Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 has topped the North American box office on its opening weekend, taking $101 million.
However, it was the quietest first weekend for the series, which began in 2012.
The first movie in the series took $152.5 million, the second $158.1 million and 2014’s Mockingjay– Part 1, $121.9 million.
So far, there have been only 34 movies in history to open at more than $100 million and each Hunger Games film has made it into that elite group.
Spectre was second on this week’s US box office chart, with $14. 6 million, followed by The Peanuts Movie with $12.8 million.
Seth Rogen’s comedy The Night Before opened in fourth spot, with $10.1 million, while Julia Roberts’ thriller The Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of the Oscar-winning Argentinean movie, debuted with $6.6 million.
The weekend was down 11% from last year but fans are waiting for Star Wars: The Force Awakens which opens on December 18.
North American box office Top 5:
1.The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 – $101 million
Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested in Texas for taking a homemade clock to class, is seeking $15 million from the City of Irving and MacArthur highschool.
The teenager was held by police and suspended from his school because his teacher mistook the clock for a bomb.
Ahmed Mohamed’s lawyer said in a letter that the incident, which made global headlines, sparked threats against the boy and left him deeply traumatized.
The 14-year-old and his family have since moved to Qatar to complete his education.
The arrest sparked outrage, sympathy and the trending hashtag #StandWithAhmed.
Ahmed Mohamed’s lawyers are asking for $10 million from the city of Irving and $5 million from the Irving Independent School District, saying that Ahmed Mohamed was “publicly mistreated” and remains scarred.
In addition to the compensation they want an apology, saying that in the aftermath of the arrest, he received threatening emails and feared for his safety, causing “severe psychological trauma”.
The lawyers will file a civil action suit if the school does not comply within 60 days, they said.
“Irving Police officials immediately determined that the clock was harmless. The only reason for the overreaction was that the responsible adults involved irrationally assumed that Ahmed was dangerous because of his race, national origin and religion,” the lawyers wrote in a letter to the City of Irving.
Ahmed Mohamed told reporters at the time it was “very sad” that his teacher thought his clock was a threat.
His arrest was sharply criticized, and he received an outpouring of support including an invitation to the White House.
In October, Ahmed Mohamed met Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. The boy’s father is a Sudanese immigrant to the US who once stood as a presidential candidate against Omar al-Bashir.
Ahmed Mohamed also met Google co-founder Sergey Brin and officials from Turkey, Sudan and Jordan.
Texas officials defended their decision, saying they were only concerned with the safety of students.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community offered him a full scholarship in October.
Ahmed Mohamed’s family announced they would be leaving Texas and moving so he could attend school there.
According to US officials, an American airstrike has destroyed more than 238 fuel trucks controlled by ISIS militants in north-east Syria.
It is thought the pilots found the trucks parked up together, waiting to be loaded at an oil production point near al-Hasakah and Dayr Az Zawr.
Warning shots were reportedly fired to scare away the civilian drivers, before the destruction of the trucks began.
Islamic State makes large amounts of money from oil it produces from seized facilities.
The US Department of Defense says it will release video of the air raid, which took place over the weekend.
Last week another 116 tankers were destroyed in a previous airstrike.
Pentagon spokesman, Capt. Jeff Davis, said on November 23: “This was conducted in many ways identical to our last,”
“It was proceeded with a leaflet drop to warn drivers out of their trucks as well as a show of force.”
Jeff Davis said there were no reports of civilian casualties.
The oil truck strikes are part of Operation Tidal Wave II, a change in tactics on the part of the coalition. Previously, petrol supplies were largely avoided because of the impact on civilian populations.
A US-led coalition began a campaign of air strikes in Syria and Iraq in 2014, after ISIS took large parts of both countries.
Pfizer has sealed a deal to buy Botox-maker Allergan for $160 billion in what is the biggest pharmaceuticals deal in history.
The takeover could allow Pfizer to escape relatively high US corporate tax rates by moving its headquarters to Allergan’s Dublin base.
The merged company will be the world’s biggest drug maker by sales.
Allergan shareholders will receive 11.3 shares in the new company for each of their Allergan shares.
Pfizer shareholders will receive one share for each of their shares in that company.
Pfizer’s shares closed down 2.7% in New York at $31.32, while Allergan fell 3.4% to $301.70.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential hopeful, said inversion deals like Pfizer’s would “leave US taxpayers holding the bag” and called on Washington to ensure that the biggest companies “pay their fair share”.
