Man Utd to sign former Barcelona goalkeeper
Former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has accepted an offer to join Manchester United.
The Spain international, who has been training with United in his bid to recover from a serious knee injury, has agreed an 18-month contract.
Valdes, 32, won six La Liga and three Champions League titles with Barcelona, before leaving at the end of last season when his contract expired.
The deal could lead to reserve keeper Anders Lindegaard leaving Old Trafford.
It also poses a question about the future of 24-year-old first-choice goalkeeper David De Gea, who was the club's player of the year last season and has excelled again this term.
His contract is due to expire in 2016, although senior United sources have said they were relaxed about him signing an extension to that deal.
Source-BBC
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali released from hospital
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has been released from a hospital after being admitted last month with a severe urinary tract infection.
The three-time world heavyweight champion, a cultural icon, is back home after being discharged on Tuesday night, a family spokesman said.
Bob Gunnell said the 72-year-old had made a full recovery and his family thanked everyone for their support.
Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, after quitting boxing.
He appeared in public at a ceremony in September in his hometown of Louisville for the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards.
The name of the hospital where Ali was treated has not been disclosed.
Source-BBC
OPPOSITION SERIOUSLY CONCERNED OVER HIGH COST OF FUEL STILL
Leader of the Opposition the Honorable Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson voiced her concerns today over the high cost of fuel impacting Turks & Caicos Islanders.
The Leader in her release states the following:
With the steady plummeting of the price of fuel over recent months and today’s release that the price of oil has fallen below $50 a barrel for the first time since 2009, we are concerned that we are not experiencing or seeing a significant savings or reduction in costs at the pumps and also in the provision of electricity.
While we understand the multi - port handling and the cost of transportation to the islands, we are certain that the price should have been positively impacted by now. In the absence of large storage facilities, the lowered costs should have by now been reflected and passed on to the consumer. And so, we believe that there should have been significant reductions in fuel costs by now.
There is no doubt that the cost of fuel which includes the government’s tax of $1.00 per gallon contributes to the high cost of living and doing business in these islands. There can only be significant benefit to our country’s economy if the providers would pass on their savings.
Nonetheless, we are publicly calling on merchants to share their savings with the customers. This can only help the economy which in turn will benefit us all.
The Opposition will continue to visit these merchants this week in an effort to make representations in this area.
Two linked to the TCI sworn in as Counsel & Cabinet Minister in the Bahamas
Among the new Bahamas Cabinet Ministers and Queen’s Counsels sworn in were two with links to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Hon. Arnold A. Forbes, Member of Parliament for Mount Moriah, was announced yesterday as the new Minister of State in the Ministry of Works & Urban Development as of Monday January 12. Forbes, who served as the Chairman of BAIC or the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, has ties to Grand Turk.
The other, son of the South Caicos soil, attorney at law based in Freeport, Grand Bahama: Maurice Glinton. Glinton, was among the eleven named as now Queen’s Counsel attorneys by the PM of the Bahamas and sanctioned by the Governor General, Her Excellency Marguerite Pindling.
Source-Magnetic Media
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine sued over Beats/Monster headphone partnership
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine are being sued by a former business partner who co-designed their Beats headphone range.
Noel Lee, whose firm Monster helped launch Beats by Dre in 2008, says his company was betrayed and its technology "pirated".
He alleges he "lost millions" after Dre and Iovine "improperly took control" of Beats through a "sham" transaction.
After severing ties with Monster, Beats was purchased by Apple for $3 billion (£1.9 billion).
In legal papers filed in California, Lee alleges rap producer Dr Dre was barely involved in creating the headphones that carried his name.
But the range quickly became a highly desirable brand with celebrities and music fans, and Dre's endorsement was key to its success.
When the firm was sold to mobile phone manufacturer HTC in 2012, Dre and Iovine made $100m (£66m) each, Forbes estimated.
But Lee claims the deal forced him to cut his share in the company from 5% to 1.25%. He says he then had no other option but to sell his remaining stake for $5.5m (£3.6m) near the end of 2013.
His legal case describes the HTC deal as "fraudulent" and "a sham" intended to shift ownership of Beats to Dre and Iovine.
HTC later sold its shares back to the Beats.
Lee says if he'd still had his 1.25% stake, he would have received more than $30m (£19.8m) in the Apple deal.
His original 5% stake would have been worth around $150m (£99m).
A statement from Monster's law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy says that Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine "made millions off the work of Monster and Lee, while the plaintiffs lost millions".
