Lincoln Chafee has announced he is dropping out of the Democratic presidential race.
The former Rhode Island Governor told the Democratic National Committee on October 23 he was ending his candidacy for the 2016 election.
The 62-year-old has struggled to raise money and make any impact in the Democratic field, which is led by Hillary Clinton.
Lincoln Chafee has served as a Republican and an Independent but had never before run for office as a Democrat.
Photo AP
At a women’s forum held by the Democratic National Committee, Lincoln Chafee said: “After much thought I have decided to end my campaign for president today.
“But I would like to take this opportunity one last time to advocate for a chance be given to peace.”
Lincoln Chafee was, as he pointed out in the recent Democratic debate, the only Republican to vote against the Iraq War.
After Lincoln Chafee’s departure there are only three Democrats left – former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.
Forty two pensioners on a day trip have been killed after their bus collided with a truck and burst into flames in south-western France.
The collision happened near Puisseguin in the Gironde wine region, east of Bordeaux, shortly after the bus had set off from a neighboring town.
French President Francois Hollande said he was “plunged into sadness by the tragedy”.
This is the worst French road disaster since 1982, when 52 people died.
France’s PM Manuel Valls has arrived at the scene.
The crash happened on a country road at around 07:30 local time.
The bus was involved in a head-on collision with the timber truck at what local residents described as a notoriously dangerous bend in the road.
Both vehicles quickly caught fire.
The French government said 42 people had died and nine people were injured, four seriously.
Most of the dead were the elderly passengers who become trapped in the bus. It was not clear if the bus driver was among the dead. The truck driver was originally included in the death toll, but unconfirmed reports say he may have managed to escape.
Most of those on board the bus were reported to have been members of an elderly people’s association from the small town of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, which has a population of just 700, along with others from neighboring communities.
They had not long left on their journey, and were heading south for a day trip into the Landes region.
Marie Fulbert, a council official from the nearby town of Libourne, said they were still waiting for news of who was on the bus and said they had taken “a lot of calls from friends and family”.
More than 60 firefighters attended the scene. The wounded were airlifted to hospital.
The exact cause of the crash is not yet clear.
Francois Hollande, who is on a visit to Athens, has promised a full investigation into what he called an “immense tragedy”.
The masked attacker who killed a teacher and a student at a school in Sweden had “racist motives”, police believe.
Police chief Niclas Hallgren said they had based their conclusion on what was found at the killer’s apartment and “his behavior during the act”.
According to media reports, the 21-year-old attacker had far-right sympathies.
Armed with a sword and wearing a helmet and mask, the man stormed a school in Trollhattan, near Gothenburg, before being shot dead by police.
“We can confirm that this was a racially motivated hate crime partially because the man chose his victims based on the color of their skin,” Niclas Hallgren told Swedish Radio.
The helmet he wore was similar to German World War Two soldiers’ helmets.
He was seen posing for a photograph with students, who thought he was dressed for Halloween, before going from classroom to classroom at the Kronan School.
A teacher and 17-year-old boy died from stab wounds, while another male student, 15, and 41-year-old teacher remain in serious condition in hospital.
The attacker’s name has not yet been released by police, though they say he was local to Trollhattan. He did not have a criminal record, police say.
However, the Swedish daily Expressen and other Swedish media named him as Anton Lundin Pettersson, aged 21.
The young man had allegedly joined a campaign to push for a referendum on whether Sweden should continue accepting migrants.
Sweden has reacted with shock to the killings. Before visiting the scene of the attack, Swedish PM Stefan Lofven said it was a “black day” for the country.
“School is supposed to be the place for learning, play and curiosity and friendship and therefore this is a tragedy that affects the whole country,” Stefan Lofven told reporters.
King Carl Gustaf of Sweden said he was “in shock” and that he had learned of the events in Trollhattan “with great dismay and sorrow”.
Dozens of people gathered outside the school building on October 22 to pay their respects to the victims and place flowers and candles on the ground.
Some residents of the town who were holding a vigil held up posters that read “why kill?”
Swedish media reports say the suspect’s accounts on Facebook and YouTube suggest he had an interest in Hitler and Nazi Germany, as well as hostility to Islam and immigration.
“He was a loner. He played video games, lived in his own world,” a former classmate told Expressen.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos, with the attacker knocking on the doors of at least two classrooms and attacking two male students who opened them. One of the boys later succumbed to his injuries.
None of the victims have been identified by police.
Police were alerted to the attack at around 10:10 local time on October 22, and later gunned down the attacker in the hallway outside a classroom.
The Kronan school has about 400 students aged between six and 15, including many children of immigrants.
Trollhattan is an industrial town in west Sweden, located about 50 miles north of Gothenburg, the nation’s second largest city.
