Iconic R2-D2 actor passed away after a long illness, aged 83
KENNY Baker, the man behind Star Wars" legendary R2-D2, has died.
He passed away, aged 83, after a long illness.
The late actor shot to fame back in 1977, when he first played the robot character in the first film, A New Hope.
He retained his role in The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
Kenny Baker has died, aged 83 [Wenn]
As well as the blockbusters, he also appeared in The Goonies, Time Bandits and Flash Gordon, as well as a number of other hits.
Speaking to The Guardian, his niece, Abigail Shield, paid tribute to the actor, saying: "It was expected, but it"s sad nonetheless. He had a very long and fulfilled life.
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"He brought lots of happiness to people and we"ll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world. He did extremely well in his life.
"He was very ill for the last few years so we had been expecting it. He had been looked after by one of his nephews, who found him on Saturday morning."
Tributes poured in for the late actor [Getty]
Fans took to Twitter to mourn the iconic actor, with one writing: "RIP Kenny Baker. The greatest droid in the galaxy #R2D2," while another commented: "Tell me it"s not true #kennybaker."
A third said: "Though Kenny Baker became one with the force, we remember him for what he gave us and who he was"
ActorKenny Baker, who playedR2-D2 in the Star Wars films, died on 13 August, age 83, after a long ilnness
[Getty ]
A look at the celebrities from the UK and around the world who have sadly passed away this year
"#RIP Kenny Baker. Thanks 4 bringing 1 of the greatest film characters to life R2D2,Will never be forgotten #Starwars," a fan added.
Our thoughts are with Kenny"s family and friends at this tragic time.
‘Criminal Minds’ Actor Thomas Gibson Could Be Fired For Kicking Writer
Keith Tisdell and Shemar Moore (Instagram)
*Criminal Minds is suddenly living up to its name off camera.
On a day that star Thomas Gibson was fired for allegedly assaulting a writer, his former co-star Shemar Moore is awaiting repayment of around $60,000 stolen from him by a guest actoron the series who was sentenced Wednesday for felony grand theft.
Moore, who played FBI agent Derek Morgan for 11 seasons, was victimized by fellow actor Keith Tisdell after befriending the man and inviting him to work with his retail company, a prosecution source told the New York Daily News.
Tisdell was arrested in January for stealing from Moore through the actors retail merchandise company Baby Girl LLC, which gives a portion of its sales to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, authorities said.
Tisdell pleaded no contest to felony grand theft in July and was sentenced to three years of formal probation and 45 days of CalTrans labor on Wednesday.
Tisdell appeared in an early episode of Criminal Minds in 2006 and later popped up in a 2013 episode that focused on Moores character.
According to the Daily News, the two became fast friends, with Tisdell posting more than a dozen Instagram photos since April 2013 showing the two attending industry events together and going on trips and bike rides.
As part of a plea bargain reached Wednesday morning in San Fernando, actor Keith Tisdell, 42, agreed to repay Moore, 46, the sum of $61,084.
Moore, 46, appeared at the sentencing and told the judge that Tisdell hurt him deeply, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ive done a lot for him because he had me, my friends fooled, Moore told Judge Hayden Zacky. Im not here for money. Im here because he betrayed a friendship. This is not OK. You dont do this to people.
As he spoke, Tisdell occasionally shook his head in disagreement, according to the LA Times.
After the sentencing, Tisdells attorney gave Moore $5,000 worth of money orders; his client has to repay about $56,000, or he could end up in jail. If Tisdell pays back the money and stays out of legal trouble for the next three years, the conviction may be expunged from his record, the judge said.
Thomas Gibson
In other Criminal Minds news,CBS and ABC StudiosfiredGibson Friday after he allegedly kicked the writer of the episode he was directing earlier this week.
Thomas Gibson has been dismissed from Criminal Minds," the network and production studio said in a joint statement. Creative details for how the characters exit will be addressed in the show will be announced at a later date.
