An artwork by French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir bought at a flea market in the US may turn out to be a rare bargain.
The painting was bought by a woman as part of a box lot that included a doll and a plastic cow, and cost about $50.
The woman took it to a Virginia auction house where experts said they believed it was Renoir’s Paysage Bords de Seine – a river scene – from about 1879.
An artwork by French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir bought at a flea market in the US may turn out to be a rare bargain
The auctioneers expect it to sell for up to $100,000 later this month.
It is believed the painting was bought from a Paris gallery in 1926.
A Renoir plaque on the frame prompted the woman to have it analyzed by a local auction house.
People in Hong Kong are voting for a new legislature, with pro-democracy candidates expected to benefit from weeks of anti-China protests.
The poll comes a day after the government scrapped plans for mandatory Chinese patriotism lessons in schools.
For the first time, 40 of the 70 seats on the governing legislative council will be directly elected.
The results of the poll could keep on track plans for universal suffrage, which could come as early as 2017.
But for the promised reform to be implemented, it needs the support of the legislative council.
Polls in Hong Kong – which has a semi-autonomous status in China – opened at 07:30 local time and will close at 22:30.
People in Hong Kong are voting for a new legislature, with pro-democracy candidates expected to benefit from weeks of anti-China protests
About 3.5 million people are eligible to cast their ballots. Results are not expected until Monday.
The election campaign has been dominated by issues such as employment, corruption and the growing number of visitors from mainland China.
Hong Kong, which was handed to China by Britain in 1997, enjoys greater political freedom than mainland China, including a free press and the right to peaceful assembly.
Under the current laws, 30 of the 70 seats in the assembly are being chosen by small group of electors selected along economic and professional lines.
But the pro-democracy candidates running for office are expected to benefit from the growing anger against mainland China and the lack of political reform there.
A strong showing by the pro-democracy forces this time round could make the transition to universal suffrage more likely in the future.
“Before it didn’t matter so much who got in. But this time, I thought it was important to vote to stop people and parties I didn’t want from getting into the legislature,” one voter was quoted as saying by Reuters.
But another voter, Anthony Tsang, said he was voting for “people who can help us the most”.
“I care about livelihood, housing costs, wages and medical care,” he said.
For the past week, thousands of demonstrators have camped out around Hong Kong’s government headquarters, protesting against the plan for mandatory patriotism lessons.
They said the lessons were Communist Party propaganda and whitewashed events such as the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square and the famine under Mao Zedong.
But the government said the goal was to foster a sense of national belonging.
The proposed curriculum, which consisted of general civics education as well as more controversial lessons on appreciating mainland China, was due to be introduced in primary schools in September and secondary schools in 2013.
On Saturday, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, said the classes would be optional for schools.
Leung Chun-ying, who was sworn in as Hong Kong’s chief executive in July, cancelled his trip to the APEC regional summit this weekend because of the furore.
About 3,000 people are being evacuated in Nicaragua from areas near the San Cristobal volcano, which is spewing ash and gas, the government says.
Soldiers have been sent to the region, northwest of the capital Managua, after the government ordered local communities to leave.
The volcano began erupting on Saturday morning, shortly after powerful explosions were heard.
The authorities say they expect more gas emissions and sporadic explosions.
Some 20,000 people could eventually be affected, said government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo.
About 3,000 people are being evacuated in Nicaragua from areas near the San Cristobal volcano, which is spewing ash and gas
The 1,745-meter volcano (5,700-foot) is the highest mountain in Nicaragua and one of the most active along the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua.
It has launched a 4 km-high (2.5-mile) column of ash and smoke into the atmosphere.
Jaime Mejia, from Nicaragua’s Institute of Territorial Studies, said there was “strong activity” in the volcano, which had a series of small eruptions in 2008.
“We do not rule out anything, but call for calm,” he told the AP news agency.
Civil defence officers have been sent to the Chinandenga and Leon provinces to help the evacuation.
But hundreds of residents left the area even before their arrival.
Nicaragua has been on alert since an earthquake hit neighboring Costa Rica last week.
Aftershocks were felt across the two Central American countries.
In a tweet fired off on Friday, Lindsay Lohan encouraged President Barack Obama to consider lowering taxes for the one-percenters listed on the Forbes Magazine millionaires’ list.
Lindsay Lohan, 26, who has been very active on Twitter recently, was responding to a message posted by the Obama campaign following his Thursday speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“I’ve cut taxes for those who need it: middle-class families, small businesses,” the tweet read.
Lindsay Lohan encouraged President Barack Obama to consider lowering taxes for the one-percenters listed on the Forbes Magazine millionaires’ list
About 10 minutes later, Lindsay Lohan of the upcoming Elizabeth Taylor biopic Liz and Dick put in her two cents on the issue of tax cuts: “We also need to cut them for those that are listed on Forbes as “millionaires” if they are not, you must consider that as well.”
LiLo retweeted several more quotes from Barack Obama’s speech including: “I don’t believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy.”
She also forwarded a plea by the Obama campaign to join the president “if you want to keep moving forward” and a link leading to Barack Obama’s re-election website.
So far, President Barack Obama has not responded to Lindsay Lohan’s economic policy proposal, and she has since removed the tweet off her page after facing a barrage of ridicule online.
While it is not entirely clear what Lindsay Lohan had in mind when she fired off the message to her 4,240,930 followers, it is assumed that she considers herself to be among the Forbes millionaires in question.
LiLo, known for her out-of-control shopping sprees and addiction problems, had an estimated net worth of $2 million last year.
Just recently, however, Lindsay Lohan made headlines after being banned from the luxurious Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles for failing to pay over $46,000 in fees.
Kim Kardashian was left embarrassed when less than 50 people turned up to see her at the nightclub Hush in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Kim Kardashian, 31, had jetted into New York to Charlotte for the event, which is also where the Democratic National Convention was being held.
