Foxy Knoxy finds love again: Amanda falls for classical guitarist (and she's moving in with him)

 She pledged to return to a ‘normal’ life after being sensationally cleared of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

 And Amanda Knox was doing just that as she appeared hand-in-hand with her new lover in Seattle today.

 The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Knox, 24 – dubbed ‘Foxy Knoxy’ – has embarked on a romance with an old friend, handsome classical guitar student James Terrano.

 'Normal life': Amanda Knox and new boyfriend James Terrano went for a walk with her mother in Seattle today

 Foxy Knoxy and her mother Edda and a friend, centre, went for brunch at Joe's Restaurant today. Knox and new boyfriend quickly stopped holding hands in front of photographers

 Last night Terrano’s nuclear physicist brother William, 27, confirmed: ‘Yes, she’s dating my brother. They have known each other for years. We’ve all been friends since before Amanda went to Italy.’

 On Friday, the couple emerged separately from the shabby £950-a-month apartment they share in Seattle’s rundown Chinatown area with Knox saying: ‘I can’t tell you anything.’

 New life: Amanda Knox pictured in Seattle's Chinatown

 Terrano said ‘I’m sorry’ when asked if he was ‘serious’ about her.

 Knox’s new boyfriend is from a middle-class New York family. He is studying classical music, specialising in guitar, at Seattle’s University of Washington. Knox had been reading languages there and is believed to be about to resume her studies.

 Knox, who was pictured kissing boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito within hours of the discovery of Kercher’s body in the home the two women shared in Perugia, Italy, appeared blissfully happy with Terrano, 24.

 On Tuesday they shared Haagen Dazs ice cream and strolled arm- in-arm around Chinatown, buying groceries at an Asian market.

 The pair spent every night last week together inside Terrano’s modest rented flat in a nondescript brick building with a gaudy red flashing ‘Hong Kong’ neon sign outside. A witness said: ‘She likes the area as she can walk about unrecognised and blend into the crowd.’

 The news came as Sollecito confirmed that their doomed relationship is over as he finally broke his silence with an in-depth interview on Italian TV.

 The 27-year-old said Knox invited him to visit her in the U.S. but that he does not know if or when he will go.

 While Knox and her family spoke in the immediate aftermath of the decision, Sollecito had maintained a silence until now.

 In his hour-long interview he described how their lives had 'changed for ever' after 'years of suffering'.

 Hand in hand: Amanda Knox holds her boyfriend's hand as they take their romantic stroll in the countryside

 Past and present: Amanda is dating fellow student James Terrano, left, while Raffaele Sollecito, right, said it was 'all over' when he appeared on the programme Quarto Grado

 But he said he was adamant that he wanted to help the Kercher family find out the truth of what happened so 'Meredith's soul could have peace and so the people who love her can have peace as well'.

 Then, when asked if he still had feelings towards Knox, Sollecito smiled and tears appeared to well in his eyes as he said: 'It's all over between us.

 'I still have a great affection towards her but nothing else. Our love was like a seed that was not allowed to grow because it was brutally stamped on.

 'All I want to say is that I wish her all the happiness in the world. She has suffered like me and now I just want her to be happiest woman in the world.

 Cute couple: The couple walked down the street with her hand in his back pocket and his arm around her neck lovingly

  ||||| By Suzan Clarke

 Oli Scarff/Getty Images

 In his first interview since he and ex-girlfriend Amanda Knox were released from Italian prison after their murder convictions were overturned, Raffaele Sollecito said the pair’s romantic relationship is over because of the “cruel injustice” they suffered.

 “Our love was like a seed that was not allowed to grow because it was brutally stamped on. We were both victims of a cruel injustice and our relationship was overcome,” he said in an interview with Italian television, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

 Knox, 24, and Sollecito, 27, have been the subject of many news stories – and a great deal of speculation — since their murder convictions in the death of Knox’s roommate Meredith Kercher were vacated by an Italian appeals court on Oct. 3.

 The prosecution had charged that Knox and Sollecito killed Kercher in a cottage that the two young women shared in Perugia, Italy, while they were studying there. Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009 and Knox was sentenced to 26 years, while Sollecito got a 25-year sentence. Both were freed after an independent report by court-appointed experts cast serious doubts on the evidence that police collected.

 Since then, both families have kept very low profiles, and Friday’s interview on the program “Quarto Grado” was Sollecito’s first time being interviewed since he got out of prison.

 He wished Knox the best for the future, and said he had “affection” for her.

 The interview contradicts other supposed interviews in British and Italian media in which Sollecito reportedly claims to have been in daily contact with Knox and planned to visit her in America before Christmas. Sollecito’s father, Francesco Sollecito, has said those media reports were lies.

 Raffaele Sollecito confirmed that Knox had invited him to visit her in Seattle, but said he would not be accepting the offer anytime soon.

 “We were both victims of a cruel injustice and our relationship was overcome by this tragedy. Our lives are linked by circumstances but now they are very different,” he said during the interview.

 He also said he had reached out the family of the victim, but “found the doors closed.”

 Kercher, a student at the University of Leeds, was studying in Perugia for a year when she was killed. She had been sharing an apartment with Knox, an American student, and two Italian women. She was found partially nude and with her throat slit in her bedroom on Nov. 2, 2007.

 A third person, Rudy Guede, 22, was also convicted and originally sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the 21-year-old student’s murder. His sentence was later reduced to 16 years on appeal.

 ABC News’ Colleen Curry contributed to this report. ||||| While Amanda Knox is doing her best to return to a normal life and stay out of the spotlight, her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, has broken his silence in a new interview, offering up information about their short relationship.

 On Italian TV, Sollecito opened up about the night Knox's roommate Meredith Kercher was killed, calling it "a beautiful night because he was with Amanda" but it was also the night that ended their romance.

 Both Sollecito and Knox spent four years in jail before they won their appeal early October and he says he, "wishes her all the best in the world because she suffered like I did, more than I did. I want her to be the happiest woman in the world."

 Sollecito also said that he prays every night for Amanda and isn't sure if he'll take the Knox family up on their invitation to reunite with Amanda in Seattle.

 Below, see a timeline of events in the murder of Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox trial:

  |||||

Write a summary.

– Sad news for those of you who were hoping to see wrongly accused lovers Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito reunite: In a new interview on Italian TV, Sollecito confirmed “it’s all over between us,” as tears apparently welled up, according to the Daily Mail. “I still have a great affection toward her but nothing else. Our love was like a seed that was not allowed to grow because it was brutally stamped on,” he continued. “All I want to say is that I wish her all the happiness in the world. She has suffered like me and now I just want her to be (the) happiest woman in the world.” Sollecito had previously said they “need each other” (although his father claims that report was a lie, ABC News adds) and Knox’s father had predicted a reunion; now Sollecito says that he has no immediate plans to accept Knox's invitation to the US. Don’t worry about Amanda, though, she appears to have moved on: The Mail has pictures of her hand-in-hand with musician James Terrano, 24. “Yes, she’s dating my brother. They have known each other for years,” Terrano’s brother confirms. The Mail reports that the couple is moving in together. Clip for more from Sollecito’s interview, including a video clip.


