The organisation promoting the sustainable cultivation and use of palm oil has agreed to tighten rules on the production of the crop, requiring companies to commit to not cause deforestation or plant on wetland in order to secure certification, amid contentious debate over the product’s use and impact on the environment.

The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) reviews the rules governing certification every five years.

The revision took place as campaigners, particularly in Europe, stepped up calls for a ban on the use of palm oil because of its effect on the world’s rainforests.

RSPO Secretary-General Darrel Webber described the new standards as “transformative.”

Previous requirements were criticised for failing to protect all forests or provide adequate social safeguards.

The group has also been denounced for failing to act against those that had broken the rules.

To meet the RSPO’s new certification standards, growers will have to ensure future land clearance does not cause the deforestation of critical forests, under a methodology known as the High Carbon Stock Approach.

‘Great step forward’

Jennifer Lucey, an environmental scientist at the University of Oxford, helped develop the approach alongside Greenpeace and the plantation industry.

Lucey described the decision as a “great step forward” that would protect more forest over larger areas.

Indonesia and Malaysia produce more than 85 percent of the global supply of palm oil, which is used in products from chocolate to ice cream, shampoo and lipstick.

But the crop has also driven deforestation and contributed towards pollution and climate change as land, including carbon-rich peatlands, has been converted to plantations.

The tropical rainforests of the two countries are biodiversity hotspots and home to endangered species, including the orangutan.

In a statement, WWF noted that nearly all RSPO members, including growers, retailers and banks, had given the revisions their support.

“(RSPO) now has stronger safeguards on issues including deforestation, expansion on peat and exploitation of labour,” WWF Palm Oil Lead Elizabeth Clarke said in a statement.

“The RSPO and all its members must now deliver on their commitments to bring sustainable palm oil to consumer markets.”

The roundtable was established in 2004 as a response to rising concern about the industry’s environmental impact; its members include plantation companies, palm oil buyers and environmental groups.

RSPO certification standards are supposed to set best practices for the production and sourcing of palm oil. Indonesia and Malaysia have also introduced their own sustainability certification.

Sustainability vs ban

But the environmental debate has become increasingly rancorous, with some campaigners calling for palm oil to be banned completely.

The British supermarket chain, Iceland, attracted widespread attention this month after a commercial featuring an animated orangutan, Rang-tan, in which the retailer announced it was committed to going palm oil free was allegedly banned by UK advertising regulators.

WWF stressed that sustainability requires more than certification and that the industry, governments and the financial industry also needed to take steps to include smaller growers in sustainability, as well as to improve and enforce land use planning and legal compliance.

Palm oil produces more oil per unit of land area than any other vegetable oil grown today.

Globally, it provides 35 percent of the world’s edible oil needs on just 10 percent of the land, according to WWF.

Its yield is about six times more than canola, the next most productive crop, 10 times more than soybean and 11 times more than sunflower, the University of Oxford’s Lucey said.

“Replacing it with something else is not a more environmentally-friendly option,” Lucey said.

“Whether we like it or not, palm oil is here to stay. As consumers, we should be registering our concerns by buying sustainable palm oil, not avoiding palm oil altogether.”

England captain Joe Root hit a majestic century to put his side in a strong position to win the series against Sri Lanka on day three of the second Test.

Root dominated the spinners, scoring freely to reach his 15th Test ton and first away from home since replacing Alastair Cook as skipper last year.

He fell lbw for 124 to Akila Dananjaya (6-106) but Ben Foakes made 51 not out to take England to 324-9 and a lead of 278 runs when bad light stopped play.

England lead the three-Test series 1-0.

Opener Rory Burns scored his maiden Test fifty, putting on 73 with Keaton Jennings (26) in the morning after nightwatchman Jack Leach was dismissed early on.

Sri Lanka fought back to reduce England to 109-4 but Root, Buttler (34) and Foakes built an imposing target in Pallekele, despite the pitch perhaps not being as difficult to bat on as first thought.

Although seven of England’s nine wickets came from sweep or reverse sweep shots, their attacking approach flustered the hosts and has taken the tourists a step closer to a first series win in Sri Lanka since 2001.

