Tiny as she may be in stature, Ariana Grande had a huge presence at Aretha Franklin’s funeral Friday.

Accompanied by her fiance Pete Davidson, Grande traveled to Detroit to attend the ceremony and perform one of Franklin’s signature hits, “(You Make Me Feel Like) “A Natural Woman,”which she previously sang on the “Tonight Show” on Aug. 16 shortly after Franklin’s death.

Her fiery rendition even moved her ex-boyfriend, Big Sean. The rapper was also in attendance at the funeral and was spotted swaying to Grande’s singing and giving her a standing ovation when she finished. 

After Grande’s performance, Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the officiant leading the service, brought the singer to the podium, where he cracked a joke about her name sounding like a Taco Bell menu item.

“I’ve got to apologize, because I have to brush up. My 28-year-old daughter told me, ‘You are old at 60,’” Ellis said. “When I saw Ariana Grande on the program, I thought that was a new something at Taco Bell.”

Grande laughed at his comment, hugged him and told the crowd, “I love you, Aretha” before leaving the podium.

Some Twitter users were up in arms over Grande’s funeral attire, criticizing the singer for wearing a minidress to church. 

“Ariana Grande baby that’s not what you wear to a funeral,” one user tweeted, with someone else comparing her outfit to “how you look when you come straight to church after being out at the club.”

Grande also had her defenders, with some fans arguing in favor of her sartorial choices.

“If Ariana Grande’s dress makes anyone uncomfortable, I’d suggest you check that demon within yourself and not blame that young lady for YOUR perverted mind and or the perverted minds of others whom for whatever complicit reason you choose not to check instead,” read one pro-Grande tweet.

Twitter also had plenty of jokes about Davidson’s presence at the funeral, with people puzzling over why, besides being Grande’s plus-one to the event, he got an invitation in the first place.

“Ok we all have limits and my limit is Pete Davidson sitting VIP at Aretha Franklin’s funeral,” one user tweeted. Another wondered, “Can you imagine being at #ArethaHomegoing…looking over and seeing Pete Davidson?”

But there was no doubt on social media that Ellis was too close during his awkward Grande embrace from the podium.

 

 

 

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By Marcos Aleman, Associated Press
Published 2:30 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2018

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Three minors from El Salvador separated from their parents after crossing the U.S. border were sexually abused in shelters in Arizona, Salvadoran officials said Thursday.

Liduvina Magarin, deputy foreign relations minister for Salvadorans overseas, said authorities had received reports of the abuse of the children ages 12 to 17 by workers at unnamed shelters.

“They are sexual violations, sexual abuses, that is what this is about,” Magarin told journalists.

She added that the Salvadoran government is making lawyers available to the families, and it will be up to them to decide how to proceed.

The revelations come as the Trump administration has been facing heavy criticism over its slow pace in reuniting separated families. Most have been reunited, but hundreds remain apart.

Magarin said her government is pressuring the United States to begin reunification of the children with their families. “May they leave the shelters as soon as possible, because it is there that they are the most vulnerable.”

Magarin said the three minors were in good health but “the psychological and emotional impact is forever, and we are attending to that situation.”

Once back with their families, they will be offered psychological assistance.

Magarin urged U.S. authorities to respect due process and said “they have acted in accordance with the law.”

In late July, the news website ProPublica reported that police had received at least 125 reports since 2014 of sex offenses at shelters that mostly house migrant children.

Arizona health officials said last week that Southwest Key facilities housing migrant children had failed on multiple occasions to properly check the backgrounds of their employees, some of whom had been accused of sexually abusing children there, according to the Arizona Republic. But, state officials said, a series of unannounced inspections of those facilities this month found nothing that would put the migrant children in “immediate jeopardy.”

The state agency released the results of its snap inspections, launched after The Arizona Republic reported last month on allegations of sex abuse at facilities in Tucson and Glendale.