– A French extreme sportsman described by the Inertia as an "inspiration to the working man" has died at the age of 32 after a hot air balloon stunt backfired, ABC News reports. Tancrede Melet, part of a daredevil group known as the Flying Frenchies, was setting up the stunt in a small town in southeastern France when the balloon that he and other members of his crew were anchored into lifted off. Melet wasn't able to release his anchor, the site adds, and when it did finally give, he was dangling "at arm's length" from the basket and fell about 100 feet to the ground, NBC News reports. "[Tancrede] Melet, an amazing lover of life, surprised us yesterday morning in us leaving too fast," his teammates posted on his Facebook page Wednesday, noting the stunt was part of an "artistic project." "He leaves behind wonderful memories, a taste of freedom and [a head] full of dreams." Melet, described on various sites as an accomplished climber, tightrope walker, kayaker, BASE jumper, and wingsuiter, didn't start out as a full-time adventurer. He was an engineer for four years before deciding to more fully indulge his adrenaline fix, the Inertia notes, and he literally jumped right into things once he committed himself, performing such stunts as "high-lining" between skyscrapers and cable cars and BASE jumping off of Mont Blanc. "In Love with circus and acrobatic performance, he was the leader of the … Flying Frenchies with whom he pushed the limits," his colleagues wrote on Facebook. Melet leaves behind his partner, Tiphaine Breillot, and his young child, Leonie, they add.

Expand this summary.

Sometimes, it seems like the most incredible people die in the most heartbreaking of ways. Yesterday, Frenchman Tancrède Melet, 32, an experienced wingsuit pilot, basejumper and inspiration to the working man, died as he was setting up a stunt using hot air balloons.

 According to reports translated from Italian and French news outlets, Melet was with four members of his crew known as the “Flying Frenchies” in the small village of Diois in southeast France. All were anchored in a balloon that was on the ground when the balloon lifted off. Other than Melet, the rest of the crew was able to release their anchors. But Melet was stuck and then suspended some 30 meters in the air. The accident is being investigated but apparently his anchor released and he fell to the ground, dying of trauma.

 Melet lived an incredible life, basejumping off the Italian side of Mount Blanc, and as a “tightrope walker” or slackliner, he would walk between hot air balloons thousands of feet off the ground or between cable cars suspended in mid air. He was also a gifted climber, kayaker, kiter and general lover of the outdoors. His crew were pioneers in the high-lining realm where athletes traverse slacklines between fixed points, often with little to no safety.

 As written on the Flying Frenchies website, Melet worked as an engineer for four years but grew tired of the 9-5 grind. He left to pursue his love of flight and acrobatics. His passion quickly became a full-time endeavor.

 Melet leaves behind his partner, Tiphaine Breillot, and a young child. ||||| Tancrede Melet, 32, was dangling "at arm's length" from the basket of the balloon just before he plummeted to the ground, according to the group of stuntmen that he led.

 Melet's group, a bohemian collective named the "Flying Frenchies," said he died in the Drôme region on Tuesday.

 The father-of-one was a well known base-jumper, wing-suit flyer, and slack-line walker.

 One of the Flying Frenchies' YouTube videos features a member catapulting off a cliff "Angry Birds-style," before releasing his parachute. The video received more than 1 million views. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Frenchman Tancrede Melet, an expert slackliner, base jumper and wing-suitor, died Tuesday while preparing to perform a hot air balloon stunt in southern France.

 The 32-year-old daredevil was part of a group of pioneering stuntmen who call themselves the “Flying Frenchies” and the “Skyliners.” They are known for their death-defying High-Line walks performed all over the world from mountain peaks to skyscrapers. His team confirmed his death to ABC News.

 Melet and four members of his crew were preparing to perform a stunt with a hot air balloon, when he accidentally fell almost 100 feet and was killed, according to French news outlets.

 On his Facebook page, his fellow “Skyliners” posted a statement saying, “Tancrede Melet, a surprising lover of life, surprised us yesterday morning by leaving us too soon. He leaves behind wonderful memories, a taste of freedom and a head full of dreams.”

 "Nightline" profiled the Flying Frenchies as they attempted to walk between two free-flying hot air balloons thousands of feet in the air above the Spanish plains for an ABC News special that aired in March 2014. Watch our original report HERE:

 Part 1:

 Play

 Part 2: |||||


Write an article based on this summary:

– The US will formally recognize Syria's opposition as the country's legitimate representative, Barack Obama announced today in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC. "It's a big step," Obama said. "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population" to be recognized. The move allows the US to work more closely with the rebels, and opens up the possibility of sending them weapons—though one official said that wasn't in the cards yet. "Not everybody who is participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people that we are comfortable with," Obama added. "There are some who I think have adopted an extremist agenda." The announcement comes just ahead of a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters in Morocco, the New York Times observes. It also notes that the move doesn't fully confer the legal authority of a state; the opposition can't, for example, access Syrian government money or take over the regime's Washington embassy.

In a diplomatic shift, President Obama said today his administration now formally recognizes the newly-formed, leading coalition of Syrian rebels who are fighting to topple Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad.

 "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime," Obama said.

 The announcement, made during an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, grants new legitimacy to the rebel group and marks a new phase in U.S. efforts to isolate the Assad regime.

 "It's a big step," Obama said of the decision. The United States follows Britain and the European Union, both of which last month recognized the Syrian opposition group.

 The diplomatic designation will allow the United States to more closely support rebel efforts, including the organization of a future post-Assad government, administration officials said.

 "Obviously, with that recognition comes responsibilities," Obama said of the young coalition. "To make sure that they organize themselves effectively, that they are representative of all the parties, [and] that they commit themselves to a political transition that respects women's rights and minority rights."

 The move does not include the provision of weapons, but it opens the door for that possibility in the future.

 "Providing arms has to be done in a way that helps promote a political solution," one senior Obama administration official said today. "And until we understand how these arms promote a political solution, we do not see how provision of arms is a good idea."

 But the official added, "the president has never ruled out in the future providing arms."

 Obama expressed caution today about some Syrian factions involved with the coalition, warning that the United States will not support extremist elements.

 "Not everybody who's participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with," Obama told Walters. "There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda, and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements."

 The president specifically singled out the group Jabhat al-Nusrah for its alleged affiliation with Al Qaeda in Iraq. The State Department says the jihadist group is responsible for nearly 600 violent attacks in major Syrian cities in the past year.

 "Through these attacks, al-Nusrah has sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by [Al Qaeda in Iraq] to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

 The Obama administration blacklisted al-Nusrah earlier this week, imposing economic sanctions and branding it a terrorist organization.

 Recognition of the Syrian rebel group has been expected. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to formally announce the new relations with the United States during a meeting of international allies supporting Syria's rebels in Marrakech, Morocco, on Wednesday.

 She has since cancelled her trip because of an illness. Her deputy, Bill Burns, will attend in her place.

 President Obama also discussed the looming "fiscal cliff" and suggested a new flexibility on cuts to entitlement spending. Read that report here.

 ABC News' Martha Raddatz contributed to this report. ||||| “Not everybody who is participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people that we are comfortable with,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on the ABC program “20/20.” “There are some who I think have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda.”

 Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 But Mr. Obama praised the opposition, known formally as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, for what he said was its inclusiveness, its openness to various ethnic and religious groups, and its ties to local councils involved in the fighting against Mr. Assad’s security forces.

 “At this point we have a well-organized-enough coalition — opposition coalition that is representative — that we can recognize them as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people,” he said.

