Steven Gerrard: I would have stayed and signed new deal… if offered |
- Steven Gerrard: I would have stayed and signed new deal… if offered
- Cameroon’s Alex Song, now at West Ham, retires from internationals
- Megan Ellison to produce dystopian love story set in Texas wasteland
- Hong Kong looks to public consultation in move towards political reform
- Wireless charging to be standardised
- Jen or Gwyn? Chris Martin just can’t choose
| Steven Gerrard: I would have stayed and signed new deal… if offered Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:05 PM PST
The 34-year-old announced last week he would leave at the end of this season and move to Major League Soccer in the United States after spending his entire career at the Merseyside club. Gerrard said at the weekend the turning point in his decision to depart came when manager Brendan Rodgers told him he could no longer play every game. He did not blame the club for effectively making up his mind to leave but said he was ready to commit his future to Liverpool in the summer after they finished as Premier League runners-up. "If a contract had been put in front of me in pre-season I would have signed it," Gerrard was quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo yesterday. "I'd just retired from England to concentrate all my efforts on Liverpool. I didn't want my club games to be tailored. "My injury record had been fantastic for the past two and a half years and I had a great season from a personal point of view last season. "It's all ifs, buts and hindsight now. That period between the summer and the end of November gave me thinking time. "There's no blame and I'm not angry about it. There are other people in the squad and the club had other things to worry about. "There is no finger pointing from me towards the manager or anyone else at the club." Gerrard, who scored twice on Monday to help Liverpool beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1 and reach the FA Cup fourth round, is close to signing an 18-month deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy, according to media reports. — Reuters  |
| Cameroon’s Alex Song, now at West Ham, retires from internationals Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:01 PM PST
Song is not in the plans of Cameroon coach Volker Finke, who has ignored the 27-year-old since last year's World Cup in Brazil where he was sent off for elbowing Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic in a 4-0 group stage defeat. Song got a three-match ban from competitive internationals from FIFA and, despite talk of a late call-up to the national squad, the player, who is on loan at West Ham United from Barcelona, has decided to concentrate on club football. "Since the World Cup in the summer and my subsequent exclusion from the Cameroon squad for the African Cup of Nations I have taken the decision to retire from international football," Song, who has 47 caps, posted on photo-sharing site Instagram. "It is true that there were some discussions of late to include me in the squad for this tournament but I feel after a lot of careful thought and numerous discussions with my family this is the right decision. "My love for my country will never change but I want to take time to focus purely on domestic football and start to rebuild my career at West Ham United. I wish Cameroon all the best and the team will always be in my heart." — Reuters |
| Megan Ellison to produce dystopian love story set in Texas wasteland Posted: 06 Jan 2015 04:50 PM PST
Called "The Bad Batch", the dystopian love story will be set in a Texas wasteland, according to a statement today from Vice and Ellison's Annapurna Pictures. Details about the plot and other plans weren't released. Vice previously worked on Annapurna films including "Spring Breakers," providing online video and marketing support, according to the statement. Vice said it would also do marketing for "The Bad Batch." Shane Smith, its chief executive officer, will be among the executive producers. Ellison has produced Oscar nominated films, including two best-picture hopefuls last year with "Her" and "American Hustle". The award went to "12 Years a Slave." Last year Vice announced a joint venture with 21st Century Fox Inc. as it expands into film production. — Bloomberg |
| Hong Kong looks to public consultation in move towards political reform Posted: 06 Jan 2015 04:50 PM PST