Last month police in Arizona said a former youth care worker at a nonprofit that houses immigrant children separated from their parents was arrested on suspicion of molesting a 14-year-old girl at a Phoenix facility. At the time the organization declined to say whether the girl had been separated from family, but the employee was fired.

According to data provided by the United States, said Magarin, 191 Salvadoran children were separated from their parents at the border in recent months, and 18 remain in shelters awaiting reunification.

According to Magarin, Salvadoran government data show a 48 percent drop in migration from the country to the United States so far this year compared with 2017.

An estimated 2.5 million Salvadorans live in the United States.

 

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Moeen Ali’s 5-63 led England’s fightback on the second day of the fourth Test against India in Southampton.

The off-spinner ran through the India lower order as they lost six wickets for 53 runs to slip from 142-2 to 195-8.

However, the tourists were hauled to 273 by an unbeaten 132 from Cheteshwar Pujara, who added 78 for the final two wickets with Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.

That gave them a first-innings lead of 27 after England were bowled out for 246 on day one.

Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings came through four overs at the end of the day as England closed on 6-0, 21 behind.

It left the match and the series tantalisingly poised. England lead 2-1 and can seal the series with victory on the south coast, while a win for India would keep alive their own hopes of winning the series going into the final match at The Oval.

To add to the intrigue, the Southampton pitch is showing signs of sharp turn, potentially aiding India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as well as England pair Moeen and Adil Rashid in the fourth innings.

Moeen’s love of Southampton

Moeen is playing in his first Test since March and, like Sam Curran on day one, has justified his recall.

He was dropped after a poor winter in which he took five wickets at an average of 126.80.

However, in contrast to his struggles abroad, he has a fine record at home. Indeed, on this ground and against the same opponents four years ago, he returned match figures of 8-129.

Having made 40 in England’s first-innings 246, he bowled beautifully, fizzing the ball into the footholes to take all his five wickets in a 10-over spell either side of tea.

Rishabh Pant was lbw for a curious 29-ball duck and Hardik Pandya tamely chipped to short mid-wicket.

Ashwin thoughtlessly bottom-edged a reverse sweep on to his stumps, Mohammed Shami was bowled first ball and, after surviving for 40 minutes, Ishant inside-edged to a juggling Cook at short leg.

Pujara and tail defy England

Pujara was left out of India’s defeat in the first Test, but returned to form with 72 in the second innings of their third Test win at Trent Bridge.

For a while on Friday, he was the support act in a stand of 92 with captain Virat Kohli, who edged to first slip off Curran for 46 to begin India’s slide.

While wickets were falling around him, Pujara remained patient. Very occasionally he drove through the covers, but often his scoring came through wristy flicks on the leg side or dabbed cuts to third man.

Only when he was joined by Ishant, then Bumrah, did he show more intent in two chaotic partnerships that frustrated England in the evening sunshine.

Pujara, who was twice struck on the helmet by bouncers, survived a review for lbw off Moeen on 99 and, next ball, lofted down the ground to complete his 15th Test century.

At that point, the total was 232 and Bumrah had not faced a delivery. Over the course of the next 11.5 overs – which included England taking the second new ball – Pujara opened his shoulders and farmed the strike.

Bumrah provided brave assistance, clinging on for 70 minutes before gloving Stuart Broad to first slip to leave Pujara unbeaten on 132.

The curious case of Ben Stokes

Before this match began, England captain Joe Root said all-rounder Ben Stokes was not “100% fit” to bowl because of a knee injury.

That did not seem to be a concern for England during a morning when Broad bowled beautifully to remove openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.

When Pujara and Kohli were together, the sight of Jennings bowling his medium pace suggested that Stokes would not be able to bowl at all.

However, he was introduced after lunch and was excellent, hooping an inswinger to trap Ajinkya Rahane lbw.

But Stokes did not bowl again after that seven-over spell, even when England were desperately trying to wrap up the India tail.

