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This Rapper Posted A Shirtless Pic On Instagram And Everyone Is Lost In The Sauce
A “colossally powerful” supercomputer installed at Russia’s military headquarters helps the country’s armed forces tackle emerging threats by analyzing previous conflicts, such as the Yugoslavian war and the like, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.
The supercomputer is a key part of the headquarters’ IT infrastructure and is so powerful that the military uses less than half of its capacity, Shoigu told Rossiya 24 TV channel, which filmed a documentary about Russia’s National Defense Management Center (NDMC).
“It has open architecture – you can add or remove specific elements, build up, increase and expand its capacities, it has plenty of them,” the minister said.
The center’s supercomputer was designed to predict the development of current or future wars by analyzing the current security environment and drawing conclusions from past conflicts. It not only stores data on all major wars and conflicts, but also helps predict upcoming ones, Shoigu explained.
“Take the Yugoslavia war, for example. It was a large-scale NATO operation. Their naval buildup, missile deployments, locations and distances were all subject to the analysis,” he went on.
“And, if the machine will tell us that this or that situation is 90 percent similar to what happened in Serbia, then we will know that this is likely to happen again, and take appropriate measures,” Shoigu said.
The supercomputer has a storage capacity of 236 petabytes, or 236,000 terabytes, according to Rossiya 24. Shoigu told RIA Novosti in 2014 when the HQ was inaugurated that its storage capacity exceeds that of the Pentagon 19-fold.
He added that the giant machine can process “50 Russian State Libraries [worth of data] per second,” referring to the country’s largest library with its collection of over 17 million books, making it the fourth largest in the world.
The NDMC is the Russian military’s highest command-and-control hub. According to open sources, it connects all army units, overseas facilities, and the General Staff into one ecosystem, while providing tremendous situational awareness for commanders.
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By Jairo Garcia
Low-cost Indonesian airline Citilink found itself in hot water after it emerged that one of its pilots had passed a pre-flight check despite being heavily intoxicated. His plane’s takeoff was delayed after some of the 154 passengers decided to disembark.
The subsidiary of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia said the pilot in question was fired after the Wednesday morning incident, and two of Citilink’s top executives announced their resignations on Friday as a gesture of responsibility, the Jakarta Post reported.
The pilot, identified as Tekad Purna, showed up for duty on Wednesday to fly a plane from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, to Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta.
Passengers reported that he could not speak coherently when announcing takeoff and was acting suspiciously. Footage from a security camera shows him stumbling and dropping things as he was passing a check at the airport.
The airline replaced Tekad with another pilot after the passengers on board his plane protested, with some saying they would rather get off than fly with the drunk captain.
Tekad was sacked on Friday after spending two days under suspension. In addition, Citilink President Director Albert Burhan and Operational Director Hadinoto Soedigno resigned, announcing the decision at a media conference called to brief the public on the scandalous incident.
The exact state of the pilot at the time of the incident is expected to be revealed next week, when results of the two medical tests he was ordered to undergo are ready.
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By Patrick M, Sebastian Ledher
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Every time a season of The Bachelorette ends, I just start counting down the time until The Bachelor. Sure, there's always Bachelor in Paradise, but as any fan will tell you, that show has a completely different vibe. Season 21 is about to kick off, and details have slowly been revealed over the past few months. Here's what we know about the upcoming episodes!
Viall has long been a presence in Bachelor Nation, and now it's his turn to be the Bachelor. He's already dated four women on TV, so if he doesn't find love this time around, the rest of us are doomed.
The women seeking to steal Nick's heart include an aspiring dolphin trainer, a doula, a pro basketball dancer, and a food truck owner.
Producer Mike Fleiss cataloged all the behind-the-scenes action from the first night of shooting on Sept. 24. Thanks to him, we know that resident diamond expert Neil Lane was on the set (a little early for him, no?) and that one girl was already wearing a wedding veil. As always, helicopters are involved.