School attacks are rare in Sweden – with just one incident on record in the past 20 years, in which one student was shot dead.
Mexican residents in parts of the country’s Pacific coast have been moved ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Patricia.
Authorities also closed ports in the area.
Officials have warned that the Category 5 Storm could be the strongest ever to hit Mexico’s Pacific coast.
A state of emergency has been declared in three states in the path of Hurricane Patricia.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall late on Friday, October 23, with winds up to 185 mph.
The US National Hurricane Center said Patricia was potentially catastrophic.
Photo AFP
Some 400,000 people live in vulnerable areas, according to Mexico’s National Disaster Fund.
Hurricane Patricia, which will bring torrential rain, could trigger flash floods and mudslides, the US centre said.
It also warned of potential flooding from the sea.
According to forecasters, Hurricane Patricia will make landfall in the western state of Jalisco, home to the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, which could lie directly in its path.
Shop owners in Manzanillo, a major port in neighboring Colima state, have begun boarding up windows.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has endured an 11-hour hearing before a congressional committee over the 2012 deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Hillary Clinton said she took responsibility and introduced reforms after the attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
She deflected criticism that she did not do enough to protect the mission.
Hillary Clinton’s Democrat party says the Republican-led panel is a witch-hunt trying to harm her presidential bid.
Despite the committee sitting in four consecutive hours-long sessions on October 22, the hearing yielded little new information.
Hillary Clinton remained composed during the highly-anticipated testimony, amid several heated exchanges between Republicans and her Democrat allies.
In her opening statement, Hillary Clinton said she had asked Chris Stevens to go to Libya as US envoy.
“After the attacks I stood next to President Obama as Marines carried his casket,” she said.
Photo AFP
“I took responsibility, and as part of that before I left office I launched reforms to better protect our people in the field and help reduce the chance of another tragedy happening in the future.”
Hillary Clinton said her appearance was her way of honoring the lives lost, and she called on those present to put national security above partisan politics.
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, seated next to the chairman, said Republicans were wasting taxpayer money in an effort to derail Hilalry Clinton’s presidential campaign.
However, Trey Gowdy denied his committee was going after Hillary Clinton.
Instead, Trey Gowdy said, it was looking for the truth behind the diplomatic compound’s unsuccessful requests for more security and personnel in the build up to the attacks.
There have already been seven congressional investigations into the attack, by suspected Islamist militants, on the US compound in the Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
The raid led to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US embassy staff.
Hillary Clinton said Chris Stevens was well aware of the risks of his job but withdrawing American presence from Libya would have been a mistake, she said.
“To retreat from the world is not an option. America cannot shrink from our ability to lead.”
When the US pulls out of places, extremists gain a foothold, Hillary Clinton added, although she did admit that security requests made by the Benghazi consulate were not met.
An independent review board found deficiencies within the State Department that the Obama administration has tried to fix, Hillary Clinton said.
Observers say this was a key moment for Hillary Clinton, who solidified her position as the Democrats’ frontrunner for presidential candidate after her potential rival, VP Joe Biden, ruled himself out of the race on October 21.
The Republicans on the committee were also under pressure to prove they had good reason to bring Hillary Clinton before them, and were not just using it as an excuse to undermine her presidential candidacy.
One thing that was unearthed by the committee’s work was Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, which has dogged her 2016 campaign ever since.
According to new reports, Lamar Odom has suffered physical and mental setbacks in his recovery.
Lamar Odom, 35, has undergone two emergency surgeries that have left him in a “fragile” mental state, unidentified sources told TMZ.com.
The procedures involved chest issues, the gossip website said.
Doctors now are turning away all visitors except wife Khloé Kardashian, TMZ said.
Khloe Kardashian got some public support on October 22 from Lamar Odom’s family – a day after a Los Angeles judge agreed to dismiss the formerly estranged couple’s pending divorce.
Photo Getty Images
“In SINCERELY loving Lamar, we truly love and respect whomever he loves,” said the statement from Odom family spokeswoman Alvina Alston.
“We always have and will continue to do so. Together as a team, we will support and encourage him always,” she said.
Alvina Alston gave a positive update to Lamar Odom’s medical progress that didn’t mention any surgeries.
“To our overwhelming delight, Lamar’s courageous improvement continues on the incline in Los Angeles. He is beginning to gradually flourish both mentally and physically,” she said.
“His use of speech has increased and he’s more cognitively responsive.”
Lamar Odom was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on October 19 after waking from a coma on October 16 at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.
Khloe Kardashian, 31, rushed to Lamar Odom’s side the same day he was admitted in extremely critical condition and has kept a vigil.
She even missed Kim Kardashian’s birthday celebration October 21 to stay with Lamar Odom.
