Langkawi International Airport to get expanded capacity |
- Langkawi International Airport to get expanded capacity
- Hosts Jay Pharoah, Gigi Hadid mock Donald, Melania Trump at AMA
- Fifth Harmony performs ‘That’s My Girl’ at American Music Awards
- Leicester lynchpin Vardy loses magic touch
- Wizardry of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ tops N. American box office
- VP-elect downplays flap over ‘Hamilton’ appeal on diversity
| Langkawi International Airport to get expanded capacity Posted: 20 Nov 2016 05:40 PM PST
Langkawi Development Authority chairman Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said visitor arrival reached 3.6 million last year and is expected to increase this year. "I will ensure as LADA chairman that Langkawi receives sufficient allocation for the capacity increase for this airport," he said while opening the 42nd Finance Ministry Sports Festival here last night. Johari who is also Finance Minister II said the main jetties on Langkawi and nearby islands would be rehabilitated. "Fourteen sites have also been marked for promotion to international investors for tourism infrastructure development," he said. Meanwhile, he said the ministry's sports festival was initiated in 1974 to promote greater rapport among the ministry's worforce. Besides having qualification and skill, the employees need to be healthy and active so as to be able to do their job efficiently, he said. More than 2,300 participants from 13 agencies under the ministry are involved in the week-long sports festival. — Bernama   |
| Hosts Jay Pharoah, Gigi Hadid mock Donald, Melania Trump at AMA Posted: 20 Nov 2016 05:37 PM PST
LOS ANGELES, Nov 21 — American Music Awards co-host Jay Pharoah indicated that he and co-host Gigi Hadid wouldn't talk about politics in today's awards ceremony, saying towards the beginning of his monologue that "tonight it's all about the music". But that didn't stop the pair from making a few jokes about President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, even impersonating both. Hadid was up first, debuting her Melania Trump impression as she pouted her lips and narrowed her eyes and said in the future First Lady's Slovenian accent, "I love my husband Barack Obama and our children Sasha and Malia", which also poked fun at Melania plagiarising Michelle Obama's speech at the Republican National Convention. Pharoah followed that up with his take on Donald Trump, claiming that the president-elect was a huge fan of Bruno Mars, who performed at the top of the show. "I love Bruno Mars. I don't know what color he is, so I can't deport him," Pharoah's Trump said. "He looks like Mowgli from The Jungle Book. I love Uptown Funk, it was all about me. I'm going to funk this country up bigly." Hadid also got in a quick quip about the election after Pharoah noted that the winners on Sunday night were selected by fan votes, adding, "Don't worry tonight we do not have to deal with the electoral college". And Pharoah, picking up on Green Day performing on today's show, added, "a white guy's the president, its the '90s all over again". Later he said he hoped DJ Khaled would offer the "major keys" on "moving overseas" when Trump becomes president. — The Hollywood Reporter/Bloomberg  |
| Fifth Harmony performs ‘That’s My Girl’ at American Music Awards Posted: 20 Nov 2016 05:37 PM PST
The girl group made their AMAs debut as performers and nominees. Decked in all white, the fivesome worked the earthquake-themed stage with their song That's My Girl. The group was backed up by red and white strobe lights along with fire shooting up from the back of the stage. Their hit Work from Home with Ty Dolla $ign landed them the nomination for collaboration of the year, up against Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya, One Dance by Drake Featuring Wizkid & Kyla, Work by Rihanna featuring Drake and Like I'm Gonna Lose You by Meghan Trainor featuring John Legend. Other artists scheduled to perform are Justin Bieber, Niall Horan, Maroon 5 and Kendrick Lamar, James Bay, Lady Gaga, Green Day, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, The Weeknd, special duets from The Chainsmokers and Halsey, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, and the American Music Award of Merit honoree and performer Sting. The nominations for the fan-voted awards show, produced by Dick Clark Productions, were revealed last month. Drake leads with a record 13 nominations, while Rihanna has seven and Adele and Justin Bieber each have five. Beyonce and The Chainsmokers follow closely behind with four and Bryson Tiller, Twenty One Pilots, Carrie Underwood, Fetty Wap and the Weeknd each have three. Keep up with the latest winners here. The 2016 American Music Awards show, airing on ABC, is executive produced by Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan, with Larry Klein, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco serving as producers. — The Hollywood Reporter/Bloomberg  |