Sneak peek!!! #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/rN9twkReqK
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) September 25, 2016
In November, InTouch reported that several of the girls asked to leave the show. "They find him to be completely arrogant and a total diva," their insider said. "A lot of the girls think Nick isn't taking the process seriously, that he only became The Bachelor to hook up with multiple women . . . Nick sheds many tears this season and it's due to the fact that the girls pretty much turn on him. There will be explosive fights — and Nick will once again look like a fool."
On Dec. 28, Nick revealed to People that he developed "strong feelings for multiple women." Uh oh. "Early on with so many women, you obviously don't know a lot of things about them but talking to all of them and wanting to make it meaningful to all of them is very physically taxing."
It look them long enough! ABC has unveiled an official Fantasy League for Bachelor fans. Now you can show off your prediction skills!
Season 21 will begin on Jan. 2. Happy New Year to us all!
The new punitive measures imposed on Russia by the outgoing US administration seem to be an attempt to take revenge on Republican Donald Trump for winning the presidency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has noted.
“The outgoing administration isn’t giving up on its attempts to worsen bilateral relations, not understanding that they can’t get any worse,” Zakharova said in an interview with RIA-Novosti.
“Honestly, there is a feeling that the Democratic team is just trying to take revenge on Trump for his victory, making plainly absurd decisions a month before his inauguration,” she said.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman cited the Obama administration’s plans to supply MANPADS to Syrian militants, which Washington still see as a tool to remove Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, as an example of such “absurd decisions.”
Earlier in December, Congress added a provision to the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will allow the US to send shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to rebel factions in Syria, where Russia is providing air support for the government forces fighting terrorist groups.
The Democratic camp’s claims that Trump was the “Russia’s candidate” and received support from the Kremlin are just “elements in the information war,” Zakharova said, while stressing “they aren’t true.”
When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump established themselves as the main contenders for the White House, “it became clear that one of the candidates was building her campaign on anti-Russian rhetoric,” she said.
“There were no pro-Russian candidates, but one Russophobic candidate,” with Clinton and the Democrats making the “demonization of Russia” one of main focal points of their foreign policy, the spokeswoman explained.
“Of course, it would be impossible [for Moscow] to rejoice over the victory of a person who proclaimed the downfall of Russia as her main foreign policy goal. But even in this scenario, Clinton’s win would have been perceived as a choice of the American people,” Zakharova said.
The Foreign Ministry representative expressed the belief that “all preconditions are in place” for relations between Russia and the US to be restored.
Russia is ready to work with “any team” in the White House, as Moscow understands the necessity of resolving the deadlock that occurred under the Obama administration, she said.
“We are waiting for the new administration to arrive at the White House, and then we will be ready to work with them,” Zakharova stressed.
Trump’s inauguration as America’s 45th president is scheduled for January 20, 2017.
On Thursday, the Obama administration levied a new round of sanctions on Moscow, saying they were being imposed because of what it called “the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of US officials and cyber operations aimed at the US election.”
As a result, 35 Russian diplomats were expelled from the US, and nine Russian entities, including the GRU (Russian Military Intelligence) and the FSB (Federal Security Service), were added to Washington’s blacklist. In addition, two Russian diplomatic leisure compounds in New York and Maryland were closed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will not respond in kind to the new US restrictions and will instead “make further moves to restore Russian-American relations based on the policies that the administration of President-elect Donald Trump adopts.”
Following the announcement of the latest measures, Zakharova said she hoped that the new sanctions would be “the last weird and unwise decision” of the outgoing American administration aimed at spoiling Russian-American relations.
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By Joao Claro
The UN Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution drafted by Russia that endorses a nationwide Syrian ceasefire, which was earlier brokered by Moscow and Ankara.
Security Council members welcomed the agreements reached through the mediation of Russia and Turkey, and stressed the importance of its “full and immediate implementation.”
The Security Council also expressed its support for the “efforts taken by Russia and Turkey and aimed at stopping violence in Syria and launching a political process.” Council members stressed that they see the Astana meeting as an important step in the process toward the reconciliation of the Syrian conflict.
