staged a paparazzi run-in with a photog Wednesday night so he could make (and possibly sell) a video commenting on the Vegas massacre.
O.J Simpson was having dinner at a posh Vegas country club where our photog overheard him planning a TMZ-style video shoot. He was going over the shoot with the people at his table.
When he got to the parking lot, it was lights, camera action and O.J. offered up his "thoughts and prayers" while his friend recorded.
Our photog fired up his camera to ask some questions, but apparently that really screwed things up. O.J.'s photog tries to run our guy out of the shot, but Simpson realized his plan had been foiled and beelined it for his car.
The situation is almost identical to the paparazzi "run-in" at a Nevada gas station after O.J. was released -- when Simpson acted shocked someone had found him in the middle of the desert, yet still gabbed away.
It all begs the question ... is O.J. getting paid for the pap shots? How much? And will the money get to the families of the people he killed? And, if Simpson's taking money under the table, that could violate federal tax law and O.J. could go back to the big house.
Mark Salling (pictured in 2016) starred in the musical series Glee for six years
Former Glee actor Mark Salling has pleaded guilty to possession of images of child sex abuse.
Salling, 35, now faces between four and seven years in prison and has been ordered to pay about $50,000 (£38,000) to each victim.
The actor was arrested in 2015 after a tip off he was in possession of images of children being sexually abused.
Investigators eventually found thousands of images on his laptop and hard drive.
Salling was charged with two counts of receiving and possessing images of child sexual abuse in May 2016, and faced a possible 20 years behind bars.
But documents obtained by several outlets show he has entered into a plea deal with California's district attorney.
As part of the agreement, Salling will be subject to 20 years supervised release and will have strict restrictions placed on his contact with under-18s, according to celebrity website TMZ.
Salling played bad-boy football player Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the hit US show Glee from 2009 to 2015.
Sir Anthony Hopkins will play King Lear, with Emma Thompson as daughter Goneril
Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson are reuniting on screen to star in Shakespeare's King Lear for the BBC.
It will be adapted and directed by Richard Eyre and will also feature Emily Watson, Jim Broadbent, Christopher Eccleston and Jim Carter.
Filming on the co-production with Amazon Studios starts this month and it will be on BBC Two in 2018.
Sir Anthony and Thompson previously starred in Oscar-nominated films The Remains of the Day and Howard's End.
Thompson and Sir Anthony starred in The Remains of the
King Lear will be set in a fictional version of the present day, with Sir Anthony's Lear presiding over a totalitarian military dictatorship in England.
Thompson will play his eldest daughter Goneril, Emily Watson will play middle daughter Regan, and Florence Pugh will be the youngest, Cordelia.
Richard Eyre directed Emma Thompson in The Children Act
Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, said: "Richard Eyre has assembled an unmissable cast to embody his vision for a timeless but deeply resonant screen adaptation of King Lear."
Jim Broadbent will play the Earl of Gloucester and Sherlock star Andrew Scott will play his son Edgar.
Downton Abbey's Jim Carter will play the Earl of Kent, with Christopher Eccleston as Oswald.
Also in the cast are Tobias Menzies, Anthony Calf, Karl Johnson and John Macmillan.
Thompson has just filmed another movie with Eyre, The Children Act, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
Will occupants in self-drive cars be considered as drivers?
Drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs should be exempt from drink-drive laws if they are using autonomous cars, an Australian report has suggested.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has recommended the change, comparing it to someone getting into a taxi.
Current laws could be a "barrier" to the adoption of such vehicles, it said.
Many countries are considering updates to the laws of the road to accommodate autonomous vehicles.
The NTC has been tasked with looking at the legislative changes necessary as self-drive vehicles become common on Australia's roads.
Such cars have already been trialled in the country, and commercial rollouts are expected by 2020.
A Google self-driving car being tested in California
The report considers many aspects of the law changes necessary to accommodate such vehicles, but one of the key issues it addresses is deciding who would be responsible - the person in the vehicle or the autonomous driving system (ADS) that is operating it.
