UFC 163 Facebook Prelims: Previewing Online Fights on Saturday's Card

Before Jose Aldo and Chan Sung Jung duke it out for the featherweight championship at the end of the UFC 163 pay-per-view card or Ian McCall looks to get back on track against Iliarde Santos, the Rio de Janeiro card will kick off with the customary Facebook prelims.?

This portion of the card, which can be streamed via the UFC Facebook page, offers three fights, including a bout between featherweight contender Rani Yahya and promotional newcomer Josh Clopton.?

While these aren't the most well-known fighters in the world, these fights offer fans the opportunity to see some up-and-comers attempting to climb the ladder while getting fight night started a little earlier.?

Here's a look at the card that kicks off at 6 p.m. ET.?

UFC 163 Facebook Prelims

Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde	Welterweight
Francimar Barroso vs. Ednaldo Oliveira	Light Heavyweight
Josh Clopton vs. Rani Yahya	Featherweight

Fight Card via UFC.com

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Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde

Kicking off the evening's action will be a welterweight tilt between Viscardi Andrade and Bristol Marunde.?

At 31 years of age, Marunde might not have much time left to make a run, and this could be his last chance to stick with a ZUFFA company. Marunde was on the losing end of a bout with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in his final fight under the Strikeforce banner.

That's excusable, Souza was coming off of his only loss in the company and is a former champion. His loss to Clint Hester, however, is a bit more troubling. That makes him a likely candidate to be released if he drops a third consecutive fight.?

Andrade is a much lesser-known commodity. He'll be making his promotional debut with a six-fight win streak but hasn't faced the competition that Marunde has seen.?

One of them will need to win in impressive fashion to make sure he stays off the Facebook prelims next time around.?

?

Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Francimar Barroso

UFC fans already got a glimpse of Oliveira in the Octagon once. He'll be hoping fans don't even recognize him this time, though.?

Fighting at heavyweight, he was promptly submitted by Gabriel Gonzaga in the first round. Making the drop to 205 pounds, he'll be looking to take advantage of a second chance to shine. The loss to the UFC veteran marked the first loss of his career, so the potential is there for Oliveira to shine at his new weight.?

Challenging him will be another relatively unknown Brazilian on the card in Francimar Barroso. Fighting primarily on the regional circuit in Brazil, the 33-year-old has only been to a decision once in his 18 fights. Therefore, this should be a fun one.?

?

Rani Yahya vs. Josh Clopton

There's no bigger mismatch on the card than Yahya vs. Clopton.

In one corner you have a Brazilian fighting in front of a home crowd fresh off of impressive wins against Josh Grispi and Mizuto Hirota. In the other corner you have a fighter in Clopton who lost his only UFC bout against Steven Siler by decision.?

Yahya's advanced submission game is the best reason to tune in to this one. Clopton appears to be overmatched in this one, and Yahya could make him opponent No. 16 to submit in his career.?

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1726020-ufc-163-facebook-prelims-previewing-online-fights-on-saturdays-card

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Australian budget deficit blows out on China slowdown

Australia said yesterday its budget deficit has blown out to A$30 billion (US$26.6 billion) and revenues are shrinking, as it unveiled a preelection mini-budget that includes a controversial plan to tax bank deposits.

The government also cut its growth outlook for the fiscal year to June next year as the mining-driven economy grapples with a Chinese slowdown that has seen prices of commodities tumble.

With national polls approaching, Australian Treasurer Chris Bowen said tough conditions had seen a further A$33.3 billion wiped off revenue estimates over the next four years. This, he said, had forced the ruling Labor party into A$17.4 billion of ?responsible savings.?

The statement?s release added to speculation that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd could call an election as early as this weekend, having now outlined fresh budget numbers, as well as new policies on a raft of key issues.

The government also upped its forecast unemployment rate for the 2013-2014 fiscal year by 50 basis points to 6.25 percent.

However, while the budget deficit for this fiscal year had ballooned from the A$18 billion forecast in the May budget, Bowen stuck to the government?s plan to return a surplus in 2016-2017.

He said the fall in commodities prices sparked by weakening growth in key export market China meant Australia?s economy would grow 2.5 percent from last month to June next year, slower than the 2.75 percent forecast in May. It is expected to rise to 3 percent for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

?The transition in the resources sector from a record investment boom to strong growth in production and exports is currently under way,? he said. ?This will mean that non-mining sectors of the economy will need to lead growth in the future. This transition poses challenges for the economy.?

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said he was stunned at the scale of the deficit and speed at which it had worsened.

?I?m shocked by how much it has deteriorated,? he said, adding that the promised return to surplus has been repeatedly delayed.

?We seem to keep pushing out the return to surplus and the return to surplus gets steeper and steeper as time goes by,? he said.

In a bid to plug its revenue shortfall the government this week announced a plan to hike tobacco taxes by 12.5 percent per year over the next four years, to raise more than A$5 billion.

And yesterday, Bowen said he will also tax bank deposits up to A$250,000 at 0.05 percent from 2016, raising a forecast A$733 million in the first 18 months.

Bowen said the cash would go into a new Financial Stability Fund, but will be counted as revenue in the budget, to protect savings in the event of a bank collapse.

Source: http://libertytimes.feedsportal.com/c/33098/f/535603/s/2f7cf055/sc/39/l/0L0Staipeitimes0N0CNews0Cbiz0Carchives0C20A130C0A80C0A30C20A0A3568796/story01.htm

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Ellen DeGeneres to host Oscars for 2nd time

NEW YORK (AP) ? Comic and daytime television host Ellen DeGeneres was picked to host the Academy Awards for the second time.