The UN body also reaffirmed its commitment to the “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic” and reiterated that the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is to begin a complex inter-Syrian political process.
Western countries expressed cautious optimism about the agreements brokered by Moscow and Ankara. The US deputy ambassador to the UN, Michelle Sison, said that the US expects the truce to be observed across the whole of Syria while the British deputy UN envoy Peter Wilson said that a system is required to independently monitor the ceasefire.
Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin called on his colleagues not to confuse and complicate the situation and not to discredit the agreements brokered by Moscow and Ankara.
At the same time, he expressed his gratitude to all UN Security Council members and thanked them for their contribution to the peace process in Syria. He particularly praised the role of Turkey in reaching the ceasefire agreement.
He went on to say that, if all Security Council members “focus on the essence of the matter” and put their private interests aside, the UN body is “capable of taking important decisions.”
The draft resolution prepared by Russia was officially presented to the UNSC on Friday, a day after Moscow sent the texts of two agreements signed by the Syrian government and seven armed opposition groups to the UN body.
The documents that “establish a ceasefire as well as obliges the Syrian government and the opposition to start direct talks in Astana in late January,” Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told journalists on Friday, speaking about the documents he presented at the Security Council meeting together with a draft resolution supporting the ceasefire in Syria.
He also said that all groups that genuinely want to join talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Astana scheduled for early 2017 are welcome in the Kazakh capital.
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By Gabriela
The outgoing year has been full of occasions that literally shocked the world: 2016 repeatedly made us all gaze in shock and awe at events that one could hardly imagine before. RT looks back at the biggest stories of the last 12 months.
Zika has been known about for almost seven decades, so when the World Health Organization declared it a "public health emergency of international concern" in February, the most alarming aspect was just how little was known about the disease, which was spreading “explosively” through the world.
For decades, it had been regarded as a rare tropical disease present in some countries in Africa and southeast Asia. But the fever traveled to Brazil sometime in 2013, where it gradually spread, before public health officials began noticing that many patients suffering from headaches, a fever and a rash tested negative for other common diseases such as dengue fever.
READ MORE: Zika found to change human cells – report
But the worst has begun already in 2015, when an abnormally high number of babies born suffering from microcephaly began to emerge. More than 2,200 cases have been recorded in Brazil alone, though the numbers are likely to go much higher, and many fetuses in infected mothers are likely to suffer some less visible but also damaging consequences of the infection. For adults, millions of whom have been infected – most without symptoms – Guillain-Barre syndrome, a debilitating neurological disorder, remains a risk.
Although officials said no visitors were infected with the Zika virus during the 2016 Rio Olympics, the disease still managed to dent tourism in the country.
Zika also caused panic in the US after the first virus-related cases were registered there. Tourists were warned to “think twice” before visiting Florida’s Disneyworld because of an “increased” risk of contracting the virus. US federal authorities also said that pregnant women and their partners should avoid Miami Beach – one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US – after mosquitoes in the area were found to transmit the virus.
READ MORE: Pregnant women should keep off Miami Beach due to Zika virus spread – official
The US Food and Drug Administration even approved genetically engineered mosquitoes to combat the virus and demanded that all blood donations be tested for Zika. The US eventually tried too hard to fight the virus, as anti-Zika spraying in South Carolina resulted in unexpected deaths of millions of honeybees.
In November, the WHO declared that the Zika virus was no longer a worldwide emergency, though as it continues to find new hosts all over the world, it is unlikely to be completely eliminated in the coming years, even with multiple vaccines in development.
The recent series of allegations of systemic doping within Russia started with a German documentary in 2014, but over the past year, the innuendo of allegations has been replaced with the hammer of punishment that has struck again and again.
READ MORE: Putin: Russian Paralympic ban 'cynical & immoral'
July’s report by WADA’s Richard McLaren accused Russia of operating a sample-tampering system used to clear hundreds of doped athletes for at least half a decade.