Lamar Odom reportedly told Khloe Kardashian over the weekend that he understood he almost died and had hit rock bottom.
Porsche ex-CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and ex-finance chief Holger Haerter have gone on trial in Germany accused of market manipulation over a failed Volkswagen takeover bid.
Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger Haerter are accused of having given “false information” to investors.
Defense lawyers for the former executives have described the accusations as “unfounded”.
The failed bid opened the door to Porsche’s takeover by Volkswagen.
Between March and October 2008, Porsche issued several public denials that it was planning to raise its stake in VW to 75% and take over the company.
However, prosecutors said it was actually in the process of building up its shares in VW.
When Porsche announced it was planning to acquire enough of VW’s stock to take it over, Volkwagen’s share price shot up, and investment funds which needed to buy VW stock to settle their trading positions found none was available.
Then Porsche’s takeover bid failed, and left the sports car maker with €10 billion of debt.
VW launched a takeover of Porsche in turn, initially acquiring 49.9% of the sports car maker in 2009, before announcing in August 2012 that it had completed the acquisition.
VW has announced it is looking into more of its diesel engines to see whether they also contain software used to manipulate emissions test data.
The German automaker has been embroiled in a scandal over emissions test rigging on its EA 189 engines.
VW is now looking into older versions of EA 288 engines, although versions sold in Europe are not affected.
Last month, VW said that 11 million diesel cars were affected by the scandal, first uncovered by the US regulator, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA discovered that certain engines were fitted with a cheat-device that could detect when the car was being tested and reduced emissions to improve results.
Volkswagen had previously said that the software was installed on cars with variants of the EA 189 diesel engine built to the “Euro 5” emissions standard.
VW is now checking whether models with the EA 288 diesel motor built to the same emissions standard may also have the software.
Newer EA 288 cars built to the “Euro 6” standard are said not to be affected.
Criminal investigations have been launched in Germany, France and Italy.
VW has set aside €6.5 billion to cover the costs of the scandal but many analysts expect this will not be enough.
Hillary Clinton has told a Congressional committee that she took responsibility after the 2012 attack on US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The Democratic presidential hopeful added that as secretary of state she introduced reforms to protect diplomatic staff after the attack.
Committee chairman Trey Gowdy said: “We owe them [the victims] the truth.”
Hillary Clinton’s party says the Republican-led panel is a witch-hunt trying to harm her presidential bid.
In her opening statement at the congressional hearing, Hillary Clinton said she had asked Chris Stevens to go to Libya as US ambassador.
“After the attacks I stood next to President Obama as Marines carried his casket,” she said.
“I took responsibility, and as part of that before I left office I launched reforms to better protect our people in the field and help reduce the chance of another tragedy happening in the future.”
Hillary Clinton said her appearance was her way of honoring the lives lost, and she called on those present to put national security above partisan politics.
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, seated next to the chairman, said Republicans were wasting taxpayer money in an effort to derail Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
However, Trey Gowdy denied his committee was going after Hillary Clinton.
Instead, he said, it was looking for the truth behind the diplomatic compound’s unsuccessful requests for more security and personnel in the build up to the attacks.
There have already been seven congressional investigations into the attack, by suspected Islamist militants, on the US compound in the Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
The raid led to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US embassy staff.
Hillary Clinton said Chris Stevens was well aware of the risks of his job but withdrawing American presence from Libya would have been a mistake.
“To retreat from the world is not an option. America cannot shrink from our ability to lead,” she said.
When the US pulls out of places, extremists gain a foothold, Hillary Clinton added, although she did admit that security requests made by the Benghazi consulate were not met.
An independent review board found deficiencies within the State Department that the Obama administration has tried to fix, Hillary Clinton said.
Observers say this is a key moment for Hillary Clinton, who solidified her position as the Democrats’ frontrunner for presidential candidate after her potential rival, VP Joe Biden, ruled himself out of the race on October 22.
Hillary Clinton’s appearance before the House of Representatives Select Committee on Benghazi could further strengthen her position or raise doubts about her suitability as a presidential nominee.
Sesame Street has introduced a new character, Julia, a little girl who has autism.
The Sesame Workshop says Julia is being introduced as part of a campaign to take the stigma away from the disorder.
The workshop hopes Julia will help those who are dealing with autism.
Julia will be portrayed as a girl who “does things a little differently” when playing with her Muppet friends, including Elmo and Abby, the workshop says.
“If you’re five years old, and see another kid not making eye contact with you, you may think that child doesn’t want to play with you. But that’s not the case,” Sherrie Westin told People Magazine.
“We want to create greater awareness and empathy.”
Photo Sesame Street
Julia won’t feature in the Sesame Street TV show but she will be included in digital and printed storybooks.
