NASA says Maven spacecraft enters orbit around Mars

NASA's Maven spacecraft has entered orbit around Mars, completing a journey that lasted nearly a year and covered 442 million miles. 

NASA said late Sunday that the robotic explorer had fired its brakes and slipped into orbit, successfully completing the first part of its $671 million mission. "This is such an incredible night," John Grunsfeld, NASA's chief for science missions, told The Associated Press. 

Microsoft pushes back Xbox One release date in China

Microsoft has pushed back the launch date of the Xbox One in mainland China, saying it needs more time to polish the system before it goes for sale.

The popular gaming console was originally scheduled to launch on Sept. 23. But on Saturday, Microsoft posted an official statement that said the Xbox One would come to the country at a later date.

“To ensure that Chinese gamers can fully enjoy the best gaming and entertainment experiences on the Xbox One, we will likely need some more time for the final preparations,” Microsoft said in the Chinese language statement, adding that progress on the console had been moving along steadily.

In Tense Woods, Police Shift From Prey to Hunters

The Pennsylvania State Police recommend that you remain in your homes. That you not go into the surrounding woods. That you lock all doors and vehicles, keep the exterior of your home well lit, and if you see a shed open that you remember having closed, report it immediately.

Secret Service considering public White House checkpoints, report claims

The Secret Service is considering a number of proposals designed to prevent intruders from breaching the security perimeter around the White House, according to published reports. 

The Associated Press reported that agency officials have had preliminary discussions about setting up checkpoints in public areas around the executive mansion. A law enforcement official told the AP that such a measure has previously been discussed. However, the issue has taken on added urgency after a Texas man carrying a knife jumped the perimeter fence Friday evening and made it inside the North Portico doors before he was apprehended.

Fashion Police will continue without Joan Rivers

It has been revealed that a new season of the E! style series, which the late comedienne was host for four years until her death earlier this month, will kick off in January.  

The new series of Fashion Police, which is produced by Joan's daughter Melissa Rivers, is expected to feature long-time co-hosts Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne and George Kotsiopoulos, as well as a new sharp-tongued fashion critic.

After much speculation, a spokesperson revealed the news in a statement which read: ''We are deeply saddened by the loss of Joan Rivers and, for the last two weeks, have turned our attention to honouring her memory on all of our platforms. We have also thought long and hard about what Joan would have wanted as it pertains to the future ofFashion Police.

Security Breached: Intruder Gets Into White House

The U.S. Secret Service is coming under intense scrutiny after a man who hopped the White House fence made it all the way through the front door before being apprehended.

President Barack Obama and his daughters had just departed the White House on Friday evening when an intruder scaled the north fence, darted across the lawn and into the presidential residence, where agents nabbed him. The security breach triggered a rare evacuation of much of the White House, with Secret Service officers drawing their guns as they rushed staffers and journalists out a side door.

Turkey says 49 hostages seized by ISIS have been freed

Dozens of Turkish hostages seized by Islamic militants in Iraq three months ago were freed and safely returned to Turkey on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, ending Turkey's most serious hostage crisis.

The 49 hostages were captured from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq on June 11, when the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – overran the city in its surge to seize large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

FC Barcelona delegation at unveiling of new Qatar Airways plane

Qatar Airways, the official sponsor of FC Barcelona, has unveiled a new aircraft, the first A380 in its fleet, which made its inaugural flight on Thursday from Hamburg to Doha, the airline's main hub. The flight took off with several representatives of FC Barcelona aboard, including the club's Managing Director, Antoni Rossich, assistant Director of Sport, Carles Puyol, and current player, Luis Suarez. Given Suarez's special situation and the fact that the team's training session was scheduled to be light following the previous night's victory, the Club decided to grant him special permission to attend the ceremony.

New Music - Brymo_ Fe Mi

Africa’s prolific singer/songwriter returns with “Fe Mi”. This is the first release off Brymo’s “TABULA RASA” album expected in stores later this year. Brymo takes his audience on a musical ride through hot romance wrapped in rhythmical poetry. Pundits are already saying “Fe Mi” is the love song everyone should hear.

Download Here

Maheeda challenges Davido to make sex tape with her.

Controversial singer and nudity promoter, Maheeda, has revealed she is very interest in having a sex tape with HKN pop act, Davido. She said this a few hours ago via her Twitter account. She wrote, ‘I’m ready for a sex tape 
but if its not with Davido, I’m not doing. Better go and convince him, I’m waiting!!!’ Although Davido is yet to react to the challenge, a few of his fans have risen to the task with most asking Maheeda to keep off the pop act, 

@kbaxxy wrote ‘lmfao! First time I will see Maheeda dreaming!! Maheeda why na, u be Joseph?’ ‘Mission 

Impossible 69′, @hornyoutlawz guy added. Meanwhile a few others like @albertp5382274 say they cant wait for the video to be released: ‘Maheeda I can’t wait to watch this sex tape of you and Davido. pls Davido should agree oooo,’ he wrote through the handle. If Maheeda’s wishes ever come to pass, it would be the first sex tape involving two Nigerian entertainers.

