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The Washington Post revealed on Wednesday how the campaign arm of Senate Republicans is preparing to handle the phenomenon of real-estate mogul Donald Trump.

In a seven-page memo, the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s executive director, Ward Baker, presented advice for how his party’s Senate candidates would react to Trump as the GOP presidential nominee.

Much of the advice was sharply critical of Trump, whom it called a “misguided missile … subject to farcical fits.”

“You’re running for the US Senate so focus on that,” Ward wrote. “Don’t get drawn into every Trump statement and every Trump dust-up. Keep the focus on your own campaign and the voters back home.”

The memo suggested candidates pick and choose which Trump controversies to comment on: 

Show your Independence. As we know, Trump is subject to farcical fits. You can still obey the ‘run your own campaign’ edict, while still taking Trump to task on outrageous statements where the media won’t let you off the hook. Choose opportunities to take the moral high ground while exerting your independence.

It also highlighted women as a particular problem for Republican Senate hopefuls: 

Trump and Women. Houston, we have a problem: Donald Trump has said some wacky things about women. Candidates shouldn’t go near this ground other than to say that your wife or daughter is offended by what Trump said. We do not want to reengage the “war on women” fight so isolate Trump on this issue by offering a quick condemnation of it.

Other parts of the memo praised Trump’s style and advised candidates to adopt some aspects of it, including shedding political correctness, vowing to fundamentally shake up Washington, and embracing populist notes on issues like China and trade.

“Trump is saying that the Emperor has no clothes and he challenges our politically correct times,” Ward wrote. “Our candidates shouldn’t miss that point. Don’t insult key voter cohorts by ignoring that America has significant problems and that Trump is offering some basic solutions. Understand the populist points Trump makes and ride that wave.”

The Post’s Robert Costa and Philip Rucker reported that two high-ranking Republican officials confirmed the authenticity of the memo. The NRSC further told the newspaper that it has similar memos about the other potential Republican presidential nominees.

“It would be malpractice for the Senatorial committee not to prepare our candidates for every possible Republican and Democrat nominee and election scenario,” an NRSC spokeswoman told The Post.

Check out the full memo here >

And read the full Post report here >

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump just did a big interview with a famous conspiracy theorist and was asked about impeaching Obama

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NOW WATCH: TRUMP NATION: We tried to answer the 3 questions everyone has about Donald Trump

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Someone has finally done it.

YouTube channel Disneyland Experience has taken all of the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” trailers, TV ads, and features and attempted to put them all in chronological order.

We spotted this first on the blog /film, and it’s really good. 

The six-minute long trailer starts off showing Rey scavenging on Jakku before cutting to Kylo Ren and the First Order setting a planet — maybe Jakku, maybe not — ablaze. We then see Poe captured and tortured by Kylo. Finn then makes a decision to flee the First Order and winds up on Jakku.

Rey saves the abandoned BB-8 from a few rogue scavengers and meets up with Finn, who has shed his Stormtrooper gear. The First Order, perhaps in search of Finn, but most likely to find BB-8 who is supposed to have some important information, are then seen chasing after Finn, Rey, and BB-8. 

The trio wind up aboard the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo and Chewbacca. They head to another planet, presumably with Lupita Nyong’o’s CG alien character Maz Kanata before the First Order finds them there.

Personally, I think some of these scenes are still out of order. I don’t think Poe would appear this early in the film, and scenes with the First Order gathering and Kylo Ren looking out of a spaceship have no context whatsoever. They can easily occur early or later in the film.

Still, the video does a good job of piecing together similar scenes. The only issue: none of the dialogue made it in. So if you haven’t watched all the trailers and ads obsessively, it can be tough to follow along.

What we do know is that “The Force Awakens” is two hours and 16 minutes long, so this six-minute chunk still barely even scratches the surface of the film.

Check out the compilation below.

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Instagram has shared its most liked photos of 2015, and Taylor Swift — along with her cats — owns half the list.

The rest of the top posters are all celebrities, like Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, and Beyonce.

Here are the most liked photos of the year:

1. This photo of Kendall Jenner is not only the most liked pic on Instagram this year, but of all time with over 3 million likes.

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2. Taylor Swift posted this photo of flowers Kanye West sent her and got 2.6 million likes.

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3. Swift shared a candid-looking moment of her enjoying 4th of July weekend with boyfriend Calvin Harris — one of the first pics of the two lovebirds together.

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Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton called gun controls in the aftermath of a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday.