 Photo

 For some experts on Syria, however, the question was whether Mr. Obama’s move was too little, too late. Britain, France, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council have previously recognized the Syrian opposition. And the move does nothing to change the military equation inside Syria, where Mr. Assad has clung to power despite gains by rebel fighters.

 Mr. Obama notably did not commit himself to providing arms to the rebels he is recognizing or to supporting them militarily with airstrikes or the establishment of a no-fly zone, a stance that has led to a rise of anti-American sentiment among many of the rebels.

 The United States has played an active role behind the scenes in shaping the opposition, insisting that it be broadened and made more inclusive. But until Mr. Obama's announcement on Tuesday, the United States had held off on formally recognizing the opposition coalition, asserting that it wanted to use the lure of recognition to encourage the rebel leaders to flesh out their political structure and fill important posts.

 Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.

 In recent weeks, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has been in the process of developing a series of committees on humanitarian assistance, education, health, judicial matters and security issues.

 Mr. Obama’s statement was an acknowledgment that the opposition had made sufficient progress to merit recognition. The American hope is that the opposition, in conjunction with local councils that are being formed in Syria, could help govern areas that have been wrested from Mr. Assad's control, provide public services like law enforcement and utilities, and perhaps even channel humanitarian assistance. Alluding to this role, Mr. Obama said that the opposition would “have some responsibilities to carry out.”

 But Mr. Obama's move does not go so far as to confer on the opposition the legal authority of a state. It does not, for example, recognize the opposition's right to gain access to Syrian government money, take over the Syrian Embassy in Washington or enter into binding diplomatic commitments.

 It is also unclear to what extent the move might influence the situation inside Syria, where the pace of the fighting appears to have intensified. A senior American official who is attending the meeting in Morocco said on Tuesday that none of the rebel military commanders from the Free Syrian Army would be attending the meeting on Wednesday.

 “There are people here who definitely coordinate with armed groups, with the Free Syrian Army,” he said. “That is not to say they are giving instructions to it; they do not. It is not to say that they are telling it what to do or what to say in the international field; they are not. In a sense, the Free Syrian Army is a separate organization.”

 Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 Andrew J. Tabler, a senior fellow and a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said: “The recognition is designed as a political shot in the arm for the opposition. But it’s happening in the context of resentment among the Syrian opposition, especially armed elements, of the White House’s lack of assistance during the Syrian people’s hour of need. This is especially true among armed groups.” |||||


Summarize this article:

And baby makes three!

 Nicky Hilton Rothschild and her husband, banking heir James Rothschild, are expecting their first child together due this summer, a source confirms to E! News.

 The newlyweds, who said "I Do" in a non-denominational ceremony at Kensington Palace in July, have been elated as of late to live life as husband and wife.

 "I highly recommend it," the 32-year-old heiress told E! News in October. "If you find the right person, absolutely. It's so much fun." ||||| Paris Hilton’s about to be the fun aunt! Nicky Hilton is pregnant, Us Weekly can confirm. This will be the first child for the heiress, 32, and her husband, James Rothschild.

 “They are so exited!” a source tells Us of the newlyweds.

 The pair married in July 2015 at a lavish wedding at Kensington Palace in London. The bride wore an elegant, reportedly $77,000 white Valentino gown with a lace overlay.

 Neil Mockford/Alex Huckle/GC Images

 “I knew in my mind that I really wanted to do something traditional, just classic, and white lace, and beautiful,” she told HuffPost Live in September. “I worked closely with [the designers], and they created the most magnificent dress that I’ve ever worn and ever will wear.”

 Nicky’s older sister, Paris, 34, has said she wants children of her own one day too. In an interview with Yahoo Style in April, she noted that “mini Paris” will wear “all pink and fluffy, like, little princess dresses.”

 Want stories like these delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter!

  |||||

 FameFlynet

 One chic baby is on the way!

 Heiress and style maven Nicky Hilton Rothschild is pregnant with her first child, PEOPLE has exclusively learned.

 “Nicky is very excited to become a mom,” an insider tells PEOPLE. “She is feeling great!”

 After an August 2014 engagement while boating on Italy’s Lake Como, Hilton, 32, wed banker James Rothschild during a lavish ceremony at Kensington Palace in London last July.

 The pair were recently spotted browsing at Pottery Barn Kids at The Grove in Los Angeles.

 Says the insider, “They’ve just begun telling close friends and family. Nicky and James are over the moon!”

 Before serving as maid of honor at her sister’s wedding, Paris Hilton told PEOPLE the couple were the ultimate match made in heaven.

 “They’re so loyal and they’re so in love. They’re like a prince and princess,” she said before the nuptials.

 “I think it’s important to find someone you trust and love and spent the rest of your life. I think that’s the meaning of life: to get married and have a family.”

 — Aili Nahas ||||| it's all relative

 3 Women on Caring for Disabled Siblings “If my parents were to pass away, like drop dead right now for example, I would be the one calling the shots.” ||||| The Game for poet laureate of sex.

 Why Are Celebrities So Obsessed With Halloween?

 Gwen Stefani Exercises Her Spirit, Which Is One Kind of Exercise I Can Get Behind

 Cops Catch Murderer by Arresting Him for Manspreading

 And other wisdom nuggets from Carrie Fisher.

 For gothness sake, take our quiz.

 What Kind of Goth Are You?

 10/30/2015 at 12:23 p.m.

 Despite Lifting of Ban, Many Young Chinese Women Still Only Want One Child

 The "one child" era is over, but having a second child is a luxury many cannot afford. |||||

– Imagine having Paris Hilton as your aunt. That will be real life for the forthcoming child of Nicky Hilton, 32, who is expecting her first baby with husband James Rothschild, whom she married in July. "They are so excited!" says one source. The news has been confirmed by unnamed insiders to Us, People, and E!. "They’ve just begun telling close friends and family," says another anonymous source (or maybe the same anonymous source, for all we know). "Nicky and James are over the moon!" (This is quite possibly the best photo from Hilton's wedding.)


News article:

Obama’s Midterm Loss Record Could Make History

 By Stuart Rothenberg

 President Barack Obama is about to do what no president has done in the past 50 years: Have two horrible, terrible, awful midterm elections in a row.

 In fact, Obama is likely to have the worst midterm numbers of any two-term president going back to Democrat Harry S. Truman.

 Truman lost a total of 83 House seats during his two midterms (55 seats in 1946 and 28 seats in 1950), while Republican Dwight Eisenhower lost a combined 66 House seats in the 1954 and 1958 midterms.

 Obama had one midterm where his party lost 63 House seats, and Democrats are expected to lose another 5 to possibly 12 House seats (or more), taking the sitting president’s total midterm House loses to the 68 seat to 75 seat range.

 (Join us on Election Night: Live Stream With Analysis, Results and More at RollCall.com)

 Most recent presidents have one disastrous midterm and another midterm that was not terrible.

 The GOP lost 30 House seats in George W. Bush’s second midterm, but gained 8 seats in his first midterm for a net loss of 22 seats. The party lost 26 seats in Ronald Reagan’s first midterm, but a mere 5 seats in his second midterm for a net loss of 31 seats.

 Democrats got shellacked in 1994, losing 54 seats in Bill Clinton’s first midterm, but the party gained 5 House seats in 1998, Clinton’s six-year-itch election, for a net Clinton loss of 49 House seats. (The figures don’t include special elections during a president’s term.)

