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And Aby is looking forward to working with one of the biggest names in Welsh rugby. |
“I’m very excited, very, very positive, and it’s a great challenge for me personally to work alongside Clive and I’m sure he’ll help my development immensely,” he said. |
The first game for Gogledd Cymru under Griffiths will come in little more than a month when Leicester Tigers Development XV make the trip to Eirias Park on Friday, January 15. |
And with the introduction of 10 professionals from Canada who will join the Gogledd Cymru ranks only a week before their first match, Griffiths is sure to look to Aby for some local knowledge. |
“I’m sure Clive will want to speak to me about what’s happened over the last three years,” Aby added. “Getting to know players and getting to know what’s happening in the club system with the players is all about both of us having ideas and working together as a team, a strong team as it’s been said. |
“I’ve met Clive before, I met him when he was coach at London Welsh and I was playing in England. |
With each Star Wars release, the Force is growing weaker for Disney and Lucasfilm in China. |
Solo: A Star Wars story may have been a keen disappointment in North America, earning just $148.9 million in its first 10 days — solid for most film franchises; sad by Star Wars standards (The Last Jedi brought in more in its opening weekend alone). But in the massive China market, soon to be the world's biggest box of... |
The Star Wars franchise's difficulties in China are well established. The Force Awakens started things off respectably, if somewhat below forecast, earning $124 million in 2016. Rogue One declined by nearly half to $69 million, despite co-starring Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, two of China's biggest stars. Rian Johnson's T... |
"The franchise is really losing traction," says James Li, co-founder of Beijing market research firm Fanink, which provides tracking for all major Hollywood releases in the market. "It's now stuck in a vicious cycle, so to speak," Li adds. The question, then, is whether it's even possible for Disney to turn things arou... |
The source of Star Wars' challenges in China are also well documented by now. The original films in the franchise, coming long before China was a force at the global box, never received a wide release in the country. Young Chinese filmgoers have thus tended to find Disney's new installments a rather confusing chore, th... |
"There are some hard-core fans in the big cities who understand Star Wars culture," says Jimmy Wu, CEO of Lumiere Pavilions, a prestige theater chain with more than 30 cinemas spread across the country's largest urban centers. "But among youngsters — especially in the third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities — there is ju... |
Solo appears to have worsened matters by failing to even excite China's Star Wars devotees. "The positioning pleased neither the fans nor ordinary people who are franchise newcomers," says Li, noting that Fanink's prerelease tracking indicated audience awareness was far below average for a Hollywood blockbuster. "That'... |
With the Star Wars brand somewhat tarnished among the Chinese mainstream, Disney now faces several seemingly intractable dilemmas. Given that China is just two to three years away from becoming the world's biggest film market, the studio has a strong incentive to do everything in its power to build a legacy for its mos... |
"If the audience connection to the central franchise isn’t building generally with each successive film release, marketing leverage diminishes," says Rance Pow, president of the Shanghai-based cinema consulting firm Artisan Gateway. |
Adds Li: "At this stage, building awareness and interest will require serious education cost, and it will have to be budgeted and pursued consistently over the long term, outside of the individual film releases." |
Regarding the future films themselves, there are few easy answers. Given the passion of Star Wars fans in North America and much of the West, cutting down on the references and Easter eggs, and tailoring the films to be more newbie-friendly in China could come with considerable risks. |
"China is perhaps the most important international market from the major studio perspective, but it is still a single market in an industry that measures success in global terms," explains Pow. "The growing audience differences between the major global markets are well documented — building a Star Wars franchise for Ch... |
Analysts agree that casting more Chinese actors could help, but it also carries risks. The performances of Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen in Rogue One were widely praised for adding to the enjoyment of the film for audiences everywhere, but U.S. and Chinese filmgoers are primed to view financially inspired story and casting ... |
