Khloe Kardashian posts images of daughter True, one, as an Oompa Loompa - Daily Mail

Khloe Kardashian posts images of daughter True, one, as an Oompa Loompa  Daily MailView full coverage on Google News

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Wirecutter's best deals: Dell's U3419W Ultrawide Monitor drops to $722 - Engadget

Wirecutter's best deals: Dell's U3419W Ultrawide Monitor drops to $722  Engadget

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Kevin Durant's First Take comments weren't surprising - Nick Friedell | The Jump - ESPN

1. Kevin Durant's First Take comments weren't surprising - Nick Friedell | The Jump  ESPN
2. Kevin Durant concedes Draymond Green played a role in his Warriors exit  Yahoo Sports
3. Warriors were bad before Stephen Curry’s injury. Now the nightmare begins  San Francisco Chronicle
4. Kevin Durant says Draymond's on-court explosion impacted his free agency decision | First Take  ESPN
5. Kevin Durant cites Joel Embiid among top 5 players he enjoys watching  Sixers Wire
6. View full coverage on Google News

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De Blasio: 'Something doesn't fit' about Jeffrey Epstein's death - POLITICO

1. De Blasio: 'Something doesn't fit' about Jeffrey Epstein's death  POLITICO
2. Jeffrey Epstein, a Disputed Autopsy and a Claim of Homicide  The New York Times
3. Trump Jr. questions circumstances around Jeffrey Epstein's death | TheHill  The Hill
4. De Blasio dabbles in Epstein conspiracy theory  New York Post
5. New photo from Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy reveals broken neck bones  New York Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Troops, armored vehicles enter Syria to protect oil fields from ISIS - USA TODAY

1. Troops, armored vehicles enter Syria to protect oil fields from ISIS  USA TODAY
2. Trump’s Syria pullout that isn’t  POLITICO
3. US armored vehicles, infantry troops arrive in eastern Syria to guard oil facilities  ABC News
4. Opinion: Syria's Oil Output Is Low, But Here's Why It Matters  NPR
5. View full coverage on Google News

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US military returns to Syria to protect oil fields; Kurdish leader accuses Turkey of 'continuing its war' - Fox News

US military returns to Syria to protect oil fields; Kurdish leader accuses Turkey of 'continuing its war'  Fox NewsView full coverage on Google News

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Missing 14-year-old Virginia girl found safe; man arrested - NBC News

1. Missing 14-year-old Virginia girl found safe; man arrested  NBC News
2. Missing Virginia girl Isabel Hicks found safe after 9 days, alleged abductor in custody, police say  Fox News
3. Virginia Teen Missing for Over a Week Found Safe; Alleged Abductor in Custody  WTVR CBS 6
4. SEE IT: Rescued AMBER Alert teen Isabel Hicks is home, 'overwhelmed' as FBI releases video of kidnap suspect in handcuffs  CrimeOnline
5. Missing Louisa Teen Isabel Hicks Found Safe, AMBER Alert Cancele - WVIR NBC29 Charlottesville News, Sports, and Weather  NBC 29 News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Trump judicial nominee cries over scathing letter from the American Bar Association - The Washington Post

1. Trump judicial nominee cries over scathing letter from the American Bar Association  The Washington Post
2. Trump judicial nominee breaks down in tears at hearing  CNN
3. Trump judicial pick breaks down when pressed on LGBTQ views  NBC News
4. The ABA Strikes Again  The Wall Street Journal
5. Another Smear Campaign From the American Bar Association  The Wall Street Journal
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Proposed Ford-UAW deal includes plant closure, $9,000 ratification bonuses - CNBC

Proposed Ford-UAW deal includes plant closure, $9,000 ratification bonuses  CNBCView full coverage on Google News

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Update: Josh Gordon was indeed waived Thursday - NBCSports.com

1. Update: Josh Gordon was indeed waived Thursday  NBCSports.com
2. Pats releasing Gordon; WR heading to waivers  NFL.com
3. Josh Gordon Is No Longer A Patriot, Being Released Off IR | Patriots Press Pass  CLNS Media
4. Report: Patriots release Gordon from injured reserve  msnNOW
5. Josh Gordon news: Patriots release wide receiver and now the Eagles’ waiting game begins  Bleeding Green Nation
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Brazil wildfires: Blaze advances across Pantanal wetlands

The area is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, and a popular tourist destination.

