Fun4U: December 2017

Sunday, 31 December 2017

In memoriam: Entertainment and arts figures we lost in 2017

A look back at some of the arts and entertainment figures who died in 2017.

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The future of international justice

After the end of the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, will wider worldwide justice be done?

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Protests hit Tehran, two demonstrators reported killed in Iran town

DUBAI (Reuters) - Street protests hit Iran for a third day running on Saturday, spreading to the capital Tehran with crowds confronting police and attacking some state buildings, and a social media report said two demonstrators had been shot dead in a provincial town.

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South Korea seizes another ship suspected of transferring oil to North Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday.

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Earthquake rattles Athens, no immediate reports of damage

ATHENS (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary reading of 4.6 rattled Athens and central Greece early Sunday, witnesses said, with no immediate reports of damage.

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Special Report: Meet the force behind Zimbabwe's 'Crocodile' president

HARARE (Reuters) - His wife is a beauty queen, his troops unseated Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, and his motorcade is fit for a president. General Constantino Chiwenga, head of the armed forces until earlier this month, is on a roll.

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Probe into deadly fire at U.S. firm’s Philippines offices focuses on possible safety lapses

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - A government investigator into a blaze that led to the deaths of 37 staff at the southern Philippines offices of an American market research firm says there are indications of fire safety lapses that may have contributed to the tragedy.

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Christians in shock after deadly attack on Coptic Church in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - At an hour that Sama'an Farag usually spends leisurely sipping his morning tea, the doorman at the Mar Mina Coptic Church near Cairo found himself springing up to close the doors upon hearing gunshots and the sound of ricocheting bullets.

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Merkel eyes social cohesion as she presses for new government

BERLIN (Reuters) - Conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure after three months of failing to form a new ruling coalition, on Sunday vowed to address growing social divisions as she worked rapidly to build a stable German government.

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Turkey's Erdogan to discuss Syria with Macron in Paris - source

PARIS (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will visit Paris on Jan. 5 to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, with the conflict in Syria high on the agenda, a source in the French president's office said on Saturday.

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Greek government applies for cancellation of asylum granted to Turkish soldier

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Greek government said on Saturday that it had filed a request for the cancellation of the asylum granted to a Turkish soldier accused of involvement in last year's coup attempt.

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Blaze in Manchester apartment block brought under control

LONDON (Reuters) - Firefighters battled a blaze in an apartment block in central Manchester, northern England, on Saturday, with one person taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

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New top story on Hacker News: Creating believable crowds in Planet Coaster

Creating believable crowds in Planet Coaster
164 by tnolet | 11 comments on Hacker News.

Christian Group Helps Ethiopian Jews Make Aliyah to Israel

Eighty-two Ethiopian Jewish immigrants landed at the Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv last week, bringing to 1,200 the total number of Jews from the East African nation relocated to Israel by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

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Australia Recruiting Christians Around the World to Pray in the New Year

Christian leaders in Australia are inviting people around the world to pray at sunrise on New Year's Day.

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Operation Blessing Bringing the Gift of Clean Water to Parts of Liberia

Operation Blessing International is providing hundreds of people in Liberia with a much-needed gift -- a reliable source of water.

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President Trump Offers His Condolences in Wake of a Coptic Christian Church Terror Attack

At least 10 people, including eight Coptic Christians, were killed after unidentified gunmen opened fire outside a church in a south Cairo suburb, Egypt’s Health Ministry spokesman said Friday. It was the latest attack targeting the mostly Muslim country’s embattled minority.

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Putin: Supermarket Bombing Was a Terror Attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday's bombing at a St. Petersburg supermarket was a terror attack, adding that another attack had been thwarted.

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ISIS Claims Attack on Kabul Shiite Center, 41 Dead

At least 41 people have been killed and another 84 are seriously hurt after a terror attack Thursday in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul.

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Watchdog Group Blasts UN for its Most Evil Actions

The United Nations is being called out for what one watchdog group calls the world body's top "evil actions" of the year.

