2nd annual Red Nose Day raises over $31.5 million for kids in need

Coldplay"s Game of Thrones: The Musical (Full 12-minute version)

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (NBC) -- Thursday, May 26, 2016 marked the second annual Red Nose Day in the US, raising more than $31.5 million to help children in need in the U.S. and in some of the poorest communities around the world.

People from all walks of life got behind the cause, buying Red Noses, donating and FUN-raising, and showing their support on social media. The days events culminated in NBCs live, star-studded charity event The Red Nose Day Special, which brought together more than 70 Hollywood stars to FUN-raise for the cause.

Elton John, Julia Roberts, Jack Black, Ellen DeGeneres, Tracy Morgan, Blake Shelton, Will Ferrell and Zac Efron were among the many celebrities who appeared in the live, two-hour charity television event. Hosted by Craig Ferguson, The Red Nose Day Special featured hilarious comedy, spectacular music performances and short compelling films shedding light on children in need.

Paul Rudd, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Jay Leno, Celine Dion, Kobe Bryant, Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen, Bono, Ellie Kemper, Blake Griffin, Connie Britton, Mel B, Bill Gates, Tyler Perry, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Vince Vaughn and Sarah Silverman also appeared in the FUN-raising special, along with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, Kristen Bell, Chris Ludacris Bridges, Rose Byrne, Chlo Grace Moretz, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, Adam Devine and Ron Funches. Also appearing were Jane Lynch, Minnie Driver, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Goldblum, Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Scott Foley, Dax Shepard, Johnny Galecki, Mayim Bialik, Jay Pharaoh, Ben Feldman, and Trevor Noah, along with Iwan Rheon, Chris Hardwick, Yvette Nicole Brown, Lauren Ash, Retta, David Morrissey, Jon Daly, Margot Robbie, Kate Micucci, Malin Akerman, Adam Pally, Tony Hale, Sal Masekela, Lamorne Morrisand Grace Helbig.

In addition to monies raised during the live event, fundraising totals announced during the show included $1 million from M&MS from their #MakeMLaugh campaign, a significant contribution by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, including funds raised by their social and matching campaigns, and an enormous $18 million from Walgreens, which included the proceeds from Red Nose and Red Flair sales, vendor partner contributions and customer donations.

The country turned red in the lead up to yesterday with people across the country decked out in the events iconic Red Noses and a range of other red flair from Walgreens, the exclusive retailer for the campaign. Key landmarks across the nation were lit in red to honor the occasion, including the Empire State Building in New York City, the Willis Tower in Chicago, and the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles. Yesterday, the Red Nose Day team and Walgreens, alongside other key Red Nose Day partners M&MS and NBC, rung in the day, pressing the NASDAQ opening bell.

Red Nose Day is on a mission to lift kids out of poverty. It has raised more than $1 billion globally in the last 25 years, and in the UK become a cultural phenomenon. Red Nose Day launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a special day to come together, have fun and make a difference for kids who are most in need. In its inaugural year in America, more than $23 million was raised for the Red Nose Day Fund, with the money now at work in all 50 states across America and 15 countries internationally through programs to keep them healthy, safe and educated. Funds raised have provided children with everything from clean water and their next meal to life-saving malaria nets in Africa, to vaccines to protect against preventable diseases.

Footage from Julia Roberts recent trip to Phoenix debuted on The Red Nose Day Special telecast, documenting her trip to visit projects that take care of children who are facing serious health issues without the means to afford basic medical treatment. Chris "Ludacris" Bridges made a special visit to an amazing food bank in Atlanta at a school where 50 percent of the students are living below the poverty line, and where one of the biggest problems is day-to-day hunger. Jack Black returned to the annual TV event, and gave a heartwarming update on Felix, a young boy he met in Uganda last year, who had been living on the streets for three years. Jack revealed that Felix now lives with a foster family, and attends school to get the education he dreamed of after being helped by a program that aims to change the lives of kids in need.The Red Nose Day Special also delivered a great night of comedy, from Tracy Morgan putting his own unique spin on the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs while reading to kids, to Paul Rudd committing more to Red Nose Day than he ever imagined when he promises to donate $5,000 for every three-pointer basketball superstar Blake Griffin makes in three minutes and gets in over his head.

"The Walking Dead" cast --Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Ross Marquand, Josh McDermitt, Steven Yeun, Christian Serratos, Melissa McBride and Sonequa Martin-Green -- appeared as viewers had never seen them before. And music also took center stage in The Red Nose Day Special, with Elton John performing A Good Heart and Blake Shelton performing My Saviors Shadow. Paul Shaffer was the musical director with the Red Nose Orchestra.

