Curfew in Haryana as protesters demand reservation for Jat quota

A growing number of cities in the Indian state Haryana have been under curfew since Friday. At least eight people are reported dead, with government offices, property, dozens of buses, and eight railway stations burned after protests over job quotas for the Jat caste turned violent in several cities including Rohtak, Bhiwani, and Jhajjar. Reportedly some protesters broke into an armory in Rohtak, stealing arms and ammunition.

	I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society.
—Manohar Lal Khattar, Hyrana CM

Shoot-at-sight was ordered for Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Jind and Hisar. Shops, hotels, and restaurants were set afire by protesters. Thirteen national army columns were called, and helicopters were used to reach various places in the state. Internet was disabled in affected districts, and the state government ordered blocks of all social networking websites.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a meeting to decide if Jats should also gain the reservation rights for government jobs and colleges by classifying them under Other Backwards Castes. The state has a Jat population of about 26.4 million.

Burning of stations and uprooting of tracks affected 810 scheduled trains, according to The Indian Express. Police said protesters torched Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu's house. The state might face water crises. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was to hold the Haryana Central Teacher Eligibility Test today, but cited "administrative difficulties" for suspending it.

Back in 2014, the UPA government appealed for a Jat quota which was rejected by the Supreme Court. This morning, Manohar Khattar tweeted "I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society."

Last year, similar protest took place in Gujarat as Patels protested for reservation led by Hardik Patel.

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Italian writer Umberto Eco dies, age 84

Umberto Eco, semiotician, philosopher, and novelist, died on yesterday night at the age of 84 at his home in Milan, according to his family. He had cancer.

Eco was born in Alessandria, northern Italy, on January 5, 1932 and attended University of Turin, focusing on Medieval philosophy and literature. In 1956� worked closely with the Italian television station RAI. In 1975 Eco became a University of Bologna semiotics professor.

Though an essayist, he is best known for his first novel The name of the Rose, published in 1980 and later made into a motion picture directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, starring Sean Connery. After the successful debut he wrote more novels, the most recent, Numero Zero, published in 2015.

Eco's wife and two children survive him.

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Messi becomes first player to score 300 goals in La Liga

FC Barcelona football star Lionel Messi became the first player to score 300 goals in La Liga competitions as he scored a brace against Sporting Gijón in an away match at El Molinon and his tally reached 301 on Wednesday. Barcelona defeated Gijon 3𔂿 and leads the La Liga table.

File photo of Lionel Messi
Image: Олег Дубина.

Messi scored a long range goal in the 25^th minute of the game. He has scored 173 goals at Camp Nou and 128 goals in away stadia, most — 21 — against Madrid-based club Atlético Madrid.

Eleven years ago on May 1, Messi at the age of 17 scored his first goal against Albacete Balompié. He reached 100 goals after 154 games. Last season, he broke the record of Telmo Zarra who scored 251 goals. He became the third player in the top five European leagues to score more than 300 goals. Of his 301 goals, he has scored 240 goals with his left foot, 48 with his right, twelve headers, and one with his hand mimicking Diego Maradona's "Hand of God".

The five-time FIFA Ballon d'Or winner is also the top scorer of the Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and UEFA Super Cup. His team-mate Luis Suárez has also scored five goals in the Club World Cup.

Messi had an opportunity to attempt this milestone in the previous La Liga match, where he instead tricked the goalkeeper by passing the ball from the penalty spot, Suárez scoring it against Celta de Vigo.

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Taylor Swift's 1989 wins Grammy's Record of the year; Bad Blood wins the Best Music Video

On Monday, US singer Taylor Swift won the 58^th Grammy Awards Album of the Year for her album 1989, and her video song Bad Blood won the Gramm Award for the Best Music Video.

File photo of Taylor Swift, 2012.
Image: Eva Rinaldi.

	There will be people who will try to undercut your success
—Taylor Swift

This was the second time Swift has won the award for the Album of the Year. She previously won for her album Fearless in 2010. Swift collected three Grammys at this year's awards ceremony: Best music video, Best Pop Vocal album and Album of the year.