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Explosion at Russia's St. Petersburg, 10 Hurt

Russian news reports say at least ten people have been injured by an explosion at a supermarket in St. Petersburg.

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China's Christians Won't Let the Government Stop Them From Teaching Kids About Jesus

Churches in a city in southeastern China have been forced to find other ways to teach their kids about religion since the atheist Communist Party has tightened restrictions on faith education and warned against Christianity's influence.

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Alexander Downer: the gaffe-prone conservative and unlikely anti-Trump hero

A photo of the former Australian MP wearing fishnet stockings already ensured political immortality

He is the current champion of anti-Trump supporters and American liberals, but Alexander Downer’s elevation to international hero may prove more than amusing for many Australians.

A former foreign affairs minister in the conservative Howard government, Downer, known privately for his sense of humour, became best known for agreeing to pose for a photo wearing a pair of fishnet stockings and high heels for a charity promotion in 1996.

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Trump aide told Australian diplomat Russia had dirt on Clinton – report

George Papadopoulos spoke to high commissioner Alexander Downer at London bar in May 2016, catalyzing FBI investigation, New York Times reports

The FBI reportedly launched its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election after George Papadopoulos, then a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, told an Australian diplomat that Moscow had damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

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Erica Garner, Black Lives Matter activist, dies aged 27

Daughter of Eric Garner was in hospital for a week after a heart attack
Bernie Sanders and Bill de Blasio among those to pay tribute

The Black Lives Matter activist Erica Garner has died, after a week in hospital following a heart attack. She was 27. Garner was the daughter of Eric Garner, a man who died in a police chokehold in New York in 2014.

Among tributes, Senator Bernie Sanders said that although Garner “didn’t ask to be an activist, she responded to the personal tragedy of seeing her father die … by becoming a leading proponent for criminal justice reform and for an end to police brutality”.

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Hippy dream now a billion-dollar industry with California set to legalise cannabis

The state that is the world’s sixth biggest economy will legalise cannabis on New Year’s Day – and expects a boom time for jobs and investment

While Arctic conditions gripped America’s north-east, balmy sunshine bathed Los Angeles last week – but that was not the only reason denizens of the Venice boardwalk were feeling mellow. An astringent, earthy aroma infused the Pacific zephyrs wafting through the buskers, joggers, skateboarders, tourists and panhandlers.

“Weed is part of the culture here,” said Oni Farley, 30, perched on a sandy mound, watching life go by. “It’s part of the LA/California scene, the laid-back vibe.” He ignored a police patrol car that inched through the throng. “I’ve blazed in front of cops and they don’t say anything. To be honest, most of the time I’m so high I don’t notice them.”

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Arrest made in case of Kansas man shot dead by police after hoax call

Andrew Finch, 28, shot on doorstep after call alleging armed incident
Incident may be result of ‘swatting’ prank linked to online gaming

A law enforcement official said police in Los Angeles had arrested a man they suspect made a hoax phone call, possibly linked to an argument over an online game, that resulted in a fatal police shooting in Kansas.

The official said 25-year-old Tyler Barriss was arrested on Friday but had no information on charges. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Troy murders: two men plead not guilty in deaths of women and children

Two suspects from Schenectady appear in court in Troy
Police chief of city on Hudson river had ‘never seen savagery like this’

Two men appeared in court on murder charges on Saturday, after two women and two children were found dead just before Christmas in their apartment in upstate New York.

Justin Mann and James White pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree murder charges in front of a judge in Troy, New York. Both were from nearby Schenectady. Mann appeared to break down as he was led out of court to return to the county jail, according to the local Times Union newspaper.

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Mickey Mouse and Jesus among write-in votes that helped sink Roy Moore

Controversy surrounding Roy Moore prompted the high number of write-ins – 22,852 in total – a margin that helped tip the election for Democrat Doug Jones

Votes for Mickey Mouse, football coach Nick Saban and “any other Republican” were among more than 22,000 write-ins in the Alabama Senate election the Democrat Doug Jones won this month by a little less than that number.

