Superstar golfer Tiger  Woods pleaded guilty today to reckless driving and agreed to  enter a diversion programme to settle a charge of driving  under the influence that began when he was found passed out in  his Mercedes.
Woods, 41, spoke only briefly during a hearing at a Palm  Beach County, Florida, courthouse that coincidentally is on  PGA Boulevard.
He answered the judge's questions about his plea  agreement with prosecutors but did not make any broader  statement.
In the diversion programme, Woods will spend a year on  probation and pay a USD 250 fine and court costs.
He also must attend DUI school, perform 20 hours of  community service and attend a workshop where victims of  impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged. The  judge indicated he had completed those requirements.
Since he was intoxicated with prescription drugs and  marijuana, according to court records, he will also be  required to undergo regular drug tests.
The judge warned Woods to stay out of ...

Tiger Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving, avoids jail

PTI Automatic

Fears of further bloodshed led  Kenya's election commission to postpone voting planned for  Saturday in some opposition strongholds, citing safety  concerns for staffers as deadly clashes continued between  police and protesters.
It was the second voting delay in four out of Kenya's 47  counties, highlighting the bitter divisions and political  uncertainty that have intensified after Thursday's repeat  presidential election, which was boycotted by supporters of  opposition leader Raila Odinga.
At least six people have died in violence linked to the  election, including a man who was shot and killed in the  Nairobi slum of Kawangware as security forces moved to quell  fighting between gangs from different ethnic groups late  today, according to police.
Earlier in the day, stone-throwing protesters in  Kawangware who support Odinga clashed with police who fired  tear gas and water cannon.
The rioters, some belonging to the Luo ethnic group,  looted shops and set fire to a kiosk owned by 

Kenya postpones voting in opposition areas after violence

Facing congressional scrutiny,  Facebook is taking new steps to increase transparency for the  people who see and buy political advertising on its site.
Company executives said today they'll verify political ad  buyers, requiring them to reveal correct names and locations  and to create new pages for every advertiser on the site.
Users will be able to click on the pages to see all of  the ads an advertiser is running.
Rob Goldman, Facebook's vice president in charge of ad  products, says the company will also build a publicly  searchable archive of ads.
The move comes after the company acknowledged it had  found more than 3,000 ads linked to Russia.
Three congressional committees are investigating Russian  interference in last year's election and have scheduled  hearings for next week.

Facebook announces more transparency in advance of hearings

Ford Motor Co's autonomous car  software and robotics subsidiary has purchased a laser  detection company.
The move by Ford-controlled Argo AI is another example of  automakers and tech companies assembling pieces to develop  self-driving vehicles in-house.
Ford announced today that Pittsburgh-based Argo had  purchased Princeton Lightwave of New Jersey for an undisclosed  price. The acquisition gives Argo expertise in laser systems  needed to guide cars through challenging conditions such as  bad weather.
Ford says Princeton was founded in 2000 to develop lasers  for the telecommunications industry. In 2003, it began work on  detection and imaging.
Earlier this month, rival General Motors bought Strobe  Inc, of Pasadena, California, to develop the next generation  of laser sensors.
Ford is testing self-driving vehicles with a goal putting  one in use by 2021.

Ford-controlled company acquires laser detection firm

Stores watching Amazon take a  larger share of clothing sales are trying to solve one of the  most vexing issues for online shoppers: Finding items that fit  properly.
The retailers are unleashing tools that use artificial  intelligence to replicate the help a salesperson at a store  might offer, calculate a shopper's most likely body shape, or  use 3D models for a virtual fitting room try-on.
Amazon, which some analysts say would surpass Macy's this  year as the largest US clothing seller, is offering some  customers an Alexa-powered device that doubles as a selfie-  stick machine and a stylist.
Retailers want to reduce the rate of online returns,  which can be up to 40 per cent, and thus make customers  happier, and more likely to be repeat shoppers.