"Casting Chinese stars can be a helpful supporting factor, but it's still not as important as attraction to the story and it really needs to be done right," adds Li. |
However Disney decides to approach the puzzle, it can take some solace in the fact that Star Wars is perhaps its only real sore spot in the surging Sino market. After all, one of the holdover titles that trounced Solo in China was the studio's own Avengers: Infinity War, the biggest foreign import in the country this y... |
Adds Pow: "In some cases China has been the savior of international box office, and in other cases the spoiler — we should expect more of the same for the foreseeable future." |
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) has expressed concern about allegations regarding the Chairman of the Board of Management at Central High School in Clarendon. |
The NPTAJ concern follows an announcement by the Ministry of Education yesterday that it has requested information on the status of a case before the courts pertaining to the chairman. |
The ministry was responding to calls for the removal of the board chairman on the grounds that he was allegedly appointed to the post while facing a criminal charge before the court. |
The NPTAJ said it is also concerned that the National Council of Education (NCE), an arm of the Ministry of Education, which is the body responsible for Board appointments and providing oversight, has been non-operational since May 31, 2018. |
“We remain steadfast as a body that politics should not be involved in the appointment of School Boards, NPTAJ said in a release. |
“We await the swift resolution of this matter to allow for the proper functioning of the school, and hope that the teaching/ learning process will not be negatively impacted during this period,” NPTAJ added. |
Six at Manchester City. Five at Liverpool. Six at Chelsea. |
The first time could have been a blip, the second one was careless, but the third was beyond pathetic. In the away games against the rest of the top four this season, Arsenal haven’t just beaten, they’ve been annihilated. There’s no other way of looking at it. |
The trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday was meant to be memorable, as Arsene Wenger reached 1000 games as the Arsenal manager. Tributes were paid to him before the game, and after the derby victory last weekend, fans were just daring, in the back of their heads, to dream of an unlikely double. |
If ever there was a game for the players to put in a performance for the manager, this was it. If ever there was a game for Wenger to finally beat Mourinho, this was it. |
However, just as they did in the abomination at Anfield, the first 20 minutes killed Arsenal. To be 3-0 down with ten men that early defied belief. The red card error from Andre Mariner was completely farcical, but it doesn’t hide the fact that Arsenal would still have been down to ten men regardless of who was actuall... |
A thousand games meant people were looking at the bigger picture in terms of what he has done for Arsenal Football Club. However, 24 hours later, and understandably, some people have been asking questions about his position. |
The past is great, but what is important is the present and the future. Wenger would acknowledge that himself, and it’s difficult to take comfort from the previous 999 outings when you've just been thrashed 6-0. |
Having grown up in the Wenger-era, I will never want Arsene to leave. After the game, he defended his players by saying he took full responsibility for the result, but, whilst he undoubtedly has to take some responsibility, I just can’t believe that he would have set up his team to put in such a lethargic performance. |
For a manager that puts so much faith and trust in his players, every man who went out in the red and white on Saturday should be embarrassed and ashamed of the way they let Wenger down. |
Questions about transfers, or the lack of them in certain positions, are fine. But the team Arsene Wenger selected on Saturday was more than good enough to compete with Chelsea and at least make the match a close encounter. |
The comparisons with Mourinho are inevitable, and it’s hard to compete with the argument about the Portuguese manager being a winner after his team have pummelled Arsenal 6-0. However, I’d still much rather have the wiry Frenchman represent my club in the dug-out than Mourinho. |
For all that football is about results, fans are still irrational. Mourinho gets results, but give me the class of Wenger any day. |
The result was baffling as this Arsenal team is, apparently, different this season. They’ve ground out some tough results, won some big games in the cup run and have seemed like an all-round stronger unit. But the continual capitulation in big games is unforgivable. |
