting he hadn't reported some info he'd learned during 13 trips to Iraq for "fear of endangering our staff in Baghdad."

"I have known Jordan for almost a year," she wrote in a letter to The Washington Post last April. "From the start, I was surprised by how ethical Jordan is and how dedicated he is to issues of journalistic ethics - more concerned than I would have expected from someone at a network like CNN, with its splashy logos and special theme music for the war."

Pearl, whose request for compensation from the 9/11 victims' fund was rejected last month, went on CNN Tuesday to plead her case. Some staffers wonder whether she'll be invited back.

Hollywood Democrats put aside their early-primary bickering to help John Kerry stuff more than $3 million into his campaign war chest.

Among those who turned out for a Beverly Hills fund-raiser on Tuesday were Barbra Streisand and James Brolin, Meg Ryan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Sharon Stone, Kevin Costner, Quincy Jones, Helen Hunt, Oliver Stone, Tobey Maguire, Ed Harris, Ben Stiller, Danny DeVito, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.

They gathered at the 50,000-square-foot mansion of supermarket magnate Ron Burkle. Warming up the mike for Kerry, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Larry David said he hoped the Massachusetts senator would consider him as his running mate because he considers himself "a nincompoop, a chicken and a liar" who could offset President Bush and balance the ticket.

"You are qualified," Kerry quipped, "to be a Republican."

Bill Murray made sure everybody was awake at Tuesday's benefit for the Museum of Modern Art's film department.

Kirsten Dunst, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, Claire Danes, Jimmy Fallon, Moby, Marcia Gay Harden, Jim Jarmusch and Rosario Dawson were some of the people who turned out for the Gramercy Theater panel on the work of Sofia Coppola, who directed Murray in "Lost in Translation."

At first, Murray seemed more interested in saluting the bedroom performance of Kathleen Turner, who was also there.

"She's a great [bleep]!" the funnyman told the audience.

Murray blamed his bluntness on the little cans of Sofia sparkling wine supplied by Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard.

"I've had six," he muttered.

ROCK HUNK Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, welcomed their fourth child on Monday morning. Romeo Jon (9 pounds, 7 ounces.) joins Stephanie Rose, 10, Jesse James Louis, 9, and Jacob Hurley, almost 2

JULIANNE MOORE and Eva Mendez celebrated the launch of their Revlon mini-movie with a screening at Marquee on Tuesday. The two-minute ad, hatched by Deutsch Inc.'s Leane Brenes and directed by Scott Hicks, also stars Halle Berry and Jaime King. Moore admitted to The News' Alev Aktar that her 5-year-old son doesn't like her wearing Revlon "because it means I'm working. He says, 'Take that makeup off!' "

MARTHA STEWART had sushi with friends at Masa in the Time Warner Center. Meanwhile, her partner in her stock trial, Peter Bacanovic, has been staying buff on the West Coast.

A spy spotted the muscle-shirt-wearing broker pumping iron at Equinox in West Hollywood. "He was giggling and prancing around like he didn't have a care in the world," says our snitch.

MARLEY'S WIFE: HE RAPED ME

The widow of reggae legend Bob Marley is claiming the pacifist icon once raped her.

Rita Marley says that in 1973, seven years after she and the "One Love" singer (above) were married, she was withholding sex to punish him for his many infidelities.

"Bob wouldn't take 'no' for an answer," Rita, 57 and a singer herself, tells Britain's Daily Mirror. "He said to me, 'No, you're my wife and you're supposed to.' So he forced himself on me, and I call that rape."

She adds, "I think that's when I got pregnant again."

The couple's third child, Stephanie, was born in 1974.

Rita made the allegation while promoting her memoir, "No Woman, No Cry."

A rep for her publisher, Hyperion, told us Rita writes in her book (due out May 5) that he "almost" raped her.

But Rita was more emphatic in the interview, saying: "Afterwards I felt so terrible.

I screamed at him, 'I hate you, I hate you!'

"I considered divorcing him many times ... especially when he started [to] bring back the babies of women he'd got pregnant."

She writes that some of those infants were conceived under her own roof.

Still, she says, she befriended some of his mistresses.

Marley died of cancer in 1981 at age 36.