“Families with autistic children tend to gravitate toward digital content, which is why we created Julia digitally,” said Sherrie Westin.
“We want parents and children to understand that autism isn’t an uncomfortable topic.”
Sesame Street is also producing online tools as part of its See Amazing in All Children initiative, to help people affected by autism manage everyday activities.
Their guides, aimed at families with children aged between two and 5, include ones on brushing your teeth, visiting a restaurant and crossing the road.
Jerry Seinfeld has topped this year’s Forbes list of highest-paid comedians, with estimated earnings of $36 million in 2015.
It is the fourth year Jerry Seinfeld, 61, has topped the list thanks to syndication deals for his show Seinfeld, live tours and the series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Kevin Hart’s roles propelled him to second place with $28.5 million.
In third place with $21.5 million is ventriloquist and impressionist Terry Fator – a former winner of America’s Got Talent who has been dubbed “the human jukebox”. He is in the middle of a five-year residency at Las Vegas’ Mirage Hotel, reported to be worth $100 million.
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and Canadian Russell Peters are in joint fourth with $19 million, while Aziz Ansari is in sixth place with $9.5 million.
Louis CK is in seventh with $9 million, Gabriel Iglesias is in eighth with $8.5 million, John Bishop on ninth with $8 million and Dave Chappelle rounds out the top ten with $7.5 million.
To make the list, the comics’ primary source of income has to be from ticket sales.
Jerry Seinfeld previously topped the list in 2013 for the third year in a row, although there was no list in 2014.
His earnings also took him to number 62 in the magazine’s Celebrity 100 in 2015.
Jerry Seinfeld is expected to earn more in future years, following a recent deal with streaming service Hulu which is reported to have paid $160 million for the rights to Seinfeld.
Jay-Z and Timbaland have been cleared over Big Pimpin’ copyright violation, a judge ruled on October 21.
The rapper was accused of not getting permission to use a flute sample from a track written by an Egyptian composer called Baligh Hamdi in 1957.
Baligh Hamdi’s nephew and heir, Osama Ahmed Fahmy, claimed they didn’t ask to combine his uncle’s song with the lyrics of Big Pimpin’, released in 1999.
Timbaland, real name Timothy Mosley, testified that in 2011 he paid $100,000 to EMI Arabia.
The music company said they owned the rights to the song Khosara Khosara, which Timabland and Jay-Z sampled.
Photo Reuters
Both Jay-Z and Timbaland said they believed they had a valid license to sample the flute notes.
Osama Ahmed Fahmy said this deal was irrelevant and consent to change the track should have been requested.
However, Los Angeles district judge Christina Snyder dismissed the lawsuit before it went to a jury.
The flute is used throughout Big Pimpin’ that became the first major hit single for Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
“My client is pleased and gratified by the decision,” Jay-Z’s lawyer Andrew Bart said.
The lawyer for Osama Ahmed Fahmy, Keith Wesley, said: “We strongly disagree with the ruling and we fully intend to appeal.”
The case has taken years to get to court, with Baligh Hamdi’s nephew first filing a legal complaint in 2007.
One student and a teacher at school in Trollhättan, Sweden, have died after a masked man with a sword entered the building.
Two further victims are seriously injured.
The attacker was shot by police and is undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital.
Eyewitnesses described chaos at the school, in the western town of Trollhattan, with hundreds of students fleeing from the building screaming.
Police responded to an emergency call reporting an attack in the cafe area of the Kronan school, at around 10:10 local time on October 22.
One teacher died of his wounds at the scene.
Two male students, aged 11 and 15, and another teacher were rushed to hospital.
One of the boys has since died.
A student told Swedish television that initially the pupils thought it was a joke.
“He had a mask and black clothes and a long sword,” the student said.
Another student said the man was wearing a Star Wars mask, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports.
Police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg told the Associated Press the attacker was in his 20s and carried more than one weapon, including “at least one knife-like object”.
Thomas Fuxborg said police fired two shots, one of which hit the attacker. No motive was given for the attack.
One student told The Local newspaper: “I was in a classroom with my class when one of my classmates’ sisters called her to warn her that there was a murderer at the school. So we locked the door to the classroom, but our teacher was still outside in the corridor.
“We wanted to warn him, so a few of us went outside and then I saw the murderer, he was wearing a mask and had a sword. Our teacher got stabbed.
“The murderer started chasing me, I ran into another classroom. If I had not run, I would have been murdered. I’m feeling really scared. Everyone’s scared here.”
Sweden’s PM Stefan Lofven will travel to Trollhattan this afternoon. He said it was a “black day for Sweden”.
“I think of the victims and their families, students and staff, and the whole of the affected community. No words can describe what they are going through right now. We must ensure that they receive all the support they need,” he said.
