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Akbaba scored in the 88th minute and two minutes into stoppage time to give Turkey the League B victory. |
Sweden, making its Nations League debut following its surprising quarterfinal appearance at the World Cup, had taken a 2-0 lead by the 49th minute at Friends Arena in Stockholm. |
It was Turkey’s first away win in seven matches. |
In the third-tier League C, Scotland ended its run of three straight losses with a 2-0 win over Albania in Group 1. |
In Group 4, Serbia and Romania drew 2-2, while Montenegro defeated Lithuania 2-0. |
In League D, Andorra and Kazakhstan drew 1-1 in Group 1, while Malta drew with Azerbaijan 1-1 in Group 3. |
The Nations League guarantees at least one of Europe’s low-ranked League D teams will qualify for Euro 2020 through a playoffs. |
Readers may be familiar with the fundamental changes that took place in the Roman world as it converted from paganism to Christianity in the fourth century, and as its emperors sought to govern, through the turbulent times of the fifth to seventh centuries, as Christian rulers. |
This is the stuff of late antiquity as it would be recognised in any classics or history university department. It is, as Tom Holland points out in the opening pages of his latest book, a period of fundamental importance for the shape of our world, as it is the era in which religious monotheism, rather than political kingdom, comes to dominate history. |
In that context, Holland focuses on the birth of Islam through the prophet Mohammed in Mecca and Medina (modern-day Saudi Arabia) during the course of the seventh century, as it is told to us by one of Mohammed’s biographers, Ibn Hisham, in the ninth century. The faith of Islam, as Holland points out, is centred on the study and strict observation of both the divine revelations to Mohammed (the Koran), and how Mohammed acted during his lifetime (the Hadith and the Sunna). |
Yet, echoing what many (mostly non-Muslim) scholars have queried before, Holland points to the historical problem of the evidence: before 800AD, almost 200 years after Mohammed’s death in 632AD, the only “traces we possess” for the development of Islam “are either the barest shreds of shreds, or else the delusory shimmering of mirages”. |
Holland examines late antiquity not as an age of decline and fall, but of energy and inventiveness, setting the Arab world and Mohammed’s life in the context of the changing geographies, cultures and priorities of the empires of Rome around the Mediterranean, the Sassanians to the East, and the religious and cultural melting-pot of the “Holy Land”, which connected them. Holland identifies key events, places, ideas and decisions within the Persian and Roman systems which may have impacted upon the Arab world, and, in turn, on the birthplace of Islam in Mecca and Medina. |
In so doing, Holland argues for the forging of Islam in the political and military instability and opportunity of a world convulsed by a changing balance of power. The process, he continues, ensured that, by the ninth century, “a version of Islam’s beginnings that gave no scope for anyone to rule as a Deputy of God”, and in turn no room “for acknowledging the momentous role in the forging of Islam by countless others”, had gained acceptance, the continued presence of which, inevitably, makes Holland’s thesis difficult reading for an Islamic audience. |
Focusing on the wider context to unpick key moments in history is a classic Holland approach, echoing, for example, his study of the fifth century BC Persian invasion of Greece in Persian Fire (2005), which explored the context and prior history of the Persian and Greek worlds. Such an approach is now in vogue, because it demands that the historian break the often stifling disciplinary boundaries that have traditionally governed the study of worlds which knew no such boundaries. |
This is a handsome volume, tackling an important question from a novel perspective, backed by useful notes and written in an accessible and fluid style. But, as I am sure Holland would accept, in part because of the charged nature of the material and issues on which it dwells, and in part because of the vast developments and arenas it attempts to encompass, it is also bound to encounter the full spectrum of critical reaction. |
Florida Institute of Technology quarterback Brandon Ziarno. |
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Florida Institute of Technology quarterback Brandon Ziarno was arrested Friday on marijuana charges after a routine traffic stop yielded 65.7 grams of pot in small, plastic bags, according to police. |
Ziarno, 21, told officers he would tell them anything they wanted to know after he was pulled over for running a stop sign and police smelled marijuana coming from his vehicle on Country Club Road, News 6 partner Florida Today reported. |
Police reports state that Ziarno, a Melbourne Central Catholic graduate, confessed to selling marijuana to a "few" of his Panthers teammates. |
