The sportswear giant from Beaverton, Oregon has just unveiled its latest fitness-oriented wearable -- say hello to the Nike+ FuelBand SE. This refreshed edition looks nearly identical to its predecessor, but comes in black with total crimson (a mix of orange and red), pink foil or volt (a yellow and ...Speaker of the House John Boehner arrives at the U.S. Capitol on Monday. House Republicans remain an obstacle to any emerging deal.
Speaker of the House John Boehner arrives at the U.S. Capitol on Monday. House Republicans remain an obstacle to any emerging deal.
The partial government shutdown begins its third week on Tuesday as the debt ceiling deadline looms just two days from now. Congressional leaders seem to be inching toward a deal that could prove acceptable to both sides and the White House. But, we've been here before.
USAToday describes the broad outlines of the emerging deal:
"A flurry of negotiations occurred throughout [Monday] as [Sen. Majority Leader Harry] Reid and his Republican counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, engaged with each other, their own members, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and White House staff on the terms of a deal to end the budget impasse, which has kept the government partially shut down since Oct. 1.
McConnell said Monday morning, 'I share his optimism that we will get a result that is acceptable to both sides.'
The draft proposal still under negotiation would approve a stopgap funding bill to reopen government through Jan. 15; suspend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7; and create the framework for formal budget negotiations to conclude by Dec. 15 with long-term recommendations for funding levels and deficit reduction."
The Washington Post fleshes out some details.
"In the meantime, policymakers would launch a new round of talks over broader budget issues in hopes of developing a plan to replace deep automatic spending cuts known as the sequester before Jan. 15. That is when the next round of sequester cuts is scheduled to slice another $20 billion out of agency budgets, primarily from the Pentagon.
The framework under consideration includes only minor changes to President Obama's signature health-care law, falling well short of defunding it or delaying major provisions as conservative Republicans initially sought. Instead, Republicans would get only new safeguards to ensure that people who receive federal subsidies to purchase health insurance under the law are eligible to receive them.
But talks were hung up over another provision, aides and lawmakers said: a demand by Democrats to delay the law's 'belly button tax,' a levy on existing policies that is set to add $63 per covered person — including spouses and dependents — to the cost of health insurance next year. Republicans derided the proposal as a special favor to organized labor."
The Chicago Tribune warns of the potential for a Senate filibuster:
"A potential filibuster could prolong the debate. But experts have said the promise of a deal could calm the restless financial markets. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who spearheaded the drive to kill or delay Obama's healthcare law using the government-funding bill, held out the possibility that he would filibuster, but said, "I want to wait to see what the details are."
And, as NPR's Alisa Chang reports, whatever the deal, even if it passes the Senate, it's – not surprisingly — going to be a hard sell to House Republicans. She reports:
"[For] the stalwart Republicans who have been determined to cripple the healthcare law, the Senate deal won't do enough devastation to Obamacare. The proposal will likely require tighter income verification for people who get healthcare subsidies, but Tim Huelskamp of Kansas says that's nowhere near adequate.
Huelskamp: 'When you're given 98, 99 percent of Obamacare, I don't see how that would ever pass over here, if it even passes the Senate.'
And as the days rapidly melt away before a debt ceiling breach, John Fleming of Louisiana says House Republicans are not feeling the time pressure.
Fleming: 'I don't think it has anything to do with it for the vast majority of Republicans. As you can see, we're down, how long, two weeks now into this? And we're working to re-open government as quickly as we can, but you know, for us, it's important to get government right.'"
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival
Ben Foster will star as Lance Armstrong.
PARIS – StudioCanal is set to team up once again with Working Title, this time to finance and handle international sales on Stephen Frears’ Lance Armstrong biopic, which it will launch at AFM. The Paris-based studio will also handle distribution in France, U.K., Germany and Australia.
Based on the book Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by Irish sports journalist David Walsh, the film is set to star Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) as Walsh and Ben Foster (Ain't Them Bodies Saints) as the disgraced seven-time Tour de France champion. Breaking Bad’s Jesse Plemons and Cesar-winning actor/director Guillaume Canet are on board for supporting roles. Shooting will start Oct. 18 in France and the U.K.