The system was purportedly used even at major events, including the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and was allegedly approved at a ministerial level.
The results meant that more than a quarter of Russia’s Olympic team – mostly track & field athletes – did not travel to the Rio Olympics, mostly due to team, not individual, violations. Weeks later, all Russian Paralympians were banned from their edition of the Games, and the next Winter Paralympics. All through the year, Russian athletes have had their medals from Beijing 2008 and London 2012 taken away.
READ MORE: All 63 Russian blood samples from Sochi 2014 were re-analyzed as negative – IOC
In December, McLaren published the second part of his report, accusing more than 1,000 additional athletes of participating in the doping program, and leading to the removal of the bobsleigh and skeleton world championships from Sochi, with a similar threat hanging over other sports events scheduled to take place in Russia.
With Turkey’s history of military coups, and growing tension over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strengthening grip on power inside the country, the failed attempt July 15 was not a historical anomaly, but it is still shocking to think that the elected leader of a democratic state was minutes away from being seized, or possibly killed by special forces sent by the plotters.
The coup fell apart quickly. Not only did the plotters fail to capture their adversary, but Erdogan retained control of the airwaves, and managed to rally his supporters onto the streets.
Much of the army also remained loyal to the government, as did many of the soldiers, who refused to fire their weapons.
The aftermath brought the Turkish leader sympathy from his political opponents and the international community, patching up the frayed relationship with Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to support Erdogan while shots were still being fired, and the outcome was uncertain. But there is concern over the scale of the retribution – more than 100,000 officials have been purged, and more than 38,000 arrested – as well as the repressive laws passed, which could undermine Turkish democracy in the long run. The crackdown also seriously complicated Turkey’s relations with the EU.
Some human rights organizations also accused the Turkish government of numerous human rights violations committed during the post-coup crackdown. Amnesty International said in its report in July that many people in Turkey were “not only … arbitrarily held and denied their trial rights, but, in some cases, [were] … also mistreated and tortured in detention.”
Turkey was also accused of suppressing opposition and free speech under the disguise of a crackdown on coup sympathizers. Dozens of journalists were arrested and several media outlets were closed following the coup in Turkey, sparking concerns in Europe.
Some 170 newspapers, magazines, TV stations and news agencies have been closed, leaving 2,500 journalists unemployed, according to Turkey's association of journalists. In early November, Turkish authorities arrested the editor-in-chief of the independent Cumhuriyet newspaper and issued arrest orders for at least 13 other employees and executives. The move sparked concern from Ankara's EU partners, who said that European standards apparently have no importance for Turkey.
The Paris attacks in November 2015 appeared to be a red line for Islamic terrorism in Europe – an atrocity that wouldn’t be allowed to happen again, with the collective might of the continent’s security services focusing their efforts on rooting out potential attackers.
READ MORE: 14 dead, dozens injured in suicide attack at Brussels airport
After all, Brussels was already known as Europe’s prime terrorist hub, and all the perpetrators in the bombings of the city international airport and Maalbeek station had direct links to the Paris attacks, as well as a host of suspicious markers – unexplained visits to Syria, extensive criminal records and ties with radical preachers. Nonetheless, despite having the suspects in their sights, the security services didn’t get them in time and 32 victims died, with dozens more injured.
The Nice truck attack in July was even more traumatic, with the realization of how much damage could be done to everyday targets – 86 victims died, and more than 400 were hospitalized – and the extent of desensitization the terrorists were capable of.
French authorities believe that half a dozen people knew about the planned massacre, and none were repulsed enough by the horror and sheer inhumanity of the planned carnage, instead egging on the perpetrator.
Meanwhile, France’s political landscape appears to have been irrevocably changed, as the country, still living in a state of emergency, rolls towards next year’s election.
However familiar it should now seem, the thought that Donald Trump will be on January 20 the incoming president of the United States remains hard to accept as reality – for his supporters and detractors alike. For the entirety of time between he announced his nomination in June 2015, to about an hour before his victory speech, he was never the frontrunner for the White House.