While that was being attributed to the almost no show, the event was dubbed as the convention after party, so the club’s bosses will have expected a solid turn out.
The reality star posted a picture of a half glass of champagne on her Twitter page, writing: “It’s that kinda night!”
Kim Kardashian finally left after two hours, with one source claiming she was furious after the house band stated that “this place is empty”.
Kim Kardashian looked rather striking despite the plain black high-neck dress thanks to the efforts of her giant metal belt around her waist
Se had been in New York earlier promoting her True Reflection perfume at the Lord & Taylor store as well as attending Fashion’s Night Out.
Kim Kardashian looked rather striking despite the plain black high-neck dress thanks to the efforts of her giant metal belt around her waist.
She polished off the gothic look with gelled back hair, tweeting: “Loving this slicked back hair by Michael Silva.”
Kim Kardashian also applied theatrical eyeshadow and liner, crediting the look to her make-up artist: “Fierce glam tonight by @kristoferbuckle.”
To which he gushed: “What a pleasure to work on a beauty like @KimKardashian.”
It was a nice surprise to see Kim Kardashian experimenting with some varied footwear, after being glued to her favorite shoes of the season recently.
Last evening she chose ankle cuffed heels, compared to her beloved Givenchy boots she wore earlier today for the third time in recent weeks.
Barack Obama asked Americans to mark the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by reflecting on how far the nation has come since that day.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama is asking people to remember the 9/11 victims and their families.
He asks that they honor in their thoughts the first responders who risked their lives to help the many wounded in the chaotic aftermath of the attacks.
Remember also, he asks, the men and women in uniform serving both at home and abroad and making sacrifices to keep the country safe.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama is asking people to remember the 9-11 victims and their families
Barack Obama says America has come back stronger following the horrific events of September 11 2001 in which almost 3,000 people were killed.
He insists that al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat, the U.S. having ensured that Osama bin Laden will never attack America again, and strengthened alliances with powers across the world.
“As Americans we refuse to live in fear,” Barack Obama says, congratulating those who worked to bring down Osama bin Laden and improve security across the nation.
President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation making Friday, September 7 through Sunday, September 9, 2012 National Days of Prayer and Remembrance.
In the Republican address, Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming criticized Barack Obama’s presidency.
John Barrasso said the nation isn’t better off than it was four years ago under President George W. Bush.
According to a new research, there’s a 50/50 chance of another catastrophic 9/11-style attack in the next ten years, and an even greater chance if the world become less stable.
The startling figure was floated by a pair of researchers who examined more than 13,000 lethal terrorist attacks between 1968 and 2007.
They calculated the likelihood based on the assumption that the frequency of major attacks, like earthquakes and other natural disasters, using mathematical power law.
Aaron Clauset at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and Ryan Woodard at ETH, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Zurich assume the number of terrorist attacks remains constant for the next decade at about 2,000 a year.
There is a 50 percent chance of another catastrophic 9-11-style attack in the next ten years, according to a new research
First, they looked at history and determined that a 9/11-magnitute attack, which killed nearly 3,000 people, had a likelihood of 11 to 35% any time in the last 40 years, according to the Technology Review, which is published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Then they calculated the likelihood of another similar size attack if terrorist incidents remain at the same level they are now. Their conclusion: The chance of another 9/11 in the next decade is 20 to 50%.
However, Dr. Aaron Clauset and Dr. Ryan Woodward also admitted that it’s possible the number of terrorist attacks is likely to decline after US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq ends.
The study only looked at numbers until 2007, when Americans still had an active military presence in the country.
If terrorist attacks drop off, the probability of another major terrorist attack is reduced to 5 and 20%.
The researchers also played out a third, more dire scenario, using their formula.
If the number of attacks in the next decade increases dramatically, then the chance of a major terrorist event becomes a near certainty: 95%.
The formula doesn’t take into account increased security around the world or the billions of dollars the US and other developed nations have poured into preventing additional catastrophic attacks.
Pasquale Buzzelli, a structural engineer who became a legend after “surfing” down a wave of falling debris during 9/11, has spoken about his miracle survival and how having children has helped him rebuild his life.
Pasquale Buzzelli, 43, who was working as a structural engineer for the Manhattan Port Authority, was one of the last to evacuate the North Tower as it began to collapse.
He claims that he had reached the 22nd floor when the building collapsed beneath him and he was carried down through a blizzard of debris to the seventh floor, where he was rescued by firefighters.
At the time his wife Louise was pregnant with their first child Hope, now ten, and they have since had a second daughter Mia, seven.
He suffered survivor’s guilt for years afterwards but has finally come to terms with the grief thanks to his family.
Pasquale Buzzelli said: “Time heals all wounds and you start to experience joy.
“With the birth of Mia I was finally able to experience those feelings and not feel guilt. In that sense I’ve realized that the best way to honor those that didn’t make it, is to be the best person that I can be.”
His story is told in the Discovery Channel and Channel 4 documentary 9/11 The Miracle Survivor which is screened next week on the 11th anniversary of the disaster.
Pasquale Buzzelli was one of the last to evacuate the North Tower as it began to collapse
Holding the battered briefcase he was carrying that day, he said: “I haven’t opened this up in quite a few years. I came across it in my basement a couple of years after 9/11. I don’t even keep it in the house as it’s a constant reminder of that day. Its basically rode down the building with me and its battered and torn and just a reminder of how lucky I was to survive.”
His story of survival has divided experts. Shiya Ribowsky, who led the investigation into 9/11, said: “You know I have a healthy skepticism which is in no way a reflection on this man’s character.
“In forensics there are certain statistics about the likelihood of surviving a fall and once you get above five stories then statistics are pretty grim. So you’re talking about an exceptional situation. You’re talking the wings of angels here.”
