Bale stunner ends Liverpool run

Gareth Bale scored a stunning free-kick and set up Aaron Lennon with a wonderful solo run to bring Liverpool's eight-match unbeaten run to an end at White Hart Lane in a 2-1 defeat.
The Welshman scored what has to be one of the most unlucky own goals in Premier League history to tarnish his evening slightly, but Tottenham still managed to come away with their second successive win despite an edgy second half in north London.
Bale tore West Ham apart at White Hart Lane on Sunday and he began the game in similarly devastating fashion, embarking on a 50-yard run before playing in Lennon for the opener after seven minutes.
The Welshman then smashed home a brilliant swirling free-kick to make it 2-0 after 16 minutes, the ball looping and dipping over the wall leaving Pepe Reina completely non-plussed.
The win, which moves Spurs above Arsenal and Everton into fifth, did not come easily - but it did remind the club's critics that in Bale they have a man capable of winning a match almost single-handedly.
Playing at the same high tempo that helped them to destroy West Ham on Sunday, Tottenham flew out of the blocks and stamped their authority on the game from the off on a bitterly cold night in north London.
 
Reina got a taste of things to come when he saw a swirling Bale free-kick fly at him from 30 yards in the fourth minute, punching nervously away.
Bale was key to Tottenham's quick start. The Welshman latched on to Jermain Defoe's pass after the England striker had pinched the ball off Steven Gerrard, but he could only shoot at Reina.
Tottenham's early pressure paid off as Spurs took the lead in style. Bale collected the ball on the half way line and breezed past four players before squaring to Lennon, who tapped home from close range.
Luis Suarez spearheaded the Liverpool fightback, testing Hugo Lloris with a low drive after Michael Dawson's tackle had knocked the ball in to the Uruguayan's path.
A mix-up between Lloris and Kyle Walker then almost gifted the visitors an equaliser. The Frenchman rushed out of his goal to clear Suarez's through-ball - but the defender took the ball away from his goalkeeper into the path of Jordan Henderson, who blazed wide of an open goal.
The Spurs fans mocked Henderson for his miss and the midfielder's evening took another turn for the worse moments later when he was harshly adjudged to have fouled Dempsey 30 yards out.
Bale took a five-yard run up and despatched a powerful drive which dipped and swerved over the wall, completely bamboozling Reina, who could only stand and watch the ball sail in to his right.
Liverpool thought they should have had a penalty in the 36th minute when Steven Gerrard went down under pressure from Mousa Dembele, but Phil Dowd waved play on. The danger was not over for Spurs though, as Dawson dribbled in to the path of Suarez, whose shot was cleared off the line by Walker.
Liverpool continued to push for an equaliser after the break, but they almost conceded a third when Martin Skrtel's poor clearance set Defoe free but Dempsey selfishly muscled his team-mate off the ball and shot wide.
Spurs were struggling to get on the ball and their best threat came from set plays. Bale fizzed another long-range bender just wide in the 68th minute.
Two minutes later the former Southampton man unwittingly put Liverpool back in the game.
Lennon was well-placed on the line to clear Gerrard's header, but unfortunately for Spurs, the winger's clearance cracked Bale square in the face and flew in to the home net.
Bale was then jeered by the away fans after being booked for diving, although replays showed Daniel Agger did make contact with the winger's trailing leg as he charged at the Reds defence.
With 10 minutes to go Agger hooked the ball back for Suarez, but the striker snatched at the ball and his volley flew over.
Jonjo Shelvey chipped just wide and Suarez thought he should have had a penalty in a nervous final few minutes, but Tottenham held on until the final whistle, which Villas-Boas greeted with a huge double fist-pump.
From ESPN

The World’s Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2012

By Zack O'Malley Greenburg, Forbes | Stop The Presses!

 

Justin Bieber ties with Toby Keith in 10th place, with $55 million [photo: George Pimentel/Wireimage]

 Though he's only 18 years old, Justin Bieber has had a year for the ages. The Canadian crooner released his third studio album, launched a world tour and continued investing in startups, adding to a portfolio that includes stakes in Spotify, Tinychat and others. All in all, he earned $55 million in 12 months.

"I do calls every week with my business manager and my lawyer," Bieber told FORBES this spring as part of a cover story on his budding venture capital career. "Each week I'm learning something about my business and what I need to know for my career."
But when it comes to the world's highest-paid musicians, Bieber is a relative pauper, barely breaking the top ten.