A special innings

Before the series, Root called on his side to be “bolder” and more “courageous” on the subcontinent and exemplified the merits of that positive approach in a truly outstanding knock, one of the best of his career.

He used his feet well and demonstrated fine shot selection – sweeping and reverse sweeping only full or wide deliveries and not getting into trouble with pre-meditated strokes that proved the undoing of others.

Even after Ben Stokes, who moved down to five to allow Root to bat at four, fell for a duck, the captain stuck to his convictions, putting on 74 in just 83 balls with Buttler.

The game was still in the balance once Buttler and Moeen Ali (10) were dismissed to leave the tourists six down and 173 ahead, but Root firmly pushed it England’s way, rotating the strike and hitting two towering sixes to help his side add 128 runs in the afternoon session.

Resuming on 98 after tea, Root reached three figures with perhaps the streakiest shot of his innings, edging through third man for four before ripping off his helmet and yelling in delight to celebrate only his second hundred this year.

He carried on in the same fashion, surpassing Nasser Hussain’s previous mark of 109 for the highest score by an England captain in Sri Lanka, before missing a ball that straightened with a slightly tired stroke to be trapped plumb in front.

Live by the sweep, die by the sweep

This was the most obvious day of Root’s tenure as captain that England looked like his team, playing the way he wants and incorporating the calculated risk that has made the one-day international side so successful.

As always such a positive approach comes down to execution. Get it wrong and it looks reckless. Get it right, as Root did, and you can confound the opposition into making mistakes.

After Leach was out lbw on review to Dilruwan Perera for just one, Burns and Jennings batted superbly, hitting the gaps to erase the 46-run first-innings deficit.

It forced Sri Lanka to become more defensive throughout the day, with stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal reluctant to put more than two fielders in close around the bat – something Root, Buttler and Foakes took advantage of later on.

England were far from flawless. Jennings swept at one that was too short and edged the ball off his body to first slip, while Buttler similarly tried to reverse sweep a delivery that Akila cannily sent down much slower and shorter than the previous ball and undercut it onto his stumps.

Burns and Stokes simply missed deliveries that straightened, but then wasted England’s two reviews on clear lbw decisions, when Moeen and Adil Rashid could have used them later to be reprieved for being hit outside the line and an inside edge respectively.

However, England’s boldness has paid off overall.

Fine Foakes impresses again

Foakes showed there was another way to play on this pitch though, generally standing more upright and going back to work the ball square on both sides.

Speaking on The Cricket Social, ex-England all-rounder Zafar Ansari said his former Surrey team-mate had remodelled his technique after watching Australia’s Steve Smith during last year’s Ashes series.

After his fine century on debut in Galle, this has been another confident knock from the 25-year-old, staying calm even when Akila dismissed Root and Sam Curran in consecutive balls to help England add 23 more vital runs before bad light intervened, shortly followed by heavy rain.

Together with his superior ability behind the stumps to Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, Foakes is putting himself in the reckoning to be England’s long-term Test wicketkeeper.

We kinda miss those crazy giveaways Oprah used to do on her show. There was something equally heartwarming and hilarious about the sheer insanity that broke out when she gave her entire audience new cars.

If anyone has tried to fill that gap, it’s been Ellen DeGeneres. The comedian and talk show host has tried to give back to her fans and audiences when she can, and she’s looking to do the same ahead of Black Friday. (More like Ellen DeGenerous, right?!)

If you’re a new Walmart online shopper, you can use the code Ellen10 to save $10 when you spend $35 or more on your first online order. 

SEE ALSO: Amazon has released Oprah’s Favorite Things for 2018

That means an extra $10 off the Keurig K-Compact Single-Serve coffee maker that’s already on sale for $49.96. Or $10 off the Hot Wheels Ultimate Garage Tower Shark Loop Racetrack for your kid this holiday — already on sale for $94. If you’ve been looking to get your hands on one of the classic gaming consoles that everyone’s been raving about, how about getting one on sale? You can knock $10 off the NES Classic, dropping it down to $49.99, or save on the SNES Classic and drop the price down to $69.96.