However, Prof. Thomas Eager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has studied the physics of the collapse and believes that the hurricane force wind pushed him down 15 stories.
“His description of a rollercoaster clinched it for me in believing the whole thing,” he said.
Pasquale Buzzelli, who now works in emergency planning for the Port Authority, was in an elevator on his way up to his office the 64thfloor of the North Tower, when the first plane struck at 8:46 a.m.
But instead of evacuating the building, he felt a duty to remain at his desk. He and his colleagues at the Port Authority, were watching the news when the second plane hit.
They finally began to exit at Stairway B, reaching the 22nd floor at 10:28 a.m. when the tower began to collapse.
“I thought something heavy is falling through the stairs or part of the building is collapsing and falling through,” he said.
“I just dove into the stairwell, went into a foetal position, covered my face and hands and buried myself as close to the wall as possible to protect myself from anything falling through.
“It was then that I felt the wall that I was next to and the base of the floor crack open and give way. That’s when I knew that that was it: the entire building was going. I said to myself: <<My God I can’t believe this is. I’m going to die>>. I thought of my wife, my unborn child.”
Pasquale Buzzelli’s wife Louise, who was seven months pregnant with their oldest daughter Hope, now ten – they have a second daughter Mia, six – watched in horror as the tower collapsed.
“I knew it was over then at that point,” she said.
“I couldn’t watch anymore. I couldn’t believe that I was there watching this, carrying our first baby. I was a widow and I watched it and there was nothing I could do.”
But, incredibly, Pasquale Buzzelli began to freefall down the stairwell until he landed on the seventh floor. He regained consciousness three hours later, surrounded by twisted metal, with a badly injured ankle.
“I was totally numb,” he said.
“I felt nothing at all. I just opened my eyes and saw blue sky. I really thought I was dead until I started to cough and I started to feel pain in my leg. At that point I started calling out: <<Help. Help.>>”
Back at Ground Zero, firefighters Mike Lyons and Mike Moribito, who disobeyed orders to search the wreckage, found Pasquale Buzzelli as he was beginning to fear he would be burnt alive.
“He looked like he was in a castle,” said Mike Moribito.
“He was sitting there in broad daylight like a king on top of a hill. I can remember it as clear as day.”
Within hours Paquale Buzzelli was in an ambulance on his way to hospital. His first thought was to call his wife Louise.
“I picked up the phone and said: <<Hello?>>” she said.
“I heard his voice and he said: <<Louise it’s me>>. And I said: <<Oh my god Pascale. It’s you>>. And everyone in the house just screamed.”
However, Pasquale Buzzelli began to suffer from survivors’ guilt and it was only a reunion with Mike Lyons, who was also suffered traumatic stress disorder that brought him out of his depression. Mike Lyons’ girlfriend Kathryn traced Pasquale Buzzelli and they now meet regularly.
“Time heals all wounds and you start to experience joy,” he said.
“With the birth of Mia I was finally able to experience those feelings and not feel guilt. In that sense I’ve realized that the best way to honor those that didn’t make it, is tot be the best person that I can be.”
9/11 The Miracle Survivor is screened on Channel 4 at 10:00 p.m. on Monday September 10 and 11:10 p.m. the following night. An e-book We All Fall Down: The True Story of the 9/11 Surfer by Pasquale and Louise Buzzelli is published on Amazon on September 8.
American novelist Philip Roth has criticized Wikipedia after he was unable to convince the site to change an entry about one of his novels.
Philip Milton Roth, 79, tried to tell Wikipedia about an error in the entry for his novel The Human Stain, published in 2000.
But Wikipedia’s administrators initially refused to amend the entry, saying they required a second source.
The prize-winning author is famed for his tales of Jewish life, relationships and mortality.
The Human Stain tells the tale of Coleman Silk, a classics tutor at a fictional Massachusetts college, whose life spirals into chaos after he makes an ill-received remark judged by some as a racial slur.
American novelist Philip Roth has criticized Wikipedia after he was unable to convince the site to change an entry about one of his novels
According to the Wikipedia entry – which has now been amended – Coleman Silk, who Philip Roth portrayed as born to black parents but who lived his life as a white man, was based on the character of writer and critic Anatole Broyard.
Anatole Broyard, a star book reviewer for the New York Times for many years, was also born to a black family but lived as white.
However, in a lengthy open letter published on the website of the New Yorker magazine, Philip Roth insists that the idea his character was based on Anatole Broyard was utterly incorrect.
“This item entered Wikipedia not from the world of truthfulness but from the babble of literary gossip – there is no truth in it at all,” Philip Roth wrote.
In the 2,655-word letter, Philip Roth explains instead that the character of Coleman Silk was instead based on the experience of a friend of his, whose own ill-chosen remark, made while teaching at Princeton in 1985, was also seen as a racial epithet.
In the letter, Philip Roth describes this as “the initiating incident” of The Human Stain: “There is no novel without it. There is no Coleman Silk without it.”
By contrast, Philip Roth says of Anatole Broyard: “He and I barely knew each other. Over more than three decades, I ran into him, casually and inadvertently, maybe three or four times before a protracted battle with prostate cancer ended his life, in 1990.”
Describing his efforts to get the entry changed, he writes in the New Yorker that he was told by the “English Wikipedia Administrator” that he “was not a credible source”.
Following the publication of the New Yorker letter, the Wikipedia entry was changed and a section noting the debate inserted near its end.
Wikipedia entries and edits are policed by administrators, who have the power to delete pages, or protect those being vandalized. Recent reports suggest the number of people being approved to run the site is on the decline.
Wikipedia by numbers
English Wikipedia:
• 4,005,000 articles
• If printed and bound, it would contain more than 1,700 volumes
• 32,760 contributors making more than five edits per month, about 10-15% of whom are women
Paul McCartney has been given France’s highest award, the Legion of Honour, for services to music.