Early life

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Anti-sharia laws proliferate as Trump strikes hostile tone toward Muslims

Twenty-three bills have been introduced in 18 state legislatures this year to ban the practice of Islamic law – critics say the aim is to spread fear about Muslims

Anti-sharia legislation is spreading in state legislatures across the US, as Donald Trump’s hostile stance towards Muslims appears to be emboldening rightwing Islamaphobes.

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The top US feature stories of 2017: America off the beaten track

Guardian writers shone a light on, among other topics, friendly conspiracy theorists, urban regeneration, rural abandonment and mistaken identity

This year, Guardian feature writers went above and beyond to capture the essence of a year that left many on their knees. Political certainties were thrown out of the window, threats to our democracy found a new base, and inequality just grew and grew. But on the plus side, incredible stories were told.

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Russia collusion inquiry faces a big 2018 – but will Trump let Mueller finish the job?

The investigation is likely to produce further indictments and perhaps an interview with the president himself, but things are not certain to run smoothly

From his starting point in May through the end of 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted two former top aides to Donald Trump and made plea deals with two others, including the president’s former national security adviser.

Mueller’s work is almost done, the White House says – but almost no one else thinks that.

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HIV/Aids adviser says panel's sudden firing by Trump 'feels like retribution'

White House says dismissal of last members of advisory panel is routine, but fired adviser sees payback for opposition to Trump’s healthcare agenda

Donald Trump has fired the remaining members of his advisory panel on HIV and Aids, abruptly and without full explanation and drawing accusations that he is retaliating against activists and experts who oppose his healthcare agenda.

The White House has countered that such moves are typical when one administration takes over from another.

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Trump warns: no deal to protect Dreamers without cash for border wall

President says any deal must be paired with funding for controversial wall
Democrats in Congress insist wall alongside border with Mexico is a non-starter

Donald Trump demanded on Friday that any deal to resolve the fate of young undocumented migrants must be paired with funding for a wall along the southern US border.

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Alabama certifies Doug Jones Senate victory as Roy Moore challenge fails

Republican backed by Trump alleged voter fraud and sought new vote
Judge turns down request as state officials confirm Democratic win

Doug Jones was formally certified as the winner of Alabama’s US Senate election this month, as the state ignored a last-ditch legal challenge by the Republican Roy Moore.

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Vanity Fair under fire for urging Hillary Clinton to quit politics and knit instead

The magazine posted a series of videos suggesting satirical New Year resolutions for Clinton and Sarah Sanders, among others, drawing ire across the internet

Vanity Fair became embroiled in a social media storm over a video in which Hillary Clinton was urged to quit politics for knitting – an attempted joke that backfired even before it drew a bizarre tweet from Donald Trump.

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Some joy for the business world in 2018: but quite a few fears too

Predictions for the global economy next year are positive, but our writers also foresee a rise in inequality, and some sectors facing significant problems

The consensus view among economists is that the global economy will put in a strong performance in 2018, carrying on its strong momentum from 2017. However, that does not mean that every sector and every company will have a trouble-free year. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary will need to repair staff relations, jobs will leave the City of London and inequality will widen. Our financial and economic specialists predict the big stories in 2018.

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VW is raising its profits forecast. Has it cleared the air over dieselgate already?

The company’s resilient sales have created a platform for it to overcome the disgrace of manipulated emissions tests

After a bruising two years, there are signs that Volkswagen is overcoming the damage to its reputation, and finances, wrought by revelations that it had cheated on emissions tests.

In November, the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer said it would post record vehicle deliveries this year and higher annual profits. VW, which also owns Porsche, Audi and Bentley among other brands, said it expected to sell more than 6 million Volkswagens this year, boosted by a strong performance in China, Europe and the US.

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2017's top business stories: Whole Foods, hackers and a giant rabbit

Our most-read stories of the year also include Ryanair flight cancellations, Jamie Oliver closures and that Bank of England Brexit forecast

The rich got richer and the poor piled on more debt as shockwaves from the Brexit vote continued to reverberate in 2017.

