LeBron James wants to play in NFL
LeBron James said he wants to play a game in the NFL in a wide-ranging question and answer session with fans on Twitter Friday night.
Saying he'd answer questions for 15 minutes around 11:30 p.m. ET, the Miami Heat star stayed online for 50 minutes.
Questions were all over the map -- from basketball to video games to best friends. For the record, James answered "NBA 2k14, Madden 25 and COD" to his favorite video games and "@SavannahRB My wife" to his best friend.
Someone asked James if he would consider playing one pro football game.
"I wanna play one NFL game before it's over," said James, who did play football in high school.
In response to a question about Dwyane Wade's status, James said: "He's going to be great!! He's back."
James also lamented that Mike Miller is no longer with the Heat.
"He's awesome! Still sucks that he's gone. Memphis has a great one," he said.
The Heat did add to the roster, however, signing former No. 2 pick Michael Beasley, who has had off-court trouble in the league. James was asked about his relationship with Beasley.
"Great! I love him. Misunderstood. He can flat out hoop," James said.
Asked which players have been hardest for him to cover, James responded: "Melo, KD, Kobe, DRose, CP, DWade, TMac."
He was also asked if he likes or hates being compared to Michael Jordan.
"It's tough being compared to the greatest but I love challenges," he said.
Time trial confusion in Carib Champs
Participants of Saturday’s time trial at the Caribbean Cycling Championships (CCC) will have to wait more than 24 hours to learn their fate.
“Sunday at the award ceremony the official results will be posted,” read an advisory posted on the event’s Facebook page.
It is believed that the delay stems from an alleged discrepancy in the women’s time trial that has been brought to the attention of organisers.
But this has yet to be confirmed.
Representing Bermuda in the women’s time trial were Nicole Mitchell and Zoenique Williams while Shannon Lawrence was the Island’s sole entry in the men’s event.
The women’s time trial took place on a 16.7 kilometre course and the men on a 36.1 kilometre course.
Today’s event was held in sweltering conditions with participants having the added burden of riding into the wind on the way to the finish.
Bermuda coach Greg Hopkins gave his riders’ performance the proverbial thumbs up, in particular senior duo Mitchell and Lawrence.
“I thought Nicole had a very good, solid ride,” he told The Royal Gazette. “ She really kept her form throughout the whole ride, especially coming back.
“ It was a hilly, a very strong head crosswind on the way back to the finish on the second half and she rode it very well I thought.
As for Lawrence, Hopkins added: “Shannon had a much longer time trial and the second half of the route out was quit exposed and the wind conditions had a tremendous effect but he was obviously riding extremely well.
“He passed three riders on the way out to the turnaround and then he did go through a patch where he appeared to be in difficulty on one of the bigger hills when he was clearly having some problems with his right leg.
“ But he stuck in there and then settled down again and started to pick up the pace again and pass another two riders on the way in.”
The CCC continues tomorrow with the road race featuring all five of Bermuda’s riders.
The top eight finishers in the men’s race and top six among the women will qualify for next year’s Central American & Caribbean (CAC) Games in Mexico.
Representing Bermuda in the men’s road race are Dominique Mayho, Darren Glasford and Lawrence.
Mitchell and Williams will fly the island’s banner in the women’s event.
There are 110 cyclists from 20 countries competing in this year’s championships.
Wealthy Luxembourg Holds Early Elections
Europe's longest-serving leader faces a tough test Sunday as voters in Luxembourg go to the polls.
Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who has been in power since 1995, hopes to keep the job and lead a new government headed by his Christian Social People's Party.
Luxembourg is one of the world's smallest countries, but it is also one of the richest.
The elections, which had been scheduled to take place next June, were moved up following a scandal involving misconduct by the the secret service. A coalition partner of Mr. Juncker's ruling party withdrew support from the prime minister, insisting he take responsibility for the scandal.
Several parties are running in Sunday's elections.
Big Bank to be Penalized Big Dollars
The largest bank in the United States has tentatively agreed to pay $13 billion in fines, penalties and consumer relief to settle several investigations into bad mortgage loans it allegedly made.
JP Morgan Chase and the U.S. Justice Department still have to finalize the deal, which also requires the bank to cooperate with a continuing criminal probe into the bank's mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial meltdown.
The settlement would represent the largest penalty ever paid by a single company. The $13 billion total would include $4 billion in aid for struggling homeowners, such as loan modifications.
A number of federal and state regulators claim that JP Morgan Chase misled investors about the quality of the mortgages it was selling between 2005 and 2007 When the so-called housing bubble burst in 2007, investors in those mortgages lost heavily.
The bank has set aside at least $23 billion in reserves to cover settlements and legal expenses related to its actions before and after the financial crisis.
Al-Shabab Militants Claim Responsibility for Deadly Somalia Bombing
The militant Somali group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Saturday that killed at least 15 people in western Somalia, near the border with Ethiopia.
An al-Shabab statement said the attack targeted a cafe in the city of Beledweyne where soldiers gathered, and said the dead included Ethiopian and Djibouti troops as well as Somali soldiers.
Somali Prime Minister Abid Farah Shirdon said the attack occurred near a government administrative facility, and that local intellectuals and civic groups had met nearby for the past week to debate the future of the targeted Hiiraan district. He did not provide an exact death toll, which militants placed at 25.
Beledweyne official Bashir Hussein Dhoor told VOA's Somali service that at least seven civilians were among the dead.
The attack came four weeks after a sweeping Shabab attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, which killed nearly 70 people and brought international attention and widespread condemnation to the militant group.
