The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) Prince William and Prince Harry joined the cast of Star Wars: The
Last Jedi at the films European premiere Tuesday, delighting fans who braved the
London cold for a glimpse of Hollywood stars and British royalty.

But cast and crew were silent on reports that the royal siblings make a cameo
appearance in the much-anticipated film.

The tuxedo-clad princes walked the red carpet at Londons Royal Albert Hall for the
black-tie gala, a benefit for their Royal Foundation charity though without
Williams pregnant wife, Kate, or Harrys fiancee, Meghan Markle.

Royal officials have refused to comment on reports that the princes recorded a
scene playing stormtroopers in the sci-fi saga when they visited the films set in
April 2016. At the time they were filmed meeting crew members, battling with light
sabers and hugging a Wookie.

Star John Boyega has said the royal duo filmed a scene during their visit to
Londons Pinewood Studios, though its unclear whether it made the final cut.

Cast members on the red carpet at Londons Royal Albert Hall pleaded ignorance

The Associated Press

RIYADH (AP) Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it will allow movie theaters to open
in the conservative kingdom next year, for the first time in more than 35 years, in
the latest social push by the countrys young crown prince.

It is a stark reversal in a county where movie theaters were shut down in the
1980s during a wave of ultraconservatism in the country. Many of Saudi Arabias
clerics view Western movies and even Arabic films made in Egypt and Lebanon as
sinful.

Despite decades of ultraconservative dogma, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has
sought to ram through a number of major social reforms with support from his
father, King Salman.

The crown prince is behind measures such as lifting a ban on women driving next
year and bringing back concerts and other forms of entertainment to satiate the
desires of the countrys majority young population. The 32-year-old heir to the
thrones social push is part of his so-called Vision 2030, a blueprint for the
country that aims to boost local spending and create jobs amid sustained lower oil
prices.

The Saudi government said a resolution was passed Monday paving the way for
licenses to be granted to commercial movie theaters, with the first cinemas
expected to open in March 2018.

Many Saudis took to Twitter to express their joy at the news, posting images of
buckets of movie theater popcorn and moving graphics of people dancing, fainting
and crying.

Its spectacular news. We are in a state of shock, said Saudi actor and producer,
Hisham Fageeh.

Fageeh starred in and co-produced the Saudi film Barakah Meets Barakah by
director Mahmoud Sabbagh, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival
in February. The movie, which has been called the kingdoms first romantic comedy,
tells the story of a civil servant who falls for a Saudi girl whose Instagram posts
have made her a local celebrity.
We are essentially pioneers because we all took risks to work in this industry,
he said. We were super lucky, because luck is always a factor of whether we make
it or not.

Even with the decades-long ban on movie theaters, Saudi filmmakers and movie buffs
were able to circumvent traditional censors by streaming movies online and watching
films on satellite TV

TOKYO (Reuters) Machinery orders bounced back in October with a faster increase
than expected, reaffirming the resilience of capital spending a key driver in the
economy's near two-year expansion.

Core machinery orders, a volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital

spending in the coming six to nine months, climbed 5 percent in October from the
previous month, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday.

The gain in core orders, which exclude those of ships and power generation
equipment, beat economists median estimate of a 3 percent increase. Orders fell
8.1 percent in September, the steepest drop in more than two years.

Capital spending investment in factories and equipment was a big contributor to

the economy's seventh straight quarter of growth in the July-September period, the
longest streak on record in data going back to 1994, making up for a rare decline
in consumer spending.

In the longer term, the government is urging companies to increase capital spending
to improve productivity in response to a shrinking labor force as the population
declines.

Machinery orders from manufacturers were especially strong in October, said Daiju
Aoki, UBS Securities regional chief investment officer for Japan.

In the fourth quarter, the manufacturing sector is very solid. I think that
exporters are benefiting from demand from China, and there's demand because of the
labor shortage," he said.