Ziarno was charged with possession of cannabis over 20 grams and possession of cannabis with intent to sell or deliver. |
For the past two seasons, Ziarno played backup to starting quarterback Marquis Cato Robins, who was also arrested on a DUI charge after police say he got drunk and crashed into a Melbourne home. |
Cato was then suspended from the team, allowing Ziarno to step in during a playoff game during the team's first postseason run during only its fourth year as a team. Cato was reinstated as starting quarterback for the 2017 season. |
Ziarno, heading into his junior year at Florida Tech, passed for 7,000 yards during his high school career at MCC before signing with the Division II Panthers. |
A spokesman for the Red Crescent, Mahmoud al-Saadi, said Israeli forces opened fire on two young men who were traveling on a motorcycle near the Jalameh checkpoint in the northern city of Jenin. |
The two men were transferred to Jenin hospital. One succumbed to his wounds after he was shot in the head with a live round. He was identified by the Palestinian health ministry as 19-year-old Abdullah Tawalba. |
The other unnamed man is in stable condition. |
The Israeli army said its troops fired at “two assailants who hurled an explosive device” in the vicinity of the checkpoint, adding no soldiers were hurt. |
Runaway Entertainment is looking for an experienced Associate General Manager to work across all their productions. |
Runaway Entertainment Ltd is an award-winning producing and general management company, based on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the heart of theatreland. We produce critically acclaimed and ambitious plays and musicals, working with the most exciting talents in the theatre industry. We love a challenge and are passionate about quality and innovation. |
Current projects include Girl From The North Country (Toronto) and Hair (Tour General Manager), as well as many others in various stages of development. Previous shows include Guys and Dolls (Savoy Theatre, Phoenix Theatre and UK Tour), The Railway Children (King’s Cross Theatre), In The Heights (Southwark Playhouse and King’s Cross Theatre), Girl From The North Country (Old Vic, Noel Coward Theatre and Public Theater). |
The Associate General Manager will report to the General Managers and provide support in the development, administration and day-to-day running of all productions. They will work closely with the General Managers and Producer to ensure the smooth running of each show. The successful candidate will have at least three years relevant general management experience in a theatre producing environment, excellent organisational and communication skills and strong attention to detail. |
For more information please see the attached job description. |
Please send your CV and a cover letter of no more than two A4 sides outlining how you meet the requirements of the role by email via the button below. The closing date for applications is 6pm on Friday 1st March 2019. |
Can Container Store Start 2015 on a Positive Note? |
In 2014, it was hard to find bad-performing stocks, as the market put in a sixth straight year of gains. For Container Store Group , though, its first full year as a public company was a disaster for investors, with the stock plunging almost 60% last year. Amid falling same-store sales and worrisome trends in overall revenue, confidence in Container Store's future prospects took a huge hit. Yet as shares have started to stabilize, though, shareholders hope that the worst is over for the company and that customers might return in force to take advantage of the retail chain's organizational products. Moreover, some enthusiasm both from the professional analyst camp and from an activist hedge fund could help support the stock in the future. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Container Store over the past quarter and what it's likely to say in its earnings report on Thursday afternoon. |
Can Container Store get its earnings organized better this quarter?Investors are more pessimistic than they were a few months ago about Container Store's earnings, having slashed their views on November-quarter earnings by 30%. Yet even though the stock has fallen 14% since early October, share prices have bounced off their lowest levels since then. |
Just about all of the damage done to Container Store's stock came following its fiscal second-quarter report. On its face, 39% growth in adjusted net income seemed like a reasonably promising performance, coming from a 5.2% rise in net revenue. Yet comparable store sales were actually down 0.4% for the quarter, showing just how important Container Store's continued expansion has been to its overall growth. Overhead costs rose at a faster pace than revenue, and Container Store cut its guidance for full-year revenue by about $20 million and gave lower predictions of earnings per share than shareholders were looking to see. With comps also predicted to fall again this quarter, the stock plunged 25% in a single day following the announcement. |