The offer is going to be running until Dec. 31, so you’ll have plenty of time for shopping. Just know that the code is limited to the first 50,000 shoppers and it’s not applicable on multipacks, photo, pharmacy, tires, gift cards, personalized items, or anything by Marketplace sellers. And it’s limited to one per customer, so sorry, but no stacking to get $20, $30, or $50 off.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has defended the draft Brexit deal reached with the European Union that triggered the resignations of senior ministers and mutiny within her Conservative Party.

May appeared on British radio station LBC on Friday, amid mounting speculation that Conservative MPs could trigger a vote of no confidence in her leadership in the coming days.

“I truly believe this is the best deal for Britain,” May said of the proposed withdrawal agreement, adding that she was “very sorry” that ministers had quit her government.

When asked to resign by a caller during the radio phone-in, May said that her divorce deal delivered on the key issues for many people who voted to leave the EU.

“You’re absolutely right that for a lot of people who voted “Leave”, what they wanted to do was make sure that decisions on things like who can come into this country would be taken by us here in the UK, and not by Brussels, and that’s exactly what the deal I’ve negotiated delivers,” she said.

“We are leaving the European Union on the 29 March, 2019,” she added.

There was intense speculation on Friday morning in London that prominent Brexit hardliner Michael Gove was close to resigning, but he later announced his support for the prime minister.

“I think it’s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future, and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the British people, we can get a good outcome,” he told reporters.

The UK voted to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, when 52 percent of voters opted for Brexit while 48 percent voted to remain in the EU.

But two years after the vote, the terms of the separation remain undecided.

The 585-page draft aims to ensure a smooth divorce from the EU after more than four decades of membership and outlines a transition period for both sides to adjust to the break.

It addresses issues including citizens’ rights after Brexit, the controversial “backstop” to avoid a hard border in Ireland and the divorce payment that Britain will pay when it leaves the bloc.

Opponents of the deal have cited concerns that it leaves too much power in Brussels and places Northern Ireland in a separate regulatory regime to the rest of the UK.

Brexit Minister Dominic Raab and the Minister for Work and Pensions Esther McVey both resigned from May’s cabinet on Thursday, saying they could not support the agreement.

Two junior ministers also quit and pro-Brexit Conservative MPs warned that May’s deal would not win the approval of parliament.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said that a replacement Brexit minister is expected to be appointed.

Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads a group of anti-EU Conservatives, submitted a letter of no-confidence in the prime minister on Thursday saying that “it would be in the interest of the party and the country if she were to stand aside”.

At least 48 such letters from the ruling party MPs are required to trigger a vote of no-confidence in the party leader, and a majority of the party’s 315 legislators would have to vote against May in order for her to be removed.

MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a Northern Irish party that props up May’s minority government, have also expressed strong reservations over the proposed deal.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

When Steve Carell’s character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin is getting ready to start dating, he gets his chest waxed. And during that wax, he inexplicably screams out “Kelly Clarkson!”

Carell told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that he had never met Kelly Clarkson until recently, and that he was very nervous about her feelings towards that slightly awkward shout out in the 2005 hit comedy. 

“I thought she’d be mad about me about that,” Carell said. “Like, ‘is he making fun of me?’”

Turns out, Kelly Clarkson was very nice about it. 

There’s no denying 2018 has absolutely tested our patience, but it turns out the year hasn’t been complete trash.

Beyond some of the most important aspects of life like your loved ones and your health, 2018 has truly given us a lot of good. From social justice initiatives like Time’s Up and March for Our Lives, to pop culture masterpieces like Queer Eye, Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, and “thank u, next,” the year had its share of hopeful, joyous, entertaining, and positive moments.

So when times get tough and it feels like there’s not much to be happy about in the world, here are 50 things to be thankful for.

1. Time’s Up launched. 2018 started off strong with a group of more than 300 women in the entertainment industry coming together to form Time’s Up — an initiative dedicated to standing up against sexual harassment.