Orders from manufacturers rose 7.4 percent in October, led by chemical makers and
electronics manufacturers.

A Cabinet Office official said demand for machinery to make semiconductors and
smartphone-related parts was picking up as the economies of China and other Asian
countries recovered.

But non-manufacturers orders rose a more muted 1.1 percent, after an 11.1 percent
slide in September. They were supported by demand from shipping and postal firms.

UBS's Aoki said he was concerned about the non-manufacturing sector as consumer
sentiment had been hurt in part by higher food prices, which shoppers are reluctant
to accept at a time of slow wage growth.

So fourth-quarter machinery orders, from these numbers, could be close to flat

compared with the third quarter, he cautioned.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders increased 2.3 percent versus economists
expectations of a 2.8 percent fall.

The government maintained its assessment that machinery orders were showing signs
of picking up
By Yukako Fukushi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Confectionery art is a delicate process through which artists create lifelike
flowers, lace and other objects entirely out of sugar. Cookies and cupcakes
decorated with such art are not only visually appealing, but also tasty.

This style of baking also known as sugarcraft and sugar art usually involves
mixing sugar and egg whites to create icing, with which you can decorate baked
goods. Thicker icing with a clay-like texture is called sugar paste, with which you
can create flowers, ribbons and other objects.

The decorative technique is said to have drawn particular attention in the 19th
century thanks to the British Queen Victorias wedding cake. It is also popular in
Japan.

If you master the basics, you can do anything, from something really simple to
something really complex, said Yuka Sukegawa, an instructor at Tokyo SugarArt, a
school that teaches the craft not just to beginners, but also to those aiming to
turn professional.

SLIDE 1 OF 4PREVNEXT

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Cupcakes decorated with sugar art

Many decorate Styrofoam shapes rather than cakes if the work is for a competition
or intended for long-term use. Sugar will not noticeably deteriorate even when
preserved for an extended period. It is even exempted from the Food Labeling Law,
which requires printing a best-before date on food packaging. Decorations using
icing and sugar paste can also last a long time.

After lightly rolling sugar paste over a slightly firm cake or Styrofoam shape, you
can decorate the surface with patterns by squeezing a pastry bag containing icing.
Sugar paste can also be used to create roses, which are a feature of confectionery
art, as the sugar petals capture the softness of real roses.

A special tool may also be pressed against the paste to create distinctive, quilt-
like patterns.

Beginners should start by decorating cookies or cupcakes with icing. The baked
goods can be made at home or purchased at a store.

To create icing, add 250 grams of sugar to 35 grams of egg whites little by little
and stir with a mixer on the low setting until it looks glossy. The following steps
are illustrated in the photos numbered 1 to 4.

1. To write script or create patterns using icing, make icing stiff enough to form
peaks after removing the mixer.

2. If you want to cover a large surface with icing, add a little water to the
mixture to soften it. To color the icing, add food coloring, which can be found at
baking supply shops and elsewhere.

3. Fill a pastry bag with the softer icing and draw the outline of a heart on a
cookie. Make sure to completely fill in the hearts interior.

4. Once the surface has completely dried, use the white icing to write a message or
add decorations. The process takes about 15 minutes, excluding time needed for
drying.

[Sweets featuring confectionery art] can make for nice little gifts, Sukegawa
said. Have fun making whatever you want.

Fine lace art

Confectionery artwork featured at exhibitions or in contests is especially well

decorated. For example, one of Sukegawas submissions for an overseas contest, made
to resemble a wedding cake, was decorated with intricate lacework and won an award.

The prize-winning cake combines several techniques, such as drawing straight lines,
scalloping and dotting. Sukegawa also took into consideration the balance of colors
across the entire cake, making the creation a true work of art

The Associated Press

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) The Miami Dolphins wore their perfect season uniforms,
and for at least one game in 2017, they looked the part.

Tom Brady was intercepted twice by Xavien Howard and held without a third-down
conversion Monday night, and Miami snapped the New England Patriots eight-game
winning streak with a surprising 27-20 victory.