STORY: Lance Armstrong Returns Olympic Medal
Walsh’s long history of investigating Armstrong brought increasing scrutiny on the undefeated cycler, starting with a newspaper expose 2001 and three books – including Seven Deadly Sins – chronicling the charges against Armstrong that eventually brought down his career.
This is the latest team effort for StudioCanal and Working Title. The companies have worked together on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I Give it a Year and The Two Faces of January, starring Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, set for a Dec. 13 release date in the U.S. and January rollout in France.
Apparently Path's subscription model hasn't been successful in turning things around for the social network. Valleywag is reporting that the company today laid off 13 employees, representing 20 percent of its entire staff. Addressing the layoffs, a spokesperson told Valleywag, "We're working to realign the company to support continued innovation and Path 4.0." A Path spokesperson has since told The Verge that no engineers were included in the staff reduction and that the firings were sprinkled across the company. Valleywag's report goes on to say that Path is still in search of a lead investor for another round of funding for the social app. The company insists its fortunes are good, pointing to its community of 20 million users as evidence of sustained growth. But the company has struggled to find a reliable path to profitability.
Last month, Path introduced subscriptions for its mobile applications, charging users $1.99 for a month on Android, $4.99 for three months on iOS, and $14.99 for a year covering both platforms. That premium membership promised benefits like new stickers and photo filters; the company simultaneously tightened up its privacy and sharing settings. But Path's reputation has also been marred by spam and robocall controversies. As we wrote in September, Path's goal with its recent update was to get its users sharing more while spending more. Today's layoffs would imply it's having some difficulty executing on that strategy.
Shortlisted authors, from left, Jhumpa Lahiri, Eleanor Catton, Colm Toibin, NoViolet Bulawayo and Ruth Ozeki pose with their books during a photocall for the shortlisted authors of the 2013 Man Booker Prize for Fiction at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The media presentation of short listed authors is a tradition ahead of the the winner of the 50,000 pounds (US$80,000) prize being announced on Tuesday, Oct. 16. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Shortlisted authors, from left, Jhumpa Lahiri, Eleanor Catton, Colm Toibin, NoViolet Bulawayo and Ruth Ozeki pose with their books during a photocall for the shortlisted authors of the 2013 Man Booker Prize for Fiction at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The media presentation of short listed authors is a tradition ahead of the the winner of the 50,000 pounds (US$80,000) prize being announced on Tuesday, Oct. 16. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Books by Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors, from top, Colm Toibin's 'The Testament of Mary' NoViolet Bulawayo's 'We Need New Names', Eleanor Catton's 'The Luminaries', Jim Crace's 'Harvest', Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Lowland', Ruth Ozeki's 'A Tale for the Time Being', seen during a photocall for the shortlisted authors of the 2013 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, presented at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The media presentation of short listed authors and their books, is a tradition ahead of the the winner of the 50,000 pounds (US$80,000) prize being announced on Tuesday, Oct. 16. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Jim Crace and New Zealand's Eleanor Catton are the favorites to win the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday, among six contenders who include the first black African woman to be a finalist and a Zen Buddhist priest.
Bookmakers say Crace's village parable "Harvest" and Catton's sprawling gold-rush saga "The Luminaries" were leading the betting for the 50,000 pound ($80,000) award, followed by Colm Toibin's Bible-inspired novella "The Testament of Mary."
Crace, at 67, is the oldest writer in contention while Catton is the youngest at 28.
The other finalists are the Indian-American journey "The Lowland," by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri; the shantytown-set story "We Need New Names" by Zimbabwe's NoViolet Bulawayo; and the Pacific-crossing tale "A Tale for the Time Being" by Canada's Ruth Ozeki, who is also a Buddhist priest.
The Booker, which brings huge publicity and a sales boost for its winners, is closely followed by readers, booksellers and literary gamblers.
The diversity of the list makes this year's contest especially unpredictable. Crace and Toibin are both previous Booker finalists. The other four writers — all women — are first-time nominees.
The winner will be announced during a ceremony at London's medieval Guildhall, with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, on hand to present the award.
Founded in 1969, the award is open to British, Irish and Commonwealth authors. That is about to change — beginning next year, Americans and other English-language writers will be able to enter as well.
