Early Trump campaign adviser pleaded guilty to making false statements about Russia contacts to FBI

An early foreign policy adviser and aide to President Donald Trump’s campaign team secretly pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to the FBI about the nature and extent of his contacts with foreign nationals who he knew had ties to senior Russian government officials.

George Papadopoulos, 30, was a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign in early 2016. He sent at least six emails to top Trump advisers during the campaign offering to set up meetings with Russian officials, The Washington Post reported in August. The first of those emails was sent in March 2016 with the subject line ” Meeting with Russian Leadership – Including Putin.”

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The Top 10 Things To See And Do At Palolem Beach, Goa

Known for its chilled-out party vibe and tourist beaches, Goa is a popular destination for holidaying in India. With long stretches of coast there are many beach resorts to choose from, but not many retain such natural serenity as Palolem Beach. Visit Palolem for traditional culture, unmissable activities and  well deserved relaxation.

Laze On The beach And Swim In The Arabian Sea

With a 1.5 kilometer stretch of white powdery sand lined with tall coconut palms and bamboo beach huts, spend a day absorbing the peaceful surroundings. The beach’s curvature offers a view of the entire picture-perfect environment from both of its ends. The Arabian Sea is a shade of sapphire and offers a refreshing dip too, whether you choose to don your swimwear or bathe, like a local, fully clothed. The tide can generate some powerful waves appropriate for a bit of playful body boarding. Cows happily bask by the waterfront but the stray dogs can be a tad pesky.

Beautiful view of tropical sunset beach with bungalow and coconut palm trees at Palolem in Goa, India| © Pikoso.kz/Shutterstock

Beautiful view of tropical sunset beach with bungalow and coconut palm trees at Palolem in Goa, India| © Pikoso.kz/Shutterstock

Do A Yoga Class

A traditional Indian pastime, there is no better place to align body and mind than in Palolem’s effortless splendour. There are many places around to attend a drop-in yogaclass and a number of resorts offer morning and evening classes. Try Arunachala’s Yoga Retreat and immerse in the ashram way of life. Whether a beginner or an experienced yogi, Palolem beach is the perfect environment for generating that positive energy.

ndian yoga master and his international students meditate at sunset on the Goa beach, India | © Vladimir Zhoga/Shutterstock

Indian yoga master and his international students meditate at sunset on the Goa beach, India | © Vladimir Zhoga/Shutterstock

Eat Traditional Indian Food

When it comes to culinary delicacies, the vibrant fishing culture of Goa makes for some sensational seafood. Try some freshly caught fish brought in by the boats or taste the exceptional South Indian cuisine on the menus at most restaurants in Palolem. Opt for a Thali to sample a number of curries with juxtaposing yet complementing flavours and a sustaining fill of rice and chappati.

Go Dolphin Spotting

Browse the shoreline and haggle for a well-priced boat trip. An enjoyable sail cruising out to sea, even for those partial to sea sickness, spotting the magnificent dolphins is totally rewarding. Although they’re bashful creatures at heart, they never fail to impress with their streamline bodies and lively characters.

Party At Silent Noise Disco

Set in what appears to be a sandy circus arena with a sparse arrangement of rocks, Silent Noise Disco comes to life after dark. Goa, a rare Indian state where it is legal to consume alcohol, still tries to retain local peace by enforcing a noise ban after 10pm. Silent Noise manages to sidestep this with a technicality; providing headphones so that punters are appropriately equipped to soundlessly disco the night away under a blanket of twinkling stars.

Silent Noise Disco, Palolem, Canacona, Goa, India, +91 77986 80842

Go Adventuring

If beach bumming doesn’t set your heart racing then fear not, there are plenty of activities for the brave adrenaline junkie here too. From canyoning to trekking, Goa Jungle Adventure provides the experiences you need to get your pulse raised and your stomach leaping. A short trip away from the main town of Chaudi, this is an unforgettable daytrip to make while staying in Palolem Beach.

Get An Ayurvedic Massage

For the ultimate beach relaxation, treat yourself to an ayurvedic massage. At an extremely reasonable price compared to prices found in Europe, its essential to book in to a high end spa to receive a top quality massage here. What’s more, the Indian experts in the ground will ensure customers receive the real deal, all set to the sounds of Goa’s lapping waves.

Visit Monkey Island

Take a stroll along the coastline to the North end of Palolem beach, when the tide is low it is possible to reach Canacona Island, nicknamed Monkey Island due to the monkeys that live there. It takes a little rock hopping skill but the clambering adds to the intrigue of the island, which is reminiscent of a classical paradise. If a journey over rocks isn’t tempting, boats regularly make small voyages around the island too.