"The NTC believes that the introduction of automated vehicles will have overall safety benefits for the road network by reducing the risk of human error," the report says.
"Enabling people to use an automated vehicle to drive them home despite having consumed alcohol has the potential to improve road-safety outcomes by reducing the incidence of drink-driving."
It does not recommend drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs be exempt if they are in semi-autonomous vehicles or cars that allow a switch-over to manual driving.
Ben Gardner, an associate at law firm Pinsent Masons, said that the technology had a long way to go before such changes would become necessary.
"The technology is not quite there for full autonomous vehicles and, as long as we require a human to gain control if needed, it would not be right for them to get drunk," he said.
A recent report from Pew Research indicated 87% of US adults favoured policies that would see a person in the driver's seat who could take control of an autonomous vehicle if needed.
And 83% thought such vehicles should travel in dedicated lanes.
Instagram has been criticised after adding a feature to its app that reveals which way people have voted.
Users can add a poll when adding a picture to their Instagram "story", and can see what their followers choose.
Many users said they did not realise their choice would be visible to the poll instigator, and some said they had made embarrassing mistakes.
Instagram said users were warned that their vote would not be anonymous, the first time they engaged with a poll.
People's choices are revealed to the user who instigated the poll
It also announced the feature on its blog, however not every Instagram user will have read it.
Some people said they had cast questionable votes on polls, such as "Do I look cute?" or "Do you like my art?" without realising their choice would be shared.
Rival social network Twitter also lets people create polls, but it does not reveal how people voted.
Instagram said in a statement: "We love how the community is embracing the poll sticker to get their friends and followers' opinions.
"The first time a user sees the poll sticker, they see a notification informing them that the story creator will be able to see how they voted."
There are about 500 Japanese gardens around the world, such as this one at the World War Two-era Manzanar internment camp for Japanese-Americans in California
Japan is to send gardening experts around the world to restore Japanese-style gardens that have fallen into a state of neglect, officials say.
The gardens have unique features such as stone bridges, ponds, moss-covered paths, stone lanterns and carefully tended miniature trees.
Local gardeners have been overwhelmed by the task of maintaining them.
There are about 500 Japanese gardens around the world of which 40 are in disrepair, the land ministry said.
They require pruning, new plants and trees, and work on traditional stone lanterns that have fallen over.
Officials say the plan is a way of promoting Japanese culture abroad.
The gardens are used by Japanese groups abroad for tea ceremonies, festivals and other events to introduce people to Japanese culture, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.
Embassies have asked the government in Tokyo for help to restore the gardens, AFP news agency reported.
The land ministry says it will send a five-person team to rebuild Japanese gardens in Romania and the US state of California later this year.
The ministry also plans to hold lectures and provide manuals to enable local gardeners to maintain the gardens.
The first overseas Japanese garden was created by the Japanese government in 1873 as part of the Vienna World Expo, and the interest it sparked led to more being built.
Further Japanese gardens were created abroad as part of diplomatic initiatives after World War Two.
The gardens measure about 5,000sq m (1.23 acres) each and are present in more than 100 countries, the Asahi Shimbun said.
Devotees rushed to help the victims following the blast outside the shrine
At least 18 people have been killed and 27 injured in a suicide attack on a Sufi Muslim shrine in Pakistan's south-western province of Baluchistan.
Crowds of devotees had gathered for a three-day religious ceremony when the blast happened.
The shrine is in Jhal Magsi, near the provincial capital Quetta.
The bomber reportedly detonated his explosives after being stopped at the gate of the shrine by a policeman. The officer was killed.
"The suicide bomber struck outside the shrine at a time when it was packed with people attending anniversary celebrations of Syed Cheesal Shah," said local official Asad Kakar, referring to a Sufi saint.
The police officer's actions in stopping the bomber entering the shrine reduced the number of casualties, Baluchistan home minister Sarfraz Bugti told Reuters.