Billionaire George Soros dismissed Donald Trump as a “con-man”, while Britain’s biggest chicken supplier was revealed to have been fiddling its food safety records.

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Global markets end on record high after adding $9tn in 2017

Brexit talks progress and Trump tax cuts fuel boom as even fears of war in North Korea, upheaval in Europe and bitcoin bubble fail to dampen spirits

Global stock markets have ended 2017 on record highs, gaining $9tn (£6.7tn) in value over the year due to a strong worldwide economy, President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and central banks’ go-slow approach to easing financial support.

The FTSE 100 hit a new peak in London, with an all-time closing

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Trump's tax changes to blow a $5bn hole in Goldman Sachs profits

US ‘repatriation tax’ on overseas earnings to be the biggest cost factor in fourth quarter, says investment bank

Goldman Sachs has said Donald Trump’s radical US tax changes will knock about $5bn (£3.7bn) off its profits this year.

The investment bank said most of the cost would come from Trump’s “repatriation tax” designed to encourage multinationals to bring back the trillions of dollars they hold overseas to avoid tax.

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Donald Trump has just started on his aim to be the only game in town | Bryan Armen Graham

US sport – from NFL to basketball and Olympic skiing – is caught up in actions of a president unafraid, and determined, to change the rules

Sports and politics have always existed at a very public intersection in the United States, but you would be hard-pressed to recall a time when the illusory firewall keeping them apart was more nakedly exposed.

Over the past year Trump has co-opted American sports as not merely a proxy battle in the culture wars that reflect a country’s deep divides but the primary theatre. It is fair to say there was no more influential sports figure this year than the president, whose bellicose rhetoric and crisp volume counterpunching have had far-reaching effects on the industry (ask Papa John’s) and compelled sports people, in a sharp break from the “Republicans buy sneakers, too” indifference of a previous generation, to speak on social issues with a frequency and ardour not seen since the high water mark of athlete activism of the 1960s, when champions such as Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar risked their livelihoods to stand on the frontline of the civil rights movement.

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Tiger Woods 'very optimistic' about 2018 but remains unsure over schedule

American ‘encouraged’ by his return at the Hero World Challenge
Woods reveals he struggled to walk and get out of bed during his lay-off
Appearance at Genesis Open in February is his only planned date

Tiger Woods says he is “very optimistic about 2018” following his successful return to the golf course earlier this month.

The American, who turns 42 on Saturday, recorded three sub-70 rounds out of four at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas before announcing his intention to compete regularly in 2018.

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Mikaela Shiffrin agonisingly misses out on another World Cup victory

American finishes third in Lienz giant slalom, 0.08sec behind winner
Olympic champion retains her giant lead in the overall standings

Mikaela Shiffrin ended the year with yet another podium finish on Friday to retain her sizable lead in the overall Women’s World Cup standings.

The American Olympic giant slalom champion finished third in Lienz, Austria, 0.08sec behind winner Italian Federica Brignone. Viktoria Rebensburg, of Germany, was second, 0.04sec off the pace.

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LeBron to Philly and Tiger roars back: our bold sports predictions for 2018

On the heels of a sports year with no shortage of surprises, Guardian US contributors make their bold predictions for the months to come

Here are our bold predictions for 2018. Please note the bold (or should that be bold?) in bold predictions – these are to be taken with a pinch of salt. Especially the Tebow one.

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Donald Trump: the Grinch who turned Christmas into a political battleground

Pre-Trump, when someone wished me a Merry Christmas I was pleased – now I wonder if they’re making some sort of passive-aggressive statement

I celebrate Christmas, but the cards I send out every year say “Happy Holidays”. I never considered this a political statement, just a statement of fact – the people I’v mailed well-wishes to celebrate all sorts of different things, and so my greetings reflect that.

Any controversy over Christmas always felt like a Fox News conspiracy theory; but this year the president of the United States is claiming some sort of victory in an imaginary war against the most popular and well-represented holiday in the country. And it left me feeling a bit bah-humbug-ish.