Sir Paul McCartney was decorated by President Francois Hollande during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
As an officer of the Legion of Honour (Légion d’honneur), Paul McCartney joins such cultural icons as actor Clint Eastwood and singers Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli.
Sir Paul McCartney was decorated with France’s Legion of Honour by President Francois Hollande during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris
In his native Britain, Paul McCartney was knighted by the Queen in 1997 – earning the title Sir.
Sir Paul said afterwards: “It is such an honor to be awarded this.”
He recently performed to a global audience at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Legion of Honour was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and comes in five grades – Knight, Officer, Commander, Grand Officer and Grand Cross.
Paul McCartney, 70, has enjoyed a long and successful music career after rising to fame with The Beatles.
He and bandmate John Lennon penned such hits as Yesterday, Hey Jude and A Hard Day’s Night, before the Beatles split up in 1970. Paul McCartney went on to forge a solo career.
Katie Holmes has become the first ever face of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics.
Katie Holmes, 33, who recently divorced husband Tom Cruise after five years of marriage, has signed a deal with the beauty firm which will see her act as both muse and collaborator.
Bobbi Brown told WWD: “We weren’t looking for a celebrity, just a cool, amazing woman who would fit with our brand. And she’s just ridiculously naturally beautiful.”
Katie Holmes, who favors a bare-faced, almost no-make-up look, is a perfect fit for the cosmetics company, which also shares a natural aesthetic.
According to Bobbi Brown executives, as well as being the first celebrity face of the 21-year-old brand, Katie Holmes name will appear on a capsule collection of fall 2013 cosmetics.
Katie Holmes has become the first ever face of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
She told WWD: “This is my first foray into beauty products and the evolution of a look.
“You want the hair and makeup to support the woman, just like you want the clothes to support the woman. You don’t want to lose the woman. That’s how Jeanne and I design.”
The news comes as the actress and designer prepares to stage the first-ever Fashion Week show for her label, Holmes & Yang.
Katie Holmes, who founded the line with stylist Jeanne Yang, will join the likes of Diane Von Furstenberg and Donna Karan at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center on Sunday.
And by all accounts, the success of the show, and the fashion press verdicts, will mean a lot to her.
Katie Holmes explained: “When you go in and you show your clothing, you think that they’re going to buy the whole collection. And when they don’t, you’re like, <<What do you mean? It all goes together. So what do we do with this?>>.
“So that was new, but I think that’s kind of a life thing – <<What, you don’t want all of me?>>”
The event will take place on the same day as Victoria Beckham, putting the two celebrities – and one-time friends – head-to-head.
The Holmes & Yang pieces, which she described as “just nice, well-made luxury items that highlight the woman wearing them”, range in price from $700 to $3000.
“We use a lot of silks and leathers and suedes,” she added, as if by way of explanation.
The Holmes & Yang first formal New York Fashion Week presentation and the Bobbi Brown beauty campaign together indicate that Katie Holmes is carving a sophisticated new image for herself, in the wake of her divorce.
Her acting career has not been completely sidelined, however.
Katie Holmes is set to star in a Broadway play, Dead Accounts, from November, and has two movies in the pipeline for next year.
The Hong Kong government has decided to back down over plans to make schoolchildren take Chinese patriotism classes, after weeks of protests.
City leader Leung Chun-ying said the classes would be optional for schools.
“The schools are given the authority to decide when and how they would like to introduce the moral and national education,” he said.
Critics said the plans were an attempt to brainwash the city’s children by the Chinese government in Beijing.
The government had said the subject was important to foster a sense of national belonging and identity. Anti-Beijing sentiment has been on the rise in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, a city of seven million people.
The Hong Kong government has decided to back down over plans to make schoolchildren take Chinese patriotism classes, after weeks of protests
The decision comes ahead of elections on Sunday, when voters will elect just over half the members of a legislative assembly that is expanding from 60 to 70 seats.
The protests had given a boost to pro-democracy legislators hoping to win a landmark election on Sunday.
The government’s surprise announcement has led some to speculate it is a move directly timed to influence that election in favor of pro-government legislators, our correspondent says.
Leung Chun-ying, who was sworn in as Hong Kong’s chief executive in July, cancelled his trip to the APEC regional summit in Vladivostok this weekend because of the furore.
The proposed curriculum, which consisted of general civics education as well as more controversial lessons on appreciating mainland China, was due to be introduced in primary schools in September and secondary schools in 2013.
According to AFP news agency, course material funded by the government extolled the benefits of one-party rule, equated multi-party democracy to chaos, and glossed over events like the Tiananmen Square crackdown and the mass starvation of Mao Zedong’s regime.
A survey released last week suggested 69% of students opposed the classes.
The climbdown came a day after activists said more than 100,000 protesters had rallied at government headquarters. Police put the turnout at 36,000.
Unlike the rest of China, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of freedom, including a free press, the right to assemble and transparent, accountable institutions.
The row is the latest example of the cultural, social and political gap that exists between Hong Kong and its mainland masters.
It also highlights the deep suspicion with which many Hong Kong people continue to regard the Chinese government.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the US administration wants to normalize trade relations with Russia this month.
Hillary Clinton said the government was working closely with the US Congress to get the necessary legislation passed.
She was speaking ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Vladivostok.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged a fight against protectionism to turn the global economy around.
And Chinese President Hu Jintao promised his country would try to help the world’s economy by increasing the demand in China for imported goods.
Hillary Clinton speaking ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation APEC summit in Vladivostok
Although Russia is now a member of the World Trade Organisation, there is still a piece of legislation that prevents US companies trading normally with Russia – the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment which, although suspended, remains in place.