“I refuse to accept this as normal,” she wrote in a tweet after a shooting at the Inland Regional Center produced as many as 20 victims, according to the San Bernadino Fire Department. 

Almost immediately after the shooting, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) also called the shooting “horrifying” and slammed the National Rifle Association for lobbying against gun-control legislation. 

Both Clinton and O’Malley have repeatedly released statements calling for gun control following previous mass shootings that have occurred during the 2016 primary.

In a statement to CNN in October after a shooting at a community college in Oregon, Clinton expressed exasperation with the frequency of mass shootings across the US.

“It is just beyond my comprehension that we are seeing these mass murders happen again and again and again. And as I have said, we have got to get the political will to do everything we can to keep people safe,” Clinton told CNN reporter Dan Merica.

“You know I know there is a way to have sensible gun control measures that help prevent violence, prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands and save lives.”

SEE ALSO: Updates on the shooting

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The speculation about who might purchase Yahoo’s struggling internet business has already begun, following a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday that the company’s board would consider a sale, among other strategic options, during meetings this week. 

The obvious candidates to purchase Yahoo’s internet business include telecommunications and media companies as well as private equity firms.

Verizon Wireless, which acquired AOL for $4.4 billion in June, and IAC Interactive, the online services holding company, would both “likely explore a purchase,” the Wall Street Journal said in a follow-up report on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

News Corp, which owns the WSJ, and Time Inc, would also consider acquiring pieces of Yahoo, should they become available, the WSJ noted. 

While speculating, we’d add Comcast, which recently invested in Vox and Buzzfeed, and Disney, which has explored investments in Buzzfeed and Vice, according to reports.

This is all highly speculative at this point. None of these companies appear to be in talks with Yahoo about a potential deal. Yahoo’s internet business is not even officially on the auction block yet. 

How much?

The stock market currently values Yahoo’s core internet business at less than zero, with all of the value assigned to its Asian assets such as its 15% stake in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group.

But several analysts have recently floated their own estimtes for what core Yahoo is worth. 

• Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser values core Yahoo at $1.9 billion, not including the $5.8 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
• Cowen’s John Blackledge pegs the value of Yahoo’s search and display advertising business at $3.84 billion.
• And SunTrust analyst Robert Peck reckons a sale of core Yahoo could net $6 billion to $8 billion in net proceeds. 

A concensus on a potential sales price will likely firm up and become more clear if Yahoo moves forward, and as potential bidders decide which parts of core Yahoo are most useful to their particular needs.

SEE ALSO: Yahoo’s board will consider selling its core internet business

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NOW WATCH: Here’s how to find out your Uber rating

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CAIRO (AP) — The Islamic State’s rampage across the Middle East has left the world divided over how to refer to the extremist group, with observers adopting different acronyms based on their translation of an archaic geographical term and the extent to which they want to needle the extremists.

The Associated Press refers to it as the Islamic State group — to distinguish it from an internationally recognized state — or IS for short, usually as an adjective before the words group, organization or extremists. Here’s a brief explanation of the militant group’s various names:

ISIS OR ISIL?

The group traces its roots back to Al-Qaida in Iraq, which declared an Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2006. The name never really caught on, however, because the militants were never able to seize and hold significant territory. That began to change when the group expanded into neighboring Syria, exploiting the chaos of its civil war. In 2013 the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, renamed it the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, signaling its emergence as a transnational force while sowing the first seeds of confusion over what to call it. Al-Sham is an archaic word for a vaguely defined territory that includes what is now Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. It is most often translated as either Syria — in the sense of a greater Syria that no longer exists — or as the Levant, the closest English term for the territory it describes. In English, the group’s name was translated variously as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (also ISIS), or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the term usually used by the U.S. government and various U.N. agencies.

DAESH

Mainly in the Middle East but increasingly beyond, those opposed to the group turned the Arabic acronym corresponding to ISIS into a single word — “Daesh.” The word is nonsensical and doesn’t mean anything in Arabic but has a mocking tone and is insulting to IS because it diminishes its claim to have revived the Islamic caliphate. It is also close to the words “dahesh” and “da’es,” meaning “one who tramples,” making it fodder for puns. The IS group’s opponents, including public officials like French President Francois Hollande and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, have used to condemn or diminish the group. Dawaesh, a plural form of the word that sounds even sillier in Arabic, is widely used in the Middle East. IS itself bans the use of the term Daesh in areas it controls. But Arabic speakers have found other ways to put down the group. After the IS group’s bitter falling out with al-Qaida in 2013, al-Qaida supporters began referring to it as “al-Baghdadi’s group,” emphasizing their view of him as a renegade. Syrians living under IS rule often refer to it as “al-tanzeem,” Arabic for “the organization.”