It addition, it was a difficult day for James Anderson, who returned figures of 0-50 and even surrendered the second new ball to Curran.

‘England can play the pressure card’ – what they said

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on BBC Test Match Special: “Moeen Ali bowled exceptionally well. He didn’t try to do too much; he bowled a tight line, stump to stump. He found a bit of turn early on and that put doubt in the batsmen’s minds.”

England’s Moeen Ali on Sky Sports: “I know deep down I am not a perfect spinner, but I know on my day I can bowl a side out.

“If we can get to 300 ahead that would be a good lead. It will be difficult, though.”

Former captain Michael Vaughan on TMS: “Pujara stood up and it was a wonderful innings, the perfect Test match innings.

“India couldn’t chase a small total against South Africa or at Edgbaston, so England can ask if they can get 200. If they can’t they have lost the series. That’s the pressure card England can play.”

How’s stat?!

• Moeen Ali’s 5-63 was his second successive five-wicket haul in a Test against India at Southampton, after taking 6-67 in 2014.
• In reaching six, Virat Kohli passed 6,000 Test runs in 119 innings, the second quickest for India after Sunil Gavaskar’s 117. Sachin Tendulkar needed 120.
• Rishabh Pant’s 29-ball duck was the joint third longest for India, matching Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina.

Palestinian officials have sharply criticised a US decision to halt funding to the United Nations’ agency assisting Palestine refugees across the Middle East, calling it a “flagrant assault” against Palestinian people.

The comments on Friday came shortly after the US government, a major ally of Israel, announced that it was stopping its funding to the United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA) after determining the organisation to be an “irredeemably flawed operation”.

In a statement, the US State Department’s spokesperson Heather Nauert said that UNRWA’s “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years”.

“The administration has carefully reviewed the issue and determined that the United States will not make additional contributions to UNRWA,“ Nauert said.

The move came a week after the US announced that it was also cutting more than $200m in economic aid to Palestinians.

“The consecutive American decisions represent a flagrant assault against the Palestinian people and a defiance of UN resolutions,” Palestinian Authority spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters news agency on Friday.

“Such a punishment will not succeed to change the fact that the United States no longer has a role in the region and that it is not a part of the solution.”

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Washington, DC, said the US decision was “likely to considerably worsen an already dire situation in parts of the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza”.

“They [the US] are justifying this largely on the grounds that the funding is mismanaged and that the agency itself wastes money and is inefficient,” Reynolds said.

“This is part and parcel, together with the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, of an effort by the Trump administration to really affect some radical changes and try to re-set the table in the Middle East.” 

UNRWA was established in 1949 after 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes by Zionist paramilitaries in the run-up to the establishment of the state of Israel.

It currently provides services to five million Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Under the Donald Trump administration, the US government had previously slashed its budget to UNRWA operations in the occupied Palestinian territories from $365m to just $65m, resulting in work redundancies and a drop to part-time contracts for many of the agency’s Palestinian employees and full-time staffers.

In late June, the UN had asked member states to fill a critical funding gap caused by the US government’s funding cuts.

“The situation of Palestinians is defined by great anxiety and uncertainty, first because Palestinian refugees do not see a solution to their plight on the horizon,” Pierre Krahenbuhl, UNRWA’s director told a UN conference.

Earlier this week, UNRWA warned that if Washington went through with its funding cut it would likely result in greater instability in the region.

“You have to ask yourself the question: what would the Middle East look like if the most vulnerable people in that region were not to be receiving services from a UN humanitarian organisation,” agency spokesman Chris Gunness told Anadolu Agency.

The US government is also pushing for a reduction of the number of Palestinian refugees, from five million to 500,000, and count only those who were directly displaced from their homes seven decades ago.

Consequently, millions of their descendants will be excluded.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

While it may look like a funny robot, this cushion is actually a device that is aimed to relax muscles. The  ‘Zyllion Shiatsu Back Neck Massager‘ was designed for those who multi-task. Slip it on your work chair and let the nodes go to work. 