All money raised for Red Nose Day goes to the Red Nose Day Fund, which then distributes grants to charities that benefit children and young people living in poverty. Half of the money will be spent right here in America on projects close to home. The other half will be spent in some of the poorest communities internationally. In 2016, partner charities include Boys & Girls Clubs of America; charity:water; Childrens Health Fund; Covenant House; Feeding America; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; National Council of La Raza; National Urban League; Oxfam America; Save the Children and The Global Fund.

Created by Oscar nominee and Emmy Award-winning writer-director Richard Curtis, (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill), the idea of Red Nose Day was built upon the foundation that the power of entertainment and celebrities can help raise money and awareness of poverty to save and change millions of lives.

Source: http://www.wowt.com/content/news/2nd-annual-Red-Nose-Day-raises-over-315-million-for-kids-in-need-381116141.html

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NHL playoffs: keys to Lightning vs. Penguins Game 7

Crazy penguin HD

Get all of Allan Muirs columns as soon as theyre published. Download the newSports Illustratedapp (iOSorAndroid) and personalize your experience by following your favorite teams and SI writers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning know they let one get away.

Given a chance to close out the Eastern Conference Finals with a win at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6, the Bolts stumbled through 40 minutes of inexplicably dispassionate hockey before finally getting engaged during a raucous third period. By that point, though, it was too late. The Pens made off with a 52 victory, setting up tonight"s Game 7 at Consol Energy Center (8:00 ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS). The winner moves on to face the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Final.

"We had a great chance," Tampa Bay forward Brian Boyle said of his team"s Game 6 letdown. "We kind of tiptoed around it. We weren"t aggressive. We weren"t on top of it. We weren"t skating."

It"s the same trap they fell into last spring when they took a 3-2 lead over the Rangers in Game 5 of the ECF but couldn"t close the deal in Game 6 at home. They managed to take Game 7 on the road, though. And the memory of how that worked could get them over the hump this year as well.

"I definitely think there"s a calmness within our group and how we approach games like these," said Anton Stralman, who is 7-0 in career Game 7s. "Just like in Game 5, whenwe got hit by adversity [an early 2-0 deficit], we just kept going and believed in our system and the way we play. That"s what we did in New York in those two games (last spring), 5 and 7 there. We just went in. We believed in ourselves. We played to our structure and to our strength, and we pulled off two really, really good games.

"We know we have it in us. It"s just a matter of finding that emotion and that energy."

That energy was absent early in Game 6, when the Pens outshot the Bolts, 14-4. Finding it, and finding it quickly, will be a key for both teams.

Here"s what else to watch for:

Fascinating to hear how the Lightning respond when asked about the efforts of young goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

He"s been giving us a chance to win every time he"s been in, said Stralman.

If he plays the same way he has been playing so far, he"s going to give us a chance to win, said forward Valtteri Filppula.

It"s a time-worn hockey compliment. The gist being, he"s doing his job well enough, and really, that"s all you can ask of your netminder.

Except it"s not. Especially not in Game 7.

Vasilevskiy has been good to this point, but he"s also allowed at least three goals in each of the past five games. None of them were glaringly soft, and in Games 2 and 3, when his defense all but deserted him, he was pretty special.

But he still lost both of those games. And as a general rule, expecting the offense to crank out at least four goals in reply is an iffy proposition.

He has to be better tonight. Like, Ben Bishop better.

Vasilevskiy hasn"t yet stolen a game. But it feels like that"s what the Lightning might need from him tonight.

The Penguins are looking for something different from Matt Murray. A calm, focused performance might be all they need to get over this hurdle. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan expects him to deliver.

"He has a maturity beyond his years," Sullivan said on Wednesday. "He has a calming influence. He has ... an ability to stay in the moment, not allow any of the adversities or the challenges that the game presents to affect his mindset. If one goes in that he thinks he should have had, he just refocuses and he plays. It"s a real important attribute to have as an athlete, but probably most importantly as a goaltender. And he has it at such a young age."

The Lightning have to make better decisions with the puck in Game 7. They were way too fast and loose with it in Game 6, giving it away 17 times (10 more than the Pens) and having it stripped from their possession another eight times. And that"s probably a conservative countPatric Hornqvist"s takeaway that led to Sidney Crosby"s goal wasn"t acknowledged by league scorers.