Sierra Leone to Shut Down for 3 Days to Slow Ebola

Shoppers crowded streets and markets in Sierra Leone's capital on Thursday stocking up for a three-day shutdown that authorities will hope will slow the spread of the Ebola outbreak that is accelerating across West Africa.

The Ebola outbreak sweeping West Africa has also touched Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal, and is believed to have sickened more than 5,300, according to figures released by the World Health Organization on Thursday. In a sign that the outbreak is picking up steam, more than 700 of those cases were recorded in the last week for which data is available.

Watch Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton Lip Sync Battle with Jimmy Fallon

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton appeared on The Tonight ShowWednesday and had a lip sync battle with Jimmy Fallon, who is known for playing quirky games with guests on his show.

One of the performances had Shelton and Stefani singing the duet “Endless Love” with the male and female parts switched. Stefani played Lionel Richie’s smooth, deep voice, and Shelton mouthed the words to Diana Ross’s part.

Shelton and Stefani are coaches on the newest season of The Voice.

China to Invest $20 billion In India Amid Border Dispute

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve a boundary dispute even as Beijing promised to invest $20 billion in India over the next five years. The border spat between the armies of the two countries in the Himalayas underlined mutual tensions despite the growing commercial ties highlighted by Xi's high profile visit.

Newport magician wins $1M on TV talent show

A Newport magician wowed the audience and came home with the $1 million prize in the NBC talent competition "America's Got Talent."

Mat Franco, a native of Johnston, also won the opportunity on Wednesday to headline a show in Las Vegas.

Franco graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2010.

He started learning magic tricks when he was a child and performed his first show as a kindergartener during show-and-tell.

Franco traveled to Las Vegas at the age of 12 to study magic.

After winning, he thanked all the Rhode Island fans who voted for him in the competition.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/09/18/3381298/newport-magician-wins-1m-on-tv.html?sp=/99/109/#storylink=cpy

New ISIS Video Features British Hostage, John Cantlie, as Spokesman

Departing from its serial beheading videos of Western hostages that have outraged the world, the Islamic State released a new video on Thursday starring a captive British journalist, seated behind a desk, explaining the group’s message and warning that America and its allies are foolishly heading into another unwinnable war.

Huntelaar blasts 'stupid' Chelsea goal

Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has blasted his side's defending for Chelsea 's opening goal in Wednesday's 1-1 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge.

Max Meyer lost possession to Cesc Fabregas inside his own half in the build-up to the Spaniard's goal and Huntelaar has warned his team-mates to stamp out such errors in future.

"We did a great job, especially in the second half. We were a bit insecure in the first half, though, and conceded a stupid goal," Huntelaar told the official Uefa website.

"It was similar to last season. We need to stop that, because if not we give away easy goals.

"But we managed to make up for that well. We fought and ran a lot. When we got the chance to score, we took it."

The Dutchman then went on to praise his side's courage as they fought back to salvage a 1-1 draw, with Huntelaar himself netting the equaliser.

"You just go into the match and we told ourselves that we wanted to give all we had. We knew that if we stayed in the match anything could happen and we saw that if you fight and don't give up you can achieve a draw here."

Roma off and running, What we learned from the Champions League this week.

And they're off. An entertaining round of games on matchday one in the Champions League sees many of the same contenders lay down significant markers but more of the traditional clubs were made to work hard for their points. 

Last season's winners Real Madrid had no problem against Basel but finalists Atletico Madrid slipped up away at Olympiakos. 

Semi-finalists Chelsea stuttered at home against Schalke while Bayern Munich needed a deflected 89th-minute goal to finally see of Manchester City. 

Dani Alves: Barca on their way back to the top

The Brazil international has hailed Luis Enrique's good work at Camp Nou so far and was delighted with the win over APOEL.
Dani Alves believes Barcelona are on their way back to the top under Luis Enrique following their 1-0 Champions League win over APOEL on Wednesday.

A single Gerard Pique goal was enough to help the Primera Division side to the full three points at Camp Nou and Alves was happy with their general performance.

"Luis Enrique has really got us on track, back towards the top. He has everybody giving 100 per cent," the right back told the official Barcelona website.

“We're really happy to get the win and start off in a positive fashion. It was also nice to get a clean sheet. Defensively, I thought we improved a lot and kept up the pressure.

“In attack, we tried as hard as we could, but we couldn't really put the ball in the net."  

The defender went on to defend Luis Enrique's decision to rest a number of first-team regulars.

"I think it is really nice to get playing time for everybody, which will end up being really important," he added.

Ibrahimovic: Of course I'm the 'son of God'

The Swede was in a typically joking mood after PSG's draw at Ajax, though he has admitted they must respond against Barcelona in two weeksZlatan Ibrahimovic has cheekily suggested it is obvious he is the "son of God", which a banner held byAjax fans referred to in Paris Saint-Germain's 1-1 draw with the Dutch side on Wednesday.

The Swede striker made his Champions League debut for the Eredivisie club exactly 12 years ago and he returned to the Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday with French champions PSG.