Since then, Container Store has finally drawn some interest. In late October, a presentation from activist hedge fund Apex Capital highlighted its 4.5% ownership interest in Container Store, with Apex's founder exploring options such as encouraging faster growth, expense reductions, and even considering selling the company in a going-private transaction. With private-equity company Leonard Green & Partners holding a majority stake in Container Store, Apex will have to convince its institutional peer that its suggested plan of action has merit for the company. |
Moreover, some investors simply believe that Container Store's stock is cheap enough to be attractive. In November, analysts at Merrill Lynch upgraded the organizational-goods company, highlighting some of Container Store's plans to execute a turnaround of its sluggish sales and drive more customers into its stores. |
One long-term concern that investors need to consider is whether potential cost-cutting moves could endanger Container Store's renowned corporate culture. The company prides itself on treating its employees well, with generous salaries of roughly double the average in the retail industry. Many argue that treating its employees well leads to better results for Container Store, but without solid earnings growth, reducing compensation costs would be a tempting way for an institutional investor to push more money down to the bottom line quickly. |
In the Container Store earnings report, be sure to watch whether the company further reduces guidance. Although the fiscal quarter doesn't include the whole of holiday season, investors should expect to get a good read on whether Container Store had a successful time in a key season for the retail industry. If Container Store can't deliver an optimistic message this time around, its stock could easily end up headed downward once again. |
The article Can Container Store Start 2015 on a Positive Note? originally appeared on Fool.com. |
Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of The Container Store Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. |
The New York Times on Thursday printed a special section featuring portraits of nearly every member of the record number of female lawmakers in Congress. |
A viral Twitter thread from the Times’ design editor, Josh Crutchmer, includes a video of the covers the night before publication that has been viewed over 320,000 times as of Thursday morning. |
The photos, which were taken on Capitol Hill over five days by Times photographers Elizabeth D. Herman and Celeste Sloman, are meant as “a testament to what power looks like in 2019,” according to the paper. |
“Like the work of Kehinde Wiley, who painted Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaChina, Russia, Iran rise in Latin America as US retreats Castro wants to follow Obama's lead on balancing presidency with fatherhood Trump's regulatory rollback boosts odds of a financial crisis MORE’s official presidential portrait, these photographs evoke the imagery we are used to seeing in the halls of power, but place people not previously seen as powerful starkly in the frames,” the feature reads. |
There are 131 women serving in the House and Senate this term, a record class that includes a number of other “firsts,” including the youngest woman elected to the House, the first two female Muslim lawmakers, and the first two Native American female lawmakers. “Redefining Representation” features 130 portraits – Rep. Liz Cheney Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyRep. Cheney: Socialism 'driving the agenda of the Democratic Party' Dem lawmaker offers tool for 'filling in the blanks' of Green New Deal Judd Gregg: In praise of Mike Enzi MORE (R-Wyo.) was not available, according to the Times. |
Packed WonderCon panel brings out stars and exclusive sneak peeks. |
Footage shown at WonderCon reveals what iconic monster looks like in new film. |
Fox panel debuts new look at the maze, featured stars Dylan O'Brien and Will Poulter. |
Equipped with their own factory, they make different kinds of outstanding fish cake. Fish cake in Busan is the most delicious in the nation and Graesa fish cake is among the most premium in Busan. It is fresh and has no such things as MSG, preservatives, food coloring or flour in it. You can choose and pay on the first floor, and try it with coffee on the second floor. Although it is more expensive than that in super stores, its quality and taste cannot be compared. You can also order it offline or online. If your order is more than 50,000 won, it will be delivered free. |
10 diversity items for June 29: Unemployment up in most U.S. cities; Pew report shows diversity of U.S. Hispanics and more. |
For the first time in history the Pentagon celebrated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported. The ceremony, which was broadcast on a internal TV network to U.S. military bases around the world, was a straight-laced affair, according to the Times. It included pre-taped videos from President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. |