Security forces have sealed off the building, Pakistani media reported.
It is unclear who carried out the attack, but Sufi shrines have been increasingly targeted by Islamist extremists in recent years.
They view Sufism as heretical.
Pakistan's Sufis under attack from Islamic hard-liners
What is Sufism?
Will Pakistan ever stamp out extremism?
In February at least 80 people were killed in an attack on a shrine in Sehwan in southern Sindh province. So-called Islamic State said it was behind that attack.
Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam which spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the 13th Century.
Sufis believe in saints who can intercede for them directly with God. Several million Muslims in Pakistan are believed to follow Sufism's tenets.
Pravin Soyam, 23, died from inhaling a deadly cocktail of pesticide
The government in the western state of Maharashtra has ordered a probe after suspected pesticide poisoning killed at least 50 farmers. Journalist Jaideep Hardikar reports from Yavatmal district, one of the worst affected areas.
Pravin Soyam, 23, was in perfect health when he suddenly developed a chest pain, followed by vomiting and nausea. Then, he became completely disoriented. He died a day later, on 27 September, at a government hospital.
Doctors who attended to him suspected that Mr Soyam was yet another victim of pesticide poisoning in Maharashtra. They believe he fell sick after inhaling a deadly cocktail of pesticides that he had sprayed on his family's cotton field two days earlier.
At least 50 farmers have died from suspected pesticide poisoning in Maharashtra since July, according to officials and media reports. As the death toll continues to rise, the BJP-led state government has ordered an inquiry.
Most of the deaths - 19 - were reported from Yavatmal district, a major cotton-growing area that has often been in the news for farmers' suicides.
More than 800 farmers in the district were also admitted to hospitals during that time, officials said.
Most of the deaths occurred in a major cotton-growing region
Farmers in Yavatmal, who mainly grow cotton, soybean and lentils, told the BBC that they use a highly potent mix of pesticides, both in powder and liquid form.
They also cultivate a genetically modified variety of cotton, which is supposed to be resistant to bollworms, a pest that attacks cotton crops.
But many farmers have said that bollworms still attacked their crops this year, which led them to increase their use of pesticides.
Why a problem of plenty is hurting India's farmers
How drought is changing rural India
Nikesh Kathane, 21, said he collapsed after spraying pesticide on his crops for seven days in a row.
"I had a very heavy head and I could not see anything," he said while recuperating in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the local hospital.
Mr Kathane, who is out of danger now, said he would never use pesticides again.
In fact, many farmers who spoke to the BBC said they had stopped spraying pesticides for fear of falling sick.
"This is a very unusual phenomenon," Dr Ashok Rathod, dean of the local government hospital told the BBC, adding that the hospital usually treated farmers who deliberately consumed pesticide.
Doctors have said treating accidental poisoning was harder because they can't wash the stomach to remove traces of poison that have been ingested. Inhaling pesticides also affects the respiratory system.Doctors in the area have said they first noticed cases of suspected pesticide poisoning in the last week of July. They admitted 41 patients displaying similar symptoms - vomiting, dizziness, respiratory problems, visual impairment and disorientation.
The figure rose to 111 in August, and more than doubled to 300 in September.
At least 10 of the farmers who are currently being treated at the hospital are on life support, while 25 others have suffered visual impairment, hospital authorities said.
In September, district officials asked agriculture scientists to do a field study to investigate the spate of deaths and illnesses.
The resulting report blamed farmers for not taking precautions while spraying the crop. It said they had not used a prescribed protection kit, eye-glasses or gloves.
Mr Soyam's father, Bhaurao admitted that his son did not follow the safety measures before using the pesticide.
But he said that his son had sprayed pesticides without protective gear in the past as well. So what happened this time?
Had the farmers used a spurious pesticide? Were they using a new formulation they weren't aware of? Had there been any advisories?