CALL US THE CALIPHATE

When the IS group seized vast parts of northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014, it declared a caliphate in the territories under its control and dropped Iraq and al-Sham from its name. Today the group refers to itself as the Islamic State or simply The Caliphate. It refers to its affiliates in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere as provinces. For example, the branch in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is known as “Sinai Province.”

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San Francisco (AFP) – Mark Zuckerberg has grown from a Harvard dropout who changed what it means to be social into a billionaire philanthropist bent on shaping a better world for his daughter.

Zuckerberg and his doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, set the Internet abuzz this week with news of the birth of their first child, a girl named Maxima.

Zuckerberg and Chan also pledged to give away their Facebook fortune to make the world a “better place” for baby daughter Maxima and others.

In a letter to Maxima posted on his Facebook page, the couple said they were going to give away 99 percent of their company shares — estimated value $45 billion — during their lives in an effort to make a happy and healthy world.

Zuckerberg cemented his fortune, and a place in Silicon Valley history, by leading Facebook to a historic Wall Street debut in 2012. Facebook shares on Wednesday were trading at nearly triple the initial public offering price of $38.

The $16 billion IPO was structured to keep control of Facebook in the hands of Zuckerberg, who has been Time’s “Person of the Year” and cracked the Forbes list of 20 richest people in the world.

The hoodie-wearing 31-year-old, depicted in the Hollywood drama “The Social Network” as a socially challenged computer geek, has evolved into a confident chief executive presiding over an online community boasting more than 1.5 billion users monthly as of September.

Despite his massive wealth, Zuckerberg still favors t-shirts, jeans and sneakers, topped off by his trademark hooded sweatshirt and a mop of brown, curly hair.

He has donned suits, though, while meeting with high-profile figures such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.

Zuckerberg is known for setting annual goals, which have included wearing ties every day; only eating meat of animals he kills himself; and learning to speak Chinese to be able to chat with members of his wife’s family who speak that language.

He has grown more outspoken socially and politically. Zuckerberg has marched with hundreds of Facebook employees in San Francisco’s grand Gay Pride Parade and publicly backed US immigration reform.

Quotes credited to Zuckerberg included “What would you do if you weren’t afraid” and “Move fast and break things.”

Zuckerberg is known for advocating a “hacker way” of boldly twisting software or systems in promising directions.

– Thefacebook –

Born on May 14, 1984, Zuckerberg was raised in Dobbs Ferry outside New York, one of four children of a dentist father and a psychiatrist mother.

He began writing computer programs at the age of 11, including one said to resemble Pandora’s musical taste program which reportedly drew the interest of AOL and Microsoft.

He went to high school at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, where he was captain of the fencing team, before entering elite Harvard University.

Zuckerberg launched Thefacebook.com, as it was then known, from his dorm room on February 4, 2004 with some of his roommates and classmates.

The stated goal: “Making the world more open and connected.” 

Facebook’s early years were not without controversy, however.

In 2008, a $65 million settlement was reached with three Harvard classmates — twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and Divya Narendra — over their charges that Zuckerberg had stolen the idea for Facebook from them.

That conflict was at the heart of “The Social Network,” the Oscar-winning film written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher.

Zuckerberg left Harvard in May 2004 for Silicon Valley, where he received his first major funding — $500,000 — from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel followed by nearly $13 million the next year from Accel Partners.

Despite recurring privacy complaints, Facebook has gone from strength to strength. Analysts credit the social network with innovating, or acquiring new technology, to stay popular in an Internet Age known for fleeting loyalties to online services.

Zuckerberg’s Facebook page, which is “followed” by more than 43 million people, features pictures of his wife and daughter, along with their dog, Beast. 

“Having this child has made us think about all of the things that should be improved in the world for her whole generation,” Zuckerberg said in a video of himself and Chan posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

His “likes” include charities such as his newly formed Zuckerberg Chan Initiative; US politicians Obama and Hillary Clinton, actors Seth Rogen and James Franco, and the book “Ender’s Game.”

Zuckerberg has been referred to by some as being struck in the mold of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Zuckerberg has praised Jobs as a friend and a role model.

Similarities between the men have been said to include not being afraid to risk falling down while chasing big dreams, and passionately pursuing visions despite obstacles or detractors.

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Teens might think Facebook has been taken over by their parents, but they’re still using it more than ever. 

