'Star Wars: The Last Jedi': Everything we know so far

Oh my Skywalker! "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is approaching fast. And ever since the first trailer's premiere at Star Wars Celebration in April, we've been fed a healthy diet of clues regarding what to expect when Mark Hamill's Luke, Daisy Ridley's Rey and the rest of the characters in a galaxy far, far away return to movie screens.

While we have absolutely no early intelligence about the movie's plot, let's lead off with the 100 percent spoiler-free details for anyone who's been avoiding online trailers, toys and any other possible hints about what they might find when the film debuts.

When you can watch 'The Last Jedi'

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opens in the US, UK and Australia on Thursday 14 December. Tickets went on sale in October and many screenings have already sold out, but it certainly couldn't hurt to check with your local movie theater to grab an opening-weekend seat. Take a restroom break before the movie begins, as it will be the longest Star Wars film so far with a runtime of 2 hours, 30 minutes. (Pro tip: Just in case I have to go mid-film, I use the RunPee app on my phone, which recommends the best times to take a quick break). http://hulumagazine.com

Who's in it?

  Nearly everyone in 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is returning in one way or another. That includes legacy actors Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and the late Carrie Fisher in her final portrayal of Leia Organa. (We're not holding our breath for a reprise of Harrison Ford's Han Solo.) Newer faces like Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma and Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron will also continue their stories. CGI-wise, Andy Serkis returns to embody Supreme Leader Snoke and Lupita Nyong'o will be back as Maz Kanata. Expect BB-8 to roll on back, and Chewbacca too. The movie is directed by Rian Johnson, who also helmed 2012's "Looper" and three episodes of "Breaking Bad." As far as new faces, we'll get to that below the giant spoiler warning. Benicio del Toro is joining the Star Wars universe as DJ, a "shady character of unknown alliances," said by Entertainment Weekly to be a codebreaker. It's still vague as to exactly what DJ will be up to, but in the hands of an actor with a resume like del Toro's, it's potentially juicy. Kelly Marie Tran will play Rose, "a maintenance worker for the resistance" who Vanity Fair reports will be part of a "mission behind enemy lines" with Finn. New CGI characters are also on the way in the form of the adorable, penguin-like Porgs. Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo said in July the creatures are native to Ahch-To, and will be living on the island where Rey and Luke meet at the end of "The Force Awakens." Just as cute, but with a questionable allegiance, is the new BB-9E droid revealed in August as part of Force Friday. BB-9E is painted in dark colors and has a flat head that stays on top of a rolling body similar to BB-8's. And the rolling droid army might not stop with just BB-8 vs. BB-9E. IGN discovered in September that the blue 2BB2 and light brown BB-4 droids are options in the Star Wars Droid Factory at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The Sphero Star Wars app describes the droids as "ready to aid in the fight against the First Order." Will these two droids make an appearance in "The Last Jedi"?

What's the story?

The latest trailers appear to pick up not long after we left off from "The Force Awakens" -- with Rey starting her Jedi training with an apparently wary Luke Skywalker. Following the destruction of his Jedi Temple by his nephew Ben-turned-Kylo-Ren, Luke describes the raw power of the Force wielded by Rey as something he finds frightening. While we don't know from the trailers if Luke eventually refuses to continue training Rey, we do see her ask Kylo to "show me my place in all this." Since murdering his father, Han Solo, Kylo is also seen smashing his helmet and donning a black mark over the scar he received at the end of the 2015 film.

While Rey and Finn spent plenty of time together in "The Force Awakens," trailers for "The Last Jedi" show Finn on a separate mission. It puts him back in a First Order uniform and eventually pits him against his former boss, Captain Phasma, in a fiery confrontation. We last saw Phasma taken prisoner by Finn before being thrown in a trash compactor on Starkiller Base. (If you want to know how she escaped, there's a comic book for that.)   We'll also get to see the late Carrie Fisher continue as General Leia Organa, shown in the trailers leading her forces while on some kind of spaceship. While she had shot all of her "Last Jedi" scenes before her untimely death in December 2016 at age 60, it has been heavily rumored her character was expected to be a big part of 2019's "Episode IX." That sentiment was confirmed by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy to Vanity Fair in May. Kennedy said that movie would have put a focus on Leia in much the same way Han Solo was depicted in "The Force Awakens." Instead, Lucasfilm said in January the studio has no plans to digitally re-create her, stating "We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honor everything she gave to Star Wars."

