Ranieri challenges superstitious Vardy ahead of Southampton clash

Ranieri challenges superstitious Vardy ahead of Southampton clash


Ranieri challenges superstitious Vardy ahead of Southampton clash

Posted: 30 Sep 2016 06:37 PM PDT

Jamie Vardy (front) revealed in his new autobiography that he superstitiously drank a glass of port out of a Lucozade bottle the night before every match last season. — Reuters picJamie Vardy (front) revealed in his new autobiography that he superstitiously drank a glass of port out of a Lucozade bottle the night before every match last season. — Reuters picLEICESTER, Oct 1 ― Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has challenged Jamie Vardy to prove his curious pre-match drinking ritual still works by ending his goal drought against Southampton tomorrow.

Vardy revealed in his new autobiography that he superstitiously drank a glass of port out of a Lucozade bottle the night before every match last season.

The England international striker's unusual habit worked a treat as he left opposing defenders punch drunk en route to scoring 24 times in Leicester's incredible Premier League title triumph.

But Vardy, 29, who also said he consumes three cans of Red Bull and two espressos on the day of a game to boost his energy, has only three goals this term and has gone five matches without scoring.

Keen to keep him on his toes, Ranieri questioned if the ritual had lost its magic following Vardy's latest blank, in Leicester's 1-0 Champions League win over Porto on Tuesday.

"He took it before Porto? Why didn't he score?!" Ranieri said.

"A nutritionist gives them something to eat but after they go home they are professional and can eat and drink what they want.

"For me it's important to watch on the pitch, when they play and train well I am happy.

"Sometimes the players do something just because, 'Ah, I scored a goal and I want to continue'. It's okay. It's the doctor who has to investigate and say the port is good or not good.

"Jamie is doing a fantastic career, from non-league to national team. I don't believe port can do something. It is a glass of red wine. It is okay. For me it is only superstition, nothing more."

Prize scalp

With Vardy not so prolific this season and Leicester still adjusting to their new status as a prize scalp for opposing teams, the champions have made an inconsistent start to the season.

Ranieri is still trying to find the right blend between the players that won the title and his pre-season signings.

Nampalys Mendy, one of the new arrivals, could feature on Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury.

The French midfielder, who joined from Nice, was out for over a month, but has returned to training and may replace Daniel Amartey.

Right-back Danny Simpson could return after being dropped for the Porto clash.

Southampton manager Claude Puel hopes his decision to rest several key players will pay off at the end of a gruelling schedule that sent his team to London, Israel and Leicester in the space of seven days.

After beating West Ham 3-0 last Sunday to secure successive Premier League wins, Puel's side drew 0-0 at Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Europa League on Thursday.

With little time to recover between fixtures, Puel left out in-form Charlie Austin, Ryan Bertrand, Steven Davis and captain Jose Fonte in Israel.

"It was important to take some players to keep fresh for a game in two days," said Puel, whose assistant Eric Black has denied any wrongdoing after featuring in the Daily Telegraph's investigation into corruption in football this week.

"Israel is very hard, it's a long journey, a difficult opponent. All my players have done well because it's not easy at this level.

"It's a good experience for the future to win away at West Ham and take one point with the difficulties here with all this travel, the journey." ― AFP

Hugh Hefner ‘is fine,’ rep says, debunking poor health report

Posted: 30 Sep 2016 06:28 PM PDT

Hefner has not been seen in public for several months. — Picture by Vincent Laforet/The New York TimesHefner has not been seen in public for several months. — Picture by Vincent Laforet/The New York TimesLOS ANGELES, Oct 1 — Playboy founder Hugh Hefner "is fine" and enjoying life, his spokeswoman said yesterday, rebutting a report that aides of the 90-year-old publisher feared for his health.

The spokeswoman noted that Hefner has suffered from back pain in recent years "that has made it a bit more challenging for him to get around, but at 90 years of age he is enjoying his life and still very involved in the day to day activities of editing the magazine."

The statement followed a report in the New York Post's Page Six gossip column which cited unnamed sources saying that Hefner's weight appears to have plummeted to around 90 pounds.