How a team of quality players and top professionals can collapse so dramatically is beyond mere mortal supporters like me. Wenger has to find an answer to why this hat-trick of hammerings has happened. With his contract unsigned and due to run off at the end of the season, it’s not inconceivable that these three nails ... |
There’s no time for Arsenal to feel sorry for themselves. Even with the league title realistically out of reach, the next week is vital for the players to restore some trust from the fans and repay the man who trusts them most. Wenger has his faults, but that performance from the players wasn’t the way to mark his 1000... |
Games 1001 and 1002 have to better, although they can’t really be any worse. However, I also said it couldn’t get any worse after the defeat at Anfield, and look how that turned out. |
Chelsea: Could The Blues Pip Man United & Arsenal To Marchisio? |
Arsenal: Is Wenger’s Greatest Strength Also His Greatest Flaw? |
respectively, from last October's forecasts. |
financial stocks driving the index lower. |
International Tbk PT shed 1.5 percent. |
real estate and financial stocks. |
PTT PCL rose 2.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. |
Sat., Oct. 7, 2017, 8:50 p.m. |
James Woods still isn’t entirely sure how the end of his acting career came to be announced on Friday by a real estate reporter for a local newspaper in Rhode Island. |
But he’s pretty sure it’s his own fault. |
He is not, even if the starring villain of “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984) and “Ghosts of Mississippi” (1996) is better known these days for “Family Guy” cameos and his ultra-political Twitter feed. |
After nearly 50 years in Hollywood, with various Emmy awards and Oscar nominations to his name, the actor has, by age 70, also accumulated a good number of houses. |
He owns several properties in Rhode Island, including a vacation home beside a lake in Exeter that was put on the market this week for $1.39 million. |
Before driving up to the lake this week, Woods went to breakfast with his real estate agent, Allen Gammons, to devise a marketing pitch. |
“We did a little interview,” Woods recalled, and then patched Gammons into his phone call with the Post for the details. |
“You said you want to simplify by having less property as you go toward retirement,” Gammons said. |
The real estate agent read the draft to Woods over the phone before sending it out. The actor was driving at the time, and more interested in the photos. |
These details also came from the news release. |
When he learned that he had apparently retired, Woods said, he was tempted to leave the story uncorrected to find out what would happen. |
“Who would care if I were?” he wondered. |
The Hollywood press soon answered his question. Within hours, entertainment sites swooped in on the “bizarre home listing,” as Deadline called it. |
On Twitter, where Woods writes much less about film than conservative politics, fans lamented the news while non-fans mocked him for it. Had he not retired decades ago, some quipped. Others wondered when he would “retire” from social media, where the actor regularly attacks liberal causes and what he sees as left-wing ... |
Woods watched his bogus retirement played out online, but never debunked the report until the Post tracked him down on Saturday. |
In truth, he said, it was funny. |
That said, the actor stressed that he’d be happy to act again – if and when a worthy role comes along. |
In his 70s, he said, he’s hoping to star in an upcoming film about the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church – not playing a villain this time around, but a gay protagonist. |
But that movie has yet to be financed. |
In the meantime, Woods said, any apparent dry stretch in his resume is due to his own choosiness, not his retirement – and certainly has nothing to do with antiquing. |
Published: Oct. 7, 2017, 8:50 p.m. |
A couple of years back, Pakistani YouTubers were not making as effective content as they are making today. Just in a short span of time, our YouTube industry has groomed a lot with some impressive content coming out now. These YouTubers are not doing it as a hobby but for them it is a full-time profession and a way of ... |
TAIMOOR SALAHUDDIN AKA MOOROO — Mooroo is perhaps the most talented Pakistani YouTuber. He is a singer, a writer, a composer, a very good actor, a director and a sketch artist as well. Currently, his YouTube channel enjoys around 402,329 Subscribers. He is richly famous for his vlogs and his singing abilities. His firs... |
IRFAN JUNEJO — this man is perhaps the most famous vlogger of Pakistan. He was the one who started this trend and now he is considered to be one of the best in the business. Currently, he has a total of 485,254 Subscribers on YouTube and this number is increasing with every passing day. His unique style of making a vid... |