Back in Mr Soyam's home, his brother, Namdev, pulled out packets of pesticides that they had sprayed.
"It could have easily been me," he said, staring at a framed photograph of his brother.
Pro-independence demonstrations have continued, following Sunday's referendum Spain's Constitutional Court has suspended next Monday's session of the Catalan parliament, in a bid to pre-empt a possible push for independence.
The court said such a move would be "a breach of the constitution".
Earlier Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned Catalonia's regional government against declaring independence after a disputed vote last Sunday.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont had indicated that he could make such a declaration at next week's session.
The court's ruling on Thursday upheld a challenge not from the government in Madrid, but by the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, which opposes secession from Spain.
Allowing the regional parliament to meet and declare independence, the court said, would violate the rights of the party's MPs.
An earlier ruling by the court aimed at stopping Sunday's vote was ignored by Catalonia's leaders. That challenge to the court had come from Spain's government, which condemned the referendum as illegal.
The socialists won almost 13% of the vote in the 2015 election, and has 13 MPs in the 135-seat regional parliament.Organisers of Sunday's vote put the turnout at 42%, with 2.2 million people taking part. They say 90% voted for independence, however they have not published final results. There have been several claims of irregularities.
There was violence at polling stations as police, trying to enforce a Spanish court decision to ban the vote, attempted to seize ballot boxes and disperse voters.
How the crisis escalated
1 October: Catalonia holds banned referendum on independence, defying Spanish government and a Constitutional Court ruling; Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says the independence camp has won.
2 October: The European Commission says it regards the referendum as illegal and an independent Catalonia would be outside the EU.
3 October: In a TV address, King Felipe said referendum organisers had showed their "disrespect to the powers of the state" and broken the rule of law.
4 October: Mr Puigdemont says a declaration of independence will come within days; the government says it will not give in to "blackmail"
5 October: Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy urges Catalan leaders not to declare independence. Constitutional Court bans session of Catalan parliament due on Monday.
Also on Thursday, the board of Sabadell, a major bank, decided to transfer its headquarters from Barcelona to the south-eastern Spanish city of Alicante.
CaixaBank, another large Barcelona-based institution, is reported to be considering a similar move. This would ensure the banks remained within the eurozone and under the supervision of the European Central Bank.
Rajoy's gambit
Analysis by BBC Europe Editor Katya Adler, Madrid
Mariano Rajoy is famous for his "wait-and-see" attitude in crises. He's more of a technocrat than a passionate politician. So far, it's served him well. While not wildly popular, he remains very much in control of Spain's central government.
But the Catalan question is risky for him. His apparent inertia this week is coming under fire from the Spanish left - who want him to start a dialogue with Catalan separatists - and the harder right who want him to take immediate action, shutting the Catalan government down, bringing the reins of power back to Madrid. Spaniards call it "the nuclear option".
In a nod to them on Thursday, Mr Rajoy warned of "greater damage" if Catalan separatists went ahead with a unilateral declaration of independence. Spain's constitutional court has now banned Monday's meeting of the Catalan parliament where that declaration was expected to be made.
While this may appear a setback for the separatists, they have ignored court rulings before. But Mr Rajoy hopes the weight of Spanish law will now serve to divide Catalonia's pro-independence parties - which range from the moderate to the radical - and weaken their resolve.
A secessionist group is campaigning for independence in south-eastern Nigeria
In our series of letters from African journalists, novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes that many of the hopes Nigerians had at independence have been dashed.
Of all the stories I have heard of the day when Nigeria gained independence from Britain on 1 October 1960, the most memorable is the one told by my friend's father, Onye Kamanu, who had spent the preceding night at Tafawa Balewa Square in the then capital, Lagos.
Sitting on the surrounding walls and bare ground were thousands of Nigerians, who, like him, could hardly wait to usher in the day that their country would finally be free from colonial rule.
