Happy Thanksgiving, now you’ll be forced to spend time with your family. 

While you may be excited by the prospect of enjoying some quality time with your family, you may also have some concerns and reservations about dinner. There are — as we have all learned this year — so many ways that things can quickly shift from joyous to horrifying. 

But don’t worry, we’ve come up with a couple of unique and effective ways for you to shift the energy at your Thanksgiving dinner table, should things take a turn for the worst. From playing with pets to handy Alexa skills, we’ve got you covered this holiday season. Oh, and, feel free to reuse these ideas come Christmas as well. 

Here are the 13 best ways to get out of your most uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner moments:

1. Call upon Alexa for back up

Things just got super weird, and your family has an Echo or Echo Dot? Call out to Alexa for help. No, seriously.

Alexa now has over 20,000 skills available for almost anyone to use. We recommend asking: 

You can also check out this handy article to see the 60 most useful Alexa’s abilities, for even more skills and commands to call out during dinner.

2. Change the subject 

This advice is obviously easier said than done, especially when conversations get heated and emotional. But, there are ways to effectively transition from difficult talks to slightly less trying ones!

Real Simple has a really smart and easy to use guide on changing the subject and repositioning conversations — invaluable insights for awkward family gatherings.

3. Keep football on in the background

Even if you’re not super into football, keeping the game on in the background can serve as a welcome distraction at tenser moments during the evening and it gives everyone something to talk about.

Even if you know nothing about football, you can comment on the commercials, make fun of referees, or just pick a team to root for to make the time pass by faster.

4. Play with pets

Pets are meant to be played with — and this is even more true during a difficult time with family. Beckon pets over to you for cuddles and kisses, use a turkey bribe if you must, so that you can enjoy their comforting presence.

5. Discuss the book you read last

If you’re afraid of accidentally bringing up a touchy subject, instead bring up a book or article you read last that you found to be super interesting — and invite others to do the same. 

As long as the last books you or your family read aren’t super controversial this is bound to be a good topic of conversation.

6. Play Bop It! 

Take a page from the Gilmore Girls, and break out the Bop It! when things get dire. 

Bop It! is quite possibly one of the easiest games to play since there’s no set up, no board, all you have to do is team up with someone to play it. And the game is goofy enough that you’ll all find yourselves laughing at how impossible it is to beat.

7. Call or DM Turkey hot lines

For years, Butterball has catered to less intuitive home cooks by keeping its “Turkey Talk Line” open for any and all turkey-related questions. But this year, they’ve gone digital.

You can now tweet, dm, or ask Alexa for help with all of your turkey cooking needs. (And yes, you can still call them.)

If you’ve run out of things to talk about, or just want to switch topics, tweeting at or asking Alexa some ridiculous turkey questions could be just what you and your family needs.

8. Invite a “buffer” over for dinner

It might seem cruel to invite someone to Thanksgiving in the hopes that they’ll create a buffer for you and your weirdo family, but in reality this tends to make the meal much more enjoyable for everyone.

If you know someone who doesn’t have anywhere to go this holiday, or someone that’s spending their first holiday in the states, why not invite them over? You and your family will spend time asking your buffer about what they do, their family traditions, and they’ll be so distracted that they’ll forget to ask you if you’re seeing anyone special this year.

9. Bring some Play-Doh along

Another valuable tool in the Thanksgiving dinner arsenal is play dough! If there are kids at your gathering, they’re sure to get a kick out of playing with Play-Doh, and adults will have fun revisiting this childhood toy.

It may seem kind of goofy, but your guests will definitely enjoy and welcome this distraction. 

You can buy a pack on Amazon, or if you’re feeling overly ambitious this year, you can make your own fall-scented dough with the help of this recipe — just don’t let anyone eat it!

10. Read off some funny tweets

Make a list on Twitter of all the funniest people you follow, and refresh it to keep yourself amused throughout the evening. 

And, if you’re wondering who to follow, we recommend, I’ve Pet that Dog, for some extremely wholesome content, any of these celebrity trolls for hilarious commentary, and the always amusing comedian Rob Delaney. Alternatively, you can always just look back on some of the best tweets of the year.

11. Take a break

There’s no hard and fast rule that says you’re never allowed to get up from the dinner table. If you need a break, take a break. Walk around the block, chill out in the bathroom, or head anywhere else you like for a little reprieve. 

