Art X Lagos: West Africa's International Art Fair Returns Bigger and Bolder

We catch up with Art X Lagos founder Tokini Peterside on what to look forward to as West Africa's international art fair returns November 3.

One of West Africa's largest art fairs, Art X Lagos, is back for its second installment with bigger and bolder offerings. The three day event running from November 3 to 5 will showcase contemporary African art from 15 countries and feature 14 galleries representing African artists on the continent and the diaspora.
"This year we have more international galleries," Tokini Peterside, founder and director of Art X Lagos, says. "We've added a gallery from the UK, Cameroon, Senegal and Ivory Coast [to the initial list of galleries from] Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Mali. So there's greater diversity across Africa and the Diaspora."

Black Superheroes Matter: Why a 'Black Panther' Movie Is Revolutionary

Standing in the bay of a speeding Wakandan jet, a member of the African nation's special forces unit – the Dora Milaje – advises their king, T'Challa: "Don't freeze." Calmly, the leader replies "I never freeze." He's assured, regal, radiating a near subzero-temperature sense of cool. And then, donning the mask of the legendary superhero known as the Black Panther, he torpedo drops from the sky. A car explodes beneath him. He effortlessly somersaults through the air, lands sideways on a building in a neon-lit metropolis, races along the building's wall and sails right onto the speeding car. Then the Avenger skewers the driver's side tire and tosses it away like a bottle cap. Screen time: 10 seconds. How long have we been waiting to watch that moment become a reality? A lifetime.
Literally from the jump, director Ryan Coogler and Co. make it clear that we will be watching a black superhero fully in control and completely occupying the center-stage spotlight. Watch Boseman's Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, and you'll see a charismatic character who fills a void in the conflicted do-gooder group. Watch the new trailer, however – the one that dropped yesterday for his stand-alone film that hits theaters February 16th – and you'll see someone with the arrogance of Shaft, the coolness of Obama and the hot-headed impulsiveness of Kanye West. This T'Challa is accessible, awe-inspiring and perhaps most importantly, human. "I think the question that I'm trying to ask and answer in Black Panther is, 'What does truly mean to be African?'" the filmmaker recently told Rolling Stone. "The MCU has set itself in the real world as much as possible – so what does it mean for T'Challa to move around as this black man in a movie reality that tries to be a real world?"

Review 2017 Ferrari Califonia T

Ferrari keeps resisting most of the major trends in the automobile industry, following its own path. That being said, even Ferrari had to get with the times and offer a more sensible, everyday car. And thus, the California was born.

Keeping with Ferrari tradition, the California T isn't specifically marketed as the second generation California. Even so, it looks more like a facelift. But the big change is under the hood: Ferrari dropped the old 4.3-liter engine in favor of a 3.9 turbo. Hence the "T" in the name.

Tragically Hip's Gord Downie Dead at 53

Gord Downie, the lead singer for the beloved Canadian alt-rock band the Tragically Hip, died Tuesday at the age of 53. The cause was terminal brain cancer.
"Last night, Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by," his family wrote in a statement. "Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss … on the lips.

"Gord said he had lived many lives," they added. "As a musician, he lived 'the life' for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. No one."
Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer in December 2015, but didn't reveal his disease publicly until May 2016. That same summer, the Tragically Hip released a new album, Man Machine Poem, and embarked on a lengthy Canadian tour that culminated in an emotional final show: a hometown gig at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario. The concert was broadcast live and viewing parties were held across Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in attendance and the Toronto Police Department summed up the event's magnitude with a simple tweet: "Dear world, Please be advised that Canada will be closed tonight at 8:30 p.m. Have a #TragicallyHip day."

Sean Hughes: Comedian, actor and writer dies aged 51

Irish stand-up star and BBC quiz show panellist Sean Hughes has died aged 51.
Richard Bucknall, his former agent and promoter, said the "formidable" comic died in hospital on Monday and would be remembered for his "superb wit".
Hughes was a team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks on BBC Two and had his own Channel 4 sitcom, Sean's Show.
Fellow comedians, including Al Murray, Katy Brand and Jason Manford, have been paying tribute to the performer, who was also a writer and actor.

In 1990, Hughes - then 24 - became the youngest person to win the coveted Perrier Award - now known as the Edinburgh Comedy Award - at the Edinburgh Festival.
"I was told that I had won the Perrier award as I walked off stage after another sweaty performance," Hughes later wrote in The Guardian. "The judging panel rushed on to the stage to congratulate me.
"'Will it go to his head?'. I doubt it. If the panel had made it 10 minutes earlier, they would have seen two people walking out of my award-winning show."
Nica Burns, director of the awards, remembered him as "a huge talent" and "a very good writer" who had "instinctive timing from day one".
'Terribly sad news'
Comedian Al Murray recalled being inspired by the star's off-beat humour.

Malta blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia dies in car bomb attack

A prominent blogger in Malta, who had accused the island's government of corruption, has died in a car bomb attack, according to police.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, was reportedly killed when the car she was driving exploded shortly after she left her home in Bidnija, near Mosta.
Local media say one of her sons heard the blast and rushed outside.
PM Joseph Muscat, whom Caruana Galizia accused of wrongdoing earlier this year, denounced the killing.
"I condemn without reservations this barbaric attack on a person and on the freedom of expression in our country," he said in a televised statement.
"Everyone knows Ms Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine, both politically and personally, as she was for others too."
But he stressed there could be "no justification... in any way" for such action.

Woman shot in the head during Las Vegas shooting wakes up from coma and takes first steps

A woman shot in the head during the Las Vegas mass shooting has taken her first steps after waking up from a coma.