In her speech to the APEC summit in the Russian port city, Hillary Clinton – who is standing in for President Barack Obama – said she welcomed Russia’s commitment to playing a greater role in the Asia-Pacific region.
She added: “To make sure our companies get to compete here in Russia, we are working closely with the United States Congress to terminate the application to Jackson-Vanik to Russia and grant Russia permanent normalized trade relations.
“We hope that the Congress will act on this important piece of legislation this month.”
However there are concerns in the US Congress about Moscow’s support for Iran and Syria, as well as its broader human rights record, so the timing of a vote on the issue remains unclear.
Vladimir Putin, who is hosting the summit, expressed concern about the world economy, and particularly Europe’s debt crisis.
“The priority goal is to fight protectionism in all its forms. It is important to build bridges not walls,” he said.
President Hu Jintao said: “The world economy today is recovering slowly, and there are still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties.
“The underlying impact of the international financial crisis is far from over.
“We will work to maintain the balance between keeping steady and robust growth, adjusting the economic structure and managing inflation expectations. We will boost domestic demand and maintain steady and robust growth as well as basic price stability.”
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has left the talks early to return home after her father died.
China’s President Hu Jintao has promised to maintain economic growth to support a global recovery, at the start of an Asia-Pacific summit in the Russian port city of Vladivostok.
China would pursue steady policies and seek to boost domestic demand, he said.
He was speaking ahead of the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit.
All countries in the region, he said, shared a responsibility to maintain peace and stability.
“The world economy today is recovering slowly, and there are still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties,” President Hu Jintao told businessmen in a speech before the summit.
“The underlying impact of the international financial crisis is far from over.
“We will work to maintain the balance between keeping steady and robust growth, adjusting the economic structure and managing inflation expectations. We will boost domestic demand and maintain steady and robust growth as well as basic price stability.”
President Hu Jintao has promised to maintain economic growth to support a global recovery, at the start of APEC summit in Vladivostok
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged countries in the region to lift more barriers to free trade in the Pacific. American officials say they would welcome a more active Russian role in the region.
“Fostering a balanced and stable economy is a challenge too sweeping and complex for countries to approach in isolation,” Hillary Clinton said.
“If we do this right, globalization can become a race to the top, with rising standards of living and more broadly shared prosperity.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is hosting the summit, has expressed concern about the world economy, and particularly Europe’s debt crisis.
“The recovery of the global economy is faltering. We can only overcome negative trends by enhancing the volume of trade… enhancing the flow of capital. It is important to follow the fundamental principles of open markets and free trade,” he said.
“The priority goal is to fight protectionism in all its forms. It is important to build bridges not walls.”
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was leaving the talks early to return home after her father died.
Japanese researchers mapped the muscles fibres of cheetah known to accelerate to record-breaking speeds.
By comparing the cheetah’s muscles with those of a domestic cat and dog, the team identified the special propulsion power of its hindlimb muscles.
The study is the first to investigate muscle fibre distribution across the whole of the cheetah’s body.
The findings are published in the journal Mammalian Biology and examine how the muscle fibres of domestic cats and dogs compare with those of the world’s fastest land mammal.
“The study of muscles is indispensable to understand the cheetah’s run,” said Dr. Naomi Wada, the study’s co-author and Professor in System Physiology at Yamaguchi University in Japan.
Japanese researchers mapped the muscles fibres of cheetah known to accelerate to record-breaking speeds
Different types of muscle fibre are suited to different activities, explained Dr. Naomi Wada.
In all the animals studied, so-called Type I fibres produced a small force output but were resistant to fatigue, making them best suited to maintaining posture and slow walking.
Type IIa fibre performance was best suited to fast walking and trotting whereas Type IIx or “fast” fibres created a high force output but had low endurance and were key to fast running or galloping.
By mapping the distribution of fibres across the muscles of a cheetah’s body, scientists were able to gain insights into the animal’s impressive sprint technique.
“The forelimb muscles in the cheetah included [the] most Type I muscle fibres of all three animals… while the muscle of hind limb muscles have many Type IIx fibres.”
“The functional difference between forelimb and hindlimb is the most remarkable in the cheetah,” said Dr. Naomi Wada.
The team’s results suggested that the power comes from the cheetah’s hind legs, in the same way as a rear wheel-drive car, according to Dr. Naomi Wada.
She drew a further automative parallel when describing how the cheetah handles at high speed.
The digits of the cheetah’s hindlimbs contained no fast fibres, but the digits on the front legs contained many of them.
Dr. Naomi Wada explained that this is because the cheetah controls its balance by using its forefeet to turn and slow down.
However, most rear-wheel drive cars cannot mimic the enviable acceleration of the cheetah: zero to 60 mph in under three seconds.
Previous studies have indentified the cat’s seven metre stride-length as key to this ability. With long, flexible limbs, a sprinting cheetah spends more than half its time airborne.
In order to maximize this effect, it arches and contracts its spine, and Dr. Naomi Wada and colleagues found muscle fibres that supported this technique.
The cat had a high percentage of fast fibres running along its back and middle, suggesting that it could produce a quick, strong extension of the backbone.
Princess Charlene of Monaco looked as stunning as every as she attended the annual picnic at Le Parc Princesse Antoinette yesterday.
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene looked in high-spirits as they met their subjects during the principality’s popular celebratory event.
Prince Albert, who is one of the world’s wealthiest royals with a fortune of more than $1billion, was as cheerful as could be as he showed off his consort to the adoring crowds.
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene looked in high-spirits as they met their subjects during the principality's popular celebratory event, the annual picnic at Le Parc Princess Antoinette
And the South African former swimmer has clearly taken to her royal duties like a duck to water, as she was composed and friendly throughout, and was photographed graciously accepting some flowers from an excited local girl taking back in the ceremonies.