Sweden’s interior minister, Anders Ygeman, tweeted: “It is with sadness and dismay I received the news of the attack on the school in Trollhattan. My thoughts go to the victims and their families.”
Trollhättan is an industrial town in west Sweden, located around 50 miles north of Gothenburg, the country’s second largest city.
School attacks are rare in Sweden – this is the first since a shooting at a school in Kungalv near Gothenburg in 1961 which killed one person and injured six others.
The Czech Republic is accused of “systematic” rights violations in their treatment of refugees and migrants.
According to the UN’s human rights chief, Czech authorities were holding refugees in “degrading” conditions for up to 90 days.
Zeid Raad Al Hussein said refugees had been strip-searched to find money to pay for their detention, and protested about “Islamophobic” statements by Czech President Milos Zeman.
Milos Zeman’s spokesman said the president “stood by his opinions”.
While other European countries had implemented policies to restrict the movement of refugees, the Czech Republic was “unique” in its routine detention of migrants for long periods, Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in a statement.
He said the measures taken appeared to be “designed to deter migrants and refugees from entering the country or staying there”.
Zeid Raad Al Hussein said one detention facility in Beza-Jezova has been described as “worse than a prison” by the Czech justice minister.
The UN rights chief added that he was alarmed by the “xenophobic public discourse” accompanying Czech government policy.
Milos Zeman frequently courts controversy with Islamophobic remarks.
While visiting a butcher shop on a recent visit to southeast Moravia, Milos Zeman told reporters that Muslim refugees would not respect Czech laws and customs.
Milos Zeman said that on the contrary, they would stone women to death for adultery and cut thieves’ hands off.
The president’s spokesman said the UN’s criticism of Milos Zeman was part of an intensifying campaign against the Czech Republic over its stand on the refugee crisis.
Hillary Clinton is set to testify in front of a Congressional committee about the attack on a US consulate in Libya in 2012 that killed the Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The Democratic presidential hopeful was secretary of state at the time and is likely to face tough questions.
This is Hillary Clinton’s second appearance before Republican-dominated Congress on her handling of the incident.
Hillary Clinton’s Democratic Party says it is a witch-hunt designed to harm her presidential bid.
There have already been seven congressional investigations into the attack, by suspected Islamist militants, on the US compound in the Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
Hillary Clinton is likely to be asked to explain: why the US government initially claimed the attack was spontaneous, sparked by a YouTube video that had led to protests in the region, when evidence later emerged that the raid was likely to have been planned; why calls by Ambassador Chris Stevens for security reinforcements at the consulate were apparently ignored; whether she compromised classified information by using her private email server instead of using a government email account for all her correspondence while secretary of state.
Observers say this is a key moment for Hillary Clinton, who solidified her position as the Democrats’ frontrunner for presidential candidate after her potential rival, VP Joe Biden, ruled himself out of the race on October 21.
Hillary Clinton’s appearance before the House of Representatives Select Committee on Benghazi could further strengthen her position or raise doubts about her suitability as a presidential nominee.
The Republicans on the committee are also under pressure to prove they have good reason to bring Hillary Clinton before them, and are not just using it as an excuse to undermine her presidential candidacy.
Comments made by Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy earlier this month, as part of his bid to become Speaker of the House, suggesting the committee was doing just that, have not helped their position.
Hillary Clinton said, in a TV interview earlier this month, that she was “looking forward to answering questions about the real things when I’m there” and voiced her disgust at “a political partisan committee for the sole purpose of going after me”.
WikiLeaks has published six documents taken from an old account belonging to CIA Director John Brennan.
The CIA has condemned the hacking of its director’s personal email account, describing it as a “crime” carried out with “malicious intent”.
The agency said there was “no indication” that anything classified was released.
However, the documents do include a draft security clearance application containing personal information.
They appear to all date to 2009, when John Brennan was seeking security clearance while applying for a job as a White House counterterrorism adviser.
John Brennan was working in the private sector at the time, having already spent 25 years working for the CIA between 1980 and 2005.
Photo AP
A high-school student claimed he was responsible for hacking the AOL account, telling the New York Post he was protesting against US foreign policy.
The boy’s Twitter account, which says he is 13, has published redacted images of what appears to be government information.
The documents published by WikiLeaks include a draft on national security challenges said to have been created in 2007.
The final, unfinished paragraph is headed “Damaging Leaks of Classified Information”.
A 2008 letter about interrogation methods is also included, appearing to be from the vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to his fellow board members.
WikiLeaks said it would release more documents “over the coming days”.
The FBI and the Secret Service are investigating the hacking. The CIA stressed that none of the documents released so far were classified.