2. Laverne Cox made history on the cover of Cosmo. In January, actress and producer Laverne Cox also made history as the first ever trans covergirl for Cosmopolitan Magazine. Cox graced the cover of Cosmo South Africa’s February issue.

3. The Fab Five came into our lives. It may feel like Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Antoni Porowski have been inspiring us all to eat, dress, groom, self-love, and decorate to the best of our abilities for a lifetime, but Netflix’s Queer Eye reboot only premiered in Feb. 2018.

4. Drake’s “God’s Plan” music video. Remember pre-Meek Mill beef when Drake gave away nearly one million dollars and filmed himself doing all those good deeds like paying for people’s groceries? That was nice!

5. The Parkland teens. Though 2018 was full of an unfathomable amount of tragedy and gun violence,  the year also inspired a heartwarming amount of youth activism in America. After the deadly Parkland shooting in February, a group of teen survivors from the Florida high school shooting has consistently stood up to government officials and publicly advocated for gun control.

Image: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

This year alone they’ve formed March for Our Lives, led school walkouts, inspired others (both young and old) to register to vote and protest gun violence, and even inspired the Obama’s to write a heartfelt entry in the Time 100 issue.

6. Mirai Nagasu landed a triple axel. The Winter Olympics also took place this year! There were many standout moments but Mirai Nagasu absolutely slayed, making history by becoming the first U.S. woman to land a triple axel in the Winter Olympics. Thankful we got to witness this moment.

7. Black Panther came out. We were truly blessed this year by the arrival of the record-breaking Marvel’s cinematic masterpiece, Black Panther, and the talented actors, fierce as hell soundtrack, and on-screen representation it brought to our world.

8. Jordan Peele’s Oscar win. Speaking of movies, Peele’s film Get Out won “Best Original Screenplay” this year, making him the first black screenwriter to receive the award.

9. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate wait is almost over. The highly anticipated video game is set to come out for Nintendo Switch on Dec. 7.

10. Beto O’Rourke. 2018 was the year of Beto, burgers, and a Beyoncé midterms endorsement.

11. A Quiet Place. John Krasinski directed and starred in a horror film alongside his IRL wife that was so quiet and terrifying people were too nervous to eat snacks in theaters. What a time to be alive.

12. Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer. Remember when the rapper was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his fourth studio album, DAMN? Hell yeah!

13. Beyoncé at Coachella. Beychella was THIS YEAR. We knew she would slay but nothing prepared us for the sheer magnitude of her powerhouse performance, or Destiny’s Child, or the movement she inspired.

14. The Royal Wedding. When the world needed a distraction from the bad and an escape from reality, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were there for us. And for that we thank them.

15. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was saved. For several terrible, horrible, no good, very bad hours Brooklyn Nine-Nine was cancelled. But thankfully, after a whole lot of love from fans, NBC picked it up for a sixth season.

16. Won’t You Be My Neighbor reminded us of Mr. Rogers’ magic. We needed a heavy dose of Fred Rogers’ pure and wholesome goodness to get us through the year and this film did just the trick.

17. Ava DuVernay made history. DuVernay’s adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time led her to become the first black woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million at the box office.

18. The world is finally taking action against plastic pollution. are spreading across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Businesses like McDonald’s and Starbucks are even getting on board . 

19. We still have dogs. No matter how bad things get we still have furry companions to turn to, and play with, and occasionally throw cheese on.

20. Eighth Grade filled us with middle school anxiety. Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade reminded adults how stressful growing up can be and gave teens an emotional look at middle school through a more relatable lens.

21. Crazy Rich Asians was a smashing success. The film dominated box office sales and served as an important milestone for Asian representation in American pop culture. And guess what? It’s getting a sequel.

22. Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again! Love. Pregnancy. Death. Flashbacks. Dancing. Singing. Abba. Meryl. Cher. Andy García. Help!

23. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra. 2018 has seen the rise (Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin) and fall (Ariana and Pete) of celebrity relationships. But through the ups and downs of the year Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra’s love never seemed to waiver. We’re thankful this nice, soon-to-be-wed couple is here to restore our faith in love.