Al-Shabab rose to regional prominence as a nationalist movement fighting the 2006 U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. The group eventually controlled large parts of the country, until driven into the countryside by the African-Union-led peacekeeping force AMISOM in 2011 and 2012.
Earlier this month, the United Nations said more military force was needed to push the militants from their remaining rural strongholds.
UN Aid Chief Pleads For Access to Besieged Syrians
The United Nations' top humanitarian official is urging both sides in the Syrian civil war to allow aid workers access to thousands of civilians trapped in one of several besieged suburbs ringing the capital, Damascus.
Valerie Amos on Saturday called for an "immediate pause in hostilities" to allow access for medical and other rescue personnel into Moadhamiya. Government troops have laid siege to the mostly rebel-held town for months.
Last week, more than 3,000 civilians, mostly women and children, were able to leave Moadhamiya in a deal brokered between government and opposition representatives. But the U.N. official said Saturday that "the same number or more remain trapped" in the community, which has been the frequent target of shelling and clashes.
In another sign of Syria's growing misery, the World Health Organization said it had detected two possible cases of polio in the eastern Deir Ezzor province. If confirmed, they would be the country's first known cases since 1999.
Meanwhile, world leaders continued to push for a peace conference in Geneva next month.
The U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, on Saturday met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy and is due to hold talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Sunday.
In other news, a Syrian activist group said at least 16 soldiers were killed in a suicide car bombing and ensuing clashes with rebels outside Damascus.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front carried out Saturday's suicide attack.
Meanwhile, nine Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria and two Turkish pilots held hostage in Lebanon returned home Saturday night, part of an ambitious three-way deal cutting across the Syrian civil war.
The conflict in Syria has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions more since it began in March 2011.
Italy's Berlusconi Faces 2-year Ban from Public Office
An Italian court has ruled that former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, convicted of tax fraud, should be barred from holding public office for two years.
However, Saturday's ruling against Berlusconi — a current senator — will have no immediate effect, until a vote in the upper house of parliament in coming weeks on whether to expel him from the Senate.
In August, Italy's Supreme Court turned down the media tycoon's second and final appeal against the tax fraud verdict, upholding his first definitive conviction after many years of legal challenges.
The 77-year-old Berlusconi, one of Europe's richest men, is not expected to be imprisoned for the tax fraud case. His four-year sentence has already been reduced to 12 months under an amnesty that his former government pushed through for crimes committed before 2006.
He is reported to have requested to serve that term in community service.
Separately, Berlusconi faces a seven-year prison term and a lifetime political ban after his conviction earlier this year of paying a minor for sex and then forcing officials to cover it up. Italian law allows two appeals of such convictions, and neither has yet been adjudicated.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Brahimi Pushes for Syria Peace Talks on Egypt Visit
The U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria is in Cairo as part of a regional tour aimed at garnering support for a peace conference in Geneva next month.
Lakhdar Brahimi met Saturday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy. He is due to hold talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Sunday.
The so-called "Geneva Two" conference would be aimed at establishing a transitional government to run Syria and prepare it for democratic elections.
After holding talks with Brahimi about a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has "lost the legitimacy to be a cohesive force" that can unite people. Kerry said it is imperative to get the Geneva conference organized by a mid-November target the United Nations has set.
In other news, a Syrian activist group said at least 16 soldiers were killed in a suicide car bombing and ensuing clashes with rebels outside Damascus.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front carried out Saturday's suicide attack.
The blast went off at a checkpoint between the rebel-held area of Mleha and the pro-government town of Jaramana, which is populated by Christians and Druze.
Syria's state-run SANA news agency also reported the attack.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said nine Shi'ite pilgrims from Lebanon kidnapped last year in Syria have been freed as part of a negotiated hostage deal.
The conflict in Syria has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions more since it began in March 2011.
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING AFFECTS TCI
FifA World Cup Trophy travels to the Turks & Caicos on Sunday October 13th, 2013.
After a successful launch at the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, with a bird’s eye view of the iconic Estádio do Maracanã, the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola jetted off to start its international tour by visiting Tahiti, Fiji and Vanuatu. With 3 of 89 countries having already welcomed the trophy, it’s now time to set off on the Caribbean leg of the tour.
In true superstar fashion, the most sought after symbol of football will have at its disposal it’s very own branded plane! This plane will now carry world football’s most coveted trophy and the global Trophy Tour team all over the world, with the final destination set to be back in the FIFA World Cup host country to start its domestic tour.
The trophy has just left the BVI on the 10th, the Dominican Republic on the 11th-12th and unto the TCI on the Sunday the 13th, 2013 before heading to Dominica.
The Turks and Caicos Islands occupy the very lower reaches of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and have never made a significant impact on the qualifying stages of the FIFA World Cup™, usually tumbling out of the CONCACAF scene in the early rounds, it is hoped that the magic of the spirited trophy will leave it’s legendary mark on the TCI harnessing the growth of football among our residents.
According to Sports Watch hosts, “the fact that the trophy has come to the TCI means there is hope through the coverage of TCI one day qualifying for Concacaf then onto the World Cup.” The TCI fell short in qualifying in the preliminary rounds for South Africa 2010 & Brazil 2014.
The TCI High Schools & Primary Schools does not have football in their sports curriculum but with small clubs & the TCIFF there could be changes in the future.
The Coco-Cola sponsored event will see kids taking photos with the trophy as well as a special presentation in the morning with dignitaries when the jet lands at the Provo Air Center.