The American Civil Liberties Union will help the Ku Klux Klan in its bid to join a highway cleanup program, according to Fox News. When the International Keystone Knights of the KKK applied to join the program along part of Highway 515 in the north Georgia mountains, the state denied their application--which lead to a legal showdown. The ACLU is developing a strategy for representing the group in what it believes is a First Amendment case. |
When advocates for the Asian-American community decried a report by the Pew Research Center full of seemingly good news about Asians as "shallow" and "disparaging," both sides failed to acknowledge that the other may have had a point, Eric Liu wrote in Time on Tuesday. |
In May, unemployment rates rose in more than 75 percent of U.S. cities, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Among the cities with this highest unemployment rates were Yuma, Ariz. (28.9 percent); El Centro, Calif. (26.8 percent); and Yuba City, Calif. (17.9 percent). Bismark and Fargo, both in North Dakota, had the lowest unemployment rates--2.5 percent and 3 percent respectively--followed by Lincoln, Neb., with 3.4 percent unemployment. |
Eighty percent of Mexicans support their president's decision to use the Army to fight powerful drug cartels, a new poll from the Pew Hispanic Center shows. That support has dropped slightly over the past year. In 2011, 83 percent supported the use of military force. Forty-seven percent of those polled said they believed the Army was making progress in the fight. |
Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Colombians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians and Peruvians make up 92 percent of the United States' Hispanic population, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of Census data released on Wednesday. The majority, 65 percent, of all 50.7 million Hispanics living in the country are of Mexican-origin. The next largest group are Puerto Ricans, who make up just 9 percent of the total Hispanic population. |
The attorney for a Latino man who claimed a Seattle police officer threatened to beat the "Mexican piss" out of him during a 2010 robbery investigation said a civil rights lawsuit regarding the incident, which was caught on tape, has been settled for $150,000, the Seattle Times reported on Wednesday. |
Tucson Police Chief: Can the Department Handle S.B. 1070 Workload? |
As the "show me your papers, please" provision in Arizona's immigration law goes into effect in the wake of the Monday Supreme Court decision, the police chief in Tucson, Ariz., wonders how his staff--which is down to 160 officers because of the economy--will handle the up to 50,000 additional phone calls a year to federal officials to verify the immigration status of people they stop, CNN reported on Wednesday. |
The U.S. government has quietly been training and arming the Ugandan military as it drives militants out of Somalia, a stronghold for Islamic militants, Wired reported on Wednesday. But American officials have indicated that the government might cut off that military aid because of LGBT issues. Uganda's gays, lesbians and transgendered citizens have long faced persecution, the magazine reported. |
Another lawsuit challenging Florida's contentious move to remove potentially ineligible voters from the state voting rolls was filed last week by The Advancement Project in partnership with other litigants, New America Media reported on Thursday. |
An Alsip police officer seriously wounded a man in an on-duty shooting early Wednesday after tracking a Cadillac suspected of being involved in drag racing into the Mount Greenwood neighborhood. |
The officer fired shots when the driver of the Cadillac, identified as a 25-year-old man, failed to follow police commands to raise his hands and drove toward the officer and his partner, Alsip Police Chief Jay Miller said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. |
Just after 2 a.m., the officer saw a Dodge Challenger and a Cadillac drag racing in the David Estates neighborhood in the southwest suburb, Miller said. During a search for the vehicles, the officer pulled into a parking lot for an apartment building in the 4000 block of 115th Street in Chicago and found two people inside the Cadillac. |
The officer and his partner got out of their squad car and told the 25-year-old and his passenger to raise their hands, police said. Instead of following directions, the 25-year-old drove toward the officer, who then opened fire. The Cadillac crashed into vehicles parked in the lot and into a squad car. |
The 25-year-old was shot twice in the shoulder and was given medical attention by the Alsip officers before paramedics arrived, police said. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition. |
Both officers suffered “minor injuries,” Alsip police said. |