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The year of Trump has laid bare the US constitution’s serious flaws | Jonathan Freedland

I once wrote a hymn of praise to the achievements of the founding fathers. There’s still much to celebrate – but their inspirational vision needs an urgent update

There’s a million things to love about Hamilton, the musical that has opened in London to reviews as glowing as those that greeted its debut on Broadway. The lyrics are so ingenious, so intricate and dexterous, that the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, has a claim to be among the most exciting writers, in any medium, in the world today. Rarely have I seen an audience delight in the tricks and rhyming pyrotechnics of language the way I saw a preview audience react to Hamilton a fortnight ago.

As I say, there are countless other pleasures. The staging is inventive, the melodies memorable and, by having black and minority ethnic actors play Alexander Hamilton and his fellow founding fathers, the musical instantly offers a powerful new take on America’s tragic, enduring flaw: race. But it was the idealism of the show – which venerates Hamilton and George Washington and unabashedly romanticises the revolution that birthed the United States of America – that struck a particular chord for me.

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The Guardian view on quantum computing: the new space race | Editorial

The main use of quantum technology might not be to hack existing systems but to create unhackable communication networks of the future

The Washington Post’s columnist David Ignatius moonlights as a pacey novelist. His latest book, The Quantum Spy, is a thriller that touches upon the space race of our times: the great power contest to develop a quantum computer, able to work so fast that it can crack today’s uncrackable codes. Such a machine would be revolutionary. Modern e-commerce depends on encryption to protect confidential information. It is used to authenticate our identities and ensure the integrity of the data. To be able to break such codes would expose us all. Ignatius’s fiction is grounded in fact: the US National Institute of Standards and Technology thinks that within 15 years the first quantum computer will emerge to defeat the most prevalent forms of encryption.

However, cryptography remains a game of cat and mouse between codemakers and codebreakers. As fast as one group creates codes, another tries to break them. Unbreakable ciphers sometimes fall short. “Post-quantum cryptography” already exists, even before quantum computers do. Earlier this year academics suggested, controversially, that they had solved the maths to make “quantum-resistant” the main cryptography used on the internet. The main use of quantum technology might not be to hack existing systems but to create unbreakable protection for communication networks of the future. China claims to have launched such a network this year.

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Trump’s tax plans: why liberals can smile (ironically) | Emma Brockes

Those who believe in higher taxes will finally get them – though only to give the richest a break

The last week of the year in New York was one of arctic chill, a giant penis mural and people calling in to radio shows to freak out about the Trump tax plan. All week, NPR (National Public Radio) has emitted an unremitting stream of low-level panic as New Yorkers try to come to terms with the massive tax overhaul which, for them and millions of other Americans, will almost certainly mean a higher tax bill next year.

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17 things I won't miss about 2017

From Harvey Weinstein to unicorn lattes and ‘millennial pink’, here are all the things I’ll be waving a grateful goodbye to as we head into the new year

It was a popular opinion that 2016 was an awful year in terms of geopolitics, celebrity deaths, and the planet being ravaged by greed, online idiocy and so on. But then 2017 came along and clambered atop the podium. Here are just a few of the things we’ll be glad to see the back of going into 2018.

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How I divorced Islamic State

The ex-wife of an American leader in the Islamic State group describes her journey out of extremism.

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Our social lives have become echo chambers. Time to get uncomfortable | Brigid Delaney

Issues in 2017 seemed just too hot and the stakes too high for robust debates at dinner parties. Should we start breaking bread with our political enemies?

We all agree some liberals can be boring and you wouldn’t want them at your dinner party.

After all, they might be going through a vegan phase because they saw some documentary about factory farming on Netflix, which distressed them. Or when you want to talk about your investment portfolio and how well it’s doing, they bring up blood diamonds, or divesting from companies using Wilson Security or child smokers in Indonesia.

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Nerves of steel: High up on China's power lines

Workers on some of the highest electricity cables in the world give a new meaning to "power walking".

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Iran protesters voice opposition in Iranian cities

Demonstrations that began in one city on Thursday have now spread to several major cities in Iran.