There's been no response yet from Dr Dre's lawyer - or from Beats.
It's the second lawsuit against the firm since Apple bought it last year.
The first was brought by the Bose Corporation over patented technology for cancelling noise in earphones.
That case was settled under undisclosed terms in October.
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine are also being sued by David Hyman, who sold his music streaming service MOG to Beats in 2012.
That court case, filed shortly before the Apple deal was sealed, is taking place now in Los Angeles.
Jimmy Iovine is the co-founder of Interscope Records, a rap music pioneer that branched out to include acts like Lady Gaga and U2.
Source-BBC
Cuba ‘frees US-listed prisoners’
The Cuban government has released some of the 53 political prisoners on a US list, the state department has said.
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington hoped to see all those on the list released soon but did not specify who was now free.
Signalling a historic shift, last month US President Barack Obama ordered his administration to start re-establishing normal relations with Cuba.
This month Cuban and US officials will meet in Havana.
“They have already released some prisoners… Obviously we would like to see this completed in the near future,” Ms Psaki said.
“This list is not to be seen as the end of our discussion on human rights with the government of Cuba.”
Critics of President Obama have raised concerns about human rights abuses in Cuba.
Senator Marco Rubio, a leading critic of the president on the Cuba question, called for the postponement of this month’s talks until political prisoners in Cuba are released.
Senator Rubio and other Cuban-Americans members of Congress have argued that Mr Obama’s change of policy could provide legitimacy and money for Havana while it still continues to violate human rights.
He said he and others would seek to slow or block moves towards normalising ties with Cuba.
The Congress is expected to hold hearings on President Obama’s Cuba policy in the first weeks of the new Congress, which was sworn in on Tuesday.
Source-BBC
Beyonce and Jay-Z Blasted for Taking Picture With a Baby Tiger
Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z's picture with a baby tiger angered a wildlife expert. Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach of the World Animal Protection blasted the power couple after a photo featuring them and their daughter Blue Ivy petting the animal during a family vacation in Thailand emerged online a few days ago.
In a statement, Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach of the World Animal Protection reminded the "Drunk in Love" collaborators that "a tiger is not a plaything. Their health and well-being should not be sacrificed for a photo opportunity."
Schmidt-Burbach went on accusing the duo of supporting "an industry that relies on animal cruelty." He continued, "Many tourists unwittingly contribute to the suffering of wild animals like these. They're simply not aware that their 'once in a lifetime' photo means a lifetime of misery for that animal."
He added that animals used by tourist in their photographs "are often crammed into tiny cages or chained to the floor for long periods. They are also forcibly removed from their mothers to be fed artificially by tourists. All in all a far cry from their natural lives in the wild. But this sordid side of tourism is conveniently hidden from public view."
Beyonce and Jay-Z's camp hasn't yet commented on Schmidt-Burbach's statement. The pair, along with their daughter, have been enjoying their holiday in Southeast Asia. Bey has been Instagramming pictures of her and her family visiting some famous spots in Thailand and Cambodia.
Source-AceShowbiz
12 dead in attack on Paris newspaper
Masked gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people before escaping. It was France's deadliest terror attack in at least two decades.
French President Francois Hollande called the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which has frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims, "a terrorist attack without a doubt" and said several other attacks have been thwarted in France "in recent weeks".
France raised its security alert to the highest level and reinforced security at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Top government officials were holding an emergency meeting and Hollande planned a nationally televised address in the evening.
A witness who works nearby, Benoit Bringer, told the iTele network he saw multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons at the newspaper's office in central Paris. The attackers went to the second floor and started firing indiscriminately in the newsroom, said Christophe DeLoire of Reporters Without Borders.
"This is the darkest day of the history of the French press," he said.
Luc Poignant, an official of the SBP police union, said the attackers left in a waiting car and later switched to another vehicle that had been stolen.
Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre confirmed that 12 people were killed in the attack.
Video images on the website of public broadcaster France Televisions showed two gunmen in black at a crossroads who appeared to fire down one of the streets. A cry of "Allahu akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great"— could be heard among the gunshots.
The extremist Islamic State group has threatened to attack France and minutes before the attack Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a satirical cartoon of that extremist group's leader giving New Year's wishes. The cartoon entitled "Still No Attacks in France" had a caricature of an extremist fighter saying "Just wait — we have until the end of January to present our New Year's wishes".
Charlie Hebdo has been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and other controversial sketches. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after a spoof issue featuring a caricature of the prophet on its cover. Nearly a year later, the publication again published crude Muhammad caricatures, drawing denunciations from around the Muslim world.