Gibson, who had been with the show since its 2005 debut, told USA Today in a statement, I love Criminal Minds and have put my heart and soul into it for the last 12 years. I had hoped to see it through to the end, but that wont be possible now. I would just like to say thank you to the writers, producers, actors, our amazing crew, and, most importantly, the best fans that a show could ever hope to have.
The Yankeesplan to release Alex Rodriguezafter his final game on Friday.
Perhaps that will finally clear the way for Aaron Judge to return to the majors.
Judge drilled his team-leading 18th home run of the season on Wednesday night, helping Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-BarreRailRiders beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 10-0.
It was the seventh straight win for Judge and the RailRiders.
A-Rod"s last game in Boston
Judge"s home run to center field came in the third inning. He also had an RBI single in the first innning, scoring Ben Gamel.
Rodriguez, 41, is expected to play the final game of his career against the Rays at Yankee Stadium on Friday. The Yankees will then release him from his contract but still pay him the $27 million he"s owed through 2017.
Rodriguez is then expected to sign a contract that will make A-Rod an adviser and instructor to the Yankees" minor leagues, reporting directly to owner Hal Steinbrenner, for all of next season.
Rodriguez has repeatedly said he"ll be at peace with the decision if the Yankees decide to cut him. Then they announced on Sunday at a press conference at Yankee Stadium a deal that help them go separate ways.
Rodriguez is hitting .203 with nine homers. He"s four bombs short of 700 for his career.
The Yankees have said they need to get younger and more athletic and Rodriguez doesn"t fit into that plan.
He"ll start at designated hitter on Thursday against the Red Soxin Fenway Park. Then on Friday he"ll start again, though manager Joe Girardihas said he might let Rodriguez play the field in that game.
(NJ Advance Media"s Brendan Kuty contributed to this report.)
Maria Guardado may be reached at mguardado@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @mi_guardado. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Del Potro vs Rafael Nadal Declaraciones de Juan MartÃn Juegos Olimpicos Brasil 2016
Rafael Nadal takes on Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-final of the Rio 2016 Olympics on 13 August.
Where to watch live
The game is set to start at 5.30pm BST. The tennis matches of the Rio 2016 Olympics will be telecast live on BBC One, BBC Four and the BBC"s interactive Red Button service in the UK. In addition to this, there will be up to 24 HD video streams to follow the event on desktop, mobile and tabs.
Below is a list of all Olympics 2016 Tennis broadcasters from across the world.
Overview
World number three Rafael Nadal who had a pretty easy time in Rio 2016 in the first two rounds, comes into this clash on back of exhausting 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Thomaz Belluci in the third round. Despite losing the first set and battling foot problems, the Spaniard ensure that he got a positive result to book his place in the final four.
The Beijing 2008 gold medal winner who has been plagued by injuries this season, admitted that he would not be playing in Rio if it was some other event. The former world number one though has looked in fine form in the tournament and already has a gold medal to his name winning the men"s doubles tournament with partner Marc Lopez on 12 August.
This means that Nadal will go home with a medal irrespective of the outcome, but he will want one last go at a gold in the singles event considering this might be his last Olympic Games.
Rafael Nadal won the men"s doubles gold with partner Marc Lopez at Rio 2016 OlympicsGetty
His opponent in the semi-final, Juan Martin del Potro was not expected to reach the last four of the tournament, and has exceeded expectations by doing so.
Del Potro who won the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics, has struggled with injuries throughout his career, especially the wrist injury which has limited his playing time in the past two seasons.
Potro who produced arguably the biggest upset of the tournament when he stunned world number one Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-6 in the first round has fitness issues of his own, with his body not yet acclimatised to the rigours of playing such intense tennis in recent times.
Though Nadal comes into this clash as the favourite, if del Potro can put his fitness issues behind him he could challenge the Spaniard and cause the second upset of the tournament.