Amazon Releases New and Refreshed Kindle Fire Tablets, Announces Fire OS 4

Amazon has been busy on the mobile front, following the disappointing launch of the Fire Phone. The Fire Phone has been an absolute dud on the market, with AT&T (the exclusive carrier for the Fire Phone) already dropping the price of the entry-level model to 99 cents on contract.   With that said, Amazon has always had better luck with its tablets and e-readers, which is why the company is proud to announce two refreshed tablets and four all-new tablets under the “Kindle Fire” product family. - 

Police: N.Y. cop drunk in fatal wrong-way crash

The off-duty New York City police officer at the wheel in a fatal wrong-way crashon the Thruway last month had a blood-alcohol content of nearly three times the legal limit, state police announced Wednesday.
Toxicology results show that Richard E. Christopher, 32, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 percent when he drove his 2002 Dodge Dakota in the southbound lanes of the northbound Thruway near Suffern, slamming head-on into a Honda CRV driven by James DeVito of Airmont. A BAC above 0.08 is a misdemeanor.

Australia raids foil reported ISIS beheading plots

Australian counterterrorism forces detained 15 people Thursday in a series of suburban raids after receiving intelligence that the Islamic State movement was planning public beheadings in two Australian cities to demonstrate its reach.

About 800 federal and state police officers raided more than a dozen properties across 12 Sydney suburbs as part of the operation -- the largest in Australian history, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin told the Associated Press. Separate raids in the eastern cities of Brisbane and Logan were also conducted.

IOS 8 is coming today: How to get it -- and whether you should

Apple's new operating system isn't the radical upgrade that iOS 7 was, but it has a handful of new features that look promising.  IOS 8 will let apps display useful information in the "Today" screen, including sports scores and weather updates. You can answer phone calls on a Mac, install a third-party keyboard on your iPhone and ask Siri to identify what song is playing on the radio. Youcan even share iTunes purchases with your family.

N.Y. man accused of aiding Islamic State, plotting to kill U.S. troops

A New York man who was arrested in May was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for allegedly trying to aid the terrorist group Islamic State and planning to kill returning U.S. soldiers.

Rihanna shows off her hot bikini body on Barbados trip.

Rihanna is back home in Barbados visiting family for the past few days. She has taken to the azure waters of her native country on a yacht holiday with a group of her nearest and dearest. And while their Silver Moon yacht was undoubtedly impressive, it was Riri’s bikini body that stole the show.

More photos...

Wizkid’s album drops in 7 days.

 The countdown to the official release of one of the most anticipated albums of the year Ayo (Joy) by music star, Wizkid has begun. Wizkid’s debut album, Superstar, was released in 2011 and it’s taken a total of 3 years for him to drop the second studio album, Ayọ (Joy). With its release having been postponed severally due to several reasons, the star has confirmed as it stands now, the albumis set to drop in 7 days, September 23 to be precise. The singer made this known when he tweeted some hours ago..

 ‘7 days to go #Joy’. He also tweeted that he will be dropping a new video on the same day: 

‘New video in 7days too. #StarBoy turn up,’ he wrote. ... 

Real Madrid is first team to reach 1000 goals in European football.

Spanish giants, Real Madrid Football Club has become the first team to score 1000 goals in European football. The new landmark, now exclusive to the dominant Spanish capital club, was attained on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 with their 5 – 1 victory against Basel in the Champions League tournament after French striker, Karim Benzema, netted the fifth goal. Real Madrid are also the current champions of Europe having defeated Athletico Madrid in the final of the 2013-2015 edition of the Champions League. 

Kenyan female rapper hospitalized after ghastly car accident.

Kenyan music act, Wangechi has been involved in a car accident that left one of her friends dead The accident took place on Saturday, September 14, 2014, with Wangechi in the car alongside two of her close friends, identified as Tiona and Tewa. The rapper and her friends were on their way to an undisclosed location when the accident occurred, reportedly because of a burst tyre, leaving the car mangled. All passengers were rushed to Nairobi hospital, where one of the rapper’s friends Tiona passed away. According to reports, Tiona was confirmed dead after sustaining severe injuries, and Wangechi’s manager Kevin Provoke took to his twitter page to announce the rapper is in a stable condition.   More photos....

Hedge fund CEO Brian Lederman denies touching Laura Ramadei’s bum

A wealthy hedge-fund titan made a bungled attempt to defend himself against a claim that he fondled a waitress at a trendy restaurant in Soho, Manhattan in New York City, by bizarrely bragging that he gropes other women all the time.

“I’ve grabbed plenty of girls’ asses in my life,” Brian H. Lederman, boasted to The New York Post. “But I’ve never grabbed hers.”

US may send ground troops, IS video threatens to kill them

Hours after the US raised prospects of sending ground troops to fight Islamic State, the militant group released a video threatening to target them.

The 52-second video entitled 'Flames of War' shows militants blowing up tanks, wounded US soldiers and others about to be killed.

It then shows a clip of Obama saying that combat troops will not return to Iraq, ending with a text overlay that reads "fighting has just begun."