Heads up: All products featured here are selected by Mashable’s commerce team and meet our rigorous standards for awesomeness. If you buy something, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.        

WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain’s office smelt almost sweet. The aroma from dozens of white lilies and roses filled the room. 

Photos of the Arizona Republican throughout the years filled the space, along with mementos from his home state, such as signed football helmets from state universities. 

A mahogany cabinet with a black and gray visitor’s log sat near the door. Only a few pages remained. 

The very first entry was dated in early 2016 from someone coming to see the senator about a pilot in the Vietnam War, the same battle McCain was taken as a prisoner of war. 

The last few pages are filled with Americans pledging to carry on McCain’s legacy and saying their goodbyes. 

In a way, the book that people signed as they visited his Washington office in the Russell Senate Office building captured a glimpse at McCain’s legacy, especially in the era of the Trump administration. 

The comments capture both the backlash and praise from some of McCain’s most notable moments over the last several years, especially his comments and votes that differed from his Republican colleagues and the wishes of President Donald Trump.

More: John McCain’s 106-year-old mother says goodbye

More: Who was invited to McCain’s ceremony?

They capture the reaction from constituents in Arizona and people across the nation when he announced he’d been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

And, they capture the mourning of a nation after his death on Saturday. 

“Thank you for fighting the good fight and being truthful always,” a woman from Maryland wrote on Wednesday. “You have been an excellent role model for the world.” 

‘It is your job!’ 

McCain has said he wanted to be remembered for his full legacy: the good and the bad. 

One of the first controversies the book chronicles is the reaction to then-President Barack Obama nominating Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court in the last months of his presidency. 

McCain, along with many Republicans, vowed to block it and instead wait for the next president in 2016 to nominate a pick. 

More: McCain’s letter to a future Navy pilot that arrived two days after his death

“Take up a SCOTUS nomination,” one person wrote in March 2016. “It is your job!”

As the year wore on and it was clear Trump would become the Republican contender for president, the messages changed. His visitors were torn over how McCain should deal with Trump. 

“Now is the time to support and vote party!” one person wrote.

After Trump was inaugurated, a man who visited his office from Arizona said, “we appreciate you and your work against ‘Trumpism.’”

From there, the political turmoil only worsened. 

His visitor log documents the fierce opposition to many of Trump’s cabinet picks and positions on immigration, trade and international relations. 

A group stopped by in January 2017 in hopes of persuading McCain to vote against Trump’s pick for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. Another group worked to lobby McCain to stand up for immigrants.

“Please continue to work against Trump’s chaotic actions,” one person wrote in February 2017. 

But others weren’t happy with the constant quarreling between the president and respected Republican senator. The bitterness between the pair was born at the start of Trump’s campaign with his harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration. 

Over time, their relationship soured further with a contentious campaign and the president’s agenda.

“You are behaving like a RINO (Republican in name only),” a woman from South Carolina wrote in March 2017. We need rep[resentation] to be ALL in. Give it up.” 

‘Pray for his healing’

The bitter feud came to a climax in July 2017 when McCain, just days after announcing he had a brain tumor, made the deciding vote that prevented the Senate from repealing Obamacare.

As Republicans worked to garner the votes needed for the historic decision, the comments in McCain’s visitor’s log shifted heavily. 

It wasn’t just lawmakers attempting to lobby McCain, his constituents and those across the nation attempted to get through to him. 

“Stop attacking the president. REPEAL OCARE IN FULL,” one person wrote. The reaction, both negative and positive, to McCain’s dramatic thumbs-down on the Senate floor led to pages of comments from those who stopped by his office. 

After that, it was almost as though Americans got over the politics. The majority of the rest of the book is filled with messages from everyday Americans, school children and veterans writing “get well” messages and thanking him for his work. 