 
Dr. Dre tops the list, with $110 million [photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

Hip-hop superproducer Dr. Dre leads the pack this year with $110 million, thanks largely to his Beats headphone line. He collected $100 million pretax when handset maker HTC paid $300 million for a 51% stake in the company last year, at the beginning of our scoring period; he and his partners later bought back half of what they sold.
"The brands are so aligned, Dre and Beats, it's just who he is," says Kevin Liles, former president of Def Jam Recordings, who now manages acts ranging from Young Jeezy to Trey Songz. "If you look at the biggest earners, the guys have been doing it for 20 years … what's happening now is people are really telling their truth."
Dr. Dre leads a pack of pop stars, rock icons, rap moguls and country crooners, many of whom bank the bulk of their bucks outside the recording studio. Though some artists—Jay-Z and Diddy, for example—owe their success partly to business ventures like Dre's, most of this year's top 25 are on the list because of touring.
"The concert business had another solid year as both artists and concert promoters used more caution in trying to achieve their touring objectives," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of concert data purveyor Pollstar. "The good seats for major artists continue to be priced at a premium."
This year's list has a distinctly international flavor. Among the top five, only Dr. Dre hails from the United States. Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters ranks second with $88 million, nearly all of it coming from his The Wall Live tour. According to Pollstar, he grossed $158 million on 63 shows in the first six months of 2012. Fellow Brit Elton John claims the third spot with $80 million, culled from over 100 shows in our scoring period.
Ireland's U2 ranks fourth, pulling in $78 million on the tail end of the group's record-breaking 360 tour—which grossed $736 million over three years. British boy band Take That rounds out the top five with $69 million, thanks to a wildly-popular reunion tour. The group grossed $61 million for eight dates at London's Wembley Stadium alone, the biggest single-stadium stand recorded to that point, cashing in on dozens of additional dates around Europe as well.
 
British boy band Take That comes in fifth, with $69 million [photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images]"

The enormous level of business Take That did in the U.K. and Europe was truly mind-boggling," says Bongiovanni. "That's especially true when you consider that in the U.S. they would only be a theater-level act."
Our estimates are based on total earnings from May 2011 to May 2012—the amount of money an act makes from record sales, touring, endorsements, merchandise sales and other ventures before subtracting management fees, legal costs and taxes (which can gobble up the bulk of a big payday). The totals were compiled with the help of data from Pollstar, RIAA and others, as well as interviews with industry insiders including concert promoters, lawyers, managers, agents and, in some cases, the musicians themselves.
Other highlights on the list include Toby Keith, who tied Bieber for tenth with $55 million. With his Ford sponsorship now on its second decade and his I Love This Bar And Grill restaurant chain booming, Keith was the top earner among all country artists—unless you count crossover star Taylor Swift, who earned $57 million, same as Paul McCartney. Coldplay and Adele continue the British trend, claiming the 21st and 22nd slots with $37 million and $35 million, respectively. Eight of the top 25 acts hail from England or Ireland.
That success extends to Anglophiles as well: Jay-Z and Beyoncé, both close friends of Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin, combined to earn $78 million. The former Destiny's Child diva is one of just eight ladies on the list, but Beyoncé's song "Run The World (Girls)" still rings true—despite welcoming baby Blue Ivy earlier this year, she still out-earned her husband by $2 million.

Winning Powerball Tickets for Jackpot Sold in Ariz., Mo

By ALAN FARNHAM and ANTHONY CASTELLANO | Good Morning America 

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not be announcing a town until later this morning.

Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day.

The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.
The jackpot swelled to $587.5 million, according to Lottery official Sue Dooley. The two winners will split the jackpot each getting $293.75 million.

An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.

"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

Hopeful players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.

The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.

"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.

The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers. As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.

"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one. Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning this Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."

The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.

When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So, did he buy two tickets this time?

"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.
In case you were wondering, this Saturday's Powerball jackpot is starting at $40 million.

ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

Snoop Lion wants to invest in Celtic because they beat Barcelona

By Brooks Peck | Dirty Tackle

Snoop at a FIFA 13 launch party with his best friends in that moment. (Getty)

Inspired by the Celtic Champions League group-stage upset against Barcelona that made Rod Stewart cry, Snoop Dogg (now Snoop Lion) has decided that he wants to invest in the Scottish champions. Even though he didn't really watch the match.
Said Snoop to the Daily Record:

"I got a lot of interest in soccer. It's not a new thing for hip-hop stars to invest in sports teams, but it is a new thing for hip-hop stars to invest in soccer teams.
"I didn't catch the whole Barcelona game, but I watched the highlights. I know Barcelona are a big deal, and it shows Celtic are a big deal as well.
"I see how passionate Celtic fans are about their team, and I could see myself making an investment if any of the board wanted to sell.
"I haven't really thought how much. I don't need to run a soccer club but enough of a percentage to get me on the board so I can be heard.
"I want to bring a bit of Snoop to things.

