May tours Europe in bid to save Brexit deal

Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May faced sympathy but firm refusals on a desperate tour of European capitals on Tuesday, with EU leaders ruling out any renegotiation of the Brexit deal. A day after she postponed a crucial vote on the deal in the British parliament, May said she was meeting EU counterparts in an attempt to receive “reassurances”. May had breakfast with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague before heading to Berlin for lunch with Chancellor Angela Merkel and then travelled on to Brussels. After meeting May, Merkel told lawmakers of her CDU/CSU bloc that she saw “no way to change” the agreement, said sources at the MPs’ meeting. May faced criticism from all sides in parliament over provisions in the EU withdrawal agreement concerning Northern Ireland, which she hopes could persuade her rebellious Conservative party to support it. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said ahead of meeting May that he was “surprised” at being asked for more talks since EU leaders had given their approval to the deal at an extraordinary summit on November 25. “The deal we have achieved is the best deal possible, it’s the only deal possible,” he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation but of course there is room if used intelligently, to give further clarification and further interpretations.” – ‘Govern or quit’ – MPs in the House of Commons were due to vote on the deal on Tuesday night, but May deferred it on Monday, admitting she expected to lose by a “significant margin”. Her spokesman on Tuesday said the vote would be rescheduled before January 21 — just months before Britain leaves the EU on March 29. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is now facing calls to table a no-confidence vote in the prime minister, but is holding off as the party believes May is likely to win. This hesitation has caused tensions with the Scottish National Party (SNP), which has said it wants Labour to table a no-confidence motion on Tuesday. Eurosceptic MPs in May’s Conservative party have also repeated calls for her to be replaced, with one warning it was time to “govern or quit”. EU President Donald Tusk, who met May in Brussels, has called a meeting of the other 27 EU leaders on Thursday to discuss the latest Brexit developments. They were already due to attend a European Council summit with May on Thursday and Friday, which the British prime minister is expected to use to further press her case. Culled from The Punch

John Cena Receives SI Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, Calls It A Big Night For WWE

John Cena received the 2018 Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his leadership as a philanthropist on Tuesday night. The award was created in 2008 and renamed after Ali in 2015. Bill Russell, Colin Kaepernick, Jack Nicklaus, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown and Earvin "Magic" Johnson have received the award in the past. Cena was presented the award at SI's Sportsperson of the Year event at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles while WWE SmackDown was being held in Las Vegas. SI has praised Cena for his more than 600 Make-A-Wish Wishes in addition to his breast cancer awareness work. As seen below, Cena accepted the award on behalf of WWE and made it clear that WWE is still his top priority, despite the reduced schedule and work in Hollywood. "I've just been given the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award here at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards," Cena said. "It's truly moving to see some of of those moments back and get to re-live some of those moments. To be mentioned in the same sentence as Ali, let alone a respectable comparison, comparable legacy is simply incredible. I just wanted to say that I accepted this award tonight on behalf of all the WWE Superstars because I believe if put in my shoes, they would all make the exact same choice. "Tonight is a wonderful night for WWE because here I am, a sports entertainer, being awarded a tremendous honor among athletes. It's not something that probably would have happened a few years ago but it's amazing to see culture change, and people have open minds about what we do, and accept us for just being damn good at what we do. I'm actually sending this award to Connecticut so it's going to be displayed in WWE headquarters because that's where it belongs. It's part of all of us, it's for all of us. I'm headed onto Hong Kong to keep that legacy thing going. Like I said, I love what I do and I'm going to be doing what I love and tonight was a tremendous honor. So thank you, Sports Illustrated." Cena also took to Twitter and commented on the big night being for those in WWE. He wrote, "Tonight was for "us." The privilege we have to entertain fans young and old has opened to the possibilities of what can be accomplished in and out of the ring. Thank you @SINow for this amazing honor and @TheRealLailaAli @ikebarinholtz for presenting tonight. Now...back to work!" Cena is currently promoting the new Bumblebee movie, the Transformers-spinoff movie that he stars in. He's headed back to China to continue working on the "Project X-traction" movie with Jackie Chan. Cena is scheduled to return to the ring for WWE at RAW and SmackDown live events this month, beginning with the December 26 show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Cena's WWE TV return is currently scheduled for the January 7, 2019 RAW in Orlando. WWE has Cena booked for only red brand events after January 1. Cena has not wrestled since the WWE Super Show-Down event in Australia back on October 6. He teamed with Bobby Lashley to defeat Elias and Kevin Owens that night. Culled from Wrestlinginc

Biological Man May Win Miss Universe, Hopes to Send Trans Message to Trump

A transgender contestant is being considered a frontrunner to win the Miss Universe competition over the rest of the biologically female contestants. Angela Ponce won the qualifying rounds in Spain and will represent that country at the upcoming 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok, Thailand on Dec. 16. "It would be a win for human rights," Ponce said in an interview with Time Magazine. "Trans women have been persecuted and erased for so long. If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as much women as cis women." Ponce was born a male, but underwent gender reassignment surgery. The Blast reports online bookies are slating Ponce to win as a fan favorite. The pageant began allowing transgender women to compete in 2012 after a Canadian transgender model filed a lawsuit. Ponce wrote on Instagram after winning Miss Universe Spain in June: "My goal is to be a spokesperson for a message of inclusion, respect and diversity not only for the LGBTQ+ community but also for the entire world." Critics have said if Ponce wins the competition it'll be a another sign of political correctness run amok. The model said a win would send a message to President Donald Trump, who used to own the pageant and didn't allow transgender contestants. Culled from Cbn news