Miller said the 25-year-old, who has not been charged, was wanted on a warrant out of Indiana on a drug charge and had a “violent history” but did not provide specifics. |
Urban, born Jacques Pantaléon in Troyes c. 1200, was elected to the papacy in 1261. He studied canon law at Paris and served as bishop of Verdun and patriarch of Jerusalem. He hoped to keep Sicily from the heirs of Frederick II, whom the council of Lyon excommunicated in 1245, because Urban wanted to restore papal influence in Italy. In 1263, he negotiated with Louis IX of France to put Louis' brother Charles of Anjou on the throne of Sicily. Urban died the following year before the treaty was signed. |
If you would like to support the Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan's campaign of kindness, you may visit the organization's crowd funding site to help pay for supplies. The more money raised, the more random acts of kindness those in our community with Down syndrome will be able to commit. |
The Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan is a resource and advocacy organization promoting public awareness and supporting lifelong opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome and their families. Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition, with one in every 700 babies being born with Down syndrome. There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States. For more information, visit www.dsawm.org. |
AMC Networks Earnings Beat Estimates, CEO Says 'Walking Dead' Franchise "Will Have a Long Life" |
AMC Networks on Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings amid higher distribution and advertising revenue as management touted the outlook for hit show The Walking Dead, which is currently in its seventh season and which has been a big topic of debate among Wall Street analysts. |
AMC Networks shares were up 13.6 percent in early Thursday trading at $65.30 as investors cheered the upside earnings surprise. |
In the company's earnings report, he had similarly said: "The Walking Dead remains the No. 1 show on television by a wide margin and is a powerful example of programming that we own and distribute that commands a loyal audience, attracts advertising revenue, and has significant ancillary revenues that will benefit our business for years to come. With a rapidly expanding studio business, we now have a growing portfolio of shows that we own that provide this kind of opportunity for our business." |
Asked about the studio business on the call, Sapan said: "The company is becoming and has become more of a studio,” rather than “only a channel operator.” He said that has allowed its shows to play on its own channels in the U.S. and internationally, then go to Hulu or Netflix in a later window in the U.S. and be sold to other distributors in foreign markets where the company has no channels. |
AMC Networks so far has not produced shows only for other companies and has no plans to do so, but could consider such a production approach longer-term if the financial returns and strategic benefits make sense, said Sapan. |
Asked about the company's channel portfolio, Sapan said its quality and pricing counts more than the number of channels at a time when some peers may have to close down weaker channels, according to analysts. "We have been of the mind for some time that quality matters, brands matter, content matters, engagement matters," said Sapan. "And you don’t get a free lunch for showing up with 22 channels." He added that his team felt that "a day of reckoning would come” for some peers. |
While the company felt SundanceTV and BBC America, in which it bought a stake, are well-defined channels, overall, he said, "we have already skinnied our offering down.” And AMC Networks channels should still get higher carriage fees, he reiterated. “Collectively, they are underpriced," said Sapan. |
The cable networks company on Thursday posted a profit of $14 million for the latest quarter, or earnings per share of 20 cents, compared with $90 million in the year-ago period, or $1.23. The company in the latest quarter took non-cash impairment charges of $68 million related to AMC Networks International-DMC, its Amsterdam-based media logistics facility. |
Adjusted for charges, earnings reached $92 million, or $1.30 per share, compared with $102 million, or $1.39 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2015. The decrease in adjusted earnings per share was "primarily related to the increase in adjusted operating income more than offset by an increase in miscellaneous expense." Wall Street analysts had on average expected earnings of $1.27 per share. Estimates had come down a bit after Sapan in December said that advertising was looking softer than anticipated. |