Below is a list of TV channels that would air the game around the world:Country/RegionBroadcasterUnited KingdomBBCAlgeriabeIN Sports ArabiaArgentinaTV Publica, TyC SportsAustriaZDFBrazilFox Sports BrazilChileESPN, Fox SportsColombiaESPN, Fox SportsCosta RicaESPNFranceFrance 4, Foot+GermanyZDFHondurasClaro SportsHong KongTVB SportIrelandLFC TVJapanJapan ConsortiumMalaysiaHyppTVMiddle EastbeIN Sports ArabiaNew ZealandSKY GO NZNorwayTV2 SumoPortugalSport TV3SpainTVE La 1, TDPUnited StatesUSA Network, NBC Sports
BREAKING NEWS - Crabtree Valley Mall Shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, N.C. Crabtree Valley Mall has suspended sales of all hoverboard scooters after a Cary family said one of the boards purchased at the mall caught fire as it was charging inside their home.
The hoverboard fire in Cary continues a national trend of the popular holiday gifts igniting: The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating at least 11 other incidents of hoverboard fires across the country, and online retailers such as Amazon and Overstock have pulled the rolling scooters due to their potential hazards.
"It started to smoke and shake, and then truly all of a sudden it ignited in flames," said the mother of the Cary family, who declined to be identified.
The mom said she watched her 16-year-old daughters hoverboard explode as it was charging in the familys living room Sunday night.
"My husband was quick to get a fire extinguisher, and he sprayed it, and then it stopped, but then it comes roaring back, and it popped," the mom said. "It sounds like fireworks when people say that, theyre telling the truth."
The hoverboard was an early Christmas gift from her daughter"s boyfriend, who got it for $427 from a kiosk vendor at Crabtree Valley Mall.
"Other than looking at this very generic user manual, we didnt say, "Huh, theres no warranty,"" the mom said.
The family said they were diligent about following the instructions not to charge the hoverboard for more than 2 hours and 15 minutes. But the hoverboard still caught fire.
Consumer Reports issued a blistering review, warning shoppers that many hoverboards are off-brand, made in small, unregulated factories in China, and have the potential to overheat and ignite.
"It"s definitely very terrifying to think that kids are going to get these for Christmas, and the same thing could happen to them," said the daughter who received the board.
The vendor of the hoverboard kiosk at Crabtree Valley Mall. who also declined to be identified, defended the products, saying theyre in use at the mall up to 14 hours a day. He said he"s never seen a problem or gotten a similar complaint. The kiosk is owned by SimcLLC.
This vendor has operated at Crabtree Valley Mall for a number of years without any issues," said Brian Asbill, a spokesman for the mall. "Prior to selling this product, the vendor sought and received assurances from its supplier that the batteries were tested and certified. However, in light of this incident, sales of this product have been suspended.
The mall said the kiosk was the only vendor selling hoverboards.
1,000 people rescued from Deadly flooding in Louisiana Story Highlights
At least three people has died and one has gone missing in severe flooding that has swamped a large swath of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency.
The Amite and Comite rivers are both expected to set new flood level records.
Rising waters entered St. Helena Parish Hospital.
Two people have died and one remains missing as torrential rains continue to inundate both Louisiana and southern Mississippi, flooding homes and forcing evacuations and water rescues.
More than 24 inches of rain have fallen in Livingston, Louisiana, according to observations relayed to the National Weather Service, and Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for the entire state. Edwards is heading back to Louisiana, cutting short a trip to Colorado for a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association, according to the Associated Press.
The downpours have also been sending area riversrising quickly toward historic crests, with the Amite River in Denham Springs, Louisiana, already reaching historic levels and expected to rise 4 1/2 feet above the record.
(MORE: Where This Storm System Is Headed Next)
Two Dead in Louisiana
Flooding triggered by the heavy rainfall has left at least three people dead in the Pelican State.