Fit or miss? Retailers offer new tools to help shoppers

In her first public comments since  accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, actress Rose  McGowan said Friday she has been "silenced for 20 years" but  won't remain quiet about sexual assault and harassment.
McGowan, delivering opening remarks at The Women's  Convention in Detroit, thanked the audience "for giving me  wings during this very difficult time."
"The triggering has been insane, the monster's face has  been everywhere, my nightmare," she said.
"I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-  shamed, I have been harassed, I have been maligned, and you  know what? I am just like you. What happened to me behind the  scenes happens to all of us in this society. It cannot stand  and will not stand."
McGowan has been one of the leading voices against sexual  harassment in Hollywood, and tweeted earlier this month that  she was raped by a man with the initials "HW." The Hollywood  Reporter said McGowan confirmed she was referring to  Weinstein.
On Twitter, McGowan ..

Actress Rose McGowan says her silence over on sexual assault

A British newspaper says  entertainment mogul Simon Cowell has been hospitalized after a  fall at his London home.
The Sun says Cowell was taken from his house on a  stretcher and wearing a neck brace today morning.
It says the 58-year-old TV presenter is thought to have  fainted and fallen down the stairs. The newspaper reports he  is in a stable condition.
His representatives did not immediately respond to a  request for comment.
Cowell, creator of "America's Got Talent," is due to  appear as a judge on the new series of UK TV talent show "The  X Factor" on Saturday.

Report: Simon Cowell taken to hospital after fall at home

A Pennsylvania woman who beat and  tried to strangle her daughter for incorrectly reciting Bible  verses has been sentenced to prison.
Forty-one-year-old Rhonda Shoffner was sentenced  Wednesday to two-and-a-half to five years in prison after  pleading guilty to charges including aggravated assault of her  daughter, who was younger than 13.
Police say the girl was forced to kneel on the bathroom  floor at Shoffner's Middletown home and repeat Bible verses.  They say Shoffner slammed her head into the wall each time she  made a mistake. They say Shoffner also told the child she was  going to kill her and attempted to strangle her.
Police say the girl fought off Shoffner, who told her to  leave and never return. The girl called her father, who drove  her to a police station.

Mom who beat girl for incorrect Bible verses gets prison

A batch of letters hand  written by "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee has sold  for more than USD 12,000.
A statement from the Los Angeles-based Nate D. Sanders  Auctions says 38 letters from the deceased novelist to friend  Felic Itzkoff went for USD 12,500 in a sale held yesterday  night.
The letters span the period from December 2005 to May  2010 and include a note written on January 20, 2009, the day  Barack Obama was inaugurated as the nation's first black  president.
The auction company says other letters talked about Lee's  Southern heritage; her father; and Christianity and her  apparent atheism.
Lee died in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in  February 2016 about seven months after publishing "Go Set a  Watchman," a companion book to her Pulitzer Prize-winning  novel.

Letters from Harper Lee to friend sell for USD 12,500

A Long Island hospital has welcomed  a rare four sets of twins in a six-hour period.
The series of births at NYU Winthrop in Mineola started  at 8.44 am Wednesday when Brenda Alvarenga gave birth to Ava  and Elena.
Shannon and Anthony Rogone then welcomed twins Sarah and  Elise around 10 am. The births of Alexa and McKenzi followed  an hour later to parents Darlene and Joe Sica.
Finally, Catherine and Joseph Monez welcomed twins Luke  and Benjamin at 2.26 pm.
The hospital's chief of maternal fetal medicine tells  Newsday two sets of twins born at NYU Winthrop on the same day  is rare, and four is unheard of.

New York hospital delivers 4 sets of twins in single day

A man has admitted smuggling  chocolate-covered heroin on a flight from Guatemala to Newark  Liberty International Airport.
Jacobo Orellana-Estrada yesterday pleaded guilty in  federal court to possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Prosecutors say the Guatemalan citizen arrived in Newark  on a flight in June and Customs officers discovered what  appeared to be six small layer cakes in his luggage.
The cakes turned out to be packages of heroin coated in  chocolate.
The 21-year-old faces up to life in prison when he's  sentenced in January.