 Looking at Senate losses, Republicans lost a net of 5 seats in George W. Bush’s two midterms, while Republicans lost a net of 7 seats during Ronald Reagan’s two midterms and Democrats lost a net of 8 seats during Bill Clinton’s two midterms. (Again, these numbers do not reflect party switches or special elections.)

 Democrats have a chance to tie the number of Senate losses that Republicans suffered during the midterms of Eisenhower, when the GOP lost a net of 13 Senate seats (12 in 1958 and only one in 1954).

 Democrats lost 6 Senate seats in 2010 and seem likely to lose from 5 to as many as 10 seats next week. That would add up to Obama midterm Senate losses of from 11 seats to as many as 16 seats.

 Democrats will likely not exceed the number of Senate losses they incurred during the two Truman midterms, in 1946 and 1950, when the party lost a remarkable net of 17 seats.

 (Interactive: How Much Is Your Member of Congress Worth?)

 Are the Democrats’ losses due to the increasingly partisan nature of our elections and the makeup of the past two Senate classes, or is the president at least partially to blame because he failed to show leadership on key issues and never successfully moved to the political center?

 The answer, most obviously, is, “Yes.”

 Correction, 10:15 a.m. A previous version of this story misstated the year in which the Democrats lost 6 Senate seats during President Barack Obama’s tenure.

 Related:

 A Nerve-Wracking Finish for Democrats

 Democrats Run From Harry Reid

 McConnell: Obamacare Repeal Will Take 60 Votes (Updated)

 Democrats Losing Youth Vote: Millennials Turning to the GOP

 Roll Call Election Map: Race Ratings for Every Seat

 Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call in your inbox or on your iPhone. ||||| Senate Democrats have long awaited the 2010 tea party wave to splash back on Republicans during the 2016 election cycle.

 That moment is almost here.

 Text Size -

 +

 reset

 After two years of obsessive focus on the teetering reelection prospects of red-state Democrats, the attention is about to shift in a major way to blue-state Republicans. Six of them who rode anti-Obama sentiment to office in 2010 are up in two years, and they’ll face the dual challenge of a more diverse electorate and potentially Hillary Clinton atop the Democratic ticket.

 The leftward-tilting map means a GOP-controlled Senate could be short-lived if the party prevails on Tuesday. Even in the best-case scenario for the party, a Republican majority is certain to be slim.

 (POLITICO's 2014 race ratings)

 A half-dozen first-term Republicans are up for reelection in states President Barack Obama won in both 2008 and 2012: Mark Kirk of Illinois, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rob Portman of Ohio, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Marco Rubio of Florida. Obama also twice carried Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Iowa, but the longtime incumbent would be much tougher to dislodge.

 Add it all up and it’s basically the mirror image of 2014.

 “We shift the ground from where it was this time — seven Democrats were running in states that Obama didn’t carry — to an environment where seven Republicans are running in states that Obama did carry,” said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership up for reelection in 2016.

 Republicans are trying to look at the bright side of the intimidating terrain. If the GOP proves itself a responsible steward of Congress over the next two years, Republicans believe voters will be less inclined to oust vulnerable GOP incumbents.

 (WATCH: Driving the Election Day: Colorado)

 “If there’s an advantage to Republicans in the 2016 campaign … it’s the chance that you had to finally make the case,” said Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, the current National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman.

 Democrats are also eyeing incumbents in states that Obama won in 2008 but lost four years later: Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana and Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, both of whom have under $800,000 on hand. Meanwhile, potential primary challenges could loom for Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — plus Blunt, Moran and South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a GOP leader, depending on the mood of conservative insurgents.

 With House Republicans expected to pad their majority this November and possibly put the chamber out of reach in 2016, the battle for the Senate is expected to be the main undercard to the presidential election. And Senate Democratic insiders couldn’t be more excited for it, unable to recall a more favorable climate.

 (Full 2014 election results)

 “They start from a defensive crouch,” said one Senate Democratic aide of the Republicans. “It’s very unlikely that if they get a majority it will last longer than two years.”

 There are select pick-up opportunities for Republicans, too. The biggest potential trophy is Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is up for reelection in Nevada. One formidable potential challenger is Gov. Brian Sandoval, a popular moderate governor. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is the other obvious target for the GOP.

 But for now, those are minor worries for Democrats.

 (From POLITICO Magazine: Bet on a GOP Senate majority)

 Both parties separate the blue-state GOP pack into two tiers of vulnerability. At the top of Democrats’ hit list and Republicans’ fears are the conservative Toomey and Johnson and the moderate Kirk. Their home states haven’t gone for Republican presidential candidates since the ’80s.

 “You have to say that Toomey and Ron Johnson will have very competitive races,” said Charlie Black, an informal adviser to McCain. “Mark Kirk … won in that state before. He can again, [but] he’ll be the underdog.”

 Names of several potential challengers are already being floated, according to party insiders. Democratic state Attorney General Lisa Madigan has been mentioned as a candidate in Illinois. Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) could opt for a rematch against Johnson. And two names have surfaced in Pennsylvania: Attorney General Kathleen Kane and former Rep. Joe Sestak (D), who’s raising money for a rematch of his 2010 loss.

 Toomey’s war chest sits at $5.4 million in cash at the end of September, Kirk has $1.5 million and Johnson has $669,000. Each spent more than $14 million in 2010, according to OpenSecrets.

 “They’re not going to be caught by surprise,” said Kevin Madden, a former top campaign hand for Mitt Romney. “Those are folks that were counted as underdogs when they won.” |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Most of the national attention in Tuesday's election is focused on GOP gains in the Senate, but Roll Call points out that Republicans also are poised to hand President Obama a milestone he'd rather avoid in the House. Consider that Democrats lost 63 seats in the 2010 midterms are expected to lose five to 12 (or maybe more) seats on Tuesday. No president has lost as many in back-to-back midterms since Harry Truman lost 83 in 1946 and 1950, writes Stuart Rothenberg. Dwight Eisenhower managed to lose a total of 66, but Obama seems on track to top him. More typical is the pattern of Bill Clinton, who lost 54 in 1994 but bounced back with a gain of five in 1998. Still, if Tuesday is shaping up to be a night of celebration for the GOP, Politico offers a reality check, at least in the Senate: Several first-term Republicans in vulnerable states will be up for re-election in 2016. So even if Republicans win a small majority this year, they might have to give it right back two years later.


Here is a news article: President Trump went to war Wednesday with Nordstrom, the department store, over its decision to stop carrying his daughter Ivanka’s line of branded apparel. And it appears Nordstrom won, with the company’s stock up almost 5 percent on the day.

 In today's battle of Trump vs @Nordstrom, Nordstrom is the overwhelming winner: shares up nearly 5% at the closing bell pic.twitter.com/hne3FFpv8j — Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) February 8, 2017

 The saga began way back on February 2, when a spokesperson for Nordstrom rather blandly confirmed to Racked that Ivanka’s clothing was disappearing from stores: “Based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.�?

 The president ignored this issue for almost an entire week. Then Wednesday morning, according to the White House’s official schedule, he received his daily intelligence briefing at 10:30 am. There clearly wasn’t much urgent national security business to transact, because by 10:51 am he was focused on the threat to his daughter’s brand licensing business.