| Leicester lynchpin Vardy loses magic touch Posted: 20 Nov 2016 05:35 PM PST
Last November, Vardy set a new record by scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League matches, but ahead of Club Brugge's visit in the Champions League on Tuesday, he has gone 13 club games without a goal. His struggles in front of goal have mirrored Leicester's slump to 14th in the league table and prompted former England striker Alan Shearer to suggest he may have lost some of his famous hunger. "Jamie is going through a goal drought and is not going to get out of it by sulking, because that is what he looks like he is doing at the minute," Shearer wrote in The Sun recently. "He is not doing what he did last season and causing defenders enough problems. He is making it easy for them. "There is a lack of effort there. You have to work hard to get to the top, but you have to work even harder to stay there." Vardy, who turns 30 in January, finished last season on top of the world after his 24 league goals fired Leicester to their astonishing 5,000-1 title triumph. But the close season brought with it a period of soul-searching after Arsenal triggered a release clause in his contract with a £22 million (RM119.9 million) bid. The speculation dominated England's preparations for Euro 2016 and although Vardy ended up turning Arsenal down, instead signing a new four-year deal with Leicester, he found little solace in France. He failed to dislodge Harry Kane from England's starting XI and scored only once, in a group-stage win over Wales, as Roy Hodgson's side were humiliatingly eliminated by Iceland in the last 16. Vardy returned to Leicester to find the club gearing up for a campaign in which they would be viewed as the team to beat, rather than relegation fodder as they had been 12 months previously. No longer able to count on opponents underestimating his team and coming out to attack, manager Claudio Ranieri added variety to his attacking options with moves for Ahmed Musa and Islam Slimani. 'Banging them in' Vardy forged a brilliant partnership with the similarly hard-working Shinji Okazaki last season, but this term he has had to adapt to different partners. The rangy Slimani, bought from Sporting Lisbon to give Leicester an attacking focal point, is more of a target man, whereas the lithe and speedy Musa boasts a skill-set similar to Vardy's. Continuity has therefore been replaced by chop and change for Vardy, who has started six games alongside Slimani, six games alongside Okazaki and three games alongside Musa. Defenders, meanwhile, have got wise to him, making sure to deny him the space on which he thrives. He has scored just three goals since the start of the season and none since Leicester's 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on September 10. "I just think a lot of the chances I was getting last year have not been there this year," Vardy said last week. Leicester's Champions League escapades have given their fans something to cheer about and the Foxes will book a place in the last 16 if they avoid defeat against Club Brugge. Vardy is still to join the European party, having contributed none of Leicester's five goals in the competition. But he reacquainted himself with the sensation of scoring with a diving header in England's 2-2 friendly draw against Spain last week. It prompted Ranieri to declare he was "a new Vardy" and although he did not score in Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Watford, he did win the penalty from which Riyad Mahrez scored Leicester's goal. "It's just all about working hard and eventually they'll come," Vardy said. "You do go through spells without scoring, but eventually it will come back and you'll be banging them in again." — AFP  |
| Wizardry of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ tops N. American box office Posted: 20 Nov 2016 05:35 PM PST
Wizardry of 'Fantastic Beasts' tops N. American box office
Based on a book Rowling wrote in 2001 — it purports to be a reproduction of a textbook that was owned by Potter and required reading for all first-year Hogwarts students — the film is a story of wizardry and magical critters run amok in grim, sooty 1920s New York City. Rowling herself wrote the screenplay in this Warner Bros flick. It grabbed first place away from Marvel's Doctor Strange, which dropped to second in its third week in theatres as it posted another US$17.7 million, for a total of US$181.5 million. The movie, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as neurosurgeon Stephen Strange — whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident robs him of use of his hands — is the 14th film in Disney's "Marvel Cinematic Universe." DreamWorks Animation's Trolls dropped from second to third as it earned US$17.5 million in revenue, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said. Based on the classic plastic dolls known for their multi-coloured