RAZA SAMO AKA AWESAMO SPEAKS — this boy from Larkana who dropped out from his university in his seventh semester has finally made his way to YouTube. With his unique style of speaking and extremely funny sense of humour, Samo has gained a huge fan following in a very short span of time. He is basically famous for his r... |
DUCKY BHAI — when it comes to roasting on YouTube, Ducky Bhai is hands down the best. He gained a lot of limelight after his controversy with Sham Idrees. But more than the controversy, it was his talent and unique style of roasting which gained him huge success. His channel has a total of 808,072 Subscribers and is in... |
(CNN) As the Northeast endures its fourth nor'easter in three weeks, winter-weary residents are wondering what's behind the weather chaos. |
Evidence is mounting that the answer could lie in the rapidly melting Arctic. |
A study released last week in the scientific journal Nature Communications ties extreme winter weather, specifically major snowstorms in the northeastern US, to warming Arctic temperatures. |
The study, from Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) and Rutgers University, zeroed in on US cities and looked at how severe winter weather, extreme cold and heavy snowfall related to conditions in the Arctic during and before the storms. |
The results found that major winter storms were two to four times more likely when the Arctic is abnormally warm, compared to when it was abnormally cold. |
This connection was especially strong for locations in the eastern third of the US, while the Rockies and locations on the West Coast showed a weaker or even opposite relationship. This includes many of the most populated cities in the country, including New York City and Washington. |
List of US cities where extreme winter weather was analyzed in the study. |
It seems counterintuitive that a warming Arctic and melting sea ice would lead to colder, snowier winters in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere -- but the "warm arctic, cold continents" theory has been a hot topic in climate research for the past several years. |
A recent snow storm in Morristown, New Jersey. |
While other studies have looked at seasonal time scales and shown some correlation over the past couple of decades, this study looked at daily data to attempt to find a stronger connection. |
"Because we could perform analysis on over 6,000 data points in comparison to less than 30 data points in previous studies we could show a much more robust (and statistically significant) relationship between a warm Arctic and increased severe winter weather in the mid-latitudes," Judah Cohen, director of seasonal fore... |
And while other studies showed a relationship in temperatures, Cohen believes this study is first to show increases in heavier snowfall as well. |
"As far as I know, for the first time we show that a warmer Arctic is also more favorable for heavy snowfall," Cohen said. |
Examining the data also revealed that major cold air outbreaks and heavy snowfalls occurred more frequently in mid to late winter, when the abnormally warm air was found to extend all the way up to the upper atmosphere and likely disrupt the jet stream. |
Recent winters have seemed to follow the same script. |
"Five of the past six winters have brought persistent cold to the eastern US and warm, dry conditions to the West, while the Arctic has been off-the-charts warm," added Cohen's coauthor Jennifer Francis, a professor at Rutgers University. |
"Our study suggests that this is no coincidence. Exactly how much the Arctic contributed to the severity or persistence of the pattern is still hard to pin down, but it's becoming very difficult to believe they are unrelated." |
This has certainly been the case this winter, with the "Beast from the East" that brought massive snows and frigid temperatures to Europe and the incredible string of strong nor'easters hammering the US East Coast -- although this study only covered the years 1950 to 2016. |
Freezing weather conditions dubbed the "Beast from the East" brought snow and sub-zero temperatures to the UK. |
"The publication of the paper is especially timely given the extreme winter of 2017/2018: record warm Arctic and low sea ice, record-breaking polar vortex disruption, record-breaking cold in both the US and Europe, disruptive snowfalls in both the US and Europe, severe "bomb cyclones," costly nor'easters," Cohen said. |
Cohen also provided the following graph, which shows "that winter of 2017/2018 is a textbook case of what we wrote about in the paper." |
Time-series from the winter of 2017-2018 showing how warm periods in the Arctic relate to extreme winter weather events at the mid-latitudes. Image provided to CNN by Judah Cohen. |
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