This wasn’t Talib Kweli’s first time on CNN, but
it’ll probably be his last. During his interview
with Don Lemon in Ferguson, MO Talib argued
that CNN was mishandling the narrative of the
Mike Brown protests. He even accused Don of
being rude when they met. Eventually, they came
to some common ground and shook hands.
Reality TV indeed.
There are few sporting contests that carry quite the
same passion as a Real Madrid-Barcelona clash.
Their meetings regularly captivate millions of fans,
not only in their homeland but across the
footballing world.
As the big day approaches, countless Spaniards,
including many who would ordinarily be immune
from the charms of the beautiful game, get swept
along by the fervour of the big event and don the
colours of their favourites.
Over the last decade, with the Galactico era in
Madrid and the dominance of European club football
by Barça, a number of world champions have faced
off. These star names include Roberto Carlos, Fabio
Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane for Los Blancos as
well as Ronaldinho and some of the stars of
Spain’s FIFA World Cup-winning side of 2010: Xavi,
Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique.
However, it is not just in recent times that the
teams have had such a glittering array of stars at
their disposal. Down the years some of the greatest
players ever to grace the sport have taken the field
for the big two, including Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas,
Santillana, Hugo Sanchez, Emilio Butragueno and
Michel for Madrid, and among others Ladislao
Kubala, Luis Suarez, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona,
Hristo Stoichkov, Ronald Koeman, Rivaldo and
Romario for the Blaugrana.
Side swappers
And there is another even more exclusive list of
players worth mentioning, those who took the brave
decision to take the Puente Aereo (the route
connecting Barcelona and Madrid) and swap clubs.
Di Stefano, Bernd Schuster, Michael Laudrup, Luis
Enrique, Luis Figo and Ronaldo are just some of the
stars who broke the hearts and invoked the wrath
of their former supporters, for whom changing
allegiances is an act of unforgivable treason.
Real Madrid-Barcelona games have produced more
than their share of anecdotes, amazing results,
legendary performances and enmity ever since the
pair first crossed swords in 1902, a match the
Catalan side won 3-1. The first league meeting
came in 1928, when the Merengues inflicted a
painful defeat on the Blaugrana in their own back
yard.
Six years after their 1928 encounter, Real Madrid
trounced the Cules 8-2 in a 1935 league match in
the capital, although Barcelona, led by Hungarian
Ladislau Kubala, would exact a measure of revenge
by walloping their foes 7-2 in front of their home
fans in 1950.
The Di Stefano derby
In 1953 the two sides were in confrontation again,
this time in a battle to secure the services of Alfredo
Di Stefano. One month after the dispute was settled
in favour of the capital side, the legendary Argentine
they called the Blonde Arrow began a love affair
with the fans of the Bernabeu by scoring twice in a
5-0 thrashing of the old enemy.
Twenty years on in 1974, with Dutchman Rinus
Michels at the helm and his compatriot Johan
Cruyff at his mercurial best, it was the turn of the
Blaugrana to post a 5-0 scoreline, and at the
Bernabeu for good measure. Two decades later
Cruyff, by then Barça coach, presided over another
5-0 drubbing, as his Dream Team lorded it over
their rivals at the Camp Nou, with Romario running
Francisco Buyo ragged and scoring an exquisite
hat-trick.
Barely 12 months later at the Bernabeu and the
shoe would be on the other foot. This time it was
the visiting keeper Carles Busquets (father of
Sergio) who had his goal breached five times, with
a hat-trick form Chile's Ivan Zamorano doing most
the damage. The game was also notable for the
presence in the victorious Madrid side of Michael
Laudrup, a player who just a year earlier had played
for Barça in their famous 5-0 at the Camp Nou.
A decade down the road, fans of the Merengues
were certainly made to suffer at the hands of their
greatest rivals. Not only did they have to watch as
their sworn enemies claimed both the Spanish and
UEFA Champions League titles, but they felt honour
bound to stand and applaud an inspired Ronaldinho
after his two wonder-goals helped Barça to a 3-0
win at their stadium.
After the Brazilian’s departure, it was the turn of
Lionel Messi to take the famous Barça No10 shirt.
The little Argentinian scored his first Clasico goals
in March 2007, grabbing a Camp Nou hat-trick in a
pulsating 3-3 draw. Cristiano Ronaldo, his Madrid-
based rival, has had his own say in this fixture in
the past, scoring an extra-time headed winner in
the 2011 Copa Del Rey final.
El Clasico has developed into world football’s most
hotly-anticipated derby match. Whenever the two
meet, the world grinds to a halt to watch the stars
collide.
Hong Kong (CNN) -- Kung fu movie star Jackie
Chan says he "takes responsibility" for the drug
charges laid against his son, 32-year-old Jaycee
Chan, in Beijing.
Police detained the junior Chan, who is originally
from Hong Kong and also an actor, as well as Kai
Ko, a 23-year-old Taiwanese actor, during a raid
on August 14 in Dongcheng district, Beijing, state
media said.
Both men tested positive for marijuana.
READ: Jackie Chan's son held in anti-drugs
crackdown in China's capital
Jackie Chan publicly addressed the incident for
the first time on Wednesday evening, through
messages posted on his account on Weibo, a
Chinese microblogging platform.
The star of "Rush Hour" wrote that he felt
"extremely furious" and "extremely shocked" at
the news of his son's drug woes, adding that
Jaycee's mother is "heartbroken."