With this Album of the Year win, she became the first woman to win two Grammy Awards in the category. In the beginning of the award function, Swift made a live performance of her song Out of the Woods.

The other nominees for the Album of The Year were Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, Chris Stapleton's Traveller, and The Weeknd's Beauty Behind the Madness. Canadian singer The Weeknd won two awards for The Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best R&B performance.

While receiving her award, Swift left a message for younger women saying "there will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments [...] don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going you'll look around and you'll know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world."

Kendrick Lamar, who featured in the Bad Blood video, won five awards including for Bad Blood. Swift's friend Ed Sheeran won the Song of the Year for Thinking Out Loud ahead of her song Blank Space from the album 1989.

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'Earned It' earns The Weeknd his first Grammy

On Monday, at the 58^th Grammy Awards ceremony, Canadian singer The Weeknd won his first Grammy Award, Best R&B Performance, for his song Earned It, which was also featured on the soundtrack of the 2015 Fifty Shades of Grey movie based on E.L. James's erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

File photo of The Weeknd
Image: Kayla Johnson .

The Weeknd also won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness. Abel Tesfaye — The Weeknd — had seven nominations in total including Record of the Year for his song Can't Feel My Face and Album of the Year.

The YouTube video of the song received more than 179 million views and more than 1.1 million on YouTube. The Weeknd was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, but British singer Ed Sheeran won the golden gramophone for his song Thinking Out Loud.

Last year, Beyoncé won the Award for Best R&B Song for Drunk in Love featuring her husband Jay-Z. This awards ceremony marked the first Grammy win for The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran.

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Ed Sheeran wins Song of Year Grammy for Thinking Out Loud

Yesterday, UK singer Ed Sheeran won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for his song Thinking Out Loud from his album × ahead of Kendrick Lamar's Alright; Wiz Khalifa's, featuring Charlie Puth, See You Again; Little Big Town's Girl Crush; and Taylor Swift's Blank Space. Girl Crush won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

File photo of Ed Sheeran
Image: Eva Rinaldi.

Welsh singer Amy Wadge co-wrote the song. Sheeran during the ceremony said they wrote the song on a couch in his house. In remarks to the Western Mail, Wadge said the album was already complete when they wrote the song.

Thinking out Loud remained #2 on Billboard Hot 100 for almost two months, and topped the UK rankings last year. Its video song has 969 Million YouTube views and has more than four million likes. The song also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance.

US singer Stevie Wonder announced the winner for the Song of the Year, and the envelope was written in Braille script. He joked about it saying "You can't read it, you can't read Braille!"

Along with Ed Sheeran's first Grammy, Canadians The Weeknd and Justin Bieber won Grammy awards for the first time.

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Messi passes from penalty for Suárez's hat-trick as Barça beats Celta 6-1

Yesterday, Barcelona football star Lionel Messi made a risky pass from the penalty spot to Luis Suárez, setting up the completion of a Suárez hat-trick against Celta Vigo, and Barça defeated them 6𔂿 in a La Liga match at Camp Nou. Suárez climbed to the top spot for La Liga this season, scoring 23 goals, and FC Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 30 games in all competitions. By passing to Suárez, Messi missed an opportunity to attempt his 300^th goal in the Liga.

File photo of Luis Suárez who scored the hat-trick
Image: Lluís.

	You can take a penalty like that, it's legal and there's a Cruyff penalty we all know.
—Luis Enrique

The match saw four yellow cards, all for the Celta Vigo players. Barça had eleven shots on target as compared to Vigo's four. Gustavo Cabral was the first booked in the game in the eleventh minute.

Messi opened the scoring for the Catalans in the 28^th minute. Carles Planas was booked for a bad foul, and Messi won a free-kick, which he successfully converted into the goal, scoring his 299^th goal in La Liga games. About ten minutes later, Jordi Alba brought down Swedish striker John Guidetti in the penalty area, and the visitors got a chance to equalise from penalty. Guidetti scored from the penalty spot making the score 1𔂿 before the half time. Hugo Mallo was booked in the 42^nd minute. The first half ended 1𔂿 with three bookings in 45 minutes.