Canacona Island, Kanika, India

Two wild monkeys | © Yevgen Sundikov/Shutterstock

Two wild monkeys | © Yevgen Sundikov/Shutterstock

Rent A Bike

Bordering a number of other beaches, layered side-by-side like an idyllic beach trifle, there is plenty of ground to explore other than just Palolem in this southern section of Goa. Rent a bicycle from a number of places in the village and set out whichever way your inner compass is pointing. To the North of Palolem beach is Butterfly Beach and to the South is Patnem, both exuding a utopian allure. Cycling may be a slightly sweaty affair but there’s plenty of sea in which to cool off once you’ve ditched the two wheelers.

Visit Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary

A short distance from Palolem and not just for nature lovers, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuaryboasts an array of exotic towering trees and other tropical plants as well as protected wildlife. Although the animals are well concealed sometimes, catching a glimpse of a wild boar remains an exciting possibility. It is possible to climb up a watchtower overlooking a waterhole popular amongst the animals at dawn and dusk, so keep your eyes peeled and imagine some David Attenborough-style commentary to accompany your time in the nature.

Japanese rock garden on Palolem beach in Goa, India | © Pavel Laputskov/Shutterstock

Japanese rock garden on Palolem beach in Goa, India | © Pavel Laputskov/Shutterstock

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has fled the country amid rebellion charges

Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has left Spain and travelled to Brussels, Spanish government officials have said.

Mr Puigdemont is facing sedition charges from the Spanish government after Catalonia declared independence under his leadership.

The move comes after Belgium’s asylum and migration affairs minister Theo Francken said the former president could seek asylum in the country.

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Surf resorts with five-star élan

Liveaboard yachts and back-of-beyond lodges, ultra-exclusive resorts and the remotest mid-Pacific atolls – the footloose appeal of the surfing lifestyle is driving luxury travel purveyors well past thread counts and butlers into some very interesting new territory, says Maria Shollenbarger

About half an hour’s speedboat ride northeast of the Maldivian capital of Malé is a surf break known as Sultans. It rolls out off the southern tip of the island of Thanburudhoo, in warm, clear blue-green tubes over a not-too-shallow reef. For much of the northern-hemisphere summer, it draws devotees from as far away as South Africa, Brazil, Florida and Australia. It’s one of this island nation’s most storied attractions – which, if you don’t surf, you’ve likely never heard of.

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The five-star, family-friendly future of golf resort living

Stunning homes with state-of-the-art facilities – it’s all change down by the fairway. The sporting pleasures of golf and the pristine beauty of a golf course have inspired the purchase of countless holiday homes. Buy a property overlooking tree-lined fairways and smooth-as-baize greens and you have a protected natural setting along with ready opportunities to perfect your drives and putts.

Yet there are thorny issues in this lush paradise. The number of active golfers in Europe is falling just as golf resorts face stiff competition from other sports and leisure destinations. A course alone is clearly not enough to lure today’s sophisticated buyers, so how do elite residential golf resorts preserve their essence while widening their appeal across gender and age divides?

Six-bedroom Bluff House and its two-bedroom Cottage, which have elegantly pared-back interiors and a private footpath to the beach at Barbados’s Sandy Lane golf estate, $12m through Savills

The Golf Participation Report for Europe (2016) from KPMG highlights this problem. From 1984 to 2009, Europe’s golf market experienced an average annual year-on-year growth in registered golfers of around five per cent. Since then, however, numbers have fallen every year and, while the pace of this downward trend has slowed since 2014, golf still faces challenges in becoming truly family friendly, with adult males accounting for two-thirds of all registered European golfers in 2015.

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Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Surrenders to F.B.I.

WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning, after a person close to the case said the first charges were filed in a special counsel investigation.

The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office. Also charged was Mr. Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates, who was also told to surrender on Monday, the person said.

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Record surge in atmospheric CO2 seen in 2016

Concentrations of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere surged to a record high in 2016, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Last year’s increase was 50% higher than the average of the past 10 years.

Researchers say a combination of human activities and the El Niño weather phenomenon drove CO2 to a level not seen in 800,000 years. Scientists say this risks making global temperature targets largely unattainable.

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Kevin Spacey apologises over Anthony Rapp ‘sexual advance’ claim

Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has made an apology after being accused of making a sexual advance toward a child actor.