Who is the last Jedi?

And here's the biggest thing we don't know: who is the title referring to? Judging by the trailer it seems Luke Skywalker is deeply conflicted about Rey's powers of the Force. So will he train Rey to become the last Jedi after he's gone? Or will Luke withhold his teachings from Rey so the Jedi order dies with him? And yes, Johnson did say that Luke is the Jedi in the title, but until we see the movie for ourselves that could be a misdirect. On the other hand, Finn proved surprising adept with the traditional Jedi lightsaber in "The Force Awakens." Or the new film could introduce a new character with Force powers who could take on the Jedi mantle -- maybe, to borrow a phrase from the original trilogy, there is another.

What about 'Episode IX'? And that 'Solo' movie?

Have some patience, but you won't be waiting long. While both of these upcoming Star Wars movies have had their original director(s) replaced, the future of Star Wars movies is looking pretty bright. Director Ron Howard announced in October that he's wrapped shooting on "Solo: A Star Wars Story," the movie all about a younger Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich. It's still planned to debut on May 25, 2018, despite losing original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller during filming. Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams is returning to the director's chair for "Star Wars: Episode IX," allowing him to close out the trilogy he started with 2015's "The Force Awakens." Abrams' return was announced a week after original "Episode IX" director Colin Trevorrow stepped away from the movie in September. Along with the director change came a delay, with the film now scheduled to debut on Dec. 20, 2019 instead of May 24, 2019.

And what's Rian Johnson doing after this?

He's hoping you're going to love "The Last Jedi," because after that, he's starting a whole new trilogy of Star Wars films that are completely disconnected from Luke Skywalker and his family. In case he's reading this, here are a few tips that we hope he could consider while crafting this new corner of the Star Wars universe.

Star Wars at 40: A look at the cultural phenomenon that's been thrilling fans since the first film in 1977. Crowd Control: A crowdsourced science fiction novel written by CNET readers.

Gambia: 'Nearly U.S.$10 Million Spent On Maintenance of Aircrafts, Over D72 M On Hajj Packages'-Lamin Cham

The Managing Director of the Gambia International Airline (GIA), Lamin Cham, yesterday revealed to the 'Janneh' Commission that about ten Million US Dollars was spent on the maintenance of some of the States Aircraft's, within a period of three years and over D72, 000,000 was spent by the office of the former president on Hajj packages, from the year 2011.

He said he inherited five state aircrafts out of which, two were scrap while three were in service; that among the scrap aircrafts were C5 GNM and C5 GAM but that he could not remember how long they've not been used. He said Boeing 727 was last used during the political impasse when the former First Lady used it to travel to the United States.

According to him one of the Aircraft is under maintenance in Bonn, Germany, and has been there for two and a half years; that the last time they visited Germany, it was almost done and once Gambia Civil Aviation (GCA) recommends that it's airworthy, they will bring it back. He added that states aircrafts are jointly managed by the GIA and GCA but that GCA being the 'technical experts', are responsible for identifying maintenance facilities around the World, and submit their recommendations to GIA for onward transmission to the office of the former President.

Earlier business tycoon and proprietor of Excel Construction Company Amadou Samba, continued with his evidence but denied the claim that he was a close associate of former President Jammeh.

When asked by Commissioner Saine how often he used to communicate with Jammeh on phone. Samba said Jammeh whom he considers a friend, used to call him two to three times a day, or sometimes continuously for a week; that most of their talks centred on social issues and not business related; that though he was not visiting State House frequently, he used to clear security anytime he was supposed to meet the president at state house through protocols.