 My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017

 Shortly thereafter, your hard-earned tax dollars went to work pursuing the first family’s vendetta against a retailer that scorned them, with the staff-run @POTUS account retweeting the president and White House press secretary Sean Spicer continuing the charge at the daily press briefing.

 Nordstrom’s move, according to Spicer, was not a business decision based on the sales of Ivanka’s line at all. It was, rather, a “direct attack�? on Trump administration policy in a manner that is “not acceptable.�?

 Sean Spicer on Nordstrom re: POTUS and Ivanka: "This is a direct attack on his policies and her name." — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 8, 2017

 Trump has previously depressed the stock prices of private companies by tweeting negative things about them in a manner that perhaps suggested forthcoming retaliation on the part of the federal government. But most companies have found their share prices bouncing back rapidly. In Nordstrom’s case, the dip lasted less than an hour, and over the course of the day, shares surged.

 That may be a total coincidence, or it may be that investors are anticipating a surge of new sales at the retailer thanks to the massive amount of free publicity Trump garnered for their store, or the way that doing battle with an unpopular president could boost its profile in the large metropolitan areas where most of its stores are located.

 In a possibly related development, T.J. Maxx also announced today that it is dropping Ivanka’s line, but no presidential tweets on this yet. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Add a location to your Tweets

 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more |||||
A summary of this is?

– Vox has declared a winner in the great Nordstrom-Trump war of 2017, and it isn't the president. After the retailer announced it was dropping Ivanka Trump's clothing line due to poor sales, Trump on Wednesday took to Twitter to share his displeasure. After very briefly dipping, Nordstrom's stock rebounded in a big way. It was up nearly 5% by the end of the day—a day when the rest of the market was "essentially flat," the Los Angeles Times reports. A financial reporter for the Seattle Times tweeted that Wednesday was Nordstrom's sixth best day on the market in the past year and ninth best day in the past five years. This despite White House press secretary Sean Spicer calling Nordstrom's decision to drop Ivanka's line a "direct attack" on the president, his policies, and his family that is "not acceptable."


Summarize this article:

Around the world, PlayStation 3 consoles simply aren't working like they're supposed to, with an error — Error: 8001050F — preventing people from not just going online, but from playing some PS3 games offline as well. [Post updated throughout day.]

 From Europe to the Americas to, well, my house in Australia, users (mostly of older "Fat" consoles, those released before 2009's "PS3 Slim") have been complaining since Sunday that upon booting their consoles up, they're unable to sign into their accounts, check their trophies, use dynamic themes or access the PlayStation Network. That's fine, Sony say there are PSN connection problems, and that they are "looking into it".

 Problem is, the error does more than just prevent you from going online. It prevents you from playing certain games offline as well. Even for some consoles that aren't connected to the PSN, like debug units. The screen above is what I was greeted with on a retail console when attempting to play Heavy Rain, and pressing out of it simply reboots the PS3, returning you to the main menu screen. It's the same story for other games that feature dynamic trophy support.

 PSN games are no different; I tried to boot up "Flower", only to be greeted with a similar message about failed copyright protection, and it was right back to the XMB.

 Sony say "stay tuned" for updates on the problem. In turn, we've emailed Sony for comment and will update if we hear anything more.

 While theories abound that this has something to do with the calendar on older PS3s (some users are reporting their date/time settings have been reset), bear in mind Sony has redesigned its PlayStation website over the weekend, so it could be the result of some tinkering under the hood for the PlayStation Network. Then again, if consoles not connected to the PSN are also affected, it could be something else. Who knows!

 Whatever it is, though, you have to wonder at the design process that turns a network outage into something stopping you from playing an offline, singleplayer title.

 UPDATE - Sony has updated, saying "We're narrowing down the issue and continue to work to restore service to all. Updates as soon as we have them."

 UPDATE 2 - A mass story-telling session on internet gaming forum NeoGAF points towards the issue potentially being related to a calendar bug in older PlayStation 3 consoles, not the PlayStation Network as was first suspected. Bear in mind this is mob science, however, and is by no means official confirmation on the cause of the problem.

 UPDATE 3 - Citing unnamed "developers and studios", British site Develop say that the issue is affecting titles currently in production for the PlayStation 3, with debug consoles - used by developers to actually make games - thrown "into a rebooting cycle, due to an endlessly-looping error message".

 UPDATE 4 - PS3's still aren't working, and there has been no official update from Sony in over 9 hours. Their last Twitter update says that they believe the issue does not appear to be impacting PS3 Slim consoles.

 UPDATE 5 (8:20 am Mountain Time) - Sony U.S. silent since Sunday, but PlayStation Europe Tweets three times in the past hour: "Rest assured, we've many people working on fixing this issue. As soon as we have some news, we'll let you know." and then "Please don't trust info regarding this issue unless from an official Sony source. On Twitter this means @PlayStationEU and @SonyPlayStation." and then "We will be updating you the second we have some news."

 UPDATE 6: Error code 8001050F was causes by a fault in the PS3's clock functionality, Sony tells Kotaku. A fix should be coming within 24 hours. Until then, stay off your console, they say. More details here.

 UPDATE 7: Around 24 hours after the problem was first reported, people's PlayStation 3 consoles finally seem to be returning to normal. ||||| Posted by Patrick Seybold // Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media

 As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

 We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

 Errors include:

 The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.

 When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following

 message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been

 signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.

 message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”. When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears

 on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install

 trophies. Please exit your game.”

 on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.” When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the

 Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date

 and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”

 Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)” Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the

 PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

 We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

 As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.

 For the latest status on this situation please continue to check either the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com. |||||

– Sony is advising many PS3 owners not to use their consoles for 24 hours while the company fixes a massive bug affecting consoles around the world. Older versions of the system have been unable to log on to the Playstation Network, and in some cases even unable to play games, thanks to a quirk in the system’s clock. Developers tell Kotaku their PS3s have fallen into “a rebooting cycle, due to an endlessly-looping error message.” “Rest assured, we’ve many people working on fixing this issue,” Sony’s European arm tweeted this morning. The company later released a full statement outlining the problems, which you can read here. The bug affects only the older, “fat” versions of the system, not the newer “PS3 Slim,” the company is quick to point out.


A professor at one of Germany's oldest universities apologised on Monday for denying an internship to an Indian student because of the “rape problem in India” after the German ambassador strongly condemned the incident.

 The matter came to light after a colleague of the Indian student posted emails exchanged between Annette G Beck-Sickinger, the professor at Leipzig University, and the student on the question-and-answer site Quora. Neither the student nor the colleague identified themselves.

 The issue emerged amidst a renewed debate on the country's poor record in women's safety, especially after the controversy generated by the banned documentary, India's Daughter, which purportedly highlights the misogynist mindset of Indian men.

 By Monday evening, another student came forward to tell the media that Beck-Sickinger had refused his PhD application in March 2014 on similar grounds. In an email purportedly sent by the professor to this student, she wrote she no longer accepted “any male Indian guests, trainees, doctoral students, or post docs due to the severe rape problem in India”.

 In a statement posted on the German Embassy website, Beck-Sickinger apologized, saying: "I have made a mistake. I sincerely apologise to everyone whose feelings I have hurt."

 Beck-Sickinger, a professor of biochemistry and bio-organic chemistry, did not deny the email exchange with the Indian student who initially accused her.