Wednesday's attack comes the same day of the release of a book by a celebrated French novelist depicting France's election of its first Muslim president. Hollande had been due to meet with the country's top religious officials later in the day.
Source-AP
The LaFerrari FXX K
Just when you thought Ferrari’s naming conventions were as weird as possible, say hello to a car that’s inseparable from innumerable vulgar jokes. The Ferrari LaFerrari FXX K represents the pinnacle of the automaker’s race engineering, insofar as “regular” owners are concerned. As with previous –XX cars, the FXX K is a track-only beast that will help Ferrari fine-tune its racing technology. But, unlike other models, the FXX K will pull at the very strings that comprise our four-dimensional universe, threatening to warp space-time in a way that we may never recover from.
Okay, maybe we’re going a bit over the top in that description, but seriously, the FXX K (K standing for “KERS,” which is an acronym to describe its hybrid powertrain) is one hell of a vehicle. Ferrari starts with a normal LaFerrari and turns everything beyond the “max” setting on whatever dial the automaker has in hand. Instead of 789 horsepower coming from the car’s V-12 engine, there are now 848 ponies on tap. The electric motor’s juice has been upped, as well, raising output from 160 horsepower to 187. That means the FXX K sports a net 1,035 horsepower.
That’s FXX K’ing ridiculous!! But it doesn’t end there..
A quick glance at the FXX K’s exterior lets you know that this car is built for some very serious applications. The front end is sharper and more aerodynamically aggressive, and the rear has a pair of winglets that look like they’ve been borrowed from a defunct NASA program. The standard road tires are ditched in favor of racing slicks, and 15-inch brake rotors hide behind the FXX K’s lightweight wheels. All that fancy bodywork contributes to a 50-percent increase in downforce, which is necessary when you’re pulling lateral-g numbers that might nauseate some greenhorn astronauts.
In order to keep its buyers from putting the FXX K into a wall, Ferrari also updated the electronic differential, traction control, anti-lock brakes, and SSC (Side Slip-Angle Control) with several threshold levels, which can be adjusted to suit the driver’s taste and experience level by turning a dial on the steering wheel.
The FXX K continues Ferrari’s rich tradition of using its best-heeled customers as test subjects for its racing program. Basically, Ferrari retains possession of the vehicle, and when it comes time to give the owner his or her car to drive on track, Ferrari will ship it to the track, along with an entire team of professionals, including engineers and mechanics. Owners don’t really own the car so much as have a professionally-prepped race team at the ready.
And, best of all, the FXX K only costs $30,000. Just kidding — it’s so expensive that Ferrari doesn’t even say the price. You probably can’t afford it. We definitely can’t afford it. Thankfully, the FXX K poster for your bedroom wall will only cost a small fraction of that number, whatever it is.
Source-Web2Carz
Weather for January 7th,2015
GENERAL SITUATION: A DIFFUSED FRONTAL BOUNDARY CONTINUES TO EXTEND ACROSS THE EXTREME NW BAHAMAS AND WILL REMAIN STALLED THROUGH TONIGHT.
FOR THE NW BAHAMAS
WEATHER: A MIX OF SUN AND CLOUDS AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW SPOTTY SHOWERS TODAY. TURNING MILD TONIGHT WITH A BRIEF SHOWER OR TWO POSSIBLE.
WINDS: NE-E AT 10-15 KNOTS. FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT TIMES.
SEAS: 2-4 FEET.
FOR THE TCI
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY, WARM AND A BIT BREEZY ACROSS THE SE BAHAMAS WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW PASSING SHOWERS TODAY. FAIR AND MILD TONIGHT.
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 10-15 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND NEAR 15 KNOTS IN THE SE BAHAMAS.
SEAS: 2-4 FEET IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND 3-5 FEET IN THE SE BAHAMAS.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMP: 84°F 29°C OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP: 73°F 23°C
SUNSET: 5:35PM SUNRISE: 6:56AM WED. MOONRISE: 7:10PM
MOONSET: 8:24AM WED. LOW TIDE: 2:50PM HIGH TIDE: 8:41PM
LOW TIDE: 2:44AM WED. HIGH TIDE: 9:01AM WED.
EXTENDED FORECAST: A STRONGER REINFORCING COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO THE TCI & THE BAHAMAS LATE WEDNESDAY WITH STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING ACROSS THE ISLANDS IN I’TS WAKE.