You’re an adult! You can do whatever you want — with a few minor caveats. 

If things aren’t going great, do what you need to make yourself more comfortable. Sure, dinners can get tense, but you shouldn’t feel like you’re being tortured.

12. Use telemarketers to break up fights

Telemarketers Save Thanksgiving is a website that allows you to send a call to whatever phone you want, that will play a selection a soothing recording of your choosing.

You can choose to have the National Anthem, calming ambient sounds, and positive affirmations, among other non-antagonizing messages play when the telephone is answered. 

13. Eat through the pain

Look, we’ve all gathered for the food — and to be thankful, or whatever — so why not fully lean into the dinner.

Savor the smorgasbord of food at your table, compliment the dishes you like, and give thanks to whomever your host is. Everyone loves food, and almost everyone loves to talk about it, so why not make it your mission to discuss nothing but this year.

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a draft political declaration that sets out the terms of the post-Brexit relationship, according to European Council President Donald Tusk.

The draft declaration sets out an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership”, officials said on Thursday, according to the AFP news agency.

The UK and the EU have already agreed on the terms for the draft divorce deal. An agreement on the future relations paves the way for an EU summit this weekend to rubber-stamp them.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will make an “emergency statement” in parliament on Thursday at 14:30 GMT.

“The prime minister will make an emergency statement to the Commons later today,” the House of Commons said on Twitter.

Tusk said on Thursday that the EU executive informed him it has agreed on the text in principle and that the leaders of the 27 remaining EU states would screen the text on Thursday at a Brussels meeting.

“The Commission president has informed me that it has been agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level, subject to the endorsement of the leaders,” Tusk said.

He said that the British prime minister and the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, had discussed the text on Wednesday.

“The declaration established the parameters of an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic cooperation” and other areas, according to a copy of the document seen by the AFP.

Representatives from all 28 EU countries are set to meet on Friday to prepare for the weekend summit.

BBC Sport profiles Ghana and Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, a nominee for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award 2018.

Vote for your African Footballer of the Year 2018 here where you can find Terms and Privacy Notice. The vote closes on 2 December at 20:00 GMT.

The final result will be revealed in a programme broadcast on BBC World News on 14 December at 17:30 GMT.

Watch more: Best goals from AFOTY nominees

If you were wondering what exactly is contained within George RR Martin’s new 736-page epic Westeros history Fire and Blood, we now have a few more clues.

We already knew there were going to be dragons, and potentially some hints for Game of Thrones fans — but now we know one more thing Martin has managed to sneak in all those pages: a bit of erotica. 

Yep: during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the author confirmed as much.

“We do have, in Fire and Blood — you know it’s written by an Archmaester going back to primary sources — and there’s one particular incident where he has to, somewhat reluctantly, consult a book called ‘A Caution for Young Girls’ — which is basically erotica from Westeros,” explains Martin.

“That’s one reason I’ve really diverged from Tolkien… because there is no porn in Middle Earth.”

The United Nations special envoy to Yemen is expected to arrive in Yemeni city of Hodeidah as part of his renewed push for peace, as sporadic fighting continued in the strategic port city.

Martin Griffiths is spearheading the biggest push in two years to get the warring parties to join the upcoming peace negotiations aimed at ending almost four years of devastating conflict.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting for neighbouring Djibouti, said residents in Hodeidah say there is no meaningful ceasefire in place as there are still sporadic clashes near the city’s outskirts.

“When they announced that they were going to stop drone and ballistic missile attacks against their opponents, the Houthi fighters were categorical that they still have the right to defend their positions, which they have been fortifying in the past days,” Adow said.

The UN envoy arrived in the capital city of Sanaa on Wednesday, where he met the leaders of Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been in control of the Yemeni capital since 2014.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi rebels’ Higher Revolutionary Committee and an influential political figure, tweeted on Thursday that he “hopes there is no escalation in military operations by the coalition [Saudi-UAE] following Griffiths’s visit to Hodeida”.

Griffiths’ planned visit to Hodeidah, which has become the focus of the country’s ongoing war, comes a day after Mattis announced that talks would commence by early December in Sweden between Houthi rebels and the UN-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

An earlier peace talk between the government, supported by Saudi Arabia, and the Houthi rebels collapsed in September after Houthis could not show up.

Last week, Griffith said that Yemen’s parties have given “firm assurances” they are committed to attending peace talks to agree on a framework for peace under a transitional government.