Sunday, July 29th 2001, 2:22AM

Thirteen years ago, Jose Morales could have saved himself years behind bars if he had pleaded guilty to a charge of "reckless endangerment" in the death of Jose Rivera. But Morales, who was 17 at the time, refused the offer, and instead served most of a 15-year sentence. Morales was released last week after a Catholic priest exonerated him of any responsibility by testifying that another youth had privately confessed to killing Rivera in 1987. U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin agreed that, with the Rev. Joseph Towle's testimony, the case against Morales and co-defendant Ruben Montalvo was "incredibly thin." Towle had been reluctant to come forward, but after "lots of prayer" the Jesuit priest concluded that Jesus Fornes, who himself was killed in 1997, would have wanted him to disclose his confession. "I was repeating, not revealing, what Jesus Fornes had stated," Towle said. "It was the most redeeming moment in this boy's life."

For Patrick Ewing, it was just another free ride. The former Knick and father of three testified that he was a regular at Atlanta's Gold Club strip joint, where nude dancers were instructed to perform lewd acts for him and on him. Defense attorneys for club owner Steven Kaplan - charged with racketeering, money-laundering and prostitution - saw nothing remarkable in Ewing's extracurricular activities. "That kind of thing happens all the time," said Donald Samuel.

Never mind pregnant chads and discarded Palm Beach ballots. Almost seven months after the Supreme Court effectively decided the presidential election in the Florida vote-count fiasco, the Oregon Democratic Party called for the impeachment of the five justices who voted to stop the Florida recount. The resolution - asking for "the immediate investigation of the behavior" of Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, O'Connor, Thomas and Kennedy - would have to be taken up by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Irene Smith badly needed to take a bathroom break, but the St. Louis alderwoman wasn't about to yield the floor and allow a vote in a heated City Hall redistricting debate. When Smith could hold out no longer, she urinated into a trash can as aides surrounded her with a sheet. Police later cited her for lewd conduct. "What I did behind that tablecloth is my business," said Smith. The board called it a night without voting.

Spec. Richard Lovett, the poster boy for the new "Army of One" recruiting campaign, withdrew from the punishing 24-day training course for the Special Forces. "I am my own force," the combat engineer intones in the ads. "I'll be the first to tell you, the might of the U.S. Army does not lie in numbers. It lies in me." Good thing it also lies in some mighty heavy firepower.

For five years, Kathi Laughlin's little girls ran through sprinklers, planted flowers and played in the dirt in their Washington, D.C., backyard. Today, as EPA officials explain to a House committee why the agency withheld its findings of high arsenic levels in the soil, Army chemical workers wear protective moonsuits as they dig up dozens of World War I-era chemical munitions at 4825 Glenbrook Road. "I have nightmares about it," Laughlin said. That's not all she has. In 1997, Laughlin learned she had a brain tumor.

Attempting to plagiarize the genius of nature, biologists and naval engineers are studying the locomotive abilities of the box fish as they design a new and improved submarine. Because its scales are fused together, the box fish has a rigid exoskeletal shell, like an insect. Scientists hope to understand how something so awkwardly inflexible can nevertheless turn on a dime.

It's been called the Holy Grail of American sports - a 341/2-inch, 40-ounce stick of taped-up hickory. Until he was banned from baseball for throwing the 1919 World Series, Shoeless Joe Jackson used the bat for much of his 13-year career. Although Jackson never made more than $8,000 a year playing for the White Sox, "Black Betsy" could earn several hundred times that in an eBay auction. Bidding started Friday at $500,000, raising the possibility that the bat could become the most expensive item of sports memorabilia ever.

"It was an artistic statement. I go to the desert a lot. It's free open space, and people run around naked for days. That's the kind of person I am." - Jerri Manthey, "Survivor II" cast member, in a 10-page Playboy nude pictorial.

"Miss Cleo should have seen this coming. It doesn't take a crystal ball to realize that ripping off consumers isn't without consequences."

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon publicly scolding the TV psychic for alleged consumer fraud.

"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe ... and I believe what I believe is right." - President Bush, on globalization and free trade.

Summary: TRUE CONFESSIONS Thirteen years ago, Jose Morales could have saved himself years behind bars if he had pleaded guilty to a charge of "reckless endangerment"in the death of Jose Rivera. But Morales, who was 17 at the time, refused the offer, and instead served most of a 15-year sentence. Morales was released last week after a Catholic priest exonerated him of any responsibility by testifying that another youth had privately confessed to killing Rivera