24. LeBron James opened up a school. The NBA star opened his “I Promise” school in Akron, Ohio, to give 240 third and fourth grade students a life-changing educational opportunity.

25. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before captured our hearts. Netflix introduced the world to the film adaptation of Jenny Han’s young adult book and after Peter Kavinsky’s “woah woah woah,” our hearts will never be the same. Not to mention it inspired dozens of Lara Jean Halloween costumes.

26. That quirky, super high-maintenance cat was adopted. Remember Bruno, the thicc, polydactyl cat that Wright Way Rescue Animal Shelter in Morton Grove, Illinois, was trying to find a home? He found one :’).

27. A sixgill shark was discovered. This is cool because most sharks have five gills. It’s also a reminder that we should be thankful for oceanographers, researchers, and all those who explore the our vast and mysterious oceans.

28. India strikes down gay sex ban. On Sept. 6, members of India’s Supreme Court unanimously voted to make the landmark ruling that eliminates the ban on consensual gay sex.

29. Moth memes lit up our lives. The year was filled with good memes but those moth/lamp memes? Pure joy.

30. Amy Sherman-Palladino and all those Emmys. Amy Sherman-Palladino has always been genius. Gilmore Girls? Bun Heads? Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life? It’s about time she’s properly celebrated, so we’re thankful The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won four Emmys. We are also thankful for her husband, Dan Palladino.

Image: Rich Fury/Getty Images

31. Twitter did one good thing. We have no edit button and there’s still bots and harassment a-plenty, but at the very least, Twitter brought back the chronological timeline.

32. Gritty came into our lives. Can anyone even remember a world without the Philadelphia Flyers’ new hairy orange mascot?

33. The Office is back … sort of. While fans of the NBC comedy are still holding out hope for a revival, 2018 treated those nostalgic for the days of Dunder Mifflin to a charming off-broadway musical.

34. Speaking of The Office — be thankful for Steve Carell. He stars with Timothée Chalamet and Amy Ryan (Holly Flax) in Beautiful Boy. He’s got Welcome to Marwen coming out, which looks, uh interesting. He’s on SNL. And he’s making his triumphant return to television!

35. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gave us life. A Star Is Born came out this year, along with a kickass soundtrack and some perfect memes. We will never be the same.

36. Fat Bear Week ran our lives for 7 days. Much love to all the fat bears out there who distracted us for an entire week just by living their lives. 

37. This throwback baked potato costume. Halloween costumes are great but this throwback baked potato get-up really made us smile.

38. Thankful for the hot duck in Central Park. We thought we lost him, but he’s back again. ❤

39. We have a new anthem: “Party For One.” How did Carly Rae Jepsen know we were in desperate need of a song to dance in our underwear and eat a large pizza alone to? And the music video! UGH!

40. And there’s no musical praise without discussing Ariana Grande. The warrior of 2018, Ariana Grande, has given fans so much love, inspiration, and hope throughout the year. Not to mention, the ultimate independent BOP: “thank u, next.”

41. BDE came to be. Speaking adjacently of Pete Davidson, for better or worse 2018 also gave us Big Dick Energy and that’s something we’ll never forget.

42. Netflix still delivers. Netflix has an entertaining social media presence and continues to create quality original shows and movies.

43. There was an increase in voter turnout. 2018 proved Americans are standing up for what they believe in and exercising their right to vote. Voter turnout for midterm elections reached a 50-year high, and young people voted at historic rates.

44. Midterm results showed a refreshing amount of diversity. It was a night of historic firsts — from over 100 women elected to Congress (the highest number ever) to wins for the LGBTQ community and more.

45. The Detective Pikachu trailer looks delightful. Another cute as hell movie to look forward to? Yes please.

46. Cher’s Twitter is hilarious. Twitter is sometime awful but not Cher’s account. That’s always good.

47. All of the books. The world has so many books just waiting to be read — books for when you’re mad at the patriarchy, books for hikers, books all about pride. And some great books written this year.