“In fact, they appear to be documents that a private citizen with national security interests and expertise would be expected to possess,” a statement said.
High-profile leaks including a wealth of diplomatic cables from Wikileaks have dogged the US government in recent years.
The use of private email has become a major issue in recent months for White House hopeful Hillary Clinton, since it emerged that she had operated a private account while secretary of state.
John Brennan became director of the CIA in 2013, having spent four years as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.
The 2016 Oscars ceremony will be hosted by Chris Rock, the telecast producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin have announced on October 21.
Chris Rock previously hosted the 77th annual Academy Awards in 2005, when the reception to his opening monologue and some controversial jokes was mixed.
“I’m so glad to be hosting the Oscars,” the actor and comedian said.
“It’s great to be back.”
The 88th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016.
The 2015 ceremony, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, had the lowest Oscar ratings for six years, and were down 16% on the previous year, when Ellen DeGeneres had been at the helm.
“Chris Rock is truly the MVP of the entertainment industry,” said David Hill and Reginald Hudlin.
Photo AP
“Comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, documentarian – he’s done it all. He’s going to be a phenomenal Oscar host. “
“We share David and Reggie’s excitement in welcoming Chris, whose comedic voice has really defined a generation,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
“He is certain to bring his amazing array of talents to this year’s show.”
In 2005 – the year that Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby won best picture – Chris Rock received a standing ovation before uttering a word and began by ordering the assembled A-listers to “sit your asses down”.
Chris Rock’s recent film roles include I Think I Love My Wife, Head of State, Death at a Funeral and the first three films in the blockbuster Madagascar series, as the voice of Marty.
Six key people, who allegedly helped fugitive drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escape from jail in July, have been arrested in Mexico.
Among those detained is El Chapo Guzman’s brother-in-law and one of the two pilots who flew Guzman to his home state.
Mexico’s attorney general said a member of Guzman’s legal team, described as the mastermind, was also arrested.
El Chapo Guzman, aka Shorty, head of the Sinaloa cartel, escaped from a high-security prison through a specially dug tunnel.
Attorney General Arely Gomez told reporters on October 21 that the suspected mastermind of the escape had repeatedly entered Altiplano prison to visit El Chapo Guzman and update him on the operation’s progress.
She also said El Chapo Guzman’s brother-in-law had supervised the construction of the mile-long escape tunnel and organized transport.
“Today we are able to affirm that the group responsible for planning, organizing and carrying out the escape from outside the prison has been broken up,” Arely Gomez said, without naming the suspects.
The development comes days after officials revealed the drugs lord had suffered face and leg injuries when he narrowly evaded a police operation to recapture him in north-west Mexico earlier this month.
Arely Gomez confirmed on October 21 that after his escape, El Chapo Guzman traveled by land to the city of Queretaro, from where he caught a small plane to his home state of Sinaloa.
The drug lord’s escape was an embarrassment for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who El Chapo Guzman taunted on Twitter after the event.
Several prison officials have already been arrested under suspicion of giving inside help to El Chapo Guzman, who fled through a tunnel that ran one mile from under a shower in his cell to outside the prison.
He was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and spent nearly a decade in another maximum-security Mexican jail before escaping, reportedly in a laundry basket.
El Chapo Guzman was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014 after a series of high-profile arrests of associates and covert surveillance by the US authorities.
There are so many responsibilities that come along with having a car. Getting back and forth to work is a top priority for most people, which is why having a smooth running vehicle is essential. Taking the time to figure out what a car needs to stay running its best is vital. Finding professionals to supply you with the cheapest oil change Mississauga should be a top concern. By allowing professionals to handle the work needed, a car owner will have no problems keeping his car running at peak condition. The following are some of the benefits that a person will be able to gain when allowing professionals to handle all of the oil changes and other auto repair work.
Faster Turnaround Allows Drivers to Get Back on the Road in a Hurry
The best reason to allow a professional to handle this process is due to the time that they can get it done it. Having the right skillset makes all of the difference when a person goes to do auto repair or maintenance. Taking the time to find a reputable and experienced mechanic will help a car owner get the work they need done in the time frame that they expect.
The Right Replacement Parts
When choosing to use a professional mechanic, the car owner will also be able to get the replacement parts they need. In some cases, a mechanic may find issues with the oil drain plug in a car and will have to replace it before they are able to get the fluids changed. Neglecting to get vital parts like this replaced may lead to the oil leaking out, which can really put the car in jeopardy of developing a number of repair issues.
Reduce the Amount of Mistakes Made
A professional will also be able to make sure that mistakes are not made during the repair process. Without the proper amount of knowledge a person will not be able to find and fix the issues they are having with their vehicle. By selecting a knowledgeable company, like VeerPreet Auto Service, a person will be able to get the timely and complete repairs they are after. Be sure to call around to the shops in an area to get an idea of what they can offer and how it can benefit you.