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The death of PlayStation Vue is a damned shame - TechHive

1. The death of PlayStation Vue is a damned shame  TechHive
2. PS5 might have one huge advantage over the Xbox and even gaming PCs  BGR
3. This Leaked Black Friday ‘PlayStation 4’ Ad Is A Bundle Of Savings  Forbes
4. Development of PlayStation 5 games "progressing smoothly" as two more rumored titles are leaked  Notebookcheck.net
5. The PS4 just became the second best-selling console of all time  The Next Web
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Ellen DeGeneres Transforms into 'Cardi E' for Halloween - Entertainment Tonight

1. Ellen DeGeneres Transforms into 'Cardi E' for Halloween  Entertainment Tonight
2. Cardi B Meets Cardi E  TheEllenShow
3. FYI—Ellen Degeneres Just Won Halloween With This Cardi B Costume  Yahoo Lifestyle
4. Cardi B Teaches Ellen How To Twerk & Reveals She May Sign "Rhythm + Flow" Rappers  HotNewHipHop
5. Cardi B shows 'stripper' Ellen DeGeneres how to twerk  CANOE
6. View full coverage on Google News

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'No further discussion': Talks halt between whistleblower lawyers and Schiff staff amid expectation he won't testify - Washington Examiner

1. 'No further discussion': Talks halt between whistleblower lawyers and Schiff staff amid expectation he won't testify  Washington Examiner
2. House approves rules for impeachment process  CBS News
3. 'Bigger problems': Republican lawmaker says Schiff should confirm name of whistleblower  Washington Examiner
4. Judge Andrew Napolitano: Proof of Trump’s impeachable offenses plain to see  Fox News
5. Adam Schiff denies impeachment rules are unfair  CBS Evening News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Dog sworn in at state attorney's office in Chicago for new role helping child sexual assault victims | TheHill - The Hill

1. Dog sworn in at state attorney's office in Chicago for new role helping child sexual assault victims | TheHill  The Hill
2. Dog sworn into state's attorney office to provide support for sexual assault victims  ABC News
3. Dog sworn into her new job at state’s attorney’s office in Chicago  New York Post
4. Dog sworn in at Chicago courthouse  Chicago Tribune
5. Labrador sworn into office: 'Hatty' will help young children cope in the courtroom  USA TODAY
6. View full coverage on Google News

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CIA-trained Afghan forces behind war atrocities, Human Rights Watch says - NBCNews.com

1. CIA-trained Afghan forces behind war atrocities, Human Rights Watch says  NBCNews.com
2. CIA-backed Afghan troops 'committed war crimes': report  BBC News
3. CIA-Backed Afghan Forces Committed Atrocities, Human Rights Group Says  NPR
4. CIA-linked unit accused of atrocities in Afghanistan  The Guardian
5. CIA-backed Afghan forces possibly committing war crimes: HRW  Al Jazeera English
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Southern California endures second straight day of wind-stoked wildfires

A fresh spate of Southern California wildfires roared to life on Thursday, destroying homes and forcing evacuations, as the region faced a second day of explosively fierce Santa Ana winds that have fanned flames, displacing thousands of residents.

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For Some California Residents, Latest Wildfires Are A Tipping Point - NPR

For Some California Residents, Latest Wildfires Are A Tipping Point  NPR

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Pinterest stock plunges 19% on revenue miss and disappointing forecast - CNBC

Pinterest stock plunges 19% on revenue miss and disappointing forecast  CNBCView full coverage on Google News

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Kim Kardashian recreates the Elle Woods 'Legally Blonde' video essay for Halloween - USA TODAY

1. Kim Kardashian recreates the Elle Woods 'Legally Blonde' video essay for Halloween  USA TODAY
2. Kim Kardashian Won Halloween This Year With Her Elle Woods From "Legally Blonde" Costume  BuzzFeed
3. Kim Kardashian Recreates Elle Woods' Admissions Video For Halloween And Reese Witherspoon Approves!  Access
4. Legally Blonde! Kim Kardashian Recreates Elle Woods' Iconic Harvard Video Essay for Halloween  Yahoo Entertainment
5. Kim Kardashian recreates Legally Blonde for Halloween  The Week
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Donald Trump Thinks Meghan Markle Takes the Media Scrutiny 'Very Personally' and Offers This Advice - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

1. Donald Trump Thinks Meghan Markle Takes the Media Scrutiny 'Very Personally' and Offers This Advice  Showbiz Cheat Sheet
2. Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Will Be Spending Thanksgiving In America, Reports Say  Access
3. Sources Are Dishing That Kate Middleton Is Fully Over Prince William and Harry’s Royal Feud  Cosmopolitan.com
4. 18 Photographs of Kate Middleton Before She Became Royalty  Showbiz Cheat Sheet
5. Trump says Meghan Markle takes UK tabloid coverage 'very personally'  New York Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Update: Josh Gordon was indeed waived Thursday - NBCSports.com

Update: Josh Gordon was indeed waived Thursday  NBCSports.comView full coverage on Google News

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Kevin Durant's First Take comments weren't surprising - Nick Friedell | The Jump - ESPN