hair, "Trolls," featuring the voices of Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick, has reaped a total of US$116.2 million in three weeks. Two movies in their second week — the acclaimed alien invasion movie Arrival, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, and the festive dramedy Almost Christmas — dropped to fourth and fifth respectively, with US$11.8 million and US$7.03 million. Mel Gibson's war movie Hacksaw Ridge took sixth place with US$6.8 million and has now chalked up a total of US$42.9 million. The film tells the true story of World War II army medic Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who went on to receive the Medal of Honour despite refusing to carry a weapon. Rounding out the top 10 films were: Edge of Seventeen (US$4.8 million) Bleed for This (US$2.4 million) The Accountant (US$2.1 million) Shut In (US$1.6 million) — AFP  |
| VP-elect downplays flap over ‘Hamilton’ appeal on diversity Posted: 20 Nov 2016 05:31 PM PST
In another chapter of what appears to be a nascent culture war, Mike Pence clearly sought to defuse the swirling controversy over the Friday night performance he attended in New York of a hugely popular play that many see as a celebration of America's multicultural heritage. The incident prompted the president-elect himself to demand an apology over what he saw as rude behavior toward Pence, who was also booed by some in the audience as he entered the theater with his family. "I did hear what was said from the stage, and I can tell you I wasn't offended by what was said. I'll leave to others whether that was the appropriate venue to say it," Pence said on Fox News yesterday. Pence acknowledged that these are anxious, disappointing times in America for people who voted for Hillary Clinton. "I just want to reassure people that what president-elect Donald Trump said on election night" — that he would be the president of all Americans — "he absolutely meant from the bottom of his heart," Pence said. But even as Pence tried to end the flap, Trump — who insulted Mexicans, Muslims and women among others during the campaign and so far has named only arch-conservative white men for his cabinet and senior adviser positions — kept at it. Trump attacked the play and its cast for the second straight day and also criticised, again, another potent symbol of the left in America: the NBC TV comedy show Saturday Night Live, which has ruthlessly ribbed Trump the candidate and now Trump the president-elect. Highly overrated Trump fired off a tweet again demanding an apology from the Hamilton cast and dismissing the award-winning musical as not that great. "The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior," Trump tweeted early yesterday morning. Pence differed, saying, "If you haven't seen the show, go and see it." The wildly popular play, which won 11 Tony Awards in June — including best musical — follows young colonial rebels who became America's founding fathers, celebrating diversity and immigrants' contribution to the nation. Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays vice president Aaron Burr, read a statement to Pence during the curtain call that echoed some of the main concerns critics have voiced since Trump won the election. "We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir," Dixon said. "But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. "All of us." Hamilton, Dixon told Pence, was performed by "a diverse group of men, women of different colors, creeds and orientations". The audience cheered and applauded loudly. Although Pence was leaving the auditorium when Dixon began reading his statement from the stage, he stood by the entrance to hear the entire message. He made no comment. In the latest edition of Saturday Night Live, Trump as played by Alec Baldwin is depicted, once in the Oval Office, as being overwhelmed as he sets about fulfilling campaign promises such as defeating the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS. "Google, what is ISIS?" Trump says as he pecks away at a laptop. "Oh my, 59 million results." Nothing funny In a tweet yesterday morning, Trump wrote: "I watched parts of @nbcsnl Saturday Night Live last night. It is a totally one-sided, biased show—nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?" Clinton had the enthusiastic backing of much of the showbiz and fashion worlds in the runup to the election — stars like Beyonce and Jay Z performed at one of her final rallies. Trump mocked her for this, saying he did not need star power to get people to attend his events. In September, two dozen celebrities including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Martin Sheen appeared in a video urging people not to vote for Trump. Hip hop star Kanye West disclosed last week during a concert in California that he did not vote but if he had, he would have supported Trump. Many in the crowd booed him. — AFP  |
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