Part of that is better protection, keeping the body between the puck and the defender. But a larger issue was their decision-making under pressure. The Pens were hard on the puck in Game 6, forcing decisions to be made under duress. That led to a string of forced errors and extended possession time for Pittsburgh.

The Bolts couldn"t muster up the poise they needed under pressure. The team that does that the best tonight is likely to emerge as the winner.

GALLERY: NHL"s Greatest Game 7s

Seems obvious, but both teams will need their best players to be their best players if they"re going to win this one.

That"s no knock on support staffers like Tampa Bay"s Ryan Callahan or Pittsburgh"s Bryan Rust, who have found ways to impact games despite lesser roles and could easily do something special to grab the spotlight tonight. But games like this tend to be defined by what the big boys do ... or don"t do.

The Pens" top guns already delivered once in a must-win Game 6. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin assisted on Phil Kessel"s first-period goal. Crosby later scored on a Jerome Bettis Special, driving through three defenders before potting one of the most memorable markers of the postseason. Kris Letang stayed out of the box, tightened up on his defensive zone coverage and chipped in with a goal as well. That"s a level they"ll need to reach again.

Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin have been brilliant at times in this series, but they were pushed to the sidelines in that Game 6 loss. More"s expected of them tonight.

"We"ve had 100 games of dress rehearsal for this one," coach Jon Cooper said. "Let"s just give it our best shot."

What you"ve seen is what you"ll get from the Lightning. Don"t expect any last-minute reinforcements from injured reserve.

In other words: no Steven Stamkos in Game 7.

"Nothing"s changed as far as our end," said Cooper. "So that"s all I"ve got for that."

UPDATE: Not so fast, Coop. Stamkos took the ice for the pre-game warmup and appears to be available for Game 7. No telling what impact he can have after sitting out nearly two full months, but just getting the captain in the lineup is a massive emotional boost for the Bolts.

Crosby has a chance to tie an unbreakable mark in Game 7. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hall of Famer Mike Bossy is the only player to record four game-winners in a single series. The Islanders sniper extraordinaire delivered the daggers in the 1983 conference finals against the Boston Bruins. Crosby so far has clinched Games 2, 3 and 6 for the Penguins. No one should be surprised if he finds a way to seal the deal again one more time.

Source: http://www.si.com/nhl/2016/05/26/nhl-playoffs-tampa-bay-lightning-pittsburgh-penguins-eastern-finals-game-7-preview

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The boy who would have been an Amber Alert case

Amber Alert Official Trailer #1 (2012) - Thriller Movie HD

ORILLIAThe handsome, bright face of 11-year-old Christopher Stephenson stares out from a plaque on the wall at OPP headquarters in Orillia.

The plaque is dedicated to the "lasting memory and enduring legacy of Christopher Stephenson" to mark what was the tenth anniversary of Ontario"s s*x Offender Registry in 2011.

Just steps away inside the auditorium, Christopher"s father, Jim, sits quietly in the audience Thursday as enhancements to Ontario"s Amber Alert system are discussed.

Father"s Day weekend in June marks 28years since Christopher was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered by a convicted s*x offender in Brampton.

Stephenson was asked to attend the Orillia conference to endorse the alarm system that didn"t exist when Christopher was taken in 1988.

"It"s another look at protecting children," he said. "And I guess if there"s any one family who has been impacted by the loss of a child it"s our family."

Jim and his wife Anna have a hard-earned credibility by turning their grief to fighting to protect other children from predators and adding their voices to numerous community safety initiatives.

In 1993, a coroner"s inquest into Christopher"s death recommended creating a national registry for convicted s*x offenders, one that would require them to register with local police.

A province-wide registry was established in Ontario in 2001, becoming the first in the country.

The legislation that created the registry was named "Christopher"s Law."

A national registry was established in 2004.

Stephenson gets frustrated when he hears complaints that Amber Alerts are intrusive and annoying on television and radio.

Experience has taught him to be patient with these important programs especially when it comes to technology.

"If we step back a bit if the s*x offender registry had been created in 1992 in response to the inquest it probably would have been a collection of file papers stored in a three ring binder because technology wasn"t able to support the registry as it was ten years later. The Amber Alert program is going through some similar growing pains. Bear with it. It"s going to improve. "

So much has changed since Christopher was abductedand sometimes Jim can"t help but ask "what if" the Amber Alert system had been in place in 1988.

Would Christopher"s disappearance have qualified for an Amber Alert?

Stephenson posed that question to some conference delegates this week.