But military officials say intermittent clashes have continued to erupt in the Red Sea city of Hodeida.

Fighting broke out followed a lull in violence earlier this month in Hodeidah as Saudi-UAE coalition warplanes reportedly carried out air attacks on Houthi positions.

The port city – the main gateway for imports of relief supplies and commercial goods into the country – is under Houthi control. In June, the Saudi-UAE alliance launched a wide-ranging operation to retake the strategic seaport.

According to Adow, Griffiths is keen on maintaining a ceasefire before taking the two sides to the negotiating table in Sweden.

He also said talks of the Houthis handing over the port to a third party is not looking feasible at the moment.

Years of war

Efforts to launch peace negotiators failed in September when the Houthis did not show up at the talks in Switzerland, saying they needed stronger security guarantees from the international community. The Saudi-UAE coalition has enforced a crippling air and sea blockade on the Middle East’s poorest country since March 2015.

Western allies, including the United States, have called for a ceasefire to end the nearly four-year-old war that has killed more than 10,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, and caused the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis.

UN agencies say up to 14 million Yemenis are at risk of starvation if the port of Hodeidah is closed by fighting or damage.

Aid group Save the Children reported on Wednesday that as many as 85,000 children may have starved to death in the past three years during its brutal war.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 to restore Hadi’s government, which was removed from Sanaa by the Houthis in 2014.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

James Corden, though a very funny and talented host, is just a muggle. But that’s not stopping him from trying to get licensed to do magic in the U.S. 

In a sketch on The Late Late Show, Corden showed up to a magic licensing test in his best muggle magician outfit, which failed to impress the strict Ministry of Magic official played by Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne.  

Turns out, card tricks, pulling scarves out of pockets, and dancing to Jock Jams doesn’t get you very far in a real wizarding exam. In fact, it will get you transfigured into a pig. 

Australia has unveiled plans to increase government powers to strip citizenship from people convicted of “terrorism”, and to control the movements of Australian fighters who return home from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday that his government wanted powers to expel anyone convicted of a “terrorist” offence, even native-born Australians, as he singled out Muslim leaders as having a “special responsibility” to prevent acts of violence commited by members of the community.

“People who commit acts of terrorism have rejected absolutely everything that this country stands for,” Morrison told a hastily organised press conference in Sydney.

“This is something that can’t be tolerated, and for those who would engage in this sort of activity, and they have citizenship elsewhere, or we have reason to believe they do, they can go.”

This comes a day after Muslim leaders in Australia boycotted a roundtable meeting called by the conservative leader, who has asked the Muslim community to do more to halt attacks in the country.

Community leaders in an open letter said they are “deeply concerned and disappointed” with statements made by the prime minister and senior officials, which “infer that the community is collectively culpable for the criminal actions of individuals and should be doing more to prevent such acts of violence”.

“These statements have achieved nothing to address underlying issues, but rather, have alienated large segments of the Muslim community,” they said in the letter published by Australian media.

Legislation to amend Citizenship Act 

Australia’s current Citizenship Act allows authorities to revoke citizenship from people jailed for six years or more for “terrorist” activities, but only if they are already dual nationals.

Morrison called these limits “unrealistic” and said the law should be broadened to strip citizenship from convicted “terrorists” if they could “reasonably” be expected to gain citizenship in another country through their parents or grandparents.

The conservative government will submit legislation to amend the Citizenship Act to enshrine these new powers, he said, in the final two-week parliamentary session of the year that begins on Monday.

His proposals came two days after police in the country’s second largest city, Melbourne, arrested three Australian-born men of Turkish descent for allegedly plotting a mass shooting in the city.

Less than two weeks earlier, a Somalia origin man went on a stabbing spree in Melbourne, killing one man and wounding two others before being fatally shot by police. 

Authorities said all four men were inspired by propaganda from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, even though none had any direct links to such organisations.

Legal challenges

Experts say the proposed legislation was likely to face legal challenges. 

“It is not clear that the commonwealth has the power to kick out people who have been here for many, many generations,” said Sangeetha Pillai, constitutional lawyer at the Kaldor Centre, University of New South.

“This legislation would make some people stateless at least temporary and in some cases, permanently.”

Morrison, the prime minister, said the law will also seek the power to impose “temporary exclusion orders” on so-called “returned foreign fighters” – Australian citizens who travel to conflict zones to fight alongside armed groups.    