On Friday, 68-year-oldWilliam Mayfield drowned trying to escape floodwaters near Zachary, Louisiana, as heavy rains piled up water in the northeastern regions of the state, NBC News reported.
"We were in the trailer just watching TV and then the water just started coming up," Vernon Drummond, Mayfield"s roommate, told the station. "We were walking out and he slipped and fell. He went under the water. We tried to save him, but we couldn"t."
Rescue crews in Zachary recovered Mayfield"s body Friday morning, according to WAFB. Drummond says Mayfield is originally from Los Angeles and does not have any family in the area.
According to East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Management Director JoAnne Moreau, the body of an elderly man was recovered. The victim was being helped through floodwaters when he slipped into a ditch.
A man is still missing after he and his son were swept away by rushing waters in Tangipahoa Parish, reports CNN.
Police Chief Darrell Martin told CNN that the son has been located.
"Be Prepared to Leave"
According to WWL-TV,the Bogue Chitto River is expected to crest at 18 feet, and deputies are going door-to-door in Bogue Chitto Heights telling residents "be prepared to leave." In Tangipahoa Parish, president Robby Miller instructed residents living near the Tangipahoa River to leave their homes and find a safer place to stay until the water recedes, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
The flooding was so bad Friday in Walker, Louisiana, that caskets were unearthed in St. Mark"s Cemetery. Photos posted by the Walker Police Department on Facebook showed at least two bright yellow caskets floating in floodwaters.
"Virtually every road now in the city has some kind of water problem," Central, Louisiana, mayor Jr. Shelton told the Baton Rouge Advocate. "We"ve never seen anything like this before."
Aschool bus ferrying children home veered off the road and into a ditch in Zachary, according to a separate Baton Rouge Advocate report. Zachary police chief David McDavidsaid no one was injured in the accident, which likely occurred when the driver didn"t see a turn due to high floodwaters.
The National Weather Service (NWS) declared a flash flood emergency Friday morning as rising water entered St. Helena Parish Hospital and a local nursing home. The rising water was also responsible for isolating the towns of Greenburg, Louisiana, and Osyka, Mississippi.
Flooding also forced an Amtrak train traveling from Chicago to New Orleans to stop in central Mississippi because floodwaters covered the tracks, according to the AP. Amtrak planned to bus the passengers to New Orleans, the report added.
A motorist sustained moderate injuries Friday after a tree was knocked over onto their vehicle in St. Helena Parish, according to the Louisiana Police Department.
Storms in Crosby, Mississippi, flooded much of the town Friday afternoon and evening, according to Wilkinson County Emergency Management Director Thomas Tolliver. Fifty-two residents voluntarily fled the town to a shelter in Natchez Thursday afternoon, Tolliver also told weather.com. Crosby is home to about 300 people.
Water rescues have also been reported in Centreville, Mississippi, according to the NWS.
(MORE:Oil Refinery Fire Burns in Convent, Louisiana)
The National Guard has deployed high water vehicles to make rescues in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, WWLT.com reports. Interstate 55 was closed in both directions in St. Helena Parish due to flooding, the Louisiana Department of Transportation reported Friday.
St. Charles Parish President Larry Cochran declared a state of emergency Thursday in a precautionary move in anticipation of further rainfall and flooding later this week, WBRZ.com reported.
"Within two hours, it was flooded," St. Charles resident Tiffany Jackson told Fox 8. It went from master bedroom to my sons bedroom to the hallway to the kitchen to the bathroom, and every time I swept it up it just kept coming back in."
The office of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Saturday morning also released a revised list of shelters for those impacted by floods.
Rivers Rising to Record Levels
All this heavy rain quickly overwhelmed waterways in the region. The Tickfaw River reached a record flood stage of 13.33 feet at Liverpool, according to the NWS, and crests on the Amite and Comite Rivers are forecast to exceed record levels set in 1983.