"Because Christopher was taken. Certainly descriptors were available of the suspect and Christopher"s safety was in question,so yes it would have qualified as an Amber Alert case," he said.

Improvements to the Amber Alerts are coming, according to the main stakeholders of the program.

As a father who has suffered the worst loss any parent could, Stephenson delivered this message to delegates about theAmber Alerts system.

"The thing I wanted to get across that it relies so much on technology and technology is ever-evolving. Technology is improving daily and that a lot of the glitches that are appearing today will be corrected."

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFo0ajmZ59HuzMkjf4laU-TAEo0eA&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779120458386&ei=8qdIV5CVE9i23gGOopDgDw&url=https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/the-boy-who-would-have-been-an-amber-alert-case-305099

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Baylor"s move: Eight possible candidates to replace Art Briles

Baylor football coach Art Briles dismissed

Where does Baylor go from here?

With the start of fall practice just over two months away, the search for anew football savior in Waco, Texas following the dismissal of Art Briles starts immediately for the Bears. After an interim coach is named, finding a long-term solution to keep this program in the national conversation is top priority.

Here are a couple candidates, most offensive-minded, the Bears should highlight during the search process:

Source: http://247sports.com/Gallery/Baylors-move-Eight-possible-candidates-to-replace-Art-Briles-45517449

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NHL Playoffs: What time, channel is Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game 7? (5/26/16)

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Pittsburgh Penguins. 2016 NHL Playoffs. ECF. Game 7. 05.26.2016. (HD)

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet in a deciding Game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finalson Thursday, May 26, 2016, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

The winner advances to the Stanley Cup Finals against the winner of the Western Conference Finals, the San Jose Sharks.

Here"s what you need to know:

Who:Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins

What: Game 7, Eastern Conference Finals (best of seven)

Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh

When: Thursday, May 26, 2016

Start: 8 p.m. Eastern

TV: NBC Sports Network

Livestream:NBC Sports Live Extra

Line: Penguins -1.5

DeBoer leads Sharks into Stanley Cup Finals

With all that"s on the line, Sidney Crosby is in no mood to get caught up in his own narrative.

Forget that Crosby has the game-winning goal in each of Pittsburgh"s victories in its entertaining back-and-forth with the resilient Lightning. Forget that he hasn"t been on the winning side of a post-series handshake line this deep into the playoffs in seven years -- when he hoisted thePenguins" third Stanley Cup.

Yes, he"s playing well. Yes, his dazzling, imminently GIF-able sprint through the Tampa Bay zone late in the second period of Game 6 added another signature moment to a career full of them.

But depth has carried thePenguinsthis far. Crosby insists Game 7 will be about the team, not him.

"You give yourself the best chance of winning by keeping it simple and not putting too much emphasis on kind of the story line around it," Crosby said.

Even if it"s easy to get lost in those story lines. The Lightning are on the verge of a second straight berth in the final despite playing the entire postseason without captain Steven Stamkos and losing Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop in the first period of the conference finals when he twisted his left leg.

Tampa Bay has stuck around, ceding the ice to thePenguinsfor significant stretches but using their speed to counterattack brilliantly while relying on 21-year-old goaltender Andrei Vasilevski. The Lightning are hardly intimidated by having to go on the road in a series decider. They did it a year ago in the Eastern final against New York, beating the Rangers 2-0 in Madison Square Garden.

Series at a glance

Friday, May 13: Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1

Monday, May 16: Pittsburgh 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT

Wednesday, May 18: Pittsburgh 4, Tampa Bay 2

Friday, May 20: Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3

Sunday, May 22: Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3, OT

Tuesday, May 24: Pittsburgh 5, Tampa Bay 2

Thursday, May 26:Pittsburgh, 8 p.m.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Randy Miller may be reached atrmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RandyJMiller.FindNJ.com on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nj.com/rangers/index.ssf/2016/05/nhl_playoffs_what_time_channel_is_tampa_bay_lightn.html

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By one strange stat, Penguins have advantage over Sharks in Stanley Cup finals quest

Питтсбург – Тампа-Бэй / PENGUINS VS. LIGHTNING MAY 26, 2016

The Stanley Cup finals will pit the two teams with the best records in the NHL over the last 10 seasons.

It will also put to the test an interesting and perhaps odd trend that has carried through the last 15 seasons.

Cup Result?2014 KingsWon2011 BruinsWon2006 HurricanesWon2004 LightningWon2003 DevilsWon2002 Red WingsWon

This will be the seventh time in the past 15 seasons that the Stanley Cup finals features one team that went seven games it its conference finals series and one team that did not.