Senator Bernie Sanders, another Democratic hopeful, said the deal would be a disaster for consumers and allow another major US company to hide its profits overseas.
Photo Reuters
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump described Pfizer’s departure from the US as “disgusting”, adding: “Our politicians should be ashamed.”
The merged business will be called Pfizer Plc. The companies said they expected the deal to be completed in the second half of 2016, subject to regulatory approval in the US and Europe.
Pfizer said it expected the merger to result in savings of $2 billion in the first three years.
The company’s CEO Ian Read will be chief executive and chairman of the merged company, with Allergan boss Brent Saunders becoming president and chief operating officer.
“The proposed combination of Pfizer and Allergan will create a leading global pharmaceutical company with the strength to research, discover and deliver more medicines and more therapies to more people around the world,” said Ian Read.
Critically, the terms of the deal propose that the merged company will maintain Allergan’s Irish domicile. This means the profits of the new company would be subject to corporation tax of 12.5% – much lower than the 35% Pfizer pays in the US.
In 2014, Pfizer made an offer to buy AstraZeneca in a move that analysts said was designed to reduce Pfizer’s tax bill. The UK pharmaceutical giant rejected the bid, arguing it undervalued the company.
The deal is the latest in a series of mergers and acquisitions in the sector, as pharmaceuticals companies struggle to cope with patents on a number of major drugs expiring.
A fourth suspect has been charged in Belgium with terrorism offences related to November 13 deadly attacks on Paris, the federal prosecutor said.
The unnamed man was one of 16 people arrested in raids on November 22. The rest have been released without charge.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said he would maintain the highest security threat level in Brussels, warning of an imminent threat.
However, authorities plan to reopen schools and the metro on November 25.
The multiple attacks in Paris – claimed by ISIS – left 130 people dead.
A statement from the federal prosecutor’s office said the man had been charged with “participating in activities of a terrorist group and with [a] terrorist attack”.
Of a further five people arrested on November 23, two have been released, while “further enquiries” are under way regarding the others, the prosecutor said.
Mohammed Amri, 27, and Hamza Attou, 20, have already been charged with aiding Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who remains at large. A third, unnamed suspect has also been charged.
In a separate development, French police said an object that appeared to be an explosives belt was found in a bin in the Paris suburb of Montrouge on November 23. The item is being examined.
Photo Getty Images
Mobile phone data suggest that Salah Abdeslam – whose brother died in the attacks – was in that area late on the night of the attack.
Universities, schools, large stores, shopping centers and the metro system were closed in Brussels on Monday as the highest security alert remained in place for a third day.
Armed police patrolled the normally bustling streets of the capital.
Announcing that the state of alert would remain at level four for another week, Charles Michel stressed “we must all progressively get back to a normal life”.
The rest of Belgium remains on alert level three, meaning an attack is seen as possible and credible.
France has stepped up security in schools, imposing a series of measures including compulsory safety drills and banning parking outside school premises.
Also on November 23, France carried out its first strikes against ISIS from its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, newly deployed in the eastern Mediterranean.
French jets bombed ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, including Raqqa, ISIS’ key Syrian stronghold, the defense ministry said.
Germany has decided to withdraw its act for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest following criticism Xavier Naidoo’s lyrics are anti-Semitic and homophobic.
Xavier Naidoo, of Indian and African heritage, has sold millions of albums in Germany, but songs such as 2012’s Wo Sind (Where Are) have been widely criticized.
Anti-racism groups’ complained after Xavier Naidoo’s selection, on November 19, for the Stockholm contest.
Germany’s public broadcaster ARD denied the “brilliant” singer was racist.
Executive Thomas Schreiber added: “It was clear that his nomination would polarize opinions, but we were surprised about the negative response.
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a fun event, in which music and the understanding between European people should be the focus.
“This characteristic must be kept at all costs. The ongoing discussion about Naidoo could harm the image of the Eurovision Song Contest.
“This is why Naidoo will not represent Germany. We will quickly decide now, how the German entry for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be found.”
Photo EPA
In 2014, when Germany marked the 25th anniversary of reunification, Xavier Naidoo was criticized for appearing at a rally of the controversial Reichsbuerger group, which wants the re-establishment of Germany as a two-border state.
On November 20, Germany’s most popular newspaper, Bild, questioned Xavier Naidoo’s selection, on its front page.