Even disregarding his Overton window-busting positions and persona and Cinderella run for the Oval Office, in dry historical terms Trump is unique. There has never been a US president who held no political or military office prior to their election, and neither has a billionaire ever been chosen to lead the country.
READ MORE: 'Bind wounds of division': Trump gives victory speech, says Clinton called to concede
But what makes Trump’s story truly fascinating is not that he is an outlier as an individual, but that with the sheer force of his personality he has managed to ride and shape the zeitgeist. From globalization, to identity, to questions of what the new international world order should be, Trump is nothing if not relevant.
His unconventional cabinet picks, and first steps while in power also suggest that he will be shaping the most unexpected news developments next year, like he was a year ago, when he was slaying the Republican Party’s favored candidates. Momentum – his fuel – is still with Donald Trump, and however the world feels about him, it is not bored.
READ MORE: How Trump won the White House: Key moments of #Election2016
While Brexit, the landmark decision by the UK to leave the European Union, has been superficially superseded by Trump, it is future history books that will decide which of these is the more influential story of 2016.
The then-British Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced a referendum on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union in February, although it was a part of his election bid initially voiced in 2012.
Following the announcement, the UK witnessed a fierce struggle between the “Leave” and “Remain” campaigners that divided both British society and the media. According to a study conducted by the Reuters Institute, the British media supported the idea of Brexit in the first two months of the referendum campaign.
However, positions varied greatly between newspapers. The Daily Mail included the most pro-Leave articles followed by The Daily Express, The Daily Star, The Sun and The Daily Telegraph, while the newspapers including the most pro-Remain articles were, in order, The Daily Mirror, The Guardian and The Financial Times. The Daily Mail and the Sun were then accused of helping swing public opinion toward Brexit.
Meanwhile, on social media, Brexit supporters had a more powerful and emotional message and were able to outmuscle their rivals with more vocal and active supporters across almost all social media platforms.
However, the victory of the “Vote Leave” supporters in the referendum on June 23, 2016, came as a major surprise for the EU, the UK, the “Remain” campaigners and even for the Brexit advocates themselves. Results of the vote were shocking for many in the UK. Cameron resigned soon after the referendum, while thousands of people hit the streets of the British capital to pressure politicians to keep the UK in the EU.
However, new Prime Minister Theresa May immediately made it clear that she intends to proceed with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and there will be no attempts to stay in the union. “Because Brexit means Brexit, and we're going to make a success of it,” she said in July.
More than six months after the vote, Brexit still dominates British politics and its repercussions are being felt both in Europe and around the world. Meanwhile, its future remains uncertain, as the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has not been officially started yet.
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By Mimi Capela
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By El Simbolo
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Us the Duo is back with another fun end-of-year mashup. After mystifying everyone with their medley last year, the husband-and-wife duo have put their own spin on the top hits of 2016, and we can't get enough. From Sia's "Cheap Thrills" to Fifth Harmony's always-catchy "Work From Home," the video has a little something for everyone. The couple has certainly been at the top of their game this year. Aside from touring with Pentatonix, they recently released a heartwarming new EP, Public Record, dedicated to their fans. Let's just say, we can't wait to see what they will do in 2017. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and let Us the Duo take you through a musical journey through time.
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By Joao Paulo
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AND FINALLY: WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
BAN WINE AND CHEESE SHOTS.
I’m gonna try these at home!
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By Swing en 4
At least one gunman dressed as Santa has attacked a night club in Istanbul, killing and injuring scores of people, Turkish media report. Footage shows armored police vehicles surrounding the building as ambulances are rushed to the scene.
At least 35 people were killed and 40 wounded in the attack, Istanbul’s governor Vasip Şahin said, calling the incident a terrorist attack.
The attack took place at the well-known Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood, in Istanbul’s Besiktas district.
"A terrorist with a long-range weapon... brutally and savagely carried out this incident by firing bullets at innocent people who were there solely to celebrate the New Year and have fun," Sahin told media at the scene of the attack.