Hefner, whose magazines with their nude models played a key role in the 1960s sexual revolution, has not been seen in public for several months.

His third wife Crystal, 30, a former Playmate who Hefner married in 2012, this week posted Instagram pictures of herself in Paris but did not mention her husband.

Hefner in August sold his famed Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, the venue for his famous, free-wheeling parties, for US$100 million (RM400 million) but the deal gave him the right to continue living there for the rest of his life. — Reuters

US adds first bees to endangered species list

Posted: 30 Sep 2016 06:22 PM PDT

An urban beekeeper tends to a rooftop hive in Portland, Oregon. — Picture by Bee Local via ReutersAn urban beekeeper tends to a rooftop hive in Portland, Oregon. — Picture by Bee Local via ReutersNEW YORK, Oct 1 — Seven types of bees once found in abundance in Hawaii but now facing extinction yesterday became the first bees to be added to the federal list of endangered and threatened species, according to US wildlife managers.

The listing decision, published yesterday in the Federal Register, classifies seven varieties of yellow-faced or masked bees as endangered, due to such factors as habitat loss, wildfires and the invasion of non-native plants and insects.

The bees, so named for yellow-to-white facial markings, once crowded Hawaii and Maui but recent surveys found their populations have plunged in the same fashion as other types of wild bees — and some commercial ones — elsewhere in the United States, federal wildlife managers said.

Pollinators like bees are crucial for the production of fruits, nuts and vegetables and they represent billions of dollars in value each year to the nation's agricultural economy, US officials said.

Placing yellow-faced bees under federal safeguards comes just over a week since the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed adding the imperilled rusty patched bumble bee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once found in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States, to the endangered and threatened species list.

One of several wild bee species seen declining over the past two decades, the rusty patched bumble bee is the first in the continental United States formally proposed for protections. — Reuters

Nintendo of Japan prepares mini NES for worldwide release

Posted: 30 Sep 2016 06:14 PM PDT

Originally launched in 1983, the Famicom brought Mario from video game arcades into the home. — Handout via AFPOriginally launched in 1983, the Famicom brought Mario from video game arcades into the home. — Handout via AFPTOKYO, Oct 1 — With a miniaturised version of the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System already anticipated for November 11, a similarly small edition of its Japanese equivalent, the Famicom, is now on its way for November 10.

Originally launched in 1983, the Family Computer video game console became Nintendo's first major, worldwide success.

The Famicom brought Mario from video game arcades into the home. On a global scale it was the world's best-selling home console for a 10 years and then some.

Sold in North America and Europe as a redesigned Nintendo Entertainment System, its retail performance records remained the gold standard for Nintendo home consoles until 2006, when the Wii finally outdid it. Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros 3 were among its best-known games, coming free with the console at various points in time.

Fast forward to June 2016, when mobile sensation Pokémon Go was at its height. Nintendo reminded the world of its historic roots and introduced the Nintendo Mini Classic.

The palm-sized remake of the NES would arrive in North America and Europe on November 11, it was announced, and, though the US$59.99 (RM240) Mini NES wouldn't accept game cartridges for the original NES, it would include a retro-style controller (extras cost US$9.99 each,) an HDMI cable for modern TVs, and 30 games built-in.

The same is now true of the ¥5,980 Nintendo Classic Mini: Famicom, Nintendo of Japan announced on September 29, and due November 10.

The regional variants both include Mario Bros and the first three Super Mario Bros games, the first Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Donkey Kong and Balloon Fight on their roster.

There are, however, a few differences between the two Classic Minis.

A different shape reflects the Famicom's unique regional design, and it comes with two controllers rather than one.

Like the EU's Mini NES, it doesn't come with an adaptor, so owners will be supplying their own — a mobile phone charger, perhaps.

Finally, although most of its 30-game shipment is shared between NA, EU and JP Mini NESes, seven are now exclusive to the Japanese Mini Famicom.

Most notable is Final Fantasy III, exclusive to Japan for 16 years after a 1990 release, and never internationally released for the NES itself.

Others like Atlantis no Nazo, Tsuppari Ōzumō, and Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku remain Japanese exclusives to this day.