1. Kevin Durant's First Take comments weren't surprising - Nick Friedell | The Jump  ESPN
2. Kevin Durant gets candid about Draymond Green and KD's absence this season  Yahoo Sports
3. Warriors were bad before Stephen Curry’s injury. Now the nightmare begins  San Francisco Chronicle
4. Kevin Durant says Draymond's on-court explosion impacted his free agency decision | First Take  ESPN
5. Kevin Durant cites Joel Embiid among top 5 players he enjoys watching  Sixers Wire
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Long Beach shooting: 3 killed at Halloween house party - CBS This Morning

1. Long Beach shooting: 3 killed at Halloween house party  CBS This Morning
2. 12 people were shot at a Long Beach party, and the gunman is still on the run  CNN
3. Reports: 3 dead, 9 injured in Halloween party shooting in Long Beach, Calif.  KING5.com
4. Opinion: Mass shooting in Long Beach kills 3. Few people notice  Los Angeles Times
5. 3 dead, 9 injured in shooting during party at Long Beach home  Los Angeles Times
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEOZz-kwYMA

Grenfell Tower Inquiry Criticized for Faulting Fire Brigade - The New York Times

1. Grenfell Tower Inquiry Criticized for Faulting Fire Brigade  The New York Times
2. Jeremy Corbyn: Grenfell tower fire was an 'avoidable tragedy'  Guardian News
3. How 59 senior fire officers sat through presentation on tower block blazes in 2016  Daily Mail
4. The Guardian view on the Grenfell Tower report: bringing justice closer  The Guardian
5. My uncle died at Grenfell. This report must lead to action  The Guardian
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Breastfeeding suites increasing in popularity in the US

Private breastfeeding spaces are increasing in the US, including in train stations and supermarkets.

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Pelosi and McConnell make push on spending deal — but Trump's wall looms - POLITICO

1. Pelosi and McConnell make push on spending deal — but Trump's wall looms  POLITICO
2. McConnell: Democrats would rather impeach Trump than fund our military  Fox News
3. The Senate just failed to overturn a Trump administration rule on the Affordable Care Act  Vox.com
4. Schumer warns Trump may shut down the government over impeachment  POLITICO
5. Graham rips House Dem resolution: 'An un-American process'  Fox News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Powell aces tricky Fed transition to ending interest rate cuts, doing '100% the right things' - CNBC

1. Powell aces tricky Fed transition to ending interest rate cuts, doing '100% the right things'  CNBC
2. Gold Prices Mostly Unchanged but Pointing Higher Following Third-Consecutive FOMC Rate Cut  GoldPrice.org
3. Fed Quick Analysis: Five hawkish moves that may push the dollar higher  FXStreet
4. Fed Chairman Powell is 'overdue for a press conference gaffe,' says Wells Fargo  CNBC
5. Goldman Sachs sees a more 'hawkish' stance from Jerome Powell after the Fed's likely third rate cut this year | Markets  INSIDER
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Trump rips Nancy Pelosi and endorses Kevin McCarthy for speaker at House GOP fundraiser - CNBC

1. Trump rips Nancy Pelosi and endorses Kevin McCarthy for speaker at House GOP fundraiser  CNBC
2. McConnell: We'll see if Pelosi's impeachment rules resolution 'passes the smell test' | TheHill  The Hill
3. Donald Trump and GOP say Dems corrupted impeachment probe before formal vote  The Washington TImes
4. New poll poses serious questions about Democrats' impeachment drive  Washington Examiner
5. Why Republicans oppose impeachment: Trump is even more popular with his base than Obama was  Washington Examiner
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Spelman first historically black college to create chair in queer studies - NBC News

1. Spelman first historically black college to create chair in queer studies  NBC News
2. Spelman College receives $2 million donation for queer studies  Atlanta Journal Constitution
3. View full coverage on Google News

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Wild video shows moment El Chapo's son was busted - Fox News

1. Wild video shows moment El Chapo's son was busted  Fox News
2. Wild video shows moment El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman was busted  New York Post
3. Video shows the moment Mexican security forces captured the son of "El Chapo"  Los Angeles Times
4. Dramatic Footage Shows Chaotic Scenes Of Capture Of El Chapo Son  NDTV News
5. Watch how El Chapo's son's failed arrest happened  The Telegraph
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 9: Tight ends - NFL.com

1. Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 9: Tight ends  NFL.com
2. Fantasy Football Week 9 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em: Running backs  CBS Sports
3. Fantasy Football: Top 10 waiver wire pickups for Week 9  ClutchPoints
4. Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 9: Running backs  NFL.com
5. Week 9 fantasy football WR rankings: Huge game could be in the works for Chark  Yahoo Sports
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Boeing 'doesn't understand our grief'

Zipporah Kuria's father Joseph Waithaka was one of 157 people killed when a Boeing 737 Max crashed in March.

