Ronaldo World’s Best Again

Ronaldo World’s Best Again, After giving a European Championship title to Portugal and another Champions League trophy to Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo ends 2016 with something just for himself — his fourth world player of the year award.

Ronaldo on Monday won his third Ballon d’Or award, which this year is being handed out by France Football magazine separately from FIFA. Ronaldo also took home the Ballon d’Or prize in 2013 and 2014, and the FIFA award in 2008 while still playing for Manchester United.

The Portugal forward is also in contention for FIFA’s prize this year, along with Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, who finished second and third to Ronaldo on Monday, respectively.

“This was likely the best year of my career, individually and collectively,” Ronaldo said in a pre-recorded video. “It was unforgettable.”

Only Ronaldo and Messi have been voted the best in the world since 2007, when Kaka won the prize. Messi won a record fifth award last year.

“For me it’s a great honor to receive my fourth golden ball,” Ronaldo said. “I never thought in my mind to win (it) four times, so I’m so pleased, I’m so happy. I have to thank all my teammates, the national team, Real Madrid, all the people, all the players who helped me win this individual award.”

Messi was runner-up for the fifth time in his career, while Griezmann finished third after a remarkable year with France and Atletico Madrid. Luis Suarez was fourth and Barcelona teammate Neymar fifth in the results announced by the Paris-based magazine.

Ronaldo teammate Gareth Bale, who led Wales to the semifinals at Euro 2016, was sixth. Leicester had Riyad Mahrez finishing seventh and Jamie Vardy eighth. Madrid defender Pepe and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tied for ninth.

The 31-year-old Ronaldo was picked from a list of 30 players by a group of international journalists selected by France Football, which for the previous six years awarded the coveted prize in partnership with FIFA. Soccer’s governing body, which relies on the votes of coaches, team captains, journalists and — for the first time — an online poll of fans, will be handing out its own award in January.

“I’m happy because I worked very hard to win this,” Ronaldo said. “It’s not easy to stay at a high level year after year. You can count on one hand the players who can do it, there are very few who can, and I do it year after year. That makes me very proud.”

Ronaldo is receiving the Ballon d’Or award a month after his contract with Madrid was extended until 2021, keeping him in Spain until he is 36 years old.

It has been an up-and-down season for him so far, but he couldn’t have finished the previous one more strongly.

Ronaldo converted the decisive penalty kick in a shootout against rival Atletico Madrid in the final of the Champions League, helping the Spanish powerhouse win the tournament for the second time in three seasons. Ronaldo also won the Champions League title with Manchester United in 2008.

Ronaldo scored a record 11 goals in the group stage of the European competition last season and finished with a total of 16, one short of the record he himself set in 2014. He is the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 95 goals, and is two away from becoming the first player to score 100 goals in European club competitions.

It was with Portugal that Ronaldo achieved one of his greatest feats, helping the nation win its maiden European title after several close calls, including a runner-up finish at home in 2004 when it lost to Greece.

“To win a title for the first time with Portugal was something that was missing from my resume,” Ronaldo said. “It was one of the most important moments of my life.”

Ronaldo scored one of the goals for Portugal in the 2-0 win over Wales in the semifinals at Euro 2016, then watched from the bench as his teammates defeated France 1-0 in extra time. Ronaldo played only 25 minutes of the final at Stade de France in July before being substituted because of a left-knee injury.

Ronaldo also won the European Super Cup with Madrid, as well as UEFA’s award as the best player in Europe last season, a prize he also won in 2014.

Ronaldo is with Real Madrid in Japan to play in FIFA’s Club World Cup.

Bill Dineen Dies at 84

Bill Dineen Dies at 84, Bill Dineen, the hockey icon who played with and later coached Gordie Howe, has died. He was 84.

The American Hockey League confirmed in a statement that Dineen died Saturday at his home in Lake George, New York.

Dineen, born in Arvida, Quebec, played 324 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks, winning two Stanley Cup championships in Detroit alongside Howe. Dineen made more of an impact as a player in the AHL, where he was a four-time 20-goal scorer over six seasons with Buffalo, Cleveland, Rochester and Quebec.

“Bill Dineen devoted his career to our sport, winning two Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, shaping the lives of numerous players during decades of coaching and crafting a hockey legacy that carries on today through his sons,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “The National Hockey League sends heartfelt condolences to the Dineen family on the passing of this distinguished and greatly respected individual.”

Dineen went into coaching after retiring as a player, taking the reins of the WHA’s Houston Aeros for six years, starting in the 1972-73 season. He helped the Aeros win Avco Cup titles in 1974 and 1975 with teams featuring Howe and sons Mark and Marty.

Dineen was named the WHA’s coach of the year in 1977 and 1978. He spent a final WHA season as coach of the New England Whalers but was fired after 71 games with the Whalers in fourth place.