Tensions remain high following more than two months of mass protests for fully free elections that failed to win concessions for pro-democracy campaigners. China has pledged that voters in Hong Kong can elect the city's next chief executive in 2017 — the first time there has ever been a public vote. But China insists that only two or three candidates can stand, and that they will be vetted by a loyalist committee. That decision sparked mass rallies from September that brought tens of thousands onto the streets at their height, before protest camps were cleared in December. Today sees the launch of a second public consultation on the electoral process, with more specific proposals expected to be outlined by the government. The consultation document will be presented to Hong Kong's de facto parliament and posted online so that residents can give their views. But while the government has billed the reform process as "historic", campaigners have branded it fake democracy and have little hope that the new consultation will offer meaningful changes. The second round of consultation is the last official gauge of public opinion before a finalised proposal on electoral reform is put before the legislative council. Pro-democracy lawmakers have vowed to vote against the plan unless it revokes the vetting of candidates — something that authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing have consistently said is out of the question. If the final framework fails to pass with a two thirds majority it would mean a delay in the introduction of universal suffrage to Hong Kong. But activists say they would rather have no public vote in 2017 if it is not fully free. Ahead of the consultation, chief executive Leung Chun-ying warned against further protests, saying yesterday that "coercive actions that are illegal or disrupt social order" would not influence government policy. Pro-democracy lawmakers said they feared that any apparent concessions in the consultation document would be window dressing, with one describing it as a "large-scale propaganda exercise". Currently the chief executive is chosen by a pro-Beijing committee. Although the protest camps have been cleared there is still discontent and fears over China's increasing influence on the semi-autonomous city. Hong Kong was handed from Britain back to China in 1997 and enjoys freedoms not seen on the mainland. — AFP |
| Wireless charging to be standardised Posted: 06 Jan 2015 04:45 PM PST
Unlike many other types or technology or technological format, there is no universal standard for wireless charging. So while all Blu-ray discs fit all Blu-ray players, if you have a wireless charging enabled device, there's only a one-in-three chance that it will work with a charging pad other than the one in your own home. That's because there are three separate organisations, with three slightly different forms of the technology that all want to be the standard inside consumers' next tablet, camera, smartwatch or phone so that it can be charged up wirelessly. Well, that was until Monday, when two of the three, the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) and the Alliance For Wireless Power (A4WP) announced that they were formally signing a letter of intent to merge. The deal won't be finalised until mid-2015 — it's will take a few months to come up with a new name and to decide how to harmonise the two wireless charging standards each organisation previously championed so that existing devices supporting one of the standards work with new charging pads and other systems developed in the future. But it does mean that device makers will be more confident about integrating the feature into upcoming devices. However, before consumers start getting excited and start sizing up the latest Duracell wireless charging cases, there is still one other competing standard — the QI standard — championed by the oldest wireless charging organisation, the Wireless Charging Consortium out there in the wild and with pretty heavyweight support including from Samsung and Microsoft. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, it is prepared to sit down and discuss the future with its competitors in order to push the technology forward. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Jen or Gwyn? Chris Martin just can’t choose Posted: 06 Jan 2015 04:44 PM PST
The 37-year-old Coldplay frontman had a highly publicised breakup from wife Gwyneth in March 2014, with the couple calling their marriage split a 'conscious uncoupling'. They'd been wed for ten years and have children Apple and Moses together, and still remain close friends. Since then Chris has been linked to 24-year-old Jennifer, but they are said to have split due to his close bond with Gwyneth, 42. However, a photo recently surfaced of Chris and Jennifer enjoying a sushi date, with many believing it was taken on December 30. "Chris is keeping his options open. It's all very complicated," an insider told British magazine Grazia. "He had an amazing Christmas with Gwyneth and they enjoyed time together in the Hamptons. They even went to a party that Jennifer Aniston threw before Christmas together. "But he's also stayed in touch with Jennifer. They get on really well and there is still a spark there. He's caught between the two of them." Rumours have been swirling lately that Chris and Gwyneth are set to reunite, with insiders pointing out that 'conscious uncoupling' leaves the door open for a reconciliation. Gwyneth herself has been talking about the split recently, and says she feels like they are finally in the relationship they were meant to be in. "We've worked really f**king hard to get to [this] point. But we're very, very close, and it's so nice. I feel like it's, in a way, the relationship we were meant to have," she told Marie Claire. — Cover Media |
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