"I hope that young people will see Jaycee as a
cautionary tale and stay away from drugs," wrote
Chan, who once campaigned against drug use
and was named an anti-drugs ambassador in
China in 2009.
"I failed to teach my son and I should also bear
responsibility. Jaycee and I deeply bow in apology
to society," concluded Chan on his Weibo, which
has more than 23 million followers.
'Really sorry'
After detaining the young actors, police searched
Jaycee Chan's apartment and found more than
100 grams of marijuana. He was also accused of
"hosting others to take drugs," the state-run
China Daily said. He could face three years in jail
under Chinese law.
State broadcaster CCTV aired footage of Chan,
his face blurred, showing police where the drugs
were hidden at his home, while Ko was shown
making a tearful apology.
"I very much regret what happened. I'm very
sorry to those who support me, like me or even
know me personally," he said. "I just want to tell
them I'm really sorry. I've set the worst example,
which had the most terrible influence. And this is
a huge mistake."
Celebrity targets
The two actors are being seen as the targets of
the capital's latest anti-drugs campaign, which
has snared more than 7,000 people for using
drugs since January, a 72% year-on-year
increase, according to China Daily .
Celebrities are increasingly in the spotlight, with a
number of high-profile arrests over drug-related
incidents in recent months, including popular
movie actor Zhang Mo and singer Li Daimo, who
was sentenced to nine months in jail for hosting a
crystal meth party at his home, according to the
China Daily.
Earlier this month, dozens of management
agencies representing performers in the
entertainment industry signed an agreement with
Beijing authorities banning drug use from the
industry and pledging to sack artists who break
the law.
With just its first trailer, Automata easily takes a
place beside Christopher Nolan's Interstellar on
the list of the best-looking sci-fi films coming this
year. The film takes place in a dark future where
robots are quickly gaining consciousness, and
things go bad when a small number of them
actually become sentient and kidnap a human.
What really is sentience and humanity and true
thought? Sure, these questions have all been
explored before, but with its Blade Runner -esque
vision and District 9- kind of grittiness, it looks
like Automata will have an interesting take on it
all. Plus, Javier Bardem plays a robot, which is
pretty great. It'll be released on October 10th.
Lagos - The 52-year old was arrested in the
Croatian town of Slavonski Brod on suspicion of
possessing human body organs.
Local police raided the suspects' apartment
where they found numerous human penises
soaking in formaldehyde. The solution stopped
the organs from rotting.
As a nurse, the suspect had easy access to the
hospital morgue where police believe he severed
the penises from deceased males and took
them home.
Also Read: Infertile men might need 'sperm
shield' boost
Slavonski Brod is a mid-sized town of 59 000
and has been inhabited since prehistoric times.
Speaking to Queerty.com, hospital spokesman
said "On behalf of all employees of the hospital,
I have to say that we are very unpleasantly
surprised by an event that threw a shadow over
this hospital. Our apologies to the families of
the deceased."
The man had no prior criminal record and was
described by police as a "family man." It
remains unclear what the suspect intended to
use the penises for. He is currently on bail
pending his trial for disturbing the deceased. If
he is found guilty, he could face up to two
years in jail.
- Health24
Lagos - The spat between the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) and Rivers State
Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, took a new twist
after the party accused the premier of inducing
legal professionals with computers to prolong
their strike.
PDP alleged Amaechi had distributed a total of
250 laptops to members of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) of the Bori, Ahoada, Isiokpo
and Degema branches.
The party said the governor also promised to
release additional 1 000 laptops to members of
the Port Harcourt branch of the NBA.
Also Read: Sultan cautions politicians against
unguarded comments
The ruling party, which nonetheless plays
second fiddle to the All Progressive Congress in
the state, said it condemned the governor's
“Greek gift” as it was ill-timed and ill-
motivated.
“If the governor believes that lawyers in the
state deserve a gift of laptops, then it is
certainly not appropriate, considering the
manner and circumstances surrounding the
distribution of the laptops, and to do so at this
point in time when efforts should be dissipated
at ensuring that the courts resume sittings
makes it more suspicious. There is no doubting
the fact that Governor Amaechi’s intention is to
lure the lawyers in order to cage them from
opposing his many pranks and acts of impunity
against the judiciary in the state,” the party
said in a statement.
Also Read: Council boss slumps, dies in Rivers
The PDP said its holds the law profession, as
well as some members of the bar in high
esteem and believed no amount of gifts by
Governor Amaechi, who could not be reached
for comment, would make them err.
“The PDP continues to hold Governor Amaechi
responsible for this embarrassing situation in
the judiciary, while calling on lawyers to remain
focused and resolute in their stance against all
forms of impunity by the administration of
Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi,” it said.
– CAJ News
n one of his most forceful denunciations of
Islamic State militants to date, President Barack
Obama on Wednesday condemned the group's
barbaric beheading of an American journalist.
"The entire world is appalled by the brutal
murder of Jim Foley," Obama said in his first
remarks since the release of the gruesome online
video by the Islamic State (also known as ISIL
or ISIS).
Despite his outrage, Obama gave no indication
that he planned to curtail airstrikes against
Islamic State fighters in Iraq, even as the
militants threatened the life of a second hostage
journalist unless the U.S. changed course.
The president appeared angered and grim as he
spoke from Martha's Vineyard, where he is
vacationing. He said he had talked to the
journalist's family and told them that "we are all
heartbroken for their loss."