Show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced DeGeneres' selection Friday. The movie awards show will air on ABC on March 2.

"There are few stars today who have Ellen's gift for comedy, with her great warmth and humanity," the producers said in a statement. "She is beloved everywhere."

DeGeneres quipped: "I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time. You know what they say ? the third time's the charm."

She also announced the gig on Twitter, posting: "It's official: I'm hosting the #Oscars! I'd like to thank @TheAcademy, my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra."

Last year's host, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, drew mixed reviews for an edgy performance that included a song-and-dance number, "We Saw Your Boobs," about actresses who had gone topless on screen. He had already taken himself out of the running for a return engagement next year.

Academy Awards organizers had hoped to attract a younger audience with MacFarlane, and the ratings showed they succeeded.

With DeGeneres, they went for a star that Hollywood and television viewers were familiar and comfortable with.

About her first hosting role in 2007, television critic Frazier Moore of The Associated Press wrote that "like her, the evening was easygoing, comfortable and relatively unsurprising."

DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award for her last gig. Her daytime talk show has won 45 Daytime Emmys during a decade on the air.

The Oscars, with 40.3 million viewers this year, is very often the year's most-watched television event after the Super Bowl.

___

Online:

http://www.oscars.org/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ellen-degeneres-host-oscars-2nd-time-191458014.html

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U.S. says states' lawsuits vs. S&P belong in state courts

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - The U.S. government, which is pursuing a $5 billion lawsuit accusing Standard & Poor's of misleading investors by inflating its credit ratings, on Friday asked a federal judge move similar cases by 15 U.S. states and the District of Columbia back to state courts.

In a filing in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the U.S. Department of Justice said federal courts do not have jurisdiction to hear the states' cases, which it said turn on alleged violations of their respective laws against unfair consumer practices or deceptive business practices.

The Justice Department said S&P had argued that the cases belong in federal court because they touch on the meaning of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and a 2006 federal law governing credit rating agencies.

But it said these issues touch on potential federal defenses to the states' claims, and are not inherent in the claims themselves.

"Assertions of federal defenses cannot provide a basis for removal of properly pleaded state-law claims," the Justice Department said.

S&P spokeswoman Catherine Mathis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The rating agency is a unit of McGraw-Hill Financial Inc.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan has scheduled an October 4 hearing over the states' effort to move their lawsuits back to various state courts, and S&P's effort to dismiss the states' litigation altogether.

Consolidating the state cases may help S&P avoid multiple judgments or conflicting rulings, and reduce its legal bills. The lawsuits were consolidated before Furman in June to decide whether to send them back to state court.

The cases before the judge represent the bulk of the 17 lawsuits state attorneys general have filed against S&P. Most were filed on the same February day that the Justice Department sued the rating agency for $5 billion.

The Justice Department won a ruling on July 17 by U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California allowing it to continue pursuing its own lawsuit over S&P's ratings.

The cases are In re: Standard & Poor's Rating Agency Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-md-02446; and U.S. v. McGraw-Hill Cos et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 13-00779.

(Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-says-states-lawsuits-vs-p-belong-state-212559394.html

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China's tallest building nears finish in Shanghai

SHANGHAI (AP) ? A topping-out ceremony was held Saturday for China's tallest building in the financial hub of Shanghai when the final beam was hoisted to the top of the skyscraper and installed in a flag-waving ritual.

At 632 meters (2,073 feet), the Shanghai Tower in the city's Pudong district is the world's second-tallest building, surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which soars 829.8 meters (2,722 feet).

After the ceremony, workers will move onto the building's interior construction. Once it is completed next year, the Shanghai Tower will have retail and office space, a luxury hotel and likely a museum.

"I'm very proud," Wu Weiming, who helped installed the last beam, told reporters.

Designed by U.S. architectural firm Gensler, the glass-and-steel, 121-story building takes on a transparent and spiral form.

China's booming economy has fuelled a building frenzy, including some of the world's tallest buildings. The Shanghai Tower replaces the Shanghai World Financial Center ? completed in 2008 ? as the country's highest building.

The Shanghai Tower is the last piece in a group of super-tall skyscrapers in Shanghai's Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, which includes the Shanghai World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower, both among the tallest in the world.

And in the south-central city of Changsha, developers are in the midst of building Sky City, an 838-meter (2,749-foot) structure that would overtake Burj Khalifa.

This summer, China also unveiled the world's largest building in terms of floor space in the western city of Chengdu. The New Century Global Center edged out the previous record-holder, the Dubai airport.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-tallest-building-nears-finish-shanghai-053442291.html

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Wedding Digest Naija | The Wooden Bowl ~ A touching story on ...

A ?frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and a four-year old grandson. The old man?s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together nightly at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather?s shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass often milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. ?We must do something about grandfather,? said the son. I?ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor. So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the dinner table. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather?s direction, he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, ?What are you making?? Just as sweetly, the boy responded, ?Oh, I am making the bowl for you and mama to eat.? The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took grandfather?s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes ever observe, their ears ever listen, and their minds ever process the messages they absorb. If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere for family members, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives. The wise parent realizes that every day that building blocks are being laid for the child?s future.Let us all be wise builders and role models.

Take care of yourself, ? and those you love, today, and everyday!, especially your parents, as they are the most precious gifts ?

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Source: http://www.weddingdigestnaija.com/the-wooden-bowl-a-touching-story-on-family-love-parents-relationships/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wooden-bowl-a-touching-story-on-family-love-parents-relationships

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