"My relationship with Yahya Jammeh was more on the phone than meeting him personally and he never visited me at my house. He used to invite me to his birthdays in his house together with others as a guest," he said.

When asked by Commissioner Saine whether he is the sole owner of the compound at South Atlantic road in Fajara, he responded in the affirmative noting that he acquired that property for $475, 000 from one Lebanese in 1994; that it is correct as alluded to by Commission Counsel Amie Bensouda, that he did endorse some of the properties acquired by the former president because Jammeh asked him to do so.

According to him, he played a pivotal role between the two former presidents, Jawara and Jammeh and was even the one who travelled to UK to bring former president Jawara back to the country.

On the ownership of Excel Construction Company, Samba said he owns 40% while Patrick Ricchatti and his son Kabba Samba, each own 30%; that the said Company is in operation and it was after the 30th December attack in 2014, that the former president requested for the fencing of State House. According to him, the job Jammeh wanted, needed specific skills and materials which a French contractor was initially contracted to do.

The contract awarded to Excel according to him, was in three phases and the first involved the payment of D11, 766,012 while the second phase of the contract amounted to D21, 324,470; that there is an outstanding sum of D2, 180,000 which triggered them to stop after completing 85% of the work contracted to them. http://howiesmarine.com

At that juncture, Mrs. Bensouda applied to tender the Memorandum of Article and Association, Business Registration Certificate, Certificate of incorporation, undated first phase contract for the fencing of state house as well as several letters from the Company, addressed to the office of the president as exhibits. However, the contract was returned to Mr. Samba on the ground that the attorney Ida Drameh, who prepared the document did not append her signature on it.

Commissioner Saine at that point reminded Mr. Samba that most of the expenditures were for the former president and the Commission rarely sees expenditures made on behalf of the Gambian people and then asked him to explain any project he knows where Jammeh ignored himself and put Gambians at the center stage. Mr. Samba in response said Jammeh is selfish and everything he does was for himself. He however said Jammeh did a lot of infrastructural projects for the country which people are benefiting from such as construction of roads, the airport and taking people to Mecca among others. On why he supported a selfish leader, Samba said it was his constitutional right to support any political party of his choice.

Earlier in his testimony while reacting to the testimony of Momodou Lamin Sonko, the country coordinator of MA Kharafi on the sale of Kairaba Beach Hotel, he said Sonko's testimony was an afterthought and that he deviated from his testimony; that he has listened to the evidence of Mr. Sonko whom he said was trying to manufacture evidence and appealed to the commission for Mr. Sonko to produce documents that he was alleged to have signed, with regard to the sale of Kairaba Beach Hotel. "There is nothing like Amadou Samba in the Sales Agreement of the hotel and I never went to the Standard Chartered Bank with Mr. Sonko in regard to the sale of Kairaba Beach Hotel," he clarified. Mr. Samba at that point tendered deeds of assignment on the sale of the hotel which he said was prepared by Commission Counsel Amie Bensouda, and was admitted as exhibit.

Mr. Samba testified that the document will show the history of the hotel since he has earlier told the Commission that the hotel was on liquidation at the time of the sale.

According to him, Baba Jobe was dealing with Robert Aswandi, former manager of the hotel and he was answering to the former president which he said indicated that the hotel belongs to Jammeh; because Baba did not have money to buy the hotel.

Mr. Samba said he dares not to say that Jammeh bought the said hotel from public funds and has no vested interest in the Chairmanship of the hotel which he said, was even symbolic because there was no commission for him and he was not hungry.

"I have never discussed the sale of the hotel with the ex-president but I remembered Robert Aswandi calling me on two occasions during the sale of the hotel, on the stocks and mortgage of the hotel. Apart from this, I knew nothing about the hotel," Mr. Samba added.

Next to testify was the Managing Director of Gambia International Airline (GIA), Lamin Cham, who became the Managing Director in January 2017. Prior to his appointment, he joined the airline in 1997 as Marketing Officer and rose through the ranks to become MD. Mr. Cham said the GIA was in charge of travels of the former executive; that they are also responsible for accommodating the pilot crew and their salaries; that the executive used to choose the type of aircraft they intend to use in collaboration with the ministry of foreign affairs and all budgets relating to their travel were submitted to the office of the former president.