 Reached for her comments through email, she told Hindustan Times that the matter was a "misunderstanding" and the outcome of an "unpleasant discussion" with the Indian student.

 She claimed the university did not discriminate with Indian students and that she had accepted several Indians in her department in the past.

 "Unfortunately, this mail was a misunderstanding. Of course, I have nothing against male Indians and I have accepted several Indian students in the past. Currently, two male Indian students work in a lab course with me in my labs," she said.

 "However, my lab is full and I cannot take any additional student in summer. This led to an unpleasant discussion with one of the Indian student," she added.

 One email from Beck-Sickinger posted on Quora stated: "Unfortunately I don't accept any Indian male students for internships. We hear a lot about the rape problem in India which I cannot support. I have many female students in my group, so I think this attitude is something I cannot support."

 On the Quora post, the Indian student's colleague said Beck-Sickinger had also sent him an email in which she said it was "unbelievable" that Indian society had not been able to solve the problem of rape.

 "I fully agree that this is a generalisation and may not apply to individuals. However, it is also unbelievable that the Indian society is not able to solve this problem for many years now. Reports reach Germany on a weekly base (basis), and especially these 'multi-rape crimes' are threatening, but for me also demonstrate the attitude of a society towards women. Also female tourist are kidnapped by groups of males and then abused," Beck-Sickinger wrote.

 She claimed that "many female professors in Germany (have) decided to no longer accept Indian male students for these reasons, and currently other European female associations are joining."

 German ambassador Michael Steiner reacted strongly to the professor's denial of internship and endorsed India's efforts to deal with violence against women.

 In a letter to Beck-Sickinger, which was made public, Steiner said, "Your oversimplifying and discriminating generalisation is an offense to these women and men ardently committed to furthering women empowerment in India; and it is an offense to millions of law-abiding, tolerant, open-minded and hard-working Indians.

 "Let's be clear: India is not a country of rapists. I would encourage you to learn more about the diverse, dynamic and fascinating country and the many welcoming and open-minded people of India so that you could connect a simplistic image, which -- in my opinion -- is particularly unsuitable for a professor and teacher," Steiner added.

 Leipzig University was founded in 1409, making it one of Germany's oldest universities. Its website describes it as an "interdisciplinary, international comprehensive university" that was placed among the top 25 in Germany for four consecutive years by a global ranking agency.

 Last week, the Indian government barred the screening of India's Daughter, a documentary by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin on the brutal gang-rape of a young student in December 2012.

 Despite the ban, the film has been viewed on the internet by many Indians, triggering a fresh debate on rape and steps to counter violence against women and the mindset behind such attacks. ||||| Thank you for the A2A. I've been holding off answering this question for a while, as there are some missing pieces in this puzzle.

 To being with, from the snapshots above - her rationale for refusing to accept an Indian male for internship DOES appear illogical. While any professor would be concerned for the safety of her students (both male and female), using a wide brush to paint every Indian male as a potential rapist sounds unbecoming of someone of her station.

 She also comes off as someone with a messiah complex, what with the idea of denying Indian male students opportunities for higher education in Europe as a 'carrot' for social engineering. And a gigantic false consensus bias - as if all European 'female professors' would fall into her line, based on her faulty and illogical presumptuousness.

 Plus, the whole characterisation of India as a homogenous ''Indian society'' that she feels is unable to solve it's ''rape problem'' is ludicruous - given the diversity of cultures in India AND the concerted efforts by Indians to solve it's so called 'rape problem' (which to be honest, is grossly sensationalised and is nowhere close to the culture of rape and neo-Nazi violence in Germany). Her narrative is also a clear case of a false attribution bias, as she cognitively ascribes the rapes in her country on the rapist, while ascribing rapes in Indian on the men. (In a manner uncannily similar to the demonisation of Jews prior to the Holocaust).

 However, for the sake of fairness and to arrive at a more pragmatic and balanced perspective, we have to hear her side too. She IS entitled to a benefit of doubt that she has good reasons for saying what she said. In her apology, she insists that she rejected the application because the positions were full and the whole talk on rape was a spin-off, after he kept pestering her. Now THAT's something uncannily familiar.

 A few unexplained things to chew on:

 1) Where are the messages that your friend sent to the professor? (This would help establish a clearer context of the conversation).

 2) The first snapshot shows 3:48 AM and the second one shows 2:37 AM. Without the dates, I can infer that at the very least, 22 hours elapsed between the two messages. Were these the only two messages she sent in this time span or were there more as well?

 3) In this span of at least 22 hours (or perhaps days), she could have looked up his social networking profiles and found something that piqued her off. Could you provide the links to his social networking profiles or would that be too much to ask for?

 4) Could she possibly have had to deal with some sexual harassment or assault issues from an Indian man, in her research team? (Which does not justify discrimination but explains it).

 5) Could she have had some females (Indians or non-Indians) in her research team that influenced her decision? This is a possible scenario, as I have seen first hand, how some Indian (and rarely, non-Indian) women try to ruin it for Indian men. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A German professor has apologized after apparently barring a male Indian student from an internship because of "the rape problem in India." In a now-viral email response to a male student, posted on website Quora, Annette Beck-Sickinger wrote, "I don't accept any Indian male students for internships." The University of Leipzig professor continued, per Time, "We hear a lot about the rape problem in India" and "I have many female students in my group, so this attitude is something I cannot support." Beck-Sickinger tells the Hindustan Times it was a "misunderstanding," but a second student claims the professor also turned down his PhD application, noting she wasn't accepting "any male Indian guests ... due to the severe rape problem in India." Beck-Sickinger argues her comments were taken out of context and the first student was denied an internship because there were "no openings available in the laboratory," CNN reports, per an official statement. She tells the Hindustan Times that the refusal followed an "unpleasant discussion" with the student. "I am by no means racist or xenophobic in any way," she says. "I sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings I may have hurt." Still, Germany's ambassador to India has blasted Beck-Sickinger's actions in an open letter. "Let me make it clear at the outset that I strongly object to this," Michael Steiner writes. "India is not a country of rapists." He also notes India's "lively, honest, sustained, and very healthy public debate" about sexual assault while slamming Beck-Sickinger's "simplistic image" of Indian people.


Here is a news article: Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Katniss and her district engage in a revolution against the Capitol in 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2.' VPC

 Jennifer Lawrence (center) and 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2' won the box office again. (Photo: Lionsgate)

 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 floated to the top of the box office for the fourth weekend in a row after the weekend's major opening, In the Heart of the Sea, was severely roughed up.

 Director Ron Howard's whale ship survival story, starring Chris Hemsworth, scored only $11 million in its first three days, according to studio estimates. It's terrible news for the big budget drama with an estimated $100 million filming budget.

 "In the Heart of the Sea is a beached whale," says Jeff Bock, lead analyst for Exhibitor Relations, of the reteaming of 2013's Rush filmmakers. "You can see studios being interested in this story. But the reviews just weren't there and there was no buzz whatsoever for this film."

 Sea sank with critics, receiving a 43% positive approval rating on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com and a B-plus from audiences at CinemaScore.

 (Photo: Jonathan Prime)

 The low Sea numbers led to another easy victory for the buoyant Mockingjay, which earned $11.3 million in its fourth weekend for a total of $244.5 million.

 The rest of the top weekend scorers were holdovers from past weeks including Pixar's The Good Dinosaur, which brought in $10.5 million for third place in its third weekend (and a total of $89.7 million). The Rocky reboot Creed fought for an additional $10.1 million in its third weekend for fourth place ($79.3 million total).