But before you start thinking Snoop is rushing into this decision, know that he was pictured wearing a Celtic shirt in 2005, and he's already asked his friend David Beckham about the club, who confirmed that "teams don't come much bigger," according to Snoop. The rapper-turned-reggae act then added that one of his first orders of business as a member of the Celtic board would be to sign Beckham "for a season," but he knows that will be difficult since the L.A. Galaxy midfielder is happy in Los Angeles with his family.
And just to prove that he knows the club and has an eye for talent, Snoop added that Georgios Samaras -- yes, Georgios Samaras -- is his favorite player.

"I like Samaras a lot. He looks like a proper athlete and is a pretty dangerous player. If we are to go far in Europe, he needs to play well."

Here's Georgios Samaras looking taken aback by that statement...

 

(Getty)

To his credit, Snoop has become a fan of the sport in recent years and he's played a few games of FIFA 13. For his last European tour, he did a series of promotional YouTube videos wearing the shirts of clubs in various cities he stopped in, so he knows that pandering to football fans can be fruitful. But the prospect, no matter how slim, of Snoop and Rod Stewart sharing a tearful embrace at Celtic's next historic win is an exciting one.

David Petraeus: Broadwell affair was 'colossal mistake'

Steve Boylan said the former spymaster knows he has made a "colossal mistake"

Former CIA director David Petraeus has acknowledged his extramarital affair was a "colossal mistake", his former spokesman has told ABC News.

Retired Army Col Steve Boylan said Gen Petraeus' wife Holly was "not exactly pleased" by the revelation, adding that "furious would be an understatement".
The former general resigned over a relationship with Paula Broadwell, his biographer and a former army officer.
It was discovered after a second woman, Jill Kelley, reported harassing emails.
Mrs Kelley, 37, told the FBI that she had received anonymous emails, prompting an investigation into Mrs Broadwell, a married mother of two.
In his interview with ABC News, Col Boylan said Gen Petraeus' affair with Mrs Broadwell, 40, began after the four-star general retired from the army.
"This was poor judgement on his part," Col Boylan said. "It was a colossal mistake, he knows that, he's acknowledged that."

 

Jill Kelley (l) and Holly Petraeus were friends for years

He added: "They're a strong family. They'll get through this."
The relationship began about two months after Gen Petraeus, 60, took up his post as director of the CIA in September 2011, Col Boylan said. He also said it ended about four months ago.
Adultery is illegal under military law, and correspondents say Gen Petraeus could face military prosecution if evidence is found to challenge his claims that the affair began after he left the army.
The former general joined the CIA in 2011 after heading international forces in Iraq and later in Afghanistan.
He was the highest-profile military officer of the post-9/11 years, and was widely credited for his role in running the "surge" in Iraq and implementing a counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.
'Lightning bolt' Mrs Broadwell, a West Point graduate, co-authored a biography titled All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, which was published in January.
In the preface, she said she met Mr Petraeus in 2006 while she was a Harvard post-graduate student and that she researched the book while following him on trips to Afghanistan.

Investigation timeline

• Early summer - Jill Kelley complains to FBI friend of harassing emails - government official
• Late summer - FBI establish emails come from Paula Broadwell, and that she has had an affair with David Petraeus - government official
• 21 Oct - FBI interview Ms Broadwell - government official
• Oct 22-29 - FBI interview Gen Petraeus - FBI official
• 6 Nov - FBI inform James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, of Petraeus affair. Mr Clapper speaks to Gen Petraeus
• 7 Nov - Mr Clapper informs White House
• 8 Nov - White House informs President Obama. He speaks to Gen Petraeus
• 9 Nov - President Obama accepts Gen Petraeus' resignation. Congressional Committees informed

Gen Petraeus' resignation on Friday sent shockwaves through Washington, coming just days after President Barack Obama won a second term in office and pre-empting any reshuffle of his national security team.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate intelligence committee, said the news came as a "lightning bolt", in an appearance on Fox News on Sunday.
US lawmakers have begun asking whether national security may have been compromised by the affair, and why they were not told sooner.
On 26 October Mrs Broadwell publicly discussed otherwise unreported information about an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which saw four Americans killed on 11 September, including Ambassador Chris Stephens.
In a speech at the University of Denver, Mrs Broadwell suggested the attack might actually have been an attempt to recover "Libyan militia members" who were being held by the CIA.
Her comments have stoked speculation as to whether there could be more to uncover about Gen Petraeus and any role he had in the Benghazi aftermath.
The intelligence agency denied the allegations, saying: "Any suggestion that the agency is still in the detention business is uninformed and baseless."
Classified debate Gen Petraeus stepped down on Friday, acknowledging in his resignation letter that he had shown "extremely poor judgment".
He was due to testify about the Benghazi attack on Thursday before a closed-door congressional committee meeting, but acting Director Michael Morrell will now take his place. Gen Petraeus could be called to give evidence at a later date.