Inferno Kills 40 After Out Of Control Oil Tanker Rams Into Cars

Inferno Kills 40 After Out Of Control Oil Tanker Rams Into Cars, At least 40 people were killed in a horrific multi-car road accident in Kenya after an oil truck spiralled out of control and slammed into oncoming traffic, before bursting into flames and sending a huge fireball into the sky.
The major accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway took the lives of at least 40 people, Naivasha Sub County Commissioner Isaac Masinde announced, Kenya’s the Nation reported.

Authorities fear that the death toll could rise even higher given the number of vehicles involved.

VIDEO| Fuel tanker loses control at Karai on Naivasha-Nakuru road, rams into several cars all bursting into flames. Casualty number unknown pic.twitter.com/TgLmgSEQ96

— Mac Otani (@MacOtani) December 10, 2016
Witnesses at the scene said that the truck driver lost control on a downhill stretch and rammed into a minibus before exploding near the Karai area in Naivasha, on a busy highway, some 80 kilometers west of Nairobi, the country’s capital.

Motorists drive past the wreckage of cars burnt after a fireball from an tanker engulfed several vehicles and killed at least 25 people, near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, December 11, 2016. © Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
Huge flames followed the initial explosion and quickly spread to the other vehicles reducing them to husks.

“I was a distance away and that enabled me to slow down and reverse,” Peter Njoroge who had been trailing the truck in his car told the Nation. “It was a huge explosion and other motorists had little chance to react.”

A man looks at the wreckage of a police truck involved in an accident after a fireball from a tanker engulfed several vehicles and killed several people, near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, December 11, 2016. © Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
The head of country’s transportation authority (NTSA), Francis Meja, confirmed that 12 vehicles were burned in the incident, adding that all 14 passengers in the minibus burned alive.

Motorists drive past the wreckage of cars burnt after a fireball from an tanker engulfed several vehicles and killed several people, near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, December 11, 2016. © Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
Earlier, the Kenya Red Cross, which responded to the scene, reported that 30 bodies were pulled from the wreckage and taken to Naivasha Sub-County Hospital Mortuary.

The wreckage of a police truck involved in an accident after a fireball from a tanker engulfed several vehicles and killed several people, is recovered near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, December 11, 2016. © Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
The accident, which caused heavy traffic along the busy highway, is under investigation.

Army Navy 2016

Army Navy 2016, For the first time in 15 years, Navy was first to sing its alma mater after its game against Army. That gloomy distinction falls to the loser of one of college football’s most storied rivalries, one the Midshipmen had owned since installing the triple-option offense.

But that typically efficient rushing attack hardly got on track Saturday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium, with Navy pinning its fortunes upon a quarterback making the first start of his career. Zach Abey found himself in that uncomfortable circumstance because of injuries to both players who had started the season ahead of him, and the sophomore initially played as if overwhelmed.

By the time the final whistle sounded in a turnover-filled 21-17 loss, Abey had thrown two interceptions, both in the first half, and Navy’s 14-game winning streak over Army, a series record, had ended. The Midshipmen committed three turnovers in all, after just nine through their first 11 games.

“I take a lot of responsibility for the game,” Abey said. “Obviously in the first half I made some bad decisions. I feel horrible for the seniors because I told them before the game that I would give it my all for them.”

Dylan Skips Nobel Ceremony

Dylan Skips Nobel Ceremony, Dressed in tails and white ties, this year’s Nobel laureates in medicine, economics, physics and chemistry accepted their prizes at a gala ceremony in Stockholm on Saturday, marked by the notable absence of the literature prize winner, US music icon Bob Dylan.

Earlier in the day, the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his bid to end a five-decade conflict with Marxist rebels FARC.

At the Stockholm ceremony, the nine laureates on hand received their prizes from King Carl XVI Gustaf, in a concert hall decked with thousands of pink roses and red amaryllis, all donated by the Italian town of San Remo, where prize creator Alfred Nobel died on December 10, 1896.

But literature prize laureate Bob Dylan was not in attendance.

He declined, citing “pre-existing commitments” — a move that created a stir in Sweden where it was seen as a slight towards the Swedish Academy, which awards the literature prize, and the Nobel Foundation.

Dylan, 75, is the first singer-songwriter to be awarded the prestigious literature prize.

In his absence, American rock star Patti Smith performed Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” during the glitzy ceremony, stumbling after appearing to either forget the lyrics or be overcome by nerves. She apologised to the 1,500 guests and resumed singing after warm applause.

Dylan sent a thank-you speech to be read at a gala banquet later in the evening at Stockholm’s City Hall, attended by around 1,300 guests and the Swedish royal family.

According to the Nobel Foundation, his prize should be presented to him in person sometime in 2017, either in Sweden or abroad.

But the other 2016 laureates were on hand to collect their prizes.

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