 Christmas horror film Krampus rounded out the top five with $8 million in its second weekend with a total of $28.2 million.

 Director Adam McKay's look at the 2008 housing crash, The Big Short, was a big winner in its limited opening weekend. The Big Short scored $720,000 in just eight theaters for a tremendous average of $90,000 per theater. The opening was propelled to even greater heights after the film landed four Golden Globe nominations (including best comedy) last week and two Screen Actors Guild nominations, including best ensemble cast for Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale (also up for supporting actor) and Steve Carell.

 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell star in the movie adaption of Michael Lewis' book 'The Big Short.'

 "This is at the top of everyone's must-see list with that dream cast. They are filling theaters in a major way," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Rentrak. "This film's success is based on critical acclaim, awards buzz and audience reaction, all of which have been stellar thus far."

 The Big Short scored an 86% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com and an A from audiences at CinemaScore.

 But in the slow weekend, the looming tidal wave is the mega-release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Friday).

 "We're bracing. Right now, it's nothing but Star Wars," says Dergarabedian. "And that's even impacting this weekend. The true big question is, how big will Star Wars be? This is a huge watershed moment."

 Final numbers are expected Monday.

 (Photo: Jaap Buitendijk)

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1YcXHF0 ||||| In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. "In the Heart of the Sea" reveals the encounter's harrowing aftermath, as the ship's surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down. ||||| Warner Bros/Everett Collection

 Ending a painful year at the box office with one last disappointment, Warner Bros.’ “In the Heart of the Sea” quickly sank upon its release this weekend.

 Despite the pedigree of director Ron Howard, star Chris Hemsworth and a story related to one of America’s greatest novels, “Moby Dick,” “In the Heart of the Sea” was unable to find as big an audience as the Time Warner studio had been seeking. The movie opened to a weak $11 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates.

 Read More: Ron Howard’s Goal for “In the Heart of the Sea”

 It was No. 2 on the box office chart behind “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2,” which grossed $11.3 million on its fourth weekend in theaters.

 Warner Bros. and partner Village Roadshow Pictures spent nearly $100 million to make the movie — a budget that typically necessitates a bigger opening in order to end up a hit.

 68% of those who came opening weekend were over 35, according to exit polls. That’s an audience that doesn’t typically rush out to see a movie opening weekend. Getting their attention in the next few weeks will be challenging, however, as presumed blockbuster “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” debuts Thursday night and six films open or expand nation-wide on Christmas Day.

 “We knew this December would be crowded, so we opened earlier because we felt an adult audience will hear about this movie from word-of-mouth,” said Warner executive vice president of distribution Jeff Goldstein. “It’s all about getting to Christmas.”

 Reviews for the movie were mixed, but opening night audiences gave it a B+, according to market research firm CinemaScore.

 Warner’s movie business has had a tough 2015, ranking No. 3 at the box office despite releasing more movies than competitors and suffering a number of high profile flops including “Pan,” “Jupiter Ascending,” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” The studio has had to rely on stronger performances by its television and videogame businesses to bolster its bottom line.

 “In the Heart of the Sea,” is the last movie financed by Warner Bros. that it will release this year.

 Many at Warner are already looking ahead to March’s “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” as the movie that they hope will turn things around.

 With “In the Heart of the Sea” failing to draw much attention, several movies already in the market saw only modest declines in ticket sales including “Mockingjay,” “The Good Dinosaur,” and the “Rocky” follow-up “Creed,” one of Warner’s few hits this year.

 The Wall Street comedy-drama “The Big Short,” riding strong reviews and Golden Globe nominations, grossed $720,000 at eight theaters. Its average take of $90,000 is the second highest for any movie this year, behind only “Steve Jobs.” The movie from Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures starts playing nation-wide on Christmas. |||||
A summary of this is?

– More people opted to watch the final installment of The Hunger Games, prominently featuring Liam Hemsworth in its fourth week of release, than did those who showed up to witness the drubbing Chris Hemsworth took in the debut of what was supposed to be a star turn in Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea. Mockingjay: Part 2 took in $11.3 million this weekend, reports USA Today, good enough for its fourth consecutive crown, while In the Heart of the Sea managed $11 million. The movie "is a beached whale," says one analyst. "You can see studios being interested in this story. But the reviews just weren't there and there was no buzz whatsoever for this film." It's been a tough year for Warner Bros., notes the Wall Street Journal: In the Heart of the Sea marks just the latest in a series of flops that included Pan, Jupiter Ascending, and The Man From UNCLE. Warner Bros. has released more movies than its competitors, yet ranks No. 3 at the box office in 2015. For those looking for something in theaters to get excited about, the new Star Wars movie opens Thursday.


If the tech world had an All-Star Game, today’s Internet Forum at Microsoft could certainly qualify.

 Top CEOs like Apple’s Tim Cook, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Alibaba’s Jack Ma, and 23 other executives gathered today in Redmond, Wash., to meet with China President Xi Jinping at the conclusion of the eighth annual U.S.-China Internet Industry Forum. It was a rare gathering of some of the most powerful people in the tech industry who traveled from across the globe to Microsoft’s campus this week.

 Before posing for a group picture and making a few remarks, the president and first lady Peng Liyuan joined Nadella, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Microsoft President Brad Smith, and others at the company’s executive building for a short tour that included technology demos of Microsoft products like the HoloLens and data visualization software.

 President Xi then made his way to a large room to meet the CEOs, many of whom already spoke with China’s leader at a roundtable meeting earlier Wednesday. He went down the first line and shook hands with people like Zuckerberg, who spent 30 seconds delivering a message in Chinese to the president — the Facebook founder knows the language pretty well — before taking the podium for a quick speech.

 “On a personal note, this was the first time I’ve ever spoken with a world leader entirely in a foreign language,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook, which is banned in China. “I consider that a meaningful personal milestone. It was an honor to meet President Xi and other leaders.”

 “We are at Microsoft, while in the morning, I visited Boeing, which is hardware,” President Xi told the CEOs. “So, we’ve had both the hard things and the soft things.”

 Presdient Xi, who is in the Seattle region this week meeting with business executives and government officials before heading to Washington D.C. to see President Obama, said he was impressed with the “beautiful campus of Microsoft.” He also noted that 2015 marked the 20th anniversary of cooperation between Microsoft and China.

 “Microsoft products and the Windows operating system have shaped man’s cognition of computing technologies,” said the president, who was accompanied by a large delegation that included China’s “Internet czar” Lu Wei.

 Unsurprisingly, President Xi touched on cybersecurity, a topic that’s caused tension between the U.S. and Chinese governments as of late with tech-related policies and technology protectionism.

 “China advocates the building of a peaceful, secure, open, and cooperative cyberspace and believes that countries should formulate Internet-related public policies in line with their respective national realities,” he said.

 The president noted that China has the world’s largest Internet market, while the U.S. boasts the “most-advanced Internet technologies.”

 “The two sides should, on the basis of mutual respect, carry out constructive dialogue on cyber issues and forge a new highlight of China-U.S. cooperation so that cyberspace will provide more benefits to the people of both countries, as well as people of the whole world,” he said.

 Here are the CEOs that attended, starting with the top row in this picture — any guesses at the net worth in this room?