The 54-year-old head of the House of Grimaldi donned a traditional outfit for the engagement, while Princess Charlene wore a classy long grey skirt, white tank top and pink scarf.
An ungrateful son thanked his mom by filming her sleepwalking and posting it on the internet.
The hysterical video, uploaded on YouTube, shows the pajama-clad woman wandering and then waltzing around her kitchen, while her son follows her with a camera.
The son, who goes by the YouTube name of “stillsoundlyawake”, then asks “and what exactly are you doing mam”.
With eyes open and speaking intently, the mother explains that she was trying to open a “tomato cage” – a wire structure used to grow tomatoes.
The hysterical video, uploaded on YouTube, shows the pajama-clad woman wandering and then waltzing around her kitchen, while her son follows her with a camera
“It’s a special code,” she says with a shimmy.
“I was doing a special thing. But the tomato cage wouldn’t open.”
The man, clearly amused, probes further: “And where exactly is this tomato cage?”
“Some place,” she says.
“I tried many things. But it wouldn’t open and I’m pissed off now.”
After a final, and extremely peculiar, dance move, the woman then leaves the kitchen, presumably headed back to bed.
But her son wouldn’t leave the humiliation there.
In a follow up video, which was also posted online, he shows his mother her sleepwalking antics.
Not quite believing what her subconscious self gets up to, she covers her mouth as she laughs. But her son is laughing harder.
Madonna unveiled a huge Obama temporary tattoo on her back during last night concert in New York.
Madonna, 54, made the unmissable statement during her MDNA Tour at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
Clad only in a back-baring bra and trousers she turned her muscly back on the audience, all the better to show off the writing.
Despite turning 54 last month there was no rest for Madonna during her high-kicking concert.
At one point the singer was joined on the stage by her bare-chested younger boyfriend Brahim Zaibat. She and the 24-year-old have been dating for two years.
Madonna unveiled a huge Obama temporary tattoo on her back during last night concert in New York
Madonna has made her left-wing leanings increasingly clear in recent months, with her endorsement of President Barack Obama the latest in a long line of political statements.
The mother-of-four was branded a “moralizing slut” by Russia’s deputy prime minister after scrawling Pussy Riot on her back at her concert last month.
Madonna was making a statement about the jailing of the Russian punk band for an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
She then angered the Russians further by making a stand for gay rights at her St Petersburg concert
On that occasion she stomped on an Orthodox cross and asked fans to raise their hands to show pink armbands which had been distributed in support of gays and lesbians.
And in July the pop star was forced to make a public apology to France’s far-right nationalist leader Marine Le Pen after depicting the politician with a swastika across her forehead.
The leader of the National Front had said she would sue the pop queen for associating her with Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.
In an eccentric performance in front of 2,500 fans in Paris, Madonna said: “I know that I have made a certain Marine Le Pen very angry with me. It’s not my intention to make enemies.”
Scientists in the Arctic are warning that this summer’s record-breaking melt is part of an accelerating trend with profound implications.
Norwegian researchers report that the sea ice is becoming significantly thinner and more vulnerable.
Last month, the annual thaw of the region’s floating ice reached the lowest level since satellite monitoring began, more than 30 years ago.
It is thought the scale of the decline may even affect Europe’s weather.
The melt is set to continue for at least another week – the peak is usually reached in mid-September – while temperatures here remain above freezing.
The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) is at the forefront of Arctic research and its international director, Kim Holmen, said that the speed of the melting was faster than expected.
“It is a greater change than we could even imagine 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. And it has taken us by surprise and we must adjust our understanding of the system and we must adjust our science and we must adjust our feelings for the nature around us,” Dr. Kim Holmen said.
The institute has been deploying its icebreaker, Lance, to research conditions between Svalbard and Greenland – the main route through which ice flows out of the Arctic Ocean.
Scientists in the Arctic are warning that this summer's record-breaking melt is part of an accelerating trend with profound implications
During a visit to the port, one of the scientists involved, Dr. Edmond Hansen, said he was “amazed” at the size and speed of this year’s melt.
“As a scientist, I know that this is unprecedented in at least as much as 1,500 years. It is truly amazing – it is a huge dramatic change in the system,” Dr. Edmond Hansen said.
“This is not some short-lived phenomenon – this is an ongoing trend. You lose more and more ice and it is accelerating – you can just look at the graphs, the observations, and you can see.”
Key data on the ice comes from satellites but also from measurements made by a range of different techniques – a mix of old and new technology harnessed to help answer the key environmental questions of our age.
The Norwegians send teams out on to the floating ice to drill holes into it and extract cores to determine the ice’s origin.
And since the early 90s they have installed specialist buoys, tethered to the seabed, which use sonar to provide a near-constant stream of data about the ice above.
An electro-magnetic device known as an EM-Bird has also been flown, suspended beneath a helicopter, in long sweeps over the ice.
The torpedo-shaped instrument gathers data about the difference between the level of the seawater beneath the ice and the surface of the ice itself.
By flying transects over the ice, a picture of its thickness emerges. The latest data is still being processed but one of the institute’s sea ice specialists, Dr. Sebastian Gerland, said that though conditions vary year by year a pattern is clear.
“In the region where we work we can see a general trend to thinner ice – in the Fram Strait and at some coastal stations.”
Where the ice vanishes entirely, the surface loses its usual highly reflective whiteness – which sends most solar radiation back into space – and is replaced by darker waters instead which absorb more heat.
According to Dr. Sebastian Gerland, additional warming can take place even if ice remains in a far thinner state.
“It means there is more light penetrating through the ice – that depends to a high degree on the snow cover but once it has melted the light can get through,” he said.
“If the ice is thinner there is more light penetrating and that light can heat the water.”
The most cautious forecasts say that the Arctic might become ice-free in the summer by the 2080s or 2090s. But recently many estimates for that scenario have been brought forward.