 

Paula Broadwell graduated from the same West Point academy as Gen Petraeus

The FBI probe sparked by Mrs Kelley showed the harassing emails had come from Mrs Broadwell, and further inquiry revealed evidence of her affair with Gen Petraeus.
It is thought that Mr Petraeus and Mrs Broadwell were careful to avoid leaving an email-traffic trail, law enforcement officials told AP news agency.
They said the pair would leave emails in a draft folder, instead of sending them, on a personal account that both of them were able to access in order to read the messages.
In a statement, Mrs Kelley and her husband acknowledged their friendship with Gen Petraeus and asked for privacy.
"We and our family have been friends with Gen Petraeus and his family for over five years," she said.
"We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children."
Reports suggest that senior FBI and justice department officials learned about the affair over the summer, but it is not clear whether FBI Director Robert Mueller or Attorney General Eric Holder were informed.
In the autumn, classified documents were found on Mrs Broadwell's computer after she admitted the affair and allowed it to be searched.
Later, Gen Petraeus acknowledged he had been having an affair but told investigators he had not given Mrs Broadwell the classified information, reports say.
He told associates that they were probably given to her on her reporting trips to Afghanistan by commanders she visited there, reports AP.

US election: Unhappy Americans ask to secede from US

 

The petitions were filed after President Barack Obama's re-election

More than 100,000 Americans have petitioned the White House to allow their states to secede from the US, after President Barack Obama's re-election.

The appeals were filed on the White House's We the People website.
Most of the 20 states with petitions voted for Republican Mitt Romney.
The US constitution contains no clause allowing states to leave the union. By Monday night the White House had not responded.
In total, more than 20 petitions have been filed. One for Texas has reached the 25,000-signature threshold at which the White House promises a response.
'Blatant abuses' The last time states officially seceded, the US Civil War followed.
Most of the petitions merely quote the opening line of America's Declaration of Independence from Britain, in which America's founders stated their right to "dissolve the political bands" and form a new nation.
Currently, the most popular petition is from Texas, which voted for Mr Romney by some 15 percentage points more than it did for the Democratic incumbent.
The text complains of "blatant abuses" of Americans' rights.
It cites the Transportation Security Administration, whose staff have been accused of intrusive screening at airports.

CIA director David Petraeus resigns over affair

 

David Petraeus retired from 37 years in the military to become CIA director

CIA director David Petraeus has resigned from his post, admitting he had an extra-marital affair.

In a statement, Mr Petraeus said he had submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama, and that he had shown "extremely poor judgement".
He described his behaviour as "unacceptable" for the leader of the nation's main intelligence agency.
Mr Petraeus became CIA boss in 2011 after heading international forces in Iraq, then in Afghanistan.
He was the highest-profile military officer of the post-9/11 years, winning plaudits for his role running the "surge" in Iraq and implementing a counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.
'Great patriot' Mr Petraeus' resignation came just three days after President Barack Obama's re-election, and prompted a flurry of statements from the White House, intelligence community and Mr Petraeus himself.
Announcing his decision to stand down, the former general was full of contrition.

"By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger”

             Barack Obama US President

"After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extra-marital affair," Mr Petraeus said in a statement.

"Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation."
Mr Obama's statement said Mr Petraeus had "provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades", citing both his time as CIA director and service to the military.
"By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger."
"Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work."
James Clapper, director of national intelligence, thanked Mr Petraeus for his decades of service: "Dave's decision to step down represents the loss of one of our nation's most respected public servants,"

David Petraeus: Career highlights

• Graduated from West Point in 1974
• Commander of Multinational Force Iraq, Feb 2007 to Sept 2008
• Commander of International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, July 2010 to July 2011
• Became CIA director in Sept 2011 after being confirmed by the senate 94-0

"I have spent more than five decades serving our country - in uniform and out - and of all the exceptional men and women I have worked with over the years, I can honestly say that Dave Petraeus stands out as one of our nation's great patriots."

CIA deputy director Michael Morell will serve as acting director of the agency, the White House confirmed. Eventually Mr Obama must nominate a new director to head the agency, who will then need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Mr Morell, who is well respected at both the White House and on Capitol Hill, also served as acting director following the departure of former CIA chief Leon Panetta.
The CIA faces a potential period of instability after Mr Petraeus' resignation, as it also deals with a budget plateau and questions over its response to a deadly attack at a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.