“A great American,” one man wrote near the end of 2017. “Pray for his healing.”

McCain died on Aug. 25 after about a year fighting cancer, but the messages still haven’t stopped. One of the last messages, just like the first, was left by a member of the military. 

“You are already sorely missed,” a member of the U.S. Air Force wrote in the book. “I will tell my son about you and you unparalleled character. You are a true American hero.”

 

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After operating for more than 60 years, the Village Voice is shutting down.

The owner of the groundbreaking New York City publication, Peter Barbey, gave staff the news on Friday.

“Today is kind of a sucky day,” he said, according to audio obtained by Gothamist. “We’re going to stop publishing Voice’s material online.”

The decision to closeshop comes one year after the former alternative weekly newspaper went 100 percent digital as a last-ditch effort to stay afloat.

The newspaper advertising business “has moved online—and so has the Voice’s audience, which expects us to do what we do not just once a week, but every day, across a range of media, from words and pictures to podcasts, video, and even other forms of print publishing,” Barbey said in 2017.

Approximately half of the staff, 15 to 20 people, will be staying on to archive some of the publication’s content.

Barbey bought the weekly newspaper from Voice Media Group in 2015 after it had gone through various owners and mergers.

“This isn’t exactly how I thought it was going to end up. I’m still trying to save The Village Voice,” Barbey said.

He said that the decision to shut the paper down was brought on by “harsh economic realities facing those creating journalism and written media.”

The Voice, once home to a number of critically acclaimed writers and journalists, now joins the long list of former alt-weeklies to fold in recent years such as the Boston Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Journalists who started their careers writing for the paper have taken to Twitter to offer condolences.

Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter @Dalvin_Brown

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England secured their place at the 2019 World Cup with a superb second-half display to break the resistance of a determined Wales side.

Second-half goals from Toni Duggan, Jill Scott and Nikita Parris in Newport saw England book their passage to France as Wales’ own impressive campaign was dealt a disappointing blow.

A squad filled with amateur players, Wales did not lose any of their other qualifiers and went an incredible 687 minutes without conceding in Group 1 before Duggan’s goal.

But they were second best to Phil Neville’s side, who stuck at their task before finding a more clinical edge after the break.

The result means the Lionesses are guaranteed to be group winners even before their final qualifier in Kazakhstan, while Wales must rely on other results going their way to get a second chance via the play-offs.

Rodney Parade unsettles England… for a time

Wales would certainly have felt they got all the home advantage they could have wished for at League Two Newport County’s compact ground, more famous for rugby than football.

The idea was to create a cauldron of noise, and that was exactly what Jayne Ludlow’s side got, as the Welsh broke their attendance record for a women’s international.

But if the idea was to unsettle the Lionesses, the opening exchanges did not suggest they were too rattled by the vociferous Welsh support.

Neville’s side could and should have led after only six minutes when Parris turned home an Alex Greenwood deflected shot that came back off the post.

Surprisingly, given the shot was deflected, Parris was onside and the assistant did not raise initially her flag, it was ruled out for offside.

Any English sense of injustice will have been tempered by the fact Wales had an early goal controversially ruled out in Southampton in the reverse fixture as a lack of goal-line technology potentially denied Natasha Harding a winner.

And other than Parris’ stroke of misfortune, Wales keeper Laura O’Sullivan was surprisingly underworked in a first half where England had plenty of possession but little to show for it.

Jordan Nobbs shot wide from long range, while O’Sullivan and Loren Dykes almost got themselves into danger when neither cleared with Jodie Taylor lurking, but O’Sullivan grabbed the ball at the second attempt. She also made a smart save from Duggan’s free-kick on the stroke of half-time.

Wales’ defensive masterclass is ended

Wales came into the contest with seven clean sheets from seven matches and their incredible organisation and team ethic was evident in both games against the Lionesses.