The Dolphins (6-7) were 11-point underdogs at home, but they kept the Patriots (10-
3) from clinching their ninth consecutive AFC East title at least for another
week.

It was a bad night, Brady said. Weve had a lot of good nights this year. This
was a bad night.

Brady went 24 for 43 for 233 yards and one touchdown. Miami sacked him twice and
hit him five times, and held the Patriots to 25 yards rushing. New England was 0
for 11 on third down.

Our focus every game is to hit the quarterback as hard as we can and make him
uncomfortable, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. I think we did a pretty good
job of it.

The Dolphins Jay Cutler threw for 263 yards and three scores, including two to
Jarvis Landry. Kenyan Drake had 114 yards rushing and 79 receiving.

A Brady touchdown pass cut the deficit to 10 points with 13 minutes left, but the
Patriots next three possessions netted 5 yards. After a New England field goal,
Miami sealed the victory by recovering an onside kick with 53 seconds to go.

This gives us a boost, Cutler said. Winning is what keeps you in this game. The
locker room after a game, theres nothing like it.

The Dolphins wore their 1972 uniforms, and for the first time in four prime-time
appearances this season, they rose to the occasion. Miami tried to turn the game
into a laugher in the third quarter when Landry caught a touchdown pass and then
set the ball down in the end zone and pumped it repeatedly a reference to the
Patriots Deflategate scandal.

Its all about taking the air out of the ball, Landry said.

Coach Adam Gase beat New England for the first time in four tries. His team snapped
the Patriots 14-game road winning streak, second-best ever behind San Franciscos
18 in a row from 1988-90.

Gase threw a lot of wrinkles at the Patriots early, with tight end MarQueis Gray
and receivers Landry and Jakeem Grant taking turns lining up in the backfield.

We used a lot of guys, Cutler said. We were mixing it up. Adam was dialing it up
well.

Cutler spun out of the grasp of blitzing safety Jordan Richards to throw a
completion that kept Miamis first touchdown drive going.

The 1.70-meter Grant made a leaping catch against Malcolm Butler for his first
career touchdown reception, a 25-yarder.

Meanwhile, the Patriots sputtered without tight end Rob Gronkowski, who served a
one-game suspension for a late hit to the head of an opponent.

We got beat in all three areas of the game, coach Bill Belichick said

The Associated Press

SEOUL (AP) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thanked workers during a visit to a
factory that built the tires for a huge vehicle used to transport a new
intercontinental ballistic missile that was test-launched this week, the countrys
media reported Sunday.

The launch of the Hwasong-15 ICBM in violation of international sanctions was

celebrated Friday with a massive public rally and fireworks in Pyongyang.

At the tire factory, Kim complimented workers for manufacturing the large-size
tires for the 9-axle missile truck without relying on imported equipment and called
for efforts to raise production to satisfy the daily-increasing needs in
developing the countrys economy and beefing up national defense capabilities, the
Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday.

Kim in September tasked the Amnokgang Tire Factory to make the tires for the great
event in November, the agency reported

TOKYO (Reuters) Toyota Motor Corp and Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday they are
considering jointly developing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), a partnership
that could help Panasonic extend its market lead in automotive lithium-ion
batteries.

The announcement builds on an existing agreement under which Panasonic manufactures

batteries for Toyotas gasoline-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Toyota said last year it was planning to add fully electric vehicles to its product
line-up in a shift away from its previous green-car strategy of focusing on plug-in
hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles. It has said it plans to start marketing pure EVs in
the early 2020s.

Panasonic is the main EV battery supplier for luxury U.S. car maker Tesla Inc. The
electronics firm commands 29 percent of the market for batteries used in plug-in
hybrids and EVs, showed Nomura Research data for the first half of 2017.

Nearest rival LG Chem Ltd holds 13 percent of the market, followed by Chinas BYD
Co. at 10 percent and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) at 9 percent