Anti-racism group the Amadeu Antonio Foundation also described the choice as “problematic”.
In response, Xavier Naidoo, 44, said on Facebook, in his native language, that it was “OK for me” and that ARD had urged him to compete in the first place.
The singer also said he represented a Germany that was “open to the world” and tolerant of different religions and lifestyles.
The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest was won by Swedish singer Mans Zelmerlow with his upbeat pop track Heroes, which was accompanied by innovative animated visuals.
Germany, which came last in the 2015 competition, with zero points, would name a new contender as soon as possible, Thomas Schreiber said.
Markit’s latest survey shows how Paris attacks have impacted France’s service sector.
The company said a rapid fall-off in trade was behind its index falling from 52.7 in October to 51.3 in November.
“We think the key reason for the slowing in services growth is due to the attacks,” Chris Williamson, Markit’s chief economist said.
Markit said 60% of survey responses from services sector companies were received after the 13 November attacks.
The services index remains above 50, meaning that it is continuing to grow, but at a slower pace.
The “flash” manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) rose to a 19-month high, and Chris Williamson said the rest of the survey data suggested “a more encouraging picture of France continuing to lift itself out of its gloom”.
The survey comes after the boss of the industrial conglomerate Siemens warned that the Paris terrorist attacks and political instability in Europe were making companies more reluctant to invest.
Joe Kaeser told the Financial Times: “The biggest economic damage from these attacks is on confidence and confidence is a crucial element in this phase. It is indispensable to help countries exit the crisis.”
Yet overall, European businesses reported the fastest rates of growth in business activity and employment for four and a half years in November, according to Markit.
Its “flash” PMI for the eurozone rose to 54.4 from 53.9 in November – the survey’s fastest rate of expansion since May 2011.
Germany, which saw growth in manufacturing and services accelerate to a three-month high, helped drive the overall index higher.
Chris Williamson said the data put the 19-nation euro area on track for growth of 0.4 to 0.5% in the final quarter of the year.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi recently indicated he was disappointed with the current rate of growth and suggested policymakers could take fresh action to boost the economy.
The ECB has an inflation target of 2%, but prices in the eurozone have stayed low, with CPI at 0.1% in October.
American journalist Jason Rezaian has been sentenced to an unspecified prison term in Iran, the country’s judiciary has said.
The sentence follows the Washington Post reporter’s conviction last month on charges that include espionage.
Iranian officials did not give details about the sentence but said in a statement it included jail time.
Jason Rezaian, 39, has been detained in Iran for more than a year. The Post has dismissed the charges as absurd.
“In brief, it is a prison sentence,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said in a statement on Iranian state TV.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei added that the verdict is “not finalized” – referring to an expected appeal.
Jason Rezaian’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told the Associated Press news agency she had not been informed of the verdict or the details of the sentence.
The foreign editor of the Washington Post, Douglas Jehl, said in a statement that Jason Rezaian’s “trial and sentence are a sham, and he should be released immediately”. He added that the journalist had already spent 487 days in prison.
Jason Rezaian, his wife, who is also a journalist, and two photojournalists were arrested in July 2014 in Iran. Jason Rezaian was the only one of the group not to be released.
The Washington Post‘s Tehran bureau chief since 2012, Jason Rezaian was charged with espionage and distributing propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
Jason Rezaian is a dual Iranian-American citizen and was tried in four hearings behind closed doors. He was convicted in October.
Earlier reports said Jason Rezaian could face 10 to 20 years in prison.
At least 16 people are being treated at New Orleans hospitals after an apparent shooting at theh city’s Bunny Friend Park, police say.
Police spokesman Tyler Gamble said officers were on their way to break up a big crowd at the playground when shots were fired.
Photo Getty Images
Ambulances took 10 people to hospital, Tyler Gamble said, and others were taken by private vehicles.
It is yet not known what started the shooting or how severe the injuries are.
According to Tyler Gamble, there were two groups at the park – one had walked there as part of a neighborhood parade, while others were watching or participating in a video being made in the park.
Witnesses told local TV station WWL that there were about 500 people at the park and that two gunmen opened fire in the crowd.
Sixteen suspects have been arrested in Brussels anti-terror raids, but suspected Paris attacks gunman Salah Abdeslam remains at large, Belgian authorities have said.
Some 22 raids were carried out on November 22 across Brussels and Charleroi, the federal prosecutor’s spokesman said.