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Barack Obama challenges 'woke' culture - BBC News

1. Barack Obama challenges 'woke' culture  BBC News
2. Barack Obama has a message about being politically woke  CNN
3. Michelle Obama on white flight in Chicago: ‘Y’all were running from us’  The Washington Post
4. Obama: Presidential center will transform Chicago's South Side  Chicago Tribune
5. Gutfeld on Obama calling out cancel culture  Fox News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Parents of ISIS captive Kayla Mueller believe daughter may still be alive: ‘That 1 percent chance is still ... - Fox News

1. Parents of ISIS captive Kayla Mueller believe daughter may still be alive: ‘That 1 percent chance is still ...  Fox News
2. ISIS victim Kayla Mueller's parents on al-Baghdadi: We're glad that the 'evil person is gone'  NBC News
3. Kayla Mueller's father glad that 'evil' ISIS leader al-Baghdadi 'is gone'  New York Post
4. Kayla Mueller’s parents insist she could still be ALIVE and ISIS may have faked her death in Syria bomb raid  The Sun
5. Joey Jones: ISIS leader 'died a coward's death' and all Americans should celebrate  Fox News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Steam Is Now Asking Users To Re-Review Games After Playing Them Some More - Kotaku

1. Steam Is Now Asking Users To Re-Review Games After Playing Them Some More  Kotaku
2. Steam’s redesigned library is out now for everyone  The Verge
3. Big Steam Library Redesign Now Live for Everyone - IGN  IGN
4. Steam’s New Library Update is Out of Beta and Available for All  Wccftech
5. Steam's big library update is now live for everyone  PC Gamer
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Deadspin writers quit after being ordered to stick to sports

Writers Laura Wagner, Kelsey McKinney, Tom Ley, Lauren Theisen, Patrick Redford, Albert Burneko and Chris Thompson all tweeted today that they have resigned from Deadspin, the sports-focused site owned by G/O Media.

A quick refresher: G/O Media was formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group, and before that as Gawker Media. It took on its current name and current leadership earlier this year when Univision sold the unit to private equity firm Great Hill Partners, who appointed former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller as its new chief executive.

Since then, the relationship between G/O Media leadership and the editorial staff has been rocky, as you would have learned by reading Deadspin itself, particularly an in-depth story by Wagner in August about how employees were unhappy with “a lack of communication regarding company goals, seeming disregard for promoting diversity within the top ranks of the company, and by repeated and egregious interference with editorial procedures.”

Just now I resigned my position at Deadspin today along with many of my colleagues. I have been here only five months but they have been some of the best of my career and I will miss it deeply.

— kelsey mckinney (@mckinneykelsey) October 30, 2019

A few weeks later, Deadspin’s editor in chief Megan Greenwell resigned, saying that G/O Media’s new editorial director Paul Maidment was directing the staff to stick to sports coverage — a decision that she argued wasn’t dictated by traffic, since “posts on The Concourse, Deadspin’s vertical dedicated to politics and culture and other topics that are not sports, outperform posts on the main site by slightly more than two to one.”

Apparently Maidment repeated that edict in a memo earlier this week, which was leaked to The Daily Beast, and in which he said, “Deadspin will write only about sports and that which is relevant to sports in some way.”

The Deadspin homepage was subsequently filled with non-sports content, and editor Barry Petchesky tweeted that he had been “fired from Deadspin for not sticking to sports.”

I quit today too https://t.co/W7meIcW0Cx

— Laura Wagner (@laurawags) October 30, 2019

At the same time, Deadspin also posted a story criticizing auto-playing ads on the site, declaring, “We, the writers, editors, and video producers of Deadspin, are as upset with the current state of our site’s user experience as you are.” The post is no longer live, but the criticism reportedly prompted advertiser Farmers Insurance to pull the campaign.

This all appears to have prompted a mass exodus from Deadspin today. The Gizmodo Media Group union also issued this statement:

Today, a number of our colleagues at Deadspin resigned from their positions. From the outset, CEO Jim Spanfeller has worked to undermine a successful site by curtailing its most well-read coverage because it makes him personally uncomfortable. This is not what journalism looks like and it is not what editorial independence looks like.

“Stick to sports” is and always has been a thinly veiled euphemism for “don’t speak truth to power.” In addition to being bad business, Spanfeller’s actions are morally reprehensible. The GMG Union stands with our current and former Deadspin colleagues and condemns Jim Spanfeller in the strongest possible terms.

We’ve reached out to G/O Media for comment and will update if we hear back.

Gizmodo Media Group acquired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners

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Liberia's child soldiers: 'I know I killed people'

Miatta says she was forced to fight when she was 14 and can't remember how many people she's killed.