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The litter-shaming photographer cleaning up her country

Ina Makosi takes pictures of models in places covered in litter around Dakar to encourage local communities to pick up their trash.

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'I just want to see my mum'

Deen Mohammed Noori, a Rohingya, goes from Bradford to a refugee camp in Bangladesh to see his mum.

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Parents prank daughter with joke Christmas present

Parents of a Lorde fan turned her request for concert tickets into a joke that delighted social media.

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Vin Diesel named 2017's biggest box office draw

Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot top a list of 2017's top-grossing actors.

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Teenage kicks

Teenage environmentalist Autumn Peltier will speak in front of the UN General Assembly this spring.

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2018 and Brexit

What are the key dates and developments to watch out for as Britain and the EU move forward?

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Justice denied?

After the end of the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, will wider worldwide justice be done?

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Shared shame

The case of Tyler Haire, a 16 year old locked up for years without trial, reveals a deeper problem.

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The Chef Who Sprinkled Some Joy—and Salt—on 2017

Shauna Lyon writes about the Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, a.k.a. Salt Bae, who sprinkled some joy on 2017.

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The best science long reads of 2017 (part two)

The second part of our selection of the best science and environment reads this year.

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“Swatting” Suspect In Wichita Shooting May Have Done Same Prank To KABC-TV

A Los Angeles man arrested in the so-called “swatting” shooting death of a Wichita, Kansas man may have played the same prank on a local television station. “Swatting” is a hoax tactic used to get special police units to respond to alleged hostage situations. A false story is given, provoking a mass police response to a location. Tyler Barriss, 25, was arrested in Los Angeles Friday on suspicion of making a hoax phone call to Wichita police, claiming a hostage situation…

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Golden Globes Security Will Be Heightened For 75th Anniversary Show

The Golden Globes show is getting a major security upgrade from the Beverly Hills police department for its 75th anniversary show, set for Sunday, January 7 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Citing the number of event attacks this year – which have included the Ariana Grande concert bombing and Las Vegas mass shooting at a country music festival, to name two entertainment-related events – there will be additional staff and security at the Globes, even though…

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‘Last Jedi’, ‘Jumanji’ Propelling 2017 Box Office To $11B+ Year – AM Update

Writethru Saturday AM following Friday 11 PM update: The final weekend of the year will bring 2017 to a close with an estimated $11.11 billion at the domestic box office. That’s the third-best domestic year ever and the third time in a row that the U.S./Canada ticket sales have clicked past the lofty mark of $11 billion. 2017 is apt to be nickels behind 2015’s $11.13 billion total and 2.5% behind last year’s all-time record of $11.4 billion. These are rough estimates…

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British Kids TV Business Handed $80M Boost To Fund The Next ‘Peppa Pig’

The British kids TV industry has been handed an $81M boost to fund the next Peppa Pig and Teletubbies – money that will be available for SVOD services including Netflix and Amazon, commercial broadcasters such as ITV and Channel 4, as well as the BBC. The government will fund up to 50% of the production and distribution of new kids shows as part of the deal, which will help stem the declining business, which has seen spending fall by $74M over the last ten years. Spending…

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‘White Famous’ Canceled After One Season At Showtime

It’s the end of the road for Showtime’s White Famous. The premium cabler has opted not to go forward with a second season of the half-hour comedy toplined by Saturday Night Live alum Jay Pharoah. Based on Jamie Foxx's personal experiences coming up in the business, White Famous hailed from Californication creator Tom Kapinos, director Tim Story and Foxx, who was a recurring guest star. It focused on a talented, young African-American comedian, Floyd Mooney (Pharoah)…

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Notes On The Season: January Awards Mania Begins; Elisabeth Moss & Diane Kruger Find New Success In Foreign Film Contenders

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit. Although the town is its usual uber-quiet self during this week between Christmas and New Year's, the earlier than ever dates for the January deluge of awards shows is providing no vacation time for those event planners. The last parade float will be turning the corner in Pasadena just as it’s time to get the real party started. This includes a no-rest-for-the-weary January 2nd date for the annual Palm…

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