Brussels remains on the highest level of terror alert. Universities, schools and the metro system will stay closed on November 23.
More than 130 died and 350 were injured in the Paris attacks 10 days ago.
Police fired two shots at a car during an operation in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, injuring one suspect who was later arrested.
Photo Reuters
No weapons or explosives were found during the searches on November 22, spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt told a news conference.
French President Francois Hollande said France planned to intensify its air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria.
“We will intensify our strikes, choosing targets that will do the most damage possible to this army of terrorists,” Francois Hollande said.
He kicks off a week of diplomatic efforts to rally support to crush the group: after meeting UK PM David Cameron on November 23, he will meet President Barack Obama on November 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on November 25 and Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 26.
The French government says the aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, will be operational in the Mediterranean on November 23 and ready to act against ISIS militants in Syria.
Brussels has been on lockdown all weekend amid a manhunt for Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of being among the assailants who killed 130 people in Paris on November 13.
Members of Eagles of Death Metal described the horror of the Bataclan concert hall massacre in their first interview since Paris attack.
Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes has recalled the horror he witnessed inside the concert hall as three gunmen opened fire, killing 89 people during the November 13 massacre.
Jesse Hughes said a group of fans who hid in the band’s dressing room were found by the gunmen and killed except for one who hid under Hughes’s leather jacket.
Photo Facebook
In a clip from the interview with Vice News to be released in full next week, an emotional Jesse Hughes said: “A great reason why so many were killed was because so many people wouldn’t leave their friends. So many people put themselves in front of people.”
“Several people hid in our dressing room,” Jesse Hughes told Vice.com from Venice, California.
“And the killers were able to get in and killed every one of them – except for a kid who was hiding under my leather jacket.”
The assault on the Bataclan concert hall was the deadliest of six coordinated attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris. Among those killed inside the venue were the band’s merchandise manager and three staffers from its record label.
Following the attacks in Paris, EODM canceled the remainder of its European tour and flew back to California.
Five days after Paris attacks, Eagles of Death Metal said in a statement: “While the band is now home safe, we are horrified and still trying to come to terms with what happened in France. Our thoughts and hearts are first and foremost with our brother Nick Alexander; our record company comrades Thomas Ayad, Marie Mosser, and Manu Perez; and all the friends and fans whose lives were taken in Paris, as well as their friends, families, and loved ones.”
Brussels is extending the highest level of terror alert because of the “serious and imminent” threat of Paris-style attacks, Belgium’s PM Charles Michel has announced.
The prime minister added that universities, schools and the metro would stay shut.
Belgium’s capital has been on lockdown all weekend, amid a manhunt for suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam.
ISIS militants, some of them from Brussels, killed 130 people in Paris on November 13.
Security forces completed several operations in Brussels on Sunday night, the AFP news agency reports. The police had urged the public not to report its movements on social media.
On November 22, PM Charles Michel told reporters in Brussels that the authorities fear “an attack similar to the one in Paris, with several individuals who could also possibly launch several attacks at the same time in multiple locations”.
Photo EPA
Earlier, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the danger to Belgium was not tied to Salah Abdeslam alone.
“The threat is broader than the one suspected terrorist,” he told Flemish broadcaster VRT.
It was not clear if Jan Jambon was referring to those involved in the Paris attacks, or others who might be planning attacks in Belgium.
Soldiers joined police officers on patrols in Brussels over the weekend. Many public spaces in the usually bustling capital were deserted, as people heeded official warnings to avoid crowds.
The Belgian authorities have so far charged three people with involvement in the Paris attacks, claimed by ISIS.
French media have reported that nine militants carried out the attacks, and seven died on the same night.
One of the men who drove Salah Abdeslam to Belgium told his lawyer that he was dressed in a “big jacket” and may have had a suicide belt.
The lawyer, Carine Couquelet, told French TV this raised questions, including the possibility that Salah Abdeslam may have been supposed to blow himself up in Paris but had had second thoughts.
Friends of Salah Abdeslam told ABC News they had spoken to him on Skype and said he was hiding in Brussels and desperately trying to get to Syria.
They said Salah Abdeslam was caught between European authorities hunting him and ISIS members who were “watching him” and were unhappy that he had not detonated his suicide belt.
Argentina’s opposition candidate Mauricio Macri has won the presidential election runoff in, exit polls suggest.
Polls by taken by TV stations shortly after voting closed indicated Mauricio Macri, 56, won, without giving a breakdown.
Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, was up against Daniel Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires province.
Loud cheers erupted at Mauricio Macri’s campaign headquarters at the news, Reuters reported.
Party insiders claimed a five- to eight-percentage-point lead.
If the result is confirmed, it will be the first time in more than a decade that Argentina’s center-right opposition has wrested the presidency from the center-left Peronists.
Photo Getty Images
A spokesman for DanielScioli said they would wait for official figures to come in before commenting.
Neither candidate managed to win the first round of voting in October outright, forcing a runoff – the first in the country’s history.
DanielScioli was marginally ahead in the first round, with 36.7% to 34.5%, but has lost ground to his rival in the month since.
Mauricio Macri, the leader of the Cambiemos (Let’s Change) coalition, went into today’s vote with a comfortable lead in opinion polls.
He campaigned on pledges to bring new investment into the ailing economy, tackle crime and fight corruption.
The son of one of Argentina’s richest men, Mauricio Macri had a long career in business before entering politics.
A close ally of current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Daniel Scioli had been expected to win by a greater margin in October.
Modern Family actor Reid Ewing, who plays Dylan in the hit sitcom, has revealed his struggle with body dysmorphia.
In a letter published by Huffington Post, Reid Ewing describes his mental torment, explaining how he felt so ugly and he got surgery after surgery.
Reid Ewing, 27, went under the knife in 2008 when he was 19 years old. He now regrets it.
According to experts, body dysmorphia is an anxiety disorder that causes a person to have a distorted view of how they look and to spend a lot of time worrying about their appearance.
For example, they may be convinced that a barely visible scar is a major flaw that everyone is staring at, or that their nose looks abnormal.
Having body dysmorphia does not mean the person is vain or self-obsessed.
Photo Pinterest
“I genuinely believed if I had one procedure I would suddenly look like Brad Pitt,” Reid Ewing explains.
A doctor then “quickly determined that large cheek implants would address the issues I had with my face, and a few weeks later I was on the operating table.”
Reid Ewing remembers how he woke up screaming from pain, with tears down his face.
He describes his face, after all the swelling went down, as “horrendous”.
Reid Ewing asked for more surgery because he was unhappy with the change but the doctor said he had have to wait for six months.
For the next couple of years Reid Ewing continued to have more cosmetic surgery, including chin implants but they would cause new “problems” he felt needed fixing.
Reid Ewing was filming Modern Family while this was happening.
Adele’s new album 25 has been blocked from streaming on Spotify, Apple Music or other services.
Adele, 27, is thought to have followed in the steps of Taylor Swift and made the decision not to put her music on the services.
Spotify says it hopes Adele will change her mind “very soon”.
However, fans can buy 25 in music stores and on sites like iTunes and Amazon.
Adele’s previous albums 19 and 21 as well as her current single Hello are still available for streaming.
The singer is said to be one of the few superstars who has enough influence to decide how she wants people to listen to her music.
A statement from Spotify said: “We love and respect Adele, as do her 24 million fans on Spotify. We hope that she will give those fans the opportunity to enjoy 25 on Spotify alongside 19 and 21 very soon.”
The new album is not available to stream on Apple Music, but Apple said it was “thrilled” to offer it for download on iTunes.
Another artist who made the same decision as Adele was Taylor Swift, who pulled her music from Spotify in 2014 following a row over the royalties paid by streaming outlets.
Crimea has been left without power after pylons carrying power lines which supply electricity from Ukraine were reportedly blown up on November 21.
According to local reports, all four power lines were cut, leaving the region’s two million inhabitants without electricity.
Images circulated on social media appeared to show Ukrainian flags attached to the damaged pylons.
Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, but the Ukrainian authorities have continued to supply power to the area.
Crimean authorities said they had managed to partially reconnect the cities of Simferopol, Yalta and Saky using generators.
Photo AFP
Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Sheremet said the peninsula’s hospitals had backup power sources and would not be affected.
The Crimean Emergencies Ministry has declared a state of emergency and put rescue teams on high alert.
“Crimea is completely cut off,” Viktor Plakida, the director of Crimea Energy, told Russia’s Tass news agency.
A local emergency response official told Russia’s Tass news agency that Crimea was “operating in standalone mode”.
Crimea can only produce half the power it needs, Mikhail Sheremet said.
Two of the four main power lines were cut in an earlier attack on November 20, reports said.
Ukrainian authorities said they encountered activists blockading the site when they tried to repair the damaged pylons.