48. All of the great TV shows. Streaming aside, there are dozens of phenomenal shows airing on television this year, like Superstore, The Good Place, This Is Us, Killing Eve, and more.

49. Sports are still a thing! We’ve got football, we’ve got soccer, we’ve got basketball, baseball, hockey, and so many more. Sports bring people together!

50. All the people working to keep others safe, informed, and up-to-date with the news. It’s been a tough year for news, mass shootings, and natural disasters, which is why we’re thankful for all the hard working journalists, reporters, news anchors, first responders, weather forecasters, and hurricane scientists.

So remember: No matter how bad things may seem there are always some bright spots in the world.

Australia’s treasurer on Friday said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had a history of anti-Jewish statements in an escalating war of words over the possibility Australia might move its embassy to Israel to Jerusalem.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison first proposed the move during a local election campaign last month, sparking concern from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Mahathir, 93, raised the potential relocation in a meeting with Morrison in Singapore on Thursday, later telling reporters he feared it could increase the threat of attacks.

“I pointed out that in dealing with terrorism, one has to know the causes,” Mahathir said. “Adding to the cause for terrorism is not going to be helpful.”

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg responded saying Canberra would make its own decisions, and pointing out the Malaysian leader’s past comments about Jewish people.

“He has called Jews ‘hooked-nosed people’. He has questioned the number of people that have been killed in the Holocaust. He banned Schindler’s List as a movie being shown,” Frydenberg, the son of a Holocaust survivor, told reporters in Melbourne.

Challenging history

In an interview with the BBC last month, Mahathir said “the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel”, and he defended his description of Jews as “hook-nosed” in his book The Malay Dilemma.

“They are hook-nosed,” he told the BBC. “Many people called the Malays fat-nosed. We didn’t object.”

Mahathir also challenged historical accounts that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, saying the figure was four million.

The film Schindler’s List was banned in 1994 with Malaysia’s film board rejecting it as Zionist propaganda.

When asked by The Associated Press in an August interview about his past comments about Jewish people, Mahathir said: “We should be able to criticise everybody.”

“Anti-Semitic is a term that is invented to prevent people from criticising the Jews for doing wrong things,” he said.

Two-state solution

The possibility that Australia may follow the United States’ contentious move and relocate its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv has been seen by many Australians as a political stunt. Critics called it a cynical attempt to win votes in a by-election last month for a Sydney seat that is home to a large number of Jewish people.

But on Friday, Frydenberg insisted that shifting the embassy made sense although it has also inflamed tensions with Indonesia, Australia’s closest neighbour with the world’s largest population of Muslims.

“Australia already recognises Israel’s sovereignty over West Jerusalem,” Frydenberg said. “It’s where the Israeli parliament is. It’s where the Australian ambassador presents his or her credentials. It will be the capital of Israel under any two-state solution.”

Morrison said a decision on the embassy would be made by Christmas but rejected fears the plan had caused collateral damage by placing in jeopardy a proposed free trade agreement with Indonesia.

“I do not conflate the issues,” Morrison told ABC radio in Australia.

“What we need to understand is that Australia has to set its own foreign policy, and all I have said is that we would consider this question if we believed that it would advance the issues of the two-state solution.”

Indonesian opposition politician Dian Islamiati Fatwa also warned this week that Australia moving its embassy may provoke attacks in his country.

Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the Northern Ireland Open quarter finals with a 4-1 win over Zhou Yuelong.

A break of 132 helped O’Sullivan advance to a last-eight match against David Gilbert, who whitewashed Lu Ning.

World number one Mark Selby progressed 4-2 against Martin O’Donnell and will play Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand.

Judd Trump, Peter Ebdon and Ryan Day are also through but Ali Carter lost a final-frame decider against Eden Sharav at the Waterfront Hall.

O’Sullivan has dropped just two frames in his four matches this week and he recovered well from losing the opening frame of his fourth-round contest to seal a comfortable victory.

Three-time world champion Selby remains on course for a semi-final against O’Sullivan after recording five breaks of 57 or more during his match against O’Donnell while world number five Trump won three frames in succession to defeat Belgium’s Luca Brecel 4-2 and set up a quarter-final against Day, who beat Andrew Higginson without losing a frame.