Early research investigating the implications suggests that a massive reduction in sea ice is likely to have an impact on the path of the jet stream, the high-altitude wind that guides weather systems, including storms.
The course and speed of the jet stream is governed by the difference in temperature between the Tropics and the Arctic, so a change on the scale being observed now could be felt across Europe and beyond.
Kim Holmen of the NPI explained how the connection might work.
“When the Arctic is ice free, it is not white any more and it will absorb more sunlight and that change will influence wind systems and where the precipitation comes.
“For northern Europe it could mean much more precipitation, while southern Europe will become drier so there are large scale shifts across the entire continent.”
That assessment is mirrored by work at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, based in the British town of Reading.
The centre’s director-general, Alan Thorpe, said the link between the Arctic melt and European weather was complicated but it is now the subject of research.
“Where Arctic sea ice is reducing in summer – and if we have warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the north-west Atlantic – these twin factors together lead to storms being steered over the UK in summer which is not the normal situation and leads to our poorer summers.”
But the research is in its earliest stages. For science, the Arctic itself is hard to decipher. The effects of its rapid melt are even tougher.
The US economy created 96,000 jobs in August, according to official figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is less than was expected.
However, the figure was lower than expected and revisions to June and July data mean that 41,000 fewer jobs were created than previously reported.
Analysts had expected non-farm payrolls to grow by 125,000 last month.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1%, compared with 8.3% in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work.
The US economy created 96,000 jobs in August, according to official figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment increased in food services and drinking places, professional and technical services and healthcare during August, the Bureau said.
Employment growth has averaged 139,000 a month in 2012, the Bureau said, compared with an average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011.
The percentage of Americans who either have a job or who are looking for one fell to 63.5%, the lowest participation rate since 1981.
The weak figures could put pressure on President Barack Obama in his re-election campaign, given than rival Mitt Romney has put jobs at the centre of the national debate.
Mitt Romney described the figures as “more of the same for middle-class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression”.
He claims his economic plan will create 12 million new jobs by the end of his first term.
The figures are also seen as making it more likely that the US Federal Reserve will provide further economic stimulus measures in the form of quantitative easing, as hinted at by chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech on 31 August.
A survey released on Tuesday indicated that growth in the US manufacturing sector remained weak.
The Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 51.5 in August compared with 51.4 in July. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
Figures released last week showed that the US economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.7% in the second quarter of the year.
Hopes of an early jail release for the Pussy Riot punk protesters dimmed last night after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a scathing attack on the three women singers.
The three Pussy Riot members are to appeal their two years prison sentences for staging a cathedral stunt opposing the strongman leader.
Supporters of the women – who have called for a revolution against Vladimir Putin – fear his hardline stance will sway judges and rule out their punishments being reduced.
“First they went to the Yelokhovsky Cathedral and conducted an orgy there and then they went to the other cathedral and had another orgy,” Vladimir Putin said in a major TV interview.
“The state is obliged to protect the feelings of the faithful.”
Vladimir Putin dashes hopes for Pussy Riot release as he says faithful must be defended after two Cathedral orgies
The women were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for dancing and singing in Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
He also chided the police for taking no action when one of the three – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22 – was involved in a sexually explicit protest four years ago in a biological museum.
“They had a group sex session in a public place. They then uploaded it onto the Internet. The authorities should have looked at this too,” he stressed.
Recalled a Soviet-era joke, he said: “Some fans say that group sex is better than one-on-one because – like in any collective work – you can take it easy a bit.”
But he stressed: “Uploading it onto the Internet is controversial and can be subject to legal proceedings.”
Vladimir Putin asked his interviewer if he knew what the band’s name meant.
“There is no need to pretend that you don’t know. It’s indecent,” he said.
He claimed the repression suffered by the church in Soviet times meant it had to be respected now.
But he denied behind the scenes pressure to send the women to jail, despite suspicions of this among the opposition and in the West.
“I know what is going on with Pussy Riot, but I am staying out of it completely,” he said.
Vladimir Putin also denied he was clamping down on protest, declaring: “What is <<tightening the screws>>? If this means the demand that everyone, including representatives of the opposition, obey the law, then yes, this demand will be consistently implemented.”
He also blasted Britain for “double standards” in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, alleging political interference in the attempt to extradite him to Sweden for sexual offences.
Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuador embassy and has been granted political asylum by the South American country.
“They decided to extradite him. What is this? Of course it is double standards, that is clear,” he told Russia Today television.
“As far as I know, Ecuador asked Sweden for guarantees that Assange will not be extradited from Sweden to the United States. It has received no such guarantees.
“Of course this leads one to think that this is a political case.”
The decision made a mockery of Britain’s claim of judicial independence, he said.
A series of earthquakes has hit south-west China, leaving at least 50 people dead and 150 injured, Chinese state media say.
The quakes struck the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, with the largest felt at 11:19 Beijing time, Xinhua news agency said.
The US Geological Survey registered the two strongest of the series of quakes at 5.6 magnitude.
The quakes affected mostly mountainous areas that saw landslides, reports say.
A series of earthquakes has hit south-west China, leaving at least 50 people dead and 150 injured
Zhang Junwei, a spokesman from the Yunnan seismological bureau, told the Associated Press (AP) agency that most of the deaths were from Yunnan’s Yiliang county.
“The casualty number is still being compiled. I don’t know what was like for the other towns, but my town got hit badly,” another government official in Yiliang told AP.
No deaths have been reported in Guizhou so far.
The death toll is expected to rise further, especially in areas affected by landslides, Xinhua says.
“Roads are blocked and rescuers have to climb the mountains to reach hard-hit villages,” Li Fuchun, head of Yunnan’s Luozehe town, was quoted as saying.
Xihua reported that at least 100,000 people have been evacuated and earlier reports said that more than 20,000 houses were damaged.