'Joy and pride'
With tears in his eyes, Mr Kamanu recalled the occasion, describing the deafening bellow of triumph that went up from the teeming crowd when the British Union Jack finally went down and the green-white-green Nigerian flag was hoisted.
Nigeria's then Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa captured the mood of the entire nation during his Independence Day speech.
"This is a wonderful day and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience. Words cannot adequately express my joy and pride at being the Nigerian citizen privileged to accept from Her Royal Highness these constitutional instruments which are the symbols of Nigeria's independence," he said.
"It is a unique privilege which I shall remember forever, and it gives me strength and courage as I dedicate my life to the service of our country," he added.
Shortly after witnessing the historic event, Mr Kamanu received a scholarship to study at an American university. Throughout the journey by sea, he was fed little else but macaroni and cheese, hence his subsequent lifelong abhorrence of the meal.
'Full splendour'
Once in the US, he boasted to his classmates about the future of Nigeria, Africa's most populous state.
"Nigeria is going to be a world power in the next few years," he said. "Oh, you just wait and see."
Mr Kamanu was certain that, with the coloniser gone and with the advent of self-rule, Nigeria would soon bound forth like a racehorse released from its stall.
That same year, a total of 17 African states celebrated their independence from the UK, France and Belgium.
I understand that a cartoon at the time depicted the map of Africa as a growing giant bursting out of its chains.
Nigeria: Key facts
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
1960: Independence from Britain
1966: Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa (above, right) killed in a coup
1967: Civil war breaks out over secessionist attempt in south-east
1999: Military government hands over power after elections
2009: Militant Islamist group Boko Haram launches insurgency in north-east
2015: Muhammadu Buhari wins presidential election; first opposition candidate to do so
Clearly, Mr Kamanu was not the only one with high hopes. Others also expected that a continent, blessed with natural resources and hard-working people, would arise in her full splendour and shine.
About 40 years after independence, Mr Kamanu travelled from Nigeria to attend his college reunion in the US. His classmates remembered how loudly he had boasted.
"I thought you said Nigeria was going to be a world power?" they asked, giggling and nudging one another. "So, Onye, what happened?"
A lot happened.
Within six years of his emotional speech, Mr Balewa was assassinated in a coup.
About a year later, Nigeria plunged into a civil war after member of the Igbo ethnic group tried to secede and form the breakaway state of Biafra in the south-east.
Three years of war eventually ended and three decades of coups and dictatorships followed.
Human rights abuses and pillaging of the nation's vast resources by those in power carried on with little restraint.
Nigeria finally found her way back on to her feet with the return to democracy in 1999.
The giant of Africa leaped several steps forward in March 2015 when the government of Goodluck Jonathan was voted out, the will of the people prevailing, for the first time, over the power of an incumbent.
That historic election of President Muhammadu Buhari led many Nigerians to be as optimistic as Mr Kamanu was in 1960 about the country's future.
But barely two years later, some of the forces that derailed Nigeria then are once again flashing their sharp talons.Particularly alarming are the ethnic agitations sounding from almost all parts of the country, especially from the south-east where clashes between the military and the separatist group, the Independent Peoples of Biafra (Ipob), have led to the loss of life and property.
In the media and in daily conversation, Nigerians continue to express their fears about how much more ferocious the crisis could become if not handled with immense care.
As my country celebrates her 57th year of independence, my prayer is that the Nigerian government will handle these agitations with compassion and great wisdom.
Surely none of us wants to look back at this era of hope and struggle to answer the question: "What happened?"
Cardiff was the host city for the 2017 Champions League Final as Real Madrid were crowned champions
The Football Association could bid to host the Champions League final in 2023, according to confidential UK Sport documents obtained by the BBC.
The game is one of a number of "hosting targets" and a "strategic priority".
The staging of parts of the Tour de France in 2021 and athletics' World Championships in Birmingham "in 2027 or 2029", are also listed as ambitions.
UK Sport says it is "actively considering the feasibility of mega events in a number of other sports".