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Syrian, Turkish forces clash near border town: report | TheHill - The Hill

1. Syrian, Turkish forces clash near border town: report | TheHill  The Hill
2. Kurd fighters complete pullout from Turkey-Syria border: Russia  Al Jazeera English
3. How the New Syria Took Shape  The New York Times
4. Resolving to honor victims of the Armenian Genocide  The Boston Globe
5. Syrian army, Turkish forces clash near border: state media  Reuters
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Apple warns some iPhone users: Update your phone or lose internet - CNN

1. Apple warns some iPhone users: Update your phone or lose internet  CNN
2. Update your iPhone 5 before November 3rd to keep email, web, and GPS working  The Verge
3. Old iPhones could stop working on Sunday, Apple warns  KSAT 12
4. Old iPhones will stop working Sunday unless users update software  WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
5. View full coverage on Google News

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Trump awards Medal of Honor to Green Beret who fought in Afghanistan - CNN

1. Trump awards Medal of Honor to Green Beret who fought in Afghanistan  CNN
2. President Trump presents Medal of Honor to Green Beret for 2008 Afghanistan heroics  Fox News
3. President Trump awards Medal of Honor to Master Sgt. Matthew Williams (LIVE) | USA TODAY  USA TODAY
4. ‘What can I do?’: Special Forces soldier who fought to save his team in Afghanistan receives Medal of Honor  The Washington Post
5. Donald Trump presents Medal of Honor to Green Beret who faced 'hail of bullets'  Daily Mail
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Starbucks revenue climbs 7% to top Street view as same-store sales increase - MarketWatch

1. Starbucks revenue climbs 7% to top Street view as same-store sales increase  MarketWatch
2. Starbucks' stock jumps on strong US and China sales growth  CNBC
3. Starbucks comp store sales growth beats expectations  Yahoo Finance
4. Starbucks Posts Higher Profit as U.S. Sales Strengthen  The Wall Street Journal
5. Starbucks Reports Q4 and Full Year Fiscal 2019 Results  Business Wire
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Trump judicial nominee breaks down during Senate hearing

Lawrence VanDyke broke down when asked whether he was biased against LGBT people.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2qRpsPg

Comedian Kevin Hart shares emotional video after crash

The US comedian shared the video of his recovery after a severe car accident in September.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2qY0del

Live: House Rules Committee holds meeting on impeachment inquiry - Fox News

1. Live: House Rules Committee holds meeting on impeachment inquiry  Fox News
2. Testimony: Nunes acolyte misrepresented himself to Trump as Ukraine expert  POLITICO
3. Seth Meyers Goes Off on Laura Ingraham for Smearing Vindman  The Daily Beast
4. Accusing Vindman of Divided Loyalties Makes No Sense  Bloomberg
5. Stephen Colbert “Heard It Through The Phone Line,” Things Just Got Worse For Trump  Deadline
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQjGdDvEUg

Apple Watch, AirPods and services are Apple's big winners, not iPhone - CNET

Apple Watch, AirPods and services are Apple's big winners, not iPhone  CNETView full coverage on Google News

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Week 9 expert fantasy rankings: Can Lamar end Patriots' reign of defensive terror? - Yahoo Sports

1. Week 9 expert fantasy rankings: Can Lamar end Patriots' reign of defensive terror?  Yahoo Sports
2. 8 waiver wire targets for fantasy football in Week 9  Colts Wire
3. Fantasy Football: Top 10 waiver wire pickups for Week 9  ClutchPoints
4. Week 9 fantasy football RB rankings: Bell could deliver his best game of the season  Yahoo Sports
5. 3 Fantasy Football Tight End Streaming Options for Week 9  numberFire
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Missouri Health Director tracked menstrual periods of Planned Parenthood patients - NBC News

Missouri Health Director tracked menstrual periods of Planned Parenthood patients  NBC NewsView full coverage on Google News

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Nepalese Climber Summits World's 14 Highest Peaks In 6 Months, Smashing Record - NPR

1. Nepalese Climber Summits World's 14 Highest Peaks In 6 Months, Smashing Record  NPR
2. Ex-soldier smashes record for climbing world's 14 highest mountains  CNN
3. Former British army soldier shatters record for climbing 14 tallest peaks in just 189 days  Fox News
4. Climber scales world's 14 highest peaks in just over 6 months, breaks record  NBC News
5. Nepali man shatters speed record for scaling the world’s tallest mountains ‘to show human capacity’  The Washington Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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HBO has reportedly canceled the first prequel to Game of Thrones - Vox.com

HBO has reportedly canceled the first prequel to Game of Thrones  Vox.comView full coverage on Google News

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NFL Trade Deadline 2019: Redskins fielding calls on Trent Williams, Bucs willing to move O.J. Howard - CBSSports.com

NFL Trade Deadline 2019: Redskins fielding calls on Trent Williams, Bucs willing to move O.J. Howard  CBSSports.com

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Slack investor Index Ventures backs Slack competitor Quill

Slack created a new solution for workplace communication, one copied by many, even Microsoft. But the product, which is meant to help individuals and businesses collaborate, has been critiqued for sending too many notifications, with some claiming it’s sabotaged workplace productivity.