According to the witness, from 2013 to 2016, the sums of $2, 360,664 and € 27, 507 were used as maintenance cost for C5 RTG while the sum of $6,6093,265 and €4,54,609.70 was spent as maintenance cost for the Challenger aircraft. At that juncture, Cham informed Commissioners that they did not produce any information on scraped aircrafts. However, he said there are no documentary evidence with him but at some point, they were made to understand that the Bazzi Group was in charge of managing state aircrafts.

Dwelling on the number of pilgrims Jammeh took to Mecca (Hajj) from 2011-2016, he said in 2011 the former president sponsored five people at a cost of D595, 000 while in 2012 he paid for 127 pilgrims through bank transfer, amounting to D17, 333, 500 and for that of 2013, the office of the former president sponsored 82 pilgrims which was also through bank transfer, amounting to D13, 858,000; that in 2014 there were 85 pilgrims and the amount involved was D14, 875,000 and in 2015, 44 pilgrims were sponsored for D9, 292,976. In 2016, he said the sum of D16, 940,000 was spent on 77 pilgrims.

Mr. Cham disclosed to Commissioners that they used to get instructions from the office of the former president that he was sponsoring certain number of persons for pilgrimage. At that point Counsel observed that from 2013-2016, GIA spent nearly $10,000,000 for maintenance of some of the aircrafts and spent over D72, 892,000 on hajj packages for pilgrims, from 2011.

Statements on Hajj packages sponsored by the office of the former president and expenses on the aircrafts from 2013-16, were admitted as exhibits.

Americans think sexual harassment is a problem in Hollywood and DC — but not where they work

Sexual misconduct allegations have rocked Hollywood, the media, and Capitol Hill this week. These high-profile accusations — from Charlie Rose to Sen. Al Franken to Rep. John Conyers — reveal systemic problems within these fields.

And voters think those industries — but not their own workplaces — are where the problem of sexual harassment is most prevalent. A Politico/Morning Consult Poll, which asked voters about the recent allegations against Franken and Roy Moore, also surveyed Americans to gauge their perceptions about sexual harassment in the workplace across industries.

Hollywood led, with 59 percent of voters saying harassment represented a big problem in the entertainment industry.  http://diggtrends.com The federal government came in second, with 43 percent, and the news media next, with 36 percent. Other political fields, such as local and state government, also got a third of votes. (The poll surveyed 2,586 registered American voters from November 16 to 18.)

But voters were less likely to see the problems as close to home: When they were asked about their own workplace (presumably representing a slew of different industries) only 16 percent of respondents said harassment or misconduct was a problem.

This finding — a sort of “anywhere but here” perception — likely speaks more to the insidious cycle of sexual harassment and silence. It also suggests most Americans don’t understand that sexual harassment is a prevailing problem.

A recent revealing study from the Center for American Progress analyzed harassment claims across the workforce, and it found it’s not just a problem in prestigious, high-profile fields.

As Vox’s Emily Stewart wrote about the study:

The accommodation and food services industry, which includes restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, and other hospitality establishments, accounted for 14.2 percent of sexual harassment claims filed to the EEOC from 2005 to 2015. The retail industry accounted for an additional 13.4 percent of claims.

The categories and methodologies of the poll and the study are different. But the complaints underscore that sexual harassment is pervasive in the workforce across industries, particularly in low-wage or service positions often filled by women and minorities. These instances of harassment or misconduct “occur out of the glare of the spotlight,” as Jocelyn Frye, the report’s author, puts it.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll responses raise the question of whether the string of sexual misconduct allegations have spurred greater awareness beyond these high-profile predators and their fields. While it’s one poll, people may not see the #MeToo campaigns and heightened awareness as directly relating to their industry, where harassment can, and probably does, happen. It’s a misperception that might leave companies ill equipped to protect their workers, and leaves both women and men vulnerable.