Messi in the 59^th mminute assisted Suárez via a through ball, as the Uruguayan scored the team's second goal and Barcelona were leading again. Two substitutions were made in the 61^st minute for the home side. Aleix Vidal came for Dani Alves and Sergi Roberto was replaced by Ivan Rakitić. Celta made a change in the 65^th minute as Marcelo Díaz was subbed-in for Pablo Hernández.

Neymar's shot in the 75^th minute was blocked, assist from Messi, but Suárez netted his second of the night and Barcelona were 3𔂿 up. The 78^th minute saw two substitutions. Dejan Drazic replaced Guidetti, and Arda Turan came for Andrés Iniesta.

Messi was fouled around the 81^st minute in the penalty area, and won a penalty kick. The Argentine passed from the spot, and Suárez completed his hat-trick. A similar type of goal was scored by the Dutch legend Johan Cruyff playing for Ajax AFC in 1982.

Rakitić scored the fifth goal in the 84^th minute from a through ball assist from Suárez, just a minute later after Pape Cheikh was subbed off Daniel Wass. In the injury time, Neymar netted a goal, assist from Suárez. The match ended 6𔂿.

After the match, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique said "There will be those who like it and those who don't [...] You can take a penalty like that, it's legal and there's a Cruyff penalty we all know."

A similar penalty attempt by Thierry Henry for Arsenal F.C. in 2005 did not work out.

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US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies, aged 79

Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, died at the age of 79, according to a Saturday afternoon statement by Chief Justice John G. Roberts.

Reports indicate Scalia died of apparently natural causes while on a trip this weekend in Texas. He was nominated for his Supreme Court position by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Scalia's death prompts US President Barack Obama to nominate a successor, which he said Saturday he will do. Obama, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled United States Senate, which must confirm a nominee, are likely to be at odds. "I plan", he stated, "to fulfill my Constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time [...] There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he believes a successor should not be nominated until after a new president takes office next January. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice", he said. "Therefore this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president."

Antonin Scalia was born on March 11, 1936 and attended Georgetown University and Harvard Law School before a stint in private law practice, followed by a job teaching law at the University of Virginia. He served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1982 until his confirmation to the US Supreme Court. He was generally considered a leading conservative on the Court during his time as an associate justice.

"He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues," Roberts said in his statement on Scalia's death. "His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served."

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Blanc extends contract with Paris Saint-Germain by two years

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) football manager Laurent Blanc signed a two-year contract extension with the French Ligue 1 winners.

Blanc joined the Paris side in 2013, and helped them win consecutive titles in Ligue 1 and one domestic treble last season. Blanc took the control over the club when Italian Carlo Ancelotti joined Real Madrid and won the UEFA Champions League title with them.

File photo of Laurent Blanc
Image: Илья Хохлов.

	Of course, it's a strong show of faith, and I'm very happy, also for my staff. A coach is nothing without his staff.
—Laurent Blanc

The contract extension means 50-year-old Blanc would be at the capital club till June 2018. "Of course, it's a strong show of faith," PSG's website quoted his remarks, "and I'm very happy, also for my staff. A coach is nothing without his staff."

Blanc was in the French squad of 1998, when they won the World Cup. Under him, PSG reached the Champions League quarter-finals twice, and the French national team reached the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as well.

Currently, PSG are 24 points ahead of AS Monaco as league toppers, without a single defeat and would face Chelsea F.C. in the UEFA Champions League round of Last 16.

Blanc previously managed Bordeaux and won the league with them.

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Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos defeat Carolina Panthers 24󈝶

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 

On Sunday, the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 by a score of 24󈝶. The game, played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California in front of 71,088 spectators, marked the Broncos' third Super Bowl victory and their first since 1999. Entering the game, the Panthers had lost only once in the 2015 NFL season, while the Broncos won 12 of their 16 games.