Guatemalan man admits smuggling chocolate-covered heroin

A British newspaper received an  anonymous phone call about "big news" in the US minutes before  President John F Kennedy was shot, newly released files on the  assassination say.
A batch of 2,800 declassified documents includes a memo  from the CIA to the director of the FBI, dated November 26,  1963, about a call received by the Cambridge News on November  22, the day Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas.
The memo from deputy CIA director James Angleton says the  caller said that "the Cambridge News reporter should call the  American Embassy in London for some big news, and then hung  up."
The memo says Britain's MI5 intelligence service  calculated that the call came 25 minutes before Kennedy was  shot.
It said the reporter who took the call "is known to them  as a sound and loyal person with no security record."
The memo was released by the US National Archives in July  but went unreported. It is also among a batch of files  declassified in the US yesterday.
Anna Savva, a current ..

JFK files: British newspaper got mystery call before killing

A cease-fire was reached today  between Baghdad and Iraq's Kurdish minority temporarily  halting clashes that followed a controversial vote on Kurdish  independence last month, according to the US-led coalition.
The coalition was informed of the cease-fire this morning  and coalition officials are encouraging both sides to ensure  "it's not just temporary," Colonel Ryan Dillon told the  Associated Press.
Clashes broke out earlier this month when federal forces  retook the disputed city of Kirkuk and other areas outside the  autonomous Kurdish region that the Kurds had seized from the  Islamic State group.
IS conquered those areas after sweeping across the  country in 2014. Most of the Kurdish forces withdrew without a  fight, but reports of low-level clashes continued and tensions  remained.
The Kurdish referendum on support for independence was  held in September in the three provinces that make up the  Kurds' autonomous zone, as well as in a string of territories  claimed by ...

Coalition announces cease-fire between Baghdad, Kurds

A "happy birthday" tweet from  President Donald Trump to "God Bless the USA" singer Lee  Greenwood went off course early today after Trump mentioned  the wrong Twitter user.
Trump tweeted: "Happy birthday to the great  @leegreenwood83. You and your beautiful song have made such a  difference. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" The singer's Twitter  name is @TheLeeGreenwood , but the president directed his  message to a Lee Greenwood who describes himself as a New York  lawyer with Washington, DC roots.
That Greenwood commented on the mistake, writing : "I get  this a fair amount, but certainly not at this level."
Trump later corrected his tweet.

Trump tweets happy birthday wishes to wrong Lee Greenwood

Vice President Mike Pence is  headed for North Dakota's Minot Air Force Base, the second  time in six weeks that a top Trump administration official has  visited the nuclear weapons base.
Pence's visit today is billed as a tour that includes  Minot's launch facility for intercontinental ballistic  missiles. He's also scheduled to address service members.
Defence Secretary James Mattis toured the base in  September, in a visit widely seen as a reminder to North Korea  of US nuclear capabilities.
Minot has one of the nation's two B-52 bomber bases and  is home to the 91st Missile Wing, which operates 150 of the  Air Force's 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles.
Senator John Hoeven says the administration is putting  much-needed funding into the base to maintain a "modern  nuclear force.

Pence to tour North Dakota's nuclear weapons base

President Donald Trump is  responding to a California billionaire who has vowed to spend  at least USD 10 million in advertising calling for the  president's impeachment.
Trump is using Twitter to call Tom Steyer "wacky &  totally unhinged."
He says Steyer "has been fighting me and my Make America  Great Again agenda from the beginning," adding the billionaire  environmentalist "never wins elections!"
Steyer recently launched the advertising, which has been  running on Fox News and other national outlets, arguing that  Trump should be ousted from office.
Steyer contends Trump is pushing the US toward a nuclear  war, is obstructing justice at the FBI and threatening to shut  down news organisations he doesn't like.
Steyer wants viewers to call their members of Congress  and tell them to bring articles of impeachment.

