Spectre wasn’t the best of the franchise, but it had enough muscle and the trademark Bond class. Ten years as Bond took a lot out of him. He grew tired of it and did not think he could pull off another outing. He almost quit, but Bond Producers convinced him for the fifth installment of his solo franchise. And it’s really good that Craig returned for it and got a legendary exit....
“I was never thinking of leaving Test cricket at all. I was just to find a way to rest a little bit throughout the year,” de Villiers said. “Lots of thoughts have been crossing my mind but this [defeat] has got absolutely no influence on that.” “Playing on the cricket pitch has never been an issue for me, it’s just a matter of keeping myself fresh. It’s really tough to stay on top of your game if you play up to 12 months a year....
Abbas (3-26) struck three times without conceding a run after Pakistan declared on 181/6, Imam-ul-Haq top-scoring with 48 as the tourists were set a highly unlikely 462 to win. Khawaja and Aaron Finch combined for a century stand in the first innings before an almighty collapse left Australia deep in the mire and there was a sense of deja vu on Wednesday. The openers put on 87 in a positive partnership, but Abbas – who took 4/29 when Australia folded on day three – dismissed Finch (49) before removing brothers Shaun and Mitchell Marsh without scoring....
La Albiceleste have a point from two matches and they are under pressure to perform against the Super Eagles, amidst alleged insinuations all is not well between the players and coach Jorge Sampaoli. Biffo, however, warns Gernot Rohr’s side to concentrate on their preparations rather than getting carried away by issues emanating from the South American giants’ camp. “I don’t think the report of disharmony in the camp of the Argentines should concern us or make us become jubilant because it may just be a ploy to make us be carried away ahead of the tie,” Biffo told Goal ....
That doesn’t mean Stritch always shows her divine self off to its best advantage. One of the most hilarious stories in “At Liberty” involves an audition for a sitcom back in the 1980s. It seems that Stritch has a habit of inserting a certain four-letter word (see above) into her lines to spice things up. That may play fine in New York, but the folks at NBC were not amused....
Srinivasan, who is spearheading India’s claim for a higher percentage of the ICC’s global revenues, rubbished suggestions that the BCCI and its two key allies, Cricket Australia (CA) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), are planning to take over world cricket. Srinivasan said the proposed restructuring in the ICC is aimed at making the world body more financially stable and a more inclusive organisation. The draft proposal, which is still objected by some of the member countries was presented during ICC Board meeting in Dubai Jan 29....
To be clear, SpongeBob isn’t the kind of sponge you use to wash dishes. “That’s a cellulose sponge,” Hillenburg says. “Sponges are a colonial animal, which basically means they’re a bunch of cells who work together in order to survive.” Do they have a brain or a heart? “No,” he says, patiently. “They have no nervous system. The behavior is, they sit and siphon water.” Fortunately for us, SpongeBob’s got a little more going on....
Kidnapping incidents, 1999 Columbia: 972 Mexico: 402 Former: U.S.S.R. 105 Brazil: 51 Philippines: 39 Nigeria: 23 India: 17 Ecuador: 12 Venezuela: 12 South Africa: 10 Total kidnapping incidents in the 10 riskiest countries 1999: 1,644 1998: 1,573 1997: 1,391 1996: 1,295 1995: 666 1994: 447 1993: 484 1992: 683
The player, Daniel Farid, was the state junior champion and had been included in the Bangalore team for the Indian Badminton League. Banga Beats – for that is the name of the Bangalore team – had an introduction ceremony on Tuesday at a five-star hotel and there was a sizeable media contingent. The team was introduced and small talk made, and as an afterthought, the MC asked Farid’s mother, Nirmala, to speak a few words....
ELLISON: Oh, I guess the fact that I’m an American citizen or a civilized person living on the planet Earth. Two things. One is that we have a standard [for national identification] in terms of technology. Credit cards are much harder to counterfeit than a driver’s license, which is our standard government-issued ID. There’s just no comparison. Some credit cards have pictures and a place for your signature and a little magnetic strip with information....
There is a lot of healing to be done. We have almost forgotten that this little boy had the horrendous experience of watching his mother drown. I have not interviewed Elián, but my 40 years of working as a child psychologist with children and parents strongly suggests that Elián has not yet had the chance to deal with the emotional cost of her death. Living with people who were nearly strangers, in a house that was constantly surrounded by chanting, singing crowds, could only compound his confusion....
For the most part, Total War Troy is a lot like other Total War games. Players will have to take control of a single faction and its commanding hero and lead their people to victory. The campaign centers around the battle between the Danaans (Greeks) and Trojans in the battle laid out in the Illiad and concluded in the Odyssey. There are several new mechanics to learn, one of which is how the game is won....
Beirut still haunts the Marine Corps, perhaps even more than Vietnam. But Johnston, now 55 and a lieutenant general in command of the First Marine Expeditionary Force in Somalia, seems well suited to ensure that it won’t happen again. Officers who’ve served under him say he’s a first-rate tactician and diplomat made to order for this mission. “All his skills will come together for Somalia,” said one former aide. “He’s the right guy in the right place....
Our country may be founded on the proposition that all men are created equal, but their lives aren’t worth the same to Kenneth Feinberg, the special master of the Victim Compensation Fund created by Congress to compensate those injured or killed in the September 11 attacks. The above are estimates of how much Feinberg’s fund is preparing to pay the families of victims who died, based on rules his office released last week that included a jarring chart showing the “presumed” award for people with different incomes and family circumstances....
Quite an understatement. Though they welcomed him as an ardent supporter of Israel, many in the audience at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference were wary of DeLay’s view on a host of social issues–he’s pro-life, anti-gay-rights, pro-voucher, pro-gun, pro-school-prayer. Nor are they fond of his occasional declaration that what America needs most is more Christians in office. “Some would argue that it’s a mistake for Jews to get into bed with the religious right,” said Jess Hordes of the Anti-Defamation League....
This deal has generated much more buzz than larger corporate takeovers (such as AT&T’s pending $88 billion purchase of BellSouth) because it’s the biggest going-private deal in history. The price–about $21.5 billion for HCA’s shareholders, plus the assumption of about $11.7 billion of debt–tops the legendary $31 billion “Barbarians at the Gates” buyout of RJR in 1989. That’s the deal in which Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. won a spectacular bidding war that ended about the time the junk-bond market, which had provided cheap money for such deals, began melting down....
Stretched flat on his 48-inch luge, Duncan Kennedy will see only his toes. The laws of wind resistance require him to burrow into his gurney of a sled. But he can’t fly blind at 75 mph, so he will pick up his head a few centimeters from the horizontal, steer with a flick of his calf or shoulder and seek to slide as fast as he can see. As a reward for her two medals, speed-skater Bonnie Blair carried the U....
Still, even with so much diva-tude in the room, no one outshines the Queen Bee. Lil’ Kim strolls in wearing her favorite outfit–next to nothing–and the brown-girl fest is in full effect: hugs, kisses, admiring glances at new outfits, nail colors and weight loss. They discuss canceling flights and appointments to ensure the party goes on all night. On the set, Missy and Mary yell “We love you, Kim!” in unison as they watch her, in see-through body stocking and five-inch stilettos, dancing seductively into the camera and spitting such lines as “So why you hating on me and my crew?...
With only one Championship to pursue, it further narrows the field of possible winners. Hot new stars with momentum might not have the same chance as in the past when both RAW and SmackDown had major titles. Last year’s match was won by part-timer Brock Lesnar, leading to the title unification at WrestleMania 38. With so many deserving full-time stars on the roster, it essentially canceled out any championship opportunities on the Road to WrestleMania....