The Panthers kicked off to start the game, and the Broncos scored first with Brandon McManus' 34-yard field goal. After both teams exchanged punts, the Broncos scored again when linebacker Von Miller stripped the ball from Cam Newton, forcing him to fumble, and the ball was recovered by Malik Jackson in the endzone to result in a Denver touchdown. In the second quarter, the Panthers scored a touchdown when running back Jonathan Stewart jumped over the goal line. The two teams punted again on their next drives. The second turnover of the game occurred when Bronco Darian Stewart forced Mike Tolbert to fumble, with Danny Trevathan recovering; however, the Broncos failed to capitalize when Peyton Manning was intercepted by Kony Ealy. The half ended with the Broncos leading 13𔃅. In the second half, the Panthers had a chance to narrow the margin to three points, but kicker Graham Gano's 44-yard field goal attempt hit the goal post's right upright. Afterwards, Denver increased the score with McManus kicking a 30-yard field goal. On the next series, Newton led the Panthers' offense to the Broncos' 28-yard line, but was intercepted by T. J. Ward. Denver and Carolina both subsequently punted. Afterwards, Manning was sacked by Ealy and fumbled; Carolina took advantage with Gano's 39-yard kick to make the score 16󈝶. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Miller forced Newton to fumble at the Panthers' four-yard line and Ward recovered. With 3:08 left in the game, Denver's C. J. Anderson sealed the game with a two-yard touchdown run, followed by Manning's two-point conversion to Bennie Fowler.

Miller ended the game with six tackles, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles and was awarded the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award. Manning, who is the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl at the age of 39 and is rumored to have played his final game in the National Football League, completed 13 of 23 passes for 141 yards with an interception and a lost fumble. The Broncos recorded only 194 yards, the fewest by a Super Bowl winner.

The game's festivities featured Lady Gaga performing the national anthem. After the second quarter, Coldplay performed the Super Bowl 50 halftime show with former Super Bowl performers Bruno Mars and Beyoncé. Coldplay opened the show with "Viva la Vida" and "Paradise", followed by a performance of "Uptown Funk" with Mars. Afterwards, Beyoncé performed her new song "Formation" and joined Coldplay and Mars on stage to end the show.

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North Korea launches long-range missile

Monday, February 8, 2016 

The South Korean defense ministry said North Korea launched a long-range missile yesterday.

North Korea had announced a plan to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for a terrestrial observation satellite launch between February 8 and 25. North Korean state media reported the satellite launch was successful and was ordered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with more plans to launch satellites.

The launch occurred at 09:31am local time (0031 UTC) and was detected by a South Korean warship, according to minitry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun. Nations including Japan and South Korea considered the launch a disguised ballistic missile test. Japan, South Korea, and the United States condemned the launch and called for United Nations Security Council emergency meeting to be held in New York yesterday at 11:00am local time (1600 UTC).

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe called the launch "unacceptable" and said, "We will take action to totally protect the safety and well-being of our people". South Korean President Park Geun-hye also called the launch "unacceptable" and a "challenge to world peace". Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the rocket passed in Japanese airspace over Okinawa without provoking use of anti-ballistic missiles.

North Korea claimed to successfully test a hydrogen bomb in January.

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Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits southern Taiwan

Saturday, February 6, 2016 

USGS shakemap of 2016 Kaohsiung earthquake

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit southern Taiwan around 4:00am today local time (2000 yesterday UTC) southeast of Tainan, a city with about two million people, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). By various reports, as many as thirteen or fourteen people may have died, more than 100 may be missing, and Associated Press put the injured at well over 400.

The seism was reported by the USGS initially with a magnitude of 6.7. Several buildings collapsed in Tainan including a 17-story residential building. Emergency services said they had rescued over 200 people, many of whom were hospitalized. At least five aftershocks are reported.

The island of Taiwan lies in the Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone, near where two tectonic plates meet. In 1999 a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the center of Taiwan leaving more than 2,000 dead.

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Barça defeats Gary Neville's Valencia 7-0 in Copa del Rey semis first leg

On Wednesday, FC Barcelona defeated Valencia CF 7𔂾 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi netted three goals and Uruguyan striker Luis Suárez netted four.

File photo of Luis Suárez, who scored four goals in the match
Image: Lluís.

The Catalans, Barcelona, have now scored more than 100 goals this season, and have not been defeated in the league since October, winning their last 27 games overall. Gary Neville, who became Valencia's manager in December, has yet to win a league game, and the team have not won any of their last eleven La Liga matches.

Barcelona had greater ball possession in the match. Five yellow cards and one red card were shown.

Neymar assisted Suárez for the opening goal of the match in the 7^th minute. Five minutes later, Alexis Vidal assisted Suárez, who netted the second goal, Barcelona's 100th goal this season. Valencia were trailing 2𔂾 with less than a quarter of an hour played. Just before the half-hour mark, Neymar flicked on for Messi to score the team's third. Valencia's captain Shkodran Mustafi was sent off late in the first half for a foul on Messi in the penalty box, but Neymar missed the resulting penalty, hitting the post.

Messi scored from an assist by Suárez in the 58^th and completed his hat-trick in the 74^th minute, to put the visitors 5𔂾 down. Suárez scored from a header in the 83^rd minute, assisted by Adriano and then in the 88^th minute, he converted Arda Turan's assist, giving Barcelona a comfortable win.

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States pledge $10 billion for aid to Syria

Friday, February 5, 2016 

Yesterday, a donor conference of nations was held in Westminster, London, United Kingdom to collect money for aid to Syria. UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced more than $10 billion were pledged in one day, for "food, medical care, and shelter", and other purposes including creation of schools to benefit one million Syrian children by the end of the coming school year. Cameron also said this was the biggest sum ever collected for an international crisis in one day.

David Cameron, British PM, in 2014.

The "Supporting Syria and the Region" conference goal was more than $7 billion asked for by the United Nations and around $1.3 billion by countries of the region. Pledges included $3.3 billion from the European Union; $1.7 billion from the UK until 2020; $2.6 billion from Germany until 2018; and for 2016, $1 billion from France and $935 million from the United States.

Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish prime minister, said a Syrian government offensive with Russian air support is sending about another 70,000 Syrians to the Turkish border, and expressed worry this would continue. Syrian rebels suspended Geneva, Switzerland peace talks with the regime of Bashar al-Assad, protesting the current offensive. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recently said Russian airstrikes have killed around 1,400 Syrian civilians.

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Guardiola to replace Pellegrini as Manchester City manager

Manchester-based football club Manchester City today announced their current manager Manuel Pellegrini will remain only to this season's end. Former FC Barcelona and current Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola is to replace the Chilean next season.

File photo of Pep Guardiola
Image: Thomas Rodenbücher.

	He is one of the best managers in the world, no doubt about this.
—Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool manager

Pellegrini joined City in 2013 and under him they have won the Premier League and the League Cup. Guardiola, winner of two Bundesliga titles and one German Cup with the German giants Munich, and a two-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, has signed a three-year contract with Manchester City. Guardiola also won four La Liga titles with Barcelona, winning fourteen trophies with them in total in four years and making him their most successful manager. He has suffered just nineteen managerial defeats in 239 league matches.

Pellegrini has managed 64 victories out of 99 games in the Premier League — only José Mourinho has a better record from his first 99 Premier League matches. Manchester City are currently second in the league table and in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Pellegrini was, the announcement noted, in full support of announcing the change.

Former Manchester City player Trevor Sinclair, in remarks to BBC Radio, said "He's the hottest manager out there. Every club would want him." Liverpool F.C. manager Jürgen Klopp praised Guardiola saying "He is one of the best managers in the world, no doubt about this. [...] Pep won everything in Spain, nearly everything in Germany, so I think he wants to win everything in England, that is clear."

On December 20, Bayern Munich announced Guardiola would be replaced by former Real Madrid and Chelsea F.C. manager Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian has won three Champions League titles in his coaching career.

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