Anthony Rapp, who was 14, said Spacey invited him to a party and seemed drunk when the alleged incident happened.

Spacey, who was 26, said: “I honestly do not remember the encounter… but if I did behave then as he describes I owe him the sincerest apology.”

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Ex-Trump aide ‘faces charges over Russia’

The former manager of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Paul Manafort, is to face charges related to an inquiry into alleged Russian meddling, US media report.

He and his former business associate Rick Gates have been ordered to surrender, according to the reports.

An investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into any links between Russia and the Trump campaign during the vote.

Both sides deny any collusion.

Mr Mueller’s team is known to have conducted extensive interviews with several current and former White House officials as part of the inquiry.

The nature of the charges Mr Manafort and Mr Gates face is not yet clear.

The most bizarre, outlandish documents from the newly released JFK files

  • Thousands of previously classified files related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination have been released.
  • They detail things like Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities leading up to the shooting, bizarre tip-offs before Kennedy’s and Oswald’s deaths, and the CIA’s efforts to overthrow Fidel Castro.

President Donald Trump on Thursday approved the release of more than 2,800 previously classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.

The trove of documents, released late on Thursday by the National Archives, offer up an array of details around the assassination itself, the ensuing investigation, and the government’s foreign-policy endeavors.

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Noting that it’s ‘not at all presidential,’ Trump attacks ‘Sloppy Michael Moore’

  • Trump criticized documentarian Michael Moore in a tweet, noting that his statement was “not at all presidential.”
  • Trump also said Moore’s Broadway show was “forced to close,” which was not true.
  • Moore’s show, which had anti-Trump themes, was a 12-week, limited-run production.

Continue reading Noting that it’s ‘not at all presidential,’ Trump attacks ‘Sloppy Michael Moore’

19 powerful men accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of Harvey Weinstein

After numerous sexual assault and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, similar accusations against multiple famous and powerful men have surfaced.

Women and men have become emboldened by the voices of Weinstein’s accusers, and are now coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, in what is being referred to as the “Weinstein ripple effect.”

Here is a list of men who have been accused of sexual misconduct since the Weinstein allegations broke:

Continue reading 19 powerful men accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of Harvey Weinstein

Actress Annabella Sciorra Accuses Harvey Weinstein of Rape in New New Yorker Report on the Disgraced Producer

In a New Yorker article published Friday night, journalist Ronan Farrow revealed more accusations of sexual-harassment and assaultat the hands of former studio head Harvey Weinstein, now from actresses Annabella Sciorra and Daryl Hannah.

According to the Sopranos actress, Weinstein allegedly raped her, then forcibly performed oral sex on her, in her New York apartment one night in the ‘90s. “Like most of these women, I was so ashamed of what happened,” Sciorra says. “And I fought. I fought. But still I was like, Why did I open that door? Who opens the door at that time of night? I was definitely embarrassed by it. I felt disgusting. I felt like I had fucked up.”

Continue reading Actress Annabella Sciorra Accuses Harvey Weinstein of Rape in New New Yorker Report on the Disgraced Producer

Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton Reportedly Caught With Cocaine at Los Angeles Airport

According to TMZ, actor Charlie Heaton, currently starring in Stranger Things 2 as beleaguered older brother Jonathan Byers, was allegedly found with cocaine in his luggage after deboarding a flight from the United Kingdom to Los Angeles last Saturday.

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Noah Schnapp Is the MVP of Stranger Things 2

Yes, there are spoilers below about Stranger Things andStranger Things 2. If you haven’t watched yet and want to remain spoiler-free, please keep that in mind.

In the first season of Stranger Things, Will Byers gets sucked into the Upside Down in episode one and isn’t rescued until the last chapter. Even though what happens to him drives most of the action in those initial eight installments, for obvious reasons, we don’t see him much. As a result, when Stranger Things debuted on Netflix and its young cast members suddenly became the most high-profile preteens in America and beyond, Noah Schnapp, the actor who plays Will, got sidelined from the spotlight. He was the Stranger Things kid that everybody forgot about, even though nothing would have happened in Stranger Things without him.

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JFK files: British paper got anonymous call just before assassination

Memo from CIA to FBI says senior reporter at Cambridge Evening News was told to call the American embassy for ‘some big news’

A reporter on the UK’s Cambridge Evening News received an anonymous call telling him to ring the US embassy for some big news, 25 minutes before the murder of John F Kennedy in Dallas, newly released documents say.

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