There is already a strong American accent to this year's contest — Lahiri, Bulawayo, Toibin and Ozeki are all at least partly U.S.-based.
The rule change aims to expand the scope and prestige of the Booker, but some fear it may alter the delicate chemistry of the prize.
The award is officially named the Man Booker Prize after its sponsor, the financial services firm Man Group PLC.
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Online: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/
Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-15-Britain-Booker%20Prize/id-8602d56dc9684755a0dff63e0f247b3fNEW YORK (AP) — Selected transcripts and audio of Richard Nixon's Oval Office conversations will be published in book form next August, the 40th anniversary of Nixon's resignation from the presidency.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced Tuesday that "The Nixon Tapes" will feature the first transcriptions of Nixon and his aides discussing subjects ranging from Vietnam to Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign.
The country first learned that the tapes existed during Senate hearings in 1973 that looked into the growing Watergate scandal, which eventually led to Nixon's departure. The last of some 4,000 hours of conversations was finally made public this year.
"The Nixon Tapes" will be edited and annotated by historian Douglas Brinkley, who helped compile a book of Ronald Reagan's diaries, and Luke Nichter, whose website www.nixontapes.org features digital recordings of Nixon's conversations.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-15-US-Books-Nixon-Tapes/id-0a2813335d5049c2be1bf4ddfe86fe3bIn this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 photo, Pakistani girls gather under a poster of Malala Yousufzai in her old school in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. The giant poster of her that once emblazoned the wall of the assembly hall has been removed. The school made no plans to recognize the anniversary of Malala's shooting by Taliban, teachers and students are afraid. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
In this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 photo, Pakistani girls gather under a poster of Malala Yousufzai in her old school in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. The giant poster of her that once emblazoned the wall of the assembly hall has been removed. The school made no plans to recognize the anniversary of Malala's shooting by Taliban, teachers and students are afraid. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Pakistani school children hold a hand-written sign during a special class to commemorate the anniversary of Malala Yousufzai's shooting by the Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. One year after a Taliban bullet tried to silence Malala's demand for education, she has published a book and is a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the militants threaten to kill her should she dare return home from Britain to Pakistan, and the principal at her old school says that as Malala's fame has grown, so has fear in her classrooms. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Pakistani schoolboys look out the window of their classroom at other classmates chanting prayers to commemorate the anniversary of Malala's shooting by Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. One year after a Taliban bullet tried to silence Malala Yousufzai's demand for education, she has published a book and is a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the militants threaten to kill her should she dare return home from Britain to Pakistan, and the principal at her old school says that as Malala's fame has grown, so has fear in her classrooms. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Pakistani school children sit in their classroom during a special class to commemorate the anniversary of Malala Yousufzai's shooting by Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. One year after a Taliban bullet tried to silence Malala's demand for girls' education, she has published a book and is a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the militants threaten to kill her should she dare return home to Pakistan, and the principal at her old school says that as Malala's fame has grown, so has fear in her classrooms. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
BRUSSELS (AP) — European lawmakers awarded their top human rights prize Thursday to Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who last year survived a Taliban assassination attempt because of her outspoken support for girls' education.
U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and a group of imprisoned Belarus dissidents were also in the running for the 50,000-euro ($65,000) Sakharov Award.
Previous winners include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. The award came one day ahead of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, for which Malala also is a contender.
"The European Parliament acknowledges the incredible strength of this young woman," said Martin Schulz, the president of the EU legislature. "Malala bravely stands for the right of all children to be granted a fair education. This right for girls is far too commonly neglected."
Europe's three major political groups had nominated the schoolgirl in a show of united support for her cause.
The Taliban targeted Malala in the Oct. 2012 shooting because of her outspoken objection to the group's interpretation of Islam that keeps women at home and bars girls from school. Militants still threaten to kill her if she returns home.
After Malala was shot in the face, she was taken for special treatment to a hospital in Birmingham, England. She gradually regained her sight and her voice and was reunited with her parents.
Her recognition has stirred anti-Western sentiments in Pakistan, where a brutal insurgency has killed thousands of civilians and more than 4,000 soldiers.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-10-EU-EU-Sakharov-Prize/id-47ea539148864b7a985e9d367cd36122