Trump responds to California billionaire urging impeachment

The Nobel economics prize has been  awarded to Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago for his  contributions to behavioural economics.
The 9-million-kronor (USD 1.1-million) prize was awarded  to the academic for his "understanding the psychology of  economics," Swedish Academy of Sciences secretary Goeran  Hansson said today.
The Nobel committee said Thaler's work shows how human  traits affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes.
Thaler, 72, "is a pioneer in behavioural economics, a  research field in which insights from psychological research  are applied to economic decision making," a background paper  from the academy said.
That "incorporates more realistic analysis of how people  think and behave when making economic decisions," it said.
The economics prize is something of an outlier, Alfred  Nobel's will didn't call for its establishment and it honours  a science that many doubt is a science at all.
The Sveriges Riksbank (Swedish National Bank) Prize in  ...

Richard Thaler wins Nobel for work in behavioural economics

A top Emirati security official says  the Qatar diplomatic crisis can end if Doha gives up hosting  the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first time someone from the four  Arab nations boycotting the country directly linked the  tournament to resolving the monthslong dispute.
While Dubai security Lt General Dhahi Khalfan is often  outspoken on Twitter, his tweet last night on the crisis comes  as those opposing Qatar increasingly target the upcoming  soccer competition in their criticism.
Qatari officials did not respond to a request for comment  today.
However, the 2022 tournament's head in Qatar told The  Associated Press on Friday the boycott poses "no risk" to the  competition being held.
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  all cut diplomatic ties and began a boycott of Qatar on June 5  , in part over allegations that Doha supports extremists and  has overly warm ties to Iran.
Qatar has long denied funding extremists and restored  full diplomatic ties to Iran amid ...

UAE official urges Qatar to give up World Cup to end crisis

Press Trust of India

The head of Egypt's minuscule Jewish  community has voiced support for the country's UNESCO  candidate who has been criticised by Egyptian human rights  activists.
A statement from Magda Haroun says that Moushira Khattab  has shown an impressive and "genuine commitment to our cause  to protect Egypt's Jewish heritage."
But Khattab has been also criticised for not speaking up  against some of the government's repressive policies, such as  shutting down public libraries founded by a top rights lawyer.
A US educated longtime diplomat, Khattab is believed to  be among the front-runners for the UNESCO top post. Voting is  due today in Paris.
Haroun says Khattab is a "courageous woman who has the  talent of successfully taking on challenging causes."  Egypt's Jewish community is made up of six Jews, including  Magda.

Egypt's Jewish community backs country's UNESCO candidate

Federal investigators returned to  search the home of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock today,  while the officers who raided his hotel room door the night of  the shooting gave a harrowing account of a barricaded door  they had to bust through and the booby-traps they feared  they'd find.
The search of Paddock's three-bedroom house on a cul-de-  sac in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, was for  "re-documenting and rechecking," said local police Chief Troy  Tanner, who accompanied FBI agents as they served the search  warrant.
"I don't think they are after anything specific," Tanner  told The Associated Press. "They're going through everything  and photographing everything again."
The home was first searched Monday by Las Vegas police,  who said they found 19 guns and several pounds of potentially  explosive materials at the house that Paddock bought in early  2015.
The search came exactly a week after Paddock opened fire  on a country music crowd, killing 58 and injuring ...

FBI searches Las Vegas gunman's house again

Kim Jong Un has promoted his younger  sister to a new post within North Korea's ruling party.
The promotion of Kim Yo Jong came at a meeting of senior  party members as North Korea marked the 20th anniversary of  Kim Jong Il's acceptance of the title of general secretary of  the ruling Worker's Party of Korea.
Kim Yo Jong was made an alternate member of the  decision-making political bureau of the party's central  committee.
Thousands of people, mostly students, packed Kim Il Sung  Square in Pyongyang to dance and watch fireworks to mark the  anniversary on Sunday night.
The late Kim Jong Il, North Korea's "eternal general  secretary," is the father of Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong.

AP

AP

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