Mobile and regular phone service in the area was experiencing disruption, according to reports.
Hundreds of local residents had gathered on streets littered with bricks and rocks, television footage from state-run broadcaster CCTV showed.
Users of the Twitter-like weibo reported people rushing out of shaking office buildings, and photos posted online also showed streets strewn with rubble.
Local officials said teams had been sent to distribute tents and blankets to those affected.
The largest of the quakes was also felt in the neighboring province of Sichuan, where a 7.8 magnitude quake in 2008 left tens of thousands dead.
Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner apparently hates reality TV behemoth Honey Boo Boo and her mother June Shannon.
Kris Jenner, 56, is said to be concerned that the Thompsons are drawing attention away from the K-Dash juggernaut.
But surprisingly, Kris Jenner is also said to have concerns that June Shannon is exploiting her 7-year-old to make money.
Kris Jenner apparently hates reality TV behemoth Honey Boo Boo and her mother June Shannon
“To say Kris is not a fan of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is an understatement,” a source told Radar Online.
“She thinks the Thompsons are classless, unlike her family and can’t understand why America is so fascinated by them.
“The show has become bigger than Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and Kris is starting to feel threatened by its success.
“Kris especially has a strong dislike for June, claiming the beauty pageant world is vile and that June is a bad mom for <<exploiting>> Alana in that way.
“Kris thinks it’s all a ploy to make money, and says she sees through it and thinks it is absolutely disgusting.
“Although it’s like pot calling the kettle black – you could say that Kris does exactly the same with her family,” the source added.
Toddlers & Tiaras contestant Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson has become a soaraway hit thanks to her eponymous show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
TLC first introduced viewers to Toddlers and Tiaras star Alana Thompson in January, where her amusing personality and self-confidence became a fixture in pop culture.
The network offered the family a spin-off series, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, an inside look into little Alana Thompson’s world.
Since premiering on August 8, the show has attracted millions of viewers and its August 29 installment attracted nearly 3 million viewers, eclipsing every network’s coverage of the Republican National Convention and Paul Ryan’s speech.
Each episode follows Honey Boo Boo and her unapologetically outrageous family.
A Russian little girl cracks after receiving a lengthy telling-off by her bullying teacher and gives him a powerful kick in the groin.
The hilarious incident was captured on a mobile phone camera by one of her fellow pupils during an English lesson at the school at an undisclosed location somewhere in Russia.
A Russian little girl cracks after receiving a lengthy telling-off by her bullying teacher and gives him a powerful kick in the groin
The poor girl, with long blonde plaited hair, is hauled up to the front of the classroom, where she is screamed at by her furious teacher.
She bows her head and endures a torrent of abuse but to the surprise of the teacher and the delight of her classmates she strikes back before racing out the room.
Prince Harry has been deployed to Afghanistan for four months, UK’s Ministry of Defence says.
Prince Harry, 27, an Apache helicopter pilot, arrived on Thursday night at the main British base, Camp Bastion in Helmand.
The third in line to the throne will take part in combat missions against the Taliban.
It is his second Afghanistan deployment – Prince Harry spent 10 weeks in Helmand province in 2007-08 but was pulled out after media reported his secret deployment.
Captain Wales, as Prince Harry is known in the military, arrived as part of the 100-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps.
Royal Navy Captain Jock Gordon, Commander of the Joint Aviation Group, said: “Captain Wales, with his previous experience as a Forward Air Controller on operations, will be a useful asset.
“He will be in a difficult and demanding job. And I ask that he be left to get on with his duties and allowed to focus on delivering support to the coalition troops on the ground.”
Captain Wales, as Prince Harry is known in the military, has been deployed to Afghanistan for four months
Prince Harry is the first member of the Royal Family to see active combat since his uncle Prince Andrew fought in the Falklands war.
The prince, who turns 28 next week, qualified as an Apache helicopter pilot in February this year after 18 months of rigorous training in the UK and the US.
The Ministry of Defence regards the threat to Apache aircraft and crew in Afghanistan as “low”.
The Taliban claim to have brought down an Apache in Afghanistan, but the British have never lost an Apache anywhere, from a total of 67, despite two minor crashes.
The Apache attack helicopter is designed to hunt and destroy tanks and is equipped with rockets, missiles and automatic cannon.
During his previous deployment, Prince Harry was a forward air controller, directing planes dropping bombs on Taliban positions in Helmand province.
The Ministry of Defence, which had agreed a news blackout with British media believed that the risk to the prince was too great after Australian and US media revealed details of his deployment.
Then he was part of ground forces, calling in air strikes against enemy positions. He was disappointed to be withdrawn, and determined to return to front-line combat.
In April, the prince suggested it would be pointless to train as a helicopter pilot if he never served.
“I’d just be taking up a spare place for somebody else if they didn’t have me going out on the job,” he said at the time.
Camp Bastion is a sprawling base in Helmand and one of the largest in Afghanistan.
Prince Harry’s living quarters will be a shipping container, shared with another member of his squadron. Although basic, it is far better accommodation than the tented barracks that others, who are not Apache crew, have to sleep in.
Bastion has a bar which does not serve alcohol as it is forbidden on base. It has table football, a pool table, and games. Elsewhere on Bastion there is a cigar bar and a steak restaurant, called Blues.
Those working on the base are regularly awakened by the distant sound of heavy ordnance being disposed of, and a 5:00 a.m. call to prayer from a loudspeaker on top of the local mosque.
Recently Prince Harry has had a high-profile presence at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He then went to Las Vegas on a private holiday, where he was photographed at a party.
The photos, published by the Sun newspaper in UK and international websites, prompted about 3,800 complaints to the Press Complaints Commission.
However, the watchdog said it would be “inappropriate” to open an inquiry because the prince’s representatives had not yet made a formal complaint.