The longer you wait to have your oil changed, the harder it will be to avoid serious issues down the line. The money that gets paid to a professional will be worth it in the end.
Joe Biden will not run for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 White House race.
The 72-year-old vice-president said his family was ready after the death of his son, Beau Biden, earlier this year, but he had now run out of time.
He also said it would be a mistake for Democrats to turn their backs on President Barack Obama’s record.
Democrats seeking an alternative to frontrunner Hillary Clinton had been urging Joe Biden to run.
Though he will not be a candidate, Joe Biden said he “will not be silent”.
“I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully on where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation.”
Joe Biden said any candidate would be making a “tragic mistake” to reject the Obama legacy, and urged an end to political bickering.
“I believe we have to end the divisive, partisan politics ripping apart this country,” he said as he stood in the Rose Garden of the White House, flanked by his wife Jill and President Barack Obama.
Repeating a dig at Hillary Clinton that he has made several times this week, he said it was wrong to see Republicans as enemies.
When asked at last week’s Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton said she was proud of making an enemy out of Republicans.
In explaining his decision not to join the race, after three months pondering it, Joe Biden said his family had “reached a point” where they felt they could cope with his third presidential run, but time was now against him.
Beau Biden died from brain cancer in May, another family tragedy for the former Delaware senator after the deaths of his baby daughter and first wife in 1972.
Joe Biden then rose through the Senate ranks and ran for president in 1988 and 2008.
After hearing the news, presidential candidates for 2016 tweeted their well wishes.
Bernie Sanders also tweeted that he supported Joe Biden’s plans to make college free, fight economic inequality and close tax loopholes.
Democratic candidate Martin O’ Malley tweeted that he respected Joe Biden’s decision and that he is “one of the most decent, compassionate public servants our nation has produced”.
The Vatican has strongly denied an Italian media reports that Pope Francis has a small but curable tumor on his brain.
Italian newspaper Quotidiano said Pope Francis had travelled by helicopter to Tuscany to see a world-renowned Japanese brain surgeon.
The pontiff was diagnosed with a small, dark spot but did not need surgery, the paper said.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the report was totally unfounded.
“As everyone can see, the Pope is carrying out his extremely intense activities in an absolutely normal manner,” he said.
The newspaper insisted that its story was true, maintaining that Pope Francis, 78, had visited Prof. Takanori Fukushima some months ago at the San Rossore clinic in the Barbaricina area of Pisa.
The publication quoted an unnamed employee at the clinic saying such a small tumor could be treated and did not need any kind of surgical intervention.
Quotidiano’s editor, Andrea Cangini, said the denial was understandable and had been expected.
The timing of the report is seen as awkward for the Vatican, as 279 bishops from around the world approach the end of their three-week Synod on the Family.
The meeting, which ends on October 25, is considered one of the key tests of Pope Francis’s papacy as it has wrestled with the Church’s attitude towards same-gender unions, contraception and its refusal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to take Communion.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis indicated his papacy may last only a few years, and that he might retire like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who stepped down as pontiff in 2013.
Pope Francis appeared before thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square as normal on October 21, and was due to return to the Synod later in the day.
Boeing, the world’s largest maker of passenger jets, has reported a 25% rise in its quarterly profit, helped by an increase in deliveries of commercial aircraft.
The aircraft maker earned $1.70 billion for Q3 of 2015, up from $1.36 billion a year ago.
Revenue rose by about 9% to $25.85 billion, with commercial aircraft deliveries up 7% to 199.
Boeing also raised its 2015 sales and profits guidance.
Revenue will be $95-97 billion, up from the prior estimate of $94.5-96.5 billion. Operating cashflow, Boeing’s preferred performance measure, may be $9.5 billion for the year, up from the $9 billion the company estimated earlier in the year.
Photo AP
Boeing’s shares rose 2.8% to $142.82 in pre-market trading.
The company said deliveries had surged on its backlog of orders. Boeing delivered 126 of its narrow-body, short-haul 737 aircraft in the period, up from 120 a year ago. It made more 737 planes than all other commercial models combined.
Boeing’s commercial backlog stands at $426 billion, while it has $46.2 billion of defense, space and security orders to fulfill.
“By continuing to profitably deliver on our large and diverse backlog, we are driving strong growth in revenue, earnings and cash flow,” said president and CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
“Solid operating performance across our commercial and defense businesses during the quarter also supported our continued investment in innovation and our people, and our commitment to return cash to shareholders.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment has agreed to pay up to $8 million over employees’ personal data lost in the 2014 hacking scandal surrounding the release of The Interview movie.
