December 2019

Fiji Miss Out On Dubai Sevens Last-Eight For First Time

December 6, 2019 4:27 pm

Olympic champions Fiji failed to make the quarter-finals of the Dubai Sevens for the first time on Friday, agonisingly missing out on points difference in their pool.

Fiji finished third in Pool A behind France and Argentina despite all three sides winning two matches apiece to finish on seven points.

However, France ended top with a points difference which was one better than Argentina at +28 with Fiji on +14.

Fiji’s hopes were dashed with a 24-21 loss to Argentina, who made the most of a yellow card handed out to Vilimoni Botitu with Matias Moroni scoring the winning try …

Uber Reveals Thousands Of Reported Sexual Assaults In US

December 6, 2019 3:58 pm

Ridesharing leader Uber, under fire around the world for its safety record, said it had tallied nearly 6,000 sexual assaults in the United States over the past couple of years.

That included more than 450 cases of rape, according to Uber’s first public report into the issue Thursday, which counts attacks by both passengers and drivers over 2017-18.

It also revealed 19 fatal assaults related to the company over the two-year period, when it averaged more than 3.1 million trips each day in the United States.

Sexual assaults were reported on 0.00002 percent of trips, Uber calculated.

“While these reports …

Amid Impeachment Turmoil, HBO OKs Watergate Series

December 6, 2019 3:58 pm

US cable channel HBO on Thursday green-lit the production of a new limited series based on the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon, starring Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux.

The two actors — HBO veterans — will also executive produce “The White House Plumbers,” which is to be written by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, who scripted the network’s award-winning comedy “Veep.”

The announcement comes as Washington is again in the throes of an impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump, some 45 years after Nixon resigned to avoid a certain trial before US lawmakers.

“Veep” alumni David …

4 Dead After US Jewelry Heist Leads To Carjacking, Shootout

December 6, 2019 3:54 pm

Two armed jewelry thieves trying to escape the scene of their heist on Thursday hijacked a delivery truck, took its driver hostage, then led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a deadly shootout, authorities in the US state of Florida said.

Four people were killed in the gunbattle on a busy street — the two suspects, the driver of the United Parcel Service truck, and a bystander, FBI agent George Piro said.

The events began as two armed suspects robbed a jewelry store in Coral Gables, near Miami, late Thursday afternoon, Piro said.

“As the suspects left …

China’s Single Women Seek Sperm Donors Overseas

December 6, 2019 3:53 pm

Looking at page after page of childhood photos, Xiaogunzhu was drawn to an image of a French-Irish boy with smiling dark blue eyes.

But she was not admiring her lover’s family album, she was browsing a catalogue of potential sperm donors — the 39-year-old is one of an increasing number of affluent single women in China that are seeking a child, but not a husband.

Unmarried women in China are largely barred from accessing sperm banks and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, forcing them to seek options abroad.

Her choice made — donor #14471 on the website of a Californian …

France Braced For Second Day Of Stoppages As Strike Bites

December 6, 2019 3:53 pm

France was on Friday preparing for a second day of travel cancellations and school closures as unions warned there would be no let-up in the strike called to protest planned pension reforms.

The first day of a strike, seen as a major test for President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious vision of reforming France, saw giant rallies across the country coupled with walkouts that paralysed transport and closed schools.

Friday was set to follow a similar pattern, with almost all high-speed train services cancelled, most of the Paris metro system shut down and hundreds of flights set to be axed.

AFP
…

Man City Flex Financial Muscle To Leave Man Utd Behind

December 6, 2019 3:51 pm

The balance of football power in Manchester has swung comprehensively to City from United on the field and the Premier League champions are now on the verge of toppling their neighbours in the financial stakes as well.

Despite failing to hit the heights of their past two title-winning campaigns, City host United on Saturday already 11 points ahead of their local rivals just 15 games into the league season.

The Red Devils sit sixth, eight points adrift of the Champions League places, and facing a huge fight to get back into that highly lucrative competition next season.

As City try …

Six Months Of Sacrifice: Hong Kong’s Protesters Take Stock

December 6, 2019 3:51 pm

Some of them have lost their jobs, suffered life-changing injuries and even fled overseas. But six months into Hong Kong’s demonstrations, pro-democracy protesters say they aren’t backing down.

The unprecedented movement was born on June 9, when an estimated million people took to the streets to protest a proposed bill allowing extradition to mainland China.

With Beijing taking a hard line, it has since broadened into a call to halt authoritarian China’s attempts to erode freedoms in the city.

Six months on, the Beijing-backed government has offered few concessions and protests have turned increasingly violent, exacting a heavy toll.

AFP/File
…

Banks Gave $745 Billion To Groups Planning Coal Power Plant

December 6, 2019 3:51 pm

Financial institutions have channeled $745 billion over the past three years into companies planning new coal-fired power plants, according to a report by environmental groups, who are urging global banks to stop financing the sector.

The report’s release comes as world leaders met this week in Madrid for a 12-day UN climate summit, where they are expected to hammer out some of the details of the 2015 Paris agreement.

They face increasing pressure to step up their commitments on fossil fuel reduction after a major UN report last year warned global warming must be capped at 1.5C and the global …

Anti-Vaxxer Arrested As Samoa Battles Measles Epidemic

December 6, 2019 3:50 pm

Samoan authorities warned Friday that anti-vaccine propaganda would not be tolerated, after a social media campaigner was arrested for opposing a mass immunisation drive aimed at containing the Pacific nation’s deadly measles epidemic.

At least 63 people, mostly children, have died since the outbreak began in mid-October, with the crisis blamed on so-called “anti-vaxxers” convincing parents that immunisations were dangerous.

Samoa was on Friday enduring its second day of a lockdown as government and aid workers spread out across the nation of 200,000 people to vaccinate as many as possible.

But Communications Minister Afamasaga Rico Tupai said anti-vaxxers spreading …

China To Exempt ‘Some’ US Soybean, Pork From Tariffs

December 6, 2019 3:49 pm

China will waiver tariffs on “some” imports of US soybean and pork, it said on Friday, in the latest sign of easing trade tensions between Beijing and Washington as they try to finalise a partial trade pact.

The world’s two biggest economies have exchanged blows for more than a year, with levies now imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade.

The olive branch comes as the two sides edge towards a mini agreement Washington says includes a Chinese promise to increase the purchase of US farm products. It is also just before a fresh round of …

Italian Sports Daily Blasts ‘Lynching’ Over ‘Black Friday’

December 6, 2019 2:43 pm

Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport has described the backlash over its controversial “Black Friday” headline as a “lynching”.

The front-page headline accompanied an article about the first Serie A meeting between former Manchester United teammates Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling.

“Who are you calling racist? Lynching of a newspaper that for a century has defended liberty and equality,” read the headline of Friday’s newspaper.

Inter Milan striker Lukaku and Roma defender Smalling face off at the San Siro on Friday as the northern side look to maintain top spot in Serie A.

Both players have condemned the headline …

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