Previously, it was reported that two gunmen were involved in the attack.
Speaking about the circumstances of the attack, Şahin said that the assailant first killed the police officer, who was standing at the door of the club, and then went on a rampage inside, killing innocent civilians.
Eyewitnesses at the club said that the attacker was speaking Arabic, Turkish media are reporting.
The gunman was dressed in Santa Claus outfits, wielding assault rifle, Turkish media said.
The attacker opened fire on clubgoers, injuring at least 20-30, according to NTV. One of the gunmen has reportedly hidden inside the club, while the whereabouts of the second one were not immediately clear.
The number of casualties may rise, as it is estimated that between 700 and 800 people could have been in the club at the time of the attack, Mynet Haber reports.
Emergency crews have been evacuating injured people from the building as police search the area.
After the attacker stormed into the building, some club-goers jumped into the sea in panic, Turkish media cited eyewitnesses as saying. A search and rescue operation for those who jumped in the water is being carried out by maritime police.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
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By Ricky
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By Swing en 4
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By Swing en 4
Gunmen dressed as Santas have attacked a night club in Istanbul, reportedly injuring scores of people and killing at least two, Turkish channel NTV reports. Footage shows armored police vehicles surrounding the building as ambulances are rushed to the scene.
The attack took place at the well-known Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood, in Istanbul’s Besiktas district.
A policeman and a civilian are reported to be among the two known casualties at the nightclub.
There were two attackers involved, according to NTV, but conflicting reports also described a lone gunman.
The gunmen were dressed in Santa Claus outfits, wielding assault rifles, Turkish media said.
The attackers opened fire on clubgoers, injuring at least 20-30 and killing two, according to NTV. One of the gunmen has reportedly hidden inside the club, while the whereabouts of the second one were not immediately clear.
The number of casualties may rise, as it is estimated that between 700 and 800 people could have been in the club at the time of the attack, Mynet Haber reports.
Emergency crews have been evacuating injured people from the building as police search the area.
After the attackers stormed into the building, some club-goers jumped into the sea in panic, Turkish media cited eyewitnesses as saying. A search and rescue operation for those who jumped in the water is being carried out by maritime police.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
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By Don Lore V.
The Kinks' Ray Davies received a knighthood Saturday for his service to the arts as part of Queen Elizabeth's annual New Year Honours list.
"Initially I felt a mixture of surprise, humility, joy and a bit embarrassed but after thinking about it, I accept this for my family and fans as well as everyone who has inspired me to write," Davies said of the honor in a statement (via the BBC).
The Kinks frontman was initially awarded the CBE – Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – by the Queen in 2004.
Davies joins rock royalty like Paul McCartney, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Van Morrison and Rod Stewart as musicians who have been knighted by the Queen; David Bowie turned down the honor in 2003. "I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that," Bowie said at the time. "I seriously don't know what it's for. It's not what I spent my life working for."
John Lennon also returned the MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) he was awarded as a member of the Beatles with a letter to the Queen that recently resurfaced and hit the auction block.
Other notables that received either a damehood or knighthood on the Queen's New Year Honours 2017 list include Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance, actress Naomie Harris, tennis star Andy Murray, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and former Spice Girls singer Victoria Beckham, who like Wintour was awarded an OBE – Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – for services to the fashion industry.
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By Rafael Angel Aparicio & Los Hermanos Aparicios
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Here's your exclusive first listen of @EmmaWatson singing 'Something There' from Beauty and the Beast. #BeOurGuest pic.twitter.com/AWpcrDmELY
— Beauty and the Beast (@beourguest) December 31, 2016
We still have a few months left until Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast hits theaters, but to tide us over until then, the movie's official Twitter account has released a short clip of Emma Watson singing the iconic song, "Something There." In the clip, Watson, who plays Belle, beautifully sings the lyrics, "New and a bit alarming / Who'd have ever thought that this could be? / True that he's no Prince Charming / But there's something in him that I simply didn't see." In addition to this clip, we've also gotten a full-length trailer and stunning official photos, all of which will definitely give you chills. Is it March 17 yet?