 Top row: Sugon CEO Li Jun; Didi-Kuaidi CEO Cheng Wei; Broadband Capital CEO Tian Suning; CEC CEO Liu Liehong; Baidu CEO Zhang Yaqin; AME Cloud Ventures CEO Jerry Yang; Inspur CEO Sun Pishu; Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky; Sequoia Capital China founder Shen Nanpeng.

 Middle row: Sohu CEO Zhang Chaoyang; AMD CEO Lisa Su; Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing; Microsoft VP Harry Shum; Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf; CETC CEO Xiong Qunli; Intel CEO Brian Krzanich; Qihoo 360 CEO Zhou Hongyi; LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman; SINA CEO Cao Guowei.

 Bottom row: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; JD.com CEO Liu Qiangdong; Cisco Chairman John Chambers; Alibaba founder Jack Ma; IBM CEO Ginni Rometty; President Xi; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; China Minister Lu Wei; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Tencent CEO Pony Ma; Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. ||||| Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has gushed about his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling it a “personal milestone”, after he spoke in Mandarin to Xi at an event on Wednesday.

 “On a personal note, this was the first time I’ve ever spoken with a world leader entirely in a foreign language,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page about the conversation that lasted less than a minute. “I consider that a meaningful personal milestone.”

 A picture accompanying the post showed Zuckerberg greeting the president. He was in a suit and tie – a rare practice for the internet billionaire. Lu Wei – China’s internet tsar, who controls the country’s great firewall that blocks Facebook among other foreign websites – stood by the two, wearing a broad smile.

 “It was an honour to meet President Xi and other leaders,” Zuckerberg’s post read, adding that internet users could follow updates of the president’s first state visit to the United States on the Facebook page “Xi’s US Visit”.

 Zuckerberg met Xi when the president visited Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond, near Seattle, on Wednesday. A Microsoft spokeswoman said that during Xi’s meeting there with internet CEOs, the president spoke for only about six minutes and that none of the American business leaders responded.

 Zuckerberg’s post about his brief chat with Xi sparked debate among internet users over China’s censorship.

 “He has already banned your Facebook in China … Why did you meet him,” one user commented.

 This is not the first time the Facebook founder has shown his admiration for the Chinese president. When he welcomed Lu Wei on a visit to his company’s headquarters in December, press photos showed a copy of The Governance of China – a collection of Xi’s speeches – on Zuckerberg’s desk.

 The gesture, interpreted as Zuckerberg’s effort to court the Chinese government, disappointed and angered activists in China, who had held the social network in high regard for sharing information beyond the tight controls of the country’s ruling Communist Party, the Associated Press reported.

 ”Mr Zuckerberg is either ignorant of China’s politics or shameless,” said prominent dissident Hu Jia, who called Lu a top enemy of internet freedom and expressed worry that technology giants such as Facebook were kowtowing to Beijing for their own business interests. “He is an internet genius who should understand the power of technology for social change.”

 Asked in November about Facebook’s blockage in China, Lu said: “The bottom line for foreign internet companies to enter China is they obey Chinese laws and regulations.”

 They should not harm the country’s national interest and the interest of Chinese consumers, the top internet regulator added. ||||| 点击查看本文中文版

 After his appearances at the United Nations and a six-day, cross-country journey, President Xi Jinping headed home on Monday.

 Looking back at the trip, the most memorable moment – and maybe the most important – was watching $2.5 trillion of American corporate power pay homage to the Chinese president.

 That event unfolded in a less than obvious way.

 When word circulated that the chief executives of the top American technology companies would meet with Mr. Xi for a group photo on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., last week, many wondered who would turn up.

 The photo was scheduled for the end of an Internet industry conference that the Chinese had choreographed for Mr. Xi’s trip to try to smooth over the deep problems many American tech companies face in the China market, including rampant theft of intellectual property.

 For days, reporters had asked Microsoft, a co-host of the conference with China, for the names of the executive who would meet Mr. Xi. Microsoft demurred.

 The turnout at the opening session of the conference was desultory. Perhaps, it seemed, there would just be a handful of executives with Mr. Xi.

 In the afternoon, about 20 minutes before Mr. Xi was scheduled to arrive, his Internet czar, Lu Wei, entered the room where risers had been set up for the executives. Mr. Lu checked where Mr. Xi would stand, looked around the room, and left.

 Suddenly, the chief executives of America’s top 10 technology companies – market value about $2.5 trillion – accompanied by the heads of more than a dozen Chinese tech companies, arrived. They lined up in three rows.

 These executives are not accustomed to being beckoned – they turn down invitations to business summits, the World Economic Forum and more. But Mr. Xi beckoned, and they came.

 The allure of being in Mr. Xi’s orbit was clearly too tantalizing for the executives to miss.

 After they arrived, the executives cooled their heels for more than 10 minutes, waiting for Mr. Xi to finish his tour of Microsoft.

 It was hard to imagine these execs waiting idly for 10 minutes anywhere else.

 Mr. Xi eventually entered, smiled and shook hands with the first row, starting with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, which is banned in China.

 For the photo, Mr. Xi planted himself next to Virginia M. Rometty, the head of IBM. A podium was rolled out, and Mr. Xi spoke for about six minutes, then left.

 That photo op turned out to be the most sensational moment of the trip, a 10-minute session that illustrated the raw power of the Chinese leader and the huge market he controls.

 Afterward, even Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, said he was impressed. “Did you feel the room shake?” he said, with a smile. ||||| Chinese president Xi Jinping got a warm welcome from tech leaders Wednesday (Sept. 23) for his US tour. Some of the biggest names in tech—including Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg—met with the president for a discussion held in Seattle, where Xi is having a series of high-level meetings.

 To commemorate the occasion, the invited attendees—US and Chinese CEOs spanning multiple industries—posed for what can be described as an awkward class photo of super powerful people.

 Seattle Times reporter Matt Day tweeted the following image, taken at Microsoft’s headquarters (that’s one way to get Cook to step foot into Microsoft’s HQ).

 In addition to Cook, Bezos, and Zuckerberg (who apparently does own a suit), some of the notable tech leaders in the photo include: |||||

Write a summary.

– One way to get the head of Apple to visit the Microsoft campus: Tell him it's picture day with the president of China. Tim Cook and other technology bigwigs—including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Alibaba's Jack Ma—gathered yesterday in Redmond, Wash., for a meeting with Xi Jinping, who's in the US on his first state visit, reports Quartz. While they were there, Xi and the group of 29 high-level US and Chinese tech execs posed for what the site calls "an awkward class photo of super powerful people" that showed, more or less, what it would look like if "the tech world had an All-Star Game," as GeekWire puts it. After touring Microsoft's executive building with Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella and watching high-tech demos, Xi smiled for the camera with the others. Zuckerberg (who Quartz points out does, indeed, own a suit) greeted Xi by speaking to him briefly in Mandarin, the South China Morning Post reports. "On a personal note, this was the first time I've ever spoken with a world leader entirely in a foreign language," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "I consider that a meaningful personal milestone. It was an honor to meet President Xi and other leaders." One of those leaders was Lu Wei, the Chinese Internet chief responsible for setting up the country's firewall and keeping Zuckerberg's site out—a point not lost on commenters to Zuckerberg's post. "He banned Facebook in China. He doesn't deserve to meet u man," wrote one.