Modelled on a British law, the provision would allow Australia to bar the return of a citizen for up to two years, and to impose strict conditions on their activities once they come home.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said there had been seven “terror-related” attacks in Australia while authorities had thwarted 15 other plots since 2014.

Nine people convicted of “terrorism” have already had their citizenship revoked under existing law, mainly for activities overseas, he added. 

“We assess there are around 50 Australian dual citizens who may be eligible to lose citizenship under the current provisions, and even more with the changes we are announcing today,” Dutton said.

Morrison and Dutton also said they would renew a push for controversial legislation which would allow authorities to break into encrypted messaging apps that police say are widely used by extremists and other criminals.

The law, which would force app developers and telecom companies to provide police with the ability to decrypt messages, has drawn strong criticism from civil liberties groups.

Morrison heads a minority coalition government that must call a national election before May 2019 but is trailing well behind the main opposition Labor Party in opinion polls.

As campaigning builds towards the election, Morrison and Dutton have led a tough law-and-order push around “terrorism” and immigration.

Robert Kubica is to race for Williams in 2019, completing a remarkable comeback eight years after a rally accident that nearly killed him.

The 33-year-old Pole suffered a partially severed right arm among many other injuries in the crash and still has partial movement in that limb.

A story of remarkable resilience and determination, it could go down as one of the greatest comebacks in sport.

Kubica will partner British rookie George Russell at Williams next season.

How Kubica’s career came off the rails

Kubica was poised to start a second season with Renault in 2011 when he crashed on a rally in northern Italy in February.

His car was penetrated by a road-side barrier and as well as inflicting multiple fracture and injuries on the right-hand side of his body, it also almost severed his arm.

For a time, his life was in danger, but Kubica started a long process of rehabilitation aimed at returning to the sport.

For several years, he felt he did not have enough movement in his arm to race in single-seaters, and he competed for three years in the World Rally Championship.

He then tried a series of different racing cars to see if he could be competitive in them, and a turning point came at the end of 2016 when he tried a simulator at the factory of Italian racing car constructor Dallara, and realised a return to F1 might now be possible.

In 2017, he conducted a series of tests with Renault, who eventually passed on the opportunity to sign him, and then began talks with Williams, who were poised to sign him for 2018 before a last-minute change of heart.

Why now and not last year?

Kubica and Russian Sergey Sirotkin tested together post-season in Abu Dhabi last November and Sirotkin proved quicker after the team had analysed their performances closely. Added to the fact that the Russian could supply more than twice as much funding for the team, the decision to pick Sirotkin felt to them to be simple.

However, Sirotkin’s performances in his debut season have not lived up to expectations, either of the team or his Russian backers, and he had much less money available for 2020.

At the same time, Kubica has continued to impress, running in three free practice sessions before Abu Dhabi, a number of tests and setting quick times in the team’s simulator. Added to funding from Poland said to be worth at least 10m euros, the balance has swung in his favour.

Force India driver and Mercedes protege Esteban Ocon was an option but Mercedes were not prepared to release the Frenchman for more than a year, while Williams wanted a driver it could potentially keep for longer.

How does he drive with one arm?

After a run at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Kubica said he “could make a comeback now” if he was given the chance.

He added: “Whatever is missing is only a question because I am doing it every two months – if something is missing.

“If I had a chance to drive every week, there is even more room to improve.”

In-car footage from Kubica’s car in practice sessions this year has made it clear that he is still unable to grip the steering wheel with his right hand.

Kubica explains that he has adapted to what he calls his “limitations” and has discovered that he does not necessarily need to hold the wheel tight with both hands to drive.

“After my accident, I discovered that to do a roundabout in the road car, you don’t have to grab the steering wheel, you can use friction to turn.

“F1 is not a road car, but I have been also in school where they give you a bird in the hand and you have to hold it [so] that it doesn’t fly away but you cannot hold it too much that it gets scared. This is the way you have to hold the steering wheel.

“Then, that it looks different than 10 years ago and to the others, I know. But the outcome is probably the same or nearly the same.”

There inevitably remain question marks about his absolute pace on track until it is proven, as well as the level of Williams’ competitiveness after the worst season in their history, but for now F1 has a heart-warming story of courage and redemption to take it into the winter after this weekend’s final race in Abu Dhabi.