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The Syrian army did not shoot at militants leaving Aleppo under the evacuation deal and it was even distributing food among them, Carla Ortiz, a Bolivian documentary filmmaker who spent eight months in Syria, told RT as she disputed some MSM narratives.
Ortiz was filming a documentary about the people caught in the Syrian conflict and had an opportunity to witness the liberation of eastern Aleppo firsthand, including the evacuation of militants and their families from the city.
She has published a video from her upcoming documentary showing the process of evacuation to contest western media claims that Syrian government forces fired on the evacuees as proof that the evacuation, which took place under the deal brokered by Russia and Turkey, was peaceful.
“Many have asked me to show proof that people and children were not shot at on the streets while the evacuation took place as some media reported. So, this is what I saw: civilians evacuated on foot from the east, then transported in buses to the shelters. I am sorry, but there was absolutely no mass shooting on the evacuation,” Ortiz wrote in a Facebook post, commenting on the video.
She added that “what the Syrian army and civilians were doing was throwing food through the windows” of the buses that transported the evacuees out of the city.
Ortiz then went on to contest some other MSM narratives by doubting the authenticity of the so-called “witness reports” from then-rebel-occupied areas of Aleppo that quickly went viral on the western media. She particularly stressed that the eastern part of the city had no internet connection that could allow those witnesses to upload their footage or send them to the western media companies.
Ortiz added that, even though she had a mobile phone with international roaming and Wi-Fi, she could not send even a short text message to her family out of eastern Aleppo.
“When I was in east Aleppo, in neighborhoods that were just liberated, there was no internet – I could not even tell my family I [had] made it alive. It is impossible to upload a video there. I had to upload a video in a hotel and it took me more than two hours,” Ortiz told RT.
“For me it is just insane to think that this footage is happening over there,” she added.
At the same time, she admitted that eastern Aleppo was indeed “an eye of conflict” and “an absolute devastation,” which she said was caused not just by the actions of the Syrian army or the Russian bombing raids but by the militants who held those areas.
While western Aleppo “sometimes lacked electricity and water supplies, although businesses there were still running” and people carried on with their lives, in the east of the city there was only terror and devastation.
“When you talk to someone, who just left east Aleppo… they say they had no food, no access to electricity, no medicine; their children were unable to go to school,” Ortiz said, adding that the people there had sometimes “to lock up their children because the terrorists used the children to blackmail their family members into staying quiet or doing something for them.”
Conditions the civilians lived in under the so-called rebels were “really inhuman,” she stressed, adding that most militants, who held the eastern part of the city, were foreign mercenaries.
“When you talk to someone who just left east Aleppo, they tell you that most terrorists are not even Syrians,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz said she witnessed snipers targeting civilians on the streets of eastern Aleppo when she tried to get to that part of the city.
Most Aleppo residents welcomed the liberation of the city by the Syrian army regardless of their political beliefs, as they were just happy to be finally free from the militant rule, Ortiz said.
People “were full of hope and happy when they were crossing from East Aleppo to the western part of the city. They were thanking God and the Syrian army. They had nothing to do with politics. They were not talking about supporting one side or another side, they were just happy to be free,” Ortiz said.
She also stressed that many soldiers who fought on the side of government forces in Aleppo were actually local “volunteers, who were fighting to get some of their family members out of east Aleppo.”
Ortiz also welcomed the Syrian nationwide ceasefire deal, which was recently brokered by Russia and Turkey and entered into force Friday. This agreement “could determine many things at this exact moment,” she said, adding, “It could really answer to the prayers of people.”
“I was able to communicate with all these people of any ages, of different religions – they are all praying for a real ceasefire,” Ortiz said.
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By Swing en 4
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By Swing en 4
A Pakistani asylum-seeker, initially arrested in Germany as a presumed suspect in the Berlin truck attack, says he was subjected to physical and mental abuse, according to a Guardian report. The German Police have fiercely denied the allegations.