The remainder — NES Open Tournament Golf, Solomon's Key and Yie Ar Kung-Fu — were released outside of Japan but make way for Donkey Kong Jr, Bubble Bobble, Castlevania II, Kid Icarus, Punch-Out!!, StarTropics, Tecmo Bowl and the first Final Fantasy on NA and EU editions of the Mini NES. — AFP-Relaxnews

Comic writer confirms Wonder Woman is ‘queer’

Posted: 30 Sep 2016 06:06 PM PDT

Gal Gadot as the Amazonian heroine in a teaser for the upcoming ‘Wonder Woman’ movie. — Handout via AFPGal Gadot as the Amazonian heroine in a teaser for the upcoming 'Wonder Woman' movie. — Handout via AFPLOS ANGELES, Oct 1 — The writer of the Wonder Woman comic series has confirmed the superhero is bisexual, putting an end to a long held debate on whether she'd had relationships with other women.

Speculation has been rife for many years over the sexuality of the Amazonian princess, who hails from the island Themyscira, which is populated solely by female warriors.

Although she becomes romantically involved with a man who washes up on the island, storylines over the years have implied, if not explicitly stated, that she has also been in love with women.

Greg Rucka, who returned to DC Comics this year to craft the "Rebirth" series commemorating Wonder Woman's 75th year in print, told the Comicosity news website Wonder Woman was "queer."

The word — which has several definitions — was defined by the interviewer as "involving, although not necessarily exclusively, romantic and/or sexual interest toward persons of the same gender."

"When you start to think about giving the concept of Themyscira its due, the answer is 'how can they not all be in same sex relationships?' right? It makes no logical sense otherwise," said Rucka, who worked on the character throughout the 2000s.

"You're supposed to be able... to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women. But an Amazon doesn't look at another Amazon and say, 'You're gay.' They don't. The concept doesn't exist."

The announcement was mostly welcomed as good news on social media, although not all fans were happy.

"I just found out some people are actually upset Wonder Woman is queer. As if — what — you're paranoid Wonder Woman might not date you?" tweeted Mike Drucker, a television comedy writer.

There were no clues to Wonder Woman's bisexuality when Warner Bros screened the first trailer for the upcoming standalone Wonder Woman at San Diego Comic-Con in July.

The Amazonian heroine, played by Gal Gadot, is seen leaning over soldier Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) after he has washed up on her island.

"You're a man?" she asks him, and he replies: "Yeah, do I not look like one?"

Wonder Woman is scheduled to hit cinemas on June 2, 2017, focusing on a character who was introduced earlier this year in the widely-panned Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. — AFP-Relaxnews

Ex-manager Redknapp claims his players bet on result of match

Posted: 30 Sep 2016 06:01 PM PDT

The Daily Telegraph's undercover reporters filmed Harry Redknapp discussing the game although the 69-year-old later told the paper he did not think it was against FA rules at the time. — AFP picThe Daily Telegraph's undercover reporters filmed Harry Redknapp discussing the game although the 69-year-old later told the paper he did not think it was against FA rules at the time. — AFP picLONDON, Oct 1 ― Former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp said his players bet on the result of one of their matches, according to the newspaper investigation that has seen England coach Sam Allardyce lose his job.

The Daily Telegraph's undercover reporters filmed Redknapp discussing the game although the 69-year-old later told the paper he did not think it was against FA rules at the time.

However, FA rules ban players from betting on matches they are involved in and managers are expected to report any misconduct.

The Telegraph said lawyers for Redknapp said he was not aware of players betting on the match at the time.

The newspaper did not say which club was involved.

Former West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers manager Redknapp met reporters posing as representatives of a Far East firm that wanted to break into English football's billion-pound transfer market.

Redknapp has denied any wrongdoing.

The newspaper's revelations have so far led to Allardyce and Barnsley assistant manager Tommy Wright losing their jobs.

Allardyce was sacked on Tuesday after the FA said he had behaved inappropriately following secret filming that showed him offering advice to businessmen on how to circumvent rules on player transfers. ― Reuters