The team coming off the Game 7 victory went on to win the Stanley Cup each of the previous six times -- so, advantage Pittsburgh Penguins over the San Jose Sharks.

The Penguins got there on the strength of first-year players: a rookie goalie in Matt Murray and a rookie goal scorer in Bryan Rust. They also have a coach in his first season with the team in Mike Sullivan.

Elias Sports Bureau research shows that its the fourth time that a rookie goalie won a Game 7 and a rookie skater scored the winning goal. It last happened in 1986, when both the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames did it.

Elias also notes that Murray will be the sixth rookie goalie to start a Stanley Cup finals game in the past 30 seasons. Coincidentally, the last goaltender to do so was the goalie Murray beat on Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning"s Andrei Vasilevskiy, for the Lightning last season.

Rust scored twice in Game 7 versus the Lightning, making it the first time in his career that he had a multigoal game.

All three Game 7 goals were scored in the second period, when the Penguins logged 32 shot attempts and the Lightning managed only nine. The Penguins outshot the Lightning in all seven games in this series. Elias notes that the last time one team outshot another in all seven games in a series was in the 2011 matchup between these same teams. The Penguins outshot the Lightning but lost the series.

Sidney Crosby didnt score for Pittsburgh on Thursday on the six shots he took in 23 minutes, but he did reach the finals for the third time. Per Elias, Crosby (and possibly Marc-Andre Fleury, if he plays in place of Murray) will join Mike Modano and Patrick Kane as No. 1 overall picks drafted since 1979 (the first draft after the NHL/WHA merger) to make three Stanley Cup finals appearances.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/118974/by-one-stat-penguins-have-an-advantage-in-stanley-cup-finals-quest

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WTF X-Men: Apocalypse"s End Credits Scene All About?

X-Men: Apocalypse | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

No matter what you thought of X-Men: Apocalypse, odds are you sat through the credits to see if there was some kind of tease. And there was. And its a weird one, unless you are well-versed in comic books. So if you didnt understand the implications, were here to help!

To explain, I have to ruin another big surprise in the movie so, obviously...

Early in the film, when Cyclops, Jean, and Nightcrawer go to rescue Raven, Beast, Quicksilver, and Moira from Stryker, they get some help from none other than Wolverine, seen in his iconic Weapon X garb. He rampages through the barracks before meeting up with Jean and heading out on his own. This is important not just is this a big part of Wolverines origin, but because whatever tests they did on Logan set up the end credits.

The end credit scene is back in Strykers bunker, where Wolverine is being experimented on. A group of people walk in, take a vial of liquid labeled Weapon X and put it in a briefcase with a bunch of similar tubes. When the case closes, it says Essex Corp on it.

The Essex Corporation is the company of Nathaniel Essex, known in the comics as supervillain Mr. Sinister. In the comics hes a 19th-century scientist who, with the help of Apocalypse, is given mutant powers and made basically immortal. He spends all that time experimenting on mutants, trying to build bigger and better ones, so it would make sense that he wants the Weapon X serum.

Whats most interesting about this tag is Mr. Sinisters long, varied comic book past has lots of potential connections to the past, present, and future of the X-Men movies. First, theres the connection to Apocalypse. We see Apocalypse enhancing mutants in this movie, but Essex was born in the 19th centuryin the movies, Apocalypse was stuck under a pyramid at the time. The next movie could just say Mr. Sinister is as old as Apocalypse, but that would be a big change.

Back in the comics, Sinister is also thought to have created Scott Summers (Cyclops, played by Tye Sheridans) son, Nathan, who becomes Cable. Cable, of course, is a character we know is coming in the Deadpool sequel. Again, a connection between the son of Cyclops (who will only be in his 20s in the next film) and Deadpools world feels like a huge leap. The characters do have a link, though, so anything is possible.

Weve also heard rumors of the female Wolverine character, X-23, coming in an upcoming film. Shes a clone, and has nothing to do with the Weapon X program specifically, but the movies have often gone away from the comic book origins. It seems perfectly plausible that X-23 could be made from the blood of Weapon X in a future movie.

Basically, dropping those two words, Essex Corp, in the ending of Apocalypse is writer Simon Kinberg opening a very large, and very adaptable chapter of the X-Men universe. Sinister is a powerful villain whose backstory offers a ton of potential links to characters new and old.

Source: http://io9.gizmodo.com/wtf-x-men-apocalypses-end-credits-scene-all-about-1778972875

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