By Saturday morning, the Amite River in Denham Springs, Louisiana, had reached the historic crest level of 41.5 feet, according to NWS. The tributary has been forecasted to reach 46 feet by Sunday morning.
As of Saturday,the Comite River in Louisiana has surpassed its historic level of 30.64 feet. The waterway crested to 31.74 feet and is forecasted to rise to 34.5 feet by Sunday morning.
During the record flood that year, the Amite and Comite riversflooded3,025 homes and businesses in Livingston Parish, 1,615 in East Baton Rouge Parish and 828 in Ascension Parish, the Baton Rouge Advocate said.
Olympics | US Women"s Gymnastics Team Wins Gold Favorite/Least Favorite: United States Womens Gymnastics Team EditionJust enough Aly Raisman, not enough pommel horseGetty Images
So far, my favorite quote from the Olympics comes from Aly Raisman, the captain of the United States womens gymnastics team. Its from an NBC Olympics story, and was an answer to a question about whether being such overwhelming favorites meant there was increased pressure on the team.
She said: Were going in as the best team in the world. So we should carry ourselves that way, not be scared and shaky because we have that pressure. It should be the opposite. You know, you walk in like youre number one and I think thats intimidating to everyone else.
NOT BE SCARED OR SHAKY BECAUSE WE HAVE THAT PRESSURE. That s**t is incredible to me.
During basketball season or football season I always hate when the team I like is the one that everyone says is supposed to win, because then it feels like the only things that can happen are (A) you win the thing, which is [whatever] because you were supposed to win it anyway, or (B) you lose the thing, which is an utter and total catastrophe. Im terrified of that. Im terrified of even rooting for a team that might suffer a catastrophic blow. Id always rather be in the opposite position: where its (A) you lose the thing, and its [whatever] because you were supposed to lose it anyway, or (B) you win the thing, which is an utter and total miracle. Those are the low stakes I prefer.
So when I saw that Aly Raisman quote, it was just like, Oh. I get it. Im a coward. Aly Raisman describing her team as the best team in the world and then saying that considering themselves as such only makes them even more powerful is just such a fantastic and foreign thing to me.
Prior to competing in her first Olympics in London in 2012, Raisman was the subject of a documentary called Aly Raisman: Quest for Gold. It was filmed from 2011 up until the Olympic trials. Do you understand what that means? She literally had them make an entire documentary about her wanting to win a gold medal at the Olympics, the most pressure-stuffed contest a gymnast can enter, and she did it BEFORE she was even on the Olympic team, which quadruples the pressure of the situation.
But then guess what she did? Ill tell you what she did. She tried out for the team. Then she made the team. Then she went to the Olympics. Then she won a gold medal. Then she won ANOTHER gold medal. Then she won a bronze one, too, just because. It was more medals than any other gymnast on the American team won in London, not to mention that one was for the floor routine, which no American woman had ever done before.
Aly Raismans confidence is my favorite thing about these Olympics. It has a gravity to it.
My other favorite/least favorite things from the 2016 United States womens gymnastics team:
Favorite: Absolute Team Dominance
Under the current Olympic scoring system, no gymnastics team had ever won as decisively and crushingly as the U.S. women did this year. Here are the scores for the first- and second-place teams in that event from the past four games:
2012, USA: 183.596, Russia: 178.530
2008, China: 188.900, USA: 186.525
2004, Romania: 114.283, USA: 113.584
2000, Romania: 154.608, Russia: 154.403
Mostly, when a team wins the competition, its by a point, maybe a little more. The 2016 U.S. women beat Russia, the second-place team, by more than eight points. Thats like if the Spurs won a game by 160, or like if the Sixers won a game at all.
Least Favorite: No Pommel Horse
They dont have the pommel horse in womens gymnastics. Thats very unfortunate because its very tense and so much fun to watch due to how difficult of a thing it is to navigate. (Im a big fan of high stakes when its someone elses well-being in play instead of my own.)