“The nature of the damage shows that it took place as a result of shelling or the use of explosive devices,” Ukraine’s state energy company Ukrenergo said in a statement.
Crimean Tatars, an ethnic group native to the peninsula who oppose Russian rule, held a protest at the site of the broken power lines in Kherson region, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.
Five people, including two journalists and a top priest or monsignor, have been charged by the Vatican over the leaking and publication of secret documents.
The leaked documents were cited in two books, by journalists Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, alleging misspending and corruption at the Vatican.
The journalists deny claims that they exerted pressure to obtain information.
Two members of a papal commission advising on economic reform, and an assistant, were also charged.
Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda, and fellow commission member, public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui, were arrested early in November.
Merchants in the Temple by Gianluigi Nuzzi and Avarice by Emiliano Fittipaldi, included details of alleged corruption, theft and uncontrolled spending in the Vatican.
In a statement, the Holy See said magistrates “notified the accused and their lawyers of the charges filed… for the unlawful disclosure of information and confidential documents”.
Francesca Chaouqui was released shortly after her arrest after pledging to co-operate with authorities. Monsignor Lucio Valejo Balda remains in a Vatican cell.
Both, along with assistant Nicola Maio, are accused of forming “a brotherhood of crime” and stealing documents, the Vatican said.
The two journalists have been charged with exerting pressure to obtain the information.
Emiliano Fittipaldi told local media he was “stunned” by the decision.
“Maybe I’m naive but I believed they would investigate those I denounced for criminal activity, not the person that revealed the crimes,” he said.
“I understand they are seriously embarrassed in the Vatican over the things in my book, especially because they could not deny any of it. But I didn’t expect a criminal trial.”
Gianluigi Nuzzi told Reuters he had “never applied pressure on anyone”. He will discuss whether to attend a November 24 hearing with his lawyers.
Reporters without Borders issued a statement saying the journalists had “just exercised their right to provide information in the public interest and should not be treated as criminals in a country that supposedly respects media freedom”.
If convicted, all five could be jailed for up to eight years.
Bangladeshi opposition leaders Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid have been executed for war crimes committed during the 1971 independence struggle against Pakistan.
The two politicians were hanged in Dhaka’s central jail.
They were convicted of genocide and rape – charges they denied.
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury has been an influential politician – he was elected member of Bangladeshi parliament six times. Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid was a top leader of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said they were hanged after President Abdul Hamid rejected appeals for clemency by the two men.
However, family members have dismissed reports that the men had made any such appeals, which would have also required admissions of guilt.
“My father said he did not seek any mercy,” Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury’s son, Humam Qauder Chowdhury, told AFP news agency, after meeting his father for the last time hours before his execution.
“He has always said he’s innocent.”
The Supreme Court upheld their sentences earlier this month.
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was the most senior leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party to be sentenced for crimes against humanity.
Two years ago, a special war crimes tribunal found him guilty of nine out of 23 charges including genocide, arson and persecuting people on religious and political grounds.
The prosecution said that his father’s residence in Chittagong was turned into a torture cell during the war.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid was the secretary-general of Jamaat-e-Islami. He was sentenced to death in July 2013.
He was accused of responsibility for the killings of a number of pro-independence Bangladeshi leaders and intellectuals.
The tribunal found him guilty of five charges, including abduction and murder.
Bangladesh’s government says the war crimes trials are necessary to bring murderers to justice.
However, the opposition says they have been used to persecute them and human rights groups have said the tribunal does not meet international standards.
Bitwalking is a digital crypto-currency that is generated by human movement.
Once installed on your phone, the free app converts steps to Bitwalking dollars (BW$).
The new digital currency will be earned by walking, unlike other digital currencies such as Bitcoins that are “mined” by computers.
The app counts and verifies users’ steps, with walkers earning approximately 1 BW$ for about 10,000 steps (about 5 miles).
Initially, users will be given the chance to spend what they earn in an online store, or trade them for cash.
The project founders, Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi, have attracted more than $10 million of initial funding from mainly Japanese investors to help launch the currency and create the bank that verifies steps and any transfers.
Electronics giant Murata is working on a wearable wristband that will provide an alternative to carrying a smartphone and show how many BW$ the wearer has earned.
Shoe manufacturers are poised to accept the currency, and a UK bank is in talks to partner with the project at one of the UK’s biggest music festivals next year.
Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi have a track record in disruptive technology that could help developing nations as much as richer ones.
In 2014, they launched Keepod, a $7 USB stick that acts like a computer in Nairobi, Kenya.
The idea of Bitwalking is to take advantage of the trend for fitness trackers by offering an additional incentive to keep fit.
The global scheme plans to partner with sportswear brands, health services, health insurance firms, environmental groups, and potentially advertisers who could be offered unique insights into the audiences they are targeting.
In the future, employers may be invited to take part in a scheme that would be offered to their employees to encourage them to stay fitter, with the currency they earn converted and then paid alongside their salaries.
In developed nations the average person would earn around 15 BW$ a month, but it is hoped that in poorer countries where people have to walk further for work, school, or simply to collect water, the Bitwalking scheme could help transform lives.
The impact Bitwalking could make in developing countries isn’t lost on the founders. It is one of the central reasons for creating the currency. In Malawi, one of the African nations to join at the launch of the project, the average rural wage is just US$1.5 a day.
Carl Meyer, the Bitwalking manager for Malawi, has set up the first two Bitwalking hubs in Lilongwe and Mthuntama where local people will be trained how to trade the BW$ online for US$ or the local currency, Malawi Kwacha.
Photo Tumblr
Eventually an automatic online exchange is planned that will match up buyers with sellers and a rough exchange rate will begin to emerge.
The Go! app for iOS and Android devices will initially be offered to a handful of countries, including the UK, Japan, Malawi, and Kenya, to give the organizers a chance to iron out any difficulties before other countries come on board.
The idea of making money by simply walking isn’t completely new. Several start-ups have tried to connect keeping fit to earning rewards but most have failed to measure movement accurately enough to avoid scammers.
Bitwalking hasn’t officially released the algorithm used to verify steps but says it uses the handsets’ GPS position and Wi-Fi connections to calculate the distance traveled.
The team has created its own walking algorithm to verify users’ workouts after testing Google’s and finding that steps could be spoofed.
The phone reports the speed and type of movement as measured by the accelerometer.
At its launch the total amount someone can claim in one day will be capped at around 3 BW$ (roughly 30,000 steps) and running multiple accounts will be banned.
The success of the scheme is likely to depend on how much interest there is from established companies such as big sportswear brands, health insurance firms, or charity and environmental groups all of whom have an incentive to work with the fitness sector.
In Japan, it is not unusual for companies to offer employees rewards for fitness activities. Bitwalking’s founders hope their project could help extend this idea to other nations.
Japan’s largest convenience chain store, Lawson, runs a successful scheme that pays its workers up to $50 a year to eat healthily and keep fit.
However, the Lawson scheme is based on promises and trust, so unlike Bitwalking it is not verifiable. The vouchers earned cannot be traded for cash.
Despite the freedom to trade, it is likely that unless BW$ can be freely used to buy goods and services they are likely to drop in value from parity with the US$ – the point where the founders are launching it.
The online store will sell goods for the same price in BW$ as US$.
Keeping the virtual shelves of this online store fully stocked will be one of the first challenges.
The store isn’t expected to be open all the time, but plans are in place for other retailers and service providers to accept the currency in their stores too.
It is still not clear how a currency that appears to be so easy for users to produce could maintain its value, nor if the initial funding for the scheme will be sufficient to sustain it in the initial period while confidence in its value is being built up.
The Bitwalking website will invite people to apply to join the scheme so the company has some control over user numbers.
Because the new scheme necessarily tracks its users there will be data available that could be particularly valuable to advertisers – and accompanying concerns over privacy.
Transfers of the new currency will also be carefully monitored with transactions going through a central “bank” which verifies each deal using the block chain method used to transfer other crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin.
Users will have access to their own wallet which stores the Bitwalking dollars they have earned and will be able to transfer them to others via the app.
Chipotle shares have slumped more than 12% on November 20 after the Center for Disease and Control (CDC) reported more cases of E. coli linked to the Mexican restaurant chain.
According to the CDC, 45 people had been infected with a strain of E. coli, 43 of whom reported eating at a Chipotle restaurant.
The cases were in California, Minnesota, New York and Ohio.
Earlier this month, Chipotle temporarily closed 43 outlets in and around Washington and Oregon states.
This was after health officials investigated an E. coli outbreak that made at least 22 people ill.
Photo The Columbian
“The epidemiologic evidence available at this time suggests that a common meal item or ingredient served at Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants in several states is a likely source of this outbreak,” the CDC said.