A new study from research firm Forrester found that while only 65% of 12 t0 17-year-olds consider the social network “cool,” (ranking it below most other popular apps), it still generates more “hyper usage” than Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter. About 61% say it’s the social network they use the most. 

Even more interesting: 47% use the site more this year than they did last year. 

That matches with anecdotal evidence from Business Insider reporter Maya Kosoff who hung out with a bunch of teens who said that Facebook is essential for their social lives.

78% now use Facebook at least once a month, which is more than Instagram (55%), Twitter (50%) and Snapchat (45%). 

The perception… 

The reality of usage:

SEE ALSO: The fabulous life of new father Mark Zuckerberg

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NOW WATCH: We flew to the airport like the 1% — on the ‘Uber of helicopters’

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo’s board is considering an activist shareholder’s demand to sell the Internet services the company is best known for, a maneuver that might help the company dodge a tax bill of more than $10 billion looming over its holdings in China’s Alibaba Group.

The boardroom intrigue revolves around a recent proposal from Starboard Value, a New York hedge fund that been pressuring Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to take dramatic steps to boost the company’s stock.

Starboard’s latest idea is for Yahoo to sell its websites, mobile applications, ad services and data analytics so it can abandon a plan to spin off its 15 percent stake in Alibaba, a thriving e-commerce company. The spinoff is designed to shelter Yahoo from capital-gains taxes on its investment, but it’s unclear if the strategy will work. Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service declined to guarantee that it would qualify for a tax exemption.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the board will consider selling Yahoo’s Internet business, citing people familiar with the situation. The drama began unfolding Wednesday during a meeting that Yahoo’s board of directors holds in early December each year.

Yahoo Inc. declined to comment on the board’s agenda. The company’s advisers, though, have expressed confidence that taxes won’t be due in the spinoff, emboldening Mayer and the rest of the board to continue pursuing a breakup that is supposed to be completed later this month or in January.

Mayer is also working on a major overhaul that will jettison an unspecified number of unprofitable Yahoo services and could lay off hundreds of workers. She has promised to provide further details next month.

It could take three years for the tax uncertainty surrounding the proposed Alibaba spinoff to be resolved, Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote in a note Wednesday.

Starboard’s demand evidently prodded the board to consider an alternative way to avoid a tax bill that could wipe out more than two-thirds of the gain on Yahoo’s Alibaba stake, which was acquired a decade ago for $1 billion and is currently worth $33 billion. If Yahoo’s board sticks to the Alibaba spinoff, Starboard is threatening to lead an attempt to oust the nine directors next year.

Analysts have estimated that Yahoo could end up paying anywhere from $10.5 billion to $19 billion in taxes, depending on whether China also demands payment on the gains. The potential bill dwarfs the estimated value of Yahoo’s operating business, which analysts peg at $2 billion to $4 billion, after subtracting the roughly $7 billion that the company has in the bank.

Yahoo’s business has declined in value largely because its net revenue has fallen under Mayer even though advertisers are pouring more money into digital marketing. Most of the dollars, though, are flowing to rivals Google and Facebook.

If Starboard’s scenario is embraced, Yahoo’s best-known services and, most likely, its brand would be taken over by a new owner, leaving the company as a shell for stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. Outsell analyst Randy Giusto believes AT&T Inc. might be interested in buying Yahoo’s services, taking a page from rival telecommunications provider Verizon Communications, which bought AOL for $4.4 billion earlier this year. Other potential suitors include a long list of investment firms that specialize in taking companies private and cutting costs.

Investors have become increasingly disillusioned with the Alibaba spinoff because of the potential tax hit. Wall Street also has grown restless with Mayer’s inability to boost Yahoo’s revenue after three-and-half years on the job.

Yahoo’s stock gained $1.78, or more than 5 percent to $35.49 in afternoon trading. The shares remain down by about 30 percent so far this year.

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BOSTON (AP) — A second video that shows Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor fighting outside a Boston nightclub last week has prompted Boston police to urge anyone who was assaulted to come forward.

In an initial video posted by TMZ last week, Okafor is seen shoving a man. After TMZ posted a second video showing Okafor shouting and a man lying on the sidewalk bleeding from his face, a spokeswoman for Boston police said Wednesday they are urging “anyone else to come forward if they were assaulted.”

On Friday, one man filed a police report saying he was punched and knocked to the ground, and needed stitches to close a cut above his eye.

The 19-year-old rookie says he is embarrassed about the incident and is dealing with the team and the NBA on possible discipline.

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