However, as at St Mary’s, their rearguard effort came at the expense of leaving their front two – Helen Ward and Kayleigh Green – somewhat isolated and ultimately the effort expended in defending took its toll.

Green did find space to race clear on 36 minutes and rounded goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, who managed to get a faint touch on the ball to deny the Brighton forward as Rodney Parade screamed for a penalty.

That was as close as Wales came.

England, for their part, looked devoid of ideas for how to break through for long periods.

The breakthrough finally came when O’Sullivan spilled Nobbs’ cross, allowing Fran Kirby to find Duggan, the Barcelona forward making no mistake as she drilled home.

And, once they took the lead, England did not look back as they finally made their superior quality tell.

Steph Houghton almost doubled the advantage with a curling free-kick that O’Sullivan tipped behind, but there was nothing the Wales goalkeeper could do on the hour when the impressive Scott headed home from Lucy Bronze’s touch to all but kill the contest.

Helen Ward came close for Wales as they looked to push forward, but the visitors added a third from another O’Sullivan error as she dropped Greenwood’s free-kick, allowing Taylor to find Parris who nodded home.

Player of the match – Jill Scott (England)

The head of the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned that a potential government offensive in the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria risks causing renewed displacement and discourage others Syrians from returning home.

The comments by Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, on Friday came as protesters in Idlib rallied against the threat of military action by Syrian forces and its Russian ally to capture the strategic northwest province bordering Turkey.

Idlib is home to an estimated three million people, half of whom are internally displaced after being transferred en masse to the province from other areas that fell to pro-government forces.

Grandi, who is in Lebanon after visiting Syria and  Jordan , said an all-out attack threatens to cause many civilian deaths and fresh displacement, as well as discourage the return of other refugees.

Speaking to reporters in Beirut, Grandi said an offensive was going to make the situation “very difficult” and appealed to the Syrian government to find a way forward that would “spare civilian lives”.

“You risk also sending a message to refugees that the situation is not secured,” Grandi said. “Refugees will be watching very closely what is happening in Idlib in the next few months.”

Idlib is largely controlled by Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, which is dominated by a rebel faction that was previously known as al-Nusra Front until it cut its ties to al-Qaeda.

Turkey blacklists HTS

Turkey has been trying to avoid a large-scale assault on Idlib, primarily by utilising pledges made via the Astana diplomatic track to maintain a lasting ceasefire.

On Friday, Turkey – which has 12 military observation posts inside Idlib aimed at monitoring a de-escalation zone and backs other rebel groups in the province – officially designated HTS as a “terrorist” organisation.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Friday that Ankara “is trying to prevent an attack on Syria’s Idlib, which could be a disaster”.

Cavusoglu echoed Grandi in saying that a new offensive could result in a fresh wave of refugees.

“It is important for all of us to neutralise these radical groups,” he said. “But we have to distinguish the civilians from the terrorist groups.”

Intense negotiations have been under way for weeks between Russia and Turkey, which hosts some three million Syrians and has already stated that it will not open its borders to accept further refugees in the event an assault takes place.

‘Afraid of retribution’

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Syrian government had every right to chase fighters out of Idlib.

Syrian government forces “had the full right to protect its sovereignty and to drive out, liquidate the terrorist threat on its territory”, Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

He also said that negotiations are under way to establish a humanitarian corridor for civilians to be able to leave Idlib. The UN on Thursday proposed establishing the corridor, which would channel civilians to government-held areas. 

Speaking from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said that the UN has reiterated its long-standing position that due to Syria’s instability, it is still premature to organise large scale refugee returns.

“These returns cannot be, in the words of the head of the UNHCR, sustainable,” she said.

Many refugees and internally displaced persons remain fearful of what awaits them in government-held areas, added Khodr.

“A lot of them are afraid of retribution,” she explained. “They fear that there are no safety guarantees in place to make sure the Syrian government does not take any measures against them simply for accusing them of supporting the opposition,” she said.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies