French far-right leader Marine Le Pen removed a picture of an American journalist beheaded by the Islamic State (IS) group from her Twitter account Wednesday after the graphic image sparked widespread condemnation, including from the victim’s family. The image of James Foley, who was abducted in Syria in 2012 and executed by his IS group captors…
Cover Photo Credit: Blandine Le Cain/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Political Coup: Australia Gets New Prime Minister After Shocking Liberal Party Vote
Australia will get its fourth prime minister in three years after a shocking late night vote ended the rule of Tony Abbott as leader of the governing center-right Liberal Party.
According to the BBC, Abbott will be replaced as Prime Minister by the more moderate Malcolm Turnbull.
Turnbull defeated Abbott 54 votes to 44 in a party room vote.
Turnbull will become prime minister after Abbott sends his resignation letter to the governor-general.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Photo Credit: Troy/Flickr (CC By 2.0)
In a statement made earlier in the day, Turnbull made clear his intentions to challenge Abbott.
“Now this is not a decision that anyone could take lightly. I have consulted with many, many colleagues; many Australians; many of our supporters, in every walk of life. And this course of action has been urged on me by many people over a long period of time,” Turnbull said. “It is clear enough that the Government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need. It is not the fault of individual ministers, ultimately the Prime Minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs; he has not been capable of providing the economic confidence that business needs.”
Abbott seemed flat-footed in his response to the snap leadership election, as many in his team did not even acknowledge it would happen until hours before the final vote took place.
Abbott has been prime minister since 2013.
WATCH: Malcolm Turnbull speaks after winning Liberal Leadership Snap election.
A Tweet sent earlier in the day on September 14 showed how unprepared Abbott was for the vote:
Getting on with the job of delivering the Northern Connector in Adelaide – more jobs & less congestion on SA roads pic.twitter.com/DHnBMigSs1
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) September 14, 2015
Turnbull is more progressive than Abbott and many others in the Liberal Party. He supports gay marriage, believes in the existence of climate change.
Al Gore, the former Vice President of the United States and Democratic Party candidate for President in 2000 seemed to celebrate the change of Australian leadership in a Tweet.
New PM offers fresh opportunity for Australia to stand beside the US and China in a leadership position going into #COP21
— Al Gore (@algore) September 14, 2015
Some in the Australian press are having fun with the situation. The right leaning Herald Sun had to change their front page after the results were announced.
So @theheraldsun re-thinks its initial front page.. #libspill #returnbull @rupertmurdoch pic.twitter.com/iajWbQ2Qb2 — Auskar Surbakti (@AuskarSurbakti) September 14, 2015
Even Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson signaled his support for Turnbull after the vote.
Congrats @turnbullmalcolm. I wish you all the best and hope social progress & good governance follow. pic.twitter.com/Kvcit3TPE3
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) September 14, 2015
This is a developing story. We will update this story as more information becomes available. Cover Photo Credit: Clare Wilkinson/Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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The Sims 4 Will Now Give Sims “Customizable” Genders
The realm of virtual reality knows no bounds, and that now includes the boundaries of gender.
On June 3rd EA Games announced their newest update of The Sims 4 will now have the option to Customize your Sim’s gender.
In the original gameplay while creating your Sim although you could alter their physical appearance almost any way you pleased, there was only a “male” and “female” option when selecting their gender.
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This was true in all four versions of the game until this recent update.
But now, you can still choose the traditional male and female options, but now may also “Customize Gender.”
This option asks a variety of questions about the Sim you are creating including if your Sim has a more feminine or masculine frame, what their toilet behaviors are, and whether or not the Sim is able to get pregnant.
Clothing selections will also not be limited based on a male or female Sim and will be able to be worn by any Sim.
On their official website, thesims.com, this is what the team had to say about the newest update:
“The Sims is made by a diverse team for a diverse audience, and it’s really important to us that players are able to be creative and express themselves through our games. We want to make sure players can create characters they can identify with or relate to through powerful tools that give them influence over a Sims gender, age, ethnicity, body type and more.”
This update can be done for anyone who currently owns the Sims 4 game, and will a permanent feature to any future buyers of the game.
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Cover Photo Credit: EA Games
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Larry Wilmore Had The Best Reaction To Jeb Bush’s Controversial Comments About Black Voters
Jeb Bush stepped in it last week on the campaign trail when he made a controversial statement that seemed to indicate that Democrats appeal to African-American voters because of “free stuff.”
“Our message is one of hope and aspiration,” he was quoted as saying by the Washington Post at a South Carolina GOP event . “It isn’t one of division and get in line and we’ll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting- that says you can achieve earned success.”
Well Larry Wilmore, the host of the Nightly Show took offense to Bush’s comments. At the start of his show on Monday, Wilmore tore into the former Florida governor with a not so subtle attack. His staff helpfully tweeted it out:
.@larrywilmore to @JebBush: pic.twitter.com/oJytOfUSLO
— The Nightly Show (@nightlyshow) September 29, 2015
WATCH: Jeb Bush makes controversial statements in Mount Pleasant, SC about black voters.
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