Tina Frost, 27, from Maryland, took six steps and breathed on her own for six hours on Friday, less than two weeks after a bullet pierced the frontal lobes of her brain and ricocheted into her right eye during the attack on 1 October, according to ABC News.

Frost was attending the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas with her boyfriend, Austin Hughes, when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on crowds from a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel, killing 58 people and injuring nearly 500. Hughes was unhurt in the attack.

A Go FundMe campaign to raise funds for Ms Frost’s medical bills has so far over $500,000 (£300,000).

Writing on the fundraising website, Ms Frost’s mother, Mary Watson, said: “Today has also been a big day for our TT – she is now waking up!

Florida governor declares state of emergency before white nationalist's speech

Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency on Monday ahead of a speech by a white nationalist leader later this week at the University of Florida, in order to free up resources to prepare for possible violence.

Rallies by neo-Nazis and white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August led to violent street clashes with counter-protesters. After the melee, as counter-protesters were dispersing, a 20-year-old man who is said by law enforcement to have harbored Nazi sympathies smashed his car into the crowd, killing a 32-year-old woman.

6 ways to overcome lack of connection in your marriage

You’d have thought that living with a person, day in and day out, would bring you closer to each other, but sometimes that is not the case.

It’s actually not at all unusual for people in long term relationships to experience periods when they feel disconnected from their partner and, sometimes, even begin to feel lonely.

If that sounds something like what you are going through right now, listed below are six ways to overcome lack of connection in your marriage.

1. Take a look at yourself first: It’s oh so easy for both parties in a marriage to blame each other for a lack of connection and do nothing at all about it themselves. The first step to rebuilding the bonds that you used to have is to look at what you might be doing wrong that has made you grow apart.

Jilted girlfriend of a handsome banker drives his $100k Benz into pool for ending their relationship

A jilted girlfriend of a Wall Street banker stunned him with an ultimate revenge by driving his 2017 Mercedes S400 into a backyard pool after he ended their relationship

Russian-born model Kristina Kuchma, 24, was pissed at her now ex-boyfriend, business executive Guy Gentile who had promised to finance her own business, ended up breaking up with her during a dinner out near his Bahamas home.

The model had wanted to start a marketing business and hoped he would help fund it with a $50,000 gift.

Dubai Police test its latest gadget -- a flying motorbike

Dubai Police, already home to Lamborghini patrol cars, self-driving robots and android officers, has decided to take to the skies in what can only be described as a flying motorbike.

The vehicle, called the Scorpion and designed by Russian tech company Hoversurf, relies on four propellers to stay airborne, with the rider crouched precariously close to the exposed blades. Capable of 40 mph and a travel time of 25 minutes, the single-seat craft, which can carry 600 lbs, can also operate autonomously.
After appearing at tech shows earlier this year, Dubai Police has decided to add one to its list of cutting-edge gadgets, all part of the force's "smart city" plans.

This grandfather found his $24 million lottery ticket just before it expired

For half a century, Jimmie Smith has tried his luck with lottery tickets. He would buy them in New York City and in his home state of New Jersey, but never hit the jackpot — not knowingly, anyway. “A lucky New Yorker has a $24 million Lotto payday just waiting — but the winner has to act fast as time is running out,”
 Gweneth Dean, director of the New York Gaming Commission’s Division of the Lottery, said in May. The winning ticket for the May 25, 2016, New York Lotto drawing was about to expire, and the gaming commission was making a final push to locate the lucky, unknown winner.

NELLY RAPE ACCUSER SAYS SHE WILL NOT TESTIFY

Nelly's attorney Scott Rosenblum tells us ...the accuser's "reckless accusation, once investigated thoroughly, was exposed for what it was-a fabrication. A fabrication that has caused Nelly and his family to suffer emotionally and financially." He's not satisfied though, and says he wants a public apology from the woman, and will recommend Nelly consider taking legal action against her.The woman who accused Nelly of rape is refusing to testify, and wants the whole matter dropped ...

California Fires Leave 32 Dead, a Vast Landscape Charred, and a Sky Full of Soot

Some of the worst wildfires ever to tear through California have killed 32 people and torched a vast area of the state’s north this week, but the reach of the blazes is spreading dramatically further by the day, as thick plumes of smoke blow through population centers across the Bay Area.

Everything now smells burnt. Hills and buildings are covered in a haze. Residents nowhere near the front lines of the fires now venture out wearing air masks. On a hillside above the Russian River, a broad and menacing band of fire is turning a blue sky into a gray miasma of soot.

Air-quality, based on levels of tiny particles that can flow deep into the lungs, is rated “unhealthy” across much of Northern California, and smoke has traveled as far as Fresno, more than 200 miles to the south. The effects are many: schoolchildren are being kept inside during recess, the Oakland Raiders canceled their outdoor practice on Thursday to prevent players from breathing in the bad air, and doctors are reporting an increase in visits and calls from people with lung and heart trouble.

All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault

Over the past week, a wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein have emerged through a series of investigations published by The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Following the reports, more and more women have spoken publicly about their experiences with Weinstein.

Most of these alleged encounters follow a similar pattern, of "business meetings" turning into a proposed massage and hotel room sexual harassment or assault. These accusations start as early as the 1980s and include actresses, assistants, and other employees of Weinstein's companies.

With the catalog of alleged abuse growing, women like Gwyneth Paltrow, who accused Weinstein of touching her inappropriately in 1995, want to support women in similar situations by coming forward.

“We’re at a point in time when women need to send a clear message that this is over,” Paltrow told The New York Times. “This way of treating women ends now.”