Hackers had broken into Sony computers and released thousands of items of personal information in an attempt to derail the release of the North Korea-themed comedy.
Sony employees argued they suffered economic harm from the stolen data.
US investigators have blamed North Korean hackers for the attack.
The cyber attack wiped out massive amounts of data and led to the online distribution of emails, personal and sensitive employee data as well as pirated copies of new movies.
The lawsuit against the company was filed by former employees claiming Sony’s negligence caused them economic harm by forcing them to step up credit monitoring to address their increased risk of identity theft. They described the data breach as an “epic nightmare.”
The Interview depicted the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The cyber-attack drew widespread international attention and Sony subsequently stopped the movie’s general release.
An unknown group calling itself #GOP – later identified as Guardians of Peace – claimed it was behind the attack, prompting the FBI to launch an investigation.
North Korea dismissed any suggestion it may have had a hand in the attack as a form of retaliation for Sony’s release of The Interview. A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman had earlier called the movie an “act of terrorism”, promising “merciless” retaliation if it was released.
The Interview eventually received a much smaller release and was offered through legal digital downloads.
The settlement with a US District Court in Los Angeles still needs to be approved by a judge but it sees Sony paying pay up to $8 million to reimburse current and former employees for losses, preventative measures and legal fees related to the hack of its computers in 2014.
Under the agreement, Sony Entertainment will pay up to $10,000 a person, capped at $2.5 million, to reimburse employees for identity theft losses, up to $1,000 each to cover the cost of credit-fraud protection services, capped at $2 million, and up to $3.5 million to cover legal fees.
Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton called the agreement “an important, positive step forward in putting the cyber-attack firmly behind us”.
The court had dismissed Sony’s initial attempt to stops the court case, confirming that the employees could pursue their claims that the company was negligent and violated a California confidentiality law.
Texas student Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested in Irving after his teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb, will move to Qatar with his family.
The 14-year-old Muslim boy has accepted a scholarship from the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, where he will study.
Ahmed Mohamed met President Barack Obama at the White House on October 19.
After being detained over the clock, Ahmed Mohamed’s case went viral on social media.
Some alleged the boy was unfairly treated because of his name and religious background. Officials in Irving Texas defended their decision, saying they were only concerned with the safety of students.
The Qatar Foundation is providing a full scholarship for his secondary and undergraduate education, according to a news release.
“Our family has been overwhelmed by the many offers of support we have received since the unfortunate incident of Ahmed’s arrest,” the Mohamed family said in the release.
“From the White House to Sudan, to Mecca, we have been welcomed by a variety of individuals, businesses and educational institutions.”
According to his family, Ahmed Mohamed will be enrolled in the Qatar Foundation’s “Young Innovators” program and his whole family will relocate with him to Qatar.
“Qatar was a cool place to visit. I loved the city of Doha because it’s so modern. I saw so many amazing schools there, many of them campuses of famous American universities,” said Ahmed Mohamed in the news release.
“The teachers were great. I think I will learn a lot and have fun too.”
Ahmed Mohamed withdrew from his Texas school shortly after the clock incident.
The boy was arrested after his teacher mistook his clock for a bomb, sparking outrage and the trending hashtag #StandWithAhmed.
In addition to being invited to the White House, Ahmed Mohamed received an outpouring of support from scientists, politicians and celebrities.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made a surprise visit to Moscow on his first overseas trip since the civil war broke out in his country in 2011, state TV says.
During his visit, Bashar al-Assad held talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Russia launched air strikes in Syria last month against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and other militant groups battling Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Bashar al-Assad said Russia’s involvement had stopped the spread of “terrorism” becoming “more widespread and harmful”.
For his part, President Vladimir Putin said the Syrian people had been “almost alone… resisting, fighting international terrorism for several years”.
“They had suffered serious losses, but recently have been achieving serious results in this fight,” he said.
Photo AFP
The visit happened on October 20, but was not announced until October 21 – after Bashar al-Assad had returned to Damascus.
In comments that were videoed and published by the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin thanked Bashar al-Assad for coming despite the “dramatic situation” back home.
Vladimir Putin said Moscow had joined the fight against “international terrorism”, not just to help the Syrian people, but to better protect Russians too.
He said some 4,000 people from the former Soviet Union were believed to be fighting in Syria right now.
“We cannot permit them – once they get fighting experience there and ideological training – to turn up here in Russia,” he said.
Bashar al-Assad thanked Russia for “standing up for the unity of Syria and its independence”, and said its intervention had “prevented the events in Syria from developing along a more tragic scenario”.
Both presidents spoke of the need for a political solution to the crisis.
Vladimir Putin said Russia stood “ready to contribute” to any political process that could bring about a peaceful resolution.