“The investigation is still ongoing to determine what specific food is linked to illness.”
Chipotle shares are now down by almost 19% this year, valuing the company at $17.3 billion.
coli, short for Escherichia coli, is a type of bacterium present in the gut of humans and other animals.
Most strains are harmless but some can produce toxins that cause sickness in humans.
According to Mayo Clinic, E. coli infection typically begins three or four days after exposure to the bacteria, though you may become ill as soon as one day after to more than a week later. Signs and symptoms include:
Diarrhea, which may range from mild and watery to severe and bloody
Abdominal cramping, pain or tenderness
Nausea and vomiting, in some people
Contact your doctor if your diarrhea is persistent, severe or bloody.
Nike stocks have jumped more than 5% after the company announced a dividend rise, a massive share buyback and a stock split.
The $12 billion buy-back, 14% dividend increase and share split were revealed on November 19 and sent the sportswear giant’s shares up almost 7 cents to $132.65.
Photo Twitter
The buy-back will be spread out over the next four years.
Nike said it was “built for growth while staying committed to creating shareholder value.
“We’ve proved it time and again, having returned over $23 billion to shareholders over the last 14 years through repurchases and dividends.”
US-based Nike is the biggest sportswear maker in the world, and recently announced a sharp rise in profits thanks largely to rising sales in China.
Profits for the three months to the end of August were $1.18 billion, up nearly a quarter from a year earlier.
Facebook says it is testing some breakup tools that will help people to manage the new status.
The company will begin testing the breakup protection on mobile devices in the US before deciding whether to offer it to all of its 1.5 billion accountholders worldwide.
A judge in New York said using Facebook to send a divorce summons was completely legal.
Facebook’s new breakup tool is about altering what a former flame can see, but without them knowing you’ve done anything.
Photo Facebook
According to the company, the tool allows people to see less of a former partner’s name and profile picture around Facebook without having to unfriend or block them. Their posts won’t show up in News Feed and their name won’t be suggested when people write a new message or tag friends in photos. The tool will also limit the photos, videos or status updates that a former partner will see.
Facebook users can also edit who can see their past posts with a former partner and untag themselves from posts with that person.
If you have already broken up with someone and have adjusted your Facebook status accordingly, you can still go back and use these tools, says Facebook – they will be available from the Help Center at any time.
Mark Zuckerberg has announced he will take two months of paternity leave after the birth of his daughter.
The Facebook chief executive made the announcement on his timeline, calling it “a very personal decision”.
Photo Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg wrote: “Priscilla and I are starting to get ready for our daughter’s arrival. We’ve been picking out our favorite childhood books and toys. We’ve also been thinking about how we’re going to take time off during the first months of her life. This is a very personal decision, and I’ve decided to take 2 months of paternity leave when our daughter arrives.”
Photo Facebook
Facebook allows its US employees to take up to 4 months of paid parental leave – time which can be used at once or throughout the child’s first year.
Mark Zuckerberg, 31, announced in July that he was expecting a baby girl with his wife, Priscilla Chan.
The Facebook founder did not say who would be replacing him at the company.
In his statement, accompanied by a picture of a pushchair and his dog, Mark Zuckerberg said: “Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families.”
Belgium has raised the terror alert in Brussels to the highest level fearing an attack “like the one that happened in Paris” last week, PM Charles Michel says.
The fear was that “several individuals with arms and explosives could launch an attack… perhaps even in several places”, Charles Michel said.
Some of the attackers who killed 130 people in Paris lived in Brussels.
Paris attacks leading suspect Salah Abdeslam is believed to have gone back to Belgium.
A huge manhunt is under way.
The Brussels metro is closed till November 22 and people have been told to avoid crowds.
Photo AP
These include shopping centers and concerts, and the authorities have also recommended that large events, including football matches, be canceled, a statement said.
The warning for the rest of Belgium stays at a lower level, which is still at a “serious” level.
The Belgian government will review the security situation in Brussels on November 22, Charles Michel added.
Interior Minister Jan Jambon earlier told reporters Belgium’s situation was “serious”, but “under control”, as he arrived for a special security cabinet meeting on November 21.
Turkish police say they have arrested a Belgian man of Moroccan descent on suspicion that he scouted out sites in Paris, Turkish news agencies report.
The Belgian authorities have so far charged three people with involvement in the attacks, which ISIS said it carried out.