Naveed Baloch, a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Balochistan, one of the poorest provinces of Pakistan, told the Guardian he was only detained by police because he ran across the road near the Breitscheidplatz, the public square in central Berlin where the truck attack took place.
READ MORE: Berlin truck attack cut short due to vehicle’s automatic emergency brakes – media
He was leaving his friend’s house on the evening of December 19 and increased his pace as he saw a car on the road heading in his direction.
“I then realized it was a police car,” Baloch said. “I stopped when they beckoned to me, and showed them all the ID I had on me.”
At first, officers let him go, but within seconds called him back, handcuffed him and forced him into the car. Throughout that night, Baloch was blindfolded and taken from “one police station to another place” about 10 minutes away. Two police officers dug the heels of their shoes into his feet and put pressure on his neck – treatment apparently given to high-risk terrorist suspects.
The men then undressed Baloch and took photographs of him.
“When I resisted, they started slapping me,” he recalled. Investigators were quick to accuse the asylum seeker of carrying out the attack, interrogating him with prompts like: “Someone took a vehicle and drove it into a crowd killing many people. And you were behind the wheel of that truck, weren’t you?”
Knowing nothing of the truck attack that killed 12 people, Baloch told the interpreter that “I cannot drive at all ... neither can I even start a vehicle.” He added the conversation was awkward because the police interpreter did not speak his native Balochi, but Punjabi and Urdu, languages he could barely understand, according to the Guardian.
Meanwhile, the Berlin Police indignantly denied the allegations. “It is completely false, what they (the Guardian) wrote,” Winfrid Wetzel, head of the press office of the Berlin Police, told the Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung.
“Today we talked to the person concerned and he was stunned about the article." Though Naveed B. confirmed that he talked to two journalists, he stated that there was no interpreter present during the conversation, only his acquaintance who spoke his language a little. “He told us, ‘They put words into my mouth. I was neither beaten nor badly treated.’”
At the time, German authorities told media they are confident that the Pakistani man was behind the attack. On December 20, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere gave more details, saying that Baloch had come to Germany in February via the so-called ‘Balkan route’ and was still waiting for his asylum application to be processed. The man in question, the minister said, denied all charges.
However, following de Maiziere’s remarks, Berlin police began to cast doubt on Baloch’s involvement in the terrorist attack. Later in the day, Chief Klaus Kandt said that it was not absolutely clear if the Pakistani was actually behind the wheel of the truck.
Shortly afterwards, a high-ranking Berlin police source told Die Welt: “We have the wrong man. And this is a new situation. The actual perpetrator is still at large and armed, and could inflict more damage.”
Although Baloch repeatedly told officers he fled Pakistan because of “death and war” and came to Germany, which treats people “like my mother,” he was only given tea and biscuits over two days and one night in custody. He was also forced to sleep on a wooden bed without a mattress, with his hands cuffed behind his back on the first night.
Finally, he was released from custody, while another man – a Tunisian national Anis Amri – was identified as an actual perpetrator.
“They explained to me that because I had run across the road when they picked me up, they had reason to believe I might be a criminal. I told them I understood,” Baloch told the newspaper.
READ MORE: ‘Signs’ Berlin attack suspect passed through Netherlands on way to Italy – police
Now, Baloch must keep a low profile and stay in a hideout provided by the police for the next two months, The Guardian reported. He has to inform the police every time he steps outside, and does not know what the future holds because of his immigration status. At home in Balochistan, he says, his family may face oppression from security services because he was once member of an opposition group that wants the region to secede from Pakistan.
In the meantime, anger is mounting in Germany as to how Amri, who was known to police long before the attack, managed to evade the pursuit and traveled all the way to Italy via the Netherlands and France. The suspect, believed to be a sympathizer of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) was shot dead by Italian police last week in the outskirts of Milan during a short exchange of gunfire.
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By Swing en 4
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By RubeNuno