A 9.2 percent increase in quarterly operating income and 9.2 percent adjusted operating income at the company's U.S. networks, which include AMC, IFC and SundanceTV, reflected higher revenue, offset by an increase in operating expenses. "The increase in operating expenses was primarily attributable to higher programming expenses, partially offset by a decrease in marketing expenses," the company said. "Programming expenses included charges of $5 million in the current-year period related to the write-off of programming assets, as compared to charges of $16 million in the prior year period." The company didn't immediately say which show or shows the write-off was for. |
U.S. advertising revenue rose 3.1 percent despite lower ratings in the quarter for the first half of season seven of The Walking Dead. U.S. distribution revenue jumped 15.6 percent. |
"2016 was a successful year for our company both financially and operationally, driven by our disciplined and focused strategy of investing in high-quality content and creating brands that have strong, growing, passionate and engaged audiences," said Sapan. |
He continued: "We are embracing changing viewing habits by making strategic investments in streaming services that fit well with our programming and the audiences at our network brands. As we look ahead in 2017, we see a number of attractive growth opportunities for our businesses and remain committed to delivering meaningful value to our shareholders. |
Michael Morris, an analyst with Guggenheim Partners, said in a note previewing the results: "Season 7 of The Walking Dead premiered in late October, and though the show started strong, by the mid-season finale ratings were declining in excess of 20 percent on a year-over-year basis, worse than the 15 percent decline built into our estimates." |
He lowered his fourth-quarter U.S. networks advertising growth estimate for the fourth quarter to 0.5 percent from 6.0 percent "given The Walking Dead's recent ratings trends." Said Morris: "This is consistent with management commentary provided in December. We expect the show to remain in production — and popular with consumers — for the next several years, and as such we anticipate related ancillary revenue (from digital and international partners) to remain intact." |
But, he warned, "Investor concern around the company's key Walking Dead franchise continues to weigh on shares. We continue to believe that market value under-appreciates the company’s ability to develop and monetize compelling programming. However, we do not see a clear path to investor realization and thus remain cautious in our target valuation multiple." |
Sapan on Thursday also touted the ratings performance of the company's networks. And he said that AMC will this year air such returning series as Humans, Better Call Saul and Preacher, plus new shows like The Terror and The Son. |
Jan. 22 will be here before agencies know it. So will Feb. 6. Here’s betting that even April 16 will be here seemingly tomorrow. |
Those are the 45-day, 60-day and 120-day deadlines folded into the Open Government Directive, issued by the White House last month. The first, which arrives soon, is when every federal agency must identify and publish online at least three high-value datasets it plans to make available to the public. |
Fifteen days after that, each agency must launch an open-government Web page that is ready to be updated in a timely fashion. By April 16, each agency must unveil an open-government plan that will describe how it will improve transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities. |
Those are tall orders in short times, to be sure. However, most agencies haven't devised an open-government plan, decided what data is high value or figured out how to share it with the public. The directive is a sweeping mandate designed to transform the way the federal government interacts with the public, yet even its White House authors say each agency is essentially moving through this territory on its own without a road map. |
Agencies have few choices for figuring out how to comply with the directive. They can go it alone and create a plan that they hope makes the grade. Perhaps some will join forces or find industry partners that might guide them to a successful outcome. Or, counting on the kindness of strangers in the White House, they can rely on promised support from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where the authors of the directive live. |
But even though the vagueness of the directive is a challenge, most agencies agree that it could be worse. Flexibility is better than getting strict and possibly draconian requirements that don’t account for agencies' special needs and different missions. For example, the way NASA shares images of the surface of Mars needs to be different than the way the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shares airline flight delay data. |
The two men behind the directive are federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. By the Feb. 6 deadline, they are supposed to establish a dashboard on WhiteHouse.gov that will aggregate statistics and visualizations so the public can see how various agencies are doing. |
The goal of the dashboard is not to highlight agencies’ failures, Chopra said. |
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