The pommel horse is my favorite kind of gymnastics apparatus and also my favorite kind of horse in general, really. It goes:
Pommel horse: the most challenging of all horses
Sea horse: the most elegant of all horses and the most mysterious, too
Sawhorse: the most practical of all horses
Regular horse: the most basic of all horses
Workhorse: the most useful of all horses and also the one I respect the most
Trojan horse: the least trustworthy of all horses
I wish every Olympic athlete in every Olympic sport had to do at least one pass on the pommel horse. Im sad that they dont. But Im especially sad that the Team USA women dont get to.
Favorite: Athlete Story Arcs
Look at how the team is put together. Youve got:
Aly Raisman: The unshakable, unflappable leader of the team. Drop her into whatever situation it is that you think is the most deadly, the most dangerous, and watch her back handspring her way right TF out that b***h untouched. Shes the second-best all-around gymnast on the planet right now, losing out only to
Simone Biles: Her brilliance is endless. From just 2013 to now, between the Olympics and world championships, she has won 16 individual and team medals, 12 of which were gold. I was watching a trailer for the new Wonder Woman movie for, like, two full minutes before I realized I was actually just watching Simone Biles on the balance beam. Shes unreal.
Laurie Hernandez: Read this.
Gabby Douglas: She and Raisman are the only American women in history to have three Olympic gold medals, one of which was for the individual all-around that Douglas won in 2012, which, FYI, made her the first African American woman to do so.
Madison Kocian: The quiet one, yes. But cobras have never been much for talking, you know what Im saying? I watched an uneven bars routine this week where she literally got a 0.0 on the penalties portion of her score. Shes unfuckwithable.
Theres this movie that came out in 1989 called Best of the Best, about a team of Americans that gets put together to face a Korean team in a massively important international martial arts tournament. The Final Five are the real-life version of that, and it makes me so happy.
Least Favorite: My Sense of Self-Worth
On the one hand, the Olympics are dope because you get to watch incredible humans do incredible things, but then on the other hand you realize that you are not an incredible human and cannot do incredible things. I think the closest I ever came in my life to being a gymnast is: One time I dropped my phone but before it smashed on the floor I managed to get my foot underneath it and it absorbed enough of the force from the initial impact that the screen didnt crack when it finally actually hit the floor.
Least Favorite: The Two-Per-Country Rule
To qualify to compete in the individual all-around competition, scores are tallied up from the previous rounds of competition on each apparatus and then arranged from highest to lowest. The 24 highest scores qualify, and anyone outside of that gets to watch. The one sticky part, though, is that each country is only allowed to advance two gymnasts into the finals, even if that particular countrys third-place gymnast scored higher than a different countrys first- or second-place gymnast, which is exactly what happened to the USAs Jordyn Wieber at the 2012 Olympics and also what happened to Gabby Douglas, the reigning all-around Olympic champion, this year (Biles and Raisman scored higher). Its a rule put in place to help grow the popularity of gymnastics outside of already-dominant countries, so I can see the reasoning behind it. But, I mean, I also see the reasoning behind not eating candy for dinner every day, too. That doesnt mean I like it.
Favorite: Aly Raismans First Tumbling Pass During the Floor Exercise
Listen, I really dont even know how to explain exactly what all it was that she did here. The technical description of it is a roundoff, one-and-a-half step-out into a roundoff, back handspring into an Arabian double front into a punch layout. That probably doesnt mean anything to you, same as it didnt mean anything to me when I heard the commentators talking about it beforehand. All I know is that she lined up on one side of the floor, started running, planted, then there was this big, bright flash of light, and then when I woke up I saw that all of my furniture had been thrown through the wall and both of my ACLs were torn.
(You can see the pass in slow motion here.)
The Olympics is full of the greatest athletes in the world doing the most athletic things possible (and also archery). Raismans first tumbling pass, which she did in London in 2012 and then did even better in Brazil, is the number-one thing thats happened so far.