Quill, a startup led by Ludwig Pettersson, Stripe’s former creative director and design aficionado, claims to offer “meaningful conversations, without disturbing your team.” The company has raised a $2 million seed round led by Sam Altman with participation from General Catalyst, followed by a $12.5 million Series A at a $62.5 million valuation led by Index Ventures partner and former Slack board observer Sarah Cannon, TechCrunch has learned.

Quill and Cannon declined to comment.

The company, based in San Francisco, has created a no-frills messaging product. Still in beta, Quill plans to encourage fewer, more focused conversations with a heavy emphasis on threads, sources tell TechCrunch. The product is less of a firehose than Slack, says former Y Combinator president Altman, where one can get stuck for extended periods of time filtering through direct messages, threads and channels.

“It’s relentlessly focused on increasing the bandwidth and efficiency of communication,” Altman tells TechCrunch. “The product technically works super well–it surfaces the right information in the feed and it’s pretty intelligent about how it brings the right people into conversations.”

Pettersson previously worked with Altman at his current venture, OpenAI, a research-driven business focused on development that steers artificial intelligence in a “friendlier” direction. Pettersson was a member of the company’s technical staff in 2016 and 2017, creating OpenAI’s initial design.

Index Ventures, for its part, appears to be doubling down on the growing workplace communications software category. The firm first invested in Slack, which completed its highly-anticipated direct listing earlier this year, in 2015. Slack went on to raise hundred millions more, reaching a valuation of over $7 billion in 2018.

Since going public, Slack has struggled to find its footing on the public markets, in large part due to the growing threat of Microsoft Teams, the software giant’s Slack-like product that debuted in 2016. Quickly, Microsoft has gobbled up market share, offering convenient product packages including beloved tools used by most businesses. As of July, Teams had 13 million daily active users and the title of Microsoft’s fastest-growing application in its history. Slack reported 12 million daily active users earlier this month.

Startups like Quill pose a threat to Slack, too. It created the playbook for workplace chat software and proved the massive appetite for such tools; companies are bound to iterate on the model for years to come.

Quill is also backed by OpenAI’s chairman and chief technology officer Greg Brockman and Elad Gil, a former Twitter executive and co-founder of Color Genomics.

Stewart Butterfield says Microsoft sees Slack as existential threat

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2BV3b5q

HBO Max will cost $14.99 per month and launch in May 2020

AT&T and WarnerMedia just announced the pricing of their HBO Max streaming service, along with sharing more details about the timing and content lineup.

The service will cost $14.99 per month — the same price as HBO Now. WarnerMedia also says it will be free for HBO Now subscribers and for viewers who subscribe to HBO via AT&T. And it will launch in May of next year.

The announcement came at an event for investors and media, where HBO’s Casey Bloys also revealed that the network has greenlit a Game of Thrones spin-off called House of the Dragon, based on George R.R. Martin’s book of Westerosi history, Fire and Blood (perhaps explaining why a previously announced spin-off that was recently canceled).

The company also revealed that HBO Max will be the exclusive streaming home of South Park. Plus, Elizabeth Banks, Issa Rae and Mindy Kaling are all developing new shows for the service — and Arrow and Riverdale producer Greg Berlanti announced that he’s working on the new DC Comics-related titles Green Lantern and Strange Adventures.

Today’s presentation for began with lots of commentary about all the corporate synergies between AT&T, WarnerMedia (which AT&T acquired last year) and the service’s namesake HBO.

WarnerMedia’s entertainment and direct-to-consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt said HBO Max will have 10,000 hours of content at launch, including the HBO library, films from Warner Bros. and original content “appealing to all the younger demos.” Ten thousand hours sounds like a lot, but Greenblatt acknowledge it’s less than some competitors (presumably Netflix): “We actually think our value proposition improves when we narrow some of the options.”

HBO Max Chief Content Officer Kevin Reilly made a similar point, noting that on average, half of the usage on subscription streaming services comes from the top 100 titles, so “quality over quantity” is important. To illustrate that quality, he pointed to titles like Sesame Street, as well as the Lord of the Rings movies, The Hobbit movies, The Matrix trilogy and The Conjuring films, plus every Superman and Batman movie from the past 40 years.

“We’re all-in with DC and the associated brand-love that DC generates,” Reilly said.

He also noted the service will stream the 90’s classic Friends, as well as The Big Bang Theory, for which it reportedly paid over $1 billion.