Sharav recovered from 3-1 behind to upset Carter 4-3 and the Israeli will next play Ebdon after the 2002 world champion beat Li Hang 4-1.

Warning: The follow post contains major spoilers for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. You have been warned.

If you found yourself leaving the theater after Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald feeling exceeding emotionally confused, you’re not alone.

This movie was so much movie. It was so many characters and disparate plot lines, almost none of which pay off – and then there’s the Credence story. 

He’s who?? This means what??? These are valid questions, and we’re here to help you work through them.

So here we are, post-Crimes of Grindelwald, two movies into the Fantastic Beasts franchise – two movies of wondering who exactly tf Credence Barebone is and why we’re supposed to care about him (beyond valiant and not-fruitless efforts of Ezra Miller).

The answer is that he isn’t Credence Barebone at all. In the final scene, Grindelwald tells Credence who he really is, and speaks the name he never knew: Aurelius Dumbledore. You know, that crucial fourth Dumbledore sibling that you never knew existed.

This makes little to no sense and raises roughly 700 questions for which I’m sure J.K. Rowling will have retconned answers ready to fire off on Twitter next week. But for now: Let’s figure out just how the heck this would be possible.

Here are the facts, and by facts I mean cold hard Harry Potter book canon that I can pluck off a shelf and point out physically on a page: Kendra and Percival Dumbledore had three children: Albus, Aberforth, and Ariana. The latter was killed in a duel between her brothers and Gellert Grindelwald. Dumbledore’s age is never explicitly stated in the books.

Now, let’s broaden our canon. Pottermore states that Dumbledore was born in 1881, putting Aberforth and Ariana born at around 1884 and 1885, respectively. It’s safe to assume that Credence/Aurelius is in his 20s and therefore born around 1900, give or take a few years, before we catch up with him in the 1927 of Fantastic Beasts.

There are some fun, twisted possibilities when you consider Aurelius as Albus or Aberforth’s possible offspring, but Grindelwald tells him, “Your brother is trying to kill you” right before the big name reveal. All signs point to that brother being Dumbledore himself, though it would not be unfathomable at this point for the next Fantastic Beasts movie to introduce yet another Dumbledore who has been hunting Credence this whole time unbeknownst to everyone except Grindelwald. That’s just where we’re at now!

If we accept that Aurelius is the youngest Dumbledore sibling, that still complicates matters significantly. Percival Dumbledore, you’ll recall, went to Azkaban for attacking a group of Muggle boys in the village who had assaulted Ariana. This would’ve been around 1890, and Dumbledore explicitly states in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that Percival died in Azkaban.

And now my friends, as the eldest Dumbledore sibling once said: “We shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together…into thickets of wildest guesswork.”

For Aurelius to be Percival’s son, 1) he’d have to have escaped Azkaban, which no one is ever supposed to have done before Sirius Black, so 2) an escape would mean a massive cover up, and either 3) Dumbledore was in on the conspiracy, adding to the pile of lies in his life, or 4) Dumbledore never found out and actually has no clue Aurelius exists. I’m so tired!

There’s no evidence to suggest that Percival Dumbledore was a malicious man or a blood purist (HP Wikia says Kendra was Muggle-born). Part of why he went to Azkaban in the first place was because he would not admit to a motive for attacking the Muggles, lest the Ministry took the unstable Ariana away from her family. This doesn’t sound like a man who’d break out of prison, or at least not do so and then fail to contact his only living family. 

Image: Jaap Buitendijk/warner bros.

Honestly, the big Crimes of Grindelwald reveal may actually mean nothing. Fantastic Beasts as a franchise has started playing fast and loose with math and canon, including undoing events of the first film in this one (Credence was dead! Jacob was Obliviated!). Aurelius Dumbledore’s backstory will be whatever best suits the plot of Fantastic Beasts 3, and Fantastic Beasts 4, and Fantastic Beasts 5. We might not be ready for this journey.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is now in theaters.