The funding agency has announced it is investing almost £30m over the next eight years "to maintain the country's position as a world-leading host of major sporting events".
Wembley Stadium hosted the Champions League final in 2011 and 2013, and will stage the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020.
The FA declined to comment, but has already announced plans to bid for the 2021 Uefa European Women's Championships, which is also listed in the documents as a "hosting target".
It is understood the FA would like to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Wembley in 2023 by hosting the final of Europe's premier club competition.
Since the London 2012 Olympic Games, Britain has hosted a series of major events, including the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the start of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, the rugby World Cup in 2015 and the World Athletics Championships and women's Cricket World Cup earlier this summer.
Last week it confirmed it was backing Birmingham's £750m bid to stage the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
If successful, BBC Sport understands the government is also now interested in exploring the possibility of the city's redeveloped Alexander Stadium hosting the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2027 or 2029.
Other events already secured include the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup, the 2018 Boccia World Championships, the 2019 Netball World Cup and the 2019 World Road Cycling Championships.
The 2019 Men's Cricket World Cup, 2019 Solheim Cup, and 2021 Rugby League World Cup will also be staged in Britain.
Projections of staged, secured and target events from UK Sport's 2017-2025 hosting programme include 7.2m spectators and an anticipated economic impact of more than £440m.
Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch said: "The UK has an incredible track record of hosting some of the biggest events in sport that help showcase the best of Britain to the world, make a significant contribution to the economy and encourage people to get involved in sport as volunteers and participants.
"We want to keep up our standing as a world leader in this area and UK Sport's ambitious events strategy over the next eight years will help us do just that."
The gunman behind Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas planned to flee, and he may have had help with planning the massacre, officials suspect.
Stephen Paddock was "living a secret life, much of which would never be fully understood", Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters.
The gunman's girlfriend said she had no idea what he was plotting.
Paddock's motive for killing 58 people in the largest mass shooting in modern US history remains a mystery.
Police found the 64-year-old former accountant dead in a room on the 32nd floor of a hotel after he sprayed bullets on concert-goers below, injuring hundreds.
He apparently turned one of his many guns on himself as police closed in.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Clark County Sheriff Lombardo was asked if he saw evidence that Paddock had planned to escape after the attack.
The sheriff said "yes". Asked what it was, he said: "I can't tell you."
Republicans open to ban on gun device
Sheriff Lombardo was asked by a reporter if he thought Paddock had carried out the attack alone.
"You've got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point," the sheriff replied.
"Maybe he's a super guy, maybe he was working out all this on his own, but it would be hard for me to believe that."
The possibility that Paddock could have had an accomplice is a twist in the investigation.
Living with a monster
They died in each other's arms
Las Vegas urges Trump to act
In the aftermath of the shooting officials described him as "a lone wolf" and said he was "solely responsible for this heinous act".
The FBI's Aaron Rouse said no link to terrorism had been found so far, but they would not discard the possibility.
Police are investigating whether the mass murderer originally planned to targeted other music festivals.
Chicago police said they were looking into reports that Paddock booked a hotel room in August overlooking the Lollapalooza music festival in the Illinois city.
Former President Barack Obama's daughters were among the thousands of revellers.
It has also emerged that a week before his massacre, Paddock booked into a central Las Vegas apartment.
It was in a high-rise tower overlooking another open-air concert, Life is Beautiful, where acts included Muse, Lorde and Chance the Rapper.
The sheriff said more than 100 investigators had been combing through "disturbed and dangerous" Paddock's life.
Some 33 of the 47 weapons the suspect owned were bought in the past year.
LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: TIMELINE
75 minutes from first shots to 'suspect down'
22:05
First shots fired by Paddock
22:12 Officers reach 31st floor and report gunfire coming from floor above
22:15 Last shots fired into the concert crowd
22:18 Security guard on 32nd floor tells police he has been shot and points them to room
23:20 Swat teams enter gunman's room. They find 'one suspect down'