As for originals, Reilly said the company plans to launch 31 Max Originals series (combined with HBO series, that makes for 69 original shows on HBO Max in its first year). Half of them, apparently, will be targeted at a young adult audience, with most of the episodes released on a weekly basis — Reilly argued that this allows for more cultural impact, “rather than fading quickly after a binge and burn.”

In terms of the product itself, WarnerMedia’s Executive Vice President Andy Forssell argued that “despite a decade of SVOD evolution, it’s still too hard to find something to watch,” and said HBO Max will “blend the smart use of data with real human touch, and present them via novel product experiences.”

He then showed off how the service will include curated highlights sections focusing on things like Friends episodes with high-profile guest stars. Forssell acknowledged that this might not seem revolutionary, but he argued that it offers a “significant deviation from how SVOD services have used screen real estate.”

It will also expand HBO’s Recommended by Humans feature, where celebrities and other real people can recommend their favorite movies and TV shows. And there will be kids’ profiles and shared profiles — so that the watching you do with others won’t interfere with the progress and recommendations from your own solo viewing.

In July, AT&T first announced its plans for HBO Max, but the details around launch and pricing weren’t yet known. Instead, the attention so far has been on HBO Max’s content lineup.

The service aims to capitalize on HBO’s reputation for premium fare to attract consumers — many of whom already pay $15 per month for HBO Now. But it will pad that HBO library with a combination of programming from other WarnerMedia properties like Cinemax, New Line, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros., The CW, CNN, TNT, TBS, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies, Crunchyroll, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes, and others.

We now know HBO Max will be home to Game of Thrones and its upcoming spin-offs, plus favorite HBO series like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Deadwood, Westworld, and others.

It’s also bringing back Gossip Girl, rebooting Grease, making a Dune TV show, and streaming all 21 Studio Ghibli films.

Other HBO Max shows will include a Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene; Search Party; Batwoman; Adventure Time; Stephen King’s The Outsider; Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams’ horror series Lovecraft Country; Joss Whedon’s The Nevers; Julian Fellowes’ (Downton Abbey) The Gilded Age; David E. Kelley’s The Undoing; Rules of Magic, a prequel to Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic; The Boondocks; and Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai; plus back catalog content like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Pretty Little Liars, Doctor Who (2005 and onward), The West Wing, Top Gear, The Office (original version), and others.

Upcoming literary adaptions include Tokyo Vice, The Flight Attendant, Circe, Made for Love, Station Eleven, and Anna K: A Love Story. 

More recently, HBO Max has announced a new documentary on Anthony Bourdain, an overall deal with Lisa Ling, a documentary about Amy Schumer, a Melissa McCarthy comedy film, a documentary with Monica Lewinsky, and a new deal with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot (the deal allows Bad Robot to make TV under the WarnerMedia umbrella and then sell it to other streaming services).

Abrams was part of today’s event. He said it’s too early to announce any specific programming under the new deal — Bad Robot already works with HBO on titles like Westworld, and Abrams has a new show in the works called Demimonde — but he declared, “There’s no company that values storytelling more than WarnerMedia.”

And for classic movie lovers who mourn the loss of FilmStruck, Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff said the service will offer a rich library of films from the Warner Bros. and MGM catalog, curated titles from Turner Classic Movies, as well as “decades and decades of more great titles from The Criterion Collection.”

AT&T said on Monday it plans to spend about $2 billion on the service over the next two years and aims to sign up some 50 million subscribers by 2025.

The service will arrive at a time when competition in the streaming market is heating up. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video’s successes have paved the way for new entrants like Apple TV+, which launches Friday, and Disney+, which arrives mid-November. NBCU is also joining next year with its streaming service Peacock, which will offer The Office and other classic shows, alongside new originals, like a Battlestar Galactica reboot.

These streamers are gaining at the expense of traditional TV, which has impacted other parts of AT&T’s business.

In the third quarter, it lost another 1.2 million satellite and fiber-optic-TV customers as well as 195,000 AT&T TV Now (previously DirecTV Now) subscribers. AT&T’s profit was down 22% year-over-year to $3.7 billion and revenue had fallen 2.5% to $44.6 billion.

Eventually, AT&T’s plan is to merge its AT&T TV Now live TV service into HBO Max and add on a discounted ad-supported tier to HBO Max to make it more affordable.

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Tencent leads $111M investment in India’s video streaming service MX Player

MX Player, a popular video app that offers both local playback and streaming services, said on Wednesday that it has raised $110.8 million in a new financing round led by Chinese internet giant Tencent as the video app looks to expand its business in India and other international markets.

Times Internet, which acquired a majority stake in MX Player in late 2017 for $140 million, also participated in the Series A financing round. The post-money valuation of MX Player was $500 million, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

The addition of Tencent — which has invested in a handful of Indian startups including Times Internet-owned Gaana, ride-hailing giant Ola, ed tech startup Byju’s, B2B e-commerce startup Udaan and a bookkeeping service for merchants, Khatabook — “is a great sign of confidence,” said Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman of Times Internet. “Tencent is a leading global force in music and video, and there’s a lot for us to learn and leverage from their capabilities,” he added.

Karan Bedi, CEO of MX Player, said in an interview that the video app will use the fresh capital to double down on producing original TV shows and broadening its catalog of licensed content. The firm, which has so far added 15 original shows to its platform, has already commissioned production of another 20 by year-end, he said.

The Singapore-headquartered firm’s push into original shows and licensed content underscores one of the strangest evolution for a video app. MX Player originated in Korea as an app that could run video files in a wide-range of formats locally stored on a phone.

The app did all of this while consuming little resources, an ability that helped it win tens of millions of users with low-cost Android smartphones in emerging markets such as India. In fact, India is MX Player’s largest market, with 175 million monthly active users, Bedi said. Globally, the app has amassed more than 280 million users.

MX Player is ad-supported and does not charge users any monthly subscription fee. The service, which introduced movies and shows streaming in mid-2018, today also offers access to about 200 TV channels, their current and back catalog of shows, and a music streaming feature through an integration with Gaana.

Bedi said the company has tied up with all-web show producers such as HoiChoi in India and three of the top five TV local cable networks, including Sony and Sun. Missing from the list is Star India, the largest TV network in the country.

Thanks to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney now owns Star India. Star India has emerged as one of the gems in Disney’s new portfolio. The firm, which runs dozens of TV channels in India, operates Hotstar, the market-leading video streaming service.

Hotstar reported 300 million monthly active users and 100 million daily active users during the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. The service has cashed in on the popularity of cricket to boost its numbers.

Bedi said MX Player is working on building new entertainment experiences, but sports content is not something it is exploring. The reason is simple: Cricket drives most of the sports streaming in India and Star India has secured rights to most of such content. (Facebook recently grabbed a slice of it, too.)

But cricket alone can’t help a streaming service win and sustain customers. Even Hotstar’s monthly user base plummets below 60 million in the months following the cricketing season, people familiar with Hotstar’s internal figures have told TechCrunch.

Figuring out what exactly resonates with the users in India, the world’s second largest internet market, is the billion-dollar question. The video streaming market in India is on track to be worth $1.7 billion in the next four years, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Bedi, who spearheaded Eros Now’s India business before joining MX Player, said users are increasingly enjoying the original shows. Most of the shows that MX Player has produced so far, such as “Hey Prabhu,” “Thinkistan” and “Immature,” are largely targeted at college students and those who have just joined the work force. But the company is slowly populating the platform with shows such as “Queen” that appeal “universally,” he said.

MX Player today competes with more than three dozen local and international players, nearly all of which offer their services at dirt-cheap prices in India. Even Netflix, which launched in India with a $8 plan in 2016, this year introduced a $2.8 monthly tier. In recent months, several more firms including e-commerce giant Flipkart and food delivery startup Zomato have launched their video streaming services in the country.

Tencent-rival Alibaba announced earlier this year that it would invest $100 million to expand social video app Vmate in India.

Once cautious about each megabyte they spent consuming internet services, Indians are now spending about 10GB of data on their smartphones each month as data prices crash in the country, according to an Ericsson report. Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani disrupted the local telecom market in 2016 when he launched Reliance Jio. The 4G-only carrier undercut the market by first offering bulk of mobile data at no cost, and then charging very little fee.

An analyst TechCrunch spoke with said it’s only a matter of time before India’s video market begins to see some consolidation and pull back. “You have to offer something appealing that none of your rivals have,” he said, requesting anonymity as he advises many of these businesses.

For MX Player, its odd evolution story may be its biggest advantage. The app’s local video playback feature continues to draw many to it, and keeps the app among the top rated in Google’s Play Store. Bedi said the startup, which today employs about 300 people, maintains a large team that continues to improve the tech stacks to improve video playback support.

Moving forward, MX Player will also look into expanding to some international markets. It recently started beta testing the video streaming service in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Eventually, the startup hopes to make original shows for these markets that are relevant to the local audience there.

MX Player maintains a premium app on Google Play Store that strips ads for $5. But the app continues to mostly rely on revenue it generates from ads. Times Internet’s Gajwani said that at some point in the future, the video service will expand monetization beyond pure advertising. “That said, MX is consumed daily as much as the leading TV channel in India, so there’s significant headroom to capture larger advertising spends as well,” he added.

Paytm, a leading financial services firm in India, was also in talks with MX Player to invest in this financial round. It may invest in the video streaming services app at a later stage, a person familiar with the talks said.

India’